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Sanofi sells skin care business to Valeant Pharmaceuticals International
PARIS — French drug maker Sanofi has sold its skin care business to Canada’s Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Sanofi said.
Sanofi said the $425 million sale of its dermatology business, Dermik, would allow it to focus on its core businesses. Valeant’s business is much more focused on dermatology, as well as neurology, than Sanofi’s is.
“Our strategy is based upon our growth platforms and innovation,” Sanofi CEO Christopher Viehbacher said. “This divestiture allows us to rationalize our portfolio and improve focus on our core businesses.”
FaceLube takes skin care where the men are
LOS ANGELES — FaceLube is a new men’s grooming and skin care line that is hitting shelves this summer, but you won’t find it in the typical beauty aisle or department store counter. FaceLube says it is going where the "masculine" men go to pamper their ride — from neighborhood quick oil change centers to new car dealerships.
FaceLube is designed to blend into the automotive environment and does not use traditional female-centric beauty terms, the manufacturer stated. The packaging resembles a high-end synthetic motor oil bottle, and the logo resembles a motor oil spot.
"FaceLube is built from the ground up for masculine men. Men’s motivation for taking care of their skin is different than women’s. Proper masculine men’s skin care isn’t about looking pretty or young — it’s about looking good, for that extra edge over the competition," stated Candace Chen, founder of FaceLube, who has 20 years in the automotive industry. "He’s entitled to high-performance men’s skin care and grooming products that are aligned with his masculine nature and available at retail environments that are comfortable for and familiar to him."
To resolve the stigma often attached to the use of face creams and anti-aging skin care products as a female beauty ritual, FaceLube aims to communicate with men by using "car talk" to educate men about the need for proper anti-aging skin care. FaceLube not only draws analogies from vehicle maintenance services, but also drives the point home by cross-promoting FaceLube products with such automotive maintenance services as oil changes and auto details.
FaceLube’s three-step system for men’s skin care includes a cleaner, treatment and protectant.
P&G recalling some Oral-B brand mouthwashes in Canada
OTTAWA, Canada — Procter & Gamble is voluntarily recalling some of its Oral-B brand mouthwashes in Canada due to possible microbial contamination, Health Canada announced.
P&G is voluntarily recalling Oral-B Anti-Cavity Dental Rinse- Alcohol Free (NPN 02129930) and Oral-B Anti-Bacterial with Fluoride – Alcohol Free Daily Use Mouthrinse (DIN 02130823).
P&G is requesting that retailers immediately stop the sale of these products and advising consumers to discard the affected product and contact the company for a refund by calling (800) 566-7252, Monday through Friday between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.
According to P&G, if present, the microbial level poses virtually no risk to healthy people. However, people with severely weakened immune systems, such as those with cystic fibrosis, may be more susceptible to adverse health effects. As such, Health Canada reminded Canadians who have concerns about these products to consult with their healthcare practitioner.


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Market pundits keep telling you that every business is a digital business. Digital is your future. Digital is the path to transforming your business. When so much is at stake, shouldn’t executive leaders expand their digital or social presences?
One of our recent white papers highlights that many business leaders are not on LinkedIn and that most of them have yet to establish a Twitter account. Another report reveals that “nearly 70% of Fortune 500 CEOs do not have a social presence themselves.” In Australia, a 2015 survey found that only four CEOs of the top 20 publicly listed companies have a Twitter account.
We call this attitude the “lack-of-time syndrome,” as leaders feel that they have more strategic tasks to fulfill than managing their tweets. Digital thinking must be injected into a company’s core, and that extends to the social-media presences of the company’s leaders. The failure to fix or expand their digital presences will impact the future of their own roles and business. The personal participation in the digital realm is the key to understanding the digital consumer’s state of mind and unlocking digital’s real value. It was not a surprise to lean that more than half of the companies surveyed for our report agreed that they do not have a clear, shared vision of digital transformation which is communicated well and understood throughout the organization.
Leaders don’t need to become digital experts, nor are we suggesting it. But they need to take their ideas and transform them with the power of digital to jettison old habits and paradigms, with the goal of leading a digital-first company. It’s time to say goodbye to analog leadership and hello to digital-first leadership.
The biggest issues here are organizational complacency, resistance to change, and an ability to recognize the urgent need to change. Senior leaders must stop asking their teams to just fix the problem and instead ask them to fix their digital quotients. By communicating the digital vision clearly, leaders can ensure that the entire company is marching in one direction—building digital into the core of the business.
DBS Bank in Singapore has taken a different route to developing future-ready digital leaders. As part of its DBS MegaHackathon initiative, the bank’s employees are encouraged to create new apps, processes, and prototypes by collaborating with relevant startups to tackle business and societal challenges. The organization has already changed the mindset of hundreds of business leaders throughout the bank, which aims to impart digital thinking to every DBS employee before the end of 2016.
First step to up your digital presence
What should be your first step? Improve the company-wide digital quotient! I think undertaking a digital leadership assessment across the organization, including the board and the CEO, will help you understand the current state of digital leadership in your company and act accordingly.
What’s your take on the digital presences of leaders? Do you think it is important for leaders to grow their digital presences to win in this digital-first world? Are you a social-media influencer? Let me know.
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News - General News - Finance
AHG half-year profit swells
Profits look set to grow as AHG reports its results for the second half of 2014
13 Feb 2015
By NEIL DOWLING
AUSTRALIA’S biggest vehicle retailer, Automotive Holdings Group, has set a record half-year profit on the back of strengthening retail sales.
It posted a net profit for the second half of the year to December 31, 2014 of $45 million, up 17.4 per cent on the previous corresponding period, on revenue of $2.57 billion, which was up 10.6 per cent on the previous period.
Importantly, AHG’s result shows a healthy national vehicle market and confirms its decision to spread retail ownership throughout Australia’s prime markets.
In announcing the results, AHG managing director Bronte Howson said he was “very confident’’ about earnings for the remainder of the year.
Within AHG’s diverse business portfolio, its automotive division reaped the major rewards. Revenue for this division was up 7.1 per cent to $2.05 billion.
The return was trimmed by a softening of some markets and attributed to the downturn in the mining industry, but buoyed by strong private-buyer sales and the contribution made by AHG’s purchase of the Bradstreet Motor Group of Newcastle.
It also opened new dealerships at Melbourne City Hyundai, Castle Hill Nissan (NSW) and Manukau Nissan (NZ), and redeveloped the Davie Motors Holden (NZ) site.
Mr Howson said: “The Automotive division has outperformed the broader market despite the significant downturn in new-vehicle registrations caused by reduced activity in the mining and resources sectors in Western Australia, Queensland and NSW’’.
“The Group benefitted from strong performances in its established automotive dealerships while successfully integrating the Bradstreet acquisition and developing additional Greenfield sites, all of which provide significant future upside.’’Mr Howson said the investment in the redevelopment and restructuring of dealerships was part of the Group’s sustainable growth strategy.
AHG’s Refrigerated Logistics division also reported a record with its six-monthly revenue up 51.9 per cent at $319.1 million, partially reflecting the purchase of the Scott’s and JAT businesses.
The Group’s “other logistics’’ division recorded a minor one per cent gain on the previous corresponding period with revenue of $195.7 million.
This division includes parts company AMCAP and Covs and the importation of KTM motorcycles. Revenue from imports was affected by currency fluctuations.
Mr Howson said AHG would look forward to realising the synergies of Bradstreet, Scott’s and JAT and continue to assess growth opportunities.
“The industry forecast for calendar year 2015 is 1.14 million new vehicle sales in Australia and AHG is confident of maintaining its share of the market,” he said.
“The comparatively low fuel price and interest rates are expected to boost confidence in the automotive sector in the second half of the financial year.
“I am very confident going forward. AHG has a strong balance sheet, an experienced and motivated management team and proven business models across its divisions.”
Shareholders will receive an interim dividend of 9 cents per share fully franked.
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The Federal Trade Commission and Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi (R.) have brought a complaint against an illegal robocalling operation, and convinced a federal district court to stop the operation – Life Management Services of Orange County LLC – from making illegal robocalls and selling its services pending an upcoming hearing. The FTC and Florida AG allege that company and its affiliates have been utilizing illegal robocalls and other deceptive practices in an effort to sell consumers bogus credit-card interest rate reduction and debt relief services. Calls were made to hundreds of thousands of consumers in the United States, including consumers whose names are on the federal do-not call list. The complaint alleges that the illegal scheme tricked consumers out of more than $15.6 million since at least January 2013.
“This is the latest effort by the FTC and our international, state, and federal law enforcement partners to stop illegal robocalling operations that harass consumers day and night with unwanted calls,” said Jessica Rich, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. According to the complaint filed with the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, the agencies charge Life Management and its various affiliates with violating the Federal Trade Commission Act, the Telemarketing Sales Rule, and the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. The agencies are seeking a permanent injunction to ban the companies from operating, as well as refunds for the affected consumers. – Carrie DeLeon, firstname.lastname@example.org


