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According to analysts, the world should expect continued growth in the cannabis sector in 2022. The cannabis industry is thriving as more states legalize recreationally and medical marijuana and new products enter the market. All this has contributed to the following trends in 2022.
Legalization Is Spreading
According to Grand View Research, the legal cannabis market will increase by 25.3 percent from 2022 to 2030. The growing legalization of cannabis around the world will fuel this expansion. However, there is a projection that more states will legalize cannabis, resulting in a more significant market for cannabis goods and more business prospects.
Other countries are following suit in legalizing marijuana. This will provide new prospects for consumers and new markets for cannabis firms.
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CBD Will Become More Mainstream
CBD products have been increasingly popular in recent years, and this trend is sure to continue. In the coming years, CBD is likely to become more mainstream. People will seek out alternatives to THC-dominant goods as cannabis becomes more widely recognized in society. CBD is non-intoxicating and may provide various medical benefits, making it a popular choice among users.
CBD products will also become more affordable as they become more widely distributed, making them more accessible to a broader spectrum of consumers. Besides, CBD is available in tinctures, edibles, and other products. These products will become more widely available and mainstream in the following year.
Demand for Self-Storage Facilities
As cannabis becomes more mainstream, the demand for self-storage facilities gets expected to grow. As a result, businesses dealing with cannabis are likely to increase their use of self-storage facilities.
It is because cannabis-related enterprises will require storage space for their products, equipment, and supplies. As a result, cannabis insurance companies are also on the rise, as storage owners want to provide a secure environment for their customers.
The Increasing Popularity of CBD Products
Cannabis is gaining more and more acceptance worldwide, with legalization spreading to more and more countries. This will create opportunities for businesses in the cannabis industry and consumers who want to take advantage of the growing market.
CBD products are already popular in many parts of the world, and this trend will continue in the future years. Besides, CBD is helping to treat various illnesses, ranging from anxiety and depression to chronic pain and inflammation, thanks to its vast spectrum of possible health advantages. In addition, demand for CBD products will continue to rise as more people learn about its benefits of CBD.
Advances in Cannabis Technology
New technology is emerging in the cannabis sector as cannabis legalization advances across the United States. The cannabis market rapidly evolves, with new technology and products developed regularly.
As individuals seek healthier and more discreet methods to use cannabis, vaporizers and edibles are becoming increasingly popular. With temperature control and Bluetooth connectivity features, vaporizers are becoming increasingly advanced. This allows consumers to personalize their vaping experience.
But, edibles provide a discreet and handy way to consume cannabis without any additional equipment. New formulations are getting developed that are more consistent and easier to dose. This is especially helpful for medical marijuana patients who require precise dosage monitoring. Overall, these patterns indicate that the cannabis sector will become more sophisticated and refined in the following years. Both customers will benefit from this.
More Research on the Benefits of Cannabis
As cannabis becomes more widely legalized, researchers look into the plant’s potential health benefits. More research on the impacts of cannabis, both positive and negative, is expected to be undertaken in 2022. As a result of the increased research, more states are likely to legalize cannabis for medical and recreational use.
More research is excellent news for the future of cannabis as a medicine because it means more information will be available to help people make better decisions about whether to use it. Furthermore, as researchers learn more about cannabis, they will be able to develop new strains and products that are potentially more beneficial than those already available.
The cannabis market is thriving, and it will only get more prominent in the years ahead. Now is the best moment to get started in this field! Make sure your company is ready to capitalize on this trend by focusing on wellness and health.


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Vodafone has withdrawn from Facebook’s digital currency initiative Libra, as regulators and bureaucrats circle overhead.
While Facebook might have become accustomed to sitting in the regulatory spotlight, it seems other companies are not as accepting of the attention. In an increasing tsunami of regulatory scrutiny, Vodafone has become the latest company to withdraw from the Libra initiative, joining the likes of Paypal and Mastercard.
“Vodafone Group has decided to withdraw from the Libra Association,” a Vodafone spokesperson said.
“We have said from the outset that Vodafone’s desire is to make a genuine contribution to extending financial inclusion. We remain fully committed to that goal and feel that we can make the most contribution by focusing our efforts on M-Pesa. We will continue to monitor the development of the Libra Association and do not rule out the possibility of future co-operation.”
After work on Libra initially started in 2017, Facebook plans to launch the digital currency this year. The plan is to peg the Libra token to the financial performance of commoditised assets in an attempt to avoid the volatility of other digital currencies. The likes of Bitcoin and Ethereum have dented confidence in the currencies to date, as while the idea is sound, the 2018 cryptocurrency crash, where the value of Bitcoin dropped 65%, shows the dangers.
The main issue with digital currencies is that this is a segment which is largely unregulated, leading to the challenge which is being faced by Libra today. The European Commission and European Parliament has said no to the likes of Libra until rules have been written, while other regulatory bodies have expressed similar disapproval.
PayPal, Mastercard, Mercado Pago, eBay, Stripe, Booking Holdings and Visa are some of the names to have withdrawn support, seemingly due to the regulatory pressure. With support dwindling and regulatory expectations an unknown for the moment, it remains to be seen whether Libra will continue on its current launch trajectory.
Although Vodafone has left the door open for the future, it will drive its efforts towards M-Pesa, the highly success digital currency which is setting the tone in Africa.
Founded by Vodafone in 2007, M-Pesa is a mobile phone-based money transfer, financing and microfinancing service. Initially launched for Vodacom and Safaricom in Kenya and Tanzania, the initiative has spread across several markets in Africa, to India, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. There is momentum for the M-Pesa initiative, so it hardly comes as a surprise Vodafone has dropped the controversial Libra.
Many would view M-Pesa as an underexploited asset for the Vodafone Group, though this is likely to change over the coming months. The team plan on expanding the service in the seven African markets it currently operates in, and even plans to launch in Ethiopia, a market where it does not currently manage a mobile network.
M-Pesa can already be used to pay salaries, settle invoices and pay for bus tickets today, but Vodafone is aiming to fill the void of traditional banking services, a major issue across much of the African continent.
The ‘unbanked’ challenge in Africa is not necessarily new news, the World Bank Global Findex suggest 62% of sub-Saharan Africans do not have a bank account, and digital currencies could fill the void. There is of course competition to be wary of, Orange Money or MTN Mobile Money for example, but M-Pesa has credibility in the market few could compete with.
With new infrastructure solutions gaining traction, OpenRAN, and a wave of new smart feature phones being released, the digital world is becoming increasingly accessible. M-Pesa is in an excellent position and Vodafone has a genuine opportunity to be a trailblazer for diversification into financial services alongside Orange. Perhaps it should come as little surprise the telco wants to distance itself from the increasingly under-fire Libra initiative.

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CUSTOMERS are being urged not to eat a cheese product sold in popular retailer Avoca after a possible E. Coli contamination was discovered in batches.
French cheese factory La Fromagerie du Plessis issued an urgent recall of their Camembert de Normandie raw milk cheese.
A notice issued on the Food Safety Authority of Ireland's website read: "Following detection of shiga toxin-producing Eschericia coli O26 in a raw milk cheese, the above batch of Camembert de Normandie cheese is being recalled by La Fromagerie du Plessis.
"A point-of-sale recall notice is displayed in Avoca stores which sold the affected batch advising customers not to eat this batch."
The affected product is the Camembert de Normandie au lait cru, 250g with approval number FR 14 608 001 CE.
The batch code is 260218DS0 with a use-by date of May 2, 2018.
E. coli is a bacterium that can be found in human intestines.
An E. coli infection can cause pain in the abdomen, diarrhoea, nausea, vomiting, fever and fatigue.
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Meanwhile, Irish supermarket chains Aldi, SuperValu, and Lidl have issued a recall of four different salads.
It’s feared that the bacon in the products could be contaminated with listeria monocytogenes – which in severe cases can lead to bacterial meningitis and death.
The affected products include a chicken and bacon pasta salad (350g) from Aldi, a caesar style salad bowl (205g) and a potato salad with bacon (220g) from Lidl and SuperValu’s bacon caesar salad kit (250g).


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AdAge reports that “Google is ready to integrate display advertising beyond YouTube across its various properties including, potentially, Google Maps and Gmail,” — outlined by Neal Mohan at a press briefing last week:
“But perhaps the more significant strategy on display was Mohan’s presentation of what he called “Google Display Network,” which included YouTube as well as Google properties Google Finance, Google Maps, Google Books and even Gmail. Mohan didn’t detail what a display unit might look like in Gmail, and a company insider said it has yet to work out specific ad requirements against those properties. Google Finance, for e.g., didn’t initially feature advertising, but it now runs rectangle-sized ads.”
According to ComScore, Google sites (including YouTube) place sixth among web publishers for display ad impressions at 25.8 billion, equivalent of 2.4% of total impressions for first Q10. Facebook easily dominated display ad market for same period at 16.2% or 176.3 billion impressions. Facebook’s top spot in display advertising suggests that any attempt by Google to grab more of the pie will surely have to include growing out its own properties.


