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'More Gray Skies Ahead' for Retail Sector
Michael Tucker firstname.lastname@example.org
As the retail sector's shakeout continues, a number of retail real estate markets face more vacancies and falling rents, said Reis Senior Economist Barbara Byrne Denham.
"This pattern is expected to continue as more stores will close this year," Byrne Denham said. "[But] at the same time, we continue to see stores opening in every metro. A number of other big box vacancies have been converted to self-storage and/or sold to developers for redevelopment."
The overall retail vacancy rate held steady at 10.2 percent in the first quarter but the mall vacancy rate increased 0.3 percent as more Sears stores closed, Byrne Denham said. Rent growth was flat.
Vacancy increased in 28 of the 77 metros Reis studied, similar to previous quarters. The average asking and effective rent both grew 0.4 percent, in line with previous quarters.
Byrne Denham said the bigger news was the drop in retail sales in early 2019. "While this sends a chill through the retail real estate industry, the underlying data shows that the drop in sales was found in food and beverage stores, building material stores and general merchandise stores, all of which may have been impacted by weather conditions," she said. "All of these categories show healthy year-over-year sales growth while other categories show year-over-year declines such as electronics stores, miscellaneous stores and furniture stores."
Reis reported restaurants showed strong sales growth in February and over last year. When auto, gasoline and e-commerce sales netted out from total retail sales numbers not including restaurants, it found real-estate-using retail sales declined 1.1 percent in February. "In short, the retail real estate sector will likely see more gray skies ahead," Byrne Denham said.
Reis found a number of stores continued to open during the quarter. Of more than 16 million square feet of leases signed in the past five quarters, grocery stores were the leading new occupant followed by home/houseware stores, gyms/fitness, discount variety stores and discount clothing stores. Other media reports of store brands expanding include Five Below and Hobby Lobby.


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Commonwealth Bank, ANZ, Westpac, St George, Bank of Melbourne, Macquarie Bank and Bank SA. customers have been hit several times by a nationwide outage, with widespread reports of people being unable to pay for shopping or access accounts.
CommBank, Australia’s largest, confirmed the outage in a social media post on Tuesday morning.
Overseas banks have reported similar problems over the past few months which media commentator Charlie Ward says is testing for the switch across to the new, global Nesara financial system.
The outages also hit airline Virgin Australia and Australia Post and a broad swathe of other companies.
“Virgin Australia was one of many organisations to experience an outage with the Akamai content delivery system today,” Virgin said.
“We are working with them to ensure that necessary measures are taken to prevent these outages from reoccurring.”
Akamai is a US-based global content delivery network or “edge platform”, cybersecurity and cloud service provider.
ANZ acknowledged a similar issue and said “at this stage we do not have an ETA for a fix, please try logging on after an hour”.
Customers reported being unable to use internet banking, mobile banking, as well as some ATMs and cards, from about 2.10pm, according to Down Detector.
Shortly after 3pm (AEST), Commonwealth Bank tweeted that it was aware some customers were “experiencing difficulties accessing our services and we’re urgently investigating”.
“We apologise and thanks for your patience, we’ll provide an update soon,” it said.

domain: news


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SEATTLE — Starbucks Corp. is expanding its iced coffee offerings with the addition of several cold brew items to its menu. The introduction reflects the increase in popularity the cold brew category has achieved in the past few years.
The focus of the new menu will be two varieties, a nitro cold brew and a traditional cold brew made with vanilla sweet cream. The nitro cold brew is infused with nitrogen to create a smooth texture, according to the company.
“We start with a small chilled keg of Starbucks Cold Brew coffee,” said Anthony Carroll, senior manager of coffee quality development for Starbucks. “Then it’s infused with nitrogen, which unlocks the super-smooth, natural sweetness of the cold brew coffee, which then cascades from the tap with a velvety texture you can see and taste.”
The nitrogen variety is currently only available in select stores in Seattle, but the company plans to roll it out to more than 500 company-operated stores later this year.
The vanilla sweet cream cold brew variety is made with cold brew coffee over ice and topped with a vanilla sweet cream. A tall serving has 100 calories and 12 grams of sugar, according to the company.
Other varieties included in the new menu roll out include Starbucks Doubleshot on ice, a caramel iced macchiato and a traditional iced coffee.“For over 40 years we have perfected the craft of roasting and brewing the finest hot coffee, and while we have always offered our customers new options in cold coffee, nothing will compare to the pace of flavor, craft and brewing innovation we will see in the next few years,” said Howard Schultz, chairman and chief executive officer of Starbucks. “The opportunity to create an entirely new cold coffee experience is limitless and our customers are already telling us that they want to meet us on this journey as cold coffee is now becoming a go-to drink.”