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CCIEE Holds the 138th Monthly Economic Talk
On March 12, 2021, the China Center for International Economic Exchanges (CCIEE) held the 138th Monthly Economic Talk online under the theme of “Interpreting the Spirit of the Two Sessions”. The meeting was presided over by Bi Jingquan, Executive Vice Chairman of CCIEE and Deputy Director of the Economic Committee of the CPPCC, Han Yongwen, Vice Chairman of CCIEE and representative of the National People’s Congress, Yang Weimin, Vice Chairman of CCIEE and Deputy Director of the Economic Committee of the CPPCC, Chang Zhenming, Vice Chairman of CCIEE and member of the National Committee of the CPPCC, and Wang Yiming, Vice Chairman of CCIEE and member of the National Committee of the CPPCC, delivered speeches respectively.
Han Yongwen pointed out that the Government Work Report of this year (referred to as the “Report”) has set an economic growth target of more than 6% and the government will put more effort and financial resources on adjusting the economic structure and improving the quality of development. Grain production indicators are reflected in the “Report”, showing that great importance has been attached to stabilize food production and ensure national food security. The “Report” suggests that macroeconomic policies should be adjusted on time according to the changing environment and a sharp U-turn should be avoided. At present, the external environment is still complicated and unstable, thus, we should focus on the development of the real economy, improve manufacturing and the quality of development.
Yang Weimin stated that “The Outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035” (the Plan) puts forward a series of proposals based on the new development stage, concepts, and pattern. For the very first time, the “Plan” did not set quantitative economic growth indicators, implying a major change in national governance. He pointed out that the key to constructing a new development pattern of “Dual Circulation Economy” is to ensure mutual promotion of the “dual circulations”.
Chang Zhenming pointed out that China achieved great achievements in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, reducing poverty and improving economic growth last year. The “two sessions” this year emphasized the importance of promoting common prosperity, increasing the incomes of low-income people and expanding middle-income group, implementing rural revitalization strategies, increasing scientific and technological innovation, and promoting high-quality development, product structure, and high-tech products. He believes that as long as market entities implement the policies and guidelines designed by the central government, the plans and goals set out in the “14th Five-Year Plan” will be accomplished.
Wang Yiming believes that the purpose of the 6% economic growth target set by “Report” is to shift our focus to the quality and efficiency of development, so as to achieve a more efficient and sustainable growth and leave enough room for reform and innovation. Macroeconomic policies must maintain their stability but adjustment should be made when it is necessary. The “Report” proposes to expand domestic demand and promote high-quality development of the real economy through innovation. On the demand side, the focus is to stabilize and expand consumption, and on the supply side, the focus is to improve technological innovation. Therefore, we must continue to promote cooperation in science and technology to absorb international innovation resources.
After the speeches, the experts answered various questions from the audience. Researchers from CCIEE, representatives from CCIEE member units, research institutions, enterprises and media participated in the online conference.


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This private Christian school made headlines last year when they announced that they were issuing iPads to all the students. They were the first school in the Netherlands to do so, spending over a quarter of a million euros to buy 700 iPads. And today they are getting even more attention as they transition back to paper textbooks.
According to sources, the school was more than capable of running the hardware side of the iPad program, but in their rush to use the tablets they forgot to make sure that their curriculum was ready to be used on it. There simply wasn’t enough academic content in Dutch, and from the sounds of things the teachers hadn’t transitioned their material either.
This story caught my eye because it appears to be a classic example of how content drives hardware sales. Do you know why ebooks didn’t take off until 2007? It’s because Amazon was the first to line up a significant chunk of the publishing industry and then make it easy for readers to buy (and then download) the content.
The iPad launched with Apple’s 5 publishing industry conspirators present, and do you know why? Because content is king. Apple needed to show that their new tablet could promise the same access to ebooks that could be found on any ereader. Okay, selection was limited, but they did put on a good show.


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With Windows 11, Microsoft maintains the Windows 10 maintenance model known as "Windows as a Service (WaaS)". As part of WaaS, Microsoft plans to provide an up-to-date experience with the latest features and security updates.
In a support document, Microsoft confirmed that Windows 11 will receive all updates currently available on Windows 10, including Patch Tuesday, Optional Preview, OOB (out of band), and more.
However, there will be a change in the update rate: Windows 11 will be updated once a year with new features and this update will be released in the second half of the year.
Cumulative updates for Windows 11
Cumulative updates, otherwise known as monthly updates or Patch Tuesdays, will be released at least once a month and include quality enhancements, bug fixes, and security fixes.
Different types of Windows 11 updates:
- Windows 11 "B" releases or Patch Tuesday updates will be released on the second Tuesday of each month, known as Patch Tuesday, with security enhancements and sometimes quality fixes. On the same day, Windows 10 will also receive identical updates corrections.
- Windows 11 "C" and "D" releases: These updates will be released in the third and fourth week of the month respectively.
Compatibility and reliability update
Out-of-band compatibility and reliability updates do not follow the standard release schedule and may be released before a feature update to facilitate the installation experience.
Microsoft will continue to provide Intel microcode updates to mitigate known vulnerabilities or hardware problems in the CPU, if necessary.
Update for Windows Defender Antivirus
The Windows Defender Antivirus definition update will be released regularly to update the crawls used by Microsoft Defender Antivirus.
Malware removal tool
Windows 11 is technically Windows 10 (NT.10) and will receive monthly Malicious Software Removal Tool updates to remove known infections from a computer.
Windows 11 LTSC
For those who prefer to use Windows versions for a long time, Microsoft plans to offer an LTSC version of Windows 11, but we do not know when the LTSC version will be released.
Source of information: bleepingcomputer.com


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CAR Inc has already begun a trial of its P2P rental platform “CAR Share” that offers a wide range of cars for rental, from luxury Mercedes Benz and BMW models to corporate and economy type vehicles.
Positioned as a car rental and car sharing mobile and online platform, CAR Share has a vehicle pool comprising privately owned cars as well as vehicles from a range of small- and medium-sized car rental companies.
As CAR Inc is diving headlong into CAR Share, it underscores the questions of what the service means for CAR Inc and what impact it has for other P2P startups.
CAR Inc promotes P2P+Carpool as auxiliary services
Car Inc unveiled its “UCar” chauffeur service in 60 Chinese cities last January， marking its entry into the online chauffeur service segment. After adding the chauffeur service to its rental operation，its next step is to use P2P rental as a portal for the mobile trips market.
“Our policy is to have two main operations and two auxiliary operations,” said CAR Inc CEO Zhengyao Lu. “Car rental and chauffeur service will be our two main operations and P2P car rental and carpooling will be our two auxiliary services. We will release these products step by step and CAR Inc will develop into something very different from traditional car rental.”
Mr. Lu also emphasized that Car Inc will not use a strict P2P business model because of its low profitability. Instead, it will leverage its brand power, technology, internet and experienced management to complement its P2P rental.
Major players slice into emerging P2P car rental segment
Singapore-based P2P car rental iCarsclub entered the Chinese market when it registered PPzuche in Beijing in 2012 and has subsequently raised funding in its Series B financing. It is jostling with an increasing number of startups in the P2P car rental segment that has attracted companies such as Baojia, atzuche and UUzuche with significant financial backing.
Besides these startups, major industry players are beginning to turn their attention to the segment.
CAR Inc announced last January that it would enter the P2P rental segment in March while rival eHi Car Services said it hoped to add a backup service by expanding its service scope to include P2P rental.
The entry of major players could trigger exponential growth for the segment and will definitely affect existing startups. PPzuche founder Jiaming Wang said: “The entry of car rentals validates the viability of this new market segment and the business model that all players can further explore.”(Translation by David)


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It's been two years since we launched our free online educational program, the Amazon Small Business Accelerator. What began as a direct response to help European start-ups and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) mitigate the impacts of the pandemic, has strengthened into an education tool to support any entrepreneur in building their business and developing digital skills to start selling both offline and online (on- or off-Amazon). It’s time to measure the impact of the program in the EU.
We’re pleased to announce that the program has trained over 130,000 entrepreneurs over the last two years in Germany, France, Italy and Spain. To make this happen, we have invested over €7 million and worked with around 70 local partners to deliver not only e-learning content, but also dedicated events on key topics such as multi-channel commerce and building business resilience. The purpose of this program is in line with the policy objectives of the 2023 European Year of Skills, including helping SMEs to digitally transition by providing them with the relevant skills (the Digital Economy and Society Index shows that four out of ten adults and every third person who works in Europe lack basic digital skills). The Amazon Small Business Accelerator is also well-aligned with many other EU policy initiatives, such as the Digital Europe Program, which is aimed at ensuring that SMEs and start-ups have access to investment, support and digital training, and to help them to thrive in a business-friendly environment and make the most of cross-border activities within and outside the EU. This is important work. SMEs account for around 99% of all businesses in the EU, and over the past five years were responsible for creating around 85% of new jobs.
Supporting digitization and export sales
We asked German, French, Italian and Spanish entrepreneurs to give us feedback on their experience of participating in the Amazon Small Business Accelerator, and many of them told us about the significant benefits for their business in completing the program. In those countries, the program helped around 70% of entrepreneurs start their own business, whether physically, digitally, or both. Over 95% of participants also felt the program taught them new skills.
More than 60% said that the program had helped them expand their business internationally (including more than 65% of participants in Spain). Between launch in 2020 and November 2022, we saw an increase in the numbers of German, French, Italian and Spanish SMEs selling both intra-EU, and extra-EU, in Amazon stores – over 70,000 SMEs with over €6 billion in export sales. These figures are particularly impressive as they span some of the most economically challenging months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Accelerating the growth of SMEs in the EU
The Amazon Small Business Accelerator trained more than 35,000 entrepreneurs in both France and Italy, and more than 30,000 in both Germany and in Spain. And we’ve recently launched an educational program in Sweden. New sales generation is vital for any entrepreneur, and it is notable that more than 65% of respondents felt the program increased their sales. For 30 years, Intersport Haindl was a traditional brick-and-mortar retailer for sports equipment, with a couple of stores in the Munich area. “It took us a long time to decide before we made the move into online retail. After all, sports equipment and apparel traditionally require a lot of in-person advice,” explains general manager Hans-Peter Trefzer. But during the COVID-19 pandemic Intersport Haindl decided to go online. “It took just four weeks from the first contact with Amazon to the first order. Together with the store business, sales doubled in a short time.”
We are proud of these findings, which reinforce our commitment to create meaningful partnerships with thousands of European entrepreneurs, start-ups and SMEs; by providing innovative capabilities, commercial and digital skills to ensure these businesses can expand across EU Member State borders and beyond.
Our upskilling commitments
We want to make it easy for people to have access to the skills they need to grow their careers and businesses. Amazon is investing to provide free skills training to employees—helping them further their careers in high-paying, in-demand roles—and is committing to provide free cloud computing skills training to 29 million people around the world, with programs available to anyone. Read our upskilling commitments to find out more.