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LAVAL, Quebec – While he touted the company’s performance and its “strongest growth since the beginning of the financial crisis in 2008,” Brian Hannasch, president and CEO, spent a significant portion of Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc.'s fiscal 2015 fourth-quarter earnings call focusing on the March 2015 acquisition of the approximately 1,500 stores of The Pantry Inc.
Couche-Tard reported net earnings of $129.5 million, a 10.8% decline over last year’s $145.1 million. Non‑recurring restructuring and integration costs of $22.2 million in connection with the acquisition of Cary, N.C.-based The Pantry affected results.
Click here for CSP Daily News coverage of Couche-Tard’s quarterly and fiscal 2015 results.
Couche-Tard reported the $850.7-million deal recorded earnings transaction costs of $900,000 in connection with this acquisition.
“We’re already working actively on the integration of The Pantry, and all indicators we have point towards an impressive contribution potential towards our company’s growth,” Hannasch said.
As of the close of the company’s fiscal-year 2015, Hannasch said Couche-Tard has taken actions that should result in cost reductions of $45 million (before taxes) on an annual basis. Couche-Tard estimates it will be able to realize a minimum of $85 million in annual cost reductions over the next 24 months.
“We believe we can turn around The Pantry’s previous trends with strong net growth in sales and volumes in the coming quarters in addition to achieving the cost-reduction targets we’ve previously communicated,” he said.
“We are applying all of our best practices to The Pantry's network, and the integration is going well,” Hannasch said ahead of the call. “In line with our business model, our people are already actively working on sharing best practices, benchmarking and on the identification and realization of synergies, which should not only benefit our newly acquired network but also our existing network.”
He continued, “We have just completed The Pantry's budget process, and I am very excited about what I have seen and heard. The opportunities are plentiful, and our teams are eager to make the most of them. I am confident that we will be able to meet our objectives."
“Our return on capital employed dropped slightly on a pro forma basis following the acquisition of The Pantry, as expected, but we are still best in class,” Raymond Paré, vice president and CFO, said ahead of the call. “We are already hard at work to bring it back to a level in line with our expectations. To achieve this, we will use the usual tools we have at our disposal, including the realization of synergies and other opportunities coming from the acquisition of The Pantry and those still available in Europe as well as our proven ability to generate strong and sustainable organic growth.”
Acquisitions such as The Pantry are not the only area where Couche-Tard has (and will continue) to grow its network. Hannasch said his team has done “an outstanding job in terms of network growth and improvements” to new and existing retail locations.
Throughout 2015, Couche-Tard completed the construction, relocation or rebuilding of 72 stores and added 32 single sites for a total of 104 added or improved sites. As of April 26, 2015, the company had 26 stores under construction that should open in the coming quarters.
“I’m particularly pleased with the performance of our newly constructed sites,” Hannasch said. “Our plans for 2016 are to step up our activity in this space.”
In terms of growth inside the stores, Hannasch focused on two major areas: private label and foodservice.
“It’s a never-ending journey to continue to look for new ways to provide convenience to our consumers,” he said. “Certainly, right now, top of mind is private label.”
Couche-Tard has “stepped up significantly” its private-label offering, introducing more than 100 items in North America since May 2014.
“Our efforts in this area are paying off,” said Hannasch. “Private label continues to be one of the fastest-growing product ‘cats’ we have.”
As for food, Couche-Tard is focusing on two options: fresh delivered food programs and prepared onsite offerings. Hannasch said there are some 700 stores with fresh delivered food (including pastries, salads, fresh sandwiches, and fruit cups), a program that started four-to-five years ago.
“We feel good about the top-line results,” he said. “We’ve worked hard this year to optimize the logistics costs and spoilage. We continue to feel better and better about their performance. As such, as we enter our new fiscal year, we’re planning to add another 300 stores [to the program] this coming year in a variety of geographies.”
The prepared onsite program is admittedly newer and smaller. The company has launched three pilot stores in Houston with a goal to add 30 to 40 locations in the coming fiscal year. Hannasch said bigger, new-to-industry sites with high traffic flows and more rural stores were prime candidates for the onsite foodservice program.
“It’s very early, but we’re cautiously pleased with results,” he said. “We’ve responded to our customers’ desire for fresh and convenient foods by increasing our offer both in terms of quality and quantity.”
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50 years on: How credit cards changed our relationship with money
Fifty years ago this week Barclaycard issued the first credit cards in the UK.
Half a century on, consumers are used to a range of convenient ways to pay, but back in 1966 there was a feeling of change when people tried to brandish their exciting new plastic cards.
The company sent out some 1.25 million plastic cards to Barclays customers from 29 June 1966 and while some sent them back or never used them but many embraced the new way of paying.
At the time, the bank said: "[Barclaycard's] purpose is to reduce the use of cash in shopping and other transactions and the scheme is designed to appeal not only to those who must travel and spend a good deal of money in restaurants, but also to the everyday shopper throughout the country."
It also stressed the benefits to retailers and businesses by pointing out that the card would help in "reducing or eliminating the book-keeping now needed to maintain customers' credit accounts."
In fact it took Barclays' High Street rivals six years to respond.
By the time a group comprising Lloyds, NatWest and Midland (now HSBC) launched the now-scrapped Access card in 1972, there were 1.7 million Barclaycard holders.
Today the company says it has 10.5 million consumer customers as well as many more business customers.
In the intervening period, the world of plastic cards has changed completely.
In 1966 Barclaycard charged an annual interest rate of 1.5% but expected payment by the end of the month.
The idea of revolving credit, where a card can be used to maintain a longer borrowing, only started in 1967 when Barclaycard offered up to three months' credit. Now, of course, it's possible to be in debt to a credit card for a lifetime and the average interest charged on outstanding balances is 18.9%.
The borrowing limits in 1966 were much more modest, too. Cardholders were offered up to £100 worth of credit. Now the average is around £4,000, the company says.
Looking ahead, plastic cards will take over from cash to become the UK's most frequently used payment method by 2021, reckons Payment UK.
The growth will be driven by "the next generation of account holders", says the UK Cards Association as "younger people are more likely to embrace new technologies such as contactless cards and mobile payments."
While the introduction of plastic in 1966 may have given cardholders like Liz a feeling of confidence, the evolution of the credit card also meant the danger of getting into debt very much became a reality.
Today, many people happily use credit cards for convenience - often earning rewards or cashback - while paying the balance off every month to ensure there are no charges.
But overspending and building up long-term debt remain big problems.
Mike O'Connor, chief executive of the debt charity Step Change, says: "The average credit card debt we see is £8,403 and last year we dealt with more than 200,000 people with £1.7bn of credit card debts."
He says the Financial Conduct Authority should reform the market to ensure that credit cards work better for consumers, especially those in financial difficulty.
"Small changes to existing rules, such as increasing minimum payments from 1% to 2% of the balance or fixing minimum repayments so that they don't fall as the balance declines, could save people thousands of pound and cut years off repayment periods," says Mr O'Connor.


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America’s geopolitical adversaries are banking on blockchain technology to help skirt sanctions and counter U.S financial power, according to a new report.
With cryptocurrencies being adopted with increasing speed, governments in Russia, China, Iran and Venezuela are experimenting with the technology that underpins the crypto market, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) wrote in a comprehensive analysis released on Thursday.
“Blockchain technology may be the innovation that enables U.S. adversaries for the first time to operate entire economies outside the U.S.-led financial system,” the organization wrote. “These governments, therefore, are prioritizing blockchain technology as a key component of their efforts to counter U.S. financial power.”
Although extremely volatile and not fully accepted as payment everywhere, virtual currencies are a booming market. Bitcoin (BTC-USD) prices have soared over 200% so far this year, ramping up expectations of even more gains heading into year’s end, at the very least.
‘Attractive to criminals’
The FDD’s report amplifies concerns about how blockchain technology could be misused. Congress has said cryptocurrencies are a method of exchange that’s “attractive to criminals” and may be used to evade standard financial regulation.
Virtual currencies are exploding in popularity, as are concerns that terrorists and other illicit actors can use them to facilitate transactions around the world, without the usual layers of regulatory scrutiny.
Individually, Beijing, Tehran and Caracas have all been making strides in the evolving crypto marketplace.
Earlier this week, The South China Morning Post reported that Facebook’s (FB) plans to develop its own cryptocurrency, Libra, was becoming a force multiplier for Beijing’s efforts to create its own digital unit, citing a challenge to China’s own cross-border payment system.
Meanwhile, stymied by punishing U.S. sanctions, Iran is reportedly developing its own digital currency. The central bank “is highly motivated to develop an alternative” to the global payment system, with tensions rising after the U.S. withdrew from a nuclear accord, according to the FDD.
Countries in U.S. crosshairs “seek to reduce the potency of unilateral and multilateral sanctions by developing alternative payment systems for global commerce,” the authors wrote.
“It is also notable that China, Iran, and Venezuela, in particular, have restricted their citizens’ access to existing cryptocurrencies as they explore developing a state-backed digital currency,” the report noted.
Venezuela’s own crypto efforts have been “a debacle,” the FDD wrote, given the Andean nation’s slow-motion economic collapse and violent political instability.
Although most cryptocurrencies are still in their infancy and haven’t been adopted for widespread use, the development of blockchain protocol has serious future implications.
“Technology has created a potential pathway to alternative financial value transfer systems outside of U.S. control. The target timeline may be two to three decades, but these actors are developing the building blocks now,” the FDD said in its report.
“They envision a world in which cryptocurrency technology helps them eclipse U.S. financial power, much the way that the dollar once eclipsed the British pound,” the organization added.
“A U.S. adversary has enough success with blockchain technology in its domestic banking system that it exports its platform to other nations to integrate into their financial sectors,” the FDD said.
Javier is an editor for Yahoo Finance. Follow Javier on Twitter: @TeflonGeek


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Looking to get a COVID vaccine from Walgreens? There are several ways you can get your shot at the major pharmacy chain in Illinois starting this week.
Walgreens said Monday it will offer same-day COVID vaccination appointments in all retail locations nationwide beginning Wednesday, with walk-in appointments available at select stores as well.
Further details on which locations will offer walk-in appointments weren't immediately released.
Walgreens also announced that it's launching multiple mobile COVID vaccination clinics in Chicago.
Feeling out of the loop? We'll catch you up on the Chicago news you need to know. Sign up for the weekly Chicago Catch-Up newsletter here.
The traveling clinics "will focus on bringing COVID-19 vaccines directly to underserved communities and those with barriers to accessing the vaccine," Walgreens said in a statement announcing the launch.
The pharmacy giant said individuals will be able to walk up to a mobile clinic and get vaccinated that same day.
Walgreens did not say where the clinics will stop in Chicago but said it is partnering with local organizations to make community members aware of the locations and dates.
The company, based in suburban Deerfield, said it's hosted more than 700 vaccination clinics across the country, primarily at churches and community centers, with plans to host hundreds more this month.
Since vaccinations began in December, Walgreens says it has administered more than 15 million vaccine doses. NBC News reported Monday that Walgreens is responsible for 21% of the more than 180,000 doses wasted nationwide that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recorded as of late March.
Walgreens said wasted doses amounted to less than 0.5 percent of the more than 8 million COVID vaccine doses administered by the company in long-term care facilities and through a federal partnership during that time frame.
"Our goal has always been ensuring every dose of vaccine is used," company spokesperson Kris Lathan told NBC News in an email.
Those seeking vaccination appointments through Walgreens can schedule on the pharmacy's website or by calling 1-800-Walgreens.
For a full guide to booking a vaccination appointment in Illinois, click here.