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Kasapreko Company Limited, a leader in the beverage industry, has emerged the biggest winner with the manufacturing industry at the 2019 Chartered Institute of Marketing of Ghana (CIMG) Awards.
One of the company’s flagship brand Alomo Bitters picked the Product of the Year Award; in the Manufacturing Category at the ceremony held at the Conference Centre Dome.
The CIMG National Marketing Performance Awards is a high-profile event that acknowledges individuals and organisations for marketing excellence and innovation.
The awards seek among other things to promote high professional standards and to encourage excellence among marketing practitioners. It also aims at ensuring the provision of high-quality products and services.
“We are excited about this award as it comes to confirm the success story of the Alomo Bitters brand. This year, we are celebrating the authentic Alomo Bitters; a brand that has survived the test of time for 20 years,” Evans Kwofie, the Marketing Manager of Kasapreko said.
He explained that Alomo Bitters’ success is traced deep down to the roots of its authentic herbal composition and organic appeal.
“Alomo bitters is extracted from our local plants using sophisticated machines to blend and package to the taste of our cherished consumers.
“Its variants Alomo Gold and Silver is a blend of carefully selected tropical plant extracts based on a secret family recipe, scientifically processed to ensure your body receives the herbs the way nature intended,” he said.
Mr Kwofie added, “winning these awards goes to acknowledge our commitment to leading innovation and identifying with Ghana’s market. Kasapreko is humbled to receive the awards; as it will further motivate our staff to cherish creativity and innovation”.
Meanwhile, there is an ongoing promotion as part of Alomo Bitters’ 20 years celebrations aimed at rewarding consumers with over ¢2 million worth of prizes including the grand prize of two cars.


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According to a new study published by Cerulogy - a sustainable policy consultancy based in North America, demand for biofuel made with palm and rapeseed oil is resulting in an increase in global food prices. Initially popularised to curb the use of fossil fuels in the early 2000s, the EU introduced the EU biofuel directive in 2003, but later agreed to cap biofuel use at 7% in 2015 amidst growing concern for biofuel's link to deforestation and environmental degradation.
The increased demand for biofuel is questionably causing more damage than fossil fuels, despite its aim of initially being introduced as a cleaner source of fuel. A report published by the Royal Academy of Engineering said some biofuels, such as diesel made from palm oil, have led to more emissions than those produced by the fossil fuels they were meant to replace; not to mention the larger environmental effects palm oil production is having in developing countries. Accessibility of food is becoming increasingly more difficult as a result of rising prices, biofuel production is also heavily linked to land grabbing, heavy pesticide use, and deforestation to make room for palm oil plantations.
Not all biofuels compete with food for land: second-generation biofuels come from food crop by-products, such as bagasse from sugarcane, while the source for third-generation biofuels is algae. However, palm oil accounts for an estimated 12% of the feedstock used to produce biofuels within the EU, with 46% of the crop being imported into the EU being used for biodiesel in 2015. Reducing demand in Europe for food-based biofuels would relieve pressure off food commodity markets, create modest reductions in global food prices and poverty rates, ultimately resulting in net global welfare improvements. Palm oil production is in direct conflict with humanity's efforts to combat climate change, and is adding more fuel to the fire of global warming, as well as destroying biodiversity.
Greenpeace surveyed 14 global consumer goods manufacturers - including Ikea, Johnson&Johnson, PepsiCo and Unilever, which have all implemented 'no deforestation' policies, in search for a better understanding of the practical actions these companies are taking to combat deforestation in their supply chains. The results showed that the none of the companies were able to say with certainty that there is no deforestation within their supply chain and how much of the palm oil comes from suppliers that comply with their own sourcing standards policy. This illustrates the responsibility that companies have: not only in preventing deforestation, but eliminating the role they play in reducing global food prices. This is particularly the case in the developing countries where the palm oil used for their products is sourced, and where rises in food prices have the most impact.


