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The future of virtual reality Part1
Regardless of the progress in the previous half-a-decade, VR as a feasible way to reach the masses still appears pretty distant. What will cause the paradigm shift?
In the dystopian universe of Cyberpunk 2077, (one of the leading releases, developed for the latest generation of consoles and the PC) citizens of Night City resort to “braindancing” to shift the attention away from their dystopian reality. Just like SQUID recordings from Strange Days, braindances enable users to traverse the experiences and sensations of others by putting on virtual reality headsets and re-experiencing memories maintained and communicated to all the five senses.
Within Cyberpunk mythology, the tech that lies at the heart of braindancing was made in the late 2000s and nearly immediately appropriated for entertainment purposes. We are well behind this progress in reality. Not only do we not have the technological advancements to support or enable an activity like braindancing, but just the created version of braindancing gave epileptic gamers seizures until the game was fixed.
Cyberpunk 2077 came with no native VR compatibility, preventing VR-gamers from pretending they were experiencing an authentic braindancing trip. The latest vision of a future in which VR-based entertainment is widespread came at the beginning of a new hardware generation that so far looks like an obstacle for VR gaming.
The last generation enabled widespread reach for VR, and near-mainstream acceptance. As of January, Sony had made sales in excess of 5 million units for the PSVR headset, compatible with the PS4, which was first solid in October, 5 years ago.
That figure didn’t reach the expectations of the more positive estimates, one market analyst enthusiastically predicted 6 million VR headsets solid in 2016 alone, and it’s a very minor fraction of the PS4s sold so far, (115 million), but PSVR gives a critical proof of concept, providing quality, living room VR experiences in accessible accessory for a popular and mainstream gaming platform.
That tangible evolution towards an idealistic vision for VR renders the present state of the market more confusing. For many years, VR was the brainchild of writer’s imaginations, and either impractical or too expensive for the common man. Over the previous half-a-decade, this has changed, the headsets are improving and at least a little awe-inspiring, if not completely refined. The future prospects for VR however, with regards to gaining mass and mainstream acceptance seem blurrier than ever before.
The issue with VR is that nearly half-a-decade ago, it was subjected to too much hype. This is the opinion of Dave Cole, founder and Chief Executive Officer of electronic entertainment research organization DFC Intelligence. It was set to underperform. But the devices and the content have been evolving to make it being to look moderately interesting to a mainstream consumer install base.
Three prominent pieces of VR hardware dominate the gaming market, The Occulus Rift, the HTV Vive, and the PSVR. They all came to the VR space within six months in 2016. When it was first released, PSVR cost as much as the PS4 itself when it first came out. (399US$). In the beginning, quality software was limited. The headset had a drawback in that it wasn’t wireless, holding back player’s freedom of movement by forcing them to stay physically connected to their consoles, and its screen resolution and basic handheld gamepads – repackage PSMove wands, were soon outdone by the cutting edge PC-based or standalone VR rigs.
Over the course of time, however, the PSVR accumulated a big and healthy library of games that significantly demonstrated the prospects of VR with regards to the experiences it could create. Many a gamer has their most memorable gaming moment in a VR gaming session, and the killer app that seems to be compelling users towards picking up VR headsets is Half Life: Alyx, a spin-off the Half-Life universe. Fans eager for Half Life 3 lapped it up, driving sales on Steam and wider adoption of VR headsets.
VR ports of popular mainstream games, like Resident Evil 7, Skyrim, Superhot, and No Man’s Sky, and other VR-only titles like Astro Bot: Rescue Mission, Moss, Beat Saber, and Blood and Truth, demonstrated what game creators could do when they developed games with attached VR capabilities.
However, the apparently bright future of VR didn’t come closer to fruition with the mid-November debut of the Xbox Series X/S and Playstation 5. The Xbox One didn’t have VR capabilities to start with, and even though the organization, Microsoft, has played around with Mixed Reality on Windows, promised players that its beefed-up Xbox One X would provide VR functionalities, it later decided against those plans. During November 2019, Xbox brand leader Phil Spencer spoke against the probability that Microsoft’s next console would be compatible with VR, stating that they were merely producing in response to client interests, and presently, there was no excitement around VR.”
Spencer, however, did acknowledge the value addition that VR brought to the table, hoping that sometime in the near future, “it’s a feature so vital that it’d be a no-brainer to support it.”
In more depressing news, Sony’s fans were met with the consumer electronic giant’s seeming apathy in a successor the successful PSVR on PS4. It should be noted that the PS5 is backwards-compatible with PSVR, although it does need a free camera adapter for connecting to the console. PS5 games that have been put out until now haven’t really bothered with VR capabilities, instead focusing on rich, single player experiences that really demonstrates the capabilities of the haptics feedback on the Sony PlayStation 5 controller. It can be argued that Sony’s shift away from, or apparent disinterest in VR, can be attributed to the innovation of the haptic controller. Creating richer experiences from the ground-up, the controller has been a vital part of the PS5’s arsenal is most marketing communications dealing with the PS5.


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UPDATE: The previously reported opening date has been confirmed (10/22).
Aldi (Montgomery Village) Appears to Have Set Opening Date
The opening of Aldi as the anchor the currently under renovation Montgomery Village shopping center has been anticipated for months.
Construction seems to be complete and it appears as though Aldi has posted an opening date in the From Aldi section of Google. “Aldi is opening on 10/22/20.”
In a call to Aldi corporate, we were told that they could not deny or confirm the date, but only Aldi has the ability to edit that specific section.
As it appears, the tentative opening date is just under a month away.
Aldi is located in the Montgomery Village Shopping Center in the old CVS location, next to Big Lots.
By Daniel Garay

domain: news


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GoPro forecast current-quarter revenue well below analysts’ expectations as demand for its wearable cameras fell and the company said Chief Financial Officer Jack Lazar had resigned.
Brian McGee, who joined the company from Qualcomm in 2015, will take over as CFO on March 11, GoPro said on Wednesday.
GoPro shares (GPRO) fell about 10% to $9.67 in extended trading.
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One of Fondren’s oldest businesses is freshening up a bit in 2015.
Cups, an Espresso Cafe, has said they will renovate their flagship store on Old Canton Road.
Along with the renovation will come an increase in space. Manager Cody Cox confirms their taking in of the adjacent spot, at once Clapton Realty. “We have signed a lease and the space is ours, but for now, it will probably be storage,” he said.
Cox, who has managed the Fondren store for nearly three years, said they have found examples of coffee shop decor they like but haven’t decided on a theme. “It will still feel like Fondren,” he told, adding, “we just don’t know exactly what that looks like yet.”
Still, the additional room, approximately the same size as their current back room, could mean big things. Cox, who has recently booked more bands and special events, has added a bimonthly record listening and podcast recording, Afternoon Vinyl. More space could mean more events for the two decade-old hub of caffeine and conversation.
The news of Cups growth comes on the heels of their recent nod in Business Insider as a best in the feature, “The Best Coffee Shop in Every State.” Writer Melissa Stanger noted Cups’ “signature coffee flavors that range from the exotic, like coconut creme, to the local, like Southern pecan.”


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It’s time for another Dealmaster. Our latest roundup of the best deals from around the web includes a decent price drop on Apple’s AirPods Pro, which are currently down to $180 at Amazon and Walmart . That’s about $70 off Apple’s MSRP and about $15 off the average Amazon price we’ve seen for the true wireless noise-canceling earphones over the past few months. For reference, we did see them drop as low as $159 around Black Friday, but this deal matches the best price we’ve tracked for about two months.
We’ve recommended the AirPods Pro a number of times since they launched in late 2019. Though they’re getting up there in age, they continue to provide stronger active noise cancellation than most competing wireless earbuds, an effective ambient sound mode that layers outside noise under your music, and a balanced, neutral sound that still ranks among the best in the category. The ear pieces are light and comfortable and have an IPX4 rating for everyday sweat resistance. Apple now packages the AirPods Pro with a MagSafe Charging Case, an addition it made when it announced the third-gen AirPods last fall. And like all AirPods, the Pro pair brings a number of useful bonus features (“Find My” tracking, “Hey Siri” voice controls, quick device swapping) when used with other Apple devices.
The Pros are far less useful to Android users, to be clear. And at roughly five hours of continuous playback, their battery life is lacking. If you want a similar pair of noise-canceling Apple earphones that are better for working out, the Beats Fit Pro earned a spot on our holiday gift guide last month for packing many of the same benefits in a sportier design. Reports suggest that Apple plans to refresh the AirPods Pro with a new design later this year, too, though those may launch closer to the end of 2022. All that said, if you’re an iPhone user who wants a premium pair of noise-canceling earphones today , this deal is a good value.


