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January 01, 2014
By Guelda Voien
With record numbers of residents and tourists filling the streets, New York City retail rents cracked what might be called the “crystal ceiling” in 2013, when asking rents for the city’s most sought after strip, Upper Fifth Avenue, topped a median price of $3,000 per square foot.
New York remained the second priciest market in the world for retail rents last year, trailing only Hong Kong, where data from CBRE Group show rents topping over $4,000 per square foot in the poshest areas.
The growing value of New York retail can be seen in the Carlyle Group’s high-profile sale in June of 650 Madison Avenue to Crown Acquisitions and Highgate Holdings for $1.3 billion, or a record per-square-foot price of $2,166, according to CBRE. The deal hinged mostly on the prime retail frontage along Madison Avenue, between 59th and 60th streets — not the tower full of prestigious office space looming above it, executives at Crown told The Real Deal at the time.
“We think the retail [alone] will be valued at $1 billion,” within five years, said Haim Chera, a principal with Crown.
Manhattan retail rents continued to surge last year, as low crime drew more tourists, redevelopment boosted neighborhoods and a slew of major global brands sought to hang their shingles on Fifth and Madison avenues.
With upwards of 54 million visitors spending nearly $40 billion in the city last year, rents on Fifth between 49th and 60th streets shot up 33.5 percent, to a median ask of $2,760 per square foot in the April-to-June period, from $2,067 in 2012’s second quarter, according to the most recent data available from Cushman & Wakefield. By August, the median had breached the $3,000-a-square-foot marker on Fifth, according to reports. On Madison, asking prices shot to a median $1,351 per square foot from $1,098 last year.
While many factors drove rents, certain types of tenants were clear stars in 2013’s retail landscape.
International clothing brands like H&M, Prada and Hermès joined domestic clothiers like Ralph Lauren and Urban Outfitters as some of the biggest consumers of Manhattan space. Discount gyms also saw a boost in activity, with Blink Fitness and Planet Fitness taking large spaces, while stalwart full-service gyms like Equinox were also active. And grocery stores like Fairway and Whole Foods helped fill out the top spots for the year’s big retail leases.
“The retail market is exploding in New York, with so many retailers from all over the world looking for space,” said Faith Hope Consolo, chairman of Douglas Elliman’s retail group. “Retailers are coming from nearly every continent.”
While Manhattan rents are traditionally highest on Fifth and Madison, Times Square emerged as a competitor. Times Square will be next to breach the $3,000-per-square-foot average mark, said Jeffrey Roseman, a founding partner of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank’s retail division, who predicted that benchmark will be surpassed this year. Indeed, rents in the submarket spiked 17.3 percent, to a median ask of $2,170 per square foot in the second quarter, from $1,850 last year, Cushman said.
This month, TRD looked at the biggest Manhattan retail leases — at 125th Street or below — of 2013. While none of 2013’s leases matched Nordstrom’s announcement in 2012 that it would lease 285,000 square feet in Midtown, this past year saw two retailers ink deals for their largest New York City stores to date, and four deals over 50,000 square feet — up from two in 2012.
The largest retail deal of the year was not at any of the conspicuous Fifth Avenue or Madison Avenue spots. It was H&M’s 62,923-square foot lease at Herald Center, the humble shopping mall at 34th Street and Sixth Avenue.
While she declined to comment on the lease details, CBRE’s Susan Kurland, who represented landlord JEMB Realty, said the biggest obstacle to getting the deal done was the fact that some potential tenants had a psychological barrier about the location.
“The most important piece of the transaction,” she said, was “getting the message out to the market about the transformation of that street.” With Macy’s nearby flagship undergoing a renovation, retail along 34th Street is set to improve dramatically, she said.
The new store will be H&M’s largest in the city. Construction is underway, and the store will open in the fall. JEMB will also renovate the center’s facade before the retailer arrives. “It’s going to look like a brand-new building,” Kurland said.
The second-largest deal of the year was furniture purveyor Room & Board’s lease for 60,919 square feet at 249 West 17th Street in Chelsea. The deal was signed in October, and Room & Board will open in the summer.
“Literally, they walked into the space and said, ‘We want this deal,’ ” said Newmark’s Roseman, who represented landlord Savanna. “There was none of the usual grandstanding.” Roseman declined to disclose the taking rent, but the asking price was $125 per square foot on the ground floor, and $70 per square foot on the second and third floors.
Ranking third on the list of 2013’s largest deals was Urban Outfitters’ 56,730-square-foot lease at Malkin Holdings’ 1333 Broadway. The building at 36th Street is blocks from the massive H&M. The 15-year lease had a blended rent of $6.5 million per year, according to published reports.
“This store will be a huge catalyst for this retail and office neighborhood extending north of Herald Square,” said Anthony Malkin, president of Malkin Holdings, when the lease was announced in June. Urban Outfitters took possession of the space in September. The outpost will reportedly focus more on “lifestyle” products than the retailer’s other locations, which mainly sell clothing.
Wade McDevitt and Keith Fencl of the McDevitt Company represented Urban Outfitters, but did not respond to calls. Andrew Goldberg and Matt Chmielecki of CBRE represented Malkin, but declined to comment.
In mid-December, Barneys New York announced it would open a Downtown flagship on Seventh Avenue, stretching from 16th to 17th streets, where it had previously had a massive outpost. It relinquished the space in 1997 when it sought bankruptcy protection. Roseman represented the tenant, who reportedly took 57,000 square feet at the building, owned by retail developer and owner Equity One. Equity One did not respond to a request for comment.
The fifth-largest lease signed last year was by the ever-popular grocer Fairway, which leased 52,252 square feet for 20 years at Jack Resnick and Sons’ 255 Greenwich Street in October.
Newmark’s Jason Pruger and Alan Cooperman of Welco represented Fairway in the complex deal, which involved buying out a number of office and retail tenants for the two-story space, Pruger said. The market is slated to open by the third quarter, he said.
Fairway’s lease created a ripple effect, Pruger said, with chains like Juice Press signing leases for space nearby.
Asking rents were $250 per square foot for Fairway’s 11,358 square feet on the ground level and $100 per square foot for the 40,894 square feet above that, Pruger said.
Calls to Jack Resnick and Sons were not returned.
Fairway also leased 48,875 square feet at the massive Hudson Yards project.
Meanwhile, gyms took spaces all over the city, with five of the top 20 leases belonging to fitness facilities.
Discount gyms made their mark for the first time, as New Yorkers looked to save money on membership fees and supplement their workouts with trendy classes at places like CrossFit and SoulCycle, said Roseman, who represented Blink Fitness in its lease for 27,832 square feet at 31 Penn Plaza, which clocked in at No. 11 in 2013.
Blink, which offers membership for as little as $20 per month, is planning to open between five and 10 Manhattan locations this year.
“The trend in the fitness world has been to a less expensive model,” Roseman said, so that gym-goers can “still go to your SoulCycle or spin class and it won’t break the bank.”
Nevertheless, Blink’s parent company, Equinox, a subsidiary of the Related Companies, signed leases for two large spaces, including 35,000 square feet at 2 World Financial Center — the eighth largest retail lease inked in 2013 — and a Bryant Park deal at the new retail project called “the Cubes.”
Patrick Smith of SRS Real Estate Partners represented landlord Equity Office at the Cubes at 120 West 42nd Street. He said the deal, which had an asking rent of $2 million per year, was just one of many slated for the Cubes, a glassy 75,000-square-foot retail project at the base of 1095 Sixth Avenue, an office tower.
“Bryant Park has never really had a retail infrastructure,” said Smith. “Equinox was the first transaction to really get the ball rolling; we have activity on every single space.” (Whole Foods also reportedly signed a lease at the Cubes as well, while Blink is said to be in talks for 20,000 square feet there. Smith declined to comment on either deal.)
Other notable deals in the top 20 were the 45,814-square-foot lease by Ralph Lauren at 711 Fifth Avenue, where according to published reports, the space will serve as a flagship for the company’s Polo brand; a 25,000-square-foot renewal at 575 Broadway by Prada, and a 21,738-square-foot re-up by Hermès at 691 Madison. Representatives on both sides either declined to comment or did not return calls.
Meanwhile, CVS took 25,000 square feet at 3 Columbus Circle, while grocer Jubilee Marketplace inked a deal for 25,000 square feet at 5 East 17th Street, in the Union Square area. And chain restaurant Señor Frogs signed on for 20,977 square feet at SJP Properties’ 11 Times Square in February, according to published reports.
Brokers are optimistic about 2014.
“We’re seeing huge flagships opening around Manhattan, long before Nordstrom’s planned 2018 opening,” said Consolo, referring to the department store’s seven stories being built at the base of Extell Development’s 225 West 57th Street. That opening, she said, will spur even more interest in prime Manhattan retail.
Expect more “Eataly-type concepts,” as well as a British Invasion — Primark, the United Kingdom’s version of Target, is looking to open and Topshop is looking to expand, said Roseman.
He also predicted continued expansion from Inditex, the parent company of Zara and Massimo Dutti, who “have obviously been extremely aggressive.”


