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Your Company is a Target for Hackers
It was business as usual as the restaurant’s small staff prepared for the lunchtime crowd.
The kitchen was scrubbed, the floor immaculate, and the equipment and fresh ingredients ready. Just the same as every day since the restaurant’s opening seven years earlier in East Oahu.
Then the call came. “A man from a credit card company told me that my business computer had probably been breached,” recalls the owner. “I practically hung up on him thinking it was a prank.”
He dropped everything and contacted “the computer guy” – an outside IT specialist who worked on the restaurant’s computer once in a blue moon. “I wanted him to investigate and was confident that this was some sort of mistake. I was wrong.”
Hackers had infiltrated the restaurant’s computer. Over about a month, they stole hundreds of customers’ credit card numbers, which were then sold to criminals on underground websites. The buyers then created fake credit cards using the stolen numbers and made fraudulent purchases as far away as Canada.
The restaurant was a victim of carding, a complex scheme that can scorch businesses in multiple ways, from back-office security data breaches to front-store fraudulent purchases.
If not for the call, the abuse of the restaurant’s credit card numbers would have gone on indefinitely, says the restaurant owner, who spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of being targeted again.
“I still can’t believe that this happened. We are a small shop, why would a hacker want anything to do with us? How did they even detect us?”
“It was a false sense of security,” says Edward Arias, supervisory special agent for the FBI in Honolulu. The reality is that every business – from small mom-and-pop stores to multibillion-dollar retail behemoths – has a bull’s-eye on its back. “Unfortunately, there are a lot of local businesses who don’t think this can happen to them, until it does,” he says. Small businesses are often targeted because they are less likely to reduce their risk with enhanced IT security, strongly written and enforced digital policies, and employee training, says Sheri Sakamoto, president of the Retail Merchants of Hawaii. “They have limited resources and are not as aware of these issues,” she says.
Sakamoto says there are more than 17,000 retail entities in Hawaii – 80 percent of them small. “Too many of them are not taking this threat seriously,” she notes.
The fallout from carding crimes can be catastrophic. Data security breaches, for example, will cost a business $188,000 on average, according to Beau Monday, information security officer at Hawaiian Telecom. That’s enough to put many companies out of business.
In retailing, business owners pay an average of $78 in penalties for each stolen record. The costs are even higher on average for healthcare and financial companies: $233 and $215 per stolen record, respectively. And those figures only cover the sanctions and fees imposed by banks and credit card companies – not the actual losses from fraudulent acquisitions. The restaurant owner described above would not reveal the losses he suffered from his breach, but the restaurant is still in business.
Target, which had some 40 million credit card numbers and 70 million pieces of sensitive costumer information stolen, including addresses and phone numbers, could be hit with billions of dollars in sanctions.
“We are talking about some serious financial damages,” Monday says. “Big businesses have insurance and other means to cope, but many small businesses work on a limited cash basis and could find themselves in real trouble.”
Some 60 percent of businesses hit by data breaches file for bankruptcy within six months, he says.
Hawaii is no stranger to these crimes. The local victims include Target, Neiman Marcus, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Roy’s Restaurant and many others.
Instead of being paralyzed by fear, businesses should take action, the FBI’s Arias says. “What they need to do is be aware and to proactively manage their risk because sticking their heads in the sand is not going to make them safe,” he says.
On March 17, Bob Stout, president of Times Supermarkets, flew to California to drum up funding from his parent company to buy new payment terminals that handle chip and pin credit cards – “smart cards” that are less susceptible to fraud.
He anticipates the ballpark tab will be in six figures, but he’s willing to pay that price. “Security is one of the most important aspects of running our business,” he says. “We see it as an investment.”
Stout carves out time in his busy schedule to engage in all aspects of security. He subscribes to several trade newsletters and reads blogs to stay on top of the latest security news. “When I read about what happened to Target, the first thing I did was call the head of IT,” he says. “I asked: ‘Can this happen to us?’ I always ask: ‘Can this happen to us?’ ”
Engaged leaders are fundamental to keeping businesses safe, says John Buzzard, product manager at FICO Card Alert Service, a fraud-monitoring vendor in Annandale, Virginia. “If the top brass takes security seriously, so will everybody else at the company,” he says.
Proprietors of smaller shops, however, tend to focus almost exclusively on marketing or operations. “Thinking about security can be overwhelming for some businesses,” Buzzard says. “It paralyses them from even getting started.”
To take the edge off, he recommends starting with a low-tech exercise: Write down the items within your business that would be of value to criminals. These would include customers’ credit card numbers, social security numbers, addresses and other personal information. “You have to start with identifying what the criminals would want so that you know what you have to protect,” Buzzard explains.
If financially feasible, small businesses should outsource IT security to a vetted expert, he says. If this is not within the budget, he recommends buying a separate computer to store sensitive information offline. Having a dedicated computer that is not hooked up to the Internet will keep information relatively safe from intrusions. “Whenever a computer is connected to the Internet, the possibility of a breach is always there,” Buzzard says.
Businesses with WiFi connectivity are most at risk as hackers can infiltrate their systems in many ways, including wardriving, where criminals drive around while trying to penetrate networks using anything from a laptop computer to a smartphone.
“We avoid being part of the cloud,” says Gaeton Cavarocchi, CIO at Times Supermarkets. Whenever the company collects information from a customer, the data gets encrypted and then transmitted to a third-party provider – also in encrypted form – to house it in a secure databank offsite.
Cavarocchi is a big believer in knowing where his network stands. There are routine tests for vulnerabilities and grueling inspections by an independent auditing firm. “You can never let your guard down,” he says.
Part of this intense vigilance is because Times is Payment Card Industry compliant. PCI compliant means the company is required to follow rigorous security measures. Cavarocchi says it’s not easy and can cost more than a lot of small businesses can afford.
Businesses that can’t afford the cost of PCI compliance can go online to get the free PCI self-assessment questionnaire, says Cavarocchi. This tool can provide clues about where security weaknesses lie. “Don’t take any gambles with this stuff,” Cavarocchi says. “It will eventually catch up to you and your customers.”
Some years back, Lieutenant John McCarthy of the Honolulu Police Department was working on a case in which thousands of dollars in electronics were fraudulently acquired from a local retailer using a stolen credit card. The clerk accepted the card from a local male – even though it was in the name of a female with a Japanese name.
“The employee should have noticed that there was something fishy going on because the name on the card could not have belonged to the purchaser,” McCarthy notes. “But he didn’t have the training and guidance to help him act on the red flags.”
He has seen countless times in which businesses were easy prey because they failed to create effective written policies or train employees to use them. A well-trained workforce is a powerful defense against carding and every other type of crime.
“These are the people on the frontlines,” McCarthy says. “If your business is going to have a fighting chance, you are going to have to give them the right equipment.”
The first step is to draft a policy framework, so that there is a written protocol on security matters, he says. Then communicate the policies to employees.
Whenever possible, McCarthy says, hire private security contractors to train employees. Businesses can also use free workshops on Oahu offered by both HPD and the U.S. Secret Service. Both agencies will conduct general on-site training if a business owner asks. Email McCarthy at firstname.lastname@example.org with questions for either agency.
“Some signs of fraud are quite evident, like when the stripe of a credit card looks worn down or when the card’s embossment is flawed,” McCarthy says. “But if the employees do not have the right training, they will never be able to spot them.”
Data breaches, however, are notoriously difficult to detect, which is why prevention is critical, says Jay Jacobs, co-author of Verizon’s 2013 Data Breach Investigations Report, which analyzed some 47,000 reported incidents.
His research indicates that easy-to-guess passwords such as administrator, 1234 or password are a big culprit in successful breaches. “It is like opening up the gates to the hackers,” he says. Some experts say passwords should be at least seven characters and have a combination of upper and lower case letters; special symbols, such as @ or # bolster the complexity of the password and make it more secure. Other experts say long phrases – even up to 30 characters that can easily be remembered by the user – provide an even bigger challenge to hackers.
Another problem is USB drives. Some are riddled with malware, which can discretely hop on a computer and begin stealing sensitive data. The best solution is not to use USB drives, period. But if you must use a thumb drive, always use up-to-date anti-virus software to check it immediately, even though this is not foolproof as hackers are always creating new malware.
Unsafe email usage is another pitfall, Jacob notes. Employees who click onto infected links in their emails are inadvertently installing malware on their computers. One safeguard is to avoid emails from unfamiliar sources.
Everybody who uses a workplace computer – from the CEO on down – needs to take precautions, according to McCarthy. For instance, download software updates and security patches as soon as they are available. Users of Windows XP should consider new software because Microsoft has ended free support and further security patches and bug fixes to its 12-year-old operating system for PCs.
“Online criminals will simply park themselves on the Internet and look for loops to penetrate internal systems,” he says. “I know a lot of small businesses who are completely unaware that this change in software is happening. They are like sitting ducks.”
When It Happens
Breaches in security are to be expected, which is why having an Internet response plan is essential for companies of all shapes and sizes, says Michael Collat, lead associate at Booz Allen Hamilton in Honolulu. “When the breach comes, you will want to just be able to pull out the document and get to work without having to figure things out as you go along,” he says.
More often than not, however, companies do not have a response plan, which means they have to react to security breaches on the fly. The first rule is not to panic. Collat recommends reaching out to an IT forensics specialist and to the appropriate law enforcement agencies.
The forensics work will hopefully uncover where the breach happened and what means were used to break in. “The knee-jerk reaction for a lot of businesses is to unplug the computer and erase everything so that they can get back to work,” he says. “This is understandable, but by doing this they will never know what truly happened and how to protect themselves in the future.”
Collat believes transparency with affected parties is also critical. “You don’t want to hide things,” he says.
Target leveraged tools like social media, email and press releases to communicate with customers after its breach. One of the main messages the retailer wanted to transmit was that customers have zero liability for any fraudulent charges, says company spokeswoman Molly Snyder. To further provide peace of mind, the company also offered one year of credit monitoring and identity theft protection to all of its clients.
Collat says carding can cripple a business, not just financially, but also erode customer loyalty and damage a brand.
“It will be painful, but it doesn’t have to be the kiss of death,” Collat says. “First, though, business owners will have to be realistic about the kind of interconnected world that we live in and realize that their companies are not operating in a protective bubble.”
Beware of Friends and Allies
Your vendors can do you in, even if they don’t intend to.
The hackers in the Target breach did not attack its strong security system head on. Instead, they came in through the retailer’s heating and cooling systems maintenance provider.
“Hackers are savvy,” says Edward Arias, supervisory special agent for the FBI. “If they think that a network is too secure to access directly, they will turn to the low-hanging fruit around it.”
Almost 25 percent of cyber breaches can be attributed to third-party negligence, according to a study from the Ponemon Institute, a security research company which surveyed more than 3,500 IT and cybersecurity experts in 2013.
One way to protect yourself is to limit a vendor’s access to your network, Arias says. “Try to keep everything separate. Don’t give external companies the keys to the entire shop,” he says.
Don’t hire vendors randomly. Instead, ask people you trust for recommendations. If possible, conduct a background check before hiring a vendor.
Small businesses that don’t have the budget for deep vetting can get additional information by contacting trade organizations or asking for letters of recommendation, and calling on those sources for verification.
There are free tools as well, such as the FBI’s InfraGard partnership – a network of experts across multiple industries who have passed through extensive vetting. Go to www.infragard.org.
Percentage of American adults who have had personal information stolen including:
- Credit card numbers
- Social Security data
This is up from 11 percent in 2013.
Source: Nationwide survey of 1,002 adults in January 2014 by Pew Research Center
Shift in Liability
October 2015 could catch many local businesses flatfooted.
That’s the deadline set by the credit card industry for U.S. businesses to upgrade their payment terminals, says Sheri Sakamoto, president of the Retail Merchants of Hawaii. If they don’t upgrade, merchants could be liable for fraudulent charges currently covered by the credit card companies.
The stakes are enormous, considering that credit card fraud in the U.S. is estimated at $5.3 billion a year, according to the Nilson Report, a respected newsletter and research organization in the field.
The new technology is chip and pin credit cards, which industry experts say are less susceptible to security breaches than the conventional swipe-and-sign cards. Much of the world has already made the switch to chip and pin cards, which have tiny computer chips embedded in the card and have reduced in-store credit card fraud. The cards can encrypt data that is specific to an individual transaction, whereas the traditional swipe cards repeat a single number.
Visa set Oct. 1, 2015 as the U.S. deadline for adoption. After that, if a customer uses a chip and pin credit card, but the merchant accepts the payment using an outdated terminal, the card issuer will not be responsible if there is fraud. The retailer will be.
Big stores can absorb these losses, but small companies will struggle. “I worry about the small shops,” Sakamoto says. “They usually don’t have deep reserves.”
Chip and pin cards will bolster security, but they are not a silver bullet. In Europe, smart card technology reduced in-store credit card fraud, so the hackers shifted more of their energy to online fraud, cyber-security experts say.


