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In 1935, the Gottfried Krueger Brewery made drinking history by selling the first-ever canned beer, choosing Richmond, Virginia, as its test market. But the innovating spirit of the city’s brew scene didn’t settle, leaving the town far behind in the race for craft dominance.
That’s largely because prohibition-era legislation forbid breweries to sell their product on-site unless they had an attached restaurant— an economic hurdle for smaller brewers. The tide shifted with the passage of State Bill 604 in 2012. The law allowed retail sales of beer and sampling on the premises of Virginia breweries. Which is how in just five years, Richmond has transformed from a relatively dry city into a micro beer mecca.
“[The bill] was instrumental in dramatically changing the Richmond scene, overnight. It made it a lot easier to start [a brewery] with a lot less capital,” says Patrick Murtaugh, a co-founder of Hardywood Brewery in the Historic German Brewing District. “It’s the single-biggest marketing tool a brewery has—to bring people into the tap room and tell them anything they want to know.”
Now, Richmond has transformed into a haven for beer lovers—with more than 20 breweries producing quality product of all varieties—and its own thriving suds-based economy that encompasses restaurants, on-site tastings, and beer tours. The city ranks as one of the top craft breweries per-capita in the country.
Richmond local David Hunter started the Facebook group Fans of Virginia Craft Breweries with 50 friends shortly after SB 604 passed. It’s bloomed to more than 13,000 members, most natives of his home city.
“The scene is Richmond right now is like Austin or other bigger towns,” he says. “The breweries have created a really nice culture where people have something to do on the weekends. People just go from place to place and have fun.”
From the former Major League pitcher who opened a brewery at an old newspaper plant (Center of the Universe’s Chris Ray) to the garage brewers who graduated to retail (Ardent Craft Ales’ Tom Sullivan and Kevin O’Leary) to the son of Vietnamese immigrants who turned his family’s restaurant into one of the best beer bars in the nation (Mekong’s An Bui), there are as many interesting stories in Richmond as there are varietals of beer.
“What’s been exciting is that Richmond is a really friendly community,” says Tom Sullivan, Ardent Craft Ales’ co-founder. “We all know each other and we talk often and drink each other’s beers. That camaraderie and competitive spirit has driven us to improve our quality and come up with bigger and better ideas.”
Experimentation is a hallmark of the Richmond craft brewers, which means it’s hard to pinpoint a specific taste of the city. You’ll get the dank hops of the Falcon Smash IPA from Triple Crossing Brewery, the chocolate and espresso notes of Center of the Universe’s El Duderino stout, and the Hawaiian Punch-inspired tartness of the Never Aloha Gose by The Veil.
In order to experience it all, a beer tour might be the best way to sample Richmond’s wares. You can take an official tour via bus, or saunter around Scott’s Addition, the onetime industrial enclave that has become the epicenter for the city’s craft explosion, with five breweries and several cideries in the neighborhood, including Ardent, The Veil, and Isley Brewing Company.
Richmond’s craft beer boom also got a boost from an uptick in its food scene, a natural pairing that has elevated palates in the city. “There’s a lot of buzz from people always talking about craft beer, which is great, but that growth is driven by our restaurant scene as well,” Ray says. “Richmond has some of the most incredible restaurants I’ve ever been to.”
While some brewers worry about oversaturation, most feel that the quality of the product being produced throughout the city will help Richmond continue to develop into one of the major craft beer capitals in the United States.
“Everyone is doing something different here, so the city isn’t a one-trick pony,” says Triple Crossing’s Adam Worcester. “I’ve used this quote before, ‘A rising tide lifts all ships.’ There’s always room for great, high-quality breweries and it only makes Richmond more desirable, which helps all of us.”
Five Richmonders Offer Their Must-Have Beers
We polled Richmond residents to see which craft beer is at the top of their list:
· Rob Ullman, Artist: Chin Music, Center of the Universe – “It has a light sweetness that pairs really well with a warm, sunny day.”
· Jamil Chambers, Bartender: Rockville Red, Midnight Brewery – “I can enjoy one whether it’s hot in the summer or cold in the winter.”
· Mike McDonnell, Marketing: Coconut Quad, Lickinghole Creek Craft Brewery – “A Belgian Quad with a double-digit ABV. It’s not for the light-hearted!”
· Adam Worcester, co-founder, Triple Crossing Brewery: Gingerbread Stout, Hardywood Brewery – “Like everyone else, I have to have one of these at the holidays.”
· David Hunter, founder of Fans of Virginia Craft Breweries: Rockville Red, Midnight Brewery – “This sunk the hook in my lip. As an amateur beer fan, it’s nice knowing people on the pro level know it’s good.”
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The Way forward for NFTs: Is Gaming the Answer?June 19, 2023
Web3 gaming belongings have opened up new prospects for adoption. The way forward for NFTs appears to be linked to the gaming business.
The worldwide blockchain gaming market is ready to blow up from $4.6 billion in 2022 to $65.7 billion by 2027. A key driver behind this exponential development is the distinctive nature of Web3 gaming belongings in comparison with their conventional counterparts.
- Web3 gaming belongings redefine possession and management, enabling the switch and sale of in-game objects as NFTs.
- The distinctive experiences and sense of belonging in digital worlds appeal to conventional avid gamers to the Web3 area, driving the adoption of gaming NFTs.
- Because the Web3 gaming neighborhood expands, the buying and selling quantity of gaming NFTs will increase, enhancing liquidity and offering extra advantages to NFT holders.
Is gaming the way forward for NFTs?
Contemplating these numbers, it isn’t difficult to think about that the way forward for NFTs might be linked to gaming.
Web3 games redefine possession and management of gaming belongings. In contrast to their “conventional” counterparts, Web3 gaming belongings may be minted as NFTs and freely transferred or bought on NFT marketplaces, unlocking new income streams. These video games supply gamers a novel sense of belonging of their digital worlds, empowering them to totally personal and management in-game belongings.
Gamers can purchase belongings as NFTs from different gamers or by in-game duties and quests. They will select to promote, retain, or switch these belongings to totally different gaming ecosystems.
The rise of Web3 video games has attracted a wave of conventional avid gamers into the Web3 area, boosting the usage of gaming NFTs. This might probably form the way forward for NFTs.
Because the Web3 gaming neighborhood expands, the buying and selling quantity of gaming NFTs on marketplaces will rise, rising liquidity and decreasing ready occasions for asset transactions.
Gaming NFTs maintain worth each inside and past the sport they originate from. In contrast to different digital belongings, gaming NFTs supply distinctive in-game utilities, fostering longer-term retention.
Moreover, gaming NFTs present extra perks and advantages to their holders. For instance, in Axie Infinity, homeowners can generate passive revenue by renting out their Axies by the Axie Infinity Scholarship.
In conclusion, the Web3 gaming ecosystem may nicely signify the way forward for NFTs. Its enchantment to conventional avid gamers and the distinctive experiences it presents have accelerated the adoption of NFTs. Because the Web3 ecosystem continues to advance, Web3 video games will evolve, providing much more distinctive experiences and enhancing person engagement.

domain: news


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Thursday , March 06, 2014 - 12:24 PM
LOGAN — A bakery outlet that shut down when cake maker Hostess went bankrupt last fall has now reopened with a new brand of breads.
The Herald Journal reports the outlet in Logan re-opened June 4 and is stocked with Franz Family Bakery goods.
The family-owned baking company was founded in 1906 and is based in Portland, Ore. It purchased a bakery location, five depots and seven stores in Utah that were previously owned by Hostess.
Many former Hostess employees have also been hired by Franz. They include Kailey Nichols, who managed the Logan location under Hostess and now manages Franz’s Logan outlet.
The Hostess liquidation approved in November meant more than 18,000 people nationwide lost their jobs.
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The massive market transformation this month that some on Wall Street called a "once in a decade opportunity" might have just been a one-off technical move because of taxes.Marketsread more
The Pentagon will deploy U.S. forces to the Middle East on the heels of the attack on Saudi Arabian oil facilities, United States Secretary of Defense Mark Esper announced...Defenseread more
CNBC did a deep dive through the most recent Wall Street research to find stocks that analysts say are underappreciated.Marketsread more
Shares of MasterCard are up 46% this year, and 1120% since 2011, getting a boost from the strong U.S. consumer.Investingread more
CNBC sat in on an "empathy training" at Amazon PillPack's Somerville offices, which is part of new hire orientation.Technologyread more
Trade with China is the 'big unknown' for the Federal Reserve as it decides how best to support the U.S. economy, says Council on Foreign Relations Director of International...Futures Nowread more
Lobbying experts said the visit is likely an attempt to be in lawmakers' ears as they consider legislation that would impact Facebook.Technologyread more
Yardeni Research's Edward Yardeni believes the U.S. economy is picking up steam.Trading Nationread more
Iran's audacious drone and cruise missile attack on Saudi Arabia's oil producing facilities has provided a critical test yet for the Trump administration's foreign policy. A...Politicsread more
Chinese trade negotiators suddenly canceled a visit to meet U.S. farmers after they wrapped up trade talks in Washington this week.Marketsread more
Troubled Japanese conglomerate Toshiba agreed on Wednesday to sell its prized memory business to a consortium led by Bain Capital Private Equity.
Toshiba, the world's second-largest producer of NAND memory chips, said the deal was worth about 2 trillion yen ($18 billion). The deal could potentially help Toshiba plug a hole left in its finances following the bankruptcy of U.S. nuclear unit Westinghouse. The conglomerate was also facing the threat of being delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
A person familiar with the matter said Toshiba will reinvest 350.5 billion yen into the holding company that is set up by the Bain-led consortium to buy shares of the memory business.
The source also said that as of Wednesday, the Bain-led consortium comprised Toshiba, Japan's Hoya Corp., South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix, U.S. buyers of Toshiba chips Apple and Dell, memory product maker Kingston Technology and data storage firm Seagate Technology.
Toshiba's months-long attempt to sell the chip business was complicated by its partners and changing alliances among its suitors.
Meanwhile, Western Digital said it was taking fresh legal steps to stop Toshiba from unilaterally investing in a new flash memory production line.
A new request for arbitration was filed with the International Court of Arbitration in a bid to stop Toshiba from investing in the so-called Fab 6 facility in Yokkaichi, Japan, without giving Western Digital subsidiary SanDisk the "opportunity to make a comparable investment."
"It is unfortunate that SanDisk is forced to initiate binding arbitration to remedy Toshiba's retaliatory breach of the JV agreement entered into by both SanDisk and Toshiba," Western Digital said in a statement. Several of the company's SanDisk subsidiaries previously filed arbitration requests in May and July.
But people familiar with the matter said that even if Western Digital were to win an injunction regarding the litigation tied to the joint venture, the sale of Toshiba's memory chip business was still expected to go through.
Last week, Toshiba said it had entered into a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Bain Capital Private Equity to negotiate a "mutually satisfactory definitive agreement" for the sale of the chip business by the end of the month.
Toshiba said it had been negotiating with three potential groups to sell its memory business. One consortium included Bain Capital, the Innovation Network Corporation of Japan and the Development Bank of Japan. Another included Western Digital and a third involved iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry.
During negotiations, Toshiba said Bain had come forward with a new proposal and that its board of directors "determined to continue negotiations with the Bain-led consortium on the basis of this new proposal."
Analysts have previously said the sale of the memory business could be key to turning around the broader business.


