text:
TORONTO — The disruption to the global economy from COVID-19 is unprecedented and rapidly evolving with its impact on the Canadian labour market likely to be widespread, long-lasting, and unpredictable. The Future Skills Centre (FSC) and OTEC recently announced a rapid response project for the hundreds of thousands tourism and hospitality workers who have lost their jobs because of the COVID-19 crisis.
The goal is to equip these displaced workers to be able to navigate an uncertain future and get new skills for changing jobs by 1) understanding and supporting their immediate needs, 2) mapping their skills and assets, and 3) finding and implementing in real-time new approaches to digitally reskilling and upskilling.
The project includes an online platform where workers will find immediate services to support resilience during the crisis. Through the platform, displaced workers will access information about COVID-related government benefits, training, certifications, tourism and hospitality job opportunities, and options to work in jobs in related industries.
The online platform will also provide support for businesses. Using it, employers will be able to support employees while they are laid off, track the stages of recovery, and respond to new realities — as the industry adapts, new business models arise, and workers will need, for example, new training in safety and protective equipment and spacing.
The project will be launched in phases and tested in Ontario first. FSC and OTEC are working with industry partners like Tourism HR Canada to look for opportunities to share and scale the project in other provinces.
In Ontario, industry partners in the project include the Tourism Industry Association of Ontario (TIAO), the Ontario Restaurant Hotel and Motel Association (ORHMA), the Hospitality Workers Training Centre (HWTC), Tourism HR Canada, and Tourism SkillsNet Ontario.
“The impact of COVID-19 on the tourism and hospitality sector has been rapid and devastating,” said OTEC president and CEO Adam Morrison. “Hundreds of thousands of Canadians are now out of work and need help. Through this project, and the broad collaboration it represents, our industry will come out of this crisis more resilient and better prepared to respond in difficult times such as these.”


text:
Earlier this summer, Mark Zuckerberg detailed his aspirations for Facebook, anticipating that peoples’ perspectives on the platform will evolve. “I expect people will transition from seeing us primarily as a social-media company to seeing us as a metaverse company,” he said, defining the “metaverse” as “a virtual environment where you can be present with people in digital spaces.”
“[It’s] an embodied Internet that you’re inside of rather than just looking at,” he continued. “We believe that this is going to be the successor to the mobile Internet.”
Well, Facebook has finally unveiled a glimpse of its innovative “metaverse” technology — and it’s about as underwhelming as your average Zoom happy hour. Because that’s basically all it is, but even worse: Zuckerberg’s avant-garde vision for the world is just a future of virtual reality work meetings.
An example Workroom meeting.Credit: Facebook/Oculus.com
Called “Horizon Workrooms,” Facebook’s latest VR venture allows coworkers to meet in virtual conference rooms while wearing the Oculus Quest 2 headset. CNN reports that each workroom allows up to 16 VR headset users to “physically” meet as their customised digital avatar, while 50 users total can attend the meeting as audio.
Participants in headsets can use their hands to gesticulate, and their avatar’s allegedly make realistic expressions while speaking. Each room also contains a virtual whiteboard for taking notes, sharing pictures, and/or presenting.
Taking notes in the metaverse. Credit: Facebook/Oculus.com
“The pandemic in the last 18 months has only given us greater confidence in the importance of this as a technology,” Andrew Bosworth, VP of Facebook Reality Labs, told a (virtual) room on Tuesday. Bosworth said that Facebook has actually been using the app for about a year.
As expected, the internet has…thoughts…on Facebook’s cutting-edge conference calls. And those thoughts are that: We hate it.
@brianstelter LOL, FB can’t even keep secure that I like Dunkin Donuts iced tea but we should hold private meetings with their technology

domain: news


text:
Steve Porter Transport Announces Record Summer
The Isle of Wight’s largest independent freight carrier, Steve Porter Transport, has announced a record Summer with overall revenues up by more than 15% for the first quarter of the year (May-July).
The encouraging news is attributable to a significant increase in its unaccompanied 'drop trailer' service between Southampton and the Isle of Wight. During the past 12 months Steve Porter’s drop trailer volumes have increased by more than a third (37.7%) due to additional contract deliveries.
Steve Porter Transport Managing Director, Malcolm Gibson, said: “We have enjoyed our best ever Summer in our 33 year history on the Isle of Wight. In August alone we moved almost 1,500 trailers, which represents a record month and is a good indication of the growing popularity of the service.
“It’s a unique service that we offer to Island based businesses and is proving increasingly popular with clients, which include a growing number of supermarkets, retail outlets and the popular Bestival event.”
The drop trailer service is predominantly aimed at those businesses who have regular, multiple loads and who do not want to tie up their valuable vehicle and driver resources travelling across to the island. Full trailers are 'dropped' by the customer at either Steve Porter’s depot or the ferry port and, once the goods are delivered on the Isle of Wight, the trailer is re-instated for customer collection.
This is a cost effective and efficient system that benefits the customer with operational advantages being available with off-peak crossings.
Steve Porter Transport has facilities across five sites in Southampton, Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight and operates a consolidation and daily groupage service between Southampton, and the Isle of Wight.
For further information contact Steve Porter Transport on 0845 680 2000 or visit www.steveportertransport.com


text:
Supplier News Breaks Archives
Forest gains U.S. pediatric exclusivity for Namenda
June 18th, 2014
NEW YORK – Forest Laboratories Inc. has been granted pediatric exclusivity for its Namenda and Namenda XR Alzheimer's medications from the Food and Drug Administration.
Forest said Wednesday that based on the FDA decision, an additional six months of U.S. market exclusivity will attach to the patents that are listed in the agency's Orange Book for Namenda and Namenda XR.
The company added that under settlement agreements, certain generic companies have licenses that will permit them to launch their generic versions of Namenda three months before the expiration of its, including any extensions and/or pediatric exclusivities, or earlier in certain circumstances.
Forest said it would expect a generic market entry for the drug in July 2015.
The drug maker shipped Namenda XR (memantine hydrochloride, 28 mg) — a higher-dose, once-daily extended-release formulation of its Namenda (memantine) immediate-release medication — last week.


text:
- Real Estate
- Food & Drink
Oct. 22, 2020
If you love Oktoberfest beers and foods, Tinner’s Public House has several traditional offerings available this month. Try the rinderrouladen, schweineschnitzle or kartoffelpuffers. Not feel that adventurous? There’s a beer bratwurst and an Oktobrat flatbread. The menu is available from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
Fat Kid Filly’s, one of this year’s new food trucks, is heading into the cold season with a new business model. Customers can order meat and sides by the pound and family-size desserts for weekly pickup or delivery. The menu might change from week to week. Orders can be placed through messages of Facebook.
OG Greens in the Jones421 Building downtown has a new Salad a Week membership. Starting at $11.25 a week, members will get a customized salad or grain bowl with a protein, four toppings and a dressing. They’ll also get free consultations with fitness and health specialists, exclusive offers, complimentary fresh juices and random rewards.
Here’s a piece of edible artwork. Check out the new panna cotta at Minervas. Butter cream, Denler streusel, blueberries, strawberry caviar and lemon curd mascarpone.
Falls Overlook Cafe has added a fall lunch special. Get a homemade soup and half-sandwich for $6 or soup and a full sandwich for $8. Lunch is served from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
Sunday is the final day of the season for the B&G Milkyway locations that are still open. The Harmodon Park, Sycamore Avenue and 69th Street will be open until 9 p.m. Stock up on half-gallons of your favorite Avalanche flavors and get novelty bar grab bags to hold you until spring.
Bread & Circus Sandwich Kitchen has reopened its dining room with limited seating and also added overhead heaters for seating on the patio. Winter hours have started: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The restaurant on North Main has stopped using third-party delivery services because of the expense. It’s testing out delivery with its partners at Square. Order from the restaurant’s website, and a Postmates driver will deliver it. “Instead of us paying 30 percent-plus and losing money, we pay a reasonable service fee, and you pay the delivery fee. This will no doubt make your order more expensive, and that sucks. But you get to stay in your pajamas and have your food delivered to your door. If you don’t want to pay the fees, feel free to come pick it up. We’d love to see you.”
Winter hours have arrived at Chef Lance’s on Phillips. The restaurant won’t be open or do family meal deliveries or pickups on Mondays. Pickup hours have been added from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. Saturdays for orders placed by Thursday night. And you don’t have to get out of your car! Curbside service is available for restaurant orders and family meal pickups.
The Dodgers’ Mookie Betts stole a base in Game 1 of the World Series, so you can get a free Doritos Locos Taco on Oct. 28 at Taco Bell.
Have some fun with the Jack-o’-Lantern pizza from Papa John’s.
Kids 12 and younger can get a free Mr. Mummy pancake next week at IHOP. The offer is good in the restaurant or for delivery.
Here are other headlines from the past week.
Here’s a look at the latest news from the local dining scene.