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Seven distilleries are collaborating to produce a bespoke blended whisky, donating the proceeds to the disaster relief in Japan. The distilleries Arran, BenRiach, Bladnoch, GlenDronach, Mitchell’s Glengyle, Kilchoman and Springbank will each supply a cask of single malt, to be blended together to create ‘The Spirit of Unity’ whisky. It sounds like a great idea and, as discussed here, there is a strong connection between Japan and the Scottish distilleries.
The idea came from Euan Mitchell, managing director of Isle of Arran Distillers, who explained: “Many in our industry, like me, travel regularly to Japan and have made friends and contacts with Japanese whisky enthusiasts. On seeing the scale and horror of the problems they are facing we were moved to help and other craft distillers immediately came onboard.”
They plan to produce around 2,000 bottles, most of which will be sold in the UK. The remainder will be shipped to Japan with some being donated for sale in New Zealand to assist with relief in the aftermath of the Christchurch earthquake. This should raise at least £50,000 for the relief effort.
Click here for the more detailed Whisky Magazine article.

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Written and illustrated by Kyle Rose and Allan Rae, two employees at Navistar's Springfield, OH, plant, Brutus — The Big Red Truck is a children's book intended to deliver a positive message about respecting others, playing nicely, and noticing the “good” in everyone, despite differences, and to do so in a manner that fosters discussion among children and their parents, according to Navistar.
What's more, the book is serving as the foundation for an outreach effort to local elementary schools by employees at Navistar facilities across the country. So far, some 5,000 copies of Brutus have been donated to schoolchildren as well as to company employees. “The feedback has been great,” says co-author Rose. “The kids really seem to get the message, and it's rewarding to know our little book is helping encourage respect for one another at such an important time in life.”
The book, also available in Spanish, can be purchased by the general public for the nominal fee of $4 a copy. Navistar says proceeds will benefit charities in Springfield.
To read an online copy of Brutus, go to www.navistar.com/brutus.
To purchase a copy of Brutus, go to www.internationaltrucks.com/shop.


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“Housing construction plans to overcome the shortage deficit and the establishment of a free trade area will see increased manufacturing of coatings in Morocco,” said Richard Weissenberg, Frost & Sullivan Business Unit Leader Chemicals, Materials and Food-Africa.
Weissenberg, who gave a presentation on the “African growth opportunities for the coatings industry” at the North African Coatings Congress 2016 in Casablanca, Morocco, said demand for coatings in Morocco was estimated at $350 million in 2010 when local production was estimated at 174,000 metric tons, figures which still give an indication of current status of the market.
Separately, market analyst Oxford Business Group (OBG) estimates that Morocco is constructing 170,000 housing units set for completion by the end of 2016 to reduce the country’s current housing deficit to 400,000, driving up further demand for paints and coatings.
“Social housing has been the main driver of construction and real estate activity in recent years, accounting for around 70 percent of developments in 2014,” said OBG Sin its recent analysis “State housing and infrastructure projects in Morocco drive growth in construction and real estate.”
“The government aims to reduce the deficit to 400,000 units by 2016 by building an additional 170,000 units per year,” the analysis says adding that the number of social housing units built in 2014 fell short of that target, and saw a slight reduction to some 140,880, down 1.1 percent from the 142,501 units built in 2013.
“Demand for housing is expected to continue growing by some 150,000 units per year,” it said.
At the NACC forum in Casablanca, Weissenberg said Morocco’s paints and coatings manufacturing plants are currently operating at between 65 and 70 percent of total installed capacity, an indication they production potential exists to meet anticipated increase in demand.
“Morocco’s paints and coatings market demand growth rate is forecast to be less than 4 percent in the medium term,” said Weissenberg.
Morocco’s coatings market is dominated by manufacturers Colorado SA, Astra Peintures, Akzo Nobel SA (Astral) and Facop Peintures, which combined produce an estimated 200,000 metric tons per year.
Colorado S.A. is the market leader in Morocco with a production capacity of about 52,000 metric tons per annum of a range of products, such as coatings, vinyl paints, concentrated pigments, wood varnishes and decorative paints, among others.
Other products by Colorado S.A. include paint thinners and application materials which it produces in partnership with other firms such as Artilin, Candis, Franpin, ACM Italie and Rust Oleum.
“Colorado S.A. sources 80 percent of their raw material from foreign manufacturers and the remainder from local raw material manufacturers,” said Weissenberg.
Atlas Peintures (B.H.F.), which produces an average of 40,000 metric tons every year holds an estimated market share of 23 percent and manufactures some of its own raw materials for its own consumption with main focus on manufacture of decorative coatings.
Casablanca-based Astral Peintures Batiment (Akzo Nobel S.A. ) has a 19 percent share of the Moroccan coatings market manufacturing an estimated 33,000 metric tons annually and markets its coatings under the name Astral and Sadvel mainly decorative, wood and automotive coatings.
Weissenberg said Facop Peintures in Morocco is the fourth largest coatings manufacturer with a 28,000 metric tons manufacturing capacity.
Decorative coatings hold the largest share of the total coatings products produced in Morocco at 70 percent.
“Wood coatings and automotive refinish coatings are the two second biggest coatings products being locally produced in Morocco at 13 percent and 9 percent respectively,” said Weissenberg.
“More than 90 percent of the decorative coatings demanded in Morocco is met by local manufacturers,” said Weissenberg.
Although 60 percent of the raw materials for coatings manufacture in Morocco are imported, local manufacturers SMP, Clariant, and Consortium Morocco produce the remaining requirements for the coatings makers in this North African market.
An analysis of decorative coatings in the Morocco market shows that up to 90 percent are waterbased, with the remainder solvent-based according to Weissenberg.
Demand for marine coatings and road markings in Morocco are met through importation, with all can and coil coatings also importation, mainly from Beckers in France.
Weissenberg also projected increased growth of the North Africa automotive coatings market driven mainly by the planned production by automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in Morocco, Algeria and Egypt.
“Although the paints and coatings opportunities are bigger in North Africa’s construction sector, we should watch the automotive coatings growth,” he said.
He said planned production by automotive OEMs in Algeria for example is set to increase from 28,000 units in 2015 to 408,000 in 2022.
This major growth in Algeria will be driven by automotive companies such as Faw Motor Company, Scania, Iveco, Cima Motors-Hyundai, Volkswagen, Mercedez Benz SAPPL-MB, Renault truck, Renault Algerie Production and PSA Peugeot-Citroen.
In Morocco, companies such as PSA Peugeot-Citroen and Renault are set to launch manufacturing plants by 2019 while Ford, Volkswagen and Hyundai have expressed interest in the market.
Similar trend is expected in Egypt where BMW, General Motors, Nissan, Hyundai, Daewoo are eyeing a share of the automotive market, increasing growth opportunities for automotive coatings segment.
Separately, multinational professional services firm Deloitte said in an earlier report that despite Egypt, Morocco, and Algeria having a sizeable automotive assembly and manufacturing sectors, “fewer than 900 000 vehicles were produced on the continent accounting for just over 0.9 percent of global production in 2015.”
However, the company said: “Due to the rise of income levels in many African countries and the emergence of a middle class, Deloitte regards the continent as the final frontier for the global automotive industry.”
“Given Africa’s population size and its positive economic outlook, automotive companies will be able to gain a competitive advantage by adopting a medium- to long-term view towards the continent,” it said.
The consultancy firm said although the domestic vehicle production and assembly “may have substantial multiplier effects for African economies, and could act as a catalyst for industrialization and economic diversification, this is at a lesser stage of development.”
The positive growth projections for Morocco’s housing sector and North Africa’s automotive industry are likely to be the main drivers of the coatings industry in these markets both in the short and medium term.