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MILAN – Libya Coffee Expo (Coffeex) took place in the first week of October, opening on the International Coffee Day, on October 1st. The first exhibition focused on specialty coffees held in the Arab country brought together 43 exhibitors and 10,000 visitors at the Alkuld Palace, Libya Museum, in Tripoli.
The event featured a barista competition as well as business meetings. “The inaugural event of Coffeex was an expected and timely success,” said Abdulnasser Ibrahim, an expert that managed and consulted for the exhibition.
“The inaugural event of Coffeex was an expected and timely success,” said to the Anba Agency Abdulnasser Ibrahim, an expert that managed and consulted for the exhibition.
The consultant said the event received samples of Brazilian coffees and had coffees from Brazil in booths of different brands. “Several companies had Brazilian coffee beans. They are mentioned by most of Libyan exhibitors,” Ibrahim said, also pointing out the presence of brands such as Tunisia’s Café d’or and Italy’s Avero.
According to Anba, the trade show was attended by diplomats from Italy, Malta and Tunisia, as well as executives from Libyan agencies such as Ministry of Economy, Chamber of Commerce, Food and Drug Control Center, and businesspeople, too.
“Syria-, Tunisia- and Italy-based businesses made connections and established official distributions. Many established Libyan coffee companies used the platform for advertising and marketing campaigns.”
The next edition of Coffeex is scheduled for October 1-4, 2022 in the same venue.


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Carnival Corporation & plc provides first quarter 2021 business update.
— U.S. GAAP net loss of $(2.0) billion and adjusted net loss of $(2.0)
billion for the first quarter of 2021.
— First quarter 2021 ended with $11.5 billion of cash and short-term
— Cash burn rate in the first quarter of 2021 was better than expected as
the company has identified and implemented opportunities to optimize its
— Booking volumes for all future cruises during the first quarter of 2021
were approximately 90% higher than booking volumes during the fourth
quarter of 2020.
— Cumulative advanced bookings for full year 2022 are ahead of a very
strong 2019, despite minimal advertising or marketing.
— Six of the company’s nine brands are expected to resume limited guest
cruise operations by this summer.
— AIDA resumed guest cruise operations in March sailing in the Canary
— Costa expects to resume guest cruise operations in May sailing to Italian
— P&O Cruises (UK), Cunard and Princess Cruises will each offer a series of
UK cruises this summer.
— Seabourn expects to resume guest cruise operations this summer sailing
Carnival Corporation & plc President and Chief Executive Officer Arnold Donald noted, “We are focused on resuming operations as quickly as practical, while at the same time demonstrating prudent stewardship of capital and doing so in a way that serves the best interests of public health. Our highest responsibility and therefore our top priority is always compliance, environmental protection and the health, safety and well-being of everyone.” Donald added, “Our portfolio of brands have clearly been an asset as we resume operations this summer with nine ships across six of our brands.”
Donald continued, “Throughout the pause we have been positioning Carnival Corporation to return to serving guests an operationally stronger company than we were before. With an exciting roster of six new, more efficient ships by December and with lower capacity from the exit of 19 less efficient ships, we expect to capitalize on pent-up demand and achieve significant cost improvement from the greater efficiency of our fleet, along with ongoing streamlining of shoreside operations.”
Update on Bookings
Donald added, “Booking volumes are accelerating. During the first quarter of 2021 they were approximately 90% higher than volumes during the fourth quarter of 2020 reflecting both the significant pent up demand and long-term potential for cruising.”
Cumulative advanced bookings for full year 2022 are ahead of a very strong 2019 as of March 21, 2021. The company highlights this level of bookings was achieved with minimal advertising and marketing. (Due to the pause in guest cruise operations in 2020, the company’s current booking trends will be compared to bookings trends for 2019 sailings.)
Total customer deposits as of February 28, 2021 and November 30, 2020 were $2.2 billion, the majority of which are future cruise credits. During the quarter, customer deposits on new bookings essentially offset the impact of refunds provided. As of February 28, 2021, the current portion of customer deposits was $1.8 billion, of which $0.7 billion relates to bookings for the remainder of 2021.
Resumption of Guest Operations
The company is uniquely positioned for a phased resumption in cruise travel given its multiple brands which can each be restarted independently and tailored to the environment of their respective source market. AIDA Cruises (“AIDA”) resumed guest cruise operations in late March sailing in the Canary Islands. Costa Cruises (“Costa”) expects to resume operations in May sailing to Italian ports. P&O Cruises (UK), Cunard and Princess Cruises will each offer a series of cruises this summer sailing around UK coastal waters with P&O Cruises (UK) kicking off the season in June followed by Cunard and Princess Cruises in July. Seabourn also expects to resume guest cruise operations this summer sailing from Greece. In addition, this summer Holland America Line and Princess Cruises expect to offer land-based vacation options for travelers to experience Alaska through a combination of tours, lodging and sightseeing.
Health and Safety Protocols
Initial cruises are taking place with adjusted passenger capacity and enhanced health protocols developed with government and health authorities, and guidance from the company’s roster of medical and scientific experts. The company has been working with a number of world-leading public health, epidemiological and policy experts to support its ongoing efforts with enhanced health and safety protocols to help protect against and mitigate the impact of COVID-19 during cruise vacations. The company’s brands have a comprehensive set of health and hygiene protocols that facilitate a safe and healthy return to cruise vacations. These enhanced protocols are modeled after shoreside health and mitigation guidelines as provided by each brand’s respective country, and approved by all relevant regulatory authorities. Protocols will be updated based on evolving scientific and medical knowledge related to mitigation strategies. In addition to the jurisdictions associated with the restart plans noted above, the company continues to work closely with governments and health authorities in other parts of the world to ensure that its health and safety protocols will also comply with the requirements of each location.
Carnival Corporation & plc Chief Financial Officer David Bernstein noted, “We ended the first quarter with $11.5 billion in cash and short-term investments. At this time, we believe we have enough liquidity to get us back to full operations and we will be pursuing refinancing opportunities to reduce interest expense and extend maturities. We have successfully identified and implemented actions to optimize our monthly cash burn rate and we will continue to do so.”
The company’s monthly average cash burn rate for the first quarter of 2021 was $500 million, which was better than expected primarily due to the timing of capital expenditures. The company expects the monthly average cash burn rate for the first half of 2021 to be approximately $550 million, which is better than previously expected. This is a result of the company’s efforts to optimize its monthly spend despite higher restart related spend. This monthly average cash burn rate includes ongoing ship operating and administrative expenses, estimated restart spend, working capital changes (excluding changes in customer deposits), interest expense and capital expenditures (net of export credit facilities), and excludes scheduled debt maturities as well as other cash collateral to be provided. As the company continues to resume guest cruise operations, it expects to incur incremental spend relating to bringing ships out of pause status, returning crew members to its ships and implementing enhanced health and safety protocols.
Due to the pause in guest operations, the company has taken significant actions to preserve cash and secure additional financing to increase its liquidity. Since March 2020, the company has raised $23.6 billion through a series of transactions, including the following transactions since the beginning of the first quarter 2021:
— Borrowed $1.5 billion under export credit facilities in December 2020
— Issued $3.5 billion of senior unsecured notes in February 2021
— Completed a $1.0 billion public equity offering of its common stock in
During the remainder of fiscal 2021, the company expects to refinance debt at lower interest rates and extend maturities.
As of February 28, 2021, the company’s outstanding debt maturities are as follows:
(in billions) 2Q 2021 3Q 2021 4Q 2021 1Q 2022
debt (a) $ 0.4 $ 0.5 $ 0.3 $ 0.6
(a) Excluding the revolving facility. As of February 28, 2021, borrowings
under the revolving facility were $3.1 billion. The maturities for these
borrowings are currently extended through September 2021. The company may
re-borrow such amounts subject to satisfaction of the conditions in the
revolving facility agreement.
The pause in guest operations continues to have a material negative impact on all aspects of the company’s business, including the company’s liquidity, financial position and results of operations. The company expects a net loss on both a U.S. GAAP and adjusted basis for the second quarter 2021 and full year ending November 30, 2021.