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A group of topless women took to the streets of New York to campaign against internet censorship. The free the nipple movement hit the headlines last week after Bruce Willis' daughter Scout went shopping for groceries on Manhattan's Lower East while bare chested. After she tweeted a picture using the hashtag #freethenipple the movement's founder Lina Esco decided to stage a protest in the big apple. The group is hoping to promote their feature film of the same name that they hope will be released next year. Around 20 men and women took to the city's Washington Square Park on Sunday to go topless and try to recruit more members. While there they were confronted by the NYPD and angry onlookers who were unhappy with them being topless in public.
Videographer / Director: Laurentiu Garofeanu Producer: Dan Howlett Editor: Ian Phillips / Joshua Douglas


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Container trade spikes for Townsville
More than 20,000 containers were handled at the Port of Townsville between July and September, up more than 8,000 TEU’s (twenty foot equivalent unit) on the same time last year, breaking trade records.
As well as a 135 per cent increase in containerised and general cargo, motor vehicle movements were up 35 per cent, molasses 45 per cent, sulphur 26 per cent, live cattle 21 per cent, petroleum 16 per cent and fertiliser 7 per cent.
Port of Townsville acting chief executive officer Claudia Brumme-Smith said that the increased trade numbers across several commodities was encouraging.
“Townsville Port’s figures for container trade are very exciting, as are the continuing record-breaking molasses exports, and live cattle exports are up more than 20 per on the same time last year,” she said.
“Port of Lucinda is having another bumper year so far, exporting nearly 250,000 tonnes of sugar, up 40 per cent on the same time last year.”
“Over the past six months we’ve seen definite green shoots for a recovery, which is reflected in the container movement figures and our bulk cargo export forecast.
“We will see two new mining operations commencing mineral concentrate exports out of Townsville in the near future which is exciting.
“Townsville Port is seeing the benefits of five container lines servicing our region - Mariana Express Lines, Sofrana, Kyowa Shipping, Swire Shipping and ANL.
“More shipping lines means more services for our customers and better frequencies to Papua New Guinea, South East Asia, China and Japan; with good connectivity to all global ports. Between now and the end of the year, Townsville Port has a container ship service leaving for Asia every week.”


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ANNOUNCEMENT 26 Jul 2019
This investment was made through Canada’s Strategic Innovation Fund, which aims to accelerate economic growth, strengthen and expand the role of Canadian firms in regional and global supply chains, support economic strategies, and attract investment.
NUMBER OF INTERVENTIONS
On July 26, 2019 the Government of Canada announced a Can.$20 million (U.S.$15.1 million) subsidy to help Gerdau Ameristeel upgrade its facilities to modernize steel production lines, reduce manufacturing costs, reduce the amount of scrap metal going to landfills and improve production capability for billets, which are semi-finished long steel products used to produce other steel-based products such as angles, rebar, flats or channels.
This investment is being made through the Strategic Innovation Fund, a program that is “designed to attract and support high-quality business investments across all sectors of the economy by encouraging R&D that will accelerate the transfer of technology and the commercialization of innovative products, processes and services and will facilitate the growth of innovative firms.”


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The data and analytics software company says the botnet, called “MultiTerra,” is designed to create fake advertising inventory across CTV and mobile platforms leading to advertisers bidding on fake impressions.
Some of the those unknowingly targeted in the scheme include advertisers and digital platforms that included brands such as Turner, HGTV, Bloomberg, TubiTV, AMC Networks, NBC, Sling, and CBS.
DoubleVerify says MultiTerra generated more than three million fake impressions a day -- on track to see over a $1 million a month in ad dollars lost.
The fast-moving MultiTerra could, via a single IP address, impersonate 16 different iPhone and Android phones, totaling nearly 50 impressions on at least nine different apps in just 20 minutes.
DoubleVerify used machine learning and algorithms to shut down the MultiTerra botnet.
In a recent report, DoubleVerify said that in the first quarter there was 161% increase in connected TV ad fraud.
DoubleVerify says it detects more than 500,000 fraudulent CTV devices a day, and that more than 500 fraudulent apps have been associated with CTV -- more than for the entire year of 2019.


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Shanda Games Ltd., a Shanghai-based online game company, said Wednesday its second-quarter net income fell 16 percent as revenue from both casual and multiplayer games declined.
Net income for the three months ended June 30 declined to 304.3 million RMB ($44.8 million), or 1.06 RMB (16 cents) per U.S.-traded share, from 363.2 million RMB, or 1.32 RMB per share in the same quarter last year.
That matches what Wall Street analysts were expecting, according to a Thomson Reuters survey.
Revenue slipped 4 percent to 1.11 billion RMB ($163.9 million) from 1.16 billion RMB in the year-ago quarter, slightly less than the $165.9 million analysts predicted.
Shanda provided the currency conversions based on the exchange rate on June 30.
Revenue from casual games and the massive multiplayer role-playing games Shanda specializes in both edged down.
Operating expenses, meanwhile, increased 23 percent to 322 million RMB ($47.4 million).
(This version CORRECTS day of week)


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Starlink user terminal installed on the roof of a Canadian building.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said that as the company continues to build a global consumer network, the company’s Starlink satellite Internet service “will double the speed of customers later this year.”
Musk said in a tweet on Monday: “The speed will double later this year to about 300Mb/s, and the delay will drop to about 20ms.”
Latency is the amount of delay in the Internet network. It defines the time it takes for the signal to travel back and forth from the destination. Latency and download speed are key indicators for Internet service providers.
In a subsequent tweet, Musk added that Starlink will reach “most” customers near the earth by the end of 2021, and is expected to cover the entire world “by next year”.
He emphasized that Starlink, like other satellite broadband services, is aimed at customers in “medium and low population density areas.”
Musk said: “Cellular phones will always have an advantage in densely populated urban areas.”
SpaceX founder and CEO of Tesla Inc. Elon Musk will attend the Axel Springer Awards Ceremony in Berlin, Germany on Tuesday, December 1, 2020.
Liesa Johannssen-Koppitz | Bloomberg | Getty Images
To date, SpaceX has launched more than 1,000 satellites for Starlink. In October, SpaceX began rolling out an early service to customers in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the form of a public beta-the price of the service is $99 a month, plus the upfront cost of the hardware required to connect to the network is $499.
The company recently expanded the scope of the public beta, allowing potential users to book Starlink services. SpaceX disclosed in a document submitted to the Federal Communications Commission earlier this month that Starlink “has more than 10,000 users in the United States and abroad” in just over three months since the public beta was released.
SpaceX pointed out in the FCC document that Starlink’s service “reaches and exceeds a single user’s throughput of 100/20 megabits per second (Mbps)”, and most users see latency “equal to or less than 31 milliseconds.”
SpaceX has deployed 60 Starlink satellites in orbit.
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Finance / Average household savings 'worth four times more than in 1975'
Average household savings 'worth four times more than in 1975'
7 August 2015
The average UK household has around four times the level of savings that the typical family had 40 years ago in real terms, a report has found.
The value per household – including deposit savings, pensions and shares – has increased by 294%, from £36,989 in 1975 to £145,566 today, Lloyds Bank said.
The total value of UK household savings stands at about £4.1 trillion, compared with £744 billion in 1975 in today’s prices. The number of UK households has grown by 40% over the period, Lloyds said.
The proportion of disposable income that households put away in savings averaged 13% in the 20 years to 1995 against a backdrop of relatively high interest rates, the report said.
This level of savings declined during the noughties, fuelled by high levels of consumer spending and borrowing. The savings ratio fell to 5.5% in 2008, but rebounded a year later to reach 9.3%. Between 2005 and 2015, the average household savings ratio averaged 7.49%.
The report said the popularity of tax-efficient Isas has helped to push levels of deposit savings higher, while over the last 40 years, the value of pensions has grown by 7% a year on average – faster than any other form of savings.
But the value of shares held by households this year is about a third (32%) below a 40-year peak in 1999, around the time prices in dot.com shares collapsed.
There are still “considerable differences” in the levels of savings households hold today, Lloyds said. More than one in three (36%) have no savings, including deposits or investments, and 13% hold savings and investments of less than £1,500 in value.
Philip Robinson, savings director at Lloyds Bank, said: “The UK savings market has seen a dramatic shift over the last 40 years, with increased retail competition, the rise of digital banking and a greater emphasis on private pensions and ‘tax free’ savings.
“Despite witnessing three recessions during the period, in addition to rising levels of consumer spending and borrowing, real household savings have grown annually by an average of over 4% and we would expect this to continue over the next few years.”
The research used data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the Bank of England.
Photo from Gareth Fuller / PA Wire