text:
July 13, 2004 |
Sony Corp. plans to demonstrate the third version of its hugely popular PlayStation game machine in Los Angeles next year at the Electronic Entertainment Expo. The announcement at a Tokyo new conference puts added pressure on the two other major manufacturers of video game hardware -- Microsoft Corp. and Nintendo Co. -- to also have their updated desktop machines ready for the May 2005 trade show. Sony executives declined to discuss when PS3 consoles would go on sale.
March 7, 1990 |
Michael P. Schulhof, vice chairman of Sony Corp. of America and the man who spearheaded Sony Corp.'s expansion into the U.S. entertainment business, is expected today to be named president of Sony USA Inc., the holding company for all of Sony's U.S. interests. He will relinquish his title at Sony Corp. of America but remain on the subsidiary's board of directors. Schulhof previously was deputy president of Sony USA.
January 10, 2003 |
Sony Corp. said it sold a record 5 million PlayStation 2 game consoles in November and December. Sony has sold 17.2 million PS2s in North America since the console was introduced in October 2000. Consumers also snapped up 1 million original PlayStation consoles at $49 apiece. Microsoft Corp., which makes a competing console called Xbox, and Nintendo Co., maker of the GameCube and the GameBoy Advance hand-held console, are expected to release holiday sales data next week. -- Alex Pham
April 17, 2003 |
Sony Corp. said a lawsuit filed by comic books publisher Marvel Enterprises Inc. over licensing rights to the "Spider-Man" movie franchise should remain confidential, according to court papers. Marvel, the publisher of "Spider-Man" and "X-Men," in February filed a lawsuit under seal against Sony and announced the move in a news release. Two newspapers, Daily Variety and the Daily Journal, asked the court to make the filing public.
July 28, 1991
Boeing Co. said it has given a $100-million, 15-year contract to a Sony Corp. unit here that will develop a passenger stereo system for the Boeing 777 airliner that has compact-disc sound quality. The contract is the first time Boeing has enlisted Sony to develop an entertainment system that will be a standard part of its aircraft. Sony Trans Com, which has 350 employees in Irvine, normally makes passenger entertainment systems that are customized for each airline.
February 14, 1998 |
Sony Corp.'s proposed $1-billion combination of its theater operations with Cineplex Odeon Corp. faces close scrutiny from U.S. antitrust authorities, according to a regulatory filing. Sony's Loews Theatres and Cineplex disclosed that the Justice Department on Nov. 14 issued a request for more information about their plans to create one of North America's dominant movie theater chains. That action, under U.S.
September 22, 2005 |
Sony Corp. said today that it would cut 10,000 jobs globally, slash its number of factories and reduce costs by $1.8 billion in an ambitious restructuring bid to revive its stumbling electronics business. The Japanese company, under new management since March, said it expected a group net loss of $90 million this fiscal year because the plunging prices of consumer electronics products have taken a hefty toll on earnings.
May 7, 2004 |
Sony Corp. has been given an exclusive window to evaluate Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. in more detail, with an eye toward a possible acquisition of the studio, sources said. Under an agreement reached Thursday, Sony would have 15 business days from the time it receives the proprietary information from MGM -- notably about DVD distribution -- without competition from other suitors. Sony demanded exclusivity before proceeding further. Time Warner Inc.


text:
Hadoop: How Open Source can Whittle Big Data to SizeAdded 3rd Mar 2012
In 2011 'Big Data' was, next to 'Cloud', the most dropped buzzword of the year. In 2012 Big Data is set to become a serious issue that many IT organisations across the public and private sectors will need to come to grips with.
The challenge essentially comes down to this: How do you store the massive amounts of often-unstructured data generated by end users and then transform it into meaningful, useful information?
One tool that enterprises have turned to to help with this is Hadoop, an open source framework for the distributed processing of large amounts of data.
Hadoop lets organisations "analyse much greater amounts of information than they could previously," says its creator, Doug Cutting. "Hadoop was developed out of the technologies that search engines use to analyse the entire Web. Now it's being used in lots of other places."
In January this year Hadoop finally hit version 1.0. The software is now developed under the aegis of the Apache Software Foundation.
"The releases coming this year will effectively become Hadoop 2.0," Cutting says. "We're going to see enhanced performance, high-availability and an increased variety of distributed computing metaphors to better support more applications. Hadoop's becoming the kernel of a distributed operating system for Big Data."
Hadoop grew out of Nutch, a project to build an open source search engine Cutting was involved in. Development of Nutch is also conducted under the patronage of the Apache Software Foundation.
"The Hadoop ecosystem now has more than a dozen projects around it," says Cutting. "This is a testament to the utility of the technology and its open source development model. Folks find it useful from the start. Then they want to enhance it, building new systems on top.
"Apache's community-based approach to software development lets users productively collaborate with other companies to build technologies from which they can all profitably share."
Hadoop setups are available from big names in the Cloud computing space, including Amazon (through Amazon Elastic MapReduce) and IBM; in December Microsoft announced a "limited preview" of Hadoop on its Windows Azure Cloud service. Hortonworks, a company set up by Yahoo (which runs a 42,000-node Hadoop environment and is a key driver of the project), and Cloudera, which employs Cutting as chief architect, also offer Hadoop-related services.
Cloudera offers a distribution of Big Data software called CDH -- Cloudera's Distribution Including Apache Hadoop. "This is open-source, Apache licensed software," Cutting says. "Folks can develop their applications against these APIs without fear of ever being locked into paying any one vendor.
The company sells support and a licence to its proprietary software, Cloudera Manager, which helps deploy and monitor CDH. The Oracle Big Data Appliance, released in January, runs CDH.
"Appliances are a great way to get a customer in the door, but most folks end up buying a customised cluster," Cutting says. "Some folks may find the appliance itself to be the right solution, but more frequently people want something that's more suited to their particular uses.
"Folks tend to start with a small proof-of-concept system, perhaps 10 or 20 nodes. Once they've gained some experience with this then they have an idea of both how big their production system needs to be and what its bottlenecks are. This informs the balance of storage, compute, memory and networking that will serve them best.
"Over time, as workloads evolve and grow, folks may gravitate towards common configurations, but we're not yet seeing a lot of one-size-fits-all solutions."
Cutting says when he started Hadoop, which was named after his son's toy elephant, he didn't realise just how significant the project would end up being. "I thought it would probably be useful to lots of folks, but I didn't think much about how many or how they might use it," Cutting says. "I certainly didn't think that it would become the central component of a new paradigm for enterprise data computing.
However, the software is "ultimately the product of a community," he adds. "I contributed the name and parts of the software and am proud of these contributions. The Apache Software Foundation has been a wonderful home for my work over the past decade, and I am pleased to be able to help sustain it."
Cutting uses the example of a hypothetical large retailer to explain what Hadoop can do with an enterprise's data: "Instead of just being able to analyse national sales over the past month, it can with Hadoop analyse sales trends over many years. This lets them better manage pricing, inventory and other core aspects of their business: They get a higher resolution picture of their business.
"Similarly, credit card companies can better guess whether a transaction is fraudulent, banks can better guess whether someone is credit worthy, oil companies can better guess where to drill, and so on. In nearly every case they can use data they were formerly discarding to improve the quality and profitability of their products."
Cutting predicts continued exponential growth in Big Data analytics. "We're still in the steep part of the adoption curve and will be for at least a few more years," he says.
"It will be a while before growth merely tracks that of the larger economy. Developing economies like China and India will fuel continued growth in this space."
In the government sphere, adoption of Big Data technologies has been mixed, Cutting says: Intelligence communities have been early adopters, but other parts of government may not have even begun grappling with it.
"Even folks who are already using these technologies will continue to expand their use for years, incorporating data from new sources and finding new applications," he adds. "We're still at an early stage of the adoption curve.
"Most industries are currently dipping their toes into Big Data. The ones to watch are the industries we expect to grow the most. For example, healthcare and telecom create huge amounts of data that's not yet used as effectively as it could be."
Ericsson will help mobile operators offer cloud-based applications to enterprise users and customers.
Apple today said it had sold over four million iPhones in 24 hours last week.
IBM has initiated a new training program that will result in a 10% pay cut for participating employees.
Having dismissed the Apple Watch as "too feminine," the luxury watchmaker says it will jump on the bandwagon by next spring.
The India launch was the first worldwide for the low-cost phones built around Google's reference design.
Pretty Easy Privacy system aims to make encryption of written online communication accessible to masses.
Palo Alto Networks has launched new software to protect enterprise data on mobile devices.
Dimension Data has deployed globally standardised managed services for datacentres in its bid to quadruple the size of its datacentre business to $US4 billion by 2018.
The agency will enforce existing laws related to privacy and discrimination, the FTC's chairwoman says.
The rumors turned out to be true. Minecraft is about to become a Microsoft property.
Harvard University scientists have built a soft robot they say can function without a communications and power tether.
Rejoice, PC power users: It looks like virtual desktops may finally be coming to Windows 9.
If phones are going to replace wallets, everyone has to get on board. Banks, stores, phone manufacturers, and you, the customer, are all needed to take mobile payments mainstream.
Fabrix sells software for cloud DVRs and video on demand.
Cisco fixed a vulnerability in server baseband management controllers and VMware in network virtualization products.
Developers will play a fundamental role in the adoption of the internet of things, but must be aware of the security and privacy risks as billions of devices become connected, said Intel's internet of things (IoT) chief, Doug Davis.
Front Porch Digital technology is used by media companies, government agencies and sports organizations for a variety of applications.
Online grocer BigBasket received Rs 200 crore funding and the company will now expand and use latest technology to improve customer understanding.
Security infrastructure can be at risk if it has been established on the back of a siloed approach, according to Dell Software.
Brian Stevens, who sheparded Red Hat into the cloud era, takes the helm of the Google Cloud platform.


text:
It has finally happened. As we predicted last month, SFX has filed for bankruptcy. The dance music colossus is bust, even though it received $20 million in funding in mid-January. In the end, it turns out, the financial struggles, created mainly by a string of expensive takeovers and a crash of its stock price, the holding has coped with in the last year were irreversible. There are some silver linings to be found, however.
Globenewswire reports that SFX has will undergo a Restructuring Support and Forbearance Agreement including a commitment from the ad hoc group to provide up to $115 million in DIP (debtor-in-possession) financing. This financing, which first needs to be approved by court, will effectively be used to pay off debt obligations and finance ongoing normal course of business like paying artists, partners, venues, vendors and suppliers.
Robert F.X. Sillerman, Chairman and CEO has made a statement after the announcement, saying:
“This expression of confidence from our lenders is testimonial to the vibrancy and potential of our business, and the dedication and professionalism of the over 600 people who make up SFX. Of course this was not where we thought we’d be but with this restructuring we have the opportunity to achieve all that SFX can and will be. I’m looking forward to continuing to be part of the new SFX as Chairman. We will immediately commence a search for a new CEO to lead us as we continue to set the trend in the exploding culture that is electronic music.”
Beatport, one of SFX’s key subsidiaries went ahead an countered any possible worries about the digital music supplier, with a spokesperson declaring:
“For all of us here, it’s just business as usual. That means entire Beatport platform is fully operational without restriction. The store remains open. The streaming service continues uninterrupted. New releases are being added every day. New videos are being scheduled and filmed. Payments to labels and suppliers are ongoing in their usual manner.
“We look forward to SFX successfully navigating this reorganisation, and in the meantime will continue focusing on building the best music experience for the fans, artists, and DJs that make up the electronic music community.”
How this relatively positive spin on SFX’s filing for bankruptcy will play out over a course of a few months will be the greatest test.