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Retail shoe store chain Payless is planning to close its five stores in Connecticut after it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
On Wednesday (4th April) the company announced the closing of the following stores in the states.
Locations where the stores are going to get closed are”
Waterbury Plaza Waterbury
Jordan Lane Shopping Center Wethersfield
Sand Hill Plaza Newtown
Old Saybrook Shopping Center Old Saybrook
Strawberry Hill Shopping Center, Norwalk
The retail store also announced that it will be soon closing nearly 400 stores across the United Staes and Puerto Rico.
According to the company’s website, it has more than 4,400 stores across 30 countries.
Two private equity groups owns Payless that bought the network of shoe stores in 2012.


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The NPE Exhibition- Florida USA
The NPE exhibition, which takes place every three years in the US and coordinates all polymer activity in North America, is the second most important exhibition after the K in Germany.
According to information from the exhibition more than 2100 companies from 121 countries were exhibiting this year, and Polyram was there right in the thick of it!
In a joint pavilion of Polyram and Polyram USA –distributing Bondyram® products in North America, we were proud to promote the company’s new Bondyram® plant at Evansville Indiana.
Products from the EP and Polytron® families were also presented.
We had good attendance at our booth and feel that with the new factory, Polyram has a new and improved position in North America.
The exhibition brings the entire plastic industry together, including global companies from the entire supply chain and the full range of end-user markets.
The next show is due in May 2021 in Orlando, USA.
During the exhibition, we were happy to meet with customers who see in the American factory an important opportunity for increasing their cooperation with us.
Among those were existing customers but also new potential customers who until now could not benefit from Polyram products.
In addition, coordinated meetings were held with suppliers of raw materials for the plant as well as meetings between key customers’ top management and Polyram’s Chairman, Mr. Ishay Davidi. Overall, we are thrilled to find that now with manufacturing in the US, a new market has opened for Polyram.
This is the opportunity to thank Mr. Mark Richard from Maroon-Group,our partner in Polyram USA, for coordinating the meetings with the potential resin suppliers and our main Bondyram customers.


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Konami is not working with NFTs yet. Following its Castlevania anniversary selection, it announced its recruitment for WEB3 and metaverse developers, intending to build a virtual blockchain world that would compete with the likes of Meta. Though these rarely achieve popular results, they haven’t proved successful.
The GAME VIDEO OF DAY, THEGAMER.
We’ve been researching and developing, to integrate the latest technology into games and content, and plan to launch a service where players can trade their in-game NFTs (digital items) through a unique distribution platform using blockchain, said the listing. “To increase our structure and expand our business, we are looking for the following positions as members that will work together to expand our business and evolve with a new future for digital entertainment.”
In the same way, Final Fantasy NFTs Cement Square Enix are the Worst Publisher in Gaming.
A $1.2 billion metaverse — Decentraland, – reportedly only had 38 active users over 24 hours (thanks, Futurism), but it didn’t say it actually had 8.8 daily users. That’s still $150,000 per player. The Avengers that was set to appear to be slated reaches a 24-hour peak of 289, seven times the number of Decentraland’s reported. Metaverses aren’t popular.
NFTs and blockchain-tech, too. Ubisoft made the leap in cryptocurrencies and digital goods in its Quartz marketplace, but they didn’t sell much of them. Between the 15th and 20th of December and twenty twenty five sales were only made. Ubisoft eventually scrapped its NFT plans because of the lack of interest. Konami was insisting on the move.
There is little word officially on any new games, though rumours, leaks and comments from people like Silent Hill film director Christophe Gans make up most of what we know. There is an argument that there are many silent hills in the development, but fans are still calling for Metal Gear Solid and it remains to be seen whether any of these plans actually can start.


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EPIC, Coalition Back FTC’s Move to Bar Meta From Monetizing Children’s Data
June 13, 2023
EPIC, the Center for Digital Democracy, Fairplay, US PIRG, and 30 other organizations today sent a letter to the FTC supporting the Commission’s efforts to modify and strengthen its 2020 privacy order against Meta. The letter reinforces the Commission’s authority to crack down on Meta’s continuing violations of the FTC’s 2012 and 2020 orders against the company, which themselves resulted from earlier widespread privacy violations by Facebook.
The letter emphasizes that the Commission’s proposed prohibition on monetizing minors’ data is necessary to address the unique privacy vulnerabilities of minors. The letter also explains that the order modification is necessary and appropriate because Meta is “unable or unwilling to safeguard user data in accordance with the Commission’s orders or by following the law.”
EPIC regularly files comments with the FTC regarding business practices that violate privacy rights and advocates for strong data protection safeguards, including privacy protections for children. In 2009, EPIC and coalition partners brought an FTC complaint concerning Facebook’s privacy settings that led to the Commission’s first consent decree with Facebook. EPIC filed numerous FTC complaints targeting Facebook’s abusive data practices in the years after and challenged the inadequacy of the Commission’s 2019 consent decree in federal court.