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Date: Oct 06, 2018 Source: PR Newswire (
click here to go to the source)
SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 6, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Girls in Tech (http://girlsintech.org/), an organization focused on the empowerment, entrepreneurship, engagement, and education of women in technology, is proud to announce OmniVis, a biotechnology startup that has developed a revolutionary pathogen detection platform, as the winner of the 2018 AMPLIFY Women's Pitch Competition, which was held on Wednesday, October 3 at ZenDesk in San Francisco. As the winner of the AMPLIFY pitch competition, OmniVis will receive a $20,000 cash prize along with additional resources, such as office space and laptops, to help move their startup forward. In addition, Project Vive, the creator of low cost speech generation devices, was selected as the Audience Choice Award winner during the event.
"We are thrilled to congratulate OmniVis as the winner of this year's record-setting competition," said Adriana Gascoigne, Founder and CEO of Girls in Tech. "OmniVis demonstrated the true power of female entrepreneurship throughout the event, which is more critical now than ever before in the tech industry. Their win is well deserved and I cannot wait to see what the future holds!"
This year's finalists, which were selected from more than 362 applicants from 46 countries -- a record for the competition -- include:
DACA Time, a secure platform designed to simplify the DACA application process for new and renewing applicants
GlamTech, a dermatology-grade artificial intelligence and augmented reality technology provider for dermatologists and skincare companies
Innovelity (BLITAB), the first ever Braille tablet using a disruptive actuating technology that creates tactile text and graphics in real time
JustFix.nyc, a free service that partners with grassroots organizations to create better support systems for New York City's excluded communities
Klasha, an all-girls run online fashion retailer designed to make fashion accessible and affordable to millennial consumers in emerging markets
OmniVis, a biotechnology company that has developed an integrated platform to transform the speed, accuracy, and economics of point-of-care pathogen detection
PayBee, a technology platform that enable donors to easily donate on mobile, web and in-person, while making it easy for organizations to manage campaigns and donors
Project Vive, a humanitarian effort to help improve the lives of people with complex communication needs and low motor control through the use of technology to develop, manufacture, and distribute a low cost speech generation device
WorkAround, an impact sourcing provider, giving displaced people the opportunity to work online from anywhere by connecting them with companies in need of human intelligence tasks.
WishYourPrice, an e-commerce intelligent technology that lets e-retailers offer personalized prices to each shopper to increase conversion and loyalty
The AMPLIFY winner was selected by a panel of experienced tech professionals and investors, including June Sugiyama of Vodafone Americas Foundation at Vodafone, David Willis of European Wax Center, Stephanie Durflinger of Ellie Mae, Lukasz Weber of Zuora, Kalpa Subramanian of Comcast California, Wendy Pfiefer of Nutanix and Hans Tung of GGV Capital.
"What a tremendous event and congratulations to OmniVis," said Sherry Baker, President, Marketing and Product Development for European Wax Center, title partner of this year's AMPLIFY competition. "As a brand that champions women and helps to level the playing field, we are incredibly proud to be partners with Girls in Tech and support their efforts to fix this massive gender gap in the tech industry and bring more attention to the women taking their future into their own hands -- one pitch at a time."
Sponsors of the AMPLIFY Women's Pitch Competition include European Wax Center, Comcast NBC Universal, Zuora, DLA Piper, Cisco, Nutanix, GoDaddy, ZenDesk, RocketSpace, Ellie Mae, YouNoodle, Vodafone Americas Foundation, and American Tower Corporation.
About Girls in Tech
Girls in Tech (GIT) is a global non-profit focused on the engagement, education and empowerment of girls and women who are passionate about technology. Adriana Gascoigne founded GIT in 2007 to create a support framework to help women advance their careers in STEM fields. GIT aims to accelerate the growth of innovative women entering into the high-tech industry and building startups. GIT achieves this through the creation of proprietary, innovative programming and strategic global partnerships.
With headquarters in San Francisco and more than 100,000 members located around the globe, GIT relies on volunteer efforts to lead each of the 60 local chapters. Programming and events vary by chapter based on local interests and needs. GIT is not just for professional women. It exists for anyone with an interest in technology, startups and providing women with a platform for growth. But GIT operates with the spirit of the girl within all of us--fearless, lively and determined. For the latest updates, read GIT's blog or follow them on Facebook or Twitter. http://girlsintech.org/


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This week was all about security – or maybe insecurity, considering the number of stories about hacking. Though the headlines are alarming, they certainly validate the need for multilayered, rock-solid, always-evolving security at your credit union.
What strikes us: Fintech companies aren’t the only innovators in this space. Fraudsters, hackers and even ordinary criminals are showing a good deal of creativity and savvy as well. How is your security strategy keeping pace? How secure are you – and your members?
CO-OP TOP READ
What had us hooked in this week’s news:
In the Wake of Oracle Hack, Five More Companies Hacked
Do you want to know what some of the industry’ leading payments experts think about the migration of fraud due to EMV, the rise of mCommerce, the adoptability of biometrics and our culture’s growing denial about smartphone addiction? Of course you do.
Why the Latest Bitcoin Hack Should Worry You
Disruptive technology gets a lot of coverage in both the trade and consumer media, but it’s less often that we see a story play out the significant challenges that it presents. This quick read about a recent virtual currency hack – and how the bank behind it chose to resolve matters – illustrates how wild the wild west can really get. Without regulation or established protocols, customer relationships may be what is being disrupted.
Will Blockchain Become the “Beating Heart” of Financial Services?
The World Economic Forum released a 130-page report on the future of blockchain technology. The consensus? Blockchain will “fundamentally alter the way financial institutions do business,” though probably not through the latest fintech innovation or cryptocurrency. “The effects will be hidden, coming from new processes and architecture.”.
New Chip Card Security Flaw Found
According to new data released by researchers at NCR, credit card thieves can apparently rewrite the magstripe such that the card looks to be chipless when run through a card reader machine — even though such machines should kick back the swipe and tell the user to insert the chip.
Stealing Data and PINs from POS Systems Is Dead Easy
This headline is a little misleading, as the experts demonstrating this hack say themselves that criminals are a “few years away” from being able to pull this off. That being said, the link is worth following even if only to watch the video of hundred dollar bills flying out of an ATM machine after it’s been commandeered.


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NAGRA, Kudelski Group’s digital TV division, is promoting its cloud-based and “as-a-service” strategies for pay TV service providers and content owners at CES 2019.
Casual sharing of passwords can be turned from a cause of loss into revenue generation by harnessing monitoring and analytics to identify customers who could be enticed to pay more to become legitimate while gaining from premium options.
Traditionally, most video content teams operated within a well-defined and narrow scope. Also, the tools, data and processes used were siloed within their organizations. But such a solution is no longer sufficient to manage today’s multichannel distribution workflows.
European video revenues are rising strongly on the back of sustained growth in SVoD and OTT, while traditional services remain flat or are even in slight decline.
Vertiv has introduced a scalable, cloud-based management platform delivering data, insights and control via an app and browser available in the United States today and globally in 2019.
Broadcasters, pay TV operators and Telcos are failing to harness subscriber data and analytics to engage consumers and customers. Yet they rank customer experience as top priority and believe they must improve it to be competitive so there is a disconnect between their aspirations and current application of data analytics.


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Creditexchange, described as India’s first hybrid consumer loan platform and institutional marketplace, will originate loans where institutional investors may co-invest in portfolios of loans. The approach is said to overcome challenges faced by existing Indian peer to peer and marketplace lending models. Creditexchange is in the process of partnering with both banks for the provision of lending capital as well as entering into a strategic partnership with potential distributors. An announcement regarding these initiatives is expected this August.
Creditexchange says it uses a proprietary risk assessment model to ascertain credit qualifications, including for individuals “new to credit”. The platform aims to be a convenient, flexible, and competitively priced unsecured consumer loan market for the more than 1 billion prospective Indian borrowers with a wide range of credit profiles and histories. In addition, Creditexchange will enable institutional investors, both domestic and international, to co-invest in the loans originated byCreditexchange which may offer double-digit, loss-adjusted yields.
“Faced with opaque regulations, poor technology, and a retail investor base, the Indian market has seen less than $2 million in originations from more than 30 P2P platforms, combined,” said Aditya Kumar, founder & CEO of Creditexchange. “To address this gap, Creditexchange has developed a hybrid, fully regulatory-compliant model which will be powered by the LendFoundry platform and will attract institutional capital to unsecured consumer lending.”
Timothy Li, founder and CEO of Kuber Financial is a veteran of the online lending / Fintech sector. He said India was experiencing great change with growing demand for consumer credit and improving government regulations.
“It is a vital part of the larger global FinTech evolution. It is extremely exciting to work with Aditya Kumar, CEO of CreditExchange and an extremely professional and experienced team he’s put together. ” said Li. “As part of our overall FinTech venture strategy, I am extremely proud of our team at Kuber Financial to make this investment possible. We are looking for a long and prosperous relationship with CreditExchange.”