text:
Early Monday morning, RunKeeper, maker of the popular fitness tracker app of the same name, tweeted, "We're revealing a real treat today: RunKeeper for iPad! Check it out!" and included links to both a blog post and a dedicated page on the company website.
"We're always trying to do more to make running and getting in shape easier and more intuitive," the post says. "In the process, we've discovered that for many of our users, the phone screen is just too small to get all that important real-time fitness information into one convenient place."
The landing page is more direct. "RunKeeper for iPad: BIGGER is better," reads the message there, which is accompanied by a video of a runner sporting an iPad strapped to his chest. The iPad screen even converts to a "digital running bib" with race numbers, a weight scale when stood on and a calorie-counting food tray for "building a perfectly nutritious meal on the go."
Viewers can click on "get the app" to see a special message from RunKeeper: they have been had. It's April Fool's Day.
RunKeeper was not the only company having a little fun with digital health and health IT on this first day of April.
Epic Systems, the EHR vendor which never issues press releases, won't negotiate on price and even decides which healthcare providers are worthy of being its customers, does loosen up at least once a year, changing its home page each April 1.
This year, Epic pokes fun at all of its perceived inflexibility, including the fact that the Verona, Wis.-based company wants to sell end-to-end systems across entire enterprises, not break up its technology into pieces and interface with core technology from other vendors. "Long Rumored Epic Kool-Aid Recipe Finally Released; Closely-guarded recipe the subject of ONC inquiry," reads the lead headline.
"Now that the Epic Kool-Aid recipe is public, other healthcare software vendors report that they're working on their own variations of the drink, predicting that their flavors will be 'tastier, lower in calories, and more interoperable,'" the story says. "Epic is not releasing its 'secret sauce' recipe, since it is mostly just mushroom soup."
Later, Epic takes a dig at national health IT coordinator Dr. Farzad Mostashari's wardrobe with a story headlined, "MU3 requires Eligible Providers to wear bowties." (For the record, Farzad's Bowtie has had its own Twitter account since February.)
Speaking of things dating back to February, the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) got the April Fool's part right but perhaps still got slightly confused on the month, since it tweeted a tired Internet meme in the form of a "brief video explaining our upcoming initiatives." It was NCQA staff doing the "Harlem Shake."
Outside the immediate realm of healthcare but still fairly relevant was British banking giant Barclays, which, in a new video, features a new smart card with embedded near-field communications (NFC) technology. For dogs. Barclaycard PayWag – and the bank missed the perfect opportunity for a "Barklaycard" pun – might even have a future in healthcare, since veterinary medicine seems to be farther along the journey to interoperable EHRs than human medicine is.
Internet heavyweights also got into the action, some even with a bit of a healthcare bent. Twitter, which already caters to the ADHD crowd with 140-character messages, announced plans to go even more concise with "Twttr," which cuts the alphabet down to 21 letters, too, by allowing only consonants. ("Y" remains free.) If you want vowels, pay $5 a month for full-fledged Twitter.
Google unleashed – see, dog puns are easy – several April Fool's pranks, too, including Google Nose, a scent engine (in beta) that searches the massive Google Aromabase.
That's not to say Google is always ahead of the curve, though. The company also introduced Gmail Blue in time for April 1. Well, guess what, Google? You're a little late to the party. Healthcare has had its Blue Button for nearly three years now.


text:
LOOKBOOK: CRYBABY PRESENTS
gingham bustiers and blue lipstick? yes, please.
The duo, who we featured as our It design collective in the October issue, aren't just looking to mine the past for inspiration; they're also taking into account what women like themselves look for in a wardrobe. "Everything's sold separately, but it's interchangeable to facilitate the buying experience--to say, This is the look that we envision, and we give you the whole thing, from top to bottom, day to night…the whole shebang!" Ziven exclaims. Clearly, we're not the only ones excited by their designs; Yacht's Claire Evans is their spring '13 cookbook model (she pulls off blue lipstick well, right?), they're just releasing a collaboration with Cult Gaia, and just this week it was announced that the duo would be featured in the upcoming GenArt Fresh Faces event in Los Angeles.
Which means that you'll be seeing a lot more of their "French Riviera with a punky Crybaby twist" style--and we couldn't be happier about it.
Visit crybabypresents.com for more info.


text:
SAN FRANCISCO, CA, October 18, 2019 — StreamSets®, provider of the industry’s first DataOps platform, announced today that it has been ranked No. 2 by the San Francisco Business Times on its annual list of “Fastest Growing Private Companies in the Bay Area.” The list is an exclusive ranking of the region’s fastest-growing private companies and represents one of the most important segments of the local economy. The winners and rankings were unveiled at an awards gala on October 17, 2019 at the San Francisco Four Seasons Hotel.
Companies on the list are ranked by percentage of revenue growth increase between 2016 and 2018. Those on this year’s list logged between 28% and 1,983.7% growth. In order to be considered, the companies must also have had at least $200,000 in revenue in 2016 and must be privately held and headquartered in the counties covered by the Business Times: San Francisco, Alameda, San Mateo, Contra Costa and Marin.
“Our region is renowned as a hub for innovation and as an ecosystem that fosters growth companies,” said Mary Huss, publisher of the San Francisco Business Times. “StreamSets — along with all of the companies on the list — deserves special recognition because it fuels our regional economy.”
With its DataOps platform, StreamSets modernizes data integration so that today’s data-driven enterprises can make the most out of high-volume, high-velocity and ever-changing data. Recently, StreamSets introduced a new cloud service offering, added new functionality to its platform and launched the industry’s first DataOps Summit. Altogether, these accomplishments have fueled tremendous growth in the company’s customer base and revenue.
“We’re honored to have been ranked among some of the brightest stars in the Bay Area,” said Girish Pancha, CEO and co-founder, StreamSets. “This recognition is a result of our world-class employees and our steadfast commitment to modernizing data integration so our customers can go faster and with confidence in their data analytics initiatives.”
Analytics has modernized in our always-on, always-changing world. How you deliver data to drive analytics has to modernize, too. DataOps is a set of practices and technologies that operationalizes data management and integration to ensure resiliency and agility despite ceaseless change. It combines the DevOps principles of continuous delivery with the ability to tame data drift (unexpected and undocumented changes to data). By embedding these principles, DataOps makes it possible to deliver the continuous data needed to drive modern analytics and digital transformation.
StreamSets built the industry’s first multi-cloud DataOps platform for modern data integration, helping enterprises to continuously flow big, streaming and traditional data to their data science and data analytics applications. The platform uniquely handles data drift, those frequent and unexpected changes to upstream data that break pipelines and damage data integrity. The StreamSets DataOps Platform allows for execution of any-to-any pipelines, ETL processing and machine learning with a cloud-native operations portal for the continuous automation and monitoring of complex multi-pipeline topologies.
Founded in 2014, StreamSets is backed by top-tier Silicon Valley venture capital firms, including Battery Ventures, New Enterprise Associates (NEA), and Accel Partners. For more information, visit www.streamsets.com.
StreamSets and the StreamSets Logo are the registered trademarks of StreamSets, Inc. All other marks referenced are the property of their respective owners.
About San Francisco Business Times
The San Francisco Business Times is the #1 print and online source for Bay Area business news and information on the most successful people, companies and transactions in the region. Every Friday, the Business Times arrives with an in-depth lineup of breaking local news stories, business profiles and valuable industry rankings. From technology and sustainability to small business, biotech, hospitality, real estate and banking, the Business Times covers the most relevant and timely topics for the Bay Area business community. SanFranciscoBusinessTimes.com takes the Business Times brand known for its insight, analysis and high journalistic standards and extends it to the Internet. Thousands of established and up and coming executives visit SanFranciscoBusinessTimes.com every day looking for the information they need to do Business in the Bay Area.


text:
Pokken Tournament DX recently came out for the Nintendo Switch, bringing all the action we’ve come to know and love from the previous Wii U version, as well as the option to either play at home or on the road. That said, it’s definitely a popular favorite, but not quite the best-seller it could be…at least, not yet.
A Japanese statistics firm by the name of Media Create recently posted a weekly analysis looking at Japanese game sales for the week of September 18th through the 24th, and while Pokken left a pretty good mark on sales, there wasn’t quite as many as expected.
As we previously noted, the game, upon its release, cleared out 53,395 units – but that only makes up for 41.39 percent of the initial shipment that was sent from Nintendo, according to the company. Also, compared to the Wii U version, it kind of undersold, only selling approximately 75 percent compared to the previous release, which debuted with 70,000 units sold.
That said, the Wii U percentage of copies in stores were greater, meaning that only 36.65 percent of the initial shipment sold in the first week.
But don’t panic – people still love Pokemon. It’s just a matter of not everyone having a Switch yet, since the system is seeing serious shortage in that country. But Nintendo is getting there, and Media Create is confident that Pokken will catch up.
The company noted that the original Wii U game managed to sell 179,000 copies in its lifetime (overseas), and said that, with the upcoming holiday season and better availability of the Switch, the game will only get better with sales, so it should do well in the long-term. The ball’s pretty much in Nintendo’s court at this point.0comments
The game is definitely worth picking up, based on our review, and a lot of fun for Pokemon fans everywhere. And we’re bet it’s selling pretty well here in the U.S., as well as Europe, especially with that competitive edge with players. We’ll find out soon enough when sales numbers are posted.
Pokken Tournament DX is available now for Nintendo Switch. There’s also the regular Tournament available for Wii U.