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Visually-impaired travellers at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) are now being guided through terminals via Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons supplied by Indoo.rs. Some 500 devices have been placed at boarding gates, restaurants and power outlets to trigger audible calls on a passenger’s smartphone when in beacon range. “The prototype version will undergo additional testing and refinement before being released for use by the traveling public,” SFO says.
- US Bank to donate $50,000 to charity through Apple Pay
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SoundBite files petition; FCC rules on opt-out text messages
- Jim Schakenbach, Correspondent
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has issued a declaratory ruling in favor of companies sending a final confirmation text message to consumers who have chosen to opt-out of receiving text messages from mobile marketers.
The ruling was sought by SoundBite Communications (NASDAQ: SDBT) of Bedford, Mass. a mobile marketing and customer experience management company. SoundBite petitioned the federal agency on behalf of a number of organizations in an effort to clarify the provisions of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) regarding the ability of mobile marketers to send one final text message confirming a consumer’s opt-out decision. Various interpretations of the TCPA had led to numerous lawsuits being filed against multiple companies that use mobile communications.
In the ruling the FCC declared that its decision “ensures that wireless consumers will continue to benefit from the TCPA’s protection against unwanted autodialed texts, while giving them certainty that their opt-out requests are being successfully processed.”
According to SoundBite President and CEO Jim Milton, the TCPA’s ambiguity has resulted in numerous lawsuits and the FCC’s ruling will now eliminate potential cases that could run into the hundreds of millions of dollars. Soundbite gained support for its petition from a wide range of industry and consumer protection groups, including CTIA - The Wireless Association, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), and the Council of Better Business Bureaus.
“The problem was between the interpretation of what the FCC and TCPA said and what the mobile marketing association’s consumer best practices for text messaging campaigns said,” John Tallarico, SoundBite’s vice president of product management told Mass High Tech. “One of those guidelines is if a consumer sends an opt-out request, the company sends an opt-out confirmation message. In fact, if you don’t include that in your program, the carriers will not run the messages on their networks. On the other side, you’ve got the TCPA which can be interpreted that when a consumer sends an opt-out request any message past that would be a violation of the TCPA. So that puts mobile marketers right in the middle between the FCC and mobile marketing consumer best practices.”
Tallarico went on to say that the ruling will provide clarity and protection for consumers and companies alike, providing marketers with clear guidelines for communicating with consumers and giving consumers peace-of-mind knowing that their request to not receive any more text messages has been received.
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Why Your Favorite Local Restaurant May Not Survive Coronavirus
A truly sad reality to emerge from the coronavirus outbreak: A number of locally-owned restaurants will be hard-pressed to survive the effects of the potentially deadly pandemic.
On Monday afternoon, the White House coronavirus task force recommended American citizens do a number of things to prevent the spread of the dangerous pandemic during a press conference.
Chief among them? "Avoid eating or drinking in bars, restaurants, and food courts—use drive-thru, pickup, or delivery options," and " in states with evidence of community transmission, bars, restaurants, food courts, gyms, and other indoor and outdoor venues where groups of people congregate should be closed."
Many states have already shut down bars and restaurants (except delivery) for all businesses, and it seems inevitable that will soon be a nationwide policy. The White House guidelines officially give a 15-day timespan, but even President Trump admitted it could be months before things begin to return to normal.
So, Americans are being directed to not go to restaurants and bars out of an abundance of caution to prevent the spread of COVID-19. But, given the razor-thin margins and complicated economics of small and locally-owned restaurants, it's difficult to see how many of them will survive a temporary shutdown.
Ask any owner of a small restaurant and they will explain how challenging it is to juggle the cash flow of operating the business. There is the ordering of fresh food and ingredients, the payroll for cooks, waiters and support staff, and, of course, the rent an owner has to pay on a monthly schedule. Many restaurant owners are doing their work out of a labor of love, and aren't independently wealthy to survive such an economic disaster.
As Pete Wells outlines in the New York Times, these "frantic few days" of closed doors is turning into a much greater concern—and fast:
"Because many of the fixed expenses of operating a restaurant haven't stopped. There is still rent to pay, and taxes, like the New York State sales tax bill due on Friday. Those bills alone could crush restaurants in a matter of weeks, unless they have heaps of cash in reserve.
'Postponing or waiving the sales tax would be the fastest way to prop these businesses up without the government going out of pocket,' Jonathan Butler, a founder of Smorgasburg and Brooklyn Flea, said on Sunday. 'The other huge factor is how they treat leases. Most people have some form of personal guarantee on their leases. I can't imagine as a policy standpoint they want to come out of this crisis and have small business owners losing their homes because they had a personal guarantee. That's an issue that could be addressed by policy in some fashion.'"
Corporate chains such as Applebee's, Olive Garden and the like—in addition to fast-food chains like Taco Bell, KFC, and McDonald's—all likely have the largesse to help survive a month of downtime. But a majority of these fast food outlets are owned and operated by franchisers who will struggle with the same issues as a Mom and Pop owners (though very likely with support from their corporate food partners).
"Right now, the choice to close is not being mandated down. It's trickling up. All the service industries are crushed. We can't pay staff. We can't pay rent. We can't pay our portion of property taxes. How can we pay any taxes when we have no taxable transactions left? I'm thankful to have great landlords, tremendous relationships with people who understand what's really happening, but my predicament shouldn't be contingent on whether my landlords are good people.
We need help. Restaurants are pass-through businesses. They do not hold a million-dollar float—these businesses are just not set up that way. At Empellón, we went from a little money in the bank to bled dry. It was not a slow, steady decline—it was a straight drop."
Stupak arrives at the logical conclusion that all business-owners are coming to amid this looming economic disaster. Stupak asks himself rhetorically, "How much money do we need to cover last week's payroll, and what will the cost be just to keep us in hibernation mode? And how long will this last?"
If the U.S. government is willing to bail out industries negatively affected by coronavirus, like the airline and cruise industries, then shouldn't they also take care of restauranteurs? If not, we could end up seeing many of our favorite dining spots go belly up.
And what a sad result that would be.
More content from Restaurants
- – 8 Clever Moves Fast-Food Chains Used To Stay Relevant in 2022
- – 7 Restaurant Chains You're Going to See Everywhere in 2023
- – Taco Bell Has a New Guacamole, But Customers Are Divided on the Taste
- – McDonald's Is a Testing a Futuristic Drive-Thru Concept, But It Isn't as Cool as Taco Bell's
- – 4 Celebrities Who Eat Free at McDonald's—For Life!
- – Subway's New Footlong Cookies Are a Sight to See, Here's How to Get One
- – Battle of the Italian Chicken Sandwiches: Wendy's vs. Burger King
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As EA prepares to release Sims Social, Zynga should be worried: More than 140 million copies of the Sims have sold since 2000
Zynga has found enormous success with its Facebook-based social games. The company, valued at somewhere between $7 and $10 billion on the secondary market, is now preparing to file for an IPO and allow the public to invest in its unique blend of networking and gaming. But it better get that paperwork filed quickly because, until now, Zynga has operated in a solitary space. A competitor is coming -- and it could knock Mark Pincus and his team off of their pedestal. Sure, there are plenty of social games on Facebook developed by third parties, but none have come close to amassing the user base that Zynga enjoys. And, once you've got enough brand evangelists, users continue to pour in -- an adage that holds especially true in the social space.
But that doesn't mean they're going to stay.
Zynga is perhaps best known for FarmVille, a game in which almost nothing happens yet everyone seems to play anyway. Your virtual farmer-like avatar moves around the screen watering crops, picking crops, planting crops and, every once in a while, milking a cow or two. But you almost have to play it -- I've played, I'll admit it -- because everyone else is. One out of every ten people on Facebook have played the game, but it's unclear how many have played for extended periods of time. Last year, Zynga made headlines when it was revealed that millions of FarmVille's users were growing tired of the game and had stopped playing.


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Wonderful Indonesia | Bali
Bali has been the favorite destination for locals and international tourists for ages. Bali has been the favorite destination for locals and international to......
JAKARTA, June 8 (Xinhua) -- Indonesian Tourism and Creative Economy Mari Elka Pangestu said that it was needed to change the international perceptions on Indonesia that...Xinhua 2012-06-08
A poor global perception of Indonesia coupled with a lack of infrastructure and connectivity are hampering foreign tourism growth, the nation’s tourism and creative economy...Jakarta Globe 2012-06-07
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For some tourists, even local ones, Bali is still the main holiday destination in Indonesia, but GoIndonesia.com chief executive and founder Yusuf Ijsseldijk is here to show that there’s more to Indonesia than just Bali. The Dutch citizen set up his company two years ago, but he is not new to the country. His first visit to Indonesia was in 1988, and he fell in love on arrival....Jakarta Globe 2012-11-25
At an international level, Indonesia still ranks in the top-10 favorite tourist destinations in Asia. According to the latest UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) rankings, Indonesia was ranked the eighth most popular destination in the Asia-Pacific region, behind Hong Kong (3), Thailand (4), Macau (5), Singapore (6) and South Korea (7). Despite these figures, is Indonesia a...Jakarta Post 2012-07-01
Jakarta: Indonesia will stop issuing visas on arrival to Iranians after a growing number of them have been caught smuggling drugs or have used the country as a transit point before seeking asylum in Australia, an immigration official said on Friday. Amir Syamsuddin, the justice and human rights minister, signed a decree yesterday revoking the visa on arrival option for Iranians...Zeenews 2013-07-19
Sharks that walk apparently exist, but there is no need to cue the “Jaws” theme. Epaulette (long-tailed carpet) sharks use their fins to glide across the ocean floor, which gives the illusion that they are walking. PHOTOS: ANIMALS CELEBRATING SHARK WEEK A new species of these “walking” sharks has been discovered in Indonesia, and conservationists are thrilled about what this...New York Daily News 2013-08-31
For the second consecutive year, Tourism Indonesia Mart & Expo (TIME) will be held in Bandar Lampung, the capital of Lampung province on the southern tip of Sumatra, on 9–12 October 2012 at Graha Wangsa. Staging in its 18th years, TIME is organized by the Indonesian Tourism Council supported by Ministry of Tourism & Creative Economy of Indonesia and the entire tourism...TravelDailyNews 2012-08-06
Through Sport and Lifestyle Sponsorship Indonesia's Ministry of Tourism & Creative Economy Hopes to Further Boost U.S. and International Tourism to the Country The Ministry of Tourism & Creative Economy of Indonesia, today announced, that for a second straight year, Indonesia will be the primary tourism destination sponsor of the '2012 ING New York City Marathon' on November 4,...noodls 2012-10-12
Despite a plethora of destination gems, the archipelago’s tourist efforts still lag far behind its regional neighbors’ By Kennial Caroline Laia on 11:44 pm February 24, 2014. Category Economy, Featured, News, Travel Tags: Asean, indonesia, Tourism Indonesia took in a total 8.7 million foreign tourists in 2013, and this year it aims to attract 9.2 million international tourists....Jakarta Globe 2014-02-24
Indonesia (i// IN-də-NEE-zhə or // IN-doh-NEE-zee-ə), officially the Republic of Indonesia (Indonesian: Republik Indonesia Indonesian pronunciation: [rɛpʊblɪk ɪndɔnɛsɪa]), is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 17,508 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an elected legislature and president. The nation's capital city is Jakarta. The country shares land borders with Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and Malaysia. Other neighboring countries include Singapore, Philippines, Australia, and the Indian territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Indonesia is a founding member of ASEAN and a member of the G-20 major economies. The Indonesian economy is the world's 17th largest economy by nominal GDP.
The Indonesian archipelago has been an important trade region since at least the 7th century, when Srivijaya and then later Majapahit traded with China and India. Local rulers gradually absorbed foreign cultural, religious and political models from the early centuries CE, and Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms flourished. Indonesian history has been influenced by foreign powers drawn to its natural resources. Muslim traders brought Islam, and European powers brought Christianity and fought one another to monopolize trade in the Spice Islands of Maluku during the Age of Discovery. Following three and a half centuries of Dutch colonialism, Indonesia secured its independence after World War II. Indonesia's history has since been turbulent, with challenges posed by natural disasters, corruption, separatism, a democratization process, and periods of rapid economic change.