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Aphria (APHA), a Canada-based global cannabis company, will report its results for the first quarter of fiscal 2020 today after the market opens. There has been a lot of pessimism about the cannabis sector since last week. Will Aphria’s results shed some light on the sector? What do we expect from Aphria?
Analysts’ estimates Aphria’s earnings
Analysts have slightly lower estimates for Aphria’s revenues in the first quarter of fiscal 2020. The estimate for a loss is higher than what we discussed previously. The revenues could be around 132.7 million Canadian dollars for the first quarter of 2020 compared to 13.2 million Canadian dollars in the first quarter of 2019. Analysts expect the company to report a loss of 0.02 Canadian dollars per share in the first quarter of 2020. However, the revenues are still lower than what the company reported in the first quarter of 2019.
Analysts’ estimates give us an idea about how the company is doing. However, I think that the lower estimate is based more on the current situation in the cannabis industry. Hexo (HEXO) expects lower revenues in the fourth quarter due to various factors. The company withdrew its fiscal 2020 outlook. Also, Hexo’s CFO resigned. As a result, many analysts downgraded the stock and cut the target price.
There are concerns that cannabis sales might fall this year, which impacted other cannabis stocks. Many analysts, like PI Financial and Jefferies, cut Aphria’s target price. PI Financial cut the target price for 15 cannabis stocks. To learn more read, Cannabis Stocks in Trouble, PI Financial Cuts Target Price.
What else is happening?
Aphria stock was stronger after its fourth-quarter results in August. However, the stock started October with a loss. Notably, Aphria stock fell last week. Aleafia Health (ALEAF) (ALEF) announced the termination of Aphria’s supply agreement for wholesale cannabis. To learn more, read Aphria-Aleafia Health Deal Axed: How Stocks Reacted.
Aphria has a positive outlook for fiscal 2020
Despite the chaos in the cannabis space, Aphria still has a positive outlook for fiscal 2020. Overall, the company expects to generate net revenues of approximately 650 million Canadian dollars–700 million Canadian dollars. Aphria also expects to report an adjusted EBITDA of roughly 88 million Canadian dollars–95 million Canadian dollars. The company will likely fulfill its annual production capacity after all of its facilities are fully licensed. Meanwhile, Aphria has a different operational structure. The company has operations in Europe. Aphria focuses more on the medical cannabis side. We have discussed how the medical cannabis industry is growing globally.
Profitability will likely decrease more
The EBITDA is a vital measure of profitability. Analysts are concerned about Aphria due to pessimism surrounding the cannabis sector. Now, analysts expect the company’s profitability to fall more in the first quarter of fiscal 2020. Aphria might report a negative EBITDA of 2.1 million Canadian dollars.
Meanwhile, Hexo (HEXO) might report a negative EBITDA of 10.5 million Canadian dollars in the fourth quarter. Cronos Group (CRON) could report a negative EBITDA of 19.2 million Canadian dollars for its third quarter. Cronos Group is ready for the second wave of recreational marijuana legalization in Canada this month. Canopy Growth (CGC) (WEED) might report a negative EBITDA of 87.0 million Canadian dollars for the second quarter of 2020.
Price coverage and stock performance
Currently, many analysts have cut Aphria’s target price. Hexo’s downgrade and lower target price triggered the cut in other cannabis stocks. Jefferies cut the target price to 11 Canadian dollars from 15 Canadian dollars. Canaccord Genuity and PI Financial also reduced the target price. Meanwhile, Jefferies cut Hexo, Aurora Cannabis, Canopy Growth, Cronos, and Tilray’s target prices.
Aphria’s consensus target price is 13.6 Canadian dollars. To learn more about analysts’ estimates, read Aphria: Analysts’ Target Price and Ratings.
Aphria stock has fallen 2.3% in October, while it fell 17.0% in September. The stock has fallen 15.7% year-to-date. In October, Aurora Cannabis (ACB), Canopy Growth, Tilray, and Cronos Group have fallen 20.0%, 17.9%, 16.4%, and 13.1%.
How does the cannabis sector look in October?
Currently, dark clouds loom over the cannabis space. Besides companies’ lower revenue estimates, investors are concerned about scandal investigations. Tilray (TLRY) and Hexo are being investigated for possible breaches. Read Cannabis Scandal Radar: Is Tilray Next? and HEXO: The Next Cannabis Player on the Scandal Radar? to learn more.
Cannabis corruption in the US could put more pressure on marijuana legalization.
So far, the Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences ETF (HMMJ) has fallen 12.9% in October. HMMJ tracks the North American cannabis industry.
Will Aphria surprise investors? Will the company’s results be a ray of hope for the cannabis sector? We’ll provide an in-depth discussion of the earnings call after Aphria’s results.


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Vietnam reports slowdown in tuna export growth in September
VASEP said that the country's tuna exports reported unstable growth this year with the rate reaching 20.4% in August and 2.1% in July.
Still the Vietnamese association adds that there was important growth reported in a number of markets such as Spain and Canada.
In September alone, Vietnam exported US$53 million worth of tuna products to the markets, bringing the total export value in the first nine months to nearly US$474 million, increasing by 10.3% over the same period in 2017.
Vietnam's exports of tuna to the European Union slowed down in September. The growth rate slipped from 47% in August to 1.3% in September.
Still, for the first nine months of 2018, tuna exports to the market this year has grown well by 22% over the same period in 2017, reaching US$118 million.
On June 20, Cargill has opened its first innovation center in Singapore to help customers anticip...
The export market for Spanish ham (Jamon) has been growing with 45% in the last four years in ter...


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Paid Search costs soar following Google policy change – Revolution Magazine News – Revolution Magazine
“According to Hitwise’s report Managing Your Brand Online, 88 per cent of UK internet searches for the 2,000 most popular search terms in May 2008 were for branded terms – up from 65 per cent in 2005.
The 10 most popular searches were brand destinations, led by Facebook, Bebo, YouTube and MySpace. The report found that 8.7 per cent of searches for the top 100 online brands in the UK results in a visit to a website not operated by the brand owner.”
Does this mean that generic search terms aren’t that valuable? No – but it shows that doing your homework on the type and kind of terms your audiences are using is effort well spent.


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Silverthorne Attorneys just points to the news: Michelin recalled 77,000 tires. Goodyear recalled 41,000 tires. Both of those are very recent. There are continuous recalls on tires from makers around the globe.
Yes, the tire companies cleverly toss off the responsibility, saying that the driving public has to care for their tires in half a dozen different ways. However, our product liability attorneys know that those tire company claims are aside from the faults inherent in their manufacture and production and design.
Our law firm experts on tires urge you to check your tires right now! No, not for air pressure or tread wear…check the brand and serial numbers. Run a check online to insure that your tires have not been recalled or are the subject of problems.
Defective Tires on Rental Cars
Michelin North America Inc. says its lease fleet customers complained that some of the tires had lost air rapidly during use as retreads over the past two years, prompting a company investigation. It did not cite any instances of crashes. Silverthorne Attorneys notes that fleet cars means Rental Cars. If you use rental cars, take note of the tires they use on any rented vehicle. If it is one of the many recalled or warning branded tires, stay away and get a different vehicle. Rental companies are notorious for sending out all manner of vehicles that have recall items and parts…without having the parts repaired or replaced as ordered by the manufacturer or the government. Our tire recall attorneys have familiarity with such cases and warns caution.
If you have suffered loss, injury of the death of the loved one from tire failure, call us right away. Time is critical as evidence can be lost and your claim has limits.
Additionally, as future advice, we suggest if you’re buying a used truck, van or SUV in the near future, you should check the type of tires on the vehicle before you seal the deal. Buying a used car with recalled tires is dangerous, and these recalls are a good reminder to have the tires checked out before you buy.


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On June 26th 2020, NanoAvionics, an innovative nano-satellite mission integrator with presence in Europe and the United States, selected ENPULSION as its supplier for electrical propulsion system solutions. ENPULSION will provide propulsion systems for two missions of NanoAvionics customers. Their payloads will be integrated onboard NanoAvionics flagship preconfigured nano-satellite buses. One of these missions will provide remote sensing data from space and a few communications satellites will be launched for the mission of the 2nd customer. First thrusters will be shipped to NanoAvionics in the coming months and ENPULSION will provide integration support and an on-site training.
“In spite of the disruption caused by COVID-19 worldwide, for our company 2020 has been a very promising year and we are very optimistic for the future of the space industry. The strengths of our technology, our products, and our team allow us to have a diverse and ever-increasing customer list, and we are happy and proud to add NanoAvionics as our partner for these and potentially other exciting future projects,” says ENPULSION founder and CEO Alexander Reissner. “We see this as the beginning of a long and mutually beneficial cooperation.”
“We are glad to be working with ENPULSION within the scope of two upcoming satellite missions. We choose our suppliers based on rigorous selection process, based on quality, flight heritage and quality control certifications – all possessed by ENPULSION – a competitive player in small satellite propulsion market. Based on these criteria, I believe that our companies are well aligned in this collaboration ”, says NanoAvionics CEO Vytenis Buzas.
ENPULSION is the world’s leading manufacturer of electric propulsion systems for nano- and microsatellites. The company is based in Wiener Neustadt, Austria and has a business development office in the USA. Its products are based on the company’s proprietary Field-Emission Electric Propulsion (FEEP) technology, behind which are more than 15 years of research and development work in cooperation with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Research Facility FOTEC. In its own semi-automated production facility ENPULSION manufactures the IFM Thruster family, including the IFM Nano Thruster – the only compact, scalable, and modular electric propulsion system worldwide. The IFM Nano Thruster became the first European electric propulsion thruster to fly on a constellation of satellites. Currently there are more than 30 ENPULSION thrusters in space with more than 100 delivered to customers. The company is ISO 9001 certified.
NanoAvionics is a nanosatellite bus manufacturer and mission integrator currently based in four locations – Columbia (US), Midland (US), Vilnius (Lithuania), and Oxfordshire (UK). Its flagship multi-purpose M6P, M12P and M16P are the first preconfigured nanosatellite buses in the sector, designed to serve emerging commercial space markets. The company’s efforts are focused on enabling critical satellite functions and optimizing their launch, hardware and operation costs – ranging from single missions to constellations. Its core engineering team has implemented over 75 successful satellite missions and commercial projects during the past several years. NanoAvionics is ISO 9001 certified, following a very high standard of quality management procedures.