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p0temkin - Fotolia
As data breaches continue to ravage consumers' personally identifiable information, companies have failed to make necessary improvements to security capabilities.
Establishing the limits of privacy for consumer data has been a particular sticking point. With a raft of high-profile data breaches -- from Walgreens, to Experian, to the CVS hacks -- 2015 witnessed a spate of data leakage of personally identifiable information (PII). In the absence of clear solutions to consumer data protection problems, the government has stepped in with new methods of dealing with data breaches. The largest trend in these new rules is to make clearer what the limits of use of PII are in an organization and help consumers understand how their data is being utilized.
Defining a Cybersecurity Bill of Rights
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC)'s move to establish a Cybersecurity Bill of Rights for insurance consumers is one such effort in this direction. NAIC is the U.S. standard-setting and regulatory support organization created and governed by the chief insurance regulators from the 50 states, the District of Columbia and five U.S. territories. The Cybersecurity (EX) Task Force has put forward a draft of the bill, defining the rights of consumers related to PII generated by insurance companies.
Specifically, the Cybersecurity Bill of Rights would provide the following six rights related to consumer data protection:
- Know the types of personal information collected and stored by insurance companies and agents, or any business with which the consumer contracts.
- Expect an insurance company, agent or any business with which they contract to take reasonable steps to keep unauthorized persons from seeing, stealing or using PII.
- Receive notice from the insurance company, agent or any business they contract with if an unauthorized person has -- or it seems likely they have -- seen, stolen or used the consumer's personal information.
- Receive at least one year of identity theft protection paid for by the company or agent involved in a data breach.
- If a consumer's identity is stolen, he or she would have additional specific rights related to fraud alerts, credit freezes and debt collectors.
All of these items seem straightforward and are likely best practices already in place in most major insurance companies, but this finally codifies a required response for insurance agencies.
Consumer data protection guidelines for identity brokers
Similarly, during the past year, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed guidelines related to privacy on everything from mobile devices to IT assets. One big data privacy-related guide from NIST is related to password credential reuse.
When one service's authentication can be used to log into another service -- for example, a Facebook login -- the authenticator would be referred to as an identity broker. NIST has developed new guidelines for how identity information can be used by identity brokers.
While the guide is still open for comment, again, we see a movement toward defining data privacy in new and beneficial ways for consumers. A solid summary of what NIST is attempting to solve is through this quote from the guide:
"Federated identity solutions raise new risks for the privacy of individuals and confidentiality of business information. The interoperability that provides the benefits described above can also create the potential for more tracking and profiling of individuals' transactions. The same interoperability can expose businesses as the relationships between RPs [relying parties] and [identity providers] IdPs reveal who their customers are to each other; such exposure may be particularly problematic if the federation occurs within the same industry sector. In addition, the identity broker can become an appealing target to gain access to identity attributes being transmitted through the broker or to RP accounts. Thus, participants in federated identity solutions -- whether individuals or organizations -- must be able to trust that the solutions are not going to reveal sensitive information or they will not participated in identity federations."
While we've seen data privacy issues proliferate during the past year, it has also been a year of defining and improving consumer data protection responses. The movement to make clearer the requirements of companies and the rights of consumers related to data privacy can be seen as only beneficial to both companies and consumers. We may finally see an end to the murky protection of consumers' data.
Find out how data privacy policies build trust when launching analytics tools
Experts debate whether consumer data privacy can be expected
Learn why companies are battling over customer data

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ORLANDO, Fla. -- Amazon Web Services plans to implement an aggressive pricing model for Amazon Chime, charging...
businesses based on how often their employees use the cloud messaging and meetings platform.
Currently, a freemium version of Amazon Chime lets users chat and attend meetings. Businesses must pay $15 per user per month to give a specific group of employees the ability to host meetings.
Starting next month, any user will be able to host a meeting, being charged $3 for every day that they host one, for a maximum of $15 per month. AWS said it expects the new usage-based Amazon Chime pricing model to reduce the bills of virtually all customers.
"It's the AWS way. We like to charge customers for what they use, nothing more, and with no up-front commitments," Collin Davis, the general manager of Alexa for Business, said in a keynote address at Enterprise Connect this week. Alexa is AWS's cloud-based intelligent voice service.
The usage-based Amazon Chime pricing will give businesses more flexibility in how they use the service. Rather than buy licenses for individual users, companies will be able to use Microsoft Active Directory settings and the Chime control panel to control which users host meetings.
AWS is also adding corporate directory integration and screen sharing to the freemium version of Amazon Chime, features that were previously sold as part of a freemium "plus" package for $2.50 per user per month.
The market impact of Amazon Chime pricing
The usage-based pricing model could make Amazon Chime more competitive against rival team collaboration platforms Slack, Microsoft Teams and Cisco Spark, which have larger footholds in the enterprise market.
The lower price should be "incredibly disruptive" given that competing platforms are often twice as expensive, or even costlier, said Irwin Lazar, an analyst at Nemertes Research, based in Mokena, Ill.
AWS has tried to differentiate Amazon Chime with flexible pricing since launching the service in February 2017. AWS previously allowed customers to prorate the monthly subscription fees of individual users by activating and deactivating accounts mid-month.
Zeus Kerravala, ZK Research
"In such a crowded market, Amazon needs to do something disruptive in order to gain some traction," said Zeus Kerravala, founder and principal analyst at ZK Research in Westminster, Mass. "And there are two ways to disrupt: one is through innovation, and one is through pricing."
The business model of AWS parent company Amazon has always been disruptive pricing, Kerravala said. AWS, which had nearly $17.5 billion in sales last year, can afford to eat some costs to gain share in the team messaging and meeting market.
Kerravala predicted that AWS would eventually add other features to Amazon Chime that it would be able to charge for on a usage basis. The pricing model makes it less risky for enterprises to adopt the Amazon Chime platform, he said.
"I think [Amazon Chime] will get some looks," Kerravala said. "Some of these platforms can get pretty expensive."


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PR can sometimes be a tough job and one which leaves feelings & scruples in the closet; how can one otherwise explain why Microsoft UK's public relations manage to anger the general public by using the death of controversial British singer Amy Winehouse to promote its own Zune service.
Hacker collective Anonymous has released a large bunch of top secret documents belonging to an Italian cyber policing agency. According to BBC News, the hackers have released 8GB worth of files, which they claim, were delivered to them by a ‘source’. The files belong to the Italian CNAIPIC (National Computer Crime Centre for Critical Infrastructure Protection), which is responsible for protecting the country’s critical IT infrastructure.
Windows Images enable an easy and straight forward Windows 7 Desktop Deployment throughout the organisation with reduced efforts and streamlined approach. Windows Images come in two different formats. One is the Windows Imaging Format (.wim) format and the other is Virtual Hard Disk (.vhd) format.
Supermarket chain Tesco becomes the first of its kind super market that allows its customers to access Internet through their wireless connection. According to The Financial Times, Tesco, a famous chain of supermarket showrooms in the United Kingdom has installed wireless Internet connection in four of its stores to enable its customers stay connected while they shop.
Research in Motion has moved to acquire Sweden based video editing company JayCut to bring video editing capabilities to its Smartphone and tablet platform. According to a post made by the company’s chief technology officer David Yach, the acquisition will allow it to bring video editing and cloud based services to the BlackBerry platforms.


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SP 500 & NASDAQ Forecasts
The August SP 500 and the NASDAQ forecasts are now available. The SP 500 ended July at 4,130. It soared from its June low in the 3,600s. With the Fed still planning to raise interest rates and the economy showing signs of a recession, it’s not clear if stocks will be able to keep their recent big gains.
What Is Affecting the Markets?
The midterm elections may affect the markets. The stock market tends to struggle early in midterm years because Washington might change its policies. However, once the results are in at the end of the year, the market tends to bounce back.
The market benefited from Apple and Amazon’s optimistic forecasts. Apple sees strong iPhone demand, and Amazon expects higher third-quarter revenue. Their numbers and projections give the market hope that they can navigate tough times.
The U.S. economy unexpectedly shrank in the second quarter, but the Fed downplayed a recession. Inflation persisted. June’s CPI rose 9.1% year-over-year, the fastest rate in 40 years. The U.S. PPI rose 11.3% YoY in June, also more than expected. As a result, the Fed will likely keep raising interest rates to combat inflation.
How to Invest and Profit When Inflation Is Rising
The stock market has been volatile with the Fed planning to raise interest rates and the economy weakening. Therefore, market participants will decide if the economy can withstand higher interest rates without contracting. Expect stock market rotation, especially from goods to services companies. Consumer staples, utilities, and healthcare do well when the economy slows. Inflation favors value stocks and commodities. Value stocks have high earnings per share. However, commodity prices are highly volatile. To succeed, you must pick stocks carefully.
The May SP 500 Forecast Model
You may find more information about the S&P 500 May forecast model by visiting this page.


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Cross-station campaign for Azor
The new King of Shaves razor Azor is to receive a five figure multi-station marketing campaign on XFM, BRMB, Key 103 and Heart East Midlands.
The radio ads have been designed as part of a £5m annual marketing spend from King of Shaves which will be developed throughout 2009. The ads, created by London agency Hooper Galton, highlight the shaving performance of the Azor (through its patented Bendology™ technology) using the strap line; "Better because it bends".
Will King, Founder of King of Shaves said; “We have already achieved the status of the third best selling system razor handle in a matter of months, now it’s time to aim for the number one slot! Through this impactful ad campaign, I intend to bring the ‘Benefit of Bendology’ to shavers up and down the country, and convince them that by choosing the Azor will deliver men a closer, comfortable shave – the King of Shaves!”


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Apple has reportedly released an update to its iOS mobile phone operating system, which is version 5.1.1.
It claims to remove some of the current operating system’s bugs and improves the reliability of some of the options.
Released yesterday (May 7th), the update is for the iPhone 3GS and later versions of the mobile phone, as well as the iPads.
Two of the main items of concern for Apple users – wireless connectivity and battery life – have not been improved upon, The Register reports.
The new iPad has received criticism from some quarters about its battery life with a recent report from research firm DisplayMate suggesting that it is not necessarily 100 per cent charged even when it shows such a reading.
One of the key improvements made, Apple noted, was an increased reliability when using the HDR option for photos taken when using the Lock Screen shortcut.
Posted by Peter Robinson


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HONG KONG -- The Asian gambling capital of Macau enjoyed a stellar 2018 as openings of family-friendly casino resorts drew customers from mainland China.
Gaming revenue rose 14% on the year to 302.8 billion patacas ($37.5 billion) for 2018, the second straight increase, data from the Macau government shows. Such revenue recovered to more than 80% of its 2013 peak as Chinese President Xi Jinping's anti-corruption campaign seemed to have toned down.
Still, Beijing's trade frictions with Washington could weigh down spending by the affluent this year.
Gaming revenue slumped in 2015 and 2016 as the anti-corruption drive deterred officials from spending extravagantly. But last year, the former Portuguese colony became a hot vacation destination for a broad range of customers as entertainment-filled resorts with theaters, pools and shopping centers cropped up.
Visitors swarmed into new integrated resorts like MGM Cotai, a mega hotel-casino facility opened in February by MGM China Holdings, and a luxury hotel run by Melco Resorts & Entertainment that opened its doors in June.
With the prominence of a new breed of patrons, a type of game targeting VIP guests accounted for just 55% of revenue in the first nine months of 2018, down significantly from 66% in 2013.
The opening of the sea-crossing bridge linking Macau, Hong Kong and the mainland city of Zhuhai also helped bring a flood of tourists to China's only legal gambling hub, which is about three times the market in the U.S. state of Nevada -- home to Las Vegas.
With seven out of 10 visitors coming from the mainland, Macau is susceptible to changes in the Chinese economy, which is showing signs of a slowdown amid the trade war with the U.S.
Gambling revenue will likely decline in 2019, UBS predicted in a December report, expecting the affluent to tighten their purse strings.