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Range anxiety is a funny thing. You’d think that with today’s long-range EVs and the reliability of, say, Tesla’s Supercharger DC fast charging network, it would largely be a thing of the past, but it isn’t. In the case of Tesla, that’s partly because real-world driving often doesn’t measure up to the official range claims. So, how do you address something like this? By adjusting range ratings downward to better reflect reality and apologizing to owners? I mean, I would, but not everyone would do the same.
Welcome back to The Morning Dump, where we digest the news that’s often a bit short for standalone pieces but still too important to miss. Today, a report claims that Tesla’s been playing range games with customers, chrome plating might be getting banned in Europe, and a ship carrying cars catches fire with a possible electric cause.
Tesla Reportedly Manipulated Range, Hushed Customer Complaints
How far would you go to sweep complaints under the rug? Probably not as far as Tesla’s alleged to have. A Reuters investigative report claims that Tesla manipulated range readings and created a secret team to quash range complaints.
About a decade ago, Tesla rigged the dashboard readouts in its electric cars to provide “rosy” projections of how far owners can drive before needing to recharge, a source told Reuters. The automaker last year became so inundated with driving-range complaints that it created a special team to cancel owners’ service appointments.
First, let’s unpack those optimistic range estimates. According to the report, these were initially programmed into Model S and Roadster vehicles. Once the charge dropped below 50 percent, realistic range estimates were displayed on the onboard trip computer. Above that threshold? Figures were allegedly inflated. As for who commanded this directive, guess what a Reuters source said?
“Elon wanted to show good range numbers when fully charged,” the person said, adding: “When you buy a car off the lot seeing 350-mile, 400-mile range, it makes you feel good.”
You’d likely expect this approach to not go well, and guess what? It didn’t. As sales figures skyrocketed, so did the number of drivers who reported less driving range than Tesla claimed. Clearly, a solution was needed, but it was allegedly much different from the public apology and software fix you’d expect.
Advisers would normally run remote diagnostics on customers’ cars and try to call them, the people said. They were trained to tell customers that the EPA-approved range estimates were just a prediction, not an actual measurement, and that batteries degrade over time, which can reduce range. Advisors would offer tips on extending range by changing driving habits.
If the remote diagnostics found anything else wrong with the vehicle that was not related to driving range, advisors were instructed not to tell the customer, one of the sources said. Managers told them to close the cases.
Ah, so just sweep things under the rug, pull the old “your mileage may vary,” and keep an eye out for any actual range-related issues. Gotcha. However, Reuters reports that the last bit of that process didn’t last long.
In late 2022, managers aiming to quickly close cases told advisors to stop running remote diagnostic tests on the vehicles of owners who had reported range problems, according to one of the people familiar with the diversion team’s operations.
“Thousands of customers were told there is nothing wrong with their car” by advisors who had never run diagnostics, the person said.
Well, that’s one way to speed through concerns, but it’s not especially, um, good. Without diagnostics, it would be possible for a small number of people who actually needed battery replacement due to degradation to fall through the cracks.
The allegations contained within this report are serious, and perhaps the most damning is that Tesla apparently has a new Utah-based team to deal with customer range complaints. Although some deviation from official range estimates is to be expected, it’s usually standard corporate protocol that if issues pile up, it’s time to admit something’s wrong. Hubris typically doesn’t save face.
The Death Of Chrome Has Been Greatly Exaggerated
If you like your trim pieces particularly shiny, I may have bad news for you. British magazine Autocar reports that Europe is proposing a ban on hexavalent chrome from 2024. Wait, that’s next year! However, the ban isn’t without good reason, as hexavalent chrome used in automotive plating is particularly nasty stuff.
The ban has been proposed as a result of health issues associated with the creation of hexavalent chromium, which is a known carcinogen. In particular, it is a source of chronic lung cancer, with the airborne emissions given off during the plating process said to be 500 times more toxic than diesel.
However, plating with hexavalent chromium isn’t the only way to make car parts shiny. Physical vapor deposition, or PVD, allows part markers to avoid the use of hexavalent chromium and still get comparable shine and hardness. So, how does PVD work? There are a variety of methods that can be used, but it all boils down to one of two processes, the most popular of which is evaporation — a solid (trivalent chrome, in this case) is evaporated into gas while under vacuum, deposited on a surface, and then re-solidifies. Of course, you get some overspray with this method so it isn’t perfect, but it’s far more environmentally sensible than plating, provided the right equipment is used.
The bottom line? Even if this proposal gets through, expect chrome to stick around in some form for quite a while. Although it won’t be quite the same as plating, most people won’t be able to tell the difference, and once UV-coated, PVD chrome plastic pieces shouldn’t have major durability concerns.
Another Ship Full Of Cars Has Caught Fire
With so many cars being transported across the world’s oceans every single day, it shouldn’t be horribly surprising that incidents can happen. Reuters reports that one person has died after a cargo ship transporting 2,857 vehicles including 300 Mercedes-Benzes burst into flames off the Dutch coast on Wednesday, and it may have started around an electric vehicle.
The fire might last for several days, Dutch news agency ANP reported, citing the coastguard. Smoke continued to billow from the vessel near the northern Dutch island of Ameland.
“The fire is most definitely still not controlled. It’s a very hard fire to extinguish, possibly because of the cargo the ship was transporting,” said Edwin Versteeg, a spokesperson for the Dutch Department of Waterways and Public Works.
As for the cause of the fire, it hasn’t been firmly established yet, but reports suggest that it could have something to do with thermal runaway.
The coastguard said on its website the cause of the fire was unknown, but a coastguard spokesperson had earlier told Reuters it began near an electric car. Roughly 25 out of 2,857 vehicles on the ship were electric.
This isn’t the first time that a ship containing electric vehicles has gone up in smoke. Back in early 2022, a ship carrying various cars including EVs caught fire and sank. As NPR reports, the Felicity Ace was carrying 4,000 vehicles, among which included Porsches, Bentleys, and Lamborghinis. While something as simple as flammable material in a heating vent could cause a ship fire, electric vehicles onboard complicate extinguishment as thermal runaway can lead to lithium-ion cells self-igniting days, sometimes weeks, after the initial fire. According to established procedures, electric vehicle fires require huge quantities of water to put out, which may risk destabilizing ships. As it stands, there are no easy answers for dealing with electric vehicle fires on ships.
With all the hubbub about a potential chrome ban, I’d like to do an informal poll: Do you like chrome on cars? Obviously, chrome trim doesn’t work on many cars, but an excess of black trim can simply feel boring. What are your limits when it comes to chrome.
Badges? Trim? Wheels? I’d love to know.
(Photo credits: Tesla, BMW, Mercedes-Benz)
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New report appears that the Sprint iPad is ready to ship.
At this point it is pretty certain that Sprint will get the iPhone this fall. Several rumors have uncovered different aspects of Sprint preparing for the iPhone launch at the time the iPhone 5 will go on sale in October.
Don't Miss: Sam's Club Black Friday 2016 Details
If Sprint gets the iPhone, they also of course get the iPad Wi-Fi + 3G or is it 4G? That is the big question. 9to5Mac reports today that the Sprint compatible iPad is ready. The new Sprint iPad is supposed different from the Verizon iPad, which makes it more likely that it actually supports WiMAX, Sprint's 4G network. This would be a big win for Sprint. On the other hand, Sprint is likely announcing to roll out LTE 4G as well, making WiMAX less important.
How To: Buy a Pokemon Go Plus
Let's think bold. How about Apple suprises with an LTE iPad this fall. LTE 4G is offered by Verizon, AT&T has it and Sprint is likely announcing it on October 7. For the iPhone the LTE market is considered still to small, but for the iPad it could be just right to get into the 4G game.


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Antony, France, 8 March 2013 – Stallergenes S.A. (Euronext Paris CAC small) plans to evaluate
possible cooperation with Greer Laboratories, Inc. for the US distribution of Oralair, its 5-grass pollen
extract allergen immunotherapy (AIT) sublingual tablet. Stallergenes will judge this opportunity on its
own merit, regardless of Ares Life Sciences’ announcement of the signing of a definitive agreement to
acquire Greer Laboratories, Inc..
On 18 February 2013, Stallergenes announced that the FDA had agreed to review its Biologics
License Application (BLA) for Oralair.