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Jennifer Maxwell is returning to the energy bar world with one of the most impressive pedigrees in the market. She and her husband, Brian, founded PowerBar about 40 years ago, and later sold the company to Nestle in 2000.
Now she’s back with Jambar, which are organic, naturally sweetened energy bars that are inspired by her love of music. The new brand launched in September 2021.
The only problem: The market she helped pioneer is now a highly competitive and saturated field.
“There’s a lot of competition,” Maxwell said. “You have to decide, ‘what’s the brand identity?’ I know what I’m doing. I created the category.”
The Daily spoke with the San Rafael, California-based entrepreneur about the experience she’s bringing with her on this new endeavor, what’s different about today’s market, and where she sees the company going.
Maxwell began formulating recipes for Jambar in 2016 on the same KitchenAid mixer she used to start PowerBar.
“Thirty-eight years have gone by. The industry has changed quite a bit,” she said. “People ask me all the time. ‘Why did you get back into the energy bar industry that you and Brian created?’”
Maxwell’s answer is that she wanted a high-quality product made with real food.
“I’m a food scientist, a lifelong athlete and musician, and I thought I could combine my passions,” she said.
When asked if she would be taking a different approach to building her new brand and learning from her experience at PowerBar, Maxwell said, “we’ve learned that people matter, that relationships matter. But we also have to use our tools and resources efficiently so that we continue to grow and innovate with the industry.”
She noted that the speed of information and communication in today’s world is much quicker than in the 1980s and 1990s, and her company culture is to avoid relying too much on technology and instead focus on relationships.
“It’s really more about how we stay true to our roots,” Maxwell said. “We’re a very person-to-person oriented company. We like to speak to people rather than through machines if we can.”
As far as product formulation, nutrition and food science has evolved substantially since the early PowerBar days. Maxwell can get her hands on more ingredients that provide possibilities for innovation.
“The quality of ingredients we can use is really high compared to what we had available in the ‘80s,” she said.
In defining her approach to the business, Maxwell said the company is built on three pillars: authenticity, quality, and community.
“There are dozens and dozens of bars,” she said. “But what’s the purpose? No one can argue with these pillars.”
For authenticity, Maxwell leans on her backstory.
“We created this industry 38 years ago. I’ve been doing this a long time,” she said. “There’s a lot of credibility to that.”
For quality, Maxwell points to the ingredients, which don’t include manufactured sugars and use what she calls “real food.”
“The nutritional composition of Jambar is pretty high in terms of providing an athlete or active person with more nutrition,” she said.
For community and philanthropy, Jambar sponsors hundreds of events a year, about 25 events a month, according to Maxwell.
Maxwell sees Jambar as an energy bar for athletes, which she views as a specific category that’s less common in the market today.
The other part of the brand identity she’s highlighting is Jambar’s affiliation with sports and music.
Maxwell plays drums in a band, and she uses her own product to help provide the energy she needs to load her drum kit, unload it, play a set, then load everything again.
“An energy bar can come in really handy,” she said. “You’re not eating a sandwich behind the kit.”
Maxwell is distributing the bars in specialty running stores and outdoor specialty retailers as well as grocery stores. Jambars are also available on Amazon and on the company’s website.
Bart Schaneman can be reached at email@example.com.


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Apple’s iPhone 8 topped the global best sellers list for the month of May according to data from Counterpoint's Market Pulse, a tool used for analysing the smartphone market. The iPhone 8 was trailed by the Galaxy S9 Plus, iPhone X, Xiaomi Redmi 5A, and the iPhone 8 Plus. Apple will certainly be pleased that it managed to top the list as its iPhone 8 was rated as fifth best-selling the month prior in April.
The main reason given for the iPhone 8’s pull-ahead was strong promotions. Apple’s ‘How to shoot on iPhone’ campaign before the World Cup helped drive interest in Apple products in Europe and other markets.
As for Apple’s other phones, the iPhone X remained steady from April to May retaining 2.3% of the global smartphone sales market share - this kept it in third place. As for the iPhone 8 Plus, this slipped from fourth place in April with its 2.3% market share to fifth place in May with 2.1%.
The biggest loser in May was the the Samsung Galaxy S9 which was enjoying second place in April with 2.6% market share but slipped to sixth place with 2.1% after Xiaomi muscled in with its Redmi 5A to get to fourth place with 2.2% market share.
Apple is due to reveal a new roster of phones in September this year so it’s interesting to see the iPhone 8 pick up now. Although Counterpoint didn’t mention this, one of the reasons that iPhone 8 could have picked up is precisely because of the new iPhone models coming down the pipeline; there are big savings to be made right now on the iPhone 8 at various retailers.
Let us know in the comments whether these results surprised you with the iPhone X largely overshadowing the iPhone 8 with it's new notch design.
Source: Counterpoint Research via 9to5mac
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Mumbai: India’s leading e-commerce platform ‘Myntra’ forced to revamp their logo after controversy came up of accusing the company’s logo as indecent and insulting to women.
The complaint was filed by Ekta Naaz, founder and director of Avestha Foundation, a social service platform. She alleged the pink-orange shaded letter ‘M’ as indecent, derogatory and denigrating to women.
Myntra is an Indian fashion e-commerce company headquartered in Bengaluru, Karnataka. It is one of most successful e-commerce platforms in the market.


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With pandemic-triggered curfews, lockdowns and social distancing measures hurling the world into a social abyss, the internet emerged as a global savior, stepping up to the plate to fill the physical void by facilitating human interaction and corporate communications.
A survey conducted by DataReportal reveals that as of April 2022, 62.5% of the global population are now avid internet users. A report published by the World Advertising Research Center (WARC), using data from mobile trade body, Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA) in 2019 states that a total of 72.6%, almost three-quarters of the world population, would be accessing the internet via smartphones alone.
While we witnessed traditional and rigid ventures collapse under covid’s crippling conditions, the more innovative and forward-thinking enterprises made leaps and bounds by hopping on to the online bandwagon and offering their product or service through virtual points of contact. Need groceries? Schedule your doctor’s appointment? Make a bank transaction? Set reminders about your anniversary? Or even hold your company’s board meeting? All this is now just a click away!
So, what’s all the buzz about?
We hardly stop to consider the indispensable dependency on the use of the internet for our personal and professional activities. The basics such as bank details, identifying information and even those pictures we upload of family and friends with current location tags on social media, financial statements, employee payroll details or business strategies and every other little detail that we save for our convenience is afloat on cyberspace.
There is so much information out there that a person’s buying habits can be easily predicted, a business’ strategy can be singled out, and even a country’s defense system is wholly or partly reliant on this!
Such mundane yet valuable information even if protected on some level could still be vulnerable to gross illegal misuse through criminal activity known as cybercrimes.
What are cybercrimes?
Cybercrimes refer to the use or targeting of a computer, network or networked device to commit an unlawful act such as fraud, identity theft, data breaches and trafficking child pornography, mostly with the aim of making a profit.
These constitute attacks on the virtual body of individuals, corporations or governments and are a major disruption of the digital presence which has become an essential element of our everyday life.
In fact, according to a survey done by Allianz Global Corporate and Specialty, risk management experts expect cybercrimes to be the biggest risk to businesses in 2022. The danger imposed is more and more real each day.
Types of Cybercrimes
Identity theft and impersonation Fraudulently and dishonestly making use of identification features such as electronic signatures or passwords.
Credit and debit card fraud Using credit or debit card information illegally gained to make undue profits or purchases.
Cyberbullying and stalking Attack on a person using electronic communication.
Illegal content Where the criminal shares or distributes inappropriate content such as Child Sexually Abusive Material (CSAM).
Data breach Where information is obtained without authorization.
Phishing/ Vishing/ Smishing These are all forms of fraud that involve stealing personal information through emails or phone calls.
Pharming Redirecting web traffic to a bogus site.
DDoS attacks Distributed Denial of Services is an attack intended to make a service unavailable by overwhelming it with traffic.
Ransomware Introducing computer malware that encrypts valuable data and holds such on ransom till the victimized parties pay the asking price.
Viruses, Worms and Trojans Are all forms of malicious programs that are designed to damage or alter the data stored in a system or which open a backdoor entryway to give access to criminals.
Crypto-jacking Where computer resources are used to mine cryptocurrency illegally.
Espionage Obtaining information without the knowledge of the owner (this could be highly secure information relating to the national security of a country).
Mainstream Cybercrime in 2021
Cybercrime is on the rise! Here are some notable 2021 attacks which had national, international, and institutional level implications according to Computer Weekly’s Security Editor, Alex Scroxton:
The Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack The US government enacted emergency actions after the ‘Darkside’ ransomware attack shut down a major US fuel pipeline causing a hike in fuel prices which has come to be known as the most disruptive digital ransom operation reported.
The Kaseya ransomware heist The REvil crew demanded a cumulative $70m in ransom payment from over 1000 businesses after compromising services provided by Kaseya, a software and IT management firm.
The multiple victims of the BlackMatter gang The gang was reportedly one of the most impactful emergent ransom crews in 2021 that attacked multiple targets.
The attack on the Irish Health Services The Conti ransomware gang ruthlessly encrypted the system of the Healthcare services causing major disruptions to patient services. Mercifully there were no deaths as a result of the attack, however the service has not yet fully recovered.
Data leaked on Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine Cybercriminals did their best to disrupt the roll-out of the vaccine program in Europe with a data dump through stolen data, jeopardizing the safe evaluation, regulation and distribution of the vaccine.
Cybercrimes, although in the grand scheme of things are an insidious assault on our systems and infrastructure, have the potential to reach deep into our individual lives to perforate our social fabric in a personal and private capacity.
Cybercrimes and social media
Numbers show that the use of social media is ever increasing. This is no surprise as the pandemic was a catalyst for many to get on social media platforms just to keep in touch with their loved ones, for entertainment and even as a means of engaging in daily professional activities.
From Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok to Tinder and more, the rising popularity of social media platforms is goading bait for cybercriminals awaiting an opportunity to exploit. An inherent quality of data sharing on social media is that of trust as there is a sense of safety in sharing one’s personal intimate details on a platform designed to be used among known family and friends. This created the perfect environment for these cybercriminals to thrive.
Creating fake accounts for various inducements and frauds such as ‘Romance Scams’ like the famous “Tinder Swindler” where several victims were groomed eventually tricking them into handing over money; phishing schemes to gain personal details sold on the dark web or gaining access to financial accounts and even infecting organizations with malware through social media are only some of these crimes.
Always be aware of the privacy settings on each of your social media platforms as past scandals such as the Facebook Cambridge Analytica debacle goes to show that our information could be sold without our knowledge. Privacy is now more regulated than before with reforms such as the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation.
Cybercrimes and family
From identity theft, impersonation, cyberbullying and stalking to illegal content, your family is at risk of being exploited via the internet. Be it elders over the age of 50 to teenagers and young children, no one in the family is deemed safe anymore.
Due to the heavy reliance on the internet for simple matters such as banking, grocery shopping or shopping for medicine and children moving to online viewing and the use of technology for educational purposes, the online presence of a family as a whole is inevitable.
“Social engineering” schemes that garner the trust of people by pretending to be someone they know and “borrowing” money on such pretext and other phishing schemes pose a serious threat to the most vulnerable members of your family.
Children, especially, find the line between their online and offline world blurry and are most susceptible to dangerous crimes such as grooming, inappropriate content (including CSAM), and harmful interactions leading to harassment, bullying, stalking and even kidnappings.
While internet usage is inevitable and at most times advantageous, your family as a whole must be made aware of its dangers.
Be cautious when making online payments
Use stronger methods of data protection
Stop oversharing on less private forums
Simply thinking twice before responding to unknown entities could prevent oneself from being a victim of cybercrime
Cybercrime and retail
With online purchasing on the rise, the retail industry has by far changed the most in the past 20 years. With globalization coupled with the latest forms of online target marketing, the retail sector thrives on the internet as a sales platform. While this opens it up to a global market it has also opened the retail sector to cybercriminals.
As online payments facilitate purchases in the e-commerce retail sector, the industry and its stakeholders are relatively more susceptible to DDoS and Web app attacks through malware, data breaches and credit / debit card fraud.
Each attack on such cyber security has an average cost of up to $4.24 million where criminals target peak sales seasons such as Black Friday and Christmas for such fraud and sabotage.
Cybercrimes and SMEs
Any organization is heavily reliant on operating systems, software applications and networks be it a blue-chip company or an SME (Small and Medium Enterprise). However, unlike the more established blue-chip companies that will survive such a cyberattack, an SME might fail to do so.
Unfortunately, we now see an increase in cyberattacks on SMEs where, according to Accenture’s Cost of Cybercrime Study, 43% of such attacks are aimed at SMEs and only 14% of them are equipped to defend themselves against it. The most common type of attacks on such businesses is phishing, malware, ransomware, insider threats and taking advantage of the use of weak passwords.
The result of such attacks on the cyber security of an SME will leave them with a damaged reputation where clients lose their trust in the up-and-coming brand. The loss of intellectual property could result in the loss of that competitive edge that the company was bargaining on for success. Not to mention the costs involved in recovering and repairing while securing against future threats will be enough to drown the business.
The future of cybercrimes
With the cost of cybercrimes on the rise, the toll, either monetary or otherwise, it takes on a personal, corporate and national level has proven to be heavy. Hence the age-old adage “prevention is better than cure” is more appropriate when it comes to methods of cyber security now more than ever. With each advancement in technology comes a new more complicated challenge but investing in the right type of security can help overcome the negative and make use of the advancements made without hesitation.