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With the high-end jewelry sharing business Flont, founder Cormac Kinney aims to help a host of companies cash in on the sharing economy.Kinney, who is married to jewelry designer Mimi So, launched the site “fairly stealthily” in January with a little help from New York stylist Jackie Astier, who hosted a friends-and-family event. With 15 investors including Carmen Busquets, Google Japan’s chief marketing officer Miki Iwamura, former Coach executive vice president of global marketing and strategy Stephanie Stahl, former Coca Cola president Jack Stahl, Jefferies & Co. head of strategic investments Vlad Portnoy and former New York Times executive vice president Denise Warren, Flont has raised $2 million.A software specialist and serial entrepreneur, Kinney has been cited in more than 1,500 patents and has raised about $500 million in capital for various companies in his 25-year career. During an interview with creative director Brooke Magnaghi and adviser Susan Shin last week, Kinney said, “This is my eighth start-up, and they have not all been hits, but I have managed to sell five companies such as NeoVision to public companies (including Oracle, Newscorp and SS&C Technologies among them) in the last 25 years.” Kinney also has invented trading systems that have been used by Fidelity, Merrill Lynch and others.Most recently, he sold to News Corp. a social network called Network, which is described as a LinkedIn competitor. Network was meant to be used by publishers to create a consortium with leading business publications and all their user profiles who registered. In addition to recommending other articles that might be of interest, Network was designed to analyze interests and match readers with psychographic peers who would in turn suggest other articles from any range of resources. After launching Network in The Wall Street Journal, Rupert Murdoch decided to keep it exclusively to News Corp., he said.After meeting So 20 years ago, he helped her raise money and form a partnership with Compagnie Financiere Richemont, which requested that Kinney serve as Mimi So’s president during the three-year venture. “I stopped becoming a software developer to become a jewelry executive. We traveled the world opening stores in Tokyo, Beverly Hills and a big store in New York. The point is that the whole time we have been married I have been very involved with a great New York jewelry brand,” he said. “I’m probably one of the few people who have built commercial technology, software companies and launched start-ups and actually know fine jewelry very well.”Intrigued by Rent the Runway and the sharing economy, Kinney pointed to NetJets and the Steve Case-acquired Exclusive Resorts as examples of how it has been around for a while. “Sharing and luxury go way back but no one had done it with jewelry,” he said. “Carmen pointed out that we’re really bringing fair trade to jewelry designers.”With an increasing number of retailers only taking high-end jewelry on consignment, small brands wind up financing the raw materials, production, wholesale and now the retail, he said. Flont buys from one-third of the jewelry outright from the participating designers, pays them a monthly lease sum for the remaining items and monthly revenue share without any added costs of shipping or maintenance. An on-site workshop is used to keep everything polished up and to ensure that the diamonds weren’t switched, “which can happen,” Kinney said.Pamela Love, Deborah Pagani, Carla Amorim, Paige Novick, Crow’s Nest and Audrey Savransky are some of the 12 designers who have so far agreed to multiyear exclusive deals. Knowing that many shoppers take advantage of luxury stores’ one-year return policy by wearing and later returning their high-end purchases, Flont aims to help its resources avoid that problem altogether.“As an editor covering jewelry for 18 years, I became very close with the designers, and any company that is going to support them is something that I am completely on board with. Having gone to couture the past few years and have talked to so many designers that have just been suffering because they can’t grow their businesses, they can barely make it in a memo economy. For me, this is a real game-changer for designers and consumers too,” Magnaghi said.In addition to Magnaghi’s exclusive selections, Jill Heller has chosen signed vintage jewelry from brands such as Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Hermes and others.Flont members pay $249 each month and can rent up to $60,000 worth of jewelry a year. If a member chooses to buy an item, they can do so with a 15 percent discount. For example, if a $6,000 necklace is borrowed three times by Flont members and bought by a fourth borrower, the designer who made the necklace will receive three months of lease payments, as well as the full price, with Flont covering the 15 percent discount, Kinney said.Men comprise one-third of the current base through gift card purchases, which allow recipients to borrow up to three pieces of jewelry in the next year. “Mothers are buying it for their daughters, playboys getting them for their girlfriends…,” he said. “So there are members, gift cards or if people simply want jewelry for an event, they can rent it – insured, FedEx is covered.”With 40 members after a month, only 60 more or so are needed for Flont to break even, Kinney said. So far, 10 percent of members have wound up buying items, but not necessarily what they borrowed, a trend Flont executives refer to as “wrist retailing.”Flont plans to partner with New York City hotel concierges as well as Trisha Gregory’s and Alexandra Lind Rose’s Armarium, another Busquets-supported e-sharing business. Aside from not feeling pressured to make an in-store decision, Flont members like being able to get feedback about their borrowed jewelry from friends. “We like to say, ‘Discover it, borrow it, keep it, love it,’” Shin said.Through another element of its business, Flont is offering a software package to other global brands that want to open their own sharing service complete with customized insurance that Kinney developed with a multibillion-dollar insurance company that executives declined to identify. A few pilot programs have already been developed for companies that he declined to name that are waiting to see Flont’s own data before launching their own sharing services. Companies also have the option to use Flont’s services.“We’re already in discussions with most of the major super global brands,” said Kinney.
Supermodel @helenachristensen teamed up with longtime friend and designer @camillastaerk on a joint @paredeyewear collaboration. The lineup features three styles and 11 offerings, all of which embody a vintage feel. Get all the details on how they celebrated the collab on WWD.com. #wwdaccessories #wwdeye (📷: @slovekinpics)
“It’s a hard industry to keep motivated, as well, so finding different subjects and people is what makes it worth it – when you’re like, oh, I’ve met great people, I feel like I’ve done something good, and I feel proud of having done this,” said French actress Stacy Martin on being grateful for the variety of roles she’s take on. Read @ktauer’s full interview with Martin on her her latest film “Godard Mon Amour.” #wwdeye (📷: @danieldorsa)
After showing in front of the Eiffel Tower for his last two women’s ready-to-wear collection, it looks like @anthonyvaccarello may be heading to the Big Apple. Sources say the designer will stage his next @ysl show in NYC on June 6. Get all the details on WWD.com. #wwdnews #wwdfashion (📷: @aitorrosasphoto)
EXCLUSIVE: Two and half months after John Targon, cofounder and codesigner of Baja East, was hired as creative director of the contemporary division at Marc Jacobs, he has left the company, WWD has learned. Marc Jacobs International, which is owned by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, confirmed Targon’s departure in a statement: “John Targon is a talented designer and we appreciate the work he has done here. Ultimately working together did not make sense for the brand and we wish him the best.” Read the story by @jessiredale, link in bio. #wwdnews
@theluxurycollection is officially launching a collection, tapping Sofia Sanchez de Betak for the capsule. Over 30 styles will be featured in the Chufy x The Luxury Collection, debuting next month at Bergdorf Goodman, The Webster, FiveStory and more. De Betak, known as “@chufy,” drew inspiration for the collection from her trips to Japan in the past year #wwdfashion
@lhd, founder and CEO of @thewebster, has teamed up with @lebonmarcherivegauche for the European launch of her ready-to-wear line, LHD. The launch will come with an exclusive pop-up opening today that’s set to run through May 20. Located on the second floor, it carries her debut Miami-themed resort collection, launched in November as see-now-buy-now. #wwdfashion


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A new forum site launched on Monday to help fans find the best movie collections on the Internet.
The forum, called MovieCollectorz, aims to help users find their favorite movies, TV shows, and other movies on YouTube and other platforms.
The website is a combination of a forum and a dedicated collection site.
The MovieCollectors Alliance, a group of movie collectors who formed the forum, said the site is an extension of the group’s efforts to help people find movies that are out of print, or that have been lost.
It aims to bring movie fans together to discuss the movies they like and find other people who are as passionate about their favorite films as they are about finding new films.
The site was launched in January, and it’s expected to become even more popular with each passing month.
The Alliance plans to expand the site with more movies and add more categories, such as “Best of Shows,” “Best TV Shows,” and “Best Movies.”
It’s unclear when MovieCollecting.com will launch.
But the group hopes to launch it by the end of this year, with plans to continue to expand its collection with new films as new collections are created.
_____The New York Times reported that one of the first things it asked its readers to do was sign up for a MovieCollects.com account.
The service charges $4.99 a month to access the site.
It says its users will receive a notification when a movie is added to the service.
A search of the site on Monday showed that the site had more than 3,200 users.
MovieCollectives.com, which also offers other services for movie collectors, said it has received more than $3 million in new donations from users.


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Sterling Ruby is gearing up to launch his first-ever clothing brand called S.R. STUDIO. LA. CA. It’s not the American artist’s first stint with fashion, but his foray into ready-to-wear signals a more commercially apt endeavor for Ruby. “I’ve always been interested in the behavioral power that comes with clothing. For years I have been privately exploring garments as a medium, as something that impacts the way one can think, feel, and move. I couldn’t be more excited to finally put my clothing out into the world,” said the artist.
One of the artist’s earliest brushes with the industry came in 2009 when he teamed up with longtime collaborator and close friend Raf Simons on a collection of bleached jackets and denim. The LA-based creative’s more narrowed approach to fashion, albeit under a fine art context, was a retrospective series of experimental garments for his 2016 exhibition in London entitled “WORK WEAR: Garment and Textile Archive 2008-2016.”
As for Ruby’s new brand, it will serve up unisex clothing and accessories. The aesthetics of the label all stem from “ten years of experimentation and development for Ruby’s artworks including soft sculpture, quilts, backdrops and garments,” as per a press statement.
The collection will launch globally this June at select stockists which will be announced later. For immediate updates, head to S.R. STUDIO’s website.