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SAN FRANCISCO -- Apple (IW 500/9) shares tumbled Wednesday after the tech giant posted record profits and sales of its iPhones and iPads but offered a disappointing forecast for the coming months.
Apple said it made a profit of $13.1 billion on revenue of $54.5 billion in the fiscal quarter that ended on December 29 as sales of iPhones and iPads set quarterly records.
The California-based company reported that it sold 47.8 million iPhones and 22.9 million iPad tablet computers in the closing months of last year.
"We're thrilled with record revenue of over $54 billion and sales of over 75 million iOS devices in a single quarter," said Apple chief executive Tim Cook.
Some investors soured on Apple, however, after it forecast that revenue for the current quarter would range from $41 to $43 billion and a gross margin of from 37.5 to 39.5%.
Peter Misek, analyst at Jefferies, said Apple's results topped the consensus "but fell short of our estimates."
"In particular iPhone shipments of 47.8 were disappointing," he said, noting the brokerage's estimate of 53 million.
Apple shares dropped 8.5% to $470.30 in after-market trading that followed release of the earnings results.
"The most important thing is that our customers love our products," Cook said in an earnings call with financial analysts.
"Not just buy them; love them," he continued. "Everyone at Apple has their eyes on the future."
A Downward Spiral
Apple's stock has been in a downward spiral since hitting a record level above $700 last year, amid concerns that the technology icon is losing its edge in innovation, and that rivals are catching up or beating Apple in key segments.
Recently, the iPhone 5 made a lackluster debut in China and an analyst reported that Apple has cut orders for smartphone parts.
Apple remains the world's most valuable company but its image has been hit by several factors, including an embarrassing release of its glitch-ridden maps program for the new iPhone.
A survey last month showed Google's Android operating system will power more than two-thirds of smartphones sold worldwide in 2012, and will remain the dominant platform for at least the next four years.
The survey by the research firm IDC showed Android will be the platform for 68.3% of smartphones shipped in 2012, far ahead of 18.8% for the iOS platform used on Apple's iPhone.
Brian White at Topeka Capital Markets remained upbeat on Apple.
"There is quite a bit of bad news priced into the stock at current levels," he said.
White said iPhone sales were better than his recently boosted estimates but that iPad sales were below his projections of 24.5 million for the quarter.
White said he was unfazed by Apple's "signature conservative outlook" and that the company is likely to get a lift from what he believes will be a new iPhone launch in May or June, and an "iPad refresh" in March.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2013


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U.S. Trade Representative Susan C. Schwab wants to spotlight some bad Czechs.
After reviewing the state of intellectual property rights protection and enforcement in the Czech Republic, the USTR decided to add the country to the so-called 301 Watch List, which identifies countries where high degrees of bootlegging exist.
“We remain concerned at the continuing lack of effective enforcement measures against traders openly selling pirated and counterfeit goods in the notorious border markets,” Schwab said in a statement about the situation in the Czech Republic. “Intellectual property rights are critical to the continued growth of our economy, and we will vigorously press our trading partners to follow and enforce the rules to protect American creativity, innovation and technology.”
Neil Turkewitz, exec VP for international at the Recording Industry Assn. of America, praised the move, saying in a statement, “The government of the Czech Republic has thus far failed to rein in the blatant lawlessness exhibited at its many border markets. These markets openly sell pirate and counterfeit materials with little interference from the state. We hope that this special 301 announcement will serve as a wake-up call that these illegal practices can no longer be tolerated.”


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The air ambulance charity is set to open a superstore in a former Next unit in the city.
The Air Ambulance Service, which runs the two helicopters covering this region and the Children’s Air Ambulance transfer service will be calling its 57th charity shop ‘The Hanger’ because of its size.
The superstore, in the Bradgate Mall at Beaumont Leys Shopping Centre in Leicester, will undergo a transformation over the next few weeks.
The two-storey shop - with about 20,000 sq ft of space - will be transformed into the charity’s biggest store to date and will have all kinds of items for sale, as well as a donation station.
It will be selling both new and second-hand homeware, furniture, clothing and electrical items and brand-new white goods.
The charity’s head of retail, Gemma Ingram, said: "The success of our superstore is vital as our 24/7 frontline service, which has attended over 42,000 missions, receives no government funding and relies solely on donations from the public and retail income to keep saving lives.
“Shopping in a charity shop is experience shopping.
“Customers love the thrill of not knowing what they will find and we want to make that experience last longer by offering a wider choice, a fantastic and friendly environment, and by also offering a community space for them.
“After having boutique and home stores locally for a number of years we can wholeheartedly say that the generous Leicestershire community has been good to our charity and we have every confidence we will be able to bring a great charity retail experience to the people of Beaumont Leys."
The superstore announcement follows this year’s launch of the lifesaving service’s new replacement aircraft, which will are likely to attend up to 10 missions per day with each mission costing about £1,700.
Work is currently underway to get the store ready for a July launch, and the charity is welcoming stock donations and has many volunteering opportunities, so for people interested in helping can call 0300 3045 999 and specify Beaumont Leys Superstore as the location for volunteering.
For those wishing to donate items, the charity will be accepting donations at the door of the Beaumont Leys store from July 5 and people can arrange for furniture donations to be collected free of charge from June 28 by calling 07950 423767.


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Groove Adventure Rave
Kondasha Comics has updated their official Website with an announcement that they will be releasing the entirety of the Rave Master manga series digitally. As a part of their Fairy Tail conclusion celebration the 35 volume run of the manga will be released on BookWalker, comiXology, Crunchyroll, Google Play, iBooks, Kindle, Kobo, and nook on October 3. Those who are interested can pre-order their copies via the various digital platforms. For those who are unaware Rave Master is a manga series created by Hiro Mashima who also worked on the Fairy Tail manga. The Rave Master manga series was published in the Weekly Shonen Jump MagazineRead More
Kodansha Comics announced during Anime Expo that Hiro Mashima, creator of Fairy Tail, will be hosted at New York Comic Con 2017. For those who are unaware, Hiro Mashima, is known for his Fairy Tail manga series, which launched in 2006. He is also known for creating the Rave Master franchise which is known as Groove Adventure Rave in Japan. New York Comic Con 2017 will be held at the Javits Center on October 5-8.


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Co-op is packing its travel bags after ending its five-year joint venture with Thomas Cook
Cook is taking full control of its UK retail network by acquiring the Co-op’s 30 per cent stake for £50million, with a further £31.9million to be paid out in dividends.
It is also buying Central England Co-op’s 3.5 per cent stake for £5.8million. The Co-op, which has been selling off assets such as its chemists and farms to focus on core areas such as food and funerals, said a minority stake in a travel business “does not fit with our strategy”.
The joint venture has 764 stores in the UK. Cook retains the right to use the Co-op Travel brand until November 2018.
A Briton is to become the first non-Dane to run Lego in its 84-year history
A BRITON is to become the first non-Dane to run Lego in its 84-year history as the toymaker restructures its management to expand further internationally.
India-born Bali Padda, who has been with the group for 14 years and is chief operating officer, will become chief executive on January 1 replacing Jorgen Vig Knudstorp. Knudstorp, who has led the family-owned company in a turnaround over the past 12 years, will head up the new Lego Brand Group, helping to exploit what the family believes is the “still untapped potential in the brand”.
Padda said: “I am extremely honoured by this opportunity. It is a huge and exciting task and I look forward to the challenge.”
Jaguar Land Rover has appointed a Chinese national to its board to help drive sales back home
JAGUAR Land Rover has appointed a Chinese national to its board to help drive sales back home.
Pan Qing, who helped oversee Volkswagen’s growth in Asia over nine years with the German giant, is set to become executive director for JLR China from January 1, reporting directly to group chief executive, Ralf Speth.
He said: “Qing is the first mainland-born Chinese national on the board of a global automaker and his local expertise and extensive experience of the premium automotive sector makes him the perfect appointment to drive our business forward in this key market.”
Industrial equipment rental company Ashtead Group on course for higher annual profits
A weaker pound and acquisitions have set industrial equipment rental company Ashtead Group on course for higher annual profits.
The FTSE 100’s underlying half-year pre-tax profits rose by 9 per cent to £425.9million on 13 per cent higher revenue of £1.44billion after strong growth on both sides of the Atlantic following increasing activity in construction.
It forked out £142million on 11 acquisitions but got a £53million boost from the fall in sterling. Chief executive Geoff Drabble said: “Both divisions perform at the upper end of expectations.” Shares rose 16p to 1556p.


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Don't cry for the Zune just yet
Microsoft's challenger to the iPod takes second place in digital audio player market in first sales week, according to report.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Reports of lackluster sales of Microsoft's Zune that surfaced earlier this week might be a bit premature.
Microsoft's newest MP3 player, which launched just over two weeks ago, took second place in the portable digital player market in its first four days of sales, according to numbers generated by the market research firm NPD Group.
"Considering it is a new brand, it's a very good first-week showing," said Ross Rubin, director of industry for NPD Group.
Microsoft's (up $0.15 to $29.54, Charts) Zune took 9 percent of digital player sales, according to NPD, edging out Sandisk (down $0.85 to $43.92, Charts), but behind Apple (down $1.09 to $90.72, Charts), whose iPod models have long dominated the MP3 player market.
Another research agency, Current Analysis, reported a somewhat similar sales reading during the same week. For the same week ending November 18, 2006, the Zune took 7 percent of the MP3 player market, falling behind both Apple and Sandisk.
While the two reports look strictly at sales at major U.S. electronics retailers, online sales of the Zune appear not to be as favorable.
Shawny Chen, a research analyst for Current Analysis, says that in order to become a serious contender against Apple, Microsoft will have to make further adjustments to the Zune, especially considering the number of unfavorable reviews the device has received so far.
"Microsoft will have to come out with an improved Zune that touches on the very features that people are disappointed with this model, such as the limited WiFi capability," said Chen.
Kathleen Maher, a senior analyst at Jon Peddie Research, notes that even if the Zune is off to a slow start in the MP3 player market, Microsoft has had a lot of success launching a new product, tweaking it and ultimately satisfying consumers.
"It doesn't bug them to dump a bunch of money into an experiment and rejigger it along the way," said Maher, pointing at the success of the Xbox. "It's worked reasonably well."