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Are McDonald’s Menu Mix-Ups Paying Off?
Following a disappointing sales dip for McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) in April, the company has announced better news for the month of May, demonstrating that its increased efforts to cater to customer demands are starting to pay off.
McDonald’s announced that its global comparable sales increased 2.6 percent in May, with the U.S. up 2.4 percent, Europe up 2.0 percent, and Asia/Pacific, Middle East, and Africa up 0.9 percent, Seeking Alpha reports. These increases align with analysts’ expectations, who predicted that global sales at McDonald’s restaurants open at least 13 months would see a 1.9 percent rise.
After a 0.6 percent fall of same-restaurant sales in April, the fast food giant has been making headlines as it attempts to expand its menu, appeal to all taste preferences, and silence critics who complain about the company’s calorie-laden offerings. After dropping the Angus burger, McDonald’s now offers egg white McMuffins, chicken McWraps, and limited breakfast options for late night eaters. The company also added pasta to its Italian menu, and the notorious “Mega Potato” to Japan’s.
Don Thompson, president and CEO of McDonald’s, has worked diligently to help the company compete with rivals while also fielding criticism about the unhealthiness of its menu options. He even announced that he has lost 20 pounds since becoming CEO, demonstrating that one can lead a healthy lifestyle even while eating McDonald’s everyday. In regards to May’s optimistic report he said, “McDonald’s strategic initiatives and diligent focus on the customer generated global comparable sales growth in May amidst ongoing uncertainty in the macro environment.”
The segment saw positive results from the majority of the globe, except Germany and France who posted negative performances. McDonald’s Europe is continuing to focus on enhancing value and breakfast offerings to help appeal to its customers. The U.K. still showed positive results, affording the company its sales increase in Europe of 2.0 percent, but the area remains a work in progress.
Don’t Miss: Constellation Buys Corona.


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2020 Nissan Murano Trim levels
The Murano is the midsized SUV made by Nissan for the 2020 model year. After taking on some minor changes from last year, the 2020 Nissan Murano is ready to campaign for its share of the SUV market.Read More
2018 Nissan Kicks offers Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
When Nissan announced the all-new 2018 Kicks CUV, the world grew very excited very quickly. At the same time, countless prospective customers started thinking of questions about this all-new Nissan model.Read More
What are the 2018 Nissan Maxima trim levels?
The top-of-the-line Nissan sedan—the Maxima—is back for the 2018 production year and it’s got more features and technology systems than ever before. In fact, many of our loyal customers are speculating that it might be the best one yet! Speaking of features, what are the 2018 Nissan Maxima trim levels? Keep on reading, we’ve got everything you need to know!Read More
Trim Levels Archives - Charlie Clark Harlingen Spanish


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Characterized by quickness, lightness, and ease of movement, nimble: this is what it means to be agile.
Ever since Hewlett-Packard spun off its test and measurement business as Agilent Technologies in 1999, it seems that every old company reborn as a spin-off wants to proclaim this rejuvenating quality in its name.
HP was in the thrall of Carly Fiorina at the time. The newly appointed CEO was fresh from her triumph at Lucent Technologies, the AT&T spinoff. HP wanted some Lucent magic.
The beauty of the name ‘Lucent’ lies in its literal meaning – giving off light; luminous. It was a one-off, but that didn’t deter the test and measurement executive team. “Give us a Lucent” was the order to Landor, the company that came up with the name.
The result was Agilent. Helpfully explaining that the name is derived from the word “agile” the company said in a statement that the name reflects the company’s “focus on providing breakthrough products and services with agility, speed, and commitment to its customers.”
Agilent has chugged solidly along, steady and reliable as a stock but scarcely the agile giant it would have us believe it was going to be.
Being agile has since become nothing more than a corporate conceit. It says more about the executive team’s view of how it wishes to be regarded than of any distinguishing and differentiating corporate virtue.
The latest company to come trippingly into the world is Engility, a government services company spun-off by L-3 Communications.
The name is derived from “engineering” and “agility” says the company. It states: “As the name Engility implies, we have a demonstrated ability to anticipate our customers’ needs and move quickly and efficiently to deploy resources on large and small, complex programs worldwide”.
Sigh. There is really only so much you can say about being agile before you soon begin to sound stale, clumsy, and seriously pedantic.


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Sheep, goat industry takes a hit from COVID-19
Like most of the U.S. economy, the sheep and goat industry is expected to take a few hard knocks from the COVID-19 epidemic as restaurants close temporarily, and more people work from home.
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Sheep and Goat Specialist Reid Redden tells producers that COVID-19 is causing major market disruptions in the sheep and goat industry. The disease couldn’t have worse timing, striking during the biggest peak in the supply-demand season for lamb, Redden said. A few weeks ago, the American Lamb Board had indicated retail sales of lamb increased 50 percent before COVID-19 started impacting the U.S. economy.
Since then, the disease has progressed, and lamb prices have dropped amidst restaurants in many states having to temporarily close dining areas, shutdown or focus on takeout or curbside pickups. In response, Redden said many restaurants are canceling orders because they are utilizing a fraction of the meat they would have. “It is very concerning, because the restaurants utilize half of the traditional lamb sales,” he said. “Now, we are going to have to depend upon retail grocery stores to increase sales.”
Can grocers pick up the slack?
“Retail sales almost double during the Easter holiday, which is really concerning now because we’re expecting consumers to buy a lot of lamb at Easter. However, churches are shutdown, and a lot of people are unemployed, short on money,and stuck at home. A lot of them may have ample time to cook a leg of lamb, but it’s whether or not they can afford it,” he said. “Many people may be looking at cheaper meat purchases in the months ahead.”
David Anderson, PhD AgriLife Extension livestock and foods marketing specialist, expects loss of demand and lower prices driven by fear of a recession. “The big question is how much we can recapture in the grocery store market,” he said. What could help is a steady demand for ethnic lamb that exists year-around, and major upcoming ethnic holidays, like Ramadan and the Festival of Sacrifice, that are focused on lamb and goat meat, he said.
A non-traditional supply of lamb, focused mostly on hair sheep breeds, is also born mostly during the first five months of the year, according to Bill Thompson, Texas A&M AgriLife extension economist. However, these lambs are harvested in roughly half the amount of time. In Texas, they can be marketed as early as April, but the supply builds in May through September, when prices decline due to an excess supply, he said.
Non-traditional lambs are not typically sent to a feedlot or harvested at large, centralized processors, Thompson said. They are usually harvested at smaller processors who are looking for a smaller carcass. “There is less risk right now for non-traditional markets. They usually buy a whole or portion of the carcass rather than individual cuts,” he said.
Will lamb imports be impacted?
Lamb imports have also increased during the last decade, and easily exceed domestic production. With COVID-19, Redden said travel restrictions could limit imports, but if they continue to funnel into the U.S. from countries like Australia and New Zealand, it could put more strain on an already stressed lamb market.
The exchange rates have an impact on imports into the U.S., according to Thompson. The strong dollar makes our product less competitive with imported lamb. It also makes our market more attractive to countries like Australia and New Zealand, because they get more money when they exchange our dollar back into their own currency, he said.
The economists all worry about the market staying current. From a demand and supply perspective, about 85 percent of the domestic lamb supply are born the first five months of the year. Finishing those lambs has to be slowed down or sped up to produce a year-long supply for the processor. “The biggest volume of lambs come to market the first five months of the year, around a year of age,” Redden said.
With the economy impacting the lamb market, Anderson is concerned about supplies backing up, and lambs being held longer in hopes of higher prices. “It will lead to lambs being marketed at higher weights, and more over-finished lambs coming to market. The question is if we will also continue to be an attractive market for lamb, with depressed retail and wholesale prices, to importers like Australia and New Zealand,” Anderson wondered.
If production backs up and imports continue, Anderson said more lamb may be placed in cold storage stocks, which could keep prices depressed for a longer period of time. “I would expect some higher priced cuts like racks and loins to end up in stocks, but lower priced cuts, like ground lamb, may still move in retail,” he said.
Up until the coronavirus outbreak, non-traditional markets were comparable to last year or even higher. Since then, prices have come down, but are still above where they were last year, Thompson said.
Keeping the market current will be key in getting through this economy. “I don’t recommend holding tight, setting on things, and letting the coronavirus get past us. If too many of us do that, it may flood the market. I would recommend marketing early rather than later,” Thompson said.
Though the goat market also has some seasonal patterns, it is less likely to be impacted by the economy. “Goat meat is seldom seen in restaurants or on the menu, so the temporary closure of restaurants won’t have much impact on the goat market,” Thompson said. “The supply chain may be more resistant to outside influences. Because of the seasonal patterns, I would still recommend marketing earlier rather than later.” ❖
— Clark is a freelance livestock journalist from western Nebraska. She can be reached by email at email@example.com.