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Breeding and killing cows to eat is not only upsetting to a large number of people, but isn’t sustainable in the long-run. In theory, growing meat in a lab is sustainable, and could either replace or work alongside regular cow breeding and eating practices. Now, the world’s first lab-grown burger has been cooked, and humans have tasted it.
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A report this week predicting the average Canadian household will spend an additional $345 on food this year should come as no surprise. The figure last year was $325.
But before you start complaining, there are a few things to keep in mind:
It's not just climate, transportation and fluctuations in the dollar at work here. It's worth remembering that for most middle-class North Americans, food is very affordable compared to the rest of the world.
Over the past half century, the cost of food for most North Americans has been dropping as a percentage of income. Food prices may rise, but so do most of our salaries. Our grandparents likely paid much more.
For example, on average Canadians spend about 10 per cent of their income on food, compared to 17.5 per cent in 1960.
And even today, Canadian spending on food as a percentage of income is among the lowest in the world; Spain, for example, spends 14 per cent, and Japan 13 per cent. In Russia, it is 30 per cent. Guatemala and the Philippines spend 40 per cent of household expenditures on food.
Not only do we eat differently than those in countries such as Spain or Japan, we eat differently than our grandparents. We go to restaurants more often, and we buy more packaged foods.
The result is we live less healthy lives than many of our predecessors, and indeed those in other countries. Obesity and type 2 diabetes, even among children, are growing problems in North America.
So there is a way to beat increasing pressure on both the belt and the pocketbook. Eat smarter: less meat, less sugar, less salt — fewer packaged foods. It will be less expensive and more healthy.
The issue, of course, is not quite so simple. Just because most of us are spending less as a percentage of income on food than our grandparents doesn't mean everyone is.
Many in Ontario and here in Hamilton are in fact spending more. Many of the jobs our parents and grandparents had are gone. Salaries for them are in fact lower. Housing, clothing and transportation costs are higher. Poverty exists, and hunger persists.
Poor people in Ontario can eat beans and rice (like much of the rest of the world) and many do, but that is not always practical in a world where tradition, convenience and modern advertising direct us to fast food, which is both ubiquitous and relatively inexpensive.
We cannot give up on public education, but the broad and complex fight against poverty must remain the ultimate goal — and is the real key to making sure Hamiltonians don't go hungry as food prices continue to rise.


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Toyota Land Cruiser predicted an early departure in historyAugust 24, 2019
This concerns only the American market so far, but, given its importance for Toyota, the consequences for the world-famous SUV may not be encouraging. There is no official decision yet, but the American press has already written that this generation of Land Cruiser is the latest, at least in the US market.
It seems unlikely at the moment that Toyota will easily part with a model with a similar status: perhaps not a single car of this brand has a similar image, combining reliability, comfort and off-road qualities. If you take a closer look at how Land Cruiser is in the United States, the statement voiced by Motor Trend does not seem absurd. The reason is simple – Land Cruiser is very expensive, and it is practically not bought.
Last year, Toyota sold just 3,235 Land Cruiser in the US market, and 1,877 in the first half of this year. This is one of the worst results in Toyota’s North American lineup. Buyers simply do not understand why they should pay at least $ 85,165 for Land Cruiser, which is almost 35,000 more than they ask for Sequoia. At the same time, the current generation Land Cruiser is one of the oldest models in the Toyota lineup. For comparison, the technical twin LX 570, under the more prestigious Lexus brand, costs almost the same – from 86,380.
The buyer chooses a more prestigious brand. Keeping two virtually identical models for Toyota is not profitable, so with the change of generations in 2022, it is likely to remain the strongest. In the USA, it will definitely be the Lexus LX, but it is too early to speak about other markets: in many countries they have been well aware of what Toyota Land Cruiser is for decades and may not have a clue about the Lexus LX.
- Back to the Future car to be revived with electricity
- Tesla has cut prices for Model 3 in Europe
- Updated Buick Enclave unveiled in pictures
- Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat sold out
- Tesla sales increase 63% in California


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MILAN — Moncler on Wednesday kicked off its roadshow, which will end on Dec.11.
The company said it's floating 66,800,000 ordinary shares, representing 26.7 percent of its share capital (30.7 percent with the Greenshoe option). Moncler is offering shares ranging from 8.75 euros, or $11.87 at current exchange rates, to 10.20 euros, or $13.84.
The IPO will value the company at between 2.19 billion euros and 2.55 billion euros, or between $2.97 billion and $3.46 billion.
Moncler's selling partners are ECIP M., controlled by Eurazeo SA; CEP III, controlled by The Carlyle Group, and Brand Partners 2,controlled by Progressio Investimenti. Eurazeo holds 45 percent of the firm; Carlyle, 17.8 percent, and Progressio Investimenti, 4.9 percent.
Chairman and creative director Remo Ruffini will maintain his 32 percent stake.
On Thursday, ECIP M said it would put 36.85 percent of its shareholding interest up for sale, and that six days after the IPO it would allocate 5.08 percent of Moncler's capital to non-Eurazeo shareholders and Eurazeo Partners, leaving it with 23.3 percent of Moncler capital.
Eurazeo SA — thus having sold roughly 37 percent of its Moncler shares in all — would be left holding about 19.71 percent of the fashion brand’s share capital, taking into account its investment in Eurazeo Partners.
Etro’s show, titled “The Tree of Life,” was a celebration of the house’s 50th anniversary. “My father founded the company in 1968, which was the year of counterculture and psychedelia. It’s really a show that celebrates that and the paisley design of India and its origin,” said Veronica Etro. #wwdfashion #mfw #ss18 (📷: @delphineachard)
For @msgm’s spring 2018 show, creative director @massimogiorgetti said “Words, sounds, colors. Synthesis and therapy of a collection,” were the inspirations behind the collection, showing today. Read the rest of Milan spring 2018 inspirations on WWD.com. #mfw #wwdfashion #ss18
For her first solo album in over 10 years, Fergie tapped Carine Roitfeld, Mert and Marcus, Giovanni Bianco and more to create a fashion-focused video approach for the record, Double Dutchess. "Giovanni really helped me get back in touch with my tomboy side, my hardside," said the singer. #wwdeye #wwdfashion ( : @slovekinpics)
“Volumes and Graphic Art of the Nineties are the main inspirations of the new Aquilano.Rimondi SS 2018 collection,” said cocreative directors Tommaso Aquilano and Roberto Rimondi. #wwdfashion #mfw #ss18


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The Eastern Sports and Outdoor Show announced last week that America’s largest outdoor sports show will be banning “certain products” from the show. This week it is becoming clear that they might be regretting that announcement.
Reed Exhibitions, the British company promoting and organizing the event said in a statement “this year we have made the decision not to include certain products that in the current climate may attract negative attention that would distract from the strong focus on hunting and fishing at this family-oriented event and possibly disrupt the broader positive experience of our guests.”
The ban on “certain products” includes brochures or documentation that mentions or pictures any “black rifle” or high capacity magazines. This ban means that the Federation of Pennsylvania Sportsmen will not be allowed to sell already printed raffle tickets for a Bushmaster XM-15E2S A3 at this year’s show.
While the NRA maintained it’s usual sit on the fence attitude saying it, “…strongly disagrees with Reed Exhibitions’ decision to ban Modern Sporting Rifles.” Signaling that they would continue being part of the expo but yet urging “…you to follow the NRA and the outdoor industry’s lead by voicing your displeasure with Reed Exhibitions both before and during the show and encourage them to reconsider their position.” Interestingly enough, the NRA statement has now been removed from their website.
A boycott page was recently started on Facebook and now has over 10 thousand likes, up from 1300 last week. A group calling themselves the Firearms Industry Consulting Group is attempting to help many of the over 165 (and growing) former exhibitors reclaim the registration fee that Reed is refusing to refund. Since this group seems to be a bunch of lawyers, I would assume future legal action might be part of the strategy.
As of last week, the Eastern Sports and Outdoor Show listed Cabelas, The Outdoor Channel, Progressive Insurance and Comcast as the main sponsors. As of this afternoon, only Comcast and Progressive remain.
Kevin B. Reid, Sr., Vice President and General Counsel for Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc., said in a statement, “We are very frustrated by Reed Exhibitions’ foolish decision to ban the display of modern sporting rifles.” Mr. Reid went on to say; “We feel that, as one of America’s firearms manufacturers, we must withdraw from the show as a commitment to the 2nd Amendment rights of our customers.”
If you would like to make your voice heard on this issue, I have included many links in this diary that will help get you started. I encourage it!


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Sometimes technological innovation boils down to email
RSA Canada recently introduced EZ-Docs, a system that allows brokers to access policy documents online and email them directly to their customers. But that’s not all. Brokers that register for EZ-Docs by October 31, 2016 will enter a contest for a chance to win a tailored digital marketing assessment from a leading digital agency! Wow. Just wow.


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Consolidated Communications recently added 26 new High-Definition channels to its digital TV service at no additional cost to customers.
The new HD channels include: Hallmark Movie Channel HD, E! HD, Bravo HD, Syfy HD, USA HD, CNBC HD, MSNBC HD, A&E HD, History HD, Fox News HD, Fox Business HD, Outdoor HD, Speed HD, FSN, Southwest – HD, The Weather Channel – HD, CNN HD, MLB Network – HD, Wealth TV HD, Golf HD, Versus HD, Tennis HD, NHL Network HD, Biography HD, HBO HD, Showtime HD, Showtime TMC HD.
At the same time, Consolidated Communications also added three new channels to its standard definition lineup: Chiller, NHL Network and MLB Network.
“We continually research ways to make our Digital TV service and the subscriber’s experience more enjoyable, and we’re excited to double the number of HD channels we offer with these new additions,” said Product Manager J.J. Hollie.
The company plans to offer more HD channels in 2010 as well.
To learn more about Consolidated’s Digital TV service, call 866-989-2255.