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Tractor Supply is planning $2.5 billion in capital spending over the next five years, including the construction of three new distribution centers for a total of 11. The company wants to make one-day delivery available to 99% of its customers, which will likely mean shipping from stores as well as distribution centers.
Amazon employs 950,000 people in the US, not including contractors, out of a global workforce of 1.3 million, the company said in an announcement revealing its exact head count for the first time. Amazon, which has paid a $15 hourly minimum wage since 2018, is the country's second-largest private employer after Walmart, which has a workforce of almost 1.6 million.
A team at Carnegie Mellon University is tackling one of the toughest things for autonomous vehicles -- driving on busy, narrow streets, which requires collaboration with other drivers. They've produced a promising algorithm based on probabilities estimating how likely human or robotic drivers are to yield to others in a given situation, taking into account the balance of aggression versus cooperation.
The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced several drug pricing measures last week, including legislation that would allow the Federal Trade Commission to take action against firms that submit sham petitions in an effort to delay competition and a bill that would target pay-for-delay deals. The panel also voted to advance legislation that would require the FTC to examine the drug supply chain and the role of pharmacy benefit managers, and lawmakers also advanced a measure that would target patent abuse through product hopping.
Officials in Imperial County, Calif., will be watching the upcoming Otay Mesa border crossing toll to assess the possibility of creating their own tolled crossing in the future. The Otay Mesa crossing should be operational within two years, serving both commercial and tourist travel with a dynamic system featuring fluctuating tolls.
The official inauguration of India's Delhi-Meerut Expressway is likely to take place during early September as the second phase is completed. The first phase has been open since April, with the completed project expected to reduce travel times from Delhi to Meerut by over an hour.
The "Future of Urban Mobility Survey" from Visa has found that 88% of people who use public transportation prefer contactless payments. The study, which surveyed riders in nine global markets, also found that more than a third of millennial and Gen Z respondents rely on public transit for transportation.
Amazon exceeded second-quarter profit expectations by earning $7.8 billion, or $15.12 per share, but it failed to meet analyst expectations for sales, which increased 27% year over year to $113.1 billion. The company's performance was fueled by continued diversification into different business segments, such as cloud computing and advertising.
Craft Aerospace is developing a novel kind of vertical takeoff and landing aircraft that could serve as a city-to-city air taxi. The prototype uses flaps to capture airflow from the engines to provide lift, a technique that has never been used on a production aircraft.
Residents in low-income neighborhoods around Roxbury, Mass., will soon have access to electric vehicles thanks to a car-sharing nonprofit. Good2Go is working with Mobility Development on the pilot project, which they hope can be replicated in other cities.


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Update: Please note that this post is more than one year old and may contain information that has changed or been superseded.
Big news for small businesses looking to go digital to recover from the downturn and grow. The Morrison government announced on 29 September and then confirmed in the 2020-21 Budget, that it’s investing almost $800M as part of its JobMaker Digital Business Plan. This initiative is designed to help small businesses take advantage of digital tech as part of a focus on increasing productivity by encouraging Aussie businesses to adopt digital tech.
Why are SMBs adopting digital tech?
As small and medium businesses are painfully aware, the pandemic has thrown a lot of challenges our way. For many, that has meant a swift move to adopt new technologies to keep their businesses afloat and continue to meet changing customer demand. Things like moving to online sales and delivery channels and automating processes to remove the need for face to face interaction.
“Many businesses moved online quickly when the pandemic hit, undergoing a decade of change in months, finding new customers or new ways of doing things,” the Prime Minister said.
Enabling a digital drive to recovery
For businesses that haven’t yet embraced digital technology, this year’s budget is about supporting businesses to fast track the move. Businesses that adopt technology quickly will not only help the country recover from COVID-19, but also drive productivity, income growth, and new jobs creation needed to compete in today’s challenging economic environment.
The Prime Minister said “Our JobMaker Digital Business Plan provides significant backing to continue that digital push and expand opportunities for businesses to grow and create more jobs.
“The Plan supports Australia’s economic recovery by removing out-dated regulatory barriers, boosting the capability of small businesses and backs the uptake of technology across the economy.”
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg added that the Government was investing in Australia’s digital economy to help businesses stay open and keep Australians in jobs.
“The Governments’ Digital Business plan is targeted at building on this digital transformation of Australian businesses to drive productivity and income growth and create jobs,” the Treasurer said.
Key takeaways from the JobMaker Digital Business Plan
There are 5 pillars to the government’s Digital Business Plan. Here’s what’s included.
Modern digital infrastructure and skills
- $29.2 million to speed up the 5G rollout, including investing in 5G commercial trials and testbeds in key industries like logistics and manufacturing
- $4.5 billion NBN investment to bring ‘ultra-fast broadband’ to families and businesses
- $2.5 million for digital skills training
Fit for purpose regulatory settings
- Make business laws and regulations tech neutral, allow companies to hold virtual meetings and execute documents electronically
- Expand the Consumer Data Right to energy, invest in implementation arrangements for Open Banking
- $9.6 million to support fintechs to export financial services and attract investment
- RegTech Commercialisation Initiative and blockchain pilots to reduce compliance costs
- Influence international standards for digital and critical technology
SME support and capability
- $22.2 million to support small businesses to take advantage of digital tech through the Australian Small Business Advisory Service expansion – Digital Solutions program, a Digital Readiness Assessment tool, and a Digital Directors training package
- Leveraging big business-SME partnerships to support SME digital adoption
- New Digital Directors training to improve digital investment decision-making
- New Digital Skills Finder platform to improve support for SMEs and individuals
Digital Government that is easier to do business with
- $256.6 million to develop a Digital Identity system to improve access to Government services
- $419.9 million for Modernising Business Registers (MBR) program implementation, so businesses can view, update, and maintain data in one place
- $3.6 million to mandate electronic invoicing by 1 July 2022 for all Commonwealth government agencies for businesses supplying to government and within their supply chains
- Enhancing the domestic payments system to improve the adoption of digital solutions
Trust and security
The Government also plans to grow digital skills and to improve cybersecurity, including a $1.67 billion investment in the 2020 Cyber Security Strategy. This aims to keep Australian businesses and families safe online and increase overall trust in being part of a digital economy.
Go digital to grow your business and support the economy
We welcome the government's digital initiatives and continued support for small and medium Aussie business to drive economic recovery. And we look forward to playing our part in making our country a ‘leading digital economy’ by 2030.
If you have any questions for Wiise, we’d love to hear from you. Reach us at email@example.com


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Christmas sales keep revenue up
Published 4:42 pm, Sunday, February 27, 2011
Conroe’s sales tax revenue exceeded projections for the 10th month in a row, thanks to a healthy Christmas shopping season, City Finance Director Steve Williams mentioned at the City Council meeting Thursday morning.
Conroe collected $2.508 million in sales tax revenue for the month of February, an increase of 8.66 percent compared with the $2.308 million the city received for the same month a year ago.
The February allocation is based on December’s sales tax activity, traditionally the peak shopping period of the year. A 1 percent increase was budgeted for February, but sales were exceeded by $177,473 - a 7.61 percent improvement over the budgeted amount.
“It was a good shopping season,” Williams said. “There had been a lot of concern about the economy, and what impact it would have on holiday sales. But it exceeded our expectations.”
Conroe has collected $887,430 more in sales tax revenue through the first five months of the 2011 fiscal year, which is 10.3 percent ahead of year-to-date collections in 2010.
The city’s current sales tax revenue is $386,126 ahead of what was budgeted for the 2011 fiscal year (October 2010 to September 2011), which represents a 4.27 percent increase. Should revenue remain static for the remaining seven months, the city would finish with $21.495 million - 5.5 percent more than 2010 allocations.
“It will get us about halfway out of the hole,” said Williams, referring to the approximate $2 million decline in sales tax revenue Conroe experienced in fiscal year 2010.
In other city business:
Land donation: The City Council accepted the donation of approximately 33 acres from the Betz Company for the right of way to a 1.5-mile-long road designed to connect League Line Road with FM 3083 (Carter Moore Drive) and creation of a 25-acre park.
Work on the four-lane road is scheduled to begin July 1, 2012. The city agreed to spend $6.5 million on the road, but the agreement also entitles a reimbursement of approximately $350,000 for utility expenses benefiting Betz.
Although the vote was unanimous, Councilwoman Marsha Porter recused herself because her home off Teas Nursery Road may be located in the path of the proposed road.
Recognized: The city’s Parks and Recreation Department came away with four awards at the Texas Recreation and Park Society Region VI workshop in Pearland recently.
Richard Hill was named Part-Time Staffer of the Year, while the department’s Tall Timbers After School Program at the Oscar Johnson Jr. Community Center - headed up by Matt Hubert - received the Lone Star Programming Award.
Sylvia Wiggins, of the Montgomery County Beautification Association, accepted Advocate of the Year. Darcey Irvine received third place for her photographic work on behalf of the recreation department.