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It is again that time of the year, when service providers come forward and showcase their stance on future technologies. Over the years, The International CES has been a global consumer electronics and consumer technology tradeshow that takes place every January in Las Vegas, Nevada. In the past few years, it has proved to be a pivotal step in bringing a range of consumer based technologies to the forefront.Expectations are really high among users, with big companies like Samsung, Intel and Sony ushering in with breathtaking devices.
The event would start with The CEA MoDev Hackathon. It is an exclusive on-site development event where top developers from around the globe would come together and compete to win the grand prize of up to $100,000.
Developers participating in this event would be provided with eight hours to build an application. They would be allowed to use specific APIs, Platforms and Services to create an immersive mobile application. There is no denying the fact this year’s event holds a lot of weightage towards new dimensions of mobile technology. There would also be special keynotes given by big techies of the industry including intel, Yahoo, Cisco and Sony.
The 2014 International CES will showcase innovations ranging from mobile technology to robotics, gaming and 3D printing. Samsung and Intel have already gone ahead and given a sneak peak to a dual boot OS merging Windows and Android on to a same Device. This is a revolutionary step forward and would help in diminishing the void between different platforms.
By: Jimmy Parker
Posted: January 7, 2014, 9:24 am
For more than a decade, Mobile Programming LLC, a Certified Mobile Application Development Company, has been providing high-end custom mobility solutions to its clients. We strive hard to provide...


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|Let's talk about||
asypetamy by asypetamy on 2013-05-24 09:34:17
888 [url=http://www.001casino.com]online casino[/url], a London, UK-listed rival of online casino, bingo and poker games, today announced that it has gained a privately to face in the Combined States. The online gaming horribleness, which is headquartered in and regulated not later than the Potency of Gibraltar, says the Nevada Gaming Commission has approved the licensing of 888 as an ‘Interactive Gaming Complete Provider’ at a relationship up held in Las Vegas, and in payment therewith the licensing of its skeleton frequency executives and controlling shareholders. Reuters reported the encourage a grapple with with of this morning, noting that it isn’t much of a cane as the Nevada cheerless gaming inadvertence directors voted to fascinating confirmation earlier this month.
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Mondi is a global leader in packaging and paper, contributing to a better world by making innovative packaging and paper solutions that are sustainable by design. Our business is integrated across the value chain – from managing forests and producing pulp, paper and plastic films, to developing and manufacturing effective industrial and consumer packaging solutions. Sustainability is at the centre of our strategy and intrinsic in the way we do business. We lead the industry with our customer-centric approach, EcoSolutions, where we ask the right questions to find the most sustainable solution. In 2021, Mondi had revenues of €7.7 billion and underlying EBITDA of €1.5 billion.
Mondi has a premium listing on the London Stock Exchange (MNDI), and a secondary listing on the JSE Limited (MNP). Mondi is a FTSE 100 constituent, and has been included in the FTSE4Good Index Series since 2008 and the FTSE/JSE Responsible Investment Index Series since 2007.Mondi Group
24 Jan 2023
Mondi, a global leader in packaging and paper, is expanding its unique range of medium, high and very high barrier paper-based packaging to support customers on their journey to use more sustainable packaging solutions.
17 Jan 2023
Mondi, a global leader in packaging and paper, has partnered with Noel Alimentaria, supporting them and their choice of a paper-based solution for food products that greatly reduces the use of plastic.
12 Jan 2023
Following our announcement on 16 August 2022, we are pleased to confirm that Mondi has completed the acquisition of the Duino mill near Trieste, Italy, from the Burgo Group.
10 Jan 2023
Mondi, a global leader in sustainable packaging and paper solutions, has received eight awards in five categories at this year’s WorldStar Global Packaging Awards. The WorldStar Awards recognise the best ideas, innovations and technologies on the market, with a focus on sustainability, product protection and end-user convenience. They are open to entries from packaging companies around the globe.
15 Dec 2022
Mondi, a global leader in sustainable packaging and paper, has worked with FRESH!PACKING, to design an innovative cooler bag, to protect and transport chilled or frozen goods home by consumers.
14 Dec 2022
Mondi, a global leader in sustainable packaging and paper, has started production at its €16 million greenfield plant in Morocco, which can produce 100 million paper bags each year.
7 Dec 2022
Mondi, a global leader in sustainable packaging and paper, has supported Angulas Aguinaga® on its journey to switch to a recyclable paper-based packaging for its Krissia® brand chilled surimi sticks, greatly reducing the amount of plastic being used.
1 Dec 2022
Mondi scores recycled paper at Sustainable Packaging News awards and further contributes to a circular economy
Mondi, a global leader in sustainable packaging and paper, recognised in two categories at the Sustainable Packaging News Awards 2022 for the circular economy and the overall category.
25 Nov 2022
Mondi, a global leader in sustainable packaging and paper, shares its fourth annual consumer trend survey, which offers a deep dive into online shopping behaviour and consumers’ attitudes to packaging. The survey, conducted by RetailX, is the most in-depth study to date, with 1,000 consumers each in France, Germany, Poland, Sweden and Turkey. For the first time it also includes an analysis of generational differences in online shopping patterns.
7 Nov 2022
Mondi, a global leader in sustainable packaging and paper, has been appointed as the exclusive packaging provider for one of Europe’s largest fashion enterprises. Following a product trial earlier this year, Mondi will support MODIVO in switching from the standard rigid packaging currently used in the distribution of the e-retailer’s full collection of shoes, bags and clothes.
27 Oct 2022
Mondi, a global leader in sustainable packaging and paper, has helped Reckitt on its sustainability journey by designing new paper-based packaging for the company’s market-leading Finish dishwasher tablets.
20 Oct 2022
Mondi, a global leader in sustainable packaging and paper, has announced the approval of a €400 million investment in a new paper machine at its flagship Štětí mill in the Czech Republic. The investment forms part of the Group’s €1 billion expansionary capital investment programme to accelerate growth in sustainable packaging and will further strengthen Mondi’s leading position in the market.


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This might not be news to you, but junk food companies are exploiting an industry loophole to target children on the internet. What I didn`t know is that they are using methods which are not allowed in print and broadcast advertising. Methods like claiming products are good for you even if this cannot be proved, while such claims would be banned from television advertising. I really didn`t know that this actually was allowed on websites. Maybe the junk food companies uses servers in different parts of the world? How do they get away with it?
The problem is also that websites are cheap to create, and they remain online for months without repeated fees if like broadcast advertising are used too.


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SK Telecom, a South Korean wireless telecommunications operator, recently announced plans to collaborate with Intel, the world’s largest semiconductor chip maker, to expand the ecosystem of WebRTC into the IoT market. The two companies, SK Telecom and Intel have collaborated to develop IoT devices which can enable one-click order.
SK Telecom and Intel signed an MOU agreement as part of their collaboration and agreed to kick off a joint R&D to optimize and expand WebRTC technology on Intel architecture and vitalize its ecosystem for global makers and developers.
The two organizations plan to develop a WebRTC technology operated on the Intel Edison board, to make real-time communication possible in all devices. In order to achieve this, they would be expanding the limitations of WebRTC which is only being run through web browsers, Android, and iOS to Embedded OS-based IoT devices.
SK Telecom and Intel will also provide WebRTC SDK (Software Developer Kit) for Intel architecture to device producers and developers and continue to together invigorate the ecosystem for developing WebRTC-based IoT devices.
This endeavor by the two organization aims at providing real-time communication capabilities in all connected devices including web, app, IoT. They plan to supply IoT devices for easy order to a couple of companies viz Korea Yakurut and Dongdaemoon Fashion Town and have plans to be adopted in a Chinese education service, Pandarin
“We’re expecting PlayRTC will be utilized as an innovative tool across industries such as O2O, Commerce, Toy and Smart Factory,” said SK Telecom exec TBD. “SK Telecom will continue to collaborate with developers, start ups and entrepreneurs to provide enhanced experience in mobile phone communication and extend use of IoT devices”
“Innovations and optimizations in software allow end users to benefit from the maximum performance Intel technologies offer,” said Michael Greene, Vice President, Intel’s Software and Services Group, General Manager, System Technologies and Optimization. “Intel’s efforts with SK Telecom to optimize WebRTC technology for Intel architecture will enable development of new IoT solutions that can utilize real-time communication capabilities.”
Zeen is a next generation WordPress theme. It’s powerful, beautifully designed and comes with everything you need to engage your visitors and increase conversions.


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Gareth Aucock had been celebrating his birthday with his partner, but a few hours later the evening took an unexpected and terrifying turn.
A man will face court after he allegedly assaulted a woman at a home while live-streaming to an online gaming site during a Fortnite game.
Children battling cancer received an early Christmas gift when they were given a taste of the North Pole to personally meet Santa.
The war on plastic bags looks set to escalate with heavy-duty bags used by retail stores now targeted by state environment ministers.
The family of an Indian nurse reportedly identified as a key person of interest in Toyah Cordingley's murder in north Queensland has denied he is involved.
A man accused of the murder of English backpacker Grace Millane has faced court in New Zealand after her brother posted a heartbreaking tribute to her on Instagram.
'I feel uncomfortable that I have to get this specific, but for everyone's comfort, I will,' she wrote in a memo to teachers.