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Olive oil jug ban backtrack
The European Commission has dropped plans that would have seen refillable olive oil bottles banned in restaurants throughout Europe from 2014.
EU announces measures to secure sustainable herring fishing
The European Commission has announced measures to secure the future of Atlanto-Scandian herring fishing, bringing European fisheries closer to their wish of sanctions on Faroe Islands.
No more refillable olive oil bottles and saucers
Starting next year, refillable olive oil bottles and dipping bowls will be banned from restaurant tables by new regulations passed by the European Commission.
Food in film
Food and film lovers share their favourite food scenes from the silver screen.
In praise of the canapé
A short appreciation of the genius of canapés.
Gallery: Coffee shop menus
Coffee lover, photographer and food blogger Giulia of Mondomulia.com shares her photos of coffee menus, from the chalkboard to the machine menu.
Q&A: Christopher Boffoli
"My work is designed to be funny, surprising and a little bit snarky."
Art and confectionary were early passions for Caitlin Freeman, but the merging of the two has forged a creative career any artist or baker would love.
Food furniture: Fad or function?
Edible furniture for times of crisis - would it ever really get that bad?
Palettes and palates
Food and art meet off the plate.


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Clear Channel adding ad displays at DIA
- Staff Denver Business Journal
More than 118 digital video screens will be installed throughout the terminal and three concourses, giving DIA what Clear Channel Airports says will be the “largest digital footprint of any North American airport.”
Clear Channel Airports is a division of Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCO).
The agreement calls for DIA to receive a minimum of $2.3 million in rent during the first year, and $3 million during the second. The payment will increase in subsequent years based on the national Consumer Price Index.
Installation plans include 70-inch freestanding LCD screens throughout level six of the terminal, six video walls on the concourses and four 26-foot diagonal LED video towers around the elevator columns in the terminal’s Great Hall.
John Ackerman, chief commercial officer for DIA, said in a statement that the airport’s new advertising program “will give businesses the opportunity to showcase their brands in new and creative ways to more than 50 million passengers a year. The advertising income realized by Denver International Airport will significantly increase nonairline revenue, which reduces costs for our airlines partners.”
The 10-year contract with Clear Channel Airports calls for the existing hotel phone boards in the baggage claim area to be replaced with touchscreens that can send information about hotels and restaurants to a traveler’s mobile device.
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President Obama was in the dark on HealthCare.gov problems
- Staff Washington Business Journal
President Barack Obama told reporters Thursday that he was not kept informed about pre-launch problems with the HealthCare.gov website, FCW reports.
"You know, I'm accused of a lot of things, but I don't think I'm stupid enough to go around saying, this is going to be like shopping on Amazon or Travelocity, a week before the website opens, if I thought that it wasn't going to work," he said in the press conference.
Obama contrasted the ease of launching his tech savvy campaign with federal IT, noting the many laws tied to procurement.
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4G is the future of mobile phone internet access, with faster connections enabling exciting new services to be offered. Our 4G mobile phones section will keep you informed of all the latest 4G mobile phones news.
Super-fast CAT6 4G network is go.
I faced this problem, I forced shut down using power + sound up buttons, the problem went away.
the last picture shows jolla-device not nokia's n1.
still not as good as the Nokia 3310


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In its drive (no pun intended) to be among the top 5 global carmaker, the Hyundai-Kia Motor Groups continues to set new goals...this Korea Herald article notes the plan...
Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp. plan to produce 922,000 and 145,000 vehicles, respectively, abroad in 2006.
The combined overseas production volume of the two carmakers under Hyundai Automotive Group is therefore expected to surge 43.6 percent to more than 1 million units.
The estimated volume is to cover 26 percent of their sales target for this year - 4.12 million units.
Hyundai Motor plans to triple its U.S. production volume to 275,000 units as its Alabama factory goes into full operation.
The annual production capacity of the automaker's Indian plant is expected to swell from 251,000 units last year to 280,000 units after its employees begin working in three shifts around mid-year.
Hyundai's Beijing factory is also scheduled to churn out 300,000 vehicles this year, up from 230,000 units, as it completed extending production lines last May.
Kia Motors plans to expand production capacity at its Chinese plant from 110,000 units last year to 145,000 units while its Slovakian factory will begin test operation in December rolling out 5,000 cars for that month.
Hyundai Automotive Group's overseas production is likely to rise to 1.35 million units next year after Kia's Slovakian plant begins full operation. The combined capacity is expected to surpass 2 million units around 2009 when Hyundai's second Chinese factory, Kia's U.S. plant and second Chinese plant are set up.
We plan to increase overseas production to react better to the changing global business environment including currency rates, said a Hyundai official.


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Ocado’s share price has crashed 2.6 per cent in morning trading after its group profits dropped by 36 per cent despite seeing a huge boost in sales during lockdown.
The online grocer saw revenues rise a whopping 27 per cent in the half year to May 31 to £1.02 billion, reflecting a major spike in demand for its retail arm.
Ocado Retail, the company’s new joint venture with retail stalwart Marks & Spencer, saw EBITDA rise 87 per cent to £45.7 million in turn.
Despite this dramatic rise in revenue, Ocado struggled to match the runaway online sales increases seen at market leaders Tesco and Sainsbury’s who were able to rapidly expand their online delivery capabilities.
Ocado’s almost entirely automated warehouses meant that it could not so easily expand its capacity, forcing it to stop accepting new customers at the beginning of UK lockdown laying bare a major drawback of its high-tech operations.
This didn’t stop the company throwing its full weight behind its automated logistics technology, having made major investments in its Ocado Solutions arm which ultimately saw it make a loss of £40.6 million overall in its first half.
This was still considerably less than the £147 million loss made it made over the same period last year.
Ocado UK Solutions & Logistics, which sells its automated technology to third party retailers throughout the UK, saw revenues increase nine per cent but profits before tax dive nearly 30 per cent to £29.3 million.
Its international solutions arm, which opened two Customer Fulfilment Centres (CFCs) in France and Canada during the period, saw “invoiced growth of 40 per cent or more” but still made a loss of £10.1 million.
The retailer said this loss was due to its “continued investment in improving the platform and building the business, and from increasing support costs with the launch of initial CFC sites.
Its forecasts for the future remained cautious, stating it was unable to predict revenue growth for the full year due to “uncertainties over the scale, and duration, of the ongoing impact of social distancing” in the UK.


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A Wall Street lawyer gave new meaning to the term
"futures market" when he tried to auction his future Social Security
checks – money did doesn’t now have – on eBay for $200,000 so he could
use the cash for a down payment on a Manhattan apartment.
"I’ve put a lot of money into the Social Security system, so why can’t I sell it to someone else?" mused Thaddeus Wojcik.
File that under "Department of HA!." Ebay yanked the auction. Here is the full story, and thanks to Chris D. for the pointer.


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While most of EA's announcements during its digital show today were about games and events that are coming soon - except the new Skate -, the publisher also released a short video regarding the next-gen ventures that are happening inside its studios.
Glimpses at games that are under development at DICE, BioWare, Criterion, and EA Motive for the next generation of consoles can be seen in the tech teaser, with EA chief studio officer Laura Miele adding that "Our studios are taking their crazy ambitious ideas and making them real."
DICE's snippet shows off a "battlefield" with seemingly hundreds of soldiers as well as a highly realistic face model, probably from the next Battlefield entry it is currently working on. Meanwhile, the dark fantasy shots from the BioWare teaser is most likely from the next Dragon Age title that has been in development for several years now.
The Criterion teaser showed off some impressive looking cars from the next Need for Speed and pointed out the massively improved loading times players will experience on the next generation consoles. Finally, EA Motive seems to be working on an open-world third-person title set in a city where players can dynamically affect the environment.
Though EA didn't give any release windows for any of these projects, it's clear at least some of them are pretty far in their development. It wouldn't be a shock if at least a couple of them, like the new Battlefield and Need for Speed games, get 2021 release dates later on for PC, Xbox Series X, and PlayStation 5.


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When Volvo launched the new V90, they did so with a series of rather stirring videos. There’s nothing unusual about that: we’re used to seeing images of the latest model pivoting from one sinuous corner to the next on an implausibly traffic-free road. But what Volvo did was more striking. Because the subject of the video wasn’t so much a car, as an entire country.
The new Volvo S90 saloon and V90 estate are now available with performance upgrade packages from in-house tuning specialists Polestar.
The new Volvo S90 and V90 are available to order now, with prices starting from £32,555 for the saloon and £34,555 for the V90 estate.
Following on the from the unveiling of the well-received saloon S90, the estate version - the new Volvo V90 - has also been revealed. The V90 rounds out the company's new 90 series models, launched by the XC90.