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Custom furniture is hard. Either you’re talking about something high-end with all sorts of frippery or something deliriously low-end like a countertop. What about the middle? The folks at Meble.pl, a Polish furniture manufacturer, are aiming for that interesting (and lucrative) market.
First off, bear with me. The Meble.pl website is awful and the company has been around since 2008 as a sort of domain hijacking service that took over a number of popular Polish domains, the Polish equivalent of kitchen.com, chair.com, and the like. Then, over the past few years, the company received an infusion of $5 million and another $3.3 million from the Poland-based Internet Investment Fund is on the way to improve the company considerably. What the new meble.pl (literally “Furniture.pl”) is doing is offering custom-cut particle board and plywood furniture at scale, something that many have tried but few have mastered.
The goal was simple: to allow users to create furniture online and have it delivered in two days. This includes cabinets, drawers, shelves, and the like in multiple colors. Robots cut out the parts to order and everything is flat-packed and shipped. Due to demand, however, the process now takes five days, an issue the company is currently working to remedy.
“Meble.pl takes orders purely from internet where customers can choose out of a variety of furniture styles either individual or whole sets. The customer tailors the furniture according to his needs–changing sizes, shelves, drawers, individual colors of various parts, accessories (quality of hinges, drawer rails, holders) which can affect the price dramatically. While customizing the customers sees the price changed in real-time. The moment he accepts the purchase, the production process starts,” said Rafał Styczeń, a lead investor and advisor.
The team has produced 1,000 units a month since 2013 and they expect some interesting growth next year. By creating a precision pipeline for custom furniture, the team hopes to move away from the portal mode and into a true online furniture source. After all, Polish furniture is (nearly) the best! “Poland furniture market is one of leading in Europe,” said Styczeń. “Poland is the number three top producer of furniture in Europe, and number four worldwide.”


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While the COVID crisis has presented UGM with numerous challenges – masks, social distancing, reduced capacity, cancellation of events – it has also presented a fabulous opportunity for UGM to serve more people in a critical way.
When the virus first hit, restaurants closed across the region. Not only did those restaurants have large quantities of prepared food that needed to be used, the purveyors who supply those restaurants had tons of product ready to deliver to businesses who no longer needed it.
UGM started getting lots of calls from people who wanted to donate food – a huge blessing, for sure – but it came with a challenge: most of this food had a limited shelf life. It needed to be used quickly or go to waste. And there was more food than UGM could use at its four shelters – more food than we could even store.
Enter a beautiful collaborative effort between US Foods, local restaurants, churches, other non-profits and UGM. US Foods provided a refrigerated trailer for UGM to park in our back lot. They also sent lots of quality food product – dairy, eggs, meat, produce and more – which we either used or passed along to other non-profits who share our mission.
As a Donated Food Distributing Organization, UGM is well equipped to help smaller non-profits who do not have either refrigerated transport or the capacity to store large amounts of food. We don’t have the staff to organize food distribution to individuals, but we can get it into the hands of people who take the next step.
Dave Nelson is one of those people. A pastor at Grace Christian Fellowship, Dave recognized a meaningful way to reach out to his community. He started picking up food from UGM and worked with staff at Logan Elementary, located in one of the highest poverty areas in the county, to distribute that food to families in need. Dave said families were even picking up food to share with other families. “There’s quite a bit of sharing the love.”
Ryan Brown, UGM Director of Youth Outreach, jumped on the food distribution train, as well, delivering food boxes to the families of students who could no longer come for community meals at the Student Impact Center. Ryan said it was a great opportunity to serve not just the kids, but the whole family.
Patrick Vollmer, owner of Blaze Pizza, was on the other end of the food chain. He had to close Blaze for an extended period and knew right where he wanted to go with all those pizza crusts, sauces and toppings. “It’s been a blessing to be a part of what UGM does in this community.” The food donated from Blaze fed over 600 people through UGM.
During difficult times, it helps to know that God is still at work, providing abundantly for those in need.


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UNIPORT, the last remaining deepwater container terminal in the Rotterdam city area, is to cease operations by late March 2020 owing to the ongoing loss of business to the Maasvlakte-based terminals.
The final straw appears to be the planned transfer of three CMA CGM services to Rotterdam World Gateway at Maasvlakte II. Transport trade union FNV Havens told UK's WorldCargo News that the loss of CMA CGM's PAD, NBX and Nefgui services will reduce Uniport's annual throughput below 200,000 containers - a red line that parent company Steinweg Handelsveem considers critical for viability.
Earlier, Maersk's "overflow" business - to relieve its Maasvlakte terminals - dried up, although Eimskip still is a major customer.
The 54-hectare Uniport terminal has an annual capacity of 400,000 moves (say, 700,000 TEU) and its quay wall measures 2,400 metres in length.
Steinweg's CEO Ulf Boll has promised to redeploy Uniport's 200-plus staff. The company has to resolve the personnel issue itself, as it is not party to the Rotterdam port-wide social agreement concluded in 2016 to protect dockers losing their job as a result of the opening of two new container terminals at Maasvlakte II.
Steinweg has 20 terminals in Rotterdam. Its nearby short sea specialist Rotterdam Short Sea Terminal (RST), which has the same management as Uniport, is the only big container stevedore left in the city area. Its gantry cranes lack the lift height and outreach for many deepsea ships, which makes Maasvlakte-based ECT an obvious contender to pick up business.
Launched in 1968 as Unitcentre, Uniport was Rotterdam's second deepsea container terminal after ECT (1966).