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Gold prices dipped slightly in Asia on Thursday, but remained well supported on global tensions.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for August delivery traded at $1,305.10 a troy ounce, down 0.03%, after hitting an overnight session low of $1,303.60 and off a high of $1,311.60.
Upbeat data released in the U.S. on Tuesday and a slew of better-than-expected earnings enticed investors out of gold and into equities on Wednesday.
The Labor Department reported Tuesday that the U.S. consumer price index rose 2.1% in June, unchanged from the previous month and in line with forecasts.
On a month-over-month basis, U.S. consumer prices were up 0.3% after a 0.4% increase in May, also in line with expectations.
June's core inflation rate, which excludes food and energy costs, rose by just 0.1% from May and 1.9% on year, slightly below market calls for 0.2% and 2.0% readings, respectively, which illustrated how gasoline was driving the headline CPI up, though markets viewed the numbers as fundamentally healthy anyway.
Also on Tuesday, the National Association of Realtors reported earlier that existing U.S. home sales rose 2.6% to 5.04 million units in June from 4.91 million in May, beating market forecasts for a 2.0% rise to 4.97 million units.
Reports of waning physical demand pushed gold prices lower, though ongoing geopolitical concerns in Ukraine and Israel kept safe-harbor demand alive, which cushioned losses.
Silver for September delivery was down 0.01% at $20.965 a troy ounce. Copper futures for September delivery were down 0.11% at $3.203 a pound.


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The year of 2020 will forever be remembered as the year the world stood still. The coronavirus has also had an unprecedented economical impact that did not spare the watch industry. We have already been periodically checking the pulse of the Swiss Watch Industry, fighting tooth and nail for its survival. But the Swiss are just a part of the story. How have the Japanese brands been doing?
Let’s have a look at the big three: Seiko, Citizen and Casio (charts courtesy of FT.com). Starting with Citizen Watch Co Ltd:
As can be seen, there is still a long road to a recovery, but it does appear that the worst is behind them at this point. This is also mirroring the behaviour of the Swiss watch industry as previously reported here on DE GRIFF. As per Bloomberg, “Citizen Watch dropped as lockdowns halted duty-free and other travel-related sales in addition to shuttering retail stores in North America, a key market for its timepieces.”
A near carbon copy of this behaviour can be found at rival Seiko Holdings Corp, also down by more than 50%:
Casio is the real standout and paints an entirely different picture. An overall finish painted in red indeed, but nothing close to its rivals. The damage being limited to a 14% drop. Not in the least thanks to impressive performance driven by the success of its G-Shock range in China and its more diversified product portfolio.
Will 2021 be the road to recovery? Time will tell.


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July 7, 2016
As a $7 billion interchange settlement negotiated over a decade between the card networks and retailers unravels in the U.S., MasterCard could face damages of up to £19 billion ($25 billion) if a U.K. court finds consumers were affected by excessive interchange fees there from 1992 to 2008. While interchange is charged by issuing banks and paid by merchants as part of their costs to process credit and debit cards, consumers eventually pay in the form of higher retail prices. The suit is one of the first class action-like suits in the U.K. to be brought under the new Consumer Rights Act, passed by Parliament in 2015. In 2014, an EU court found that MasterCard had violated EU laws by setting interchange fees too high. The EU has since imposed interchange caps on cross-border transactions (0.2 percent for debit transactions and 0.3 percent for credit transactions).
“The prices of everything we all bought from 1992 to 2008 were higher than they should have been as a result of the unlawful conduct of MasterCard,” said Walter Merricks, the former U.K. financial services ombudsman leading the suit. “To be clear, there is no question that MasterCard acted illegally in the way it conducted its business, a business that affects all of us. All of us overpaid to the tune of up to 19 billion pounds during a period lasting 16 years. Although most of us did not know this, experts who study the retail economy knew it was happening—and so did MasterCard.”
MasterCard “firmly disagrees” with Merrick’s argument and said in a statement: “Electronic payments deliver real value to people online, in-store and everywhere. MasterCard is committed to providing ever more convenient, safe and secure payments to all our customers, including consumers, retailers, governments and banks.”


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It wasn't a good sign when meal-kit delivery service Blue Apron (NYSE: APRN) was forced to slash its IPO price before going public. The original share-price range of $15 to $17 was reduced to $10 to $11, and the company ultimately went ahead with a $10 offering price. Even with that lower price, Blue Apron is valued at nearly $2 billion.
Much has already been written about Blue Apron's financials. The company is on pace to generate around $1 billion of revenue this year, but marketing costs are exploding, revenue per customer is in decline, and cash is being burned at an accelerating rate. The financials alone are reason enough to avoid Blue Apron stock like the plague. Blue Apron posted a net loss of $52 million during the first quarter, nearly as much as it lost during the whole of 2016.
If you still find yourself tempted by this trendy company drowning in red ink, there's another reason to stay away from the stock. The business model, mailing ingredients and recipes to customers, just doesn't make all that much sense.
Overpriced groceries by mail
Blue Apron charges $9.99 per person per meal for its standard two-person plan, which comes with three recipes (six total meals) per week. The company sends a box full of ingredients for those meals, as well as instructions on how to prepare them. Much of the prep work -- chopping and slicing -- is left to the customer.
There are two types of people who are drawn to Blue Apron and similar services, in my estimation. The first group are people who never cook and don't really know how. Blue Apron cuts out the process of coming up with recipes and shopping for ingredients, and it's not a bad way to expose people to cooking.
But these customers will take one of two paths. They'll either confirm that they don't like cooking, or they'll find that they enjoy cooking and want to do more of it. A Blue Apron meal is priced similarly to a meal at a fast-casual restaurant, so it's a hard sell if the customer doesn't genuinely enjoy cooking. If the customer does discover a knack for cooking, that person eventually won't need the hand-holding Blue Apron offers. Given that it's much cheaper to just buy ingredients at the store, these customers will probably drop the service as well.
The second group of people are those who cook regularly but want to save some time. Blue Apron doesn't really deliver on that front, since it doesn't eliminate much of the prep work. After trying a similar service and dropping it after two weeks, I can confirm that the convenience factor just isn't there.
Blue Apron customers placed just 4.1 orders on average during the first quarter, down from 4.5 during the first quarter of 2016. A customer who orders every week would place around 12 orders each quarter, so this number is shockingly low. Blue Apron doesn't disclose customer churn rates, but the only conclusion from the data we do have is that customers aren't sticking around very long.
Research firm 1010data found last year that just 50% of Blue Apron customers place a second order in the week following their first order. It also found that Blue Apron's customer retention rate drops to 20% after 11 months and just 10% after 24 months. In other words, most people who try the service abandon it quickly.
Blue Apron competes with not only the slew of other meal-kit delivery companies, but also fast-casual restaurants that offer meals at comparable price points and grocery stores that sell ingredients at lower prices. Blue Apron has had success getting people to try its service, although the recent explosion of marketing costs suggests that customer acquisition is getting more expensive. Winning customers is meaningless, though, if those customers don't stick around.
I think there's a good chance that meal-kit delivery is a fad. It might work if a grocery chain offered a similar service, where the prep work was already done and the price was more reasonable. I'd be surprised if Whole Foods Market under Amazon.com's ownership doesn't launch something like this down the road. But putting stuff that can be bought at the grocery store in a box and selling it at a premium just doesn't seem like a great business model to me. Blue Apron's financials appear to agree.
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Fast Retailing announced an important expansion of an existing deal on Friday, a deal that has the potential to make it a big name in “on-demand mass manufacturing” as well as boosting its use of hi-tech textiles.
KL Rahul ‘s athleisure brand ‘Gully’ has collaborated with e-commerce firm Koovs to launch the brand’s exclusive lines on the platform as it looks to cash in on the ongoing India-England cricket series.
The World Cup final on Sunday will not only be an all-European affair but an all-Nike match. For the first time in its history, the American sportswear manufacturer will be providing the kit for the two finalists.
Italy’s Borsalino, one of the world’s most famous hat makers and known for Humphrey Bogart’s fedora in the film “Casablanca”, has been rescued by Haeres Equita, a group of investors led by a Swiss-Italian financier.
Four global finalists were revealed at the New York semi-final competition for the seventh International Woolmark Prize held. Three Americans and an Australian will join eight Asian and European designers.
Nike has launched its newest omnichannel concept Nike Live, bringing together digital and brick-and-mortar retail in a 4,500-square-foot cross-category store called Nike by Melrose, on Melrose in the heart of West LA.
The General Assembly of the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode (FHCM) – French fashion’s governing body – on Thursday re-elected Ralph Toledano as President of the Federation for an extended four-year term.
Yoox Net-A-PorterGroup (YNAP) is continuing its campaign to boost girls' awareness of tech careers as new research shows that very few think tech is relevant for those seeking careers in fashion, retail and luxury.