text:
It’s no secret plant-based and flexitarian lifestyle choices are on the rise among Canadian consumers. Among younger generations, concerns involving the environmental sustainability of our food systems, personal health and fitness and animal welfare have caused many to reduce animal products and incorporate more fresh fruit and vegetables into their diets. Del Monte Fresh Produce considers this plant-forward trend one worth getting behind.
Chicago-based consumer research firm Technomic reports 51 per cent of Americans following a plant-based or flexitarian lifestyle are doing so as a result of trying to eat more healthfully, while a 2018 Dalhousie University-led survey indicates that more than half of the Canadian population would like to consume less meat — again, mainly for health reasons. That said, consumers often find it difficult to balance healthy lifestyle changes with already-busy work and family schedules.
Dionysios Christou, vice-president of Marketing at Del Monte Fresh Produce, says the company is ready to meet the needs of today’s health and environment-conscious, on-the-go Canadians.
“With our wide variety of fresh fruit and vegetable options (ranging from whole to fresh cut to organic), we offer healthful and nutritious options that fit seamlessly into modern lifestyle choices,” he says.
The latest research by medical and scientific publications (such as EAT-Lancet) indicate global meat and sugar consumption needs to be lowered by as much as 50 per cent in order to reach climate-change goals and ensure a stable environment. With an eye towards the future of the Earth, Del Monte Fresh Produce incorporates sustainability and diversification programs at all levels of production.
As a result of this commitment to the environment, consumers can enjoy Del Monte Fresh Produce knowing they’ve made a great choice for both their health and the continued wellbeing of the planet.
“As one of the leading companies in the produce industry, our role is to champion and become an early adopter of new technologies and sustainable solutions,” Christou explains.“To help to continue to grow these initiatives, Del Monte Fresh Produce has adopted the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to serve as an aspirational framework for its current and future sustainability efforts.”
Del Monte Fresh Produce is also continuing its efforts surrounding irrigation and electrical-system upgrades and its Carbon Neutrality Certification across its facilities and farms. This is all part of the brand’s vision of “creating a transparent food chain while investing in the future of food.”
“Del Monte Fresh Produce believes addressing sustainability issues is critical to the future of our planet and with an ‘always-on’ approach, communicates these efforts to trade buyers and consumers through face-to-face presentations and digital media,” Christou says.


text:
Google is considering sharing revenue with carriers to encourage them to embrace its Google Wallet NFC app, according to Bloomberg. The report echoes an article published by NFC World earlier this month which explained that Google also wants to extend gWallet availability to both a wide variety of handsets and consumers in a number of countries.
- Alipay expands across Europe after deals with major banks and payment providers
- Android Pay offers Christmas rewards
- Loyalty and gifts added to Apple Pay
- Amazon Go store will let customers shop and go without checkout queues
- Join us on Thursday for HCE mobile payments webinar


text:
MARCH 5, 2006
Privateer F1 team builds 5409 cars
Ferrari SpA has revealed its financial figures for 2005 which prove conclusively that it is an automobile manufacturer and not a small private racing team. The company said that it sold 5409 cars in 2005 (up 8.7% from the previous year) and had a turnover of $1.5bn. It made a pre-tax profit of $189m. The most interesting thing was the reduction in the company's R&D budget which dropped from $313m in 2004 to $263m in 2005. The F1 budget is separate from this. The company said that the profits would have been stronger if the dollar had not been as weak against the Euro.
The company continues to expand its branding exercises with new stores opening in Las Vegas, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Milan. The company says that merchandise now represents "a significant source of income" for the company.
It seems incidentally that Ferrari has now agreed to a testing limitation of 36 days, bringing to an end the unbalanced arrangement last year.
|Print News Story|


text:
- Articles tagged "icloud"
Remember Google's photo backup service called Google Photos? Its unique selling proposition is insane: free and unlimited backups of your mobile photos. How does Google Photos stack up against popular photo backup services for mobile, and is it the one for you? Here’s a quick comparison to help you decide.
Following the leak of private photos and videos of multiple well-known actresses this weekend, Apple has come under fire for an alleged breach of security of its iCloud service. But what if Apple isn't to blame? And how can you keep yourself safe?
Overwhelmed by the sea of Apple WWDC news? Here's a roundup of the major announcements - find out which rumors turned out to be true.
- U.S. trade commission sues Qualcomm for anti-competitive policies
- Pokémon Go pulled in almost US$1 billion from players in 2016
- M1 and Huawei achieve 35Gbps 5G transmission speeds
- ASRock trots out tiny micro-STX gaming systems with the DeskMini RX and GTX
- Evernote updates its iOS app with a complete redesign
- Are these Google's secret Android Wear 2.0 flagship smartwatches?
- Windows 10 to get an ebook store
- Worldwide app downloads up 15%, app store revenue up 40%


text:
Its focus on operational, technology, and financial improvement initiatives led to strong results in 2019 for U.S. Concrete, Inc. “Our record-high EBITDA in the second half of 2019 highlights the traction that our profit improvement initiatives are gaining within our operations,” said William J. Sandbrook, chairman and CEO, in a press release.
“While our fourth quarter of 2019 results were negatively impacted by a significant increase in our self-insurance reserves, cost claims, and premiums year-over-year,” he added, “we experienced good growth in our aggregate products segment and are seeing positive momentum in ready-mixed concrete pricing to further increase profitability.”
While consolidated revenue in the fourth quarter was down 0.2 percent to $369.2 million, aggregate product revenue increased 7.5 percent to $49.9 million. Aggregate volume increased 7.1 percent to 2.9 million tons. During the quarter, the average selling price increased from $11.35 to $11.93 per ton.
For the full year, consolidated revenue fell from $1.5 billion in 2018 to $1.48 billion. Aggregate product revenues increased 6.9 percent to $195 million, and aggregate volume increased 2.5 percent to 11.4 million tons.
The company’s outlook for 2020, which incorporates its acquisition of Coram Materials, calls for consolidated revenue of $1.5 billion to $1.6 billion and total adjusted EBITDA of $195 million to $215 million.


text:
Unlike Bell's product brochures, the latest 429 sports an efficiency-boosting strake on the upper port side of the tail boom and a BLR-trademarked "fast-fin" cut out on the vertical fin. Bell "froze" the design of the helicopter in October 2007, and plans to complete certification of the twin-engine medium helicopter by year-end.
BLR president Robert Desroche tells Flight that BLR worked with Bell for two years on similar design improvements to obtain a supplementary type certificate (STC) for the Bell 212.
He says Bell had signed a non-compete agreement with BLR regarding the use of the technology on other products. "We have our lawyers looking into this," Desroche says.
For the Bell 212, Desroche says the combination of the reduced-area vertical fin ("fast-fin") and NASA-developed dual strakes increase payload by 500kg (1,100lb).
The retrofits boost tail-rotor effectiveness and overall helicopter stability by reducing airflow blockage from the vertical fin and cancelling the sideways lift and turbulence caused by main rotor downwash over the tail boom.
The company has STCs for the Bell 206, Bell 412 and other Bell models and is working on STCs for existing products built by other rotorcraft manufacturers.
It is unclear whether a BLR challenge could impact Bell's schedule to complete certification, which is 50% complete according to Bell programme manager Neil Marshall.
Bell has more than 270 orders for the $4.8 medium helicopter, many of which are coming from the emergency medical services community, and says it is "not aware on any patent or agreement that would prevent us from making the design changes we have done on the 429".


text:
Manufacturer of the popular Finney blockchain phone, Sirin Labs has recently revealed that it has fired 25 percent of its workforce. The firm reportedly laid off 15 of its 60 strong workforce.
The Finney Blockchain Phone
The lay off by the firm is in response to the poor sales of its flagship blockchain powered mobile phone. The firm stated that: “Sales are not what we expected, ”
Sirin Labs started shipping the Finney phones late last year. The phone is said to feature a cold (offline) crypto wallet which makes is a hardware wallet with a mobile phone feature. The mobile device is said to have a separate processor for both entries (wallet and phone). There are also two LCD screens on the device, one for the wallet and the bigger one for the mobile user.
Before announcing the laying off of its employees, there was a rumour going about that the firm has not been paying its workers over the past few months. This claim has been refuted by Sirin Labs. Furthermore, the firm noted that it has paid its employees their March Salaries and April’s payment is expected to come in by 23/04/2019 (Next Week Tuesday).
Stiff Competition for Sirin Labs’ Finney Phone
The increase in competition in the crypto wallet and mobile phone industry has been blamed for the slow sales of the Finney devices. The Isreal-based firm is currently facing competition from top mobile phone manufacturers like HTC, which recently launched its EXODUS 1 crypto focused phones in late 2018. The phone which was originally designed to be bought using crypto can now be bought with cash.
To make things even worse, Samsung, a leading mobile phone designer has included a crypto wallet to its latest Galaxy phone series, the Galaxy S10.
Although the wallet feature is currently only active in a few countries, the option is available for every user of the phone. So it is only a matter of time before it becomes available to everyone.
coindoo.com is author of this content, TheBitcoinNews.com is is not responsible for the content of external sites.
TheBitcoinNews.com is here for you 24/7 to keep you informed on everything crypto. Like what we do? Tip us some BAT
Send Tip now!