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For the first time this term, the Supreme Court split evenly on a case because new Justice Elena Kagan took no part, a result that is likely to occur again in other decisions.
The court's 4-4 ruling Monday leaves standing a lower court's ruling that discount warehouse club Costco violated copyright laws by selling Omega luxury watches at a cut rate.
Justice Kagan had stepped aside because of her involvement in the case as the Obama administration's top appellate lawyer, solicitor general, before she joined the Supreme Court over the summer. The administration filed a brief in the case that sided with Omega.
Her work as solicitor general has led to her recusing herself in an unusually large number of cases, about half of the roughly 50 cases the court has agreed to hear so far.
Excerpts of an interview Justice Kagan gave to C-SPAN, her first since becoming a justice, indicate she anticipates recusing herself in far fewer future cases.
"The worst month was October and I think by the middle of this year most of the recusal issues are likely to be gone," she said during the interview, which is scheduled to be broadcast Sunday. "There will be an occasional case even after this year and in the spring where I will have to recuse myself, but the arc is definitely subsiding."
It remains to be seen how many cases she stepped aside in will result in 4-4 rulings. So far, the court has released opinions in only three cases in which she did not take part, and only the most recent case ended in a tie.
Justice Kagan did step aside for one of the year's most anticipated cases, a look at an Arizona law that imposes severe sanctions on businesses that hire illegal immigrants.
During arguments heard last week, it appeared that the court may be moving toward a 4-4 split in that case, which would result in the Arizona law being upheld. Under that scenario, Justice Kagan's participation would likely have resulted in a 5-4 decision to strike down the law.
While rare, it is not unprecedented for cases to end with a 4-4 split as justices occasionally do not participate in cases because of conflicts, illness or other reasons. A 4-4 ruling means the ruling of the next-highest court is upheld, but sets no precedent.
Typically, the court announces an even split with a terse document known as a "per curiam," or "by the court," decision. That was the case with the decision issued Monday, which didn't include any opinions or indicate how the justices voted.
In the case, Costco, which is not an authorized Omega dealer, bought watches manufactured by the Swedish company through an importer. According to court documents, Costco sold the watches for far less than Omega's suggested for retail price. Costco sold one particular model, the "Seamaster," for $1,299 instead of the suggested price of $1,995.
Omega sued Costco, arguing that copyright protections allow it to decide what retailer can legally sell its watches. Costco countered that such protections only extend to the first purchaser of the watches, in this case the importer.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in California sided with Omega, ruling the manufacturer has total control over the distribution of its watches in the U.S. The Supreme Court upheld that decision through its 4-4 vote.
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White Ops may have forecast a downswing in the number of dollars US advertisers will lose to fraud in 2017, but make no mistake: The war on fraud is far from over. eMarketer’s Lauren Fisher spoke with Michael Tiffany, the ad verification and fraud prevention firm’s co-founder and president, about the prime ad fraud targets for 2018—mobile apps and influencer marketing.
eMarketer: What happened in regard to ad fraud in 2017?
Michael Tiffany: [This year] was the first year we projected an actual decline in spending lost to fraud. When you dig into that, one of the underlying fibers is that the cost of perpetrating ad fraud has gone up, so the market price for fraudulent traffic has increased.
Top 10 Social Media Apps in China, Ranked by Reach, Q1 2018 (% reach and % change vs. prior quarter*)
Top 10 Mobile App Categories in China, Ranked by Average Daily Time Spent, Dec 2017 (minutes)
Level of Concern About Select Facebook Privacy and Security Issues Among US Facebook Users, April 2018 (% of respondents)
US Internet Users Who Would Pay for an Ad-Free Version of Facebook, April 2018 (% of respondents)
US Facebook Users Who Are Very Concerned About Invasion of Privacy When Using Facebook, by Demographic, 2011 & 2018 (% of respondents in each group)
Facebook Advertising 2018: eMarketer Tackles Big Questions on Usage, Privacy and Ad Targeting in Wake of Cambridge Analytica
US Social Network Users: eMarketer's Estimates for 2018–2022
Why AI’s Marketing Applications Are Narrow
How Publishers Can Profit from Buying Facebook Traffic
Data Feed: April 19, 2018
Data Feed: April 18, 2018


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Galaxy Theatres in the Glendale Marketplace screened its final movie last Friday before closing up shop, a move that comes just a few months after the owner of the outdoor plaza’s anchor store, Old Navy, announced it was leaving.
Galaxy opened in the four-screen, 35,700-square-foot-theater in February 2012 in space that formerly housed Mann Theatres.
Officials for Cypress Equities, which owns the Marketplace, said they have yet to decide what to do with the space that Galaxy Theatres leaves behind, but it would be a part of an overall plan for the shopping center’s future.
“There is a vision, but we are not at a point to discuss the direction just yet,” said Kristina Trujillo, corporate portfolio marketing director for the company, in an email.
A representative for Galaxy Theatres chain could not be reached for comment.
A second-floor cinema has been a part of the Marketplace since it opened in the late 1990s.
But even discount ticket prices couldn’t save Galaxy Theatres from newer theaters such as the Pacific Theatres at the Americana at Brand and the opening of Five Star Cinema with its plush seats and in-theater dining options, said Philip Lanzafame, the city’s director of economic development.
“A second-floor theater is tough,” he said. “As Cypress repositions, my guess is they would look for a strong tenant on the second floor as opposed to finding another second-tier operator.”
But some patrons said they enjoyed catching a flick at Galaxy Theatres because it was more low-key and less crowded than the newer cinemas, though that attribute likely hurt business.
“The place rarely packed in an audience, and I can remember a few times when there were less than a dozen people in the theater,” said local resident Chuck Weiss.
The closure of the Marketplace’s Old Navy store was followed shortly after by the announcement that DSW, a designer shoe warehouse, would be taking its place.


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Governor hits the perfect pitch
Kulongoski's recruiting success may signal new trend
- Aliza Earnshaw
- Business Journal staff writer
The recent decisions of two large California-based technology companies to sink deeper roots in Oregon point to Gov. Ted Kulongoski's skill as a pitch man for the state.
Oregon's chief executive has been actively courting companies that already have a presence here, and his efforts have yielded results.
Computer maker Sun Microsystems Inc. announced last week that it will move manufacturing of some of its products from Northern California to its plant in Hillsboro, resulting in 100 more jobs for Oregon. And Hewlett-Packard Co. accelerated the signing of a pact with Oregon State University that formalizes the ongoing partnership between the computer company and the university.
Kulongoski said selling Oregon isn't a really difficult task.
"These companies are actually looking at the long term," he said. "They see that Oregon is willing to be a partner with them in solving the problems they have, from siting to work force development and training."
The strengthening of two large technology companies' commitments to Oregon underlines a new trend, said Jack Isselmann, deputy director of the Oregon Economic and Community Development Department.
"Down in the Silicon Valley, our sense is that there are two names of governors that are on the minds of industry leaders there, and Schwarzenegger isn't one of them," he said. "It's Pataki [of New York] and Kulongoski."
The juxtaposition of the two governors and their two very different states may be surprising, but it's because both New York and Oregon have ambitious initiatives in nanotechnology that California companies are interested in.
While New York's $200 million nanotech center at the University of Albany dwarfs Oregon's new National Center for Multiscale Materials and Devices nanotech research center in Corvallis, both Oregon and New York are aggressively going after federal funding for nanotech, and tech companies outside these states are taking notice.
Contact Aliza Earnshaw at firstname.lastname@example.org.
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Samsung is publicising (with giant billboards) that it will be showcasing a QLED 8K displays at the upcoming Berlin IFA technology show. The posters say “Prepare to be amazed at IFA”.
This will be the first occasion for European visitors to see the display. However, Samsung showcased its Q9S 8K (85”) model at CES in January, and again at the recent Advanced Display conference which it sponsored in June. It is not yet clear whether Samsung will stick to a more affordable 65” version for manufacture, as most experts anticipate a very high price tag for an 85” model.
The model seen by visitors to CES also built-in AI technology which used proprietary algorithms to upscale incoming content with considerable success. At CES Samsung showed the Q9S on a ‘side by side’ basis with 8K and 4K resolution being displayed simultaneously.
And 8K content is slowly becoming available. Japanese public broadcaster NHK is producing considerable 8K content in readiness for its official launch of an 8K service on December 1st. An Italian producer, Magnitudo Films, will show its latest production, ‘Bernini’, captured in 8K, at MIPCOM in October.


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CBS All Access will be rebranded as Paramount+ in the streaming service’s long-in-the-works major overhaul and expansion in early 2021, ViacomCBS said today.
Paramount+, which borrows the Paramount branding from ViacomCBS-owned movie studio Paramount Pictures and cable channel Paramount Network, will house all of CBS All Access’s on-demand and live programming, along with an expanded programming lineup from ViacomCBS brands like Comedy Central, MTV and Nickelodeon. The streamer will also use the Paramount+ name as it rolls out internationally, beginning with an initial debut in Australia, Latin America and certain Nordic countries in early 2021.
The platform’s new name marks another milestone in its much-discussed transformation as ViacomCBS looks to grow its footprint in the accelerating streaming media space. The rebrand will also mark the end of the CBS All Access brand, which was one of the first legacy TV efforts in the streaming space when it was founded in October 2014.
“Paramount is an iconic and storied brand beloved by consumers all over the world, and it is synonymous with quality, integrity and world-class storytelling,” ViacomCBS president and CEO Bob Bakish said in a statement. “With Paramount+, we’re excited to establish one global streaming brand in the broad-pay segment that will draw on the sheer breadth and depth of the ViacomCBS portfolio to offer an extraordinary collection of content for everyone to enjoy.”
Agency Droga5 worked with the media company on the rebrand, which will also be accompanied by a substantial marketing campaign, Adweek previously reported. A spokesperson for the company said there was nothing to share yet about whether the price of the streamer would change. CBS All Access presently costs $5.99 a month for an ad-supported subscription, or $9.99 a month for ad-free viewing, but Apple TV+ subscribers can currently add both Showtime and ad-free CBS All Access for $10 a month.
The choice of Paramount+ as the name underscores the company’s continued affinity for the Paramount brand. When Viacom rebranded cable channel Spike as Paramount Network in 2018, then-network president Kevin Kay told Adweek that consumers have positive associations with the Paramount brand.
“It means what original programming is: great stories, great storytelling, great characters, great talent in front of and behind the camera,” Kay said at the time. “It has no negatives. We did the research.”
But it also means the new service will join the long list of streaming services using a plus sign in their name, including Apple TV+, Disney+ and ESPN+. ViacomCBS already has one plus in its own portfolio with niche streamer BET+.
CBS All Access’s evolution into the super-service that Paramount+ aims to become has already started. In July, the streamer rolled out a new user interface and an injection of 3,500 episodes of programming, with plans to increase the total content library to more than 30,000 episodes and movies before 2021.
The addition of new content, the company said, is already paying dividends: The service broke a new record for total monthly streams in August and recorded one of its best months ever in terms of subscriber sign-ups. Viewers are also trending younger on the service, which previously had an average age of 44.
“The response from consumers in just the early weeks of the service’s expansion already illustrates the tremendous opportunity ahead of us in bringing these phenomenal ViacomCBS brands together in one premium streaming home under the new Paramount+ name,” ViacomCBS chief digital officer and ViacomCBS Digital president and CEO Marc DeBevoise said in a statement. “With the addition of even more content from across the portfolio as well as the new exclusive originals we are announcing today, we look forward to the early 2021 rebrand and bringing existing and new subscribers more of the compelling, genre-spanning live sports, breaking news and mountain of entertainment ViacomCBS has to offer.”