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Create economic corridor to boost output, jobs
Establishing an economic corridor connecting the key lagging regions of northeast and southwest Bangladesh via Dhaka can ensure 2.6 times the output and generate 2.3 times the employment by 2050, found an Asian Development Bank study.
Bangladesh has its economic growth concentrated mainly in the Dhaka and Chattogram divisions, while other divisions lack adequate physical and social infrastructure to promote their growth.
Currently, northeast and southwest Bangladesh are key lagging regions in the country, said the Manila-based multilateral lender in a report styled "Bangladesh Economic Corridor Development Highlight". The report was launched yesterday in an event at the BICC with Planning Minister MA Mannan as the chief guest.
As Bangladesh enters the next phase of economic growth, it needs to integrate the lesser developed regions into its development blueprint by way of an economic corridor. Creating an economic corridor can drive the massive structural transformation it needs to ensure its development is sustainable and equitable.
ADB has conceptualised a Bangladesh Economic Corridor (BEC) running from the southwest region (Khulna division) to the northeast region (Sylhet and Mymensingh divisions) via Dhaka.
Should Bangladesh form such an economic corridor, the total combined output in the region is expected to increase from $32 billion in 2020 to $286 billion by 2050. If no corridor is formed, the total output will be $110 billion in 2050.
Similarly, the total employment generated in the corridor region is expected to be 15.7 million in 2025 and 71.8 million in 2050. In the absence of the economic corridor, the total employment in the region would be 31.1 million in 2050.
An economic corridor has three complementary components: (i) a trade and transport corridor; (ii) production clusters producing goods for both consumption in the domestic market and for international trade; and (iii) urban centres acting as the major market for goods from the production centres and goods imported through international gateways; they also act as a source of labour, technology, support services, knowledge and innovation.
The entire economic corridor conceptualised by ADB encompasses 14 districts, covering 34 percent of the total population.
Along with high population and geographical coverage, the corridor region holds strategic locational advantages.
There are eight major trade gateways in the BEC region: Mongla seaport, Payra seaport, Benapole land port, Bhomra land port (four in the southwest); Akhaura land port, Tamabil land port, Bibirbazar land port, Nakugaon land port (four in the northeast).
While Mongla and Payra seaports provide sea route trade linkages with the world (currently contributing about 11 percent of seaborne international trade), land ports in the region act as major trade gateways with India, contributing 36 percent of Indo–Bangladesh trade.
Hence, the corridor region has an inherent advantage for international trade-dependent industries from the perspective of importing raw materials and/or exporting finished products.
Besides, Northeast Bangladesh has an added locational edge with respect to cross-border trade potential with Northeast India, a landlocked territory with a market demand of $38.5 billion.
Leveraging the logistical advantage, agri-commodities and industries from the Northeast Bangladesh region can find a potential consumer market in Northeast India.
Likewise, Northeast Indian states, being endowed with natural resources, can export rubber, limestone and other mineral resources to Northeast Bangladesh, which can act as raw materials for local industries. In addition, Northeast Bangladesh can leverage its proximity with countries like Nepal and Bhutan.
Not just locational advantage, the BEC region is rich in agricultural produce and it has an abundance of natural resources such as gas reserves, limestone, white clay and peat reserves.
"Despite being strategically located and resource-rich, to date, the southwest and northeast regions have not been able to fully utilise their natural advantages due to inadequate transport infrastructure within the hinterland and connectivity with the trade gateways."
Apart from limited physical infrastructure, inadequate social infrastructure is also a key reason behind the poor economic development. The corridor region lags behind the country in terms of educational infrastructure.
This has created relatively lower employment potential in industrial and service sectors (relatively high wage-paying sectors), which is corroborated by the employment number: 58 percent of the population in the corridor region is employed in agriculture, compared to the national average of 48 percent.
The development of this envisaged corridor may be carried out in two phases.
In the first phase, the southwest portion of the corridor may be developed (Southwest Bangladesh Economic Corridor [SWBEC]); in the second phase, the northeast portion of the corridor (from Dhaka to Sylhet and Mymensingh) may be developed (North-East Bangladesh Economic Corridor [NEBEC]).
To develop the BEC, ADB has identified 56 railway projects to enable efficient rail movement in the region, 114 road projects to increase road density in the region by 38 percent, 33 projects to improve inland water connectivity and 38 projects to address the bottleneck at export and import gateways.
Four partially developed industrial clusters have been identified and 12 manufacturing industries were shortlisted for the whole BEC region.
The industries are food processing, leather and footwear, textiles and ready-made garments (RMGs), jute, nonmetallic mineral manufacturers, shipbuilding, furniture, transport equipment, pharmaceuticals, plastic products, rubber and rubber products, electrical and electronics machinery, and heavy machinery.
Along with the manufacturing sector, the service sector can also be developed. Two major service sector industries, i.e., information technology and tourism have been earmarked.
"If we want to implement the ADB recommended corridor, then a stable political regime is necessary. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is creative, innovative and visionary. Only she can implement these plans, if she gets the chance to run the country again," Mannan said at the event.
Proper institutional and governance frameworks are extremely important for the economic zones to attract investors, said Sabyasachi Mitra, director of public sector management and governance of ADB.
Edimon Ginting, country director of the ADB; Shaikh Yusuf Harun, executive chairman of Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority; Uzma Chowdhury, director of Pran-RFL Group; Md Mostafizur Rahman, additional secretary of ADB wing chief of Economic Relations Division; Soon Chan Hong, senior country specialist at the ADB; and Avijit Chowdhury, executive member of the BIDA, also spoke at the event.


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Research In Motion (s rimm) has unveiled the latest version of its mobile software store, BlackBerry App World 2.0, which will support carrier billing for application purchases and enable developers to use QR barcode links for their software titles (and thus make it easier for customers to find applications). Along with the new storefront, RIM will also reportedly implement a singular BlackBerry ID to track purchases and allow for easy software and data transfer from one BlackBerry device to another.
When RIM launched the initial App World in March of 2009, Om declared it to be “good enough.” But by modernizing its BlackBerry App World, RIM is following a proven model when it comes to mobile software — if you remove clunkiness and make it easy to find, purchase and transfer data, customers will buy more software and services. The sales cycle doesn’t end with consumers, though; improving a mobile app store also helps bring developers to a platform. Given the right tools, support and financial incentives, programmers are more apt to create compelling software titles for a device. Without such support, a handset vendor runs the risk of developers leaving for other platforms, creating a downward sales spiral.
Handset makers still need to create desirable hardware, but making smart software available in a simple-to-use and effective mobile store is a key ingredient in the recipe for smartphone success. This is especially true for RIM, as noted in a recent GigaOM Pro report (subscription required). Unfortunately, it’s taken the company until now to figure this out; in the meantime, nimble rivals have perfected the model — and in Apple’s (s aapl) case, used it to generate a billion dollars in revenue for developers. And the clock doesn’t stop ticking with RIM’s unveiling today as it hasn’t yet announced the launch date for the new store. Tick-tock, RIM. Tick-tock.


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Despite the popularity of both the social media platform and the gadget, Instagram still lacks an iPad app. This omission remains frustrating, particularly in light of the iPad Pro and its suitability as a laptop replacement for some photographers. In a recent Instagram story, the company’s CEO Adam Mosseri briefly discussed the topic, stating that Instagram wants to launch an iPad app.
In addition to revealing that some Instagram users don’t see advertisements, Mosseri reportedly also said in the story that Instagram ‘would like to build an iPad app,’ but that ‘we only have so many people, and lots to do, and it hasn’t bubbled up as the next best thing to do yet.’
This, of course, has raised questions over whether an iPad app will ever be ‘the next best thing’ on Instagram’s list of priorities. The iPad’s 10th anniversary is in less than two months and device owners have been requesting a proper iPad app for years.
Author: Go to Source


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International Spirits Challenge winners announced
The winners of the 2016 International Spirits Challenge hosted in London have been announced.
Running for 21 years, the International Spirit Challenge encourages spirit producers across the global to enter beverages for judging each year.
This year’s ‘Distiller of the Year’ award went to William Grant & Sons which won a total of 23 gold medals for its beverages which include Glenfiddich Scotch Whisky and Grant’s Whisky.
A spokesperson for the International Spirits Challenge said it was a “fantastic year for William Grant.”
“Their success across so many categories has seen them take home this coveted prize,” the spokesperson said about its Distiller of the Year title.
Other winners included gold medals awarded to Japan’s Suntory Spirits for ‘Best Design and packaging for Travel’, German Discount supermarket Lidl for its Castelgy Gin and Bacardi for its Facundo Exquisito rum.
Gold Medal Winners from the 2016 International Spirits Challenge
Gold meal winners at the 2016 International Spirits Challenge included the following:
|Bathtub Gin – Cask-Aged||Atom Brands|
|Berkeley Square London Dry Gin||Quintessential Brands|
|Bimber Distillery London Dry Gin||Bimber Distillery|
|Belvedere Intense||Belvedere Vodka|
|Bimber Distillery Oak Aged Vodka||Bimber Distillery|
|Hello Vodka Shabo Premium||Shabo|
|Legend of Kremlin||Soyuzprodexport|
|Marks and Spencer Vodka||Marks and Spencer|
|Ostoya Vodka||Wyborowa Pernod Ricard|
|Prairie Organic Cucumber Vodka||Phillips Distilling|
|Prime||LLC Distillery Prime|
|Sash & Fritz||Sash & Fritz|
|Selekt Vodka||Essential Drinks|
|Tovaritch!||Tovaritch Spirits International|
|Canadian Club Premium 1858||Beam Canada Inc|
|Heaven Hill – Batch 1 (That Boutique-y Whisky Company)||Atom Brands|
|Knob Creek Straight Rye Whiskey||Beam Suntory|
|The Notch Nantucket Island Single Malt Whisky 12 Years Old||Triple Eight Distillery|
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Le Sserafim becomes house ambassadors for Louis Vuitton
K-pop girl group Le Sserafim has been named the house ambassador to the luxury brand Louis Vuitton.
This is the first time that all members of a K-pop girl group have been named as house ambassadors to Louis Vuitton, according to Source Music.
Louis Vuitton introduced Le Sserafim as a group that has gained popularity around the world with its powerful image both onstage and offstage, and through music with its own story.
“We are glad to announce that Le Sserafim joins us as our house ambassador. We remember the energy the group showed through their performance at our after-party for the pre-fall show in Seoul. All members of the group have their unique cool style,” said Nicolas Ghesquiere, the creative director of Louis Vuitton in a press release.
Le Sserafim is expected to take part in diverse campaigns of the brand as a house ambassador.