text:
Sky, Channel 4 Buy Stakes in TV Rights Online Platform
The RightsXchange, or TRX, enables TV rights buyers and sellers from around the world to complete licensing deals entirely online.
Pan-European pay TV giant Sky and U.K. broadcaster Channel 4 on Thursday unveiled investments in the company behind The RightsXchange (TRX), which enables TV rights buyers and sellers from around the world to complete licensing deals entirely online.
The company said its latest financing round will raise up to £5.20 million ($6.75 million) and give the two investors minority stakes of an undisclosed size. The round also includes investments from private individuals, many of whom have participated in previous funding rounds.
Its tool "enables distributors to reach buyers in new international markets, who in turn gain access to British, American and other TV rights that would previously have been difficult to secure," according to the company. It soft-launched the service in Asia last month and said it already has more than 5,000 hours of programming available from U.K. and U.S. distributors and rights holders such as Sky Vision, Discovery Communications, All3Media International and Sesame Workshop.
Dial Square 86, the holding company behind TRX, was established in 2014 by former RDF Media founders and Zodiak Media executives David and Matthew Frank. TRX's advisory board includes such key TV industry figures as Studio Lambert CEO Stephen Lambert and Nadine Nohr, the former CEO of Shine International.
The deal marks the first time Sky and Channel 4 have co-invested in a startup. Sky has been buying stakes in technology and other startup companies. Its distribution arm Sky Vision also will use the TRX tool. Channel 4 made its investment via its Indie Growth Fund, which is backing content producers and other firms. It said the TRX investment will support "the future health of the U.K. indie sector."
"We are absolutely delighted that two of the U.K.'s leading content players with such reputations for innovation and excellence have decided to back what we are doing," said TRX chairman David Frank. "There is real momentum behind TRX now and we're excited about launching a truly global product that can make program distribution faster and easier, while opening up the TV rights market to previously disenfranchised buyers and delivering extra value to rights holders."
Said Emma Lloyd, group business development director at Sky: "This latest investment reflects our ambition to partner with pioneering startups that can help transform the TV landscape. We're delighted to be backing such an innovative U.K.-based company, with its roots firmly in the creative sector. Together with Channel 4, we can help TRX to grow the TV rights market, which will benefit everyone in the industry."
Said Channel 4 CEO David Abraham: "In post-Brexit Britain, it's even more important for the U.K.'s creative industries to have access to innovative ways of trading across the globe. We recognize that the new TRX tool is a valuable online resource, which will enable indies to connect with the world and export their programs in a digital marketplace and will help support a buoyant U.K. indie sector well into the future."


text:
Peter Colbert believes Australia may be too small for the number of fintech companies it is producing.
“There are only so many people in our country: 26 million, and that includes one year olds. What’s the real number of potential customers out there?” the founder of contactless payments company Inamo says.
Inamo's products include a waterproof plastic payments chip it promoted to Australia's surfing and sports communities as an easy way of paying for anything without having to cart around a wallet.
The business also developed a prototype for "Paywave sunglasses" with Visa back in 2016 and was focused on growing its base down under.
But the game changed when Colbert was travelling in the US and ordered a cup of coffee. Not knowing whether his Australian-designed Inamo chip would work abroad, he decided to give it a go.
“It went through, and I just thought, ‘wow’,” Colbert says.
Making the move
Months later Colbert decided to relocate Inamo, which had launched off a $1.5 million round of seed investment and was turning over around $500,000, to Santa Monica.
The startup is now quietly undertaking a pilot program for its contactless payments tech in the US with Mastercard.
It’s a move Colbert says is critical for growth, because while chip cards and devices are second-nature in Australia, the US consumer has only started taking up contactless technology in the past 12 months.
"Everyone talks about cracking the US - I'm really going to try and crack it," Colbert says.
"But there is naivety in Australia in what it’s going to take to break into payments in the US. It is an absolute minefield."
The opportunity and the challenge of the US market is that unlike Australia, paper still plays a significant role in payments - depositing rent can still involve opening the cheque book and walking down to a real estate office to pay, Colbert says.
Fintechs look global
“In February, I went to investors and said, ‘We can scale in Australia, raise money, dilute, and we’re still going to have to start all over again’,” Colbert says.
Instead the business has developed a longer US-centric game plan and Colbert has been targeting a range of partnerships, including working with the NYPD's triathlon event to promote the product.
The fintech is not alone in its global focus. At the start of December, AI-powered banking app Douugh also announced a US partnership with Mastercard, with the neobank startup saying it would scale in the US before turning its mind to Australia next year.
Those that have crunched the numbers on Australian fintechs have also found there's a strong will from those building tech here to scale it overseas.
The 2018 EY fintech census shows that in 2016, 38 per cent of Australian-founded companies were focused on overseas expansion. This year that number sits at 54 per cent, with the UK and US the two most popular export markets.
These companies are also moving towards more profitability, though the proportion of companies generating profit is the minority. In 2016, 14 per cent of local fintechs had hit this point. This year 19 per cent of companies had reached profitability.
Colbert says for his business, which focuses on the prepaid space, there was no choice but to reposition to another market or face the prospect of dying by "1,000 knives".
"There’s no doubt we’ve had our ups and downs in the journey, but I've always had this vision to get here. This passion - some may say one-eyed," he says.
As Inamo prepares for a broader launch of its products in the next year, Colbert says there's one question from investors that drives home the importance of looking beyond Australia.
"It's when VCs say as the first thing, 'do you have a global potential?'"


text:
NEW DELHI: Google Assistant has turned out to be the very best digital assistant, in accordance with the newest information printed by Bespoken. In line with a report by voicebot.ai, Google Assistant turned out to be higher whereas answering complicated questions compared to Siri and Alexa.
Within the research performed by Bespoken it used Amazon Echo Present 5, Apple HomePod Mini and Google Nest House Hub. Through the check, researchers requested a set of questions to every of the voice assistants.
“They outlined every query as easy or complicated and sorted them into topics like films, geography, and historical past. Every query had a distinct model of complexity, from a number of topics, a non-grammatical collection of key phrases, and questions with no reply like asking who the primary individual was on Mars,” mentions the report.
So, on this check the Google Assistant carried out the very best adopted by Amazon Alexa and Siri. The report provides that every one the three voice assistants carried out higher within the part of complicated questions.
“We’ve two main takeaways from this preliminary analysis. “First, whereas Google Assistant outperformed Alexa and Siri in each class, all three have important room for enchancment,” Bespoken chief evangelist Emerson Sklar informed Voicebot.
Just lately, an internet report revealed that Google has began an in-house testing of a brand new function referred to as Guacamole. This new function will allow customers to make use of the Google Assistant with out saying the hotword ‘Hey Google’.
In line with a report by 9to5Google, the function will permit Google Assistant customers to carry out fast voice duties like turning off the alarm or answering calls with out the saying set off phrase.
The report additionally provides that Guacamole would allow customers to only say ‘cease’, ‘snooze’ and ‘decline name’ with out saying ‘Hey Google’ first.


text:
Customers are increasingly willing to offer up personal information in order to receive rewards, according to a study by Bond Brand Loyalty emailed to Retail Dive. The study found that 87% of loyalty program members were open to having their activities and behavior "watched, monitored and tracked" in exchange for personalized rewards.
Shoppers are also increasingly willing to pay for better benefits, with 37% of consumers affirming they would pay a fee for enhanced program benefits, compared to 30% last year. That tendency was the highest among Gen Z (47%) and millennials (46%).
The report found that, among other things, investments in technology and personal connections with members could do much for loyalty programs: 95% of loyalty members said they wanted to engage with brands through tech, including AR and VR. Brands with a positive emotional impact on loyalty members saw 27% of them increase their spending, according to the study.
Loyalty programs have faced a lot of shakeup lately, not least of all at department stores. J.C. Penney and Macy's, for example, have revamped their loyalty programs within the past year, and Macy's dropped out of the Plenti program in January, after several other major members did the same.
According to the Bond Brand Loyalty study, one of the problems with many loyalty programs is that they offer points that expire and don't give other rewards. Alternative "currencies" like free Wi-Fi or quicker checkout lines for members are "highly valuable" to 85% of consumers, and loyalty programs with paid tiers drive higher member spend and longer-term brand loyalty, per the study.
The study cites GameStop and Restoration Hardware as two retailers with good paid membership programs, and the oft-cited Amazon Prime is on the list as well. It's not hard to see why, with the retailer's massive free shipping perks, members-only holiday and success drawing in trials over the holidays.
Mobile is also a key aspect of loyalty program success, with 85% of respondents saying their experience was improved by mobile redemption capabilities, as well as by in-store location-based offers (83%), card-on-file (85%) and AR features (63%). One need only look as far as Starbucks to see the impact of mobile friendly loyalty programs. The coffee retailer saw mobile transactions rise to 11% in January, around the same time the company launched a cashless store pilot, followed by an innovation center just this week.
In addition to the convenience of the mobile experience, retailers can improve loyalty programs by fostering human interactions, similar to those encouraged by Sephora's Beauty Insider program. The beauty retailer launched a members-only social platform to go along with that program in August, which not only allows customers to chat about everything from beauty tips to favorite looks but also encourages shoppers to talk to other customers about how well a certain product worked before committing to the purchase.
Small changes can go a long way in making a loyalty program more effective, and with younger generations increasingly interested in brand interaction, retailers have rising incentives to invest in those changes.