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Some UK supermarket schemes meant to tackle the mounting problem of soft plastics pollution are failing to adequately address the issue, a new EIA briefing has found.
In The Great UK Soft Plastics Scandal, we warn that this serious shortcoming, combined with inadequate current Government policy, could result in greenwashing being substituted for meaningful action.
EIA’s research also revealed how a fund set up by some of the world’s largest brands to encourage UK soft plastic recycling has yet to pay out a penny and exposes how, at the heart of Government, an MP paid to chair a packaging industry lobbying group can directly influence a Parliamentary group he also chairs.
The prevalence of soft plastics – which can include products such as plastic carrier bags, bread and cereal bags, cling film, bubble wrap, magazine wrap and shrink wrap (for multi-pack products such as drink containers, tinned food and toilet paper) – is a particularly concerning aspect of the ongoing global plastics crisis.
In 2020, 92 per cent of plastic film packaging placed on the market in the UK was not recycled, accounting for 38 per cent of the 828,000 tonnes of plastic packaging not collected for recycling from households. Whether disposed of or rejected at recycling facilities which cannot recycle them, these soft plastics are likely dumped in landfills or incinerated.
EIA Ocean Campaigner Lauren Weir said: “Plastic over-consumption and pollution are very pressing existential threats to the environment and to human health – and our new briefing strongly indicates that these threats are not being taken seriously enough.
“Focusing on trying to recycle hard-to-recycle soft plastics or the unethical export of plastic waste, on which these schemes are primarily focused, will ultimately allow the harmful status quo to prevail. We simply don’t have the time to indulge in half-hearted efforts.”
UK supermarkets and brands, primary producers and distributors of soft plastic packaging, are seeking new ways to deal with this problematic waste stream in a bid to meet voluntary and regulatory targets.
Responding to this, in addition to consumer demand and a current lack of kerbside household collection, many UK supermarkets have introduced in-store soft plastic takeback schemes, with customers encouraged to return soft plastic waste via bins provided.
However, investigations have found that two supermarkets have contracted UK waste reprocessing company Eurokey Recycling Ltd to handle this in-store collected soft plastic waste, which is initially exported to Poland, although the fate of these wastes is ultimately unknown.
With Eurokey Recycling having previously breached regulations in at least two instances and with plans to expand in the UK, more clarification is required as to where and how this waste is being treated; the export of plastic waste from high-income countries such as the UK is an unethical practice resulting in environmental, social and human health harm.
Action against soft plastics is also being claimed by some of the world’s top polluting brands. In May 2021, Mars, Mondelēz International, Nestlé, PepsiCo and Unilever, also privy to the UK Government’s plastic packaging tax and other regulatory obligations, were the initial founders of a joint fund to help incentivise a soft plastics recycling market in the UK.
But these global companies have collectively put a total of just £1m a year into their Flexible Plastic Fund which, according to EIA’s calculations, would pay to tackle only about 10,000 tonnes of soft plastic. This level of funding is disproportionate when compared to the actual volumes of plastic film packaging not currently being collected at the kerbside for recycling – 288,750 tonnes in 2019 and 287,500 in 2020 – and to the current plastic reduction targets of these companies.
Furthermore, the Flexible Plastic Fund has to date yet to pay out a penny.
Research for The Great UK Soft Plastics Scandal further identified a potential conflict of interests at the heart of the UK’s Parliament.
The UK Flexible Plastic Fund has the support of Mark Pawsey, MP for Rugby and Bulkington, who, since 2020, has had a second job outside of Parliament as a £30,000-a-year Chair of the Foodservice Packaging Association (FPA) lobby group, which represents the industry to all four UK governments and engages with key Government departments and committees.
The FPA, with Pawsey at its head, takes the position that people, not producers, are responsible for plastic pollution and has been pushing to pause the implementation of UK policies currently being developed, including extended producer responsibility for packaging.
But Pawsey is also Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Packaging Manufacturing Industry, which is also attended by the FPA and which views citizen responsibility to be the key element when it comes to participating in recycling and eliminating littering behaviour.
For instance, during the Government’s Environment Bill debate in January 2021, Pawsey insisted: “It is not the packaging manufacturer that is the polluter – people are.”
EIA approached Pawsey for comment as to whether he considered his twin roles to be a conflict of interest, but his response did not address the question. He did state that when asked by the FPA to take on the role of chair in 2020, he immediately declared this role on the Register of Members’ Financial Interests and has drawn attention to it on each occasion he has spoken on matters relating to the sector in Parliament.
However, EIA has found four separate instances where Pawsey spoke of packaging or plastic in Parliament but did not declare this interest.
Weir added: “This raises serious concerns about how industry lobbying may be holding the Government back from taking adequate action over plastic packaging and waste.
“We urgently need appropriate solutions to the problem of dealing with hard-to-recycle soft plastics, plastic over-consumption and plastic pollution and these need to be both effective and transparent.
“What is clear is that these self-regulating measures and current industry and Government investment are nowhere near robust enough to make the necessary impact. The UK Government should provide a timely policy framework that is truly reflective of the plastic crisis we are currently living.
“Other countries are not our dumping ground and prioritising the recycling of hard-to-recycle plastic over eco-design, reduction and reuse is wrong. UK Government policy needs to meaningfully address this by banning plastic waste exports and ensuring a mandated plastic reduction target is in place.”