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Path Adds Private Sharing, Premium Version, and Strikes a Deal With Deutsche Telekom
Private social networking service Path is launching two new types of private sharing and a paid premium version, as well as announcing a pact with Deutsche Telekom, the San Francisco startup said.
With Version 3.2, users can share posts with only a select group rather than all their contacts. Additionally, they can create one permanent smaller collection, which Path is dubbing “Inner Circle.” New icons will show when a photo or post is being shared with only a select group.
The company also said it is offering a paid premium service, which gives early access to stickers and photo filters that Path had been selling a la carte.
Finally, Path is announcing a global deal with Deutsche Telekom that will have the service preloaded on DT devices, starting first in Germany. Deutsche Telekom customers will also get one year of Path Premium for free.
Other customers will be able to get Path Premium for $14.99 per year.


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San Diego nutritional supplement company suing Walgreens, alleging coupon fraud; drugstore chain billed Imagetrix for more than US$700,000 for coupons redeemed and scanned, but Imagetrix claims coupons appeared unused
January 16, 2012
– A San Diego company is suing Walgreens, claiming the nation's largest drugstore chain tried to defraud it in a coupon scheme.
U-T San Diego says the suit was filed by Imagenetix, a nutritional supplement company in Rancho Bernardo.
The federal suit filed in November involves discount coupons for its Celadrin Inflame Away product. Walgreens billed Imagenetix for $533,000 worth of coupons supposedly redeemed by customers, along with $188,000 for scanning fees.
But the suit claims the coupons Walgreens submitted to the company appeared unused. They were in pristine condition and in consecutive order.
Walgreens denies the coupons weren't distributed. A spokeswoman says the Illinois-based chain takes misconduct allegations seriously and investigates them thoroughly.
© 2020 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.


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2012년 8월 27일 (월)
High profile hacks of corporations are becoming increasingly common, and with cloud data security under the media spotlight, it seems that hackers are targeting passwords.
According to The Atlantic, the reason for this is very simple: password hacking has improved while password selection by users has deteriorated. A recent blog post by Dan Goodin, writing for Ars Technica, revealed that data loss prevention can be simple to achieve, provided that passwords are strong enough.
"Security provided by the average password in 2012 has never been weaker," Goodin wrote. "The average Web user maintains 25 separate accounts but uses just 6.5 passwords to protect them."
Passwords are usually something familiar to the user, but studies have shown that some people maintain a six-digit numerical sequence beginning with 'one' as their password or even the word 'password', which is, in the opinion of Goodin, an open door for hackers. It takes approximately 10 minutes to crack a six-digit, lower-case password and he suggests using "dumb passwords for sites that don't matter."
Goodin also believes that as technology has evolved, so have the hackers. Cloud computing is the latest way to store information and transfer data, but sophisticated cybercriminals are using software that has been specifically designed to search for thousands of passwords every minute, with new algorithms being developed all the time.
"The ever-growing list of leaked passwords allows programmers to write rules that make cracking algorithms faster and more accurate, " Goodin writes. "Password attacks have become cut-and-paste exercises that even script kiddies can perform with ease."
Websites need to improve security protocols
Finally, there are the websites themselves. When users sign up to a service, they expect that the company will have security protocols in place to protect a registered user's information. However, as recent security breaches at LinkedIn, Dropbox and Blizzard have shown, companies have been forced to admit publicly that their protocols are not sufficient to ensure data protection.
When Mat Horan was hacked, the Wired writer discovered that Apple and Amazon were easily fooled into revealing financial details that allowed the hacker a free run at his email and social media accounts. Goodin feels that websites don't have enough "cryptographic salt" to prevent these sort of attacks, writing that this is "one of the many sins that popular websites routinely commit against password security."
So the answer is simple: your password is the key to your data. By locking the door securely, you can prevent unwanted visitors.
-McAfee Cloud Security


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Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi directed the government on Tuesday, 15 March to enforce price controls on unsubsidized bread nationwide in order to help curb the recent price surges, Presidential Spokesman Bassam Rady said in a statement.
According to Rady, Al-Sisi instructed the Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade to supply bakeries with enough flour to mitigate any expected hikes in bread prices as well as entrusted the civilian police to ensure that price controls are enforced on the ground.
The directives were given by the President during a meeting with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, Minister of Interior Mahmoud Tawfik, Minister of Supply and Internal Trade Ali Moselhi, and Head of the General Intelligence Services Abbas Kamel.
As a result of the Russian-Ukrainian war, the price of subsidized bread, which is highly dependent on imported wheat, has soared by nearly 50 percent over the past week.
The price of subsidized bread loaves, however, remains unchanged at five piasters.
There has been a global increase of wheat by 48 percent, cooking oil by 32 percent, corn by 30 percent, sugar by seven percent, frozen meat by 11 percent, poultry by 10 percent, and petroleum by 55 percent. However, the prices of wheat and cooking oil in Egypt have only increased by 17 and 10 percent, respectively, according to the Prime Minister’s remarks last week.
In a statement, the Head of the Bakeries Division of the Cairo Chamber of Commerce, Attia Hamad, explained that the tonne of flour has risen to EGP 11,000 (USD 700 ) from EGP 9,000 (USD 570) in February.
Ahead of the holy month of Ramadan in early April, which often sees an increased food consumption, the president has ordered the distribution of cartons of food supplies and low-cost food commodities.
The state has also taken measures to offer farmers additional incentives to encourage them to deliver the largest possible amount of wheat during the local wheat supply season in April.


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Telstra is now Australia’s most valuable brand after increasing its brand value by 37% to $14.58 billion over the last year.
Australia’s biggest telco also climbed 35 places to be ranked 110 in the Global 500, according to analysis by Brand Finance.
“It is testimony to Telstra’s brand strength which has driven a significant increase in value despite only a 3.6% increase in revenue,” says Australia Brand Finance managing director, Mark Crowe.
Telstra displaced Woolworths, which dropped to second spot after seven years as Australia’s top brand.
“With sales expecting to slow at faster rates than rivals, the biggest challenge to Woolworths and other supermarket operators is coming from the German discount chain Aldi,” says Crowe. “This threat is exacerbated by weak brand and quality perceptions.”
The brand value of Woolworths fell 4% to $10.56 billion.
Here are the top 10 most valuable Australian brands:
The strength of the Australian banking sector is highlighted by the top four banks holding third to sixth places in the listing.
ANZ regained the number one bank rating, deposing the Commonwealth, through increased brand strength, fuelling a 25% increase in brand value.
“The Australian banks have all performed exceptionally well and have recorded increases in value, growing collectively by 3.6%,” Cow says.
The sector accounts for 33% of value in the top 100 brands.
Despite dropping one place to 4th, CBA remains Australia’s most powerful brand with a AAA brand rating. Here are the top 10 most powerful, as opposed to valuable brands:
Brand Finance judges brand strength by analysing marketing investment, brand equity (the goodwill accumulated with customers, staff and other stakeholders) and finally the impact of those on business performance.


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The Illinois Lottery Launches Fast Play Online
A New and Convenient Way to Play the Lottery’s Popular Retail Draw Game
CHICAGO, Illinois (November 29, 2021) – This month, the Illinois Lottery became the first lottery in the U.S. to launch its Fast Play games online.
Fast Play is a quick and easy draw game that gives players a chance to win prizes at the point of purchase without picking numbers, completing play slips, scratching or waiting for draw results. It was first introduced to the Illinois market in retail just over a year ago and is now available online through the Illinois Lottery website and app.
“We’re continuing to build a modern lottery for the future,” said Harold Mays, Acting Director of the Illinois Lottery. “By modernizing the way we deliver our products, we provide convenience for players. With an omnichannel experience, our players can choose to play in retail or online, which strengthens our ability to continue generating essential funding for education and good causes across Illinois.”
Five Fast Play games were launched online this week at different price points, offering players the chance to play for a set jackpot, a progressive jackpot, or to wager a percentage of a progressive jackpot.
The Illinois Lottery’s private manager Camelot Illinois worked closely with its sister company, Camelot Lottery Solutions, to transform the Lottery’s retail Fast Play games into an engaging online play experience.
“The Camelot LS gaming unit has significant experience and notable success in the design and production of pay-to-play games,” said Gareth Moore, VP of Business Operations, Camelot Illinois. “We have developed over 150 online lottery games across a number of jurisdictions – and we’ve now turned that experience and expertise into optimizing the Fast Play experience online for Illinois Lottery players.”
Fast Play is the newest set of games offered by the Illinois Lottery, and it performs an important role in its overall portfolio of games by offering a quick and easy game experience with an immediate outcome.
The Illinois Lottery will continue to develop its Fast Play game offering over the coming months to continue bringing an engaging experience and new ways for its loyal playerbase to play and win in retail and online.
In a little over a year, 12 million Fast Play tickets have been sold in retail in Illinois bringing home big wins for players, with over $37 million in total prizes won across the State.
About the Illinois Lottery:
The Illinois Lottery has contributed over $22 billion (since 1985) to the state’s Common School Fund to assist K-12 public schools, as well as hundreds of millions of dollars to the Capital Projects Fund and to special causes like Illinois Veterans services, the fight against breast cancer, MS and Alzheimer’s research, Special Olympics, police memorials and assistance for people living with HIV/AIDS. For more information visit illinoislottery.com.
About Camelot Illinois
Camelot Illinois is the private manager of the Illinois Lottery. In partnership with the State, Camelot operates a modern lottery that truly benefits the people of Illinois. Camelot works with the Department of Lottery to grow the lottery and generate essential funding for education across the state. The company’s innovative approach places consumers and social responsibility at its core to maximize funding for schools, capital projects and special causes. To learn more, visit www.camelotillinois.com.
SOURCE: The Illinois Lottery.Tags: Illinois Lottery, Camelot Illinois