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Google announced that now when you search Google on Android devices that they may display relevant Android apps that you can install based on your search query.
Previously, apps would only be displayed on your mobile search results if you had the app already installed. But now, through App Indexing, if your Android app has content relevant to the search query, Google may decide to display the app as a recommendation for the user to download in order to see the relevant content within the app.
If you’ve implemented App Indexing, when indexed content from your app is relevant to a search done on Google on Android devices, people may start to see app install buttons for your app in search results. Tapping these buttons will take them to the Google Play store where they can install your app, then continue straight on to the right content within it.
Content within Android apps will currently receive a bit of a ranking promotion for searches done on Android devices as part of the new mobile search algorithm Google announced back in February. Part two of that algorithmic update is coming on April 21st, which will impact not just Android apps for Android searchers but also any mobile-friendly web site.
Google said, “with the addition of these install links, we are starting to use App Indexing as a ranking signal for all users on Android, regardless of whether they have your app installed or not.”
The install links are now part of this algorithm, so now even if you do not have the Android app installed, Android apps that use App Indexing can potentially benefit from this mobile algorithm.


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Apple’s extended warranty, AppleCare+, has always covered iOS and Apple Watch devices for a total of two years. But after its iPhone 11 event, the company quietly introduced a new option that basically turns AppleCare+ into a full-on monthly subscription, allowing consumers to continue paying beyond the regular coverage period and keep going for as long as Apple is able to service their product. The change was spotted by 9to5Mac.
Apple had already offered monthly installments for AppleCare+, but that was only an alternative to paying a lump sum for the same two-year coverage total.
With the new approach, Apple uses the pretty clear wording of “pay monthly until canceled.” As 9to5Mac notes, you’d end up paying more through the monthly option for the standard 24 months of coverage than if you just opted to buy that length of time outright. The new subscription is really best for people who plan to hold on to their gadgets for several years.
If you’ve already got AppleCare+ on a device, there doesn’t seem to be any way to switch over to the monthly plan. This is for recent purchases only; you’ve got 60 days from the time of buying a device to add AppleCare+.
AppleCare+ usually covers two incidents of accidental damage for a given device over two years. If you go with the monthly plan, you’re protected for two incidents for every 24 months of coverage. The latest iPhones have tougher glass and enhanced water resistance, according to Apple’s claims, so hopefully you won’t need to worry about such mishaps.
AppleCare+ is part of Apple’s services division, and this change to a keep-paying-for-as-long-as-you-want model could help boost services profits even higher.
The indefinite AppleCare+ coverage isn’t available for Mac computers, Apple TVs, or other products, which still require upfront payments. However, Apple also just introduced AppleCare+ for AirPods and Beats headphones, including the Powerbeats Pro. The extended warranty costs $29, but it doesn’t cover loss — one of the bigger risks that owners of true wireless earbuds contend with.


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After months and months of waiting PS4 players can finally jump into PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds as the game made its debut on Sony’s current-gen hardware last Friday, December 7th. The game is currently available digitally and at retail for Â£24.99. By logging into the game, PS4 players will receive an exclusive Pixel Art parachute skin.
Here’s what the CMO of PUBG Corp, Richard Kwon, had to say about this release:
â€œAs of today, PUBG is open to PlayStation 4â€™s tens of millions of players, which is an important milestone for our global team. In addition to experiencing our game for the first time, the PlayStation community can also look forward to upcoming content, such as our new map Vikendi.â€
Furthermore, they’ve also confirmed that the Vikendi snow map is currently on test servers for PC and will arrive to console, PS4 and Xbox One, next month.
The new map, Vikendi, was unveiled during last week’s Game Awards. It’s a brand new 6×6 Winter themed map which mixes the rush of Sanhok and the tension of Erangel. Considering it’s taking place in an environment surrounded by snow, players will leave footsteps meaning the hunter will become the hunted. The map also includes a new weapon, the G36C rifle and also bring a snowmobile to facilitate riding around the frozen landscape. The map will available to PC players on December 19.


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Content strategies market place business 2 business Pepper Content recently announced that the company has raised funds amounting to $ 14.3 million USD in their latest rounding of funding. This round was primarily led by Bessemer Venture Partners an American based venture capital fund company.
Many more fund management companies took part in the round such as Tanglin Venture Partners as well investors who are already vested in the start-up company such as Lightspeed and Titan Capital as well as many other well-known names in the world of Indian start-ups and unicorns such as Ritesh Agarwal who is the founder of Oyo as well as Gokul Rajaram who is one of the top brasses at Doordash.
Pepper Content is a start-up company that provides the best content and marketing strategies to their clients so that they stand out in an ocean of content with various companies trying to get the attention of potential customers. The company was founded 5 years ago back in 2017 and its head office is situated in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The company has a strong team of independent content creators which include writers, graphic designers, editors and so many more in the digital art field.
The co-founder of the company, Mr. Anirudh Singla said that the company collaborates alongside with the best creative talents of the country who have a varied knowledge and interest in various fields and industries and they even have to undergo a long process and test to ensure that they will be good fit for the company. These tests even check their knowledge of languages and so on.
According to the company, they have over 1 lakh freelancers working with them and they have close to 3000 clients they are working with.
When asked what the company plans to do with this fresh batch of funds, the spokes people said that they plan to scale up their business internationally and enter the United States and have a wide presence there.
They also plan to diversify the operations they already have and open up new services in graphic designing and language translations which will help the company in creating a much wider content which will not only improve the content but also increase the number of people who can view it.
They currently have translation and other language services for 45 various languages including 15 South Asians ones but they plan to increase that number.


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The Norwegian Seafood Council held a special meeting featuring the Norwegian Ambassador to Vietnam Hilde Solbakken and Vietnamese Ambassador to Norway Dinh Nho Hung in Norway and invited the Vietnamese press; Tuoi Tre, Tien Phong, Dan Tri, Vietnamnet, and Lao dong to to share its expertise about aquaculture and fishing industry.
Norway always wants to share its seafood development experience with Vietnam, especially in the fields of management and technology transfer of the world’s leading aquaculture, said Ambassador Solbakken.
According to the Seafood from Norway Vietnam’s Facebook post, both Ambassadors expressed their expectations that the Vietnamese press will get to learn more about the process of producing high-quality seafood products, the transparent management philosophy, sustainable development direction, and environmental protection measures.
In the coming time, Ambassador Solbakken hoped that the insightful information the Vietnamese press would deliver to the Vietnamese public would contribute to promoting the special cooperation relationship between the two countries.
Source: Seafood from Norway Vietnam