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Visa Inc. has reached an agreement to buy Visa Europe for €16.5 billion, with the potential for this to rise by an extra €4.7b depending on the company’s performance four years after the conclusion of the deal.
This will consolidate the two companies after being apart for eight years. Visa Inc. has operated as a profit making business, while Visa Europe is an association run by member banks in Europe and its payment service providers. Visa Europe is the leading payment method in Europe, and Visa Inc. holds the majority market share in debit cards in the US and a third of the credit card marketplace.
Visa Inc. operates in North and South America, the Caribbean, the Middle East, Asia-Pacific, Australia, India, Africa and large parts of Europe.
The combined company will handle upwards of €5 trillion in payment volumes per year, from over 70 billion transactions. The decision to merge the companies was unanimous by both boards of directors. In a statement, Visa Inc.’s CEO Charles W. Scharf explained the benefit of the deal to financial institutions, acquirers, merchants, cardholders, shareholders and other partners. The deal is still subject to regulatory approval, but both companies are confident of a favourable outcome.


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Toyota Germany may have accidentally leaked the first “official” full images of the production 2020 Supra via an email invitation to join a wait list to order the car.
Yes, apparently the European arm of the automaker has already pre-booked all of its allotted sales for the much-anticipated sports coupe, and prospective customers who want to reserve a car now have to join a queue.
tap here to see other videos from our team.
Signing up for the Supra wait list on Toyota Germany’s website returns an email accompanied by two low-resolution images of the vehicle, according to HotHardware.
“Thank you for signing up for the Toyota GR Supra waiting list,” the message reads. “You’re only one step away, please just confirm your registration.”
The photos attached to the email match all other leaked images and teaser shots we’ve seen so far, and so seem to show the official production 2020 Supra, well in advance of its debut at the Detroit auto show in January.
That Toyota Germany might get a little antsy with the confidential information makes sense, since the Supra will be manufactured in Austria alongside its twin, BMW’s Z4.
It will use that car’s 3.0-litre inline-six turbo, according to reports, tuned to about 335 horsepower.
Everything we know about the 2020 Toyota Supra
Rear end of new 2020 Toyota Supra leaked online
A BMW 2.0-litre turbo-four could end up underhood before a Toyota-developed hybrid powertrain debuts later in the model’s life cycle.
The Toyota Supra should go on sale mid-2019 as a 2020 model. The first car will be auctioned off for charity at a Barrett-Jackson event in January, and HotHardware says the rumoured price in the U.S. will be about $60,000.
[H/T to Jakub Wrobel from TheStraightPipes for bringing this story to our attention.]


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4K Stereoscopic VR by Nokia and Haivision Demoed at NAB 2017
At NAB 2017 in Las Vegas last week, Haivision showcased its KB 4K Internet streaming encoder fitted with the latest H264+HEVC codecs to live transmit 4K stereoscopic VR streams from the Nokia OZO camera. Image processing was done in real time on the new Intel Xeon E3v5 processor.
4K Stereoscopic VR
When equipped with dual 12G-SDI input and the Intel VCA 2 (Visual Compute Accelerator 2), the Haivision KB 4K is capable of encoding dual 4K at 60Hz HEVC with synchronized stereoscopic streaming through MPEG-DASH, says Haivision. Collaborating to demonstrate stereoscopic 4K streaming content, Haivision, Intel and Nokia showcased a live workflow with its 4K 3D 360 VR OZO camera that produces real-time stereoscopic 360 stitching through its OZO Player SDK platform.
The OZO Camera
“The OZO Reality Platform is embraced by a broad ecosystem of partners, and this collaboration with Haivision and Intel will enhance the VR 360 experience for our customers globally,” notes Tarif Sayed, head of VR technologies, Nokia Technologies. Visit OZO for details.
Summary of VR at the NAB


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A Friendly Reminder to Stay Vigilant During Covid-19
Team FTG – The fact that states are reopening during the coronavirus pandemic is encouraging. Sure, it’s nice that restaurants and stores are reopening, and people can finally go outside – but the reality is that C19 remains an ongoing and serious concern. To protect ourselves, our families, and friends, safety precautions will remain in place for the foreseeable future…they will remain part of our everyday habits for quite some time.
This means that we need to continue wearing masks – the right way!
Remember – Masks are effective only if they cover your mouth, nose and chin.
Stay safe and stay healthy!


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Online Grocery Sales Swell to $48 Billion Globally
As omnichannel and ecommerce continue to grow, so too do the offerings of what one can buy over the Internet. Food and fast-moving consumer goods are quickly taking over a decent market share, reaching almost $50 billion worldwide, with no indicator of slowing down anytime soon.
According to a report from Kantar Worldpanel, the fast-moving consumer goods (or FMCG, which are defined as “processed foods, soft drinks, and toiletries that sell quickly at a relatively low cost”) market grew only 1.6 percent globally in the 12 months preceding June 2016. However, online grocery sales have grown by 15 percent, now accounting for 4.4 percent of the FMCG market. The report projects that this online grocery trend will continue to grow, reaching 9 percent of market share by 2025, equating to roughly $150 billion worldwide.
Moreover, the report suggests that online grocery sales in just the United States will jump 157 percent this year as consumers take advantage of new services like Amazon Pantry or — in the case of fresh meats and produce outside of FMCGs — AmazonFresh. Despite the growing trend of ecommerce and online ordering in the United States, our online grocery sales pale in comparison to South Korea, whose online sales comprise a whopping 16.6 percent of the digital FMCG market — and it’s expected to surge to 25 percent.
As observed by Internet Retailer: “In South Korea, thanks to high Internet speeds and 85 percent smartphone penetration, nearly 100 percent of consumers ages 10 to 40 shop online, many via mobile devices.” By comparison in the United Kingdom, for example, only 13 percent of households use their mobile devices to shop online for groceries. In the United States’ case, the Kantar report suggests that online food shopping is so low due to ingrained consumer habits of buying one item at a time rather than en masse in one basket. As American online shopping habits are namely set by Amazon, the average American shopper is trained to buy items individually, though again, this is primed to change.
See what I did there?
Though it might seem strange ordering groceries online, there are plenty of other countries who are embracing the trend faster than American consumers — something the Kantar report warns might be detrimental to competitors who show up late to the party:
“Kantar Worldpanel said its research shows that ‘the FMCG ecommerce market is unkind to latecomers,’ and the report urges brands to ‘get on the shopping list’ before consumer habits become entrenched. Kantar Worldpanel data shows that 55 percent of online grocery shoppers repeatedly by the same brands from the same merchants from one purchase to the next.”
Luckily for us, we still are within the Top 10 countries capitalizing on the digital grocery bandwagon. In case you were wondering who the other nine were taking the lead in the online grocery sales market by share…
- South Korea (16.6%)
- Japan (7.2%)
- United Kingdom (6.9%)
- France (5.3%)
- Taiwan (5.2%)
- China (4.2%)
- Czech Republic (2.1%)
- Spain (1.7%)
- Netherlands (1.7%)
- United States (1.4%)
Interestingly enough, the Kantar report notes that “online grocery shopping is steadily growing on a global basis but unevenly by region, with variance showing little correlation to levels of Internet connectivity.” While Internet access has an obvious role to play in online shopping, these trends are influenced more by consumer buying habits in each country and the prevalence of digital grocery services.
Either way, as more people take to the Internet for their shopping needs, more businesses will follow suit in order to adjust to the market demand. It turns out that shoppers actually spend more shopping for groceries online than they do to a brick-and-mortar store; U.K. shoppers spend an average of $59 on online purchases compared to $15 in-store, just under a whopping fourfold increase!
With 2025 still a ways off and with technology like drone delivery, pop-up retailing, and other crazy logistics models that blur the lines between the digital and physical realms, it’ll be interesting to see whether or not the FMCG and online grocery market will meet its target of 9 percent or surpass it. One thing is certain, however: people do love ordering things online.
I still can’t get over South Korea’s level of digital retailing at virtually 100 percent.


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The designers who create concept cars are constantly hunting for something to innovate. Some have decided to liberate the headlamps.
When Nissan unveiled its Azeal sporty coupe at the Detroit Auto Show last winter, the car had clusters of light-emitting diodes, rather than conventional bulbs, for headlamps.
Mark Milner, a manager at Nissan Design America, likes LEDs because of their "tremendous" flexibility. "They can be set to any color in the rainbow, and their size means they can be placed anywhere," he said.
Milner is not alone: LEDs seem to have become the headlamps of choice for automakers' design studies. The small size of the individual lamps, which usually are bundled into groups for sufficient light output, offers designers broad freedom to integrate the lights with the most futuristic body shapes.
None of the LED headlamps that appeared on auto-show turntables are ready for road use and automakers have not announced introduction dates, but the systems are moving toward production. Prompted by the technical advantages of LEDs, particularly their low power demands, several parts suppliers and automakers are developing solid-state headlamps--the diodes produce light without a filament or bulb--expected to arrive in showrooms within three years.
"Technically the LED is now bright enough to provide the high beam," said Sidney Chu, general manager for business development at Cotco International, a major LED maker based in Hong Kong. "The question now is price."
Others in the industry add that there are engineering issues to be resolved, and, of course, regulatory ones.
Widely used in high-intensity flashlights, LEDs started by replacing incandescent light bulbs in center-mounted stoplights. LEDs have since become the standard for turn signals and warning lights on trucks and buses. Owners of commercial vehicles appreciate their long life, which largely eliminates the cost of replacing bulbs.
In passenger cars, however, solid-state lighting is not as widely used. Leonard Livschitz, director of automotive business development at Lumileds Lighting, an LED maker in San Jose, Calif., estimates that 80 percent of the bulbs in brake lights, turn signals and marker lamps of new European autos have been replaced by diodes. In the U.S., though, the figure is closer to 30 percent. Milner, the Nissan designer, said the difference was mostly a matter of European motorists' demanding new technologies more quickly.
Milner readily acknowledges that the decision to use LED headlights on the Azeal was more a matter of appealing to people outside the car than providing effective lighting for its driver. Still, the design incorporates elements that could find their way into production cars.