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Republican Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) has called out Big Tech for abuses of power, specifically censorship and anti-competitive practices.
Buck took aim at Silicon Valley during an address this week, singling out Google as the “greatest threat to speech in the market.”
The congressman has put forth a bill in the House that would attempt to limit the economic and political sway of several tech giants.
Speaking to the Heritage Foundation on Wednesday, Buck railed against what he sees as unfair business practices.
The congressman recalled the story of Parler, the pro-free speech social media startup that faced numerous hurdles from competitors and pressure from U.S. officials in 2021.
Parler’s popularity skyrocketed in late 2020 and early 2021 as conservatives flocked to the platform in response to the censorship surrounding the Hunter Biden laptop issue and the removal of President Donald Trump from Twitter.
“Overall, the app was the 10th most downloaded social media app in 2020 with 8.1 million new installs,” reported TechCrunch.
Following the Jan.6 Capitol breach, political pressure mounted against the startup.
Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) publicly called for Apple and Google to remove the app from their platforms.
“What are Apple and Google Play doing about this?” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted two days after the riots.
That evening, Google removed Parler from its Google Play Store.
The following day, Apple did the same and pulled Parler from its App Store.
Shortly afterward, Parler’s cloud services were revoked by Amazon as well.
“They were able to take Parler down in a matter of a few days,” Buck said.
“Twitter was being used at the Capitol on January 6th.
“Facebook was being used…
“Parler was a competitor and January 6th provided the perfect excuse to wipe it out.”
Buck also took aim at Google, saying the tech company wields too much power.
He accused the search engine giant, which also owns YouTube, of trying to influence U.S. election outcomes.
Buck stressed the importance of using government regulation sparingly so as not to disrupt market dynamics.
“I’m a free market person,” Buck said.
“I apply that principle to just about everywhere.”
“When Google controls 94 percent of the searches in this country, you don’t have a free market.”
He warned that Google’s market dominance can have devastating effects on our elections.
He noted how the search engine has allegedly altered frontpage results to be more flattering for Democratic candidates.
Searches on Google also show a preference for left-wing information and news sources.
A Search on Google for “Slay News” brings up dozens of links to information about “Fake News websites” while the Slay News homepage is buried on page 8 of the results.
In 2016, SourceFed pointed out that Google search results for Hillary Clinton yielded more favorable auto-complete suggestions, despite many unlisted negative terms receiving greater traffic from users.
Buck, a ranking member of the House Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law Subcommittee, believes that lack of competition is the problem.
“They affect the outcome of elections because there is no free market,” he said.
“Congress needs to step up and update the law.”
The congressman has put forth a bipartisan package of bills—which passed in the House last September—to fight against the tech behemoths.
Additional funding for the Department of Justice to enforce antitrust law, incentives for states to conduct antitrust cases of their own, and mandatory disclosures for companies that receive subsidies from China are some of the ways the package hopes to curb Big Tech’s power.
Assuring the conservative Heritage Foundation audience that he does not wish to undermine capitalistic ideals, Buck praised tech entrepreneurs for their work.
“I give these folks credit. They’re geniuses,” he said. “I’m not sure they are bad; they are just taking advantage of a system.”
Buck said he disagrees with drastic solutions proposed by fellow Republicans like Senator Mike Lee (R-UT), who has considered a country-wide ban for the Chinese video app TikTok.
“We know that competition is what allows innovation,” said Buck, emphasizing that allowing competition strengthens the United States in the long run.
“The one thing we can do better than anyone in the world is innovate,” he said.
However, Buck recognizes the risks posed by foreign apps like TikTok and said the app is “clearly a tool that the Communist Party is using in China to monitor U.S. data.”
In December, President Joe Biden signed a law banning the use of TikTok on government mobile devices.
The proposal originated from legislation previously introduced by Buck and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO).
In a November tweet, journalist Glenn Greenwald praised Rep. Buck as “one of the most serious Big Tech opponents in the GOP House.”
Buck concluded his speech by encouraging everyday people to make efforts to disrupt tech monopolies, encouraging consumers to use alternatives to Amazon and Google.
He acknowledged that such decisions might result in a decrease in the quality of service.
“One of the reasons these companies are powerful is because they’re good,” Buck said.
“You actually can have an impact on the market with your personal choices…
“Be part of this solution.”


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Bumiputera IT mall Mara Digital will be replicated nationwide, says Rural and Regional Development Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, a week since the controversial mall opened its doors.
In a Facebook posting, Ismail Sabri said the expansion of Mara Digital will see the creation of more bumiputera IT retailers whom he claimed have been sidelined from other similar outlets.
"I don't mind if people do not want to support, but please don't try and sabotage and cause it to fail.
"Come what may, it will not weaken my spirit but I will take it as a challenge to defend the rights of Malay and bumiputera retailers," Ismail said.
His posting has attracted support from people who claimed that the IT sector has for far too long been dominated by non-Malays.
Others called on the retailers to ensure their products are up-to-date and competitively priced.
Retailers at the Mara Digital mall, launched Dec 8 , enjoy six months of free rental, but this move has invited brickbats.
Defending the move, Ismail Sabri said this is to allow retailers to gain a footing in the business.
"I expected to face challenges but I am most saddened that there are Malays condemning me about Mara Digital,” he said.
Apabila saya melancarkan mara digital yg khusus utk usahawan melayu/bumiputra sambutan dari org melayu/bumiputra amat...
He claimed critics are afraid the free rental would drive prices down and increase competition for retailers at other malls, but is puzzled that consumers do not laud this.
"We should be happy that free rental is given to help the Malay retailers but I was ridiculed and condemned for trying to help the Malays," Ismail lamented.
Mara Digital courted controversy after Ismail earlier proposed the name 'Low Yat 2' to rival the original Low Yat Plaza in Bukit Bintang, following a theft incident in July that led to a race riot .


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SweetWater Brewing Company (Atlanta, GA) is a paying attention to the little details. The can tabs on 420 Extra Pale, and IPA will feature a laser etched rainbow trout starting in November.
Also, you might have noticed the brewery’s cans colors have changed a little since launch. SweetWater has been working on refining the can look, basically since day one. They are getting closer to satisfied with look now.
Image via SweetWater Brewery


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The personal computing revolution is thirty-something years old -- long enough to have gone from upheaval to status quo -- and it's clear Apple is itching to take credit for revolution rounds two and three. The Tuesday event at the newly-opened Steve Jobs Theater on the Apple campus in Cupertino, California, was long on legacy while also pushing a vision for the next stage in computing.
The product announcements were unsurprising for anyone who reads leaks stories: a new Apple Watch model that no longer requires the wearer to also carry a phone to access several useful features and powered by an updated operating system aimed at expanding the range of health-related activities for wearers; improved iPhone models; a new Apple TV 4K model.
But a common thread was woven through the keynote: beginning with Apple retail head Angela Ahrendts elaborating on the Apple Store's rebranding as "town squares," continuing with Apple Watch clips showing how people had woven the watch into the rhythm of their daily lives, then with several demonstrations of how quickly and easily people could edit their photos (before sharing them with others), then embroidered upon with the idea that their face would be all they'd need to unlock their phone, and concluding with the animoji, an iteration of emoji that combines voice messaging with animated emojis.
That common thread: Apple's goal is to make its technology so seamless and ubiquitous in your life, you will stop thinking of it as technology. The watch is simply there to allow you to have conversations and keep an eye on your health. The phones are just there to record or share the experiences you're having. The stores are now quasi-public spaces meant to underscore the message that technology is merely a tool for bringing people together to do the creative, athletic, curious and social things they'd be doing anyway.
For people who came of age during the personal computer revolution, the idea of computers receding from their workplace-disrupting, efficiency-optimizing, information-accessing center of attention seems like another tech revolution.
But we've got a generation of people for whom a computer is basically an appliance like a microwave or a fridge, only without the ability to store or heat burritos. For them, the real tech revolution began when smart phones unshackled functions that were formerly desk- or housebound (email, phone calls) and combined them with new functions like taking photos, listening to music, and using digital assets as social currency. Smart phones fed the tech revolution we're finishing now: the one where everything's free of a private hard drive on a specific machine and the computing experience is both platform- and device-independent.
(By the way: Grasping that modern computing is free of an operating system while also dragging a flagship product like an operating system into a post-OS world has been Microsoft's smartest strategy accomplishment of the past three years. And it's an accomplishment that the company doesn't get nearly enough credit for.)
So Apple's whole presentation today -- which leaned heavily on the design legacy of the past, and reminded people that the iPhone helped midwife a previous iteration of a tech revolution -- was all about what it sees as the next consumer tech revolution: Permanently uncoupling computing from the workplace and positioning it as a 24/7 technology.
You can argue that the smartphone is already there -- people carry out thousands of individual actions on their phones daily, according to research firm Dscout, over 76 individual episodes of picking up the phone to do something with it over the course of a day.
Or you can point out that any technological revolution is successful once the technology has become invisible to its users. After all, at one point, paper was a technological revolution. At another point, movable type was. What's particularly notable is that we get to watch the entire arc of a technology revolution from the technology's inception to its expansion to its invisibility.
The September 2017 Apple event may well be known for debuting the priciest of smartphones with the iPhone X or for debuting their watch with cellular capabilities built into it. But what it really did was put, front and center, its ambition to have its technology melt seamlessly into every waking minute of your life, by making that technology so subtle and seamless, you think nothing of taking it everywhere with you.