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Unfortunately, pharmaceutical companies sometimes put profits ahead of all else. While it seems that patient safety should be at the forefront of a company’s efforts in drug development, some actions can raise questions as to a company’s true priorities. A recent Bloomberg article details the Philadelphia trial of a woman who claims the company marketed its diabetes drug Actos with little regard to patient safety. The plaintiff, who has developed cancer, claimed that the company failed to sufficiently communicate the risks of Actos because it was afraid that this would harm sales. This is the seventh Actos lawsuit to go to trial.
Studies were conducted in 2004 that linked Takeda’s Actos to a possible cancer risk. Testimony in front the Philadelphia jury hearing the most recent case pointed to the company protecting profits over patients. The Plaintiff made claims that in order to protect drug revenue, the Japan-based company did not provide an official warning until seven years after the link was first documented. At trial there were also allegations that the manufacturer destroyed documents regarding Actos development, including the files of 46 former and current employees. Some of the employees included executives both in the United States and Japan.
After deliberations, a Philadelphia jury awarded the Plaintiff more than $2 million. This case follows a Louisiana case of similar nature that resulted in a $9 billion verdict earlier this year. Takeda issued a statement that the company will “challenge this outcome.”
Over 3,500 cases regarding Actos have been consolidated in federal court in Lafayette, Louisiana. Another 4,500 cases have been filed in various other states, including both Pennsylvania and California.
In 2011, sales were at an all-time high for Actos. It comprised 27% of Takeda’s total revenue and generated $4.5 billion in sales. Since its introduction into the market in 1999, Actos has accumulated $16 billion in total sales.
While consumers often depend on pharmaceutical companies to have their best interests at heart, there are times when profit-seeking and marketing initiatives do not serve consumer safety. If you or a loved one suffered an injury as a result of pharmaceutical negligence, contact one Lopez McHugh’s pharmaceutical injury attorneys at (877) 737-8525 or fill out a contact form on our website for a free initial consultation.


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At a news conference in Washington yesterday, a group of U.S. solar panel makers accused China of dumping Chinese-made solar panels on the U.S. market and asked the government for protection by raising tariffs on the offenders. Executives from SolarWorld, which makes its panels in Oregon, were at the conference along with both Oregon Senators.
Said SolarWorld President Gordon Brinser, his company “can compete with anyone in the world [but] illegal subsidies in China [are allowing] the Chinese solar industry to come in and gut and own the U.S. solar industry.” Because the alleged dumping has caused prices to decline, it has put several panel makers into financial difficulty, and was a proximate cause of the disintegration of Solyndra. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) claimed that because of the dumping of panels at below-market prices, “the American solar industry has been collapsing.” Part of the reason is that the Chinese government has been extending low-interest loans to Chinese panel makers, which Wyden called “cheating,” thus allowing them to offer panels for sale below the production costs of U.S. makers.
The group wants the Department of Commerce and the International Trade Commission to impose a duty on all panels imported from China sufficient to bring the price back up to where the U.S. makers can be competitive, and profitable, again.
Click here to read the entire article.
Photo: AP Images


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By Nancy Mann Jackson
It’s no surprise that the pandemic inflicted massive rapid and unprecedented change on every aspect of our lives, including how we eat, how we buy food, and how we prepare food. In FIRST session “Consumer Behavior During COVID: Immediate and Lasting Effects in Grocery and Food Service Trends,” a panel of experts dive deep into the trends that have emerged in response to the food choices and behaviors Americans have been making over the past year and a half. In addition, they offer insight into which trends are likely to stick around as we emerge on the other side of the pandemic.
Just a few weeks into the pandemic, Americans already were reporting food behavior changes, including cooking more at home, snacking more, washing produce more, and focusing more on healthy eating, reports Allie Webster, director of research and nutrition communications at the International Food Information Council (IFIC). A year later, a majority of respondents still reported their food behavior was different from before the pandemic, but the numbers were not as high.
A couple of food trends that took hold during the pandemic are expected to maintain their popularity even as its impact on our daily lives diminishes. First, online grocery shopping has exploded during COVID-19, and IFIC research shows that not only will most people who are using online grocery shopping now continue to do so, but a large number say they expect to do even more of it. Second, a significant number of people say the healthfulness of their diets has improved over the past year, and they plan to continue focusing on eating healthier.
While Americans may have been forced to eat at home more during the pandemic due to restaurant closures and lockdowns, they now are returning to restaurants in large numbers—which even eclipse 2019 pre-pandemic figures, says Thomas Talbert, vice president of culinary marketing at CSSI, a culinary and marketing communications firm.
Restaurant dining rooms are filling up, but the pandemic trend of takeout and food delivery persists. Although these weren’t new concepts, the trend was the sheer number of consumers ordering delivery and takeout: During 2020, 63% of restaurant spend was on takeout and delivery, according to Talbert.
As restaurants pivoted and found ways to drive revenue without bringing diners into their locations, the surge in ghost kitchens continued, Talbert says. And even once the pandemic is a thing of the past, data show that ghost kitchens, meal kits, and family bundles are likely to stick around.
Certainly not all pandemic-driven trends are positive for the food industry. Many restaurants have closed, and many of those that have reopened are now unable to find staff. In addition, some former foodservice workers are seeking employment in other industries. Finally, the pandemic created ongoing needs for emergency food.
“We've been operating for 42 years in Chicago, and we've never seen the type of demand on the emergency food system as we have in the past year,” says Brendan Kitt, director of food acquisition at the Greater Chicago Food Depository (GCFD). Food pantries that work with GCFD have seen 120% increases in the amount of people accessing the emergency food system and pantry resources in the past year.
At the same time, running the food pantries became more challenging: Many volunteers were unavailable due to the pandemic, and traditional sources of food changed. Government programs were added to provide food, with less food available from traditional local donors such as restaurants and grocery stores. Similar to restaurants that began offering family packs, GCFD found that one viable solution was to begin packaging food boxes that were shelf-stable and could be easily distributed to clients.
Nancy Mann Jackson is a freelance journalist based in Huntsville, Ala.
The editors at Food Technology magazine, published by the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), have announced their predictions for the hottest food trends for 2022.
While canning is commonplace today, for that generation of food technologists it was a paradigmatic example of the power of science to change food for the better.
In October 2021, the FDA released new voluntary guidance on sodium reduction with the overarching goal of reducing consumption by 12% over the next two-and-a-half years.
What changes have occurred in the way Canadians perceive cannabis since it was legalized there in 2018? How do Canadian and U.S. consumers of cannabis and edibles compare?
Brands old and new vie for space with on-trend SKUs that are plant-based, clean label, gluten-free, high protein, and globally influenced.
In a new role at the USDA, an award-winning researcher and public policy expert is poised to break down barriers to nutrition security and health equity.
Trends in off-premises dining as the pandemic wanes.
Labor Day weekend generally marks the unofficial end of summer in the United States, but it doesn’t have to mean the end of summer fun.
As a food consumer, there are many methods to reduce the risk of foodborne illness.
Here's a look at major food safety developments throughout the years.


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Not only is the Moogle Chocobo Carnival event the latest news update for Final Fantasy 15 but apparently, the game is getting a monster bestiary feature soon. This news comes from the game director himself so you can be sure it’s confirmed.
Final Fantasy 15 director Hajime Tabata was asked if players will be able to have a monster encyclopedia item. This would contain all the details of every monster and their weakness. To this, Hajime Tabata responded that there are plans for it.
There is no mention of a date as for when it’ll be available in Final Fantasy 15. Hajime Tabata has asked fans to wait for further news of this said bestiary feature.
This monster encyclopedia would come in handy for players in the game. Many are hoping the feature to be available in the next update soon.
— Nova Crystallis (@Nova_Crystallis) January 24, 2017
Final Fantasy XV has been garnering top ratings ever since its release last November 2016. IGN has given the game a rating of 8.2 out of 10 while Metacritic has given it an 82%.
The game was widely anticipated ever since its announcement back in 2006. It’s also the biggest Final Fantasy launch to date among the series.
Moogle Chocobo Carnival
If you still haven’t gotten on the Moogle Chocobo Carnival event, you still have the time to do so. The game’s carnival started on January 23 but it will still be up until 7 pm EST on Feb 19.
The Moogle Chocobo Carnival is a seasonal event in the game where players can earn points and win items. It takes place in Altissia and is only accessed once you’ve downloaded the Holiday Pack or Holiday Pack +.
Don’t miss out on any Final Fantasy XV updates . Keep posted on Video Games Republic for more video gaming news.


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To see what really happens when a city bans pet sales, you have to go to Albuquerque, N.M. The Southwestern city banned sales of "companion animals," including cats and dogs, in 2006, and has seen a marked, positive effect, said Peggy Weigle, executive director of Animal Humane New Mexico.Wow.
Since the ban started, animal adoptions have increased 23 percent and euthanasia at city shelters has decreased by 35 percent.
The story includes the requisite "other side," quoting Michael Maddox, vice president of the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council, a lobbyist group in DC, arguing that "the vast majority of customers who bring home their canine companion from a pet store are supremely satisfied with the experience" (if that were true, shelters wouldn't be full of abandoned dogs), and Dana Derraugh, owner of Le Petit Puppy in Greenwich Village, who asserts that the $700+ pups she sells only come from reputable breeders and she oughtn't be put out of business by shady petshops.
I quite genuinely sympathize with her, but if her specialty is truly finding "high quality" puppies from reputable breeders, then she doesn't need a storefront; she needs a way to market her expertise as a pet matchmaker—a service for which I'm certain people would be willing to pay (and essentially already are paying, given she's running a for-profit business).


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Sumary of U.S. retailers scramble to stock shelves as kids head back to school:
- LOS ANGELES/NEW YORK, July 22 (Reuters) – At Stationery and Toy World, a family-owned shop in New York’s Upper West Side, manager Gary Rowe is having difficulty getting all the pens and folders he ordered for the important back-to-school season.
- His usual vendors have low stocks of Pilot’s erasable FriXion pens and Paper Mate Flair marker pens – and prices are high on stationery and other in-demand school supplies.
- And Rowe is not alone, retailers are navigating a storm of challenges – higher production costs, cargo delays from China and other Asian countries, and sky-high shipping rates – as they gear up for the industry’s second-biggest selling season.
- “I’m hoping that when everything catches up, we get more stock,” Rowe said at his store packed wall-to-wall with a colorful array of pens and markers.
- Stimulus checks and advance child tax credits from U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration are expected to boost sales of back-to-school merchandise, especially shoes and clothing, following last year’s outlays on laptops, headphones and other equipment for remote learning.
- The National Retail Federation expects total back-to-school spending to rise 6.4% to $108.1 billion this year.
- But following retailers’ moves to prune inventories, shoppers may find fewer discounts, smaller markdowns and less merchandise in stores.
- Retailers “just don’t know how much to stock,” said Stacy DeBroff, founder of marketing data firm Influence Central, which works with retailers such as JCPenney, Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS.N) and Skechers (SKX.