text:
Enrico Schaefer - February 14, 2023 - Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs)
Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, have become increasingly popular in recent years. As a result, the number of NFT-related thefts has risen as well. One standard method that scammers use to steal NFTs is by sending a link to a user that, when clicked, compromises the user’s wallet and allows the thief to transfer the valuable NFT to their own account. The thief can then quickly resell the NFT to an innocent third party, making a profit while the original owner is left empty-handed.
The NFT market exploded in 2022, and it seemed like OpenSea was spending more time focused on its own growth and investor relations than on protecting its customers. For many platforms, the priority is growth rather than customer service. This means platforms like OpenSea fail to properly train customer service teams, which can lead to many horror stories by users who not only got scammed by a third party but then got run over by OpenSea’s refusal or failure to provide any assistance. In some cases, the inept assistance provided by OpenSea makes the problem drastically worse. Stories by platform users wherein a response by OpenSea takes days, weeks, or months are all too common.
While users are responsible for avoiding clicking on malicious links, even experienced blockchain technicians and NFT traders are getting scammed. This highlights the need for platforms like OpenSea—one of the largest NFT marketplaces—to take greater responsibility for protecting users.
Many people believe that OpenSea could be doing more to prevent the transfer or sale of stolen NFTs. Some users are calling for stricter verification processes and more stringent security measures to be put in place. As the NFT market grows, platforms like OpenSea must take the necessary steps to protect their users and maintain the market’s integrity. Ultimately, the responsibility falls on both the platform and the users to ensure the security of their assets, but platforms like OpenSea must take proactive measures to prevent the theft and sale of stolen NFTs.
One of Traverse legal’s clients is pursuing litigation and/or arbitration against OpenSea for an inexplicable series of events created by its lack of response or inept response to one such NFT theft. OpenSea employees were trying to extort the platform used for a de facto ‘release of liability’ in exchange for regaining control of his account and dozens of his NFTs.
You can read the sequence of events below.
Let us know what you think.


text:
Accessing the device location requires customer consent. Once a skill is deployed and enabled, a user can visit the Alexa app (or http://alexa.amzon.com) to enable the permission.
Amazon today announced the List Skills API, an addition to the Alexa Skills Kit that will let developers integrate Alexa within their own list applications. The goal here is to make it as easy as possible for people to add items to their lists by asking Alexa to do it for them.
Voice is considered the next great user interface, but the challenge is finding a way to cost effectively enable its use. At the APIcon 2014 conference this week, Alex Lebrun, co-founder and CEO of Wit.AI, showed how developers can make use of an API to add voice-recognition capabilities to their applications.
Simbo.ai, a provider of medical record documentation products, has announced a new API that will allow healthcare providers to create voice-based Electronic Medical Records (EMR) programmatically. The new SimboAlpha API leverages automated speech recognition to power its feature set.


text:
Application for Bitcoin ETF Submitted by Galaxy Digital with SEC
It has been revealed that a request for Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) for Bitcoin has been filed by Galaxy Digital. The sources have revealed that it is the US SEC where the request for ETF approval has been submitted by Galaxy Digital.
It was on Monday, April 12, 2021, when information around the filing for Bitcoin ETF buy Galaxy Digital was shared by US SEC. The SEC has confirmed that Galaxy Digital has submitted the request for Galaxy Bitcoin ETF through Form S-1.
In the S-1 form, Galaxy Digital has revealed that if the ETF is approved, then it will be using NYSE Arca Exchange in order to list and launch its Galaxy Bitcoin ETF.
Galaxy Digital has also confirmed that as for the pricing mechanism part, it will be adopting the Bloomberg Galaxy Bitcoin Index.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has also published other points and proposals Galaxy Digital has made in the filing.
The filing reveals that Bloomberg CFIX will be used to calculate end-of-day index prices for mid-price of Bitcoin (BTC). The pricing that CFIX is based on is used for distribution, technology, and data platforms using Bloomberg’s Generic Price.
The community that the platform aims to facilitate is the investment one. The firm does this to ensure that they are provided with fixings for cryptocurrencies that are transparent, representative, and reliable.
According to reports, this is not the first time Galaxy Digital has applied for a Bitcoin Exchange Traded Fund (ETF). Prior to filing at the US SEC, Galaxy Digital had applied and launched its Bitcoin ETF through its subsidiary. Galaxy Digital launched its Bitcoin ETF back in March 2021 in the Canadian market.
It has also been revealed that no administrator or custodian has been listed for Bitcoin Exchange Traded Fund for Galaxy Digital. On top of that, the listing did not even mention any trustee details that are beyond the organization.
Prior to the Bitcoin Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) filed by Galaxy Digital, another firm known as Fidelity had also applied for a Bitcoin ETF back in March 2021.
However, the US Securities and Exchange Commission still has not made any final calls about the approvals of the ETF proposals. As soon as the US SEC approves the ETF proposal requests, the firms will go ahead and enlist their ETF through the NYSE.
The only thing keeping the US SEC from approving the ETF proposal is its concerns over the pricing of cryptocurrencies. The cryptocurrency industry is extremely volatile and very difficult for investors to handle. Therefore, the US SEC is considering all the possibilities and going through all pros and cons before approving the proposal requests.
However, the US SEC is doing whatever it can to consider the proposals and respond in time to the companies that have applied for the ETF.


text:
STL launches digital inclusion platform for rural India
Digital networks integrating company STL launched STL Garv, a rural digital platform, to bridge the digital divide in the country. STL Garv uses the BharatNet connectivity to enable rural households to connect to high speed broadband.
STL started the design of Garv ecosystem in 2018 and is piloting it in 11 villages across Maharashtra, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh, impacting over 54,000 lives. STL Garv has started offering digital services like telemedicine, e-tutoring, assisted e-commerce and government-to-citizen services.
Launching the Garv platform, Mr. Amitabh Kant, CEO Niti Aayog, said India was witnessing digital disruption in areas like digital payments, e-education, and e-healthcare, and going forward, technology can accelerate the development of India, especially rural India. STL Garv would take this technology revolution to rural India and transform rural lives, he said.
Mr. Pravin Agarwal, vice chairman of STL, said while fibre had reached villages, it was not properly utilised. Hence, they decided to design and launch the Garv platform. BharatNet has reached six lakh villages, but the last mile connect to rural households was missing, which STL tries to overcome with the platform. STL will partner with the government and gram panchayats for rolling out these services.
Mr. Anand Agarwal, Group CEO, STL, said this was an Indian solution for an Indian population with Indian apps. STL has the full stack from silicon, optical fibre, digital equipment, digital networks to applications required for a digital environment to transform rural India, Mr. Agarwal said.
Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.


text:
This is why a lot of celebs are getting in trouble for their Instagram accounts
It often feels like the very rich, famous, and glamorous can do whatever they want. Like, go to Coachella for just an afternoon before hopping on a plane somewhere else, or fly away to some private island with Gwyneth Paltrow to get their vaginas steamed. Money might not buy happiness per se, but it does buy a certain kind of freedom — just not from Uncle Sam. The Federal Trade Commission sent a a lot of celebrities a strong warning about sponsored Instagram posts this week, and they’re going to have to start playing by some rules.
We all know that a lot of our favorite celebs on social media are often posting advertisements. According to the FTC, they aren’t making it obvious enough. And the crackdown is mainly because of private citizens — like yourself, maybe — who have reported celebs for burying the fact that they’re getting paid for the post. The FTC sent out 90 letters to celebrities, telling them that they have to be SUPER clear about what’s paid and what’s not.
A lot of times, they’ll use hashtags like, “#Thanks [Brand],” or “#sp” (sponsored post), but the but FTC doesn’t think that’s clear enough. The agency also thinks that when they use multiple hashtags, some followers might just skim through them, missing the the fact that the post is about a brand, and not just a regular selfie.
Like, check this recent post by Emily Ratakowski. It looks like a regular Coachella booty post, but see how she wrote “sponsored?”
Since there are only a few hashtags, she might get away with one like that (though her followers might be too distracted by her butt to care). The FTC says that celebs have to make it super, super obvious that it’s sponsored and hashtags might not be enough. If people are scrolling through images, you might start seeing more celebs put “sponsored” right in their post or video instead of in the caption. Just so its totally clear.
The FTC also sent the letters to marketers, too, since it’s a “two way street,” they wrote in their letter. When celebs hide the fact that their post is sponsored, it could be at the behest of the brand, which doesn’t want to look like its shilling something. Hence all the, “#ThanksBrand” hashtags.
Celebrities make a ton of dough from these sponsored posts. But it sounds like they better start following the rules if they want to get paid.


text:
This year was the 10th Annual Baron's Auction in memory of fund founder Craig Gates' late father, Gary "The Baron" Gates. Central Mass Auto Auction hosted this virtual car auction with 79 cars in memory of what would have been Gary's 79th birthday, all cars were sold in an absolute sale and CMAA donated $50 for every car to the Keep You Truckin' Fund. After selling a bonus car, they donated $4,000 for the 80 cars sold to our fund.
THANK YOU SO MUCH Central Mass for being one of our biggest sponsors over the years, we appreciate your continued and generous support!
Top, left to right: CMAA employee, CMAA Auctioneer Ed Perry, Fund Founder Craig Gates, Columbia Ford Employee Dale Thompson, Fund Board Member Denny Gates
Bottom left to right, Columbia Ford Employees Nicole Mooney and Brianne Gallagher


text:
15:56 | 28/09/2017 Cooperation
India raised the issue of market access and regulatory barriers that its companies are facing in Indonesia in pharmacy, dairy and bovine meat, said the country’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry on September 25.
|Indian officials at a "Start-up India" event held in January 2017 - Photo: EPA/VNA|
According to Press Trust India (PTI) news agency, the issues were discussed during a meeting between Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry Suresh Prabhu and his Indonesian counterpart Enggartiasto Lukita.
A statement of the Indian Ministry of Commerce and Trade said the Indonesian side has agreed to inspect the registering of dairy products and meat processing facilities.
The statement further said the issue of market access to automotive and auto components manufactured in India was also raised, along with the greater investment opportunities for joint ventures, textile machinery manufacturing, textile parks and special economic zones.
It added that the ministers agreed to deepen economic cooperation by having greater cooperation of stakeholders, including government and businesses.
Both ministers consented to hold a meeting of regulators to resolve issues concerning the pharmacy and health sectors.
Furthermore, they also reached consensus on the early organisation of a meeting of the working groups on trade and investment and trade facilitation and remedies to address issues impeding trade.
Bilateral trade between India and Indonesia increased to 16.92 billion USD in 2016-2017 from 15.95 billion USD in the previous fiscal year.