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FedEx Ground delivery network ‘on the brink of COLLAPSE’ as $54bn conglomerate ‘refusing to act’
FedEx Ground’s delivery system is at risk of a complete collapse as the local contractors it relies on face rising costs and with no sign of their compensation rising any time soon.
The FedEx Ground network relies on local delivery companies to handle the package and package delivery on behalf of the $54 billion multinational conglomerate.
But now one of the largest supply companies is warning that the entire system is on the verge of falling apart and local workers will no longer be able to cope with rising costs.
“The FedEx Ground network is in much more danger than anyone realizes. If Wall Street analysts, FedEx Corporate and FedEx Ground understood the extent to which the network is at risk, there would be widespread panic,” said Spencer Patton, President of Route Consultant.
FedEx Ground Supply Contractors Demand Higher Wages and Business Changes, While Inflation Pressures Profit Margins
FedEx Ground works by leveraging the services of approximately 6,000 small businesses contracted to make door-to-door deliveries.
Patton, who operates a fleet of 275 vans and has 225 employees in 10 states on its books, is seeking a 50 cents per stop increase for delivery contractors and a 20 cents increase for long-haul carriers by the end of Nov. 25. start of the holiday shipping season.
Patton hoped to negotiate directly with FedEx Ground and had formed a 10-member committee in hopes of drawing their attention.
Patton insists he’s not trying to form a union, despite the setup being remarkably similar.
“FedEx Ground has no network without contractors. And we don’t have a network without FedEx Ground. So we’re inextricably linked here in our mutual destiny,” Patton said insider.
“The FedEx Ground network is in much more danger than anyone realizes. If Wall Street analysts, FedEx Corporate and FedEx Ground understood the extent to which the network is at risk, there would be widespread panic,” said Spencer Patton, President of Route Consultant who has operated 225 trucks in 10 states.
Patton first sounded the alarm earlier this year when fuel prices began to rise, writing two letters to FedEx Ground management signed by hundreds of contractors.
Contractors are facing tightness due to the rising costs of fuel, labor and trucks.
Patton first sounded the alarm earlier this year when fuel prices started to rise and wrote two letters signed by hundreds of contractors to FedEx Ground management.
He has argued that up to 35% of FedEx Ground delivery providers are at risk of financial hardship and urged his leaders to improve compensation and has gathered colleagues to his cause.
CEO John Smith responded simply by telling the contractors how the company looked at fuel compensation in the contracts and decided that no special action was needed.
“We recognize that changing market dynamics and current economic conditions can present new challenges for service providers, and we remain committed to working with these companies to create opportunities for continued success,” a FedEx spokesperson said in a statement.
FedEx does not employ drivers for its ground operations and instead relies on contractors – often small operations with tight profit margins
But Patton’s very public statement appears to have been feathered and FedEx has now cut ties with him, suing him for describing his posts as “spreading misinformation about his company for financial gain.”
In its lawsuit, FedEx alleged that Patton is discrediting its Ground business through a series of false and misleading statements about its commercial activities.
FedEx says the escalating conflict is hurting its business and forcing it to spend money on damage mitigation.
Unfavorable coverage from Patton’s campaign could damage Ground’s reputation with the shippers who pay it to deliver packages and damage goodwill within its network of contractors, FedEx claimed in its complaint to the U.S. District Court for the middle district of Tennessee.
Failing to comment on the merits of the case, Patton made public the termination of his relationship with FedEx, saying the “company move to cancel our contracts is a clear case of (the) silencing everyone with a voice.” ‘.
Local delivery companies are making the drop-offs on behalf of Fed Ex with extraordinarily small profit margins


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Crumbs Bake Shop Closes Stores Across the Country
Cupcake fans and even employees were stunned today to find Crumbs Bake Shop has closed all stores nationwide. Is this the beginning of a cupcake crisis? INSIDE EDITION reports.
It's a cupcake crisis! Crumbs Bake Shop, a national cupcake chain, is crumbling. Every one of its stores is shutting down from New York to Beverly Hills.
Crumbs Bake Shop started out as a mom and pop shop on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and grew to 48 shops in 10 states across the country. But today they're all closed leaving customers asking, "What went wrong?"
Crumbs said in a statement, "Regrettably Crumbs has been forced to cease operations."
It came as a complete shock to 800 full and part-time employees. One employee told the Wall Street Journal, "I'm skipping to work and suddenly I don't have a job."
Cupcake loving customers were also in for a shock when they came to get their cupcake treat. One patron told INSIDE EDITION, "My heart's broken."
Cupcakes are one of the hottest dessert trends going. America's love for cupcakes has even spawned TV reality shows like DC Cupcakes and Cupcake Wars.
So, does the closing of Crumbs indicate the cupcake craze is over? INSIDE EDITION stopped by New York's famed Magnolia Bakery.
A Magnolia representative told INSIDE EDITION, "We're not concerned. We've been open now for almost 19 years, and we've had such a wonderful time growing this brand and seeing people come in and enjoying it, and we look forward to continuing that for years to come."
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ITV ties up deals with STV and UTV
ITV boss Adam Crozier's efforts to streamline the broadcaster took another step forward with new licensing arrangements with STV and UTV, its counterparts in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Under the new deal, ITV will sell its ITV Network schedule to the channels for a fixed price rather than charging a proportion of revenues.
High street suffers trading slowdown
Hopes that the high street has turned the corner were dashed yesterday as retailers posted another fall in underlying sales. Despite widespread discounting, retailers of clothing, footwear and homewares suffered a slowdown in trading last month, but food sales picked up. Like-for-like retail sales tumbled by 0.3 per cent in February.
Chairman hunt for BBC Worldwide
The BBC has begun the search for a new non-executive chairman of BBC Worldwide, the arm responsible for sales of programmes overseas and merchandising. The BBC's executive board, led by director-general Mark Thompson and senior independent director Marcus Agius, the Barclays chairman, will make the appointment.
Petrofac enjoys surge in profits
Petrofac, the oil-services firm, beat City expectations with a 25 per cent jump in pre-tax profits to $539m (£340m) last year. The firm is set to meet its target of more than doubling the $433m post-tax profits that it made in 2010 by 2015. Chief executive Ayman Asfari said the group's pipeline of orders left him "confident" of achieving the goal.
Google signs up for King's Cross
The huge redevelopment of wasteland behind King's Cross station has won its biggest coup yet as web giant Google signed up to move its UK headquarters there. Google will leave its London base at 123 Buckingham Palace Road when its lease ends in 2016, although it will keep its new "hub" in east London.
Dunelm slides as bosses sell shares
THE market value of Dunelm, the soft furnishings retailer, tumbled today after it said its deputy executive chairman and his wife are to sell nearly £25m of shares. Will, the son of Dun- elm's founders Bill and Jean, and Nadine Adderley are to offload about 5 million shares, equal to 2.5 per cent of its share capital.
Mining demand buoys Intertek
Intertek, the FTSE-100 company that safety-tests everything from shrimps to bubble-blowing toys, saw pre-tax profits rise 23 per cent to £260m last year, amid strong demand from the commodities sector. The firm's petrol and minerals arm grew revenues 12 per cent to £530m.
Paddy Power rings up winnings
Paddy Power boss Patrick Kennedy unveiled a 16 per cent rise in profit to €121m (£100m) for 2011, on revenues up 26 per cent to €295m. Its revenues on mobile phones soared 299 per cent to €43m. There are now 169 shops on UK high streets with plans for another 40 this year.
Gemfields sales shine on emeralds
Gemfields, the emerald miner which recently moved into rubies as well, said after-tax profits increased by 42 per cent to $22m (£14m) in the six months to December 31. Revenues from rough and polished emeralds rose 57 per cent in the half.
Takeover slump to hit F&C profits
Jeremy Tigue, the fund manager behind the £2bn-plus Foreign & Colonial investment trust, said profit and dividend growth from the companies it invests in is set to slow down in 2012 along with the likelihood of fewer company takeover bids.Reuse content