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Bhubaneswar: Amidst festive season, the capital city seems to be witnessing a surge in crime rate posing a daunting challenge for the Commissionerate Police. Wednesday evening, two-bike borne miscreants allegedly snatched a gold chain from a woman's neck while she was riding pillion on a bike with her husband in Kharavela Nagar area here.
Following a complaint with Kharavela Nagar Police, a probe has been launched in connection with the incident.
Reports said Sitaram Bhuyan and his wife Tripali Jena, from Postal Colony in Bhubaneswar were returning from Unit-II market at around 8.30 PM when two miscreants in a bike intercepted them and fled the scene after snatching the gold chain from Tripali.
"Though I chased them on my bike for some distance, they vanished somewhere in the lanes. We also screamed for help but no one came to our rescue. Police should immediately take steps to curb the growing incidents of crime," said Sitaram Bhuyan.
"The incident took place when we were returning home after shopping. The market value of the gold chain is estimated to be around Rs 1.30 lakh," claimed Tripali Jena.
Last week, a medicine shop owner aged 75 was brutally assaulted and looted of gold ornaments on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar.
Similarly, a few miscreants looted cash and gold ornaments worth around Rs 7 lakh from the residence of a professor at the Odisha University of Agriculture Technology (OUAT) on October 29. Apart from cash and gold ornaments, the miscreants decamped with a laptop, mobile phones and other valuables from the house. A day before that, a senior engineer working with Central Tool Room and Training Centre here was attacked with a sharp weapon by unidentified miscreants during a loot bid at Sailashree Vihar here. He was out to pluck flowers in the morning when the incident happened.
(Edited By Devbrat Patnaik)


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Teen diet pill contained illegal substance, Fort Myers company founder to accept plea deal
FORT MYERS, Fla. The founder of a dietary supplement company under federal investigation for false labeling is expected, following a WINK News inquiry, to accept a plea deal that potentially includes jail time.
Derek Vest, founder of Fort Myers-based Gentech Pharmaceutical, faces up to three years in prison, a $250,000 fine and forfeiture of $2.5 million in assets, according to federal court documents.
Vest is expected to accept the plea during a March 29 hearing. If confirmed by a judge, sentencing could take place within the following 90 days, said David Goldberg, Vest’s attorney.
Vest is accused of distributing dietary supplements “AddTabz”, “PhenTabz” and “PhenTabz-Teen” containing DMAA, a banned amphetamine derivative, but not listing the ingredient on product labels.
Lexium International, a Fort Myers-based company that makes “designer nutritional supplements,” continues to sell “AddTabz” and “PhenTabz.”
DMAA is touted as a natural stimulant, but especially when combined with other ingredients such as caffeine, can elevate blood pressure and result in cardiovascular problems ranging from shortness of breath to a heart attack, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
In 2012, the FDA issued warning letters to companies using DMAA in their products to remove them from the market or recreate their products without it.
The supplements made by Vest’s companies were distributed between April 2013 and November 2014, according to federal court documents.
Lexium and CellMark Biopharma, another Fort Myers-based dietary supplement company, were the subject of several federal court filings in November demanding the release of certain information about their products and marketing to the Federal Trade Commission.
The companies, both founded by Vest, refused to submit certain portions of documents, citing Vest’s Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination. But Mark Bonner, a former federal prosecutor, said Fifth Amendment rights apply to people, not companies.
CellMark Biopharma CEO Craig Pisaris-Henderson, in a previous interview, emphasized that both companies are separate entities and that CellMark has been fully cooperative with federal investigators.
CellMark and Lexium are both headquartered in the same Hayley Lane building and their offices are next to each other.
CellMark has removed the words “scientifically formulated” from its product packaging, Pisaris-Henderson said.


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The call came on the same day European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) concluded a meeting involving 18 states, including the UK, aimed at providing an update ahead of the body’s risk assessment on BPA due by May 2013.
Breast Cancer UK spearheaded a campaign in 2010 which led to the ban of BPA in baby bottles throughout the EU in 2011.
The charity now wants the ban extended to all food and drinks packaging and has called on the UK government to take action, instead of waiting for EFSA’s assessment.
They launched a petition yesterday, that already has nearly 200 signatures, which they aim to target the EFSA review on BPA in May 2013 and the European Commission review on how endocrine disrupting substances are authorised under the REACH guidelines by June 2013.
Lynn Ladbrook, campaign manager for Breast Cancer UK, told FoodProductionDaily.com they wanted the UK government to take the lead on endocrine disrupting chemicals, like France recently did.
“There is evidence on the low dose effects of BPA from daily consumption and we know it is widely used in food tins and drink bottles.
“We want the UK government to take the lead on endocrine disrupting chemicals in Europe and look to ban the import and export of BPA. We will present the petition to the UK government and hope for a UK-wide ban or for them to take an approach like France has done.
“We need to take the precautionary principal, the rise in breast cancer can not be down to genetics and environmental exposure alone."
She added action needed to be taken now and not when people looked back in 30 years but agreed that any replacement has to be rigorously tested.
“We need to ensure the chemical is not simply replaced by chemicals of a similar molecular make up but replaced with safer alternatives. The onus is on the industry and at times like these, it often spurs innovation with manufacturers already looking at alternatives because of consumer pressure to phase it out.”
Yesterday, EFSA concluded a meeting with 18 member states, scientific experts and staff from the agency.
EFSA’s CEF Panel contributed to the scientific discussions around the development of the body’s assessment of human health risks associated with BPA, scheduled for completion in May 2013.
The meeting included representatives from the Commission’s Health and Consumers DG, the Commission’s Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR) and the European Chemicals Agency.
Anna Federica Castoldi, from EFSA’s Food Ingredients and Packaging (FIP) unit, told this publication that the goal of the meeting was to share the ongoing actions with member states.
Experts from the member states presented their scientific work on BPA in terms of human exposure current levels in food and other sources; analytical methods; non-dietary sources of exposure; and recent studies on toxicity, including those related to reported low dose effects of the chemical.
“EFSA presented our past and current activity on BPA and put forward our own information in order to go with the risk assessment due in May 2013.
“We heard about unpublished and preliminary data that will be ready next year and we were made aware of other relevant studies for risk assessments in BPA.”
Castoldi said the low dose hypothesis or replacements were not discussed as the focus was on what exactly everyone is doing instead of getting the consensus on the safety of BPA.
Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK took part in the meeting.


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“If they can succeed in automating more low-level labor tasks, they will be less dependent on human labor,” Mr. Van Alstyne said. Robots are used throughout Amazon already, and the company is racing to expand their use in an effort to meet the punishing demands of Prime delivery logistics. But Amazon’s efforts to automate could open the company up to additional liabilities.
The looming threats to Amazon
For Amazon robots to be able to stock, select, pack and ship goods, all of those products need to be inside the company’s fulfillment centers, allowing Amazon to control the entire delivery process instead of outsourcing shipment to partners. Amazon is rapidly building warehouses to bring even more products in-house — a decision that could strengthen the legal case that they are liable for the safety of those products.
Lawmakers are increasingly agitating to reform Section 230, the provision of the Communications Decency Act that shields platform companies from liability for harmful content on their platforms. While the provision is most often considered in regard to hate speech and misinformation on social media platforms, reforms to Section 230 could also open Amazon up to liability for harmful or defective products sold on its platform. With more and more products stored in-house, it will be increasingly difficult for Amazon to legally argue that it is simply a third-party platform and not the seller.
Complicating these third-party claims are Amazon’s ambitions as a retailer — ambitions that Matthew Hytinen, 41, a former vendor manager at Amazon who left the country in 2015, argues are monopolistic.
“How much should the owner of the marketplace be able to leverage and control all our data?” Mr. Hytinen asked, adding that complete visibility into customer purchasing habits allows Amazon to identify its most in-demand products and then manufacture, advertise and sell its own version, often outselling its competitors.
“The problem is that it’s unfair entry,” Mr. Van Alstyne said. “I do anticipate that will be addressed in subsequent legislation.”
Data privacy regulations, most actively being pursued in the European Union, could complicate a critical pillar of the company’s business. Amazon is one of the largest cloud computing companies in the world and is responsible for over a third of the country’s data storage market. Revenue from Amazon Web Services has grown almost 39 percent from a year ago, up to $16.11 billion in the last quarter — and any regulation that creates red tape on the storage and use of data could affect revenue for the company in this vertical.