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Michael Dell Says He Isn't Interested in Producing Phones
September 13, 2013 9:01 PM
comment(s) - last by
Dell is aggressively targeting the tablet market, but it will leave phones to others
a successful shareholder vote
financing help from Microsoft
) among others, Michael Dell finally has the leverage he needs to take his company private. While he'll still have private investors to answer to, and will still have to solve
his company's dramatic slide in the PC market
, he will at least be able to
tackle these issues without being over scrutinized
by the media.
Michael Dell, in an interview with
on Friday morning, said, "[Going private] will open an exciting new chapter [for Dell and its customers]."
Going ahead, he says his company will focus on five key goals:
Improving enterprise hardware/software offerings
Expanded sales capacity
Targeting emerging markets
Improving buyer experiences
Building better PCs/tablets
Dell showed off a bit of its strategy for that final point at the
2013 Intel Developer Forum
(2013 IDF) this week,
teasing at the upcoming Dell Venue tablet line
, based on Intel Corp.'s (
Notably not on the list are "smartphones". Dell has played with the segment in the past, launching the Dell Aero -- a budget Android model in early 2010 -- followed by the fancier
Dell Venue Pro
(Windows Phone 7) later this year. But none of these phones achieved major sales success, and by mid-2012 Dell had quietly pulled the plug on this fledgling project.
While better looking, the Dell Venue Pro did not produce sufficient sales for Dell to continue the expensive business of smartphone development.
On Friday Michael Dell quashed any hopes of a Dell smartphone comeback, while vowing that his company would deliver great mobile product in other segments like tablets.
This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled
RE: has anyone seen one of these in the wild?
9/14/2013 2:15:35 PM
I didn't say they were good reviews. I said those models were ahead of their time, which is true. Everyone thought 5-inch screens were insane back then. Just saying I wish they'd make some cool new stuff again.
RE: has anyone seen one of these in the wild?
9/16/2013 11:17:47 PM
It wasn't just the size that made the Streak 5 bad or today's phones good. It was too heavy, had too small a battery, and had no stylus.
Today's 5" phones are only acceptable because they're a lot thinner, smaller, and lighter than the Streak 5. The Note is the only top selling phone close to the Streak 5's size (and it's still lighter), and I feel a big part of that is the inclusion of an inductive stylus. The monster battery was also a big draw.
There's a reason Samsung isn't making the Note 3 series any bigger in external dimensions (in fact it's noticeably narrower than the original Note). The Streak 5 crosses the threshold of acceptability all but a tiny part of the smartphone market.
"When an individual makes a copy of a song for himself, I suppose we can say he stole a song." -- Sony BMG attorney Jennifer Pariser
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kodiaktau writes: Microsoft has announced a feature called SmartGlass that provides a new set of features when viewing media on mobile or PC devices. Sources say that it will provide context focused advertising/product placement as well as metadata about the media you are currently viewing. Additionally the interface allows you to store viewing data and share between your desktop and mobile devices to continue viewing content between devices.
"All the people are so happy now, their heads are caving in. I'm glad they
are a snowman with protective rubber skin"
-- They Might Be Giants


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Glasgow Foodbank Act as VIPs at Grand B&M Store Opening
10 April 2021
Customers in Govan were delighted this morning following the grand opening of their brand new B&M Store.
The new store, located on Helen Street in Glasgow, has been officially opened, with more than 40 jobs handed out to locals.
A wide range of branded products are available to purchase, including toys, food & drink, homeware, electricals, pet products, health & beauty and much more.
The new colleagues were asked to nominate a local charity they think truly deserves some VIP treatment for the work they do for the local community. They chose the team from Glasgow SW Foodbank to take centre stage and officially unveil the new B&M store.
Glasgow SW Foodbank are part of a nationwide network of foodbanks, supported by the Trussell Trust, working to combat poverty and hunger across the UK. The charity provides three-day nutritionally balanced emergency food and support for individuals and families in south west Glasgow.
In addition to opening the store, the team also received £250 worth of B&M vouchers which will go towards helping the charity to continue doing the great work they do.
The store manager said: “Glasgow SW Foodbank really stood out for us so we wanted to give them some VIP treatment as a thank you for all the hard work that they have done, and continue to do. We hope that our donation can help them to continue the great work.”
They also commented: “Our colleagues have been working really hard to get the store ready for opening day, and we can’t wait to get the doors open.”
For more information please visit our Govan store.


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Nothing Ear (1) TWS earbuds to be priced at Rs 5,999 in India, firm confirms forward of 27 July launch- Know-how Information, Novi Reporter
tech2 Information EmployeesJul 12, 2021 17:15:32 IST
Forward of the 27 July launch occasion, Nothing has confirmed that its first-ever product – the Ear (1) TWS earbuds – will likely be priced in India at Rs 5,999, and can completely promote on Flipkart.
Manu Sharma, Vice President and Normal Supervisor, Nothing India says, “India is a crucial marketplace for Nothing and and in partnership with Flipkart, we stay up for introducing ear (1) to Indian customers concurrently our world launch. He added, “It is necessary for us to convey worth to our Indian customers from day one. Beginning with ear (1), our merchandise will likely be uniquely designed and straightforward to make use of. Above all, they are going to be units we’re proud to make use of ourselves and advocate to our family and friends.”
Final week, Nothing revealed that the Ear (1) will likely be priced at £99 GBP in Europe.
The corporate has additionally confirmed that the TWS earbuds will characteristic energetic noise cancellation (ANC) and three HD microphones.
In an interview with TechCrunch, Nothing CEO Carl Pei hinted the earbuds will include options much like these of Apple’s AirPods Professional.
Moreover, in a current teaser shared on Instagram, the corporate has additionally teased a clear design for the earbuds. Nothing CEO Carl Pei first talked about engaged on a clear design in March 2021.
#Ear #TWS #earbuds #priced #India #firm #confirms #forward #July #launch #Know-how #Information #Novi Reporter


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Speech made by Margot James, Minister for Digital and the Creative Industries, to the BFI for the launch of their Screen Business Report:
Good morning. Thank you to Amanda and the BFI for inviting me here today to the launch of the Screen Business report. And it is great to be here at Warner Bros, home of so much great screen entertainment, for it.
It is a pleasure to see so many of you here representing all screen sectors from games and VFX to film and TV. As the Minister for Digital and the Creative Industries, I’m certain that such connectedness between our screen sectors is the future.
It is exciting to see such comprehensive analysis of the impact of creative business on the UK economy. To pick out a few highlights:
Over £3 billion total production spend in 2016, with high end TV spend doubling to almost £900 million in just three years; and the video games sector attracting £1.75 billion of corporate investment since the introduction of the Video Games Tax Relief.
The report goes beyond these impressive headline figures to detail just how well the sector delivers benefits across the UK’s nations and regions, as my colleague the Chancellor notes in his foreword.
Over £850 million invested in national infrastructure and facilities: so yes, we have the legendary James Bond and Harry Potter franchises resident at Pinewood and Leavesden, but there’s a whole new wave of high-end TV and UK indies shooting across the country: Game of Thrones in Northern Ireland, The Levelling in Somerset, Outlander in Scotland, Doctor Who in Wales, God’s Own Country in Yorkshire.
And with over £390 million invested through video game tax relief in 2016, the UK’s trailblazing video game development clusters such as Edinburgh, Dundee, Leamington Spa and Guildford are flourishing.
The UK provides a truly national screen offer.
The report also highlights the importance not just of place but of people: how the government’s tax reliefs have enabled the creation of almost 140,000 Full Time Equivalent jobs in 2016, and highly productive ones at that.
This, coupled with the government’s and industry’s efforts in advancing skills pipelines, from the work of the National Film and TV School and the newly rebranded ScreenSkills, to the BFI’s £19 million Future Film Skills Strategy and Lucasfilm’s fantastic Star Wars trainee scheme, are ensuring that a broad and representative new generation of screen professionals is on the march.
Screen Business shows how, over the past decade, the UK has capitalized on its traditional strengths – ongoing government support, our skilled crews and excellent facilities – while taking advantage of new opportunities such as the incredible growth in demand for content, screen tourism – worth almost £900 million in 2016 – and our world-class visual effects.
It is this innovation, this confidence to be daring with new stories, new technologies, new ways of engaging audiences, that I advocate for proudly as Minister for Digital and the Creative Industries.
And government is driving this progress in partnership with industry: from the Industrial Strategy’s Sector Deal to the forthcoming launch of the Contestable Fund which has been designed to stimulate the provision and plurality of innovative, original UK content.
Now, more than ever, such confidence will benefit us as we embrace a post-Brexit world. We will continue to be an outward facing, open, and internationally respected nation. And it is reports like these and examples like Shepperton Studios, investing £500m to create one of the largest studios in the world, that give us, Global Britain, the evidence we need to continue to drive growth, enhance our competitiveness and further support the UK’s creative ambition, the diverse results of which are enjoyed by audiences globally.
I am grateful to everyone who has contributed to this piece of work which tells such an important story about the UK screen sectors – many of you are here today, thank you.
Margot James, Minister for Digital and the Creative Industries