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Axl Rose has said no more to faux fans that are after his autograph for all the wrong reasons.
During AC/DC‘s current European tour Axl Rose has been relentlessly badgered by eBay-ing professionals which he has deemed to be guising as fans seeking him out just to sell his signature for money.
Taking to Twitter recently, Axl, in his own glorious own middle-aged-man-has-discovered-the-internet-words, declared he is fed up and won’t be signing any autographs for a while.
Can't take da ebayers so un42nutzly I's won'tz b signing things 4 awhile. Much Love 2 the real fans!!❤
— Axl Rose (@axlrose) May 31, 2016
Rose has reportedly given plenty of time to his fans throughout this tour in the form of photographs, handshakes and autographs. It now seems that the only way for him to weed out the genuine from the fake is to pull back on fan friendly gestures that can amount to monetary value.
It certainly seems that this is fast becoming a rewarding career choice for savvy autograph hounds. Last year on ABC News it was estimated that this is a “$50 million a year industry,” with some collectors earning “six-figure salaries.” However, backlash among superstars like Mick Jagger and Taylor Swift could very well shut this all down.
As Swift explained in a Wall Street Journal article, signing things is “obsolete” in the age of the selfie. And Mick Jagger apparently barely signs an autograph these days, unless of course “you’re a female and have good looks”, explains Autograph Pro Michael Kasmar.
Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age had a similar experience recently after a show in Detroit. A fan who witnessed the encounter explained:
“Josh wasn’t signing autographs because there were obvious eBay sellers there (multiple items, lying to get stuff signed for their kids, etc), but he said he would take pictures with everybody. Suddenly, the autograph hounds weren’t interested.
“When Josh started taking pictures with people, the autograph hound (who talked about reselling the autographs while we were waiting outside) then said ‘do you know how much we made off you tonight,’ which was a reply to Josh saying that he didn’t want anything ending up on eBay. Taking pictures with fans was generous, and I just thought I’d set the record straight!”
Here is some footage of Axl Rose giving pushy autograph hounders the shove a couple of years back in New York.


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Competition & Markets Authority
Payment software deal does not raise competition concerns
Payments company Bottomline’s purchase of Experian Payments Gateway does not raise competition concerns, an in-depth CMA investigation has provisionally found.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has been investigating Bottomline Technology’s completed purchase of the Experian Payments Gateway (EPG) business from Experian Limited.
Bottomline and EPG provide payments software used by businesses to submit direct debits, make payroll payments and pay suppliers. This software allows customers of Bottomline and EPG to make payments via the Bacs and Faster Payments Direct Corporate Access systems.
After completing its initial Phase 1 investigation, the CMA was concerned that the merger may reduce competition and the merged company may increase prices, reduce product availability, or reduce its investment in innovation.
However, following further in-depth analysis carried out as part of a Phase 2 investigation led by an independent group of panel members, the CMA has now provisionally found that the merger is not likely to raise competition concerns. This is largely because the CMA has found that EPG was no longer a strong force in the market and that, following the deal, there remain enough alternative providers competing with Bottomline for customers.
The CMA also looked in more detail at the possibility that, under alternative ownership, EPG would have become a more active competitor than it was before the merger but provisionally determined that this was not the case.
The CMA now seeks views on these findings by 10 March 2020 and will assess all evidence provided before making a final decision.
The statutory deadline for the CMA’s final report is 5 April 2020.
For more information, visit the Bottomline Technologies (de), Inc / Experian Limited merger inquiry case page.
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- New-vehicle sales expected to reach 1,410,000 units, down 7.2 percent compared to record set in September 2017.
- Despite volume decline, the seasonally adjusted annual sales rate (SAAR) in September is forecast at a healthy 17.1 million, up from last month’s 16.6 million pace.
- Higher interest rates and talk of tariffs may be having some pull-ahead impact in the market.
ATLANTA, Sept. 26, 2018 – New-vehicle sales pace in September is forecast by Cox Automotive to rise to 17.1 million units, an improvement over August’s 16.6 million sales rate. This gain, however, may be slightly misleading. Total sales volume in September is forecast to decline nearly 60,000 units from last month and nearly 100,000 units compared to September 2017.
“Year-over-year comparisons are challenging this September, as the industry saw record sales levels last year,” noted Charlie Chesbrough, senior economist at Cox Automotive. “With one less selling day this September and due to seasonal adjustment factors, the sales pace will actually show an increase, despite significant volume declines.”
Replacement demand and delayed purchases following Hurricane Harvey in August 2017 helped lift September 2017 to a sales pace of 18.1 million, the highest pace since 2005. Vehicle sales hit an all-time high last year as well, up nearly 80,000 units above the previous two Septembers—which occurred during record sales years. A large decline from last September’s unnaturally-high level is expected, and recent storms and flooding in the Southeast will only contribute to weak volumes.
Key Highlights for the September 2018 Sales Forecast:
- New light-vehicle sales, including fleet, are expected to reach 1,410,000 units, down over 100,000 units, or 7.2 percent, compared to September 2017, and down 4.3 percent from August 2018.
- Even though sales volume will decline, one less selling day this September (25) versus September 2017 (26) will cause the pace to rise. The SAAR in September 2018 is estimated to be 17.1 million, up from last month’s 16.6 million pace but down from last year’s record 18.1 million level.
- A record SAAR in September is very unlikely. Sales will need to post 90,000 units above forecast to beat last year’s record. Without massive incentives and promotions, a record is not expected.
- Talk of tariffs, as well as increasing interest rates, may be having some pull-ahead impact in the market. Auto buyers, concerned about the likelihood of higher vehicle prices over the course of the year, may be buying sooner than they had originally planned, supporting a higher sales pace.
- Although the market and buying conditions are strong, risks are also rising. Additional interest rate hikes are expected which will cause a buyer’s monthly payment to increase. And, previous years of aggressive leasing is now creating a major headwind. Millions of gently-used, high-content vehicles have been returning to dealer lots. Off-lease vehicle volume is expected to peak in 2019, and many potential new-vehicle buyers will be drawn to this value alternative.
Most manufacturers are expected to post sales declines. Jeep is expected to continue to perform well as demand for rugged crossovers fits well with their portfolio. Ford and GM are likely to see some larger declines as aging product in some segments, poor car sales, and tighter incentives hold them back.
Most vehicle segments should see declining sales versus last year. Car share may make a modest improvement as higher prices in the used market coupled with newer high-volume products from Honda and Toyota could support new sales.
A Slower Fourth Quarter
Cox Automotive is forecasting a slowing sales pace over the remaining months of the year as buying conditions deteriorate due to higher interest rates and elevated gasoline prices. Steel and aluminum tariffs may also be negatively contributing to sales activity, by forcing automakers to hold incentive activity at more modest levels. Production costs are rising as a result of higher metal prices, and margins are being negatively impacted. With less profit margin available, tighter and targeted incentive activity is required. Days supply is also in a relatively stable position, allowing for more pricing discipline.
In addition, off-lease used vehicle volume continues to grow. These gently-used vehicles, selling at a 30- 50 percent discount to their new versions, are a real threat to stronger new-vehicle sales volumes.
However, even with these headwinds, economic conditions for vehicle buyers remain favorable with strong consumer confidence levels and decades-low unemployment rates. The overall demand for personal transportation remains strong. Higher interest rates and new trade tariffs are not chasing away buyers. Cox Automotive’s forecast for full-year auto sales in 2018 is a healthy 16.8 million, down from 2017’s 17.1 million volume.
Cox Automotive Monthly Sales Call
Cox Automotive will host its monthly automotive sales day call on Tuesday, October 2, at 11 a.m. EDT. Cox Automotive Chief Economist Jonathan Smoke and Michelle Krebs, executive analyst from Autotrader, will join Chesbrough on the call and provide an economic overview, share industry trends and answer questions. To join the call or discuss any automotive-related topic with a Cox Automotive analyst, contact a member of the Public Relations team.
About Cox Automotive
Cox Automotive Inc. makes buying, selling, owning and using cars easier for everyone. The global company’s 34,000-plus team members and family of brands, including Autotrader®, Clutch Technologies, Dealer.com®, Dealertrack®, Kelley Blue Book®, Manheim®, NextGear Capital®, VinSolutions®, vAuto® and Xtime®, are passionate about helping millions of car shoppers, 40,000 auto dealer clients across five countries and many others throughout the automotive industry thrive for generations to come. Cox Automotive is a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises Inc., a privately-owned, Atlanta-based company with revenues exceeding $20 billion. www.coxautoinc.com


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I’m Clinton Griffiths with today’s AgDay Minute.
John Deere union employees will soon be back on the assembly lines. That’s after UAW members voted to approve a new contract with the company. It’s reported that 61-percent of union members approve of the deal. The six-year agreement includes an 84-hundred dollar signing bonus and a 20-percent increase in wages over the lifetime of the contract, with 10-percent coming this year. The agreement was the third contract offer from the company since the strike started on October 14th. The contract covers more than 10-thousand Deere workers at 12-facilities.
The American Farm Bureau Federation is out with its 36th annual Thanksgiving dinner cost survey. It predicts the cost of the feast this year will rise 14-percent from last year. It also says a meal for 10-people will average 53-dollars and 31-cents. That’s less than 6-dollars per person. The centerpiece, the turkey, costs more than last year at almost 24-dollars for a 16-pound bird. They say several factors are contributing to the overall price increase of the meal, including supply chain issues, and inflation.
McDonald’s is celebrating its egg McMuffin turning 50 years old. The sandwich has been on McDonald’s national menu since 1975. To celebrate, McDonald’s briefly sold the breakfast item for 63-cents, which was its original price when it first debuted in 1971.
For more ag news watch AgDay, weekdays on this station. Or anytime at agweb.com.