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Earlier this week Amazon ran an incredible PlayStation VR deal that is unfortunately sold out (we’ll be sure to keep you posted if it comes back), but there are other great deals to check out this weekend.
Looking for tech deals? Check out The Verge’s roundup here.
Polygon Deals is a weekly roundup of the best deals on the internet, curated by Vox Media’s commerce editor, Chloe Reznikov, in collaboration with Polygon’s editorial team. You can submit deals to firstname.lastname@example.org and find more Deals here.
Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence editorial content, though Vox Media may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links. For more information, see our ethics statement.


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SAN FRANCISCO: Intel Corp on Thursday (April 27) posted a massive fall in sales for the first quarter of 2023 because of a steep drop in the demand for semiconductors – or chips – that power personal computers and smartphones.
Intel’s revenue fell 36% to US$11.7 billion (RM52.1 billion) in the three-month period and the semiconductor giant posted a loss of US$2.8 billion, its biggest ever for a quarter.
Rising prices, a global chip glut and poor demand for hardware also punished Intel’s rival Samsung, which earlier on Thursday reported its worst quarterly profits in 14 years.
But Intel shares rose 5.6% in extended trading after the executives on a conference call estimated that adjusted gross margins will climb above 40% in the second half, having hit historic lows in the first half of the year.
Intel estimated second-quarter earnings below Wall Street forecasts despite its greater sales optimism, a sign that the company is still struggling to make money despite early signs of a recovery in global chip demand.
The company forecast a second-quarter revenue range with a midpoint of US$12 billion, above analysts’ consensus estimate of US$11.75 billion, Refinitiv data showed.
Intel chief executive Pat Gelsinger said in an interview he was “seeing some green shoots, increasing stability in the PC market as inventories have stabilised”, adding that he expected the company to hold its position in the data centre business.
But Intel predicted second-quarter adjusted losses of 4 cents per share, worse than the 1 cent per share profit that analysts had estimated, according to Refinitiv data.
Intel has also ramped up shipments of its most powerful data centre chip, Sapphire Rapids, whose more than one-year delay had allowed rival Advanced Micro Devices and ARM-based server CPU makers to take market share from the company.
Intel has a commanding market share for PC and server processing chips and the company has planned to spend billions of dollars to build out new manufacturing hubs and improve product design and performance.
Revenue from its data centre and AI group fell 39% to US$3.7 billion. Client computing group revenue, which includes PCs, dropped 38% to US$5.8 billion.
Intel is one of the world’s leading semiconductor makers that makes a wide range of products, including the latest generation chips along with Taiwan’s TSMC and South Korea’s Samsung.
It was also affected by falling demand for chips that power data centres and is struggling to compete with Nvidia for the semiconductors that undergird ChatGPT-style generative AI, a major new and chips-hungry sector for the industry.
The chips industry is well known for its volatility, with demand and supply see-sawing with the dips and rises in the world economy. – AFP, Reuters