text:
The Environment Protection Agency (EPA) has recently revealed the official fuel economy ratings of the 2013 Ford Explorer Sport. EPA’s announcement came a few weeks before the latest version of the Ford Explorer hits the company’s dealerships in the US this September.
Based on the series of tests con ducted by EPA, the 2013 Ford Explorer Sport has obtained the official fuel economy ratings of 16 miles per gallon in the city and 22 miles per gallon on the highway. Such figures were actually similar to the estimated ratings that Ford Motor Company has released previously.
Given these ratings, it is quite obvious that the 2013 Ford Explorer Sport is more fuel-efficient compared to some of its rivals in its class particularly the Dodge Durango and the Jeep Grand Cherokee. The Grand Cherokee which is presently viewed as the most powerful jeep that was ever produced has obtained the ratings of 13 miles per gallon in the city and 20 miles per gallon on the highway.
Although the 2013 Ford Explorer Sport beat the latest version of the Jeep Grand Cherokee in terms of fuel efficiency, the latter’s larger 6.4-liter Hemi V-8 engine generates a more power compared to the former. The Hemi V-8 used in the Grand Cherokee is capable of producing a maximum power output of up to 470 horsepower while the Ford Explorer Sport’s smaller 3.0-liter EcoBoost V-6 engine only generates up to 365 horsepower and 350 lb.-ft. of torque.
As of the present, the 2013 Ford Explorer Sport is considered as the most expensive version which is included in the model’s lineup for this year. The vehicle will be sold at a starting price of $41,545 including the destination charge of 825 dollars.
Given its current starting price, the 2013 Ford Explorer Sport is about $11,850 more expensive compared to the lineup’s base model which is the 2013 Ford Explorer. The price of the latter starts at $29,695 including the $825 destination charge.
But despite of the price difference between the two models in the lineup, a lot of car buyers particularly those who are in need of a more powerful vehicle would still go for the Explorer Sport since the base version is propelled by a 3.5-liter V- engine this is only capable of generating up to 290 horsepower and 255 lb.-ft. or torque.


text:
NEW YORK, Aug. 13, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The increasing acceptance of cannabidiol or CBD has pushed the overall cannabis industry into mainstream markets. Previously, CBD was listed as a Schedule 1 drug, meaning it was among one of the most heavily regulated substances in the world. However, through extensive research, scientists have concluded that CBD can actually have medical benefits. Researchers have praised the compound for its therapeutic benefits as it can be used as an alternative to traditional medicines. Moreover, clinical trials have also concluded that CBD does not cause psychoactive effects, unlike its THC or tetrahydrocannabinol counterpart. The positive outcome from CBD trials even led the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to delist the compound from the Schedule 1 list. Additionally, the U.S. federal government signed the Farm Bill in 2018, which caused a widespread emergence of CBD-based products in stores throughout the nation. In particular, products such as tinctures, extracts, topicals, and beverages have been well received and are popular among consumers. Specifically, infused beverages became widely popular because they introduced a new method to consume cannabis aside from smoking or vaping. With the overall decline in smoking, as well as the increase in consumers seeking functional beverages, the CBD beverage industry has positioned itself to become a thriving market. Notably, the concept of self-care is causing the CBD beverage market to witness growth because consumers can easily purchase products at local stores or even on ecommerce platforms. Moreover, consumers are looking for a more natural product rather than the current commercialized health and wellness products that are packed with chemicals. However, despite the growing popularity of CBD beverages, there are still a multitude of people that are hesitant on trying them because of the legality matter revolving around cannabis. However, as cannabis continues to push into mainstream markets, the stigma imposed on the plant will eventually diminish. According to data compiled by Ameri Research, the global legal marijuana market was valued at USD 14.3 Billion in 2016. By 2024, legal marijuana global sales are projected to reach USD 63.5 Billion while exhibiting a CAGR of 21.1% from 2017 to 2024. BevCanna Enterprises Inc. (OTC: BVNNF) (CSE: BEV), Aphria Inc. (NYSE: APHA) (TSX: APHA), Valens GroWorks Corp. (OTC: VGWCF) (TSX-V: VGW), The Alkaline Water Company Inc. (NASDAQ: WTER) (TSX-V: WTER), Emerald Health Therapeutics Inc. (OTC: EMHTF) (TSX-V: EMH).
Typically, CBD is being added into beverages such as water, coffee, soda, and even non-alcoholic products. These CBD beverages can then in turn be used as both medical and recreational products. For instance, recreational consumers can drink CBD beverages to simply relax. On the other hand, medical patients can consume CBD beverages to alleviate a variety of conditions such as chronic pain, anxiety, and epilepsy. Primarily, most cannabis-based beverages are created by mixing a tincture into a liquid. However, consuming CBD products is much more difficult compared to applying topicals, which directly sends CBD into skin tissues. A tincture is similar to other liquids or foods, as most of it is metabolized in the intestines and stomach. By the end, the intestines and the stomach will have broken down most of the CBD content before the body can absorb any, according to Dr. Yasmin Hurd, a professor of neuroscience, pharmacological sciences and psychiatry at New York City's Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Despite the solubility issues regarding beverage products, it is still positioned to become one of the largest segments in the broad cannabis market. As a result, many companies dabbling in the beverage industry are searching for the most effective way to dissolve CBD into the human body. "Everyone in the industry recognizes that CBD-infused beverages are going to be one of the largest category opportunities in all of CBD," said Ben Witte, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Recess, a company producing CBD-infused sparkling water. "As a result of that, a lot of the suppliers in the supply chain have innovated to create a format that is soluble in beverages."
BevCanna Enterprises Inc. (OTC: BVNNF) (CSE: BEV) is also listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the ticker (CSE: BEV). Yesterday, the Company announced that, "the debut of its latest cannabis infused brand, Grüv Beverages™.
The Grüv Beverages brand represents an easy-drinking range of cannabis-infused iced tea beverages.
Formulated for wide appeal, Grüv helps you relax, unwind and quench your thirst after a day in the sun, playing in the garden, at the office, or the water's edge. Enjoying a Grüv allows you to experience the vibrant energy that surrounds us and become immersed in the easy-going rhythm of a beautiful day.
The brand embodies the delight we have in connecting with others and ourselves. It sets the pace for reveling in the moment. It's a lively and approachable brand – grooving to the music of life.
The Grüv Beverages range of iced tea products was developed in response to BevCanna's recently completed extensive North American-wide consumer study, which focused on product and consumption preferences within the cannabis-infused beverage market.
"Iced tea was among the top five performing concepts, among 25 product concepts tested," said Emma Andrews, Chief Commercialization Officer at BevCanna. "We are also choosing to launch this brand with a balanced THC and CBD profile (1:1 ratio), in order to provide consumers with a mild, yet effective cannabis experience."
Grüv Beverages will be one of the first brands launched by BevCanna in the U.S., and in Canada following the legalization of infused products in Oct 2019. The Company will commercialize a 375ml ready-to-drink beverage, with 5mg of THC & 5mg of CBD infused in an alkaline spring water base. The innovation pipeline also includes powdered drink mixes.
Get in the Grüv.
About BevCanna: BevCanna Enterprises Inc. (CSE: BEV) plans to develop and manufacture cannabinoid-infused beverages and consumer products for in-house brands and white label clients. With decades of experience creating, branding and distributing iconic brands that have resonated with consumers on a global scale, the team demonstrates an expertise unmatched in the emerging cannabis beverage category. Based in British Columbia, Canada, BevCanna has a 100-acre outdoor cultivation site in the fertile Okanagan Valley and the exclusive rights to a pristine spring water aquifer, as well as a world-class 40,000-square-foot, HACCP certified manufacturing facility, with a current bottling capacity of up to 72M bottles per shift/per annum. BevCanna's vision is to be a global leader in infused innovations."
For our latest "Buzz on the Street" Show featuring BevCanna Enterprises Inc. recent corporate news, please head over to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGAGVIpcJwA
Aphria Inc. (NYSE: APHA) (TSX: APHA) is a leading global cannabis company driven by an unrelenting commitment to our people, product quality and innovation. Aphria Inc., through its subsidiary Aphria Deutschland GmbH ("Aphria Germany"), recently launched the Company's first CBD-based nutraceutical, the first product in its CBD-based cosmetics line for the German market. Featuring CBD derived from hemp, the CannRelief brand of products are being produced in the European Union and distributed by the Company's subsidiary, CC Pharma, which has access to more than 13,000 pharmacies throughout Germany. "We are excited to introduce our first brand of CBD products for the German nutraceutical and cosmetics market," said Jakob Ripshtein, President of Aphria. "Supported by our extensive distribution network through CC Pharma, CannRelief provides a natural extension to Aphria's growing business opportunities in the German medical cannabis market. We look forward to providing a full range of CannRelief CBD products this year."
Valens GroWorks Corp. (OTCQB: VGWCF) (TSX-V: VGW) is a vertically integrated provider of Canadian cannabis products developed from our proprietary extraction techniques, with three wholly-owned subsidiaries located in and around Kelowna, BC. Valens GroWorks Corp. announced last year that it has signed a two-part, multi-year agreement with Tarukino Holdings, Inc. The agreement allows Valens to further expand on its product and service offerings to compliment the extraction market while also securing a strong foothold in the developing Canadian cannabis-infused beverage, edible and topical categories. Under the agreement, Tarukino grants Valens the exclusive Canadian rights to the production and distribution of its proprietary emulsion technology that transforms cannabis oil and oil-based terpenes into water-soluble forms for use in beverages, edibles, topicals and other consumer products. This technology, better known in the industry as SōRSE™, allows cannabis infused products to maintain potency when heated, chilled or frozen, and removes all cannabis taste and smell, enabling Valens to develop their own innovative self branded products while making SōRSE™ directly available to the Canadian market. "One of the many key benefits of utilizing "SōRSE™ technology in edibles and infused beverages includes being able to dramatically decrease the time for onset and how long it lasts after consumption. This will improve the experience for our consumers and ultimately paves the path for how we believe cannabis will be consumed in the future," said Tyler Robson, Chief Executive Officer, Valens GroWorks.
The Alkaline Water Company Inc. (NASDAQ: WTER) (TSX-V: WTER) is a leading producer of premium bottled alkaline drinking water sold under the brand name Alkaline88®. The Alkaline Water Company Inc. recently announced the launch of its new canned product line, featuring Alkaline88® in 16oz aluminum cans, available in Alkaline88® water, four all-natural flavored waters, and three all-natural flavored Cannabidiol ("CBD") infused waters. As demand for canned products is steadily increasing, the Company continues to innovate and add to its unparalleled product suite to provide consumers with a variety of products. Consumers will be able to purchase Alkaline88® water in a convenient canned format, along with the Company's flavor-infused waters and flavored CBD infused waters. The Company expects to bring its new product line to market by Q1 of calendar year 2020. "We are thrilled to announce the launch of our highly anticipated canned product line. Based on the national success of Alkaline88® and our recent debut of our bottled flavor infused Alkaline88, expanding into the canned market is a logical next step to continue to expand our growing brand portfolio," stated Richard A. Wright, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Alkaline Water Company Inc. "Consumer demand for canned beverages continues to grow, with the global beverage can market estimated to reach USD USD 60.92 Billion by 2024 according to Grand View Research. We expect to capitalize on this growth through our new canned product offerings and use them as an additional in-road into the convenience store market which has a large emphasis on canned products," concluded Wright.
Emerald Health Therapeutics Inc. (OTCQX: EMHTF) (TSX-V: EMH) is a Canadian licensed producer of cannabis. Emerald Health Therapeutics, Inc. recently reported that it has expanded its agreement to purchase harvested hemp flower and leaf, or hemp chaff, from Emerald Health Hemp Inc. from 1,000 to 1,200 acres for 2019. EHH is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Emerald Health Sciences Inc. and a related party of Emerald. Based on last year's harvest, Emerald expects production from the 1,200 acres to be at least 270,000 kg of hemp chaff in 2019 with, conservatively, approximately 2% cannabidiol ("CBD") content. Emerald estimates that this hemp may yield 3,500 kg of extracted CBD, which it plans to use to manufacture premium oils, softgels and associated value-added products for Canadian adult-use and medical consumers. Emerald intends that the past and future harvested hemp will be processed through extraction, with some also going through gel encapsulation, in the Factors Group manufacturing facility in Kelowna, BC. With the support of Emerald, the Factors Group expects to complete final construction on the retrofitting and segmentation of its proposed processing facility in the coming weeks and plans to submit its final evidence package to Health Canada for review and approval shortly thereafter. This operating facility is estimated to have annual extraction capacity of up to one million kg of biomass and can produce up to 600 million CBD softgel capsules per year. "CBD, despite being non-psychoactive, currently cannot legally be added to food, beverage or dietary supplement products under US Food & Drug Administration ("FDA") rules. However, with the FDA's recent initiation of its CBD policy review, we believe there is potential that in time federal US rules will permit CBD-infused products," said Allan Rewak, VP Communications and Stakeholder Relations. "Emerald intends to maximize every opportunity that becomes allowable."
Subscribe Now! Watch us report LIVE https://www.youtube.com/FinancialBuzzMedia
Follow us on Twitter for real time Financial News Updates: https://twitter.com/financialbuzz
Follow and talk to us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/financialbuzz
Facebook Like Us to receive live feeds: https://www.facebook.com/Financialbuzz/
FinancialBuzz.com, a leading financial news informational web portal designed to provide the latest trends in Market News, Investing News, Personal Finance, Politics, Entertainment, in-depth broadcasts on Stock News, Market Analysis and Company Interviews. A pioneer in the financially driven digital space, video production and integration of social media, FinancialBuzz.com creates 100% unique original content. FinancialBuzz.com also provides financial news PR dissemination, branding, marketing and advertising for third parties for corporate news and original content through our unique media platform that includes Newswire Delivery, Digital Advertising, Social Media Relations, Video Production, Broadcasting, and Financial Publications.