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Acclaimed baker Pascal Rigo remembers the crazy days of his first baking experience in La La Land. During the early 1990s, he was baking artisan breads in Los Angeles where he started doing business with fancy hotels, crafting stylish sourdough loaves and delivering them in baskets. “Americans didn’t consume bread the way the way we do,” he recalls, with a nod to his home country of France. “I wasn’t trying to replace. I wanted to just add something else.”
Rigo was making fabulous breads in assorted styles and flavors, some with cheese or walnuts, and selling to restaurants and hotels, until he decided to open his first retail store in Southern California.
“I was so busy I would fall asleep at a traffic light when it was red,” he recalls. Soon he had opened three retail stores but later sold out to a major chain. “I sold the company to California Pizza Kitchen in 20 minutes,” says Rigo, who was asked to stay on as a consultant for months. “I stayed for six hours and drove to San Francisco.”
Fast forward to February 2018. Speaking at Europain in Paris, the baker who brought artisan breads to Trader Joe’s and Starbucks discussed how he remains as committed as ever to producing great-tasting organic breads at affordable prices.
Rigo said he walked away from a partnership with Starbucks in 2015 after helping the chain double its annual food sales to $3 billion in three years. Then he went on to introduce La Boulangarie retail bakeries in San Francisco. But now his eyes have turned back to his home country of France where he is embarking on a new style of small artisan bakeries to the Bordeaux region of France, where he grew up and first learned his beloved trade.
According to reports, France has lost thousands of bakeries over the past decade because of hard economic times. Now Rigo is seeking out closed boulangeries in small towns, hoping to fix the finances and reopen the stores.
“Today, I feel that I am a full product of a French education. I realized there was a real opportunity to open stores in France. We are going against the wave. We want to allow young bakers who don’t have the money to open stores. We will help with financing.”
As of early February, Rigo says that five such stores have opened in France, and a dozen more are set to open soon, including three in Paris. He envisions young bakers using their education to take new risks and try different methods to produce the most flavorful breads on the planet. “Just to say there’s a different way to imagine bakeries today in France, which is very traditional,” he says. “Everything is possible if you have conviction.”
Baking in San Francisco
Rigo opened the first La Boulange location in San Francisco in 1999 and joined Starbucks as part of its acquisition of La Boulange from a management and investment group. At the time, La Boulange was operating 19 retail locations in the Bay Area.
Rigo and his team went from baking 250 croissants a day per bakery to overseeing the production of one million croissants per day for Starbucks.
“We installed one freezer per hour for the first two and a half years,” he says. “We stuck to our principles, offering great bread at affordable prices. Today, their products are clean, and I’m very proud of it.”
From 2013 to 2015, Starbucks grew its food business dramatically, and Rigo played an instrumental role. Still, he felt conflicted.
“The big frustration was that nobody knew about it,” he says. “I told Starbucks, ‘Let’s put food bars in all US locations and change them every three months and tell people about the food.’ They said no. I realized they are a coffee company not wanting to become a food company. I became unsure, and I sent a very nice letter to Howard.”
A year after announcing plans to close the La Boulange locations, Starbucks said it was partnering with Princi, a high-end Italian bakery and cafe founded by Rocco Princi in 1986.
Early Life Lessons
Born and trained in professional artisan baking in the Bordeaux region of France, Rigo learned early on about how to craft recipes from all over the world. This enlightened background in bread baking is one reason he is so passionate about encouraging young bakers to discover.
In 1991, at the age of 31, “I decided to go to the US,” he says. “There were too many great bakers in France that I figured the only way to make it was to leave.”
Once he arrived in San Francisco, Rigo discovered a small organic flour mill in Logan, Utah, that specializes in organic bread flour. “The raw materials for me was very important, to be able to work with farmers to process their wheat.”
Around this time, an upstart grocery chain called Trader Joe’s, then with 40 locations, was beginning to attract a loyal following of customers who were passionate about organic foods. “We decided to introduce Pain Pascal to Trader Joe’s, and it is still sold today at Trader Joe’s 460 locations. Initially, we had one small production point — only selling very premium organic bread. The bakery had to increase in size to meet demand. We grew extremely organically.”
As business grew, so did his desire to open a retail store. “That was the starting point. The problem is it worked very well,” Rigo says with a chuckle.
Here lies the essence of the ongoing friction within Rigo’s soul. He strives to excel at everything, but once it works out well, the size and complexity of the new operation conflicts with his internal desire to keep it small and local.
So when Starbucks founder Howard Schultz reached out to Rigo and presented the opportunity to “do craft bread at a big scale,” he agreed — but now understands the enormous challenge he faced.
“When you decide to say yes, you need to do it for good reason. I had no reason to sell my business, but this guy (Schultz) was extraordinary. Starbucks does 68 million transactions a week.”


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A new update has started rolling out for the HTC U11
. Coming in at about 663MB, the software upgrade should bump the software version to 1.27.400.9
There's a nice new functionality aboard the latest update - users will be able to record 1080p 60FPS video clips after they install it. HTC vowed to include the feature earlier this year, so it's nice to see the company fulfill its promise. Also included is the Android security patch for the month of August, as well as a bunch of system improvements which aren't specified.


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U.S. Stocks Rise Despite Weak Jobs Report
New York (AFP) – U.S. stocks Friday moved higher in early trade despite a U.S. employment report that showed surprisingly weak jobs growth in January.
About 35 minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 65.56 points (0.42 percent) to 15,694.09.
The broad-based S&P 500 rose 11.09 (0.63 percent) to 1,784.52, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 31.08 (0.77 percent) to 4,088.20.
The gains followed a U.S. Labor Department report that said the U.S. economy added just 113,000 jobs in January, far fewer than the analyst consensus forecast of 175,000.
That marked the second disappointing jobs report in a row after jobs growth in December came in at a paltry 75,000, far below the 194,000 monthly average for 2013.
Apple rose 1.4 percent after chief executive Tim Cook said in an interview that the company bought back $14 billion in stock in the wake of a disappointing earnings report released in late January that hit Apple’s valuation.
Internet professional networking company LinkedIn tumbled 8.6 percent on a disappointing sales outlook for 2014. The company projects revenues of $2.02-$2.05 billion, well below the $2.16 billion expected by analysts.
Internet travel company Expedia got a big lift from fourth-quarter earnings of 92 cents per share, handily beating estimates of 86 cents. Shares jumped 13.7 percent.
Expedia’s results also boosted other online travel companies, including TripAdvisor (+7.0 percent) and Priceline (+2.2 percent).
Gap Inc. jumped 6.1 percent on data that showed it bucked the trend of weak retail sales during the year-end holiday shopping season. Fourth-quarter comparable sales rose one percent.
The retailer forecast earnings of 65-66 cents per share for the fourth quarter, more than the 61 cents projected by analysts.
Bond prices were mixed. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury slipped to 2.69 percent from 2.70 percent, while the 30-year rose to 3.67 percent from 3.65 percent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.\
AFP Photo/John Moore


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Teridion joins Kickstart Ventures investment portfolio
Teridion, a cloud-based networking company, becomes the 25th startup in the investment portfolio of Kickstart Ventures, Inc., a wholly-owned venture capital subsidiary of Globe Telecom.
Kickstart joins SingTel Innov8, Jerusalem Venture Partners, and Magma Ventures for Teridion’s Series B fundraising amounting to US$20 million which allows Teridion to accelerate its go-to-market strategy as well as grow its team both in the US and abroad.
The internet is showing its age and Teridion offers a fix for content companies, app publishers, and other businesses that serve content and apps at scale. It has deployed a cloud-based optimization service that identifies the best paths for content and apps, and selects these paths so that dynamic content —- both uploads and downloads — are delivered up to 20x faster.
Being a Business-to-Business (B2B) company, Teridion requires no hardware nor software installation, thereby, making deployment much quicker and cost-effective than a traditional Content Delivery Network (CDN). This means a typical cloud customer can be connected to the network in under an hour.
“We have confidence in Teridion. We believe that it is the answer to the fast-growing appetite for high performance and reliable internet experience by today’s applications and services for content delivery — but without sacrificing quality or reliability. With their network optimization and content acceleration solutions, Teridion is well on its way to becoming an important partner for organizations that need to build highly-dynamic applications without compromise,” said Minette Navarrete, President of Kickstart.
Kickstart and Globe are both committed to help build a digital nation towards a #wonderfulPH through supporting and maximizing the use of information and communications technology.
“The Internet is an incredibly powerful tool but until now, we have struggled to take full advantage of its capabilities. It is still common for us to fall victim to slow response times and volatile connections.” said Elad Rave, CEO and co-founder of Teridion.
He added: “We are thankful for the trust given by Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP) and Magma Ventures, our earliest institutional investors; and our most recent investors, Singtel Innov8 and Kickstart. We are breaking down boundaries and providing users with a seamless Internet experience – no matter their location, device or application so that they can say goodbye to slow response time and volatile connections. The funding and general availability of our product are major steps in this direction. We are extending our sales coverage and channels to Asia Pacific countries.”
Teridion was only formed in 2013 but Rave has been working on the concept for over six years based on his past cloud and video experience. Their global headquarters is located in San Francisco while their engineering team is based outside of Tel Aviv, Israel.
The company’s solution is currently being used by more than 15 companies in the US and Israel which require some of the most bandwidth-demanding applications and services such as hosting and file sharing, rich media, and advertising. Future markets include enterprise and service providers.
Early customer deployments of Teridion have shown up to 20x improvement in Internet performance, offering an opportunity for businesses to achieve new levels of customer engagement and retention, ultimately driving up revenues.
Kris Lahiri, VP of operations and chief security officer at Egnyte, one of Teridion’s customers, noted how Teridion was able to help his company.
“Enterprise businesses rely on the flexibility of the Egnyte platform to securely share files, collaborate and maintain control over important data, no matter the storage provider, cloud, application or device. We want our customers to be freed from worrying about Internet connectivity or their geographical location. Fast response times and always-on reliability are vital to IT professionals and business users alike, and Teridion helps us consistently deliver high-performance across our solutions and services,” he said.
Lahiri’s view was also supported by Edward Chiu, DigitalOcean’s director of customer success. “Our company’s core mission is to simplify cloud infrastructure for the developer community. We’re excited to see Teridion focus on the same goal by simplifying content delivery across the core of the Internet, offering a service that doesn’t rely on caching,” he said.