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Very few will dispute that after China, the next big emerging market is India. With 1.3bn population and possibly surpassing China in population by 2025, India will be in the next big market to watch in Asia.
On a macro level, about half of India’s population is under the age of 26; by 2020, the country’s median age will only be around 29 years whereas the median age in China will be 37 in the same year. Currently, the working-age population in China is already in decline. Every year, the labour pool shrinks by 0.5%. Meanwhile, 250 million people are set to join India’s workforce by 2030. The rise in the working population in India could lead to higher disposable income and consumption thus giving the Indian economy a real boost.
India’s consumption story will be shaped by its 440 million millennials and 390 million Gen Z (those born after 2000). With a young, tech-savvy population, improved education and rapid growth, India is creating a consumer market that could rival some of the biggest markets in the world. The growth in China in the past two decades is driven by an emerging Urban Middle class; whereas in India, opportunities is in the much larger Urban Mass. Urbanisation is driving consumption growth. The rural populations are also starting to seek the lifestyles of those in the cities, as they become more exposed to these trends and are increasingly targeted by consumer goods companies.
Urbanisation leads to smaller family nucleus: dual income and higher consumption of packaged goods. Decision makers in these nuclear household are younger, more modern and tend to make consumption decisions more on lifestyle consideration rather than on functional necessities. Currently, India’s Urban Mass will trade up into brands that offers the most incremental value; however, with raising incomes, they may move on to more aspirational brands. Maximum consumer spending is likely to occur in food, housing, consumer durables, and transport and communication sectors. The growing purchasing power and rising influence of the social media have enabled Indian consumers to splurge on more branded and packaged goods.
Rising affluence will make India the third-largest consumer market by 2025, making it imperative for companies to adapt their business models to meet the changing customer needs. Consumption expenditure will increase three times to hit $ 4 trillion by 2025, according to a report by the Boston Consulting Group.
The India consumer market is now at this pivotal point… almost the coming of age. In the next few decades, we will see some exponential growth in India. India consumer companies who are poised for this growth will benefit the most from the taking off of the Indian economy. It is with this in mind that Mandala Capital started investing in the India agro-processing sector in 2016. Mandala Capital’s portfolio is spread across the spectrum of food related businesses such as seeds, biotechnology, sugar, biochemical, irrigation, food processing, solar, agro-financing, logistics and cold chain, dairy, beverages and fresh produce.
One of Mandala’s investment is in Keventer Agro Limited (KAL), a leading Dairy & Beverage company in East India. KAL is present across categories like dairy, bananas, frozen foods, export of food commodities and franchisee for beverages. KAL owns Metro Dairy, a 22 year-old dairy company that holds 22% share in the pouch milk segment and around 40% share in ice cream in West Bengal. In addition, they are also the franchise bottler for Parle Juice for more than 30 years. Over the years, KAL has built a robust distribution network of distributors, C/F agents and more than 150,000 retail outlets across the Eastern region. With Mandala investment, KAL will invest in Value Added Dairy (VAP) and expand their distribution reach to the rest of East India. With the growing population in East India ( >250mil population; roughly the size of Indonesia) and renewed direct investments in the region, KAL is poised to be a major FMCG player in the Eastern region.
Another of our portfolio companies which is bigger in the Food-Agro FMCG space will be Jain Farm Fresh Foods Ltd (JFFFL), the agri-food unit of Jain Irrigation Systems Ltd. JFFFL is a leading fruits and vegetables processor and the world’s largest mango processor and onion dehydrators. The company sells its products under the Jain Farm Fresh brand, besides being a leading supplier of raw materials to global consumer companies including Coca-Cola, Frito-Lay, Nestle and Unilever, among others. JFFFL just started their B2C push this year with a frozen fruit dessert, ambient smoothie, dehydrated onions and will be launching a retail spice range towards end of this year. With their strong and established backend operations, it is a natural progression to forward integrate and move into the growing end-consumer market.
Another company we have invested in is Gati Kauser (GK), a one-stop service provider for cold storage solutions. With barely 5 percent of India’s USD 5 billion cold storage industry being organised. There is huge potential in the cold storage and logistics business. With improving macro-economic conditions, cold storage companies are moving towards becoming integrated service providers to capture this growing market for enhanced margins.
Sources: World Bank, The Economist, KPMG India, Times of India, Livemint, BCG India


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Atlanta -- Dollar year-over-year volume growth during the month of March 2014 remained positive at 2.1%, but slipped from February’s growth of 2.4%, according to the First Data Corp. SpendTrend report. The report, which analyzes same-store point-of-sale data by credit, signature debit, PIN debit, EBT, closed-loop prepaid cards and checks from nearly four million U.S. merchant locations, found that the yearly comparison was negatively impacted by the later Easter (April 20 this year, compared to March 31 the prior year), which shifted holiday-related spending into April.
The cold weather that plagued much of the country started to loosen its frigid grip at the end of the month and helped to support foot traffic. Higher year-over-year tax refund values improved consumer confidence and job market gains also supported the growth.
Retail spending growth and transaction growth of -0.9% and -1.8% were lower than February’s growth of -0.3% and -0.4% as the Easter shift pushed holiday retail purchases and related foot-traffic into April, which also made for tough year-over-year comparisons.
General merchandise stores saw spending growth fall into negative territory for the first time since November 2013 at -1.3%, as First Data analysis indicates these retailers were clearly impacted by the later Easter timing. However, spending growth at non-store retailers and building material & supply dealers of 4.1% and 4.3% remained healthy and inched up from the prior month’s growth of 2.6% and 3.6% which helped to offset the slowdown. Building material & supply dealers spending growth gained momentum across much of the country at the end of the month as warmer weather spurred sales of home and garden supplies.
Average ticket growth was 0.2%, in-line with February’s growth. Despite rising food prices tied to California’s drought, food & beverage average ticket growth of -0.4% fell from February’s growth of 1% as weather started to normalize and shoppers pulled back on stocking up with necessities.
Looking at different types of payment, credit collar volume grew 2.9% year-over-year in March, while signature debit volume rose 3.4%, PIN debit increased 1.1%, check volume shrank 4.9% and prepaid volume slipped 5.6%.
“Despite the Easter shift to April this year, which negatively impacted year-over-year growth comparisons, spending growth in March remained healthy and positive,” said Krish Mantripragada, senior VP, information and analytics solutions, First Data. “Gains in consumer confidence and the labor market indicate that economic prospects are brightening. We also saw credit spending growth decelerate slightly compared to prior months as higher year-over-year tax refund values deposited into bank accounts spurred debit usage over credit, and the later Easter pushed holiday-related discretionary spending out of March and into April.”


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ITV’s chief executive, Carolyn McCall, has criticised plans for a possible ban on advertising foods high in fat, salt and sugar on TV before the 9pm watershed. McCall went on to say that TV was being singled out, while other platforms didn’t have the same watershed. However, the restriction is supported by celebrities such as Jamie Oliver, a range of charities and MPs. While McCall acknowledged the UK-wide obesity problem, she said that the issue is getting people to see junk food as part of a diet, not all of it. She also referenced the recent sugar tax, adding that ITV would “try very,very hard” to encourage manufacturers to reformulate products which include sugar, fat and salt. The idea has also been criticised by the Advertising Association. They say evidence suggests that advertising has only a small impact on dietary behaviour, and other steps would be much more effective in tackling obesity. Opposition to the sugar tax The sugar tax that was introduced in April this year was met with differing actions by manufacturers. Tesco brought 85% of its own-brand soft drinks below the 5g tax threshold, while Britvic had managed to bring down 94% of its drinks. Meanwhile, AG Barr, owner of iconic Scottish drink Irn Bru, faced stiff opposition from customers when it published plans to bring sugar levels down to 4.7g per 100ml. An online petition “Hands Off our Irn Bru” has now been signed by 50,000 people. The dilemma facing manufacturers was that a major recipe overhaul would lose them more customers than a higher price. Coca-Cola, for example, said they had no plans to reduce the...
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iPhone 12, iPhone 12 mini India Prices Slashed Again: iPhone 12 Series On Flipkart Now Cheaper
Apple have again heavily discounted the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini, new prices live on Flipkart now.
iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini smartphones have received a price cut by around Rs 10,000. The Apple smartphones launched with iOS 14 in 2020 and feature 5G connectivity. iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini come with 12-megapixel dual rear cameras, a wide-angle camera and an ultra-wide-angle camera.
Checkout the latest iPhone 12, iPhone 12 mini prices.
iPhone 12, iPhone 12 mini Discounted Prices List
iPhone 12 mini in India is now available at a discounted price of Rs 40,999 for the 64GB storage variant. The 128GB version of iPhone 12 mini is now priced at Rs 54,999 on Flipkart. iPhone 12 is now priced at Rs 53,999 for the 64GB storage variant on Flipkart, the 128GB storage model of iPhone 12 is listed at Rs 64,999 on Flipkart.
iPhone 12 mini Specs, iPhone 12 Specs: Value For Money Now?
iPhone 12 mini comes with a 5.4-inch Super Retina XDR OLED display. In comparison, iPhone 12 features a 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR OLED display. respectively. Both the Super Retina XDR OLED displays do not support super-fast 120Hz refresh rates. Under the hood, both the iPhones are powered by the company’s A14 Bionic chipset.
Bionic A14 dons a next-gen Neural Engine. According to Apple, the A14 Bionic chips are the fastest created till date offering more power efficiency and faster performance.
Coming to optics, iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 12 come with a dual camera set-up.
iPhone 12 mini cameras include a 12-megapixel wide-angle camera and a 12-megapixel ultra wide-angle lens. Similarly, iPhone 12 camera has a dual lens setup. It also comes with a similar dual-camera set-up as the iPhone 12 mini. iPhone 12 has a 2,887mAh battery, while iPhone 12 mini packs in a 2,227mAh battery.


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While Lower East Side locals have been turning up at Melissa O’Donnell’s new spot, Salt Bar, for the young chef’s haute home-style cooking, they’re staying for the cocktails. Greg Seider works wonders behind the bar on Clinton Street, doing a “yin-yang thing,” says O’Donnell, shopping daily for fresh ingredients to spike his fabulously deadly concoctions. Take, for example, Seider’s Raspberry Chamomile Martini. Here, the wicked recipe:
2 oz. Absolut Mandarin vodka
1 oz. chilled chamomile tea
2 tbs. fresh raspberry puree
2 tbs. fresh lime juice.
Shake the ingredients together and garnish with dried plum.


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Businesses may be eligible for e-till installation subsidy
The Hungarian government is planning on offering subsidies for businesses that will be required to install electronic tills connected to the National Tax and Customs Authority (NAV), deputy state secretary for tax affairs Zoltán Pankucsi told Hungarian economic daily Napi Gazdaság.
In an attempt to crack down on tax evasion, the Hungarian government recently mandated businesses to install electronic tills that directly communicate with NAV, and the government is expanding the types of businesses required to do so including cosmeticians, hairdressers, fitness centers and taxis, the paper added.
Pankucsi said the draft legislation on the measure was essentially ready and could be passed by Parliament in just a few weeksʼ time.
An increase in the types of local businesses obliged to use tills directly connected to Hungarian tax office NAV would require the installation of more than 70,000 such devices, according to Jenő Madarász, managing director of Alt Cash, which sells the tills.
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