text:
After spending nearly a decade with Wireless Zone, Jeff Panella is bringing his franchise experience to Famous Toastery to help drive the brand’s nationwide growth
Charlotte, NC (Restaurant News Release) After landing on CNBC’s list of the top six food franchises in America in 2016, and receiving multiple best breakfast and brunch awards in their hometown market of Charlotte, North Carolina, Famous Toastery is gearing up to launch expansion plans under the new chief development officer, Jeff Panella.
To date, the company boasts 20 locations throughout the Southeast and Philadelphia. And last spring, Famous Toastery opened its very first Florida location in Jacksonville Beach and Virginia location in Loudon. New restaurants are also in the pipeline for New York and Colorado—previously untapped states. With plans to open an additional 10 new locations by the end of 2017, Panella has joined the team to help strategize franchise development and expansion into new markets.
“More and more people are starting to hear about us. People are learning about our genuine passion for better-breakfast and lunch, served up in a welcoming and friendly culture. When they find out what Famous Toastery has to offer, people are either going out of their way to dine with us, or they’re wondering what it’ll take to bring the brand straight to them,” said Robert Maynard, the founder and CEO of Famous Toastery. “That tells us that there’s a real need for Famous Toastery. Better breakfast is still an untapped market, and we have so much opportunity to broaden our already-tremendous following of loyal and regular customers by adding new locations across the country. With the help of Jeff Panella, we’re more confident than ever before that Famous Toastery is well on its way to becoming a nationwide brand.”
Panella brings with him decades of experience in franchise sales. Since 2005, he’s worked at Wireless Zone, first as the vice president of sales and operations, and later as the national vice president of business development. With his wealth of brand knowledge, Panella helped grow Wireless Zone’s franchise system through the addition of more than 200 locations to propel the brand into an even greater future.
Now, in his new role with Famous Toastery, Panella is eager to bring his experience to an emerging brand that’s on the cusp of nationwide expansion. Panella first learned about Famous Toastery while attending a franchise event. While there, he had the chance to meet Maynard, and after a few brief conversations, Panella was inspired by his vision and business acumen.
“Robert is an incredibly smart businessman. He understood the importance of creating a brand that was focused on atmosphere and experience. It was clear from the very beginning that Famous Toastery was truly an extension of his family—that’s how much he cares,” Panella said. “I have family that lives in Charlotte, so I talked to them about their familiarity with Famous Toastery—they all go there several times a week. I ended up trying it for myself and completely fell in love with everything it had to offer. So when the opportunity came my way to join Maynard’s team, I jumped at the chance.”
In particular, it’s the fact that Famous Toastery has pioneered the better-breakfast segment that excites him most about his new role.
“There’s such a limited choice when it comes to breakfast—it’s either the greasy spoon or the expensive five-star option. Then, there’s Famous Toastery. The brand’s dining experience feels like a five-star restaurant, but it’s a quarter of the price,” Panella said. “And from an investment standpoint, we’re truly far above the competition. Our food is prepared fresh and in-house every day. Our menu is unique, and boasts options beyond just scrambled eggs and pancakes. Our orange juice is all fresh squeezed. And the restaurants don’t have freezers or deep-fryers. You just don’t find that kind of commitment to really good food in the breakfast space.”
In the years ahead, Panella is targeting areas east of the Mississippi, Colorado, Kentucky, the Northeast and the areas in between for growth. And no matter how big or small the market, Panella is confident that Famous Toastery is a brand that can thrive just about anywhere. To do this, they’re targeting multi-unit expansion with the help of the right franchisees, and Panella believes that thanks to Famous Toastery’s strong support system and ongoing assistance, it’s a goal that’s well within sight.
“There’s a shift occurring lately in terms of what people look for when they’re dining out. People are shunning the idea of the greasy-spoon and artificial ingredients. Instead, they’re craving foods that are fresh and natural. They want meals that are made from scratch every single morning. We’re bringing that concept to the booming breakfast and brunch crowds, and we believe that our growth potential is currently unmatched,” Panella said. “From North Carolina to New York, people throughout the country all value those things—they want quality food without the pretention often seen in the brunch segment these days. And we’re excited to bring that option to them.”
About Famous Toastery
Famous Toastery’s story began in 2005 in Huntersville, N.C. in a small house-turned-restaurant where best friends Brian Burchill and Robert Maynard opened their first breakfast spot. News of their fresh-made breakfasts and fun atmosphere spread. The concept quickly grew to three locations, serving new and loyal clients dishes such as made-from-scratch banana and peanut butter stuffed French toast and avocado omelets. Never compromising fresh ingredients or friendly service, the demand for Toast kept growing. To satisfy its family of patrons’ pleas for more locations, Toast evolved into a franchise system in 2013. Dining customers always can expect impeccable service because at Toast, “every server is your server.” Breaking through the boring casual breakfast segment, Toast will continue spreading its success to new communities across the United States. For more information about Toast or to learn about franchising opportunities, please visit famoustoastery.com.
No Limit Agency


text:
On Monday, fast food company McDonald’s announced that it was selling all Russian locations. This comes as the Russian military continues its attacks on Ukraine. The company announced in March that stores would be temporarily closed due to the invasion. A spokesperson for McDonald’s said holding onto Russian business is “no longer tenable, nor is it consistent with McDonald’s values.”
McDonald’s has been in Russia for the past 30 years. Since 1991 when the first one opened during the fall of the Soviet Union, 850 stores have popped up thereafter. They were the first American fast food chain to land in Russia which was seen as a good thing for easing the tensions between Russia and the United States.
850 McDonald’s restaurants will be closing down. 62,000 people will need to seek new jobs or find a job through the help of McDonald’s who will be selling the stores off to other Russian companies in order to keep the people employed.
McDonald’s will begin removing the famous golden arches and all traces of the company from all Russian based restaurants in the coming weeks and months.