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Washington, DC June 15, 2015 – On June 12th, the Greater Washington Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (GWHCC), the leading Hispanic chamber of commerce in the Washington metropolitan region, celebrated its 39th Annual Gala at the Omni Shoreham Hotel. The Gala was attended by more than 500 leaders of local and federal government, nonprofits, corporations and regional business community. This year, GWHCC recognized three Hispanic leaders in technology: Lynette Spano, CEO of SCI Consulting, Thomas Sanchez, Founder and CEO of Social Driver and Ernest Cordova, Chief Security Officer at Accenture Federal Services.more»
The Greater Washington Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (GWHCC) proudly announces the winners to be honored at the 39th Annual Gala on June 12th. Representing the best of the Hispanic business community in technology the awardees were chosen from three categories: The Government Contractor, The Innovator and The Hispanic Tech Leader.more»
WASHINGTON, DC, May 5, 2015 – The Greater Washington Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (GWHCC) will be celebrating its 39th Annual Gala: Honoring Hispanic Businesses in Technology on June 12th at the Omni Shoreham in Washington, DC. This year’s keynote speaker will be Ms. Rosa Ramos-Kwok, Managing Director of Technology Infrastructure at Bank of America, and designated one of the top 100 most influential and notable Hispanic professionals in the IT Industry by the Hispanic IT Executive Council (HITEC).
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The Greater Washington Hispanic Chamber of Commerce aims to develop the network and tools in assisting businesses in the D.C area to grow. Every year more than 1500 businesses and organizations participate in our events, many of whom are our members. These members range from the Washington region's largest corporations to one-person companies - and everything in between.
So whether you just started or have been operating for years, or no matter what your business type is, the Chamber has something to offer you. Give us the opportunity to open doors for you and your business through networking, advocacy and education. Check our calendar of events and learn about our initiatives supporting the growth of local businesses.
“Giant Food is getting ready to start selling products from one of the companies I met at the Expo. Working through our distributor, we will be able to have their product on our shelves soon. I also shared some other companies at met at the Expo with our distributor and there may be other companies that could also be selling their product through Giant Food. The Expo and Chamber were able to make this possible.”
-Cipriano Andrade, Giant Foods


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James Dinsmore of Wicked Good Truck feeds the parking meter Monday. The food truck’s owner wants Portland’s ordinance changed.
But the proposal, which will be reviewed Tuesday by the City Council’s Public Safety, Health and Human Services Committee, is facing resistance from the city staff and at least one restaurant owner.
Mike Roylos, who owns the Spartan Grill in Monument Square, said that allowing food trucks to park in the square and serve food would hurt his established business.
“We’ve been barely able to survive this winter,” he said.
Roylos said he supports food trucks as long as they don’t compete with traditional restaurants, which pay rent and property taxes. Monument Square is lined with restaurants that cater to lunch and after-work crowds.
“It would be nice if they went along with the original idea of having food trucks in areas where there was no food,” he said. “There is quite a bit of food out here.”
Portland began allowing food trucks in 2012, joining a growing number of U.S. cities that have embraced mobile restaurants and providing a new fleet of dining choices to Portland’s foodies and downtown workers.
Find the entire article at pressherald.com <here>


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The collaboration between carmakers and the budding eVTOL market today is significantly different; several auto giants are either spinning off their own eVTOL divisions while others are investing significant money into promising startups. Here are the major partnerships.
Another dozen auto badges have released renderings or full-scale models of their electric aircraft of tomorrow. But tomorrow is here. These electric air taxis, with a range of 150 miles, could be a global market worth tens of billions of dollars by 2030, according to Deutsche Bank.
Carmakers vary in their degree of involvement. Last year, Stellantis signed a long-term agreement with Archer Aviation to provide access to its engineering, supply chain, and manufacturing expertise. Porsche is working with Embraer’s Eve Air Mobility unit to deliver a working prototype by 2026.
Toyota has invested $390 million into California-based Joby Aviation, one of the most promising startups in the fast-growing field.


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After months of negotiations, the monumental Sprint-T-Mobile merger has been cancelled.
According to latest reports from The Wall Street Journal, Sprint and T-Mobile won't be combining forces after all. Japan's SoftBank consortium, which serves as Sprint's parent company, has made good on past reports of calling off the deal. T-Mobile recently proposed new terms in a bid to keep the deal active
"Sprint and T-Mobile Calling Off Merger," The WSJ reports. "SoftBank To Buy Additional Shares of Sprint in Open Market."


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When gyms and fitness studios closed their doors earlier this year due to the pandemic, bikes started flying off shelves as people looked for ways to be active while staying socially distanced. But just like cars, bikes require upkeep. Unlike cars, however, you can do a lot of basic bicycle maintenance yourself. Jake McFadden is […]
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.


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Digital Women Awards, India’s biggest initiative for women entrepreneurs, is back to celebrate the accomplishments of women in its 8th edition. This year, the awards theme is Storm The Norm, which focuses on talent, innovation, and creation by women who are utilising the internet to build their businesses.
The Digital Women Awards were established in 2015 to celebrate and recognise women entrepreneurs who harnessed the internet to build an empire.
On Sunday, November 13, Day 2 of the Digital Women Awards 2022 commenced. In partnership with Powai Women Networking, the panel discussed how the internet enabled women-led small businesses.
Powai Women Networking’s founder Kanupriya Agarwal served as the moderator for the panel. Panel speakers Jayshree Gupta of Cazaro Lingerie, Shabia Walia of Femnora, and Rakshita Dwivedi of Recipe Dabba gave their insights into how the progression of the internet had helped propel small women-led businesses.
After the COVID-19 pandemic struck, using the internet became essential for small businesses to promote themselves.
How The Internet Is Enabling Women-Led Small Businesses
The Business Of Marketing
Shabia Walia, the founder of Femnora spoke about her involvement in the marketing venture. Walia rightly described herself as the “one-man army behind Wild Earth, now known as Femnora”.
Walia mentioned that over the years, she had tried to broaden her horizons and learn a variety of things as she believes it helps employ the right people for the job. “I realised that I should know what I am hiring for. So I learnt Facebook marketing, I learnt running ads, I learnt how to write copies… That empowered me to pass it on to others and tell them I want this.”
Both Walia and Rakshita Dwivedi, the founder of Recipe Dabba spoke about the importance of understanding the audience and curating the content for the consumers.
Jayshree Gupta from Cazaro Lingerie revealed that she began her journey in marketing when social media was not readily available to the masses. She added that at that time, “no one even used to talk about it [lingerie]”.
She revealed that while she was still new to social media, she was introduced and connected to many women entrepreneurs, including Shabia Walia. “That’s how I started connecting with all these online women entrepreneur groups… I built a community within myself,” said Gupta.
Impact Of COVID-19 On Business
The global COVID-19 pandemic forced people and businesses to adapt to the new reality of online retail and work from home.
Gupta took the opportunity to “shake a little bit, come out of my comfort zone” and began taking online appointments. While people were shy about online lingerie consultations, Gupta changed their minds through her social media.
Learning New Things
During the COVID-19 lockdown, Walia began teaching others about entrepreneurship, business, and marketing. “I started upgrading myself, learning a lot of things, and parallelly I always believe that teaching is the best form of learning. So I started doing courses and so many women joined. It was a very very joyful time for me,” said Walia.
Dwivedi spoke about her personal experience with social media collaborations, “Personally, collaborations always help. I have collaborated with a lot of people. Especially when you’re talking about social media presence, word of mouth, people knowing about your brand, I have always believed in collaborating.”
The Importance Of Digital Marketing
Dwivedi encouraged entrepreneurs to take a dive into social media and utilise it to reach a wider audience. She said, “Unless and until you do it, you would not know what will work for you or not. We can always give excuses, but social media has been here for a while and it’s going to be there.”
She added, “Don’t wait for it. If you’re standing on that threshold, this is the moment. Just go ahead and do it.”
Meanwhile, Walia emphasised that people shouldn’t rely on other people’s definitions of success. She said, “Success is very very personal, don’t let anyone tell you you’re not a good businesswoman and if you’re doing 50 orders.”
Walia added that using social media allows people to reach the world at the click of a button. She asked, “It enables you to reach millions of customers around the world, and why wouldn’t you want that?”
Gupta spoke about how she had gone from relying on traditional methods of marketing to embracing social media marketing. “My journey was from a traditional method to a digital platform and I felt that it is an amazing thing that has happened to every entrepreneur or any consumer,” said Gupta.
She signed off by telling people not to worry about failing, as “Failure is still better than regret”.
Suggested Reading: SheThePeople Announces The Shortlist For The Digital Women Awards 2022


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A federal judge dealt a setback Tuesday to Qualcomm Inc.’s defense against an antitrust lawsuit brought by the Federal Trade Commission, ruling that the chip maker must license some of its industry-essential patents to rival chip suppliers.
The ruling Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, Calif., poses a threat to Qualcomm’s
When Qualcomm’s intellectual property was incorporated into cellular communications standards, the company made commitments to standard-setting organizations that it would make its relevant patents available for use. Qualcomm has argued that the agreements didn’t require it to license technology to rivals.
Koh rejected that argument. She said court precedent established that Qualcomm’s commitments “include an obligation to license to all comers, including competing modem chip suppliers.” And those licenses have to be offered on fair and reasonable terms, the judge said.
“This is a game-changer for the industry,” said Florian Mueller, an intellectual-property analyst who studies patent litigation.
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NanoLumens’ proprietary AWARE third-party app store has added an art streaming platform through a partnership with Atlanta, GA-based Loupe, a global company offering a customizable streaming gallery of contemporary art, atmospheric visuals, and relaxing images from artists around the world. NanoLumens customers utilizing the AWARE platform can now display Loupe’s curated portfolios of photography and artwork collections, or choose to work with NanoLumens and the Loupe curation team to create custom-curated, site-specific streams for different seasons, events, or locations.
According to NanoLumens business development manager Brice McPheeters, the partnership is part of NanoLumens’ initiative to build a third-party app store on its AWARE platform, one that helps to make complete LED visualization systems easier for customers. The new partnership with Loupe allows NanoLumens customers to present high-quality modern art at a fraction of the cost of traditional prints.
“Fine art displays can be a major expense for airports, transit terminals, and corporate lobbies, and more often than not, once a piece is purchased it might not change for years or decades,” McPheeters said. “Today, through our partnership with Loupe, NanoLumens customers can access an ever-expanding catalog of incredible art and display what they want, when they want, for as long as they want. With Loupe’s seamless setup/access and NanoLumens’ technology, any location can now become a brilliant attraction for visitors, even allowing for previously impossible installations like artwork on curved walls and in non-standard shapes, which are exactly the types of situations our displays are famous for.”
Through the partnership package, customers have the ability to build their own catalog to fit their aesthetics or align with a current marketing initiative, as well as the option to obtain exclusive artwork for their location only.
“NanoLumens is a natural partner for Loupe, seeing as how both companies are in the business of providing unforgettable, one-of-a-kind imagery to customers,” said Dot Bustelo, founder and CEO of Loupe. “Our expertly curated galleries of world-class artwork and photography, combined with NanoLumens’ stunning display technology, allow customers to engage visitors, employees, and any other viewers with beautiful imagery 24 hours a day. We are excited to see how NanoLumens customers leverage this new capability to heighten their public spaces and provide unprecedented artwork displays.”
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