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Visa Study: One in two Hong Kongers are open to try virtual banks, while one in three are aware of open banking
• Hong Kong consumers want competitive rates, low fees and better user experience from virtual banks
• Open banking services are embraced but there is pushback on the sharing of personal data
One in two Hong Kongers are likely to open an account with a virtual bank with a tenth saying they will definitely do so, according to a study by Visa, the leading global digital payment technology company.
The Future of Commerce: Consumer Payment Attitudes Study 1 by Visa shows that consumers perceive benefits of virtual banks to be lower banking fees (62 percent); better interest rates compared to what are currently being offered (47 percent); and better user experience (32 percent).
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority granted eight virtual banking licences as of May 2019, a key component of the government’s Smart Banking Initiatives. The aim is to facilitate financial innovation, enhance customer experience and improve financial inclusion.2
Maaike Steinebach, General Manager, Visa Hong Kong and Macau: “Visa’s study indicates that there is sizable consumer demand for quality digital banking experiences, in addition to low fees and better interest rates. Keeping customers front of mind is a key factor that will determine the success of incumbent and challenger banks.”
The three main perceived disadvantages of virtual banking are the lack of track record of the bank (55 percent); trustworthiness (52 percent); and the lack of physical branches (49 percent).
Ms. Steinebach added that, besides the arrival of virtual banks, open banking, or the Open Application Programming Interface (API) Framework3 as implemented in Hong Kong, would play a critical role in driving competitive innovation within the financial services sector. Such digital transformation would need collaboration across sectors from government to technology platforms and providers to other API and data owners such as retailers, telecommunication companies and utilities.
Hong Kong consumers are interested in open banking services such as advanced payment advice, for instance, payment notifications (54 percent); consolidation of bank and credit card accounts (44 percent); and instant and more competitive financing products (44 percent).
Yet there is substantial pushback in the required sharing of personal information in order to implement open banking services. Two in five (40 percent) find sharing credit card transaction history with service providers unacceptable. Forty-six percent object to sharing of bank account history, while one in two disagree with sharing their social media profiles.
“While safeguarding customers’ personal data and ensuring maximum security are two crucial steps in advancing open banking or open API in Hong Kong, equally important is the need to educate consumers on what this is all about – how it works, what they are really signing up for. So consumers can then make the right decisions with confidence. This requires collaboration from all players in the ecosystem,” said Ms. Steinebach.
1 Consumer Payment Attitudes Study research commissioned by Visa aims to understand the behaviors of digital consumers and to identify areas where greater adoption of electronic payments can be adopted. The survey was conducted amongst 1,250 consumers in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau in May 2019.
About Visa Inc.
Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) is the world’s leader in digital payments. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, reliable and secure payment network - enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. Our advanced global processing network, VisaNet, provides secure and reliable payments around the world, and is capable of handling more than 65,000 transaction messages a second. The company’s relentless focus on innovation is a catalyst for the rapid growth of connected commerce on any device, and a driving force behind the dream of a cashless future for everyone, everywhere. As the world moves from analog to digital, Visa is applying our brand, products, people, network and scale to reshape the future of commerce. For more information, visitAbout Visa, visa.com/blog and@VisaNews.


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Government of Accountability Office found in 2018 that two out of every five products purchased online was counterfeit.
The damage goes beyond lost sales, however.
“Counterfeits hurt our member brands and consumers when sold domestically, just as much as when they are sold overseas,” explains Helfenbein.
Does Amazon have fake products?
But make no mistake: The problem is extensive. Most people don’t realize this, but the majority of listings on Amazon aren’t actually for items sold by Amazon—they’re run by third-party sellers. And even though many, many third-party sellers are upstanding merchants, an awful lot of them are peddling fakes.
Why does Amazon allow fake products?
The one that allows Amazon to be “exempt from prosecution” because they only “import, warehouse, and ship” the counterfeits for the real “sellers”. The law allows Amazon to claim it doesn’t “sell” anything… Seller making money, amazon making money, poor people who can not afford real LV are saving money.
How do I avoid counterfeit items on Amazon?
How to Avoid a Fake
- Scan the customer reviews. Many people rely on Amazon customer reviews to find reliable products.
- Examine the product’s packaging. Brands generally put their logos on packaging, not just the products.
- Know the hallmarks of the real product.
How can you tell if reviews are fake on Amazon?
And if there’s an abundance of one-star or 5-star reviews, but the text is barely longer than a sentence (or even just a word or two), then that’s also a telltale sign of fakes. Look for “verified purchase”: Reviews from users who actually bought the product will have a “verified purchase” badge next to their name.
Does Amazon sell fake AirPods?
Amazon still sells plenty of counterfeit goods even though it’s tried to crack down on fake sellers for years, according to The Guardian. The fake AirPods, for example, were shipped to Amazon and sold with Amazon Prime delivery and drivers.
Does Amazon refund fake products?
If you receive a counterfeit item, the seller has two options. Refund you IN FULL without requiring a return. They will likely do this to keep you from reporting them for selling counterfeit products. Give you a prepaid label to mail it back before you get a refund.


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Devine Street Boutique Relies On Social Media to Kick Start Business
Annabelle LaRoque says her boutique's motto is, "You're one of a kind...your dress should be too!"
By: Lauren Hinnant
When Annabelle LaRoque graduated from the University of South Carolina in 2005, her Public Relations degree took her to the world of corporate America. LaRoque left that job five years ago to start her own business and become her own Public Relations representative too.
She is now the owner and designer of LaRoque Boutique on Devine Street in Columbia.
"When I first started my business, the thought of calling it a clothing line seemed preposterous. All I knew what that I wasn't happy in my current job," said Laroque.
She says since she does her own Public Relations, she relies on social media like Facebook and Twitter to get the word out about her unique boutique.
"Truthfully, out of about 5,000 people, I'm probably good friends with about five people," said LaRoque.
On Facebook, customers tag her name in their pictures to show other Facebook fans her designs.
"Before I knew it, I had all of these strangers wanting to be my friend. They were all uploading and commenting on pictures. I knew very quickly that this was an important platform for my business," said LaRoque.
She is uses her Twitter page as a trial. She uploads a picture of one of her designs and waits to see the response.
"Within a couple of hours, all of these people had liked it and wanted to know what other fabrics it came in," said LaRoque.
LaRoque's clothing lines and shop have been featured in magazines and newspapers across the country, including Southern Living and The New York Times.
"Facebook doesn't have an age limit and neither does Twitter so it's just a way for people to see LaRoque outside of what it is in this college town. When someone chooses to wear my piece of art to celebrate their day, that feels really good."