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Downtown property manager envisions downtown Elkhart farmers market
Creating an opportunity to buy locally grown food in a new building designed as a farmers market could help further downtown Elkhart’s revitalization, as a city council member sees it.
Dave Osborne wants to develop the market on property he owns just south of the railroad tracks on downtown Elkhart’s southern edge, across Freight Street from the National New York Central Railroad Museum and next to Bowly’s Crystal Bar. He’s looking for investors willing to put up the building’s estimated $400,000 cost — money he thinks could be easily recouped from rent that vendors would pay.
Osborne, a city council member, envisions an 11,550-square-foot steel frame structure with steel exterior finish that would house a restaurant, five larger retail spaces fronting St. Joseph Street, and 10 stalls rented out to a mix of local food and craft vendors. It would operate year-round with ample parking.
“A lot like the farmers market in South Bend, where it’s open air and you’ve got multi vendors who are selling everything from produce to art and antiques and leather goods,” Osborne said.
Osborne, who owns and rents out several downtown buildings, said since he’d supply the land, he doesn’t want to also bear the cost of fronting the capital for the project. But he’s confident it would succeed.
“I think it’s pretty much a phenomenon that’s happened the last 10 or 15 years in America,” Osborne said. “The upstart of farmers markets has been going on all over the place.”
According to his projections, charging vendors about $400 a month would generate enough revenue to recoup the initial investment relatively quickly. The low rent would help attract plenty of vendors, he said.
“A lot of people dream of having a little retail business, but when they go out to a strip mall or something and check into rent, it can cost you $1,200 to $1,500 a month for rent, then you have to pay all of your utility deposits, your set-up costs, your dropped ceiling and your carpet,” he said. “Before you know it, it can cost you a couple thousand bucks a month just to open the doors, so it’s difficult for small business people to get into the retail business because they can’t find affordable spaces.”
Diana Lawson, chair of SoMa, the South Main Street revitalization initiative, said the project would be a “great asset” for the area.
“This fits in perfectly with what the SoMa vision is,” Lawson said. “We’re lucky to have someone like Dave interested in sparking it.”
Lawson said she would love to see downtown restaurants partner with the farmers market vendors, as part of the “farm-to-fork” trend that consumers are increasingly demanding.
She said she plans to start talking about the concept more around town to create awareness among potential vendors, farmers and restaurants.
Another big fan of the idea is Mayor Dick Moore. Osborne has given him copies of his architectural renderings and proposal.
“I like the idea a lot,” Moore said. “I’ve always wanted Elkhart to have something like that. Wherever I’ve been where there’s been a farmers market set up like he has drawn here, they’ve been successful.”
If Osborne can secure the capital to build the facility from the private sector, the city might be willing to explore whether it can offer publicly funded help. That could come in the form of a property tax abatement or in-kind infrastructure work, such as paving a parking lot, Moore said, while noting he has not yet researched which, if any, federal, state or city resources could be tapped for such help.
“There has to be some outside interest before the city would become involved,” Moore said.
But the mayor said he doesn’t think it’s far-fetched that Osborne can find private sector investors.
“It may be he’s chosen the right time,” Moore said. “We’re coming out of the downturn and there is more investment being made.”
Osborne was asked why he’s so confident his farmer’s market could succeed when others, such as the one attempted on S.R. 19 south of Elkhart, failed a few years back. He said that one ended up being more of a flea market than a farmers market.
”My whole idea is design and build this building that’s specifically for this purpose,“ he said. ”There’s a lot of forethought … if you do it right and make it affordable, people will come. It’s a gamble, to a certain extent. There’s not that many people who are into building strip malls or retail centers. Most of that now is done by the big developers, the big money people. This is kind of a smaller scale thing. This would take somebody locally who sees the value in it.”


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The Huawei Blaze, the Chinese company's first own-brand phone to hit the UK, could be out as soon as September, according to Bloomberg.
The Blaze is tipped to be a budget Android smart phone, running version 2.3 Gingerbread of Google's mobile operating system, and a 3.2-inch touchscreen. It could sell for as little as £100, analysts reckon.
Another phone, the Huawei Vision, is also headed for the UK, and the company will also sell a tablet called the MediaPad.
Why are we so excited about a cheap Huawei Android mobile? Well, marketing a phone under its own name -- rather than letting another company slap its logo on and take all the credit -- is the same move HTC made a few years ago. It quickly went from making phones for the likes of T-Mobile to selling its own brilliant devices. And now it's one of the biggest names in mobile tech.
More recently, phone builder ZTE decided to start making its own-branded mobiles too. ZTE is the company behind phones like the Orange San Francisco and Orange Monte Carlo.
"We're trying to establish the brand, almost from scratch," said Mark Mitchinson, Huawei's UK executive vice president. He reckons Huawei will be competing with "anyone involved in Android".
Tough talk. Huawei will need a good deal of marketing clout to make the public aware of its existence, even before it can be considered a rival to manufacturers such as Samsung, Sony Ericsson and HTC. We'd suggest Huawei starts with a campaign explaining how to pronounce its name.
Do you think Huawei stands a chance? Let us know in the comments section below, or on our Facebook wall.


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Frédéric Mazzella, founder of sharing economy unicorn BlaBlaCar, is to join the board of neighbour-to-neighbour food sharing app OLIO.
The non-executive director will be joining co-founders Tessa Clarke and Saasha Celestial-One, alongside investors Sonali De Rycker from Accel, and Zoe Chambers from Octopus Ventures.
Mazzella founded car-pooling service BlaBlaCar in 2004 in France and has led the business to become a global success, with operations in 22 countries and over 70 million members worldwide.
He is also a board member of Trivago, the global hotel search platform, and the co-president of France Digitale, a leading organisation for the start-up community in France.
“OLIO’s mission is to reduce our environmental impact by changing our behaviour around food, just as BlaBlaCar is changing the way that 70 million people use their cars,” said Mazzella.
“It is the noblest mission one can think of for the next decade, and can be achieved through the immense power of a large community focused on a single, positive cause.
“I truly see OLIO as the BlaBlaCar for food, and am looking forward to passing on my experience of scaling a sharing economy activity to the point where it can have a real impact.”
Food sharing app OLIO launched in the UK in January 2016 and has since acquired 850,000 users who have shared over 1.2 million portions of food. The liquidity of the platform is exceptionally high, with half of all food added to the app being requested in less than two hours.
Last summer OLIO announced a $6m Series A round of financing which the company reports is being used to double the size of the team and to invest in product, including their Food Waste Heroes Programme which enables high street retailers, caterers and other local businesses to be zero food waste.
Clarke said: “I’m absolutely thrilled that Fred will be joining our board. Not only does he share our enormous vision and ambition for OLIO, but he also has incredible experience successfully scaling BlaBlaCar as a product focused founder in the sharing economy sector.
“I’m sure he will be a fantastic addition to our Board and I’m very much looking forward to working together to take OLIO to the next level.”
Chambers, who led OLIO’s recent Series A raise added: “Having individuals such as Fred, with his brilliance at creating a fantastic and seamless user experience, and knowhow of starting and scaling a company using technology that allows people to achieve value from otherwise-wasted goods, will be transformative for OLIO moving forward.”
Sonali De Rycker, who led OLIO’s first two rounds of financing and has worked with Fred previously commented: “Fred is an outstanding entrepreneur and has been a true pioneer in the sharing economy. OLIO will benefit enormously from his scaling experience as they look to embark upon the next exciting phase in the business’ growth.”


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FSIs urged to exploit tablets
By Digital News Asia May 16, 2012
- FSI sector yet to realize tablet benefits
- Tablet support increasing in corporate banking
THOSE working in the financial services industries (FSIs), especially in the corporate banking and wealth management sectors, should look into the possibility of using tablet computing as a way of differentiating themselves from the competition, according to Ovum.
The analyst firm noted that the FSI sector as a whole has yet to realize the potential for easy and enjoyable content consumption represented by tablets, as their slick, gesture-driven user interface and shareable screen are ideal features for helping customer meetings run more smoothly and effectively.
Ovum senior analyst Rik Turner said the financial sector as a whole has come out of the global crisis with an urgent need to rebuild its credibility with a disillusioned public.
“In certain sub-verticals such as wealth management more ‘face-time’ with the customer can help this rebuilding process,” Turner said in a statement.
A new report released by Ovum noted that support for tablet devices was increasing in corporate banking, to accommodate treasurers' needs when they are out of the office, and in wealth management, as an aid to customer interaction in face-to-face meetings.
Turner pointed out that most in the FSI most divide their assets up to be managed by different wealth management providers, and as such, a well-executed meeting carried out with the aid of a tablet may attract further business away from a competitor.
He also noted that currently, many independent software vendors (ISVs) that address these financial market segments currently prefer the downloadable to the browser-based app, but added that this trend is changing, due to improvements taking place in browser technologies.
“HTML5 is becoming more robust and will gain momentum through 2012,” said Turner. “Features such as the ability to work offline, access on-device contact lists and so on, are in development.
“And although there is still a significant drawback to be addressed in the form of code security, this too may not be an insurmountable obstacle,” he added.
Turner further noted that with these improvements combined with the downloadable apps’ immense shortcoming – a different version must be written for each operating system the developer wants them to run on – Ovum expects to see more companies looking at browser-based functionality a year from now.


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Even Coinbase would suffer
Some feel that if Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin, is unmasked, it could pose a major risk to the Bitcoin ecosystem and to companies whose businesses revolve around the success of the dominant cryptocurrency. One company that cares about this is Coinbase, which is planning to go public listing on NASDAQ.
The S-1 record of the digital trading platform with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which was released on Thursday, listed the scenario as a possible risk to its business.
Just like any company that wants to go public, Coinbase mentioned potential threats to your business in the process. The possibility of passing on Satoshi’s Bitcoins is another risk factor, according to the protocol.
If Satoshi’s identity is revealed, Bitcoin’s price could deteriorate, said Business Insider, noting that the SEC filing makes reference to Satoshi’s Bitcoins. The creator is said to have 1 million BTC, extracted in the early days of the cryptocurrency.
The risk is guaranteed, given that in May last year, the price of Bitcoin was briefly shaken by news of very old Bitcoins – possibly owned by Satoshi – suddenly emerging from decades of dormancy. Business Insider added that if the creator is identified, it will pose a threat to the decentralized nature of Bitcoin.
If Satoshi’s identity is revealed, which would result in a drop in the price of Bitcoin, Coinbase’s business will be affected. The company said it should continue to benefit from the rise in digital currencies, just as it did in previous years.
Another risk identified by Coinbase was the growing popularity and adoption of decentralized finance.
“We compete against an increasing number of decentralized and non-custodian platforms and our business could be adversely affected if we are unable to compete effectively against them,” the document said.
Coinbase also said that it expects new products and technologies to continue to emerge that may be superior to its products.
“Our success will depend on our ability to develop and incorporate new offerings and adapt to technological changes and evolving industry practices,” he concluded.