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As media producers and marketers turn to artificial intelligence for the next big idea, Tarun Katial, former CEO of streaming platform ZEE5 and Keertan Adyanthaya, ex-head of content and communication for The Walt Disney Company (APAC) have come together to launch an AI powered content creation platform.
Serendipity Media Technology, in a statement, said it will provide writers with information and intelligence to help them create content that finds a right fit with the broadcasters or platforms, enable producers filter content as per the relevancy, and provide in depth understanding of audience psyche to the platforms.
“We are delighted to announce the launch of our new venture. Our goal is to provide writers with tools that ease the burden of content creation through a structured approach and AI assistance,” Katial said.
Several AI-based content platforms have received venture capital backing in the past few months.
Myelin Foundry, a deep-tech platform focused on streamlining content creation, raised $1 million in its pre-Series A round of funding led by Japanese venture capital firm Beyond Next Ventures last month.
AI-driven content startup Instoried landed an undisclosed amount from Rockstud Capital in March. Venture capital firm SOSV had invested in the company in January.
Hyperlocal over-the-top (OTT) platform STAGE secured Rs 8.5 crore in a funding round led by startup incubator and accelerator Venture Catalysts in November.
WYN (What’s Your Narrative) Studio, a content startup focussed on video and audio concepts, bagged seed funding in a round led by the India Angel Fund.
Lightspeed –backed content marketplace Pepper Content recently launched an AI-enabled content generator, dubbed PepperType.ai. The tool assesses the information fed into the system and allow creators to generate well-curated content and ideas within 10 seconds, the company claimed. This includes blog ideas, social media captions, tweets, product descriptions, newsletter, podcast and marketing ideas.


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The Verge has a long history of complaining about hyperbolic non-statements from Florida-based startup Magic Leap. But today, Magic Leap is taking its vague grandiosity to previously unknown levels, with a video called “How It All Began.”
Before I say anything more, I’d like you to go ahead and watch the video below.
Okay, now answer a simple question that we’ve been asking for years:
What is Magic Leap?
Seriously, pretend you’ve never heard of this company, and somebody shows you this video. What do you imagine Magic Leap is making?
Here’s a quote to help you out:
“Wouldn’t it be cool if you could have computing spill outside the computer, almost like an art project? I think Magic Leap really did start out as an art project first, and then it turned out like, maybe there’s some science behind this.”
Or maybe you could look at the only picture of Magic Leap-branded hardware in the video: a paper notebook.
Now, here’s what we’ve previously seen of Magic Leap. This is a patent filing that gets across the basic idea they’re advertising: augmented reality glasses.
Here’s a leaked photo of what’s supposedly a prototype, which Magic Leap says isn’t representative of the final product.
And here’s a little taste of what objects supposedly look like inside it, which is pretty cool — if we ever get a chance to see them.
Magic Leap recently redesigned its website, hinting that something new is coming. The video is billed as the first part of Magic Leap’s “whole story,” which is “coming soon.” So this video is supposed to function like the hype roll after an Apple or Google announcement, full of inspiring voiceovers about how some new product will change the world. Apple and Google, however, generally wait to release these videos once we’ve at least seen the supposedly magical thing.
It’s fine for a company to preserve a sense of mystique around its products — certainly better than announcing a specific product before it’s ready. But Magic Leap’s secrecy has made it hard to judge some very serious allegations against the company. It settled a lawsuit accusing company managers of egregiously bigoted and unprofessional behavior earlier this year, and has been dogged by claims that it’s nowhere near delivering the device that it promised.
The new website has a massive list of jobs open, which suggests that Magic Leap is genuinely gearing up to hit a milestone. So I can only hope that soon, we’ll be writing posts about something more than vaporware.


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Sector Update: Syngenta AG Sued by Cargill For Sale of Corn Seed Banned in China
Syngenta AG ( SYT ), a seed maker based in Switzerland, is being sued by Cargill for commercializing its Agrisure Viptera seed, better known as MIR-162, that's been banned in China for containing certain genetically engineered traits, Cargill said on Friday.
Cargill, which ships, trades and markets agricultural products and is the largest closely held company in the U.S., claims it loaded vessels in Louisiana ports that were destined for and ultimately rejected by China.
Syngenta continued to market its MIR-162 seed before getting approval from China, a large market for U.S. agricultural products, thereby hurting the U.S. agriculture industry, Cargill claims.
"Unlike other seed companies, Syngenta has not practiced responsible stewardship by broadly commercializing a new product before receiving approval from a key export market like China," said Mark Stonacek, the president of Cargill Grain & Oilseed Supply Chain North America. "Syngenta also put the ability of U.S. agriculture to serve global markets at risk, costing both Cargill and the entire U.S. agricultural industry significant damages."
China has rejected imports of U.S. corn since last November because of the presence of Syngenta's MIR-162 insecticide-resistance trait. Exports of U.S. corn in the first half of 2014 to the Asian country fell by nearly 90% versus the same timeframe a year earlier, according to the Department of Agriculture.
A study by the National Grain and Feed Association (NGFA) showed U.S. exporters and farmers lost nearly $3 billion because of China's ban.
Syngenta fell 0.7% on the Swiss Stock Exchange.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
Copyright (C) 2016 MTNewswires.com. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited.