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Laxmi Organic Industries all set to launch IPO to raise Rs 600 crore
Speciality chemical manufacturer, Laxmi Organic Industries, is set to open its maiden public offer for bidding on March 15. The Rs 600-crore public offer consists of a fresh issue of Rs 300 crore and an offer for sale of Rs 300 crore by promoter Yellow Stone Trust. The issue will close on March 17.
The issue size has been reduced to Rs 600 from Rs 800 crore after the pre-IPO placement.
The company has already raised Rs 200 crore by issuing 1,55,03,875 equity shares in a pre-IPO placement, which resulted into reduction of fresh issue size to Rs 300 crore from Rs 500 crore earlier.
Laxmi Organic intends to utilise fresh issue and pre-IPO placement funds for investment in wholly-owned subsidiary, Yellowstone Fine Chemicals (YFCPL), for setting up of a manufacturing facility for fluorospecialty chemicals, and working capital requirements; for capital expenditure requirements, for expansion of SI manufacturing facility; company's own working capital requirements; and repayment of debt availed by the company and subsidiary, Viva Lifesciences (VLPL).
The company operates in the sector where there are many listed players like Aarti Industries, Atul, Fine Organic Industries, Navin Flourine International, Rossari Biotech and SRF.
In February this year, the company received approval from the capital market regulator Sebi to go ahead with the IPO plan.
Laxmi Organic is currently among the largest manufacturers of ethyl acetate in India with a market share of approximately 30 percent of the Indian ethyl acetate market, a Frost & Sullivan report said. Post completion of the YCPL acquisition, its market share in the ethyl acetate market will enhance further.


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The two-year-old mobile platform aims to serve as a live viewing bridge for the next generation of audiences that are not addressed by TV.
What's the deal?
Buzzer, a mobile platform for live sports aimed at young people, has renewed its deals with the NBA and WNBA to allow fans to watch out-of-market games via their League Pass streaming services.
As of now, Buzzer only offers in-app purchases for NBA and WNBA out-of-market games. Buzzer founder and chief executive Bo Han, a former Twitter executive, said the company hopes to announce agreements with other leagues in the coming months, although nothing has been finalized.
“Buzzer has proven to be successful at reaching next-generation fans, and the partnership renewals with both the NBA and WNBA are a testament to Buzzer’s unique approach to driving an incremental audience who aren’t otherwise tuning into traditional television,” Steve Pagliuca, a Boston Celtics co-owner and investor in Buzzer, said in a statement. “
The bottom line:
For the Gen Z (born 1997-2010) and Gen Alpha (born 2011-2024) audience, mobile is the primary device as opposed to previous generations that are accustomed to tuning in on television first. New platforms like Buzzer are attempting to drive incremental viewership to live sports programming for young sports fans that are generally more interested in short-form content such as highlights.


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Walmart wants to bring a bit of the high-fashion catwalk to its store aisles.
The retail giant is starting “a fashion essentials-inspired brand for both men and women created by our in-house design team,” the company said in a news release.
“Today (Sept. 21), I’m excited to introduce Free Assembly, a modern fashion brand that offers elevated style essentials at an incredible value,” said Denise Incandela, senior VP of the women’s group, elevated and online brands. “At its core, this new brand is born from thoughtful, simple design, quality fabrics, modern silhouettes and styles updated for today.”
Walmart can “give our customers more of what they want — quality, stylish and accessible fashion,” she said, pointing to the retailer’s work with thredUP. She added that “Walmart’s fashion portfolio has grown significantly over the past few years as we’ve focused on expanding our assortment. We’ve launched exclusive, elevated brands.”
On top of that, she said, the Free Assembly brand will be “as timeless as it is versatile, with wardrobe staples that are easy to mix, layer and assemble freely. These are pieces designed to have staying power.”
The retailer is following in the footsteps of Amazon, which first took aim at the fashion industry in 2016. Taking things even further this month, Amazon brought out its new Luxury Stores after building up its apparel business over the past four years.
According to PYMNTS’ exclusive Whole Paycheck tracker, in 2016, Amazon brought in $20.5 billion in clothing and apparel sales, but more than doubled that amount to $48.3 billion in 2019.
The two retail behemoths are locked in a battle over consumers’ dollars. So far, 2020 has been better for Amazon than Walmart, with its mix of brick-and-mortar stores and online sales.
Before adding Free Assembly to its apparel offerings, Walmart last month sold off Shoes.com and its Bare Necessities brand, which offers intimate apparel. Walmart sold Shoes.com to CriticalPoint Capital, a Los Angeles merger and acquisition advisory and investment bank. The lingerie platform went to Delta Galil Industries, an Israeli manufacturer and marketer of branded and private-label apparel products for men, women and children.


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Keegan Ales has spent the last decade or so building a reputation for its tasty craft-brewed beer that may be Kingston’s most popular export since the demise of the brick industry. Now, the Midtown brewery is putting their stamp on a new venture which will allow anybody with a kitchen and a little patience to create their own suds.
On Tuesday, Aug. 14 Keegan’s Home Brew and Mercantile opened with some fanfare among the local chamber of commerce crowd and a lot of enthusiasm among home brewers. The store, which stands across the parking lot from the Keegan Ales brewery and tap room on St. James Street, will serve as a homebrew supply store as well as a showcase for Keegan Ales merchandise and local gourmet food products.
“I just couldn’t stand to see another vacant Midtown store,” brewery owner Tommy Keegan said at the ribbon-cutting, joined by Mayor Shayne Gallo, Ulster chamber President Ward Todd and about a dozen other friends and supporters.
Inside the store, sacks of grain and tubs of malt share space with Keegan Ales T-shirts and pint glasses as well as food products, and even soap made with Keegan beer. There were some bourbon barrels too — Keegan Ales teamed up with the Culinary Institute of America for the limited edition American Bounty Anniversary Ale. As part of the 30th birthday of the CIA’s famed restaurant, Keegan’s has combined two of its mainstay brews, but with a twist. “This blend of Keegan’s [golden ale] Old Capital and their dark and creamy Mother’s Milk is aged in American whiskey barrels,” said Noelle Guagliardo, the CIA’s beverage manager. “The result is a delicious medium-bodied ale with hints of oatmeal, chocolate, caramel and smoke.”
According to Tommy Keegan, the store’s product line hews to his belief in locally grown, locally produced products. As an example, Keegan cites the Joe Mama’s Milk soap combines Keegan’s own coffee-infused stout beer, coffee from locally based Monkey Joe’s and soap from the Edelweiss Soap Company on Wall Street.
“That little five ounce bar of soap represents three companies within a mile of each other in Kingston,” said Keegan. “That’s a local product.”
But the heat of the new venture is home brewing. Making one’s own beer is a millennia-old occupation that returned to this land in 1978 when President Jimmy Carter signed a law lifting taxes on beer brewed for personal consumption. Since then, home brewing has grown from a clandestine hobby into a major industry with what is estimated to be a million adherents and hundreds of competitive events held each year across the country —except in Mississippi and Alabama, the only states where home beer brewing remains illegal.
‘Anyone can do it’
Home brewing techniques range from the simple and straightforward to the mind-bogglingly complex (most professional brewers have a background in microbiology). Would-be home brewers typically start out “extract brewing” using pre-made malt extract as a base combined with hops and grain for flavor, then move on to making their own mash and generating beer from scratch. A starter kit and everything you need to make about five gallons of homebrew will run you about $100, according to Keegan’s home brewing consultant, Pat Sylvester.
“It seems impossible at first,” said Sylvester, who has been home-brewing for the past year and a half. “But with extract brewing, it’s almost foolproof. Anyone can do it.”


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) Tesla – the energy company and automaker that offers a dynamic electric car –
will host a “Happy Hour Mixer” on Thursday, July 27 from 5:00 p.m. to 7 p.m. at 50 Newtown Lane in East Hampton Village. The store will offer complimentary passed hors d’oeuvres as well as wine.
Admission is free to members and $10 for non-members. Executive Director Steven Ringel will give an update on several projects.


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A major security flaw discovered in Intel chips requires a software fix that could negatively impact the performance of your Mac. The “design blunder” affects all Intel chips produced in the last 10 years, according to one report.
2017 was a pretty damn good year for the world’s most profitable tech company.
Apple did much more than rake in more cash than any company this year. Cupertino also pushed out its most impressive product lineup ever, laid the groundwork for the future of augmented reality, moved into a new spaceship campus, battled other tech giants and got tossed into the political spotlight.
Apple dominated the tech scene in 2017 more than any other company. Here’s a recap of some of the year’s most memorable Apple moments.
2017 was a killer year for new Apple products — and it’s not all because of the iPhone X.
Apple’s design team spun out updates in nearly every single category while also popping out a few all-new products. The Mac Pro and Mac mini were pretty much the only machines that got no love from Apple this year. But with all the new stuff, it’s hard for Apple fans to complain.
Here’s a recap of every new Apple product of 2017.
Game developers are embracing macOS like never before, which means Windows isn’t the only place to get the greatest titles anymore. The past year brought us a ton of terrific Mac games, from intense first-person shooters to gorgeous platformers filled with charm.
When iOS update time rolls round, you probably run through all the devices in your home, downloading those multi-gigabyte updates over and over. If you have a few iPhones, plus a couple of iPads, it all adds to a lot of data, and a lot of waiting. New in macOS 10.13 High Sierra is Content Caching, which stores these downloads on a Mac, so they only have to be downloaded once.
This doesn’t only save on internet data usage. It also makes it way faster to update several devices. And it’s not just updates either. Content caching can also cache iCloud documents, your photo library, and app updates.
Once you’ve dropped almost $14k on a new iMac Pro, what’s another $50 to add some extra ports to the front of it? Satechi’s Aluminum Type-C Clamp Hub Pro might be one of the most awkwardly-named gadget this year, but it may also prove to be one of the most useful.
Apple surprised us this morning by finally revealing the launch date of the iMac Pro, but a few lucky tech reviewers have already gotten their hands on the slick new machine.
The first hands-on reviews of the iMac Pro confirm a lot of what we already knew about Apple’s machine: it’s gorgeous and insanely fast. But according to those that have tested it, the iMac Pro actually blows past the hype of being the perfect iMac for professionals.
Registered Apple developers just got a brand new beta build of macOS today after Apple seeded the first beta of macOS 10.13.3.
The new update comes less than a week after Apple released macOS 10.13.2 to the public bringing a host of bug fixes and performance improvements. Like the update before it, macOS 10.13.3 appears to mostly focus on under-the-hood improvements.