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Turnall announced that it will remain listed despite its two major shareholders increasing their ownership in the listed manufacturer.
Company secretary Lizzy Samunda in a statement said, “Zimbabwean Brands (Private) Limited increased its shareholding in Turnall Holdings Limited on the 10th of May 2023. The shareholder acquired an additional 51,741,300 ordinary shares representing 10,5 percent of the Company’s total issued ordinary share capital.
“Zimbabwean Brands shareholding in the Company, taken together with that of Mega Market (Private) Limited which is deemed to be an associate company, has now increased from 68,2 percent to 78,7 percent of the total issued shares of Turnall Holdings Limited. The Company intends to remain listed on the ZSE and shall seek the necessary dispensation in this regard.”
Turnall had issued a rights issue proposal but later withdrew after other shareholders offered to sell their shares as a way of avoiding being diluted.
In a cautionary statement the company said at the time, “As advised in the cautionary statement dated 30 April 2023, the Company has been considering a Rights Issue. This has caused several significant shareholders to reconsider their long-term commitment to the business.
“The shareholders have now reached an agreement for the disposal of their shareholdings to the major shareholder who remains committed to the long-term success of the company. In view of these developments, the cautionary statement of the 30th of April 2023, is hereby withdrawn.”
Analyst Namatai Maeresera said, “It is the logical thing to do if you are not willing to invest more in a company that has generally not given you much in the past. Dilution of ownership was obviously going to happen like any rights issue and they have made a smart move.”
This comes after Zimbabwean Brands, a local company in July 2022, announced that it had bought a significant stake in the roofing material manufacturer. It went on to offer to buy out minority shareholders as per the standing rules but was not successful.
The company in July 2022 through a cautionary statement said it had acquired a stake worth 32,55 percent of Turnall Holdings.
Zimbabwean Brands’ I. A. Kurawley in a statement at the time said, “Due to common interest between Mega Market and Zimbabwean Brands, the total common shareholding became 49,59 percent post acquisition.”
Turnall is engaged in the production of building and construction materials comprising corrugated sheeting, flat sheets, pan tiles, pressure pipes, sewer pipes, concrete roofing tiles and related accessories. The Company operates through the segments, which include Building products, Piping products and Concrete tile.
The Building products segment is engaged in the production of roofing sheets, flat sheets and molded goods. Its piping products segment is engaged in the production of water and sewer reticulation pipes. The Concrete tile segment is engaged in the production of concrete roofing products.
It offers products, including garden decor, partition boards, barges, fascia, pantiles, slate and endurites. Its product line also includes Ravenna concrete tile, Nutech non asbestos sheets and Turnall Spanish pavers. The Company has its market presence in South Africa, Mozambique, Zambia and Malawi – Harare


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Software-as-a-services (SaaS) based video editing platform VideoVerse acquired the US-based, AI-enabled content generation startup Reely.ai. VideoVerse serves a wide range of businesses, including OTT, broadcasting, sports clubs and leagues, marketing agencies, and e-gaming platforms.
With this acquisition, VideoVerse seeks to expand and better serve its customers in the gaming and esports segments. The transaction value is not disclosed.
In April of last year, VideoVerse received $46.8 million in Series B funding from A91 Partners, Alpha Wave Global, and Binny Bansal.
VideoVerse intends to use Reely, which uses artificial intelligence to identify highlights and key moments during a game and simplifies the creation of highlight videos for the creator across multiple social media channels.
Furthermore, Reely’s technologies, according to its website, assist sports teams, content creators, and esports organisations in optimising content for the audience on social media in realtime. It also develops new workflows for content creation, brand marketing, and monetization.
“VideoVerse’s comprehensive expertise in short-form video creation and distribution, combined with the latest AI and ML technology, pairs perfectly with our real-time gaming solutions,” said Daniel Evans, CEO of Reely.ai. He went on to say that with this acquisition, both companies hope to bring innovation to the video content creation process. As content pervades every industry in some way, the content generation market is increasing in a variety of ways.