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LONDON—International pay TV channel Da Vinci, which is already available in 70 million homes worldwide, is expanding into the U.S. with a free ad-supported streaming TV service (FAST).
Founder and COO, Estelle Lloyd, explained that the launches "are significant as they remove the biggest barrier, the paywall, and expose us to new and fresh audiences. We can reach so many more homes and devices and - for us - that’s significant in fulfilling our purpose. We’re delighted to work with Sling and TCL and very keen to partner with more FAST platforms.”
As part of the U.S. expansion, Da Vinci's newly launched FAST channel is now available for all Sling users to stream for free, without any payment or credit card required. The channel will continue its FAST rollout to streaming TV audiences across America on TCL Channel’s free streaming service available on TCL TVs, powered by Roku and Google smart TV systems.
The channel features popular, first-window and award-winning documentaries, series and TV shows that are all TV-G rated. Programming spans factual entertainment, scripted dramas, animation, comedy and more for learning-loving viewers.
The titles cover a wide range of categories: science/ tech, nature/wildlife/pets, math/engineering, creativity/arts, society/culture, and adventure/exploration.
With a special focus on STEM, creativity, critical thinking, and social-emotional learning across all genre categories, the channel celebrates these timely contemporary themes in fun monthly programming marathons like the recent Kindness Challenge and Go Green campaigns, the company said.
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George Winslow is the senior content producer for TV Tech. He has written about the television, media and technology industries for nearly 30 years for such publications as Broadcasting & Cable, Multichannel News and TV Tech. Over the years, he has edited a number of magazines, including Multichannel News International and World Screen, and moderated panels at such major industry events as NAB and MIP TV. He has published two books and dozens of encyclopedia articles on such subjects as the media, New York City history and economics.
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The euphoria surrounding cryptocurrencies at the start of the year has been impacted by increased talk of regulation around the globe, which has weighed on bitcoin’s price. Bitcoin was trading at about $32,400, as of Thursday afternoon, following the most popular cryptocurrency’s drop below the $30,000 mark two days before for the first time in a month.
Musk, voted dogecoin CEO in a 2019 Twitter poll, has enthusiastically embraced the meme-happy dogecoin community, calling dogecoin his “fav” cryptocurrency. Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the world’s largest multimedia news provider, reaching billions of people worldwide every day. Reuters provides business, financial, national and international news to professionals via desktop terminals, the world’s media organizations, industry events and directly to consumers. On Jan. 28, dogecoin became the most tweeted-about cryptocurrency in a single day, beating a bitcoin single-day record from Jan. 2.
Although he is very fond of the DOGE, Musk confirmed that he owned more bitcoin than Dogecoin or ethereum. This comes as no surprise as the billionaire had always been bullish on bitcoin and continues to back the asset. Dogecoin continues to remain on Elon Musk’s list as the billionaire confirmed he held Doge, bitcoin, and ethereum. Speaking at the B Word conference on Thursday, Elon Musk confirmed that he held a couple of cryptos. The digital assets he held included bitcoin, ethereum, and no other than Dogecoin.
While young investors are excited about the potential to get rick quick, Matthew Roling, a Wayne State University adjunct professor of finance, is worried the inflated hype will end in deflated bank accounts. Dogecoin originated in 2013 with the iconic Shiba Inu as its mascot. After the SpaceX and Telsa CEO started tweeting about the cryptocurrency, the stocks skyrocketed with a 12,000% increase since the beginning of 2021. Cryptocurrency crypto exchanger enthusiasts and blockchain backers see serious potential for top coins like Bitcoinand Ethereum, which could upend traditional financial systems and impact a wide array of industries. In a cuteness comparison, Baby Doge developers claim the token scores 9,000, while Dogecoin comes in at 5,000, and Shiba Inu rates… 100. The way things are going, maybe that’s the only crypto metric that really matters these days.
Dogecoin Is Braced For An Elon Musk Bombshell This Week As Its Price Suddenly Bounces Back
They have also formed a coin called $STOPELON dedicated to stopping the Tesla and SpaceX CEO. This development comes at a time when the prices of Bitcoin, Dogecoin and other cryptocurrencies have plunged nearly 30 per cent in recent weeks. The group describes itself as a “community driven movement to stop the biggest market manipulator of them all”. A picture of the Tesla CEO’s new pet has been published on social media and as a result of Musk’s post, Dogecoin’s price has risen. After Musk’s tweet, not just Dogecoin, but also related altcoins like Baby Doge, Floki Inu witnessed a rise in value as well. Legally, they’re treated as commodities, like gold, and sometimes they’re used as currencies, like dollars. “A CEO is not going to get in trouble for saying Jay Powell should change interest rates because our dollar could be weaker or stronger.” Those markets are also, in theory, supposed to be harder to swing. Unless that hypothetical tweet came from Powell himself, it probably wouldn’t have any impact.
Elon Musk and Mark Cuban have both made tweets supporting the meme-inspired cryptocurrency. “he bubble eventually has to burst and you’re going to be left shortchanged if you don’t get out in time,” David Kimberley, an analyst at U.K. “And it’s almost impossible to say when that’s going to happen.” Eight years ago, dogecoin was created as a parody faster and “fun” alternative to bitcoin by software engineers Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer. Though this was an unusual surge for the cryptocurrency, Contessoto doesn’t intend to sell anytime soon. The next day, under his username iUsedToCallDogeDodge, Contessoto posted on subreddit r/dogecoin. He wrote, “Hey guys I just became a dogecoin millionaire,” and attached a screenshot of his dogecoin holdings on Robinhood, showing a balance of $1,081,441.29.
The billionaire Tesla CEO once called dogecoin his “fav” cryptocurrency and “the people’s crypto.” Musk is also a supporter of bitcoin, with his electric car company having amassed nearly $2.5 billion worth of the cryptocurrency. The tweet came after a week of investor enthusiasm for the meme coin, which sent the price surging to a record high of $0.68 on Wednesday. It rose to the fourth-most valuable cryptocurrency on the market, according to Forbes. “If the price of bitcoin goes down, I lose money,” Musk said during the discussion hosted on a website for a “Bitcoin-focused initiative” called “The B Word” on Tuesday, along with Twitter CEO Jack Dorseyand Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood.
With the rise of app-based tools that let anyone buy and sell stock at a moment’s notice, retail investors have increasingly looked to certain influential cryptocurrency trading people for signals on what to buy and sell. For Tesla stock, Musk is required to tweet things that are true and don’t preview confidential information.
Jordan Belfort Calls Out Elon Musk After His Bitcoin Comments
Musk’s recent dogecoin posts, which he himself has previously said shouldn’t be taken seriously, have helped the “joke” cryptocurrency remain relevant. “Dogecoin is the people’s crypto,” Musk tweeted very late on Wednesday night. He added, “No highs, no lows, only Doge,” and shared a Lion King meme of himself as the monkey Rafiki holding up baby Simba with a Doge head. Dogecoin began to lose steam on Tuesday, and now, the cryptocurrency is trading at about 28 cents, according to CoinGecko, with a market value of about $36 billion. Whatever be his reasons for the tweet about the coin, it led to one of the most discussed cryptos of the year. The spur on the Reddit board by WallStreetBets, other chat groups and tweets by Elon Musk resulted in rocketing the value of the cryptocurrency at 800% in 24 hours. DOGE is notably susceptible to buzz, with social media volume — especially positive sentiment social media volume during American daytime hours — consistently driving the currency higher.
Musk’s public endorsements of cryptocurrencies have angered some financial experts. In an interview with CoinDesk not long after the SEC filing, economist Nouriel Roubini called on the SEC to investigate Musk for market manipulation. Elon Musk “knows he has the market impact to manipulate, first take an individual position in Bitcoin, pump the price up, and then say that Tesla has invested,” Roubini told CoinDesk. The SEC should be looking into people that have a market impact, and that manipulate the price of assets.
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It’s pretty cool.” And as Musk has proven multiple times, his tweets can move markets—which has gotten him into legal trouble in the past. The No. 12 largest cryptocurrency, with a market cap of $6.1 billion, is a joke. “People are buying the cryptocurrency, not because they think it has any meaningful value, but because they hope others will pile in, push the price up, and then they can sell off and make a quick buck,” Kimberley said. Mark Cuban, the owner of basketball team the Dallas Mavericks, has made several posts about the meme-based token this week.
He also appreciated that it was inspired by the Shiba Inu “Doge” meme, he says. In the age of the Internet, memes have become currency and billionaires have become influencers. Dogecoin was born out of a joke, but with Elon Musk’s endorsement the value of the cryptocurrency could mean real success or failure for its investors. Musk has previously paid lip service to investor caution on crypto. In the February 2021 TMZ interview he tweeted out, Musk had mused that there was “a good chance that crypto is the future currency of Earth,” but noted that it would be “unwise” to invest life savings in the highly unstable asset. In summer 2020, Dogecoin began to earn more attention on social media, including from Teslaand SpaceX CEO Elon Musk as well as YouTube star Jake Paul. Attempts to pump the price up to $1 per coin didn’t pan out, but the price did start gradually creeping up toward the end of the year — even though it still mostly sat beneath one cent per coin.
- “The most ironic and entertaining outcome would be that the cryptocurrency that was started as a joke to make fun of cryptocurrencies ends up being the leading cryptocurrency.”
- The meme-inspired cryptocurrency hit a record high above 45 cents earlier this month, sparking fears of a potential bubble in the crypto market.
- Ahead of Musk’s Saturday Night Live performance, Dogecoin was 63 cents a share at 4 p.m.
In January, the Blockchain Research Lab published a paper, “How Elon Musk’s Twitter activity moves cryptocurrency market,” that found six instances of Musk’s social media activity propelling DOGE higher. The latest addition to the Doge’s meme token family runs on Binance Smart Chain and was trending this week, following its walk-by-promotion by Musk. How To Easily Trade Your Cryptocurrency in 2021 The announcement from the CEO has supposedly given some significant boost to the market. Prices of coins have been sluggish as bitcoin had fallen below $30,000 for the second time in a one-month span. The SpaceX CEO is fondly known in the community as the Dogefather. And it seems the Dogefather has not yet forsaken his beloved cryptocurrency.
Though it’s unclear if Musk’s tweets in support of the coin have been serious, “I think the guy is a genius,” Contessoto says. The cryptocurrency can be used for storing and transactions, however, it is known for tipping system on Twitter and Reddit that enables users with a reward by participating in the community and creating or sharing great content. The cryptocurrency that started as a joke is now surging the market.
The price of bitcoin broke $32,000 on an upward trend after Musk made the announcement. Both digital assets had both seen prices go up past $2,000 and $0.19 respectively. Even though the company stopped accepting bitcoin payments, Musk did not stop holding. The SpaceX CEO also confirmed at the conference that SpaceX continues to hold the digital asset.
This buffer gains all the more significance in the emerging challenging environment for Tesla in China, where the state media has been quite vocal in pointing out the purportedly shoddy build quality of Tesla vehicles. DOGE) meme token that owes its fame to the notorious crypto Cryptocurrency wallet influencer, Daddy Doge is one of the newer follow-up tokens that are chasing profits from price pumps orchestrated through intense on-line shilling. Bitcoin news portal providing breaking news, guides, price analysis about decentralized digital money & blockchain technology.
Jordan Belfort Argues Elon Musk ‘inadvertently Being Used’ To ‘pump And Dump’ Cryptos
Some people have welcomed his support to digital assets such as Dogecoin — and even Bitcoin, previously — but others have accused him of being a “manipulator” who is using his position and massive following to influence the crypto market. Now, some cryptocurrency enthusiasts have formed a group to “stop Elon” from tweeting on the subject and focus more on building cars instead. Dogecoin’s price has soared 20% in the last 24 hours to 32 cents, according to data from Coin Metrics. The meme-inspired cryptocurrency hit a record high above 45 cents earlier this month, sparking fears of a potential bubble in the crypto market. Amidst January’s meme stock fiasco, in which social media-led buying sprees sent the prices for GameStop, AMC, and other stocks soaring, investors began looking for the next stock to buy cheap and try to pump to startling new heights. In just over a week, Dogecoin’s price jumped from under a penny to nearly $0.08 per coin, before settling around $0.05 for most of spring. The Tesla CEO even reversed his company’s position on accepting Bitcoin as payment over climate concerns.
He doesn’t plan to watch Musk’s SNL performance but he will check the stocks the next morning, he said. Musk’s influence hasn’t been the driving factor for all young investors, though. Arun Datta, University of Michigan alumnus and University of Texas graduate student studying business, said he invested $70 in Dogecoin as an experiment at the beginning of the year. That disclaimer arrived on the heels of a Tesla SEC filing, which revealed that the electric car company had invested roughly $1.5 billion in Bitcoin. Not long after the filing, Tesla announced that it planned to start accepting Bitcoin as payment.


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SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) -- Software maker Novell posted a wider fiscal fourth-quarter net loss Thursday and saw sales slip from last year, but still met or beat analysts' bottom-line targets.
Novell shares NOVL fell 63 cents to $8.15 in after-hours trading following the announcement. The stock had risen 8 cents in regular Nasdaq trading to close at $8.77.
"We're not seeing a strong comeback yet," said Joseph Tibbetts, Novell's chief financial officer, in an interview. "It's a continuation of the same story we've been talking about for many quarters. This market is tough on companies like ours, and we're still seeing a 12 percent year-on-year sales decline for NetWare."
Novell, maker of NetWare operating software, which has seen its fortunes increasingly tied to other related software and the Linux operating system, lost $109 million, or 29 cents a share, including $130 million of nonrecurring charges. The company had lost $92 million, or 25 cents a share, in the same period last year.
Excluding the charges, Provo, Utah-based Novell said it earned $19 million, or 5 cents a share, up from $15 million, or 4 cents, a year earlier. By that measure, the two analysts who cover the company had expected the company to earn either 3 or 4 cents a share.
Novell generated $53 million in cash from operations in the period. The company has about $750 million in cash on its balance sheet.
For the quarter, Novell reported sales of $287 million, down 4 percent from $300 million a year earlier. Software sales fell 25 percent to $70.5 million.
Deferred revenue -- one measure of future software demand -- rose 17 percent from last year to $322 million.
While NetWare sales continued to drop, so did revenue from some of Novell's newer products. Sales of the Nsure product line, made up of identity management and Web services software, fell 15 percent from a year earlier. Sales of management and collaboration software were roughly flat from last year, Tibbetts said.
Following Novell's policy, Tibbetts wouldn't give first-quarter earnings or sales targets.
Novell is expected to release its Nterprise Linux Services module in the first quarter -- software that promises NetWare-like features on Linux. The software is expected to give customers improved file and print-serving, storage-management and collaboration functions, as well as features for keeping networks more secure.
Also in the first quarter, Novell is expected to close its acquisition of Suse Linux, a Germany-based Linux software distributor.
In an ongoing and heated battle over who owns Linux, software-maker SCO plans to file suit against Novell over its plans to buy Suse. According to SCO, companies that distribute Linux software undermine its intellectual property, and in particular, a Novell-Suse merger would violate a contract that prohibits Novell from competing against SCO's Linux business.
Novell has denied such a contract exists.
"We're not letting SCO hold our Linux strategy hostage, Novell spokesman Bruce Lowry said this week "We firmly support the open source community, and our customers want the flexibility Linux offers, so we're moving forward aggressively."