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"The Negro Motorist Green Book" is an exhibition developed by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service with the help of award-winning author, photographer and cultural documentarian, Candacy Taylor. The exhibit will offer a visually immersive look at the reality of travel for African Americans in mid-1900s.
Harlem postman Victor Green started the book in 1936 to help African Americans travel the country safely, and with dignity, during a time of Jim Crow laws and segregation. "The Green Book" was also an indispensable resource for Black-owned businesses and the rising African American middle class during the three decades in which it was published.
"'The Negro Motorist Green Book' was more than a travel guide," according to the Smithsonian's website. "It was a shield, empowering Black people to explore their world with more dignity than fear, more elegance than embarrassment."
The exhibit launched its three-year national tour in Memphis in October of 2020. The tour will reach Little Rock on May 8 and be on display until Aug. 1 at the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center.
More information on "The Green Book" and its cultural impact can be found on the Smithsonian Channel.


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Canadian low-cost carrier Swoop is flying to Punta Cana.
The airline has officially kicked off its new service between Toronto and Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic.
The new service is operating twice each week, with flights on Sundays and Tuesdays, according to Swoop.
“We’re pleased to celebrate the launch of our new flights between Punta Cana and Toronto, creating enhanced connectivity between Canada and the Dominican Republic,” said Bert van der Stege, Head of Commercial and Finance, Swoop. “Demand for air travel continues to rebound and we’re confident this new air service will be popular amongst travelers and support the recovery of the tourism economy of the region.”
The Toronto-Punta Cana flights take about five and a half hours.
“We thank Swoop Airlines for placing their trust in Punta Cana International Airport (PUJ) and inviting us to be part of their expansion plans in the country, to promote tourist and economic growth among both nations,” said Frank Elías Rainieri, president and CEO of Grupo Puntacana. “We are excited to welcome Canadian passengers on this new direct route from Toronto.”


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Over the last four months, several segments of the Oerlikon group have taken measures to secure their results, acting on their own authority within the group’s decentralised entrepreneurial structure, the company says.
These measures include a reduction of staff levels worldwide, with around 50% of temporary workers. The implementation started in the fourth quarter 2008 and includes temporary contracts not renewed and vacancies not replaced. In total, 1,000 employees are affected.
According to media reports, Optisolar is also reducing its staff. The thin-film solar panels producer and builder of large solar farms, has laid off around 300 employees, or half of its staff. The staff reduction come as the company cannot get access to capital, a spokesperson told Greentech Media.
Another company that has announced layoffs is Suntech, which cut 10%, or around 800 people, from its workforce in the fourth quarter of 2008. Again, it is the economic downturn that gets the blame.
The layoffs affected mostly contract factory workers and factories are reported to be running at 50% to 60% capacity.
Suntech recently announced it has reached 1GW photovoltaic (PV) cell and module production capacity and opened new headquarters in Wuxi, China. The company has also supplied 5 MW of solar panels for a 10 MW solar electricity system to power Masdar City in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.


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We’re all familiar with the textbook baddies of Big Tobacco. Back in the 1980s they were everywhere, using their dodgy tactics to fight the challenge to smoking and the health disasters it caused. These days they have been reduced to the status of cartoon baddies in comedy movies and TV shows, although they are alive and well in less regulated markets.
The battle against tobacco has slowly been won, at least in the developed world. But another purveyor of deadly products has taken a leaf out of tobacco’s book. We’re talking about Big Sugar. Big Sugar is like Big Tobacco’s slick little brother, with reach and power stretching across the globe.
For a start, Big Sugar uses research to manipulate public debate on a grand scale. For a start, the research they fund is five times more likely to show no association between sugar consumption and health problems than independent research. Nothing to see here, folks…
Then, just like Big Tobacco did in the 1970s, they like to threaten massive job losses in sugar producing areas if sugar consumption is reduced, overstating the case to boost their argument. (It helps that some of these are in politically sensitive marginal seats. Just look at the way the sugar industry resisted sugar taxes in the US.)
Another thing Big Sugar loves is ‘voluntary guidelines’ – the same kind of thing used by advertisers and the alcohol and gambling industries to make sure nothing stands in the way of their profits. If alcohol guidelines are anything to go by, there’s no evidence they are effective. Which is lucky, because if they were effective, sugar consumption might decrease – harming the profits of Big Sugar.
Like Big Tobacco, Big Sugar is big on ‘personal responsibility’ arguments. If you suffer from their products, it’s your fault for not being responsible enough. But of course consumers of sugar are up against the power and persuasiveness of big companies who spend millions on advertising. Many consumers at the receiving end of junk food and junk drink marketing are young children, or parents wishing to do the right thing for their kids.
Big Sugar is also like Big Tobacco in that it has global reach. Coca Cola, for example, ran the same campaign against sugar taxes in 14 countries, including Russia, Germany and New Zealand.
It can seem daunting to challenge the power of Big Sugar, but the good news is that many communities have fought and won against Big Tobacco. Decades of campaigning in countries like Australia has led to plummeting rates of smoking, falling from more than 70% of adult males in the 1940s to just 18% today.
Big companies are not going to quietly step away from big profits. It's up to government to reign in the junk food industries which put too much sugar in our food and drink, spend big bucks on marketing and bamboozle us with the way they label sugar. Better policies could limit added sugar in processed food, dial down the marketing (especially to kids) and ensure clear labels that everyone can understand.
Just look what has been achieved with a soda tax in Berkeley, California - a 50% reduction in consumption of sugary drinks. This is what can be achieved when our lawmakers take responsibility.
Here's hoping we can achieve similar results here in Australia.


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1 min read.Updated: 28 Jun 2020, 11:22 PM ISTAgencies
The company will 'have discussions internally and with media partners and civil rights organizations to stop the spread of hate speech', it said in a statement
Starbucks Corp. is suspending ads on all social media platforms, the latest company reevaluating marketing channels as critics accuse platforms such as Facebook Inc. of failing to control hateful and misleading content.
“We will pause advertising on all social media platforms while we continue discussions internally, with our media partners and with civil rights organizations in the effort to stop the spread of hate speech," the coffee chain said in a statement Sunday. “We believe more must be done to create welcoming and inclusive online communities."
A growing number of companies, including Hershey Co., Coca-Cola Co., and PepsiCo., have pledged to suspend advertising on Facebook, raising pressure on Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg to do more. The social media giant announced Friday that it will begin labeling all posts that include information about voting with a link encouraging users to get facts from the company’s new voting hub, and expanded its prohibition on hate speech in advertising.
A CNBC report on Sunday added that this social media pause by Starbucks will not include YouTube, which is owned by Alphabet Inc's Google. It will continue to post on social media without paid promotion.
It also said that though Starbucks is pausing advertising, it is not joining the "Stop Hate For Profit" boycott campaign, which kicked off earlier this month.
More than 160 companies, including Verizon Communications and Unilever Plc, signed on to stop buying ads on Facebook Inc, the world's largest social media platform.
This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.


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Many adults struggle to implement healthy lifestyle choices — and a new survey from YouGov and the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) found that fatigue and a lack of motivation are the biggest barriers to a healthy lifestyle.
What prevents people from making healthy choices? On Wednesday, an online survey conducted by YouGov on behalf of WCRF asked 2,086 U.K. adults what prevented them from implementing healthy lifestyle choices, such as a healthier diet and increased physical activity. Respondents could select multiple reasons contributing to their lifestyle. Overall, 38% of respondents said they lack the motivation to make healthy changes and 35% said they feel “too tired.”
Respondents also cited the cost of food (30%), a lack of time (26%), work/life balance (25%), the cost of exercising (25%), a lack of confidence (16%), and “not knowing where to start” (12%) as factors preventing them from adopting a healthy lifestyle. Only 24% of respondents said nothing prevented them from making healthy choices. Among 25- to 34-year-old respondents, 48% said they felt “too tired” to implement healthy changes, compared to just 23% of respondents aged 55 and over who cited the same reason.
Excerpted from the Advisory Board


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Drinking beer in moderation, according to medical experts, may bring certain benefits
including a reduced risk of dementia and cognitive decline.
Beer, according to a recent study from the London Medical Laboratory
can lower the risk of a variety of illnesses, including dementia.
they evaluated decades of study and found some good news for Father's Day
In a press statement, the laboratory's Chief Science Officer Quinton Fivelman PhD, stated,
A modest consumption of beer may actively benefit their health."
"Our study of evidence from the United States, Italy, and the United Kingdom suggests
that moderate beer intake is linked to an increase in obesity."


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Optus has flagged plans to aggregate and on-sell wholesale fibre, wireless and satellite services under the National Broadband Network (NBN) as a virtual ISP, as part of an attempt to maintain the viability of its fixed wholesale division into the future.
- Huge rock, cracked windshield helps hacker land a $10k Tesla security bug
- Apple zaps Zoom web server on thousands of Macs
- Microsoft kicks off public preview of Azure AD password muffler
- GDPR fines roll in: After BA, Marriott faces £99m fine over breach affecting 383 million
- British Airways faces £183m GDPR fine over hack, four times Google's GDPR fine