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Beth Rooney Brings More Than Three Decades of Experience to Role; Served as Department Deputy Director for Past Three Years
Sam Ruda Departing to Return to West Coast After Steering Port Through Record-Breaking Cargo Volumes Throughout Covid-19 Pandemic
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey today announced that Sam Ruda, who has presided over record-setting growth at the busiest seaport on the East Coast, is stepping down as Director of the Port Department. Acclaimed maritime industry veteran Beth Rooney, who has more than three decades of experience and has been an integral part of the Port Department since 1993, has been appointed as its new Director. Having served as Deputy Director for the past three years, she will assume the Director role effective May 2.
Together, Ruda and Rooney have led the East Coast’s busiest and largest seaport, and third in the nation behind the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach. Under their leadership, the Port has achieved record-breaking volumes while navigating significant challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic and global supply chain disruptions, maintaining fluid operations at a time other large ports have seen significant backlogs. Ruda and Rooney have also overseen the development and implementation of the Port Master Plan, a visionary strategy to guide the port’s growth and manage an expected increase in cargo volumes over the next 30 years.
Read more here.


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Russia’s economic growth slowed to 1.0 percent in August from a year earlier, slowing from 1.8 percent in July, the economy ministry said on Thursday according to business daily newspaper Kommersant.
GDP grew by 1.6 percent in the first eight months of the year from the year-earlier period, the ministry said in a monthly report.
The data confirms analysts’ concerns that an economic recovery in Russia is still fragile. Rising retail sales are one of the few evident growth drivers, while other indicators look worrisome.
According to the Ministry, the most important reason for the slowdown was a weaker-than-expected grain and other crops harvest. In comparison with 2017, the area under crops decreased and yields dropped, while the annual dynamics in the agricultural sector was down 10.8%, the Ministry said. In addition, the annual freight turnover of transport also decreased (2.5%, after July 4.1%) and industrial production (2.7%, after July 3.9%).
Russia’s economy emerged from an almost three-year recession early in 2018, but growth has remained weak, as tensions around U.S. sanctions and the resulting weakening ruble have hindered growth.
Earlier, Russia’s Minister of Agriculture Dmitry Patrushev said that the government will compensate Russian farmers for damage caused by a crippling drought this summer, and has allocated $75.5 million for the matter.


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- Has Uber made a profit yet?
- Why do most businesses fail?
- How many startups are profitable?
- Is Tesla profitable in q2 2020?
- Is Tesla stock overvalued?
- Why startups are not profitable?
- How long should a business be prepared financially to survive if they do not make a profit?
- How many years did Amazon lose money before making a profit?
- How long is a startup considered a startup?
- Is Tesla profitable yet?
- Has Amazon made a profit yet?
- What is more important profit or revenue?
- Do startups make money?
- Has Tesla made a profit 2020?
Has Uber made a profit yet?
Share All sharing options for: Uber lost $8.5 billion in 2019, but it thinks it can get profitable by the end of 2020.
Uber reported its fourth quarter earnings on Thursday, in which it posted a net loss of $1.1 billion.
Of that Q4 loss of $1.1 billion, Uber says $243 million was due to stock-based compensation..
Why do most businesses fail?
The most common reasons small businesses fail include a lack of capital or funding, retaining an inadequate management team, a faulty infrastructure or business model, and unsuccessful marketing initiatives.
How many startups are profitable?
Only 2 in 5 startups are profitable, and other startups will either break even (1 in 3) or continue to lose money (1 in 3). 67% of Series A funded startups in 2017 were already generating revenue before being funded. The average Series A in 2010 was $4.9 million. By 2017, it reached $12.1 million.
Is Tesla profitable in q2 2020?
Despite the closure of our main factory in Fremont for nearly half the quarter, we posted our fourth sequential GAAP profit in Q2 2020, while generating positive free cash flow of $418M. Our profit improved sequentially due to fundamental operational improvements.
Is Tesla stock overvalued?
Tesla as a Tech Stock Tesla’s P/FCF of 145.7 is about three times the big tech average of 48.7. … The average of those valuation premiums suggests Tesla may be overvalued by about 168% and implies a price target of around $141.
Why startups are not profitable?
The path to success comes with survival. But the truth is that 9 out of 10 start-ups fail because of a lack of innovation. … Behind all the failures is the root cause of the shortage of money.
How long should a business be prepared financially to survive if they do not make a profit?
In general, you shouldn’t allow losses to accumulate beyond six consecutive months. The only major exception to this rule is when you have an investor who is willing to put new money into the business under a long-term turnaround plan. Medium term: six to 18 months.
How many years did Amazon lose money before making a profit?
14 yearsFor a sense of scale, it took Amazon more than 14 years—58 quarters after its May 1997 initial public offering—to make, cumulatively, as much profit as it produced in the latest quarter alone. Keep in mind that Amazon consistently lost money for its first several years as a public company.
How long is a startup considered a startup?
“A startup is a company with under 100 employees that is not yet publicly traded,” Stays says. “A startup is not a company with a large bureaucracy, it is not a company with over 100 employees, and it is not a company without a strong culture and tight-knit community.”
Is Tesla profitable yet?
As a result, Tesla has now been profitable for four straight quarters for the first time in company history — an elusive benchmark the company has long sought. … This helped the company generate $6 billion in revenue, buoyed by $370 million in energy storage sales and $487 million in services revenue.
Has Amazon made a profit yet?
Amazon reported record profit in 2018, earning $10.1 billion in net income compared with just $3 billion the prior year. Instead, its cloud computing division, Amazon Web Services, has actually generated the majority of Amazon’s operating income since 2016. …
What is more important profit or revenue?
There are times in business when it is actually more important to look at revenues and not profit. Whilst profitability is important in determining the value of a company, revenues also play a key and sometimes even more important role in determining the value of a company.
Do startups make money?
Almost every successful startup receives offers to merge or sell off. For a startup investor, this is often the quickest way to make a profit on their investment. Investors offer cash or new stock, or a combination of both.
Has Tesla made a profit 2020?
Tesla turned a surprise profit in the first quarter of 2020 of $16 million, despite factory shutdowns in China and the US, the company announced on Wednesday. It said it may still hit its goal of delivering 500,000 vehicles worldwide this year even in the face of the pandemic.


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Its price and how bulky it still turns out to put several users of the magazine back.
The market for virtual reality glasses is taking off, and it aims to do so even more with the plans of the manufacturers in the sector, and who knows if there are any more last minute guests. For this reason, at 3DJuegos we asked you a few days ago if you had planned to make the leap to this technology in the short term. The answer? Varied, with still a lot of rejection, but also many who have taken the step.
They are still large devices placed on the head that tire after a whileMigovi“As much as I love them, their problem of accessibility, compatibility and pricewhich he still has today, makes him continue to see them as a gadget bought on a whim,” Williamsdavinchi told us. Migovi spoke in a similar vein: “Immersion with the device is great, but they are still large devices placed the head that tires after a while”. “[Los dispositivos VR] they provide an immersion that is valid as a curiosity and extra, but that by its nature, also demands more from the player than a gaming session with a controller or phone in hand sprawled out on his sofa would require,” adds Belkano. in a long comment on Discord.
It seems that the price and comfort are still a handicap for these devices. Others, however, add the lack of games, something that seems to be changing little by little with various developments announced by Meta and PlayStation. “They only conquer me with Resident Evil… or some horror title”, expressed EikeSH.
Despite all this, there are those who do not see major drawbacks to this technology, to the point of marking it as a high priority for their leisure habits. “They call me more VR glasses than a new console or a more powerful graphics. Playing in virtual reality makes me recover that feeling of novelty,” says CapitlsmoSalvaje, adding that he was waiting for an offer to buy Meta Quest 2.
They call me more VR glasses than a new console or a more powerful graphicsCapitalismWildIn this way, the debate is served in the 3DJuegos forums and the Discord discussion channel. We invite you to continue participating in future specials of Readers say. But before we say goodbye, we have to announce the winner of a figure of Quill, protagonist of Moss: Book 2, one of the best VR adventures.
3D Games Discord
More about: Virtual Reality, Readers Say, PlayStation VR2 and Meta Quest 2.


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Pamela Bailey, the chief executive of the Grocery Manufacturers Association for nearly a decade, announced she will retire later this year. Bailey said the GMA board "continues to engage in the reinvention process to build the association of the future," so "it is best they do so in concert with their leader of the future."
The genetically engineered AquAdvantage salmon is cleared for sale as food in Canada, the first food animal approved for the commercial market, said Canadian health officials. The salmon, which also was the first GE animal approved by U.S. regulators, will not be required to carry a label in stores to say it was genetically modified, said the CBC.
The National Academy of Sciences, pointing to the emergence of new technology such as gene editing and the sometimes startling effects of conventional plant breeding, said the government should conduct safety reviews of all new plant varieties that pose potential hazards, not only the results of genetic engineering.
Consumers will not be allowed to sue over companies' failure to label GMO foods until next summer, Vermont legislators decided, with the state's first-in-the-nation label law taking effect July 1.
Mary McDonald, co-owner of a three-employee sauce-making company in New Hampshire, says she'll put hundreds of hours into researching ingredients in order to comply with the GMO food-labeling law that takes effect in neighboring Vermont on July 1.
A third major food company, Mars Inc., says it will put GMO labels on its products nationwide and pointed to Vermont's first-in-the-nation labeling law as the impetus.
General Mills will join Campbell Soup in alerting consumers when its products contain GMOs, but the companies are on opposite sides of the GMO-labeling issue.
The Republican-controlled Senate votes today on pre-empting states from requiring special labels on foods made with genetically modified organisms in a roll call that could split along party lines.
A Washington State judge ruled that the food industry broke campaign finance laws by concealing the source of millions of dollars of funding that was used to defeat a statewide referendum on GMO food labeling.
Legislation to pre-empt state laws that require special labels on food made with genetically modified organisms amount to "protecting corporate interests," says Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, where a pre-emption bill in on the agenda.
The Senate faces "what may well be our last chance" to block states from requiring special labels on foods made with genetically modified foods, said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, opening the way to a vote on Wednesday on a revised pre-emption bill intended to appeal to farm-state Democrats.
Four Senate Democrats proposed mandatory nationwide labeling of foods made with genetically modified organisms as a substitute for state or local regulation.