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Now shamed Provident boss steps down from board of Britain’s biggest debt collection firm
Disgraced: Peter Crook has resigned from Cabot Credit Management
Provident Financial’s shamed former boss has stepped down from the board of Britain’s biggest debt collection firm – reportedly delaying its £1billion flotation plans.
Peter Crook quit Cabot Credit Management following his resignation in disgrace last month from sub-prime lender Provident Financial when it went into meltdown – putting 800,000 customers of its doorstep collection business at risk.
Cabot intended to announce plans to float this week but Crook’s exit has delayed the process, a source said. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Jefferies are reportedly working on the listing, which would value Cabot – controlled by US debt recovery business Encore Capital Group – at around £1billion.
Crook, 54, stepped down in August after ten years at Provident after shares crashed 66 per cent on its second profit warning in three months – wiping nearly £1.7billion off its value in one of the biggest falls for a FTSE 100 firm.
It suspended its dividend and disclosed the Financial Conduct Authority was investigating a product sold by its Vanquis Bank business.
A software bug had made it impossible to collect debts and said its door-to-door loan division would lose up to £120million per year.
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China Stocks: BYD, Jahwa, SAIC Motor, Xinjiang Goldwind
Shares of the following companies had unusual moves in China trading. Stock symbols are in parentheses and prices are as of the 3 p.m. close.
The Shanghai Composite Index, which tracks the bigger of China’s stock exchanges, rose 45.57 points, or 1.8 percent, to 2,516.09. The CSI 300 Index (SHSZ300) gained 2.1 percent to 2,779.09.
BYD Co. (002594 CH), part-owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., gained 2.9 percent to 23.47 yuan. BYD restructured its auto sales division and offered affected employees new positions in the company, said Company Secretary John Lee. Some staff declined the new assignments and left, Lee said, without providing details.
Founder Securities Co. (601901 CH) jumped 6.3 percent to 6.22 yuan, the biggest gain in two weeks. The brokerage said it plans to buy an 8.12 percent stake in Shengjing Bank, the largest lender in northeastern China, for as much as 1.5 billion yuan ($234.6 million).
SAIC Motor Corp. (600104 CH), China’s largest carmaker, advanced 3.6 percent to 15.28 yuan. SAIC said January-July vehicle sales volume rose 11 percent to 2.27 million units.
Shanghai Jahwa United Co. (600315 CH), a producer of skin- care products, slid 7.9 percent to 34.20 yuan. The company said the government plans to sell its 100 percent stake in the company’s parent, Shanghai Jahwa Group, for 5.1 billion yuan. The stock resumed trading today after being suspended since Dec. 6.
Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology Co. (002202 CH), the country’s second-biggest maker of wind turbines, gained for the first time in eight days, adding 2.2 percent to 11.14 yuan after the China Securities Regulatory Commission approved its proposal to sell as much as 5 billion yuan of bonds.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Darren Boey at firstname.lastname@example.org


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Earlier this year, Louise White, an 81-year-old Rhode Island resident, came forward as the winner of a $336.4 million prize, the third-largest prize claimed so far in the game's history.
"I'm very happy and I'm very proud," she said. "We are truly blessed. Thank you."
White bought the winning ticket in February in Newport, Rhode Island, after a family member had a craving for rainbow sherbet and brought her to a store, where she purchased the ticket.
After realizing she had won, White tucked the winning ticket into her Bible and went to sleep holding the book, bringing it with her to breakfast the next day until she could eventually store it in a safe deposit box, before claiming her winnings.
At $337 million, the Powerball pot still has ways to go to catch MegaMillions at the top of the list of U.S. grand prizes. In March, three tickets were sold for a drawing with the top prize of $656 million.


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Bill Bowen email@example.com
RadioShack Corp. is still bleeding red ink, but new Chief Executive Joseph Magnacca is already poised to remodel stores and launch a new branding campaign helping to push up the company’s ailing stock. Although the company’s loss of $43 million during the quarter was larger than analysts expected, RadioShack stock rose about 3 percent to $3.25 later on April 23 after Magnacca reported plans to change its advertising strategy to attract new customers and to stock new products. “I have … studied the existing retail format and store experience and believe there is a significant opportunity to refresh and improve how we present the brand, how we deliver on our brand promise, and how our customer experiences shopping with us,” Magnacca said in a statement accompanying the earnings report. For the first quarter, RadioShack Corp. reported a net loss of $43 million on sales of $849 million, compared to a loss of $8 million in the year-ago period on sales of $913 million. It was the fifth straight quarterly loss for the electronics retailer on declining revenues. Same store sales, an important measure of retail health, were down 5.7 percent over the year. The net loss was made worse by a one-time charge of $8.5 million from a discontinued deal to sell cell phones and call plans within Target stores. The Target Mobile centers were discontinued before March 1, the company said. The company has $435 million in cash on hand and $385 million available under a revolving credit facility to put Magnacca’s plans in motion. Magnacca was hired from Walgreen in February to turn the ailing electronics chain around. He succeeded Jim Gooch, whose tenure of less than a year was marked by an 85 percent slide in the RadioShack stock price. Only last week Magnacca named two key executives to his team: Jennifer Warren will head marketing and Michael DeFazio was named senior vice president of store concepts. Magnacca said that some key New York area stores will begin remodeling in the next couple of weeks to create the new customer experience. “In the new store concept, customers will be able to discover and experience products we sell in more interactive ways,” Magnacca said in the earnings conference call. “We will also create power branding statements where we merchandise some products by brand. This should make it easier for customers to find products that they are looking for in our stores and navigate throughout those stores.” The company is also changing its advertising mix to include broadcast television to introduce the company to people who have not been customers. The new ads should start appearing this week, according to Magnacca and be aimed at a younger audience. The new ads will be on network TV as opposed to cable where RadioShack spent its money previously. S&P Capital IQ lowered its opinion on the company’s shares to “Sell” from “Hold” due to weak margins – the amount of each dollar in revenue a company actually keeps – in its wireless business and increasing competition from online retailers and discounters. RadioShack has to do something to head off falling revenue in established stores, which declined 5.7 percent this quarter from a year ago. That is a troubling sign for any retailer as the measurement removes the volatility of results from stores that were recently opened or closed. It provides a peek at the overall health of a brand. Magnacca said work to revamp stores and revive the brand will start within weeks as the company struggles to fend off further raids on customers from online retailers. “I know we have some gaps and improvements that need to take place,” Magnacca said. “We are rolling out a new brand image, and you will start seeing changes in our branding and advertising soon. For our physical stores, work is underway and will begin with remodeling strategic New York City locations with a new look and feel over the next few weeks.” Janney Capital Markets analyst David Strasser said the quarter was “a disaster by any stretch of the imagination,” but said he also saw a silver lining with Magnacca. He pointed to Magnacca’s experience at Walgreen, where he revamped merchandise at the Duane Reade chain. “Those stores have gone from the ugly stepchild of drug stores, to the best merchandised drug stores in New York City, if not the country,” he said. RadioShack has about 4,300 company-operated stores, including 270 in Mexico and another 1,000 dealers and other outlets worldwide. It has about 30,000 employees. Robert Francis of the Business Press and the Associated Press contributed to this story.


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Saratoga's racing season is only days away, and this year both families and high rollers will have a few more bucks to put towards their favorite horse.
A track representative says the prices on most popular food and beverage items at the track have been "significantly" reduced.
Anyone who visits Saratoga Springs knows the city has character all year round, but this time of year, it's got something else; world renowned horse racing.
And spending a day at the track just got more affordable.
Melissa Brumley said, "I think it's great. I think it's fantastic, the more they can do to draw additional people to the area, and stimulate the local economy is fantastic."
And now, when Brumley and her family enjoy the races, it will cost less.
Last year the least expensive domestic beer available was a 20 oz. Coors Light for $6.75. This year a 12 oz. domestic will sell for $3.00.
Last year the least expensive imported beer was a 16 oz. Heineken for $8 dollars. This year a 12 oz. imported beer will sell for $4.00.
And in the 'fun food' department, lemonade is now a dollar less, dropping from $4.50 to $3.50, and the price of popcorn has also gone down, last year it was $4.50, now it's selling for $3.75.
But perhaps the biggest 'race changer' this year is the new value meal deal available in the backyard.
A visitor can choose a hot dog or slider, and grab some chips and a drink for just $5.
Stacy Marcelli has two children and says she'll be able to bring them to the track more often now.
"I think it will make it affordable for all families to be able to go out and enjoy the track, and enjoy the season, without you having to borrow from Peter to pay Paul," she said.
Frank White of Wilton agrees, "I think that's great. It will draw more family people to the track which is good, we need more family."
Bob Marchese says he thinks other venues should do the same. Marchese said, "It's a good idea. I think then entire country should follow this example."
Paul Viscusi has lived in Saratoga Springs for years. He said, "The economy is in tough shape, and every little bit will help. So I think people will utilize it (the track) more, yes."
And it's not just the prices at the track that are changing.
A track representative said many of the local popcorn and lemonade vendors will be gone this year, in part, to make way for a "cleaner, less cluttered" concourse.
Brumley said, "That's unfortunate to those individuals (local vendors) who had those opportunities available, but if it makes the venue better at the end of the day, that's fine."
In addition to the more streamlined concourse, the Ben & Jerry's operation at the track has expanded, Carvel Ice Cream is out, and a Dunkin' Donuts has been added at the venue.
However, there are still at least four local restaurants represented on the popular 'restaurant row.'