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Ray-Ban and Facebook have linked up to create a range of high-tech smart glasses – bringing forward a new way to stay off our phones and be present while enjoying life post-lockdown.
The collaboration, Ray-Ban Stories, features a line-up of glasses that allow wearers to “capture, share, and listen through their most authentic moments” without having to pick up their iPhone.
Featuring lightweight versions of Ray-Ban’s iconic Wayfarer, Round, and Meteor designs in shiny and matte black, olive, blue, and brown, the glasses let users take photos and videos using the camera on the front of the frames, listen to audio and media from any app on their phones, and take hands-free calls. Each feature can be used with simple taps or through the glasses’ Facebook assistant feature by saying voice commands (such as “Hey Facebook, take a photo”).
Facebook has also launched a companion app, Facebook View, where users can upload, edit, and share content from the smart glasses to apps such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Whatsapp, TikTok, and Snapchat.
Otherwise, in a virtual launch announcement on Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg noted that the glasses include a number of safety features, including encryption of data, a light that turns on when the camera is recording, and microphones that are not able to record when the glasses are off. This way, the glasses can be enjoyed without having to worry about privacy.
“Ray-Ban stories are an important step towards a future where phones are no longer a central part of our lives,” stated Zuckerberg. “You won’t have to choose between interacting with the device or interacting with the world around you.”
The collaboration is available from today (Sept 9) at ray-ban.com, with prices starting at $299 (£299).


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The first day at WWDC 2019 just ended, and one of the major highlights of the event was the release of iOS 13. The latest version of iOS brings many new features like dark mode, new image editing tools, and redesigned Apple Maps.
Additionally, iOS 13 also offers a major UI overhaul and performance improvements.
Unfortunately, Apple will remove support for three older iPhones i.e. iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, and iPhone 5S.
Table Of Contents
iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and iPhone 5S Won’t Receive iOS 13 Update
The latest version of iOS i.e. iOS 13 is now available as a beta release for iPhone 6S and above. As mentioned earlier, iOS 13 won’t be available for iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, and iPhone 5S users.
Apple surprised the entire tech industry by providing five years of support cycle for the iPhone 5S. That said, the Cupertino based tech giant has now come back to four years of support cycle for the iPhone 6 & iPhone 6 Plus.
Apple has also released a list of iPhone’s that will support iOS 13. These iPhone’s include the iPhone 6S, iPhone 6S Plus, iPhone SE, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR.
Additionally, iPod Touch 7th Generation will also receive the iOS 13 software update. As far as the new iPadOS is concerned, it will be available for iPad 2017, iPad 2018, iPad Air 2 & newer models, and iPad Mini 4 and newer models.
Moreover, the 9.7-inch iPad Pro, 10.5-inch iPad Pro, 11-inch iPad Pro, and 12.9-inch iPad Pro will also receive iOS 13 based iPadOS update.
iOS 13 Performance Improvements
One of the major highlights of iOS 13 is performance improvements across all devices.. Apple has claimed that the applications can now launch twice as fast as compared to iOS 12.
Furthermore, app downloads have now been reduced up to 50 percent in size. In addition to that, the app updates have also been reduced up to 60 percent in size.


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- Asda’s Income Tracker reveals the average UK household saw discretionary income fall by £16.19 per week year-on-year in March – equivalent to £841.88 per year
- Household discretionary income has now fallen for five consecutive months
- Nine out of 10 Asda customers say they are concerned about the cost-of-living crisis
Household income (weekly average)
Essential spending (weekly average)
Household discretionary income (weekly average)
Asda’s latest Income Tracker has revealed that UK households experienced the biggest fall in discretionary income on record last month due to soaring living costs.
The Income Tracker showed that after paying taxes and essential bills, households had an average discretionary income of £231 per week in March, down £16.19 a week year-on-year, representing the largest fall since the tracker was created in 2008.
Households are feeling the pinch, as essential spending on energy bills, fuel, groceries, rent and mortgages rose by an average of £37 per week in March, compared to the previous year.
As a result of rising living costs, household discretionary income has now fallen for the fifth consecutive month and is now at the lowest level in 19 months (Sept 2020: weekly average £227).
In a separate survey of more than 1,000 Asda shoppers, nine out of ten said they are worried about the cost-of-living crisis, with 44% stating they are looking to make their grocery budgets stretch further by purchasing products on promotion.
To help customers and colleagues tackle rising living costs, Asda is introducing a series of new initiatives. These include a £73m investment to ‘Drop and Lock’ the prices of 100 popular products for the rest of this year, as well as increasing pay for 120,000 shop floor colleagues to £10.10 per hour from July.
The news comes just weeks after the supermarket announced a multi-million investment into a new, budget-friendly essentials range - ‘Just Essentials at Asda’. The value focused range, which launches later next month and replaces Asda’s existing Smart Price products, will offer customers over 300 low priced essential products and has been designed to ensure shoppers can keep the family fed, clean and watered on the tightest budget.
Download a copy of the March 2022 Income Tracker here.


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Harrison Weber is TNW's Features Editor in NYC. Part writer, part designer. Stay in touch: Twitter @harrisonweber, Google+ and Email. Harrison Weber is TNW's Features Editor in NYC. Part writer, part designer. Stay in touch: Twitter @harrisonweber, Google+ and Email.
You may have not jumped aboard the tablet bandwagon yet, but there’s no denying the growing impact it’s having on the tech industry. And no matter what you think of Apple, the company essentially created the market and continues to lead it to this day.
With the recent launch of the new iPad, startups that have built their business around these slick devices have something to celebrate.
Still fresh from the release of Onswipe 2.0 and a brand new unifying content network, NY-based Onswipe camped out last night to secure a brand new iPad and tonight they’re giving it away at a “New iPad Open Bar.” Best of all, Onswipe managed to pick a place right across from the 14th street Apple Store. This means, if you don’t win a new iPad, you can easily hop in line or simply look on in envy at the resolutionary device.
In case you haven’t heard or perhaps as a refresher, Onswipe is a TechStars born startup that makes it easy for any publisher, from a new blogger to the NY Times, to transform their content into an immersive experience on the iPad. It delivers a beautiful, app like experience on the web that’s completely built for the tablet.
TNW is co-sponsoring the event with Onswipe, so if you’re in the area definitely come by and see us at Gaslight, 400 W 14th street! You can RSVP for the free event via the link below, but hurry before it fills up!
Get the TNW newsletter
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(WHTM) — Lawmakers want to help the auto industry recover from supply chain issues.
A group of U.S. senators want the Treasury Department to provide new tax relief for auto dealers facing inventory shortages.
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One of those pushing for that is Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown.
“I think we have an obligation on these, particularly these long, long-time businesses that have served this country to make sure we help them survive” Senator Brown said,
But, some Republicans say government money is making the problem worse, and believe supply chain shortages are linked to people leaving the workforce.


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Under 140 Characters
Etisalat launched a crazy deal for a limited time, where customers can pay only AED 1 daily and get 1 GB data every day.
What Is It?
Etisalat is a UAE based Emirati multinational telecom provider which is also known to have the best network in the country. It operates in countries across Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Etisalat constantly innovates itself and aims to give better service to its customers. Similarly, they have now come up with an internet plan that is surely bliss for all social media addicts. Are you one of them who exhaust their data sooner then it should, as I do? then we have some good news. Etisalat launches an amazing deal where you pay AED 1 daily and get 1 Gb data daily, yes you read it right and it’s not a typo. The deal is only available for a limited time and will renew automatically post 24 hours, so you don’t need to take the hassle of renewing it every day. To avail this offer you simply need to dial 10111# or log in to your account from the Etisalat app.
Its time to get grammingggg!
UAE will be the first country to have a 5G network in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia. Etisalat a UAE based telecom provider will be launching this service by 2020, which is expected to have 20 times faster network than 4G, with ultra-low latency and broader bandwidth. According to Etisalat, it will first be launched in expo 2020 which will be made available to 300,000 users during peak days. The speed can stream virtual 4K footage and 360-degree video feeds without any lags.


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A resurgence in Covid cases, the impact of Brexit and the continued labour shortage have slowed economic growth in the UK and drawn a question mark over the long-term effect this will have on our crippling supply chain. This, coupled with customer demand moving much faster than available supply, has resulted in inflationary costs and impacted economic recovery – creating the perfect storm.
With pressure mounting to meet consumer needs and gear up for the impeding holiday shopping boom, it’s safe to say businesses are feeling more than just the pinch. According to Oracle, 74% of UK consumers say that future delays could cause them to cut ties with their favourite brands permanently, a worrying consensus for recovering businesses.
To mitigate supply chain issues continuing to hit business’ bottom line, they must be proactive in their approach. To a large extent, disruption has been caused by a lack of supply chain visibility – it’s time for technologies, such as AI, to take the driving seat to optimise operations.


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U.S based technology company dealing in online services, consumer electronics and computer software Apple Inc. (AAPL) has been slapped with an antitrust case in India over allegedly abusing its dominance in the apps market by forcing developers to use its proprietary in-app purchase system.
These allegations are similar to ones made by the European Union last year against the tech giant in which it was accused by the union of imposing an in-app fee of 30% for distribution of paid digital content and other restrictions.
This Indian lawsuit has been filed by a non-profit making group which argues that the 30% fee charged by Apple hurts competition since it increases costs for app developers and customers while at the same time acting as a barrier to market entry.
“The existence of the 30% commission means that some app developers will never make it to the market. This could also result in consumer harm,” read the filing.
Unlike other filings in Indian courts, details and filings of cases reviewed by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) are not made public. However, a source involved in the matter disclosed that the CCI will conduct an intense scrutiny on the matter and make the appropriate decision depending on its findings.
“There are high chances that an investigation can be ordered, also because the EU has been probing this,” said the source.