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In an interesting turn of events, new Twitter boss Elon Musk has now reached some kind of agreement with Apple. In regular fashion, Musk…
Huawei has sneakily announced launch dates for arguably its two most important devices of the year: the foldable Mate X, and the flagship Mate 30 5G.
According to a picture of a slide taken at a 5G conference in Russia (spotted by GSMarena), Huawei provided attendees with more tangible calendar dates for the two devices.
The Huawei Mate X is set to debut in September. The Huawei Mate 30 5G will debut in December.
The snap also suggests that the Huawei Mate 20 5G, the company’s first 5G smartphone, is now available in Russia. It’s not clear when or indeed if the phone will be heading to South Africa.
We should believe that this is a timeline for Russian release though, so it may not be in line with availability in South Africa.
And, considering that there will likely be a 4G version of the Mate 30 too, we could likely see the device a little sooner than December.
Feature image: The Huawei Mate X, by Andy Walker/Memeburn


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Police Looking for Cross-Dressing Lottery Ticket Thief
Police are following the trail of a cross-dressing thief who stole a display case full of lottery tickets from a convenience store in Depew, New York, and was caught in the act on camera.
The unusual robbery happened at a Noco station on George Urban Boulevard in Depew.
Detectives say a man dressed as a woman walked right up to the counter and walked away with a case full of lottery tickets, $2,000 worth, but what's even more shocking is what happened next.
The video shows it clearly.
Feb 13, 2007, 10:00 am - Lottery News forum
Woman stole lottery tickets to get better working hours
A convenience store worker allegedly stole at least $800 worth of Pennsylvania Lottery tickets and gave the winning ones to her boss in exchange for better working hours, police said.
Marcella Fletcher, 53, of Garfield Street, Nanticoke, faces charges of theft, tampering with records, and making false reports to law enforcement, police said.
According to police, Fahim Mirza, owner of the Uni-Mart on Market Street, told police on Jan. 15 that one of his former employees had been stealing fr ...
Feb 9, 2007, 9:15 pm - Lottery News forum
Company proposes new pooling lottery ticket to fight 'jackpot fatigue'
An Arizona company has designed a new lottery ticket concept that would enter the purchaser in a pool with other lottery players, at the same time entering chances that are not part of the pool.
The company claims that the increased number of chances to win will combat jackpot fatigue, a sense of dimished player excitement over large jackpots leading to lower ticket sales.
The company hopes to attract state lotteries with its promise of higher sales. According to the company's press reles ...
Feb 9, 2007, 7:00 pm - Lottery News forum
Lottery revenue important to a host of businesses
If the New York Lottery vanished tomorrow, many store owners would suffer. Their businesses rely on the 6 percent commission they get from lottery sales.
I would not be in business without the lottery, said Mike Palencar, who owns two convenience stores in Webster, N.Y.
He estimates that lottery commissions amount to just 5 percent of his stores' total profit. But sales commissions aren't the only benefit for the lottery's 16,000 vendors statewide. People coming to the stores to buy lott ...
Jan 30, 2007, 10:36 pm - Lottery News forum
Oregon Lottery trying to shut down 'casino delis'
Across Oregon, delis that seem to specialize in lottery more than lunch pose a dilemma.
The businesses generate profits to the owners and the Oregon Lottery, supplying an increasingly vital portion of the state general-fund budget. But critics say these establishments cause more social ills and violate a state constitutional prohibition of lottery casinos.
These are casinos doing business under the guise of being a restaurant, a tavern, said David Leslie, executive director of Ecumenica ...
Jan 26, 2007, 9:46 am - Lottery News forum
Stolen lottery tickets lead to bathroom standoff
A robbery involving Texas Lottery tickets led to a standoff in a public bathroom Tuesday morning in northwest Harris County near Houston.
Sheriff's deputies said a group of armed gunmen stole lottery tickets from a convenience store early Tuesday.
Several hours later, a man returned to the store and tried to cash one of those stolen tickets. Employees told deputies they called for help when the man went to the restroom.
The man was still there when deputies arrived, and employees and ...
Jan 10, 2007, 1:21 pm - Lottery News forum
Investigation to probe who wins B.C. Lottery prizes
Follows similar investigations of Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation and Atlantic Lottery Corporation
The British Columbia Lottery Corporation is welcoming an investigation by the provincial ombudsman into the number of insider wins and ticket-selling practices.
Trust is paramount, lottery corporation spokesman Paul Smith said. We think this is a good opportunity for third-party reassurance to the public.
B.C. Ombudsman Kim Carter announced the investigation yesterday, saying t ...
Dec 20, 2006, 12:16 pm - Lottery News forum
Canada lottery retailers win major prizes more than public
The British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC) said this morning it's not worried that ticket retailers win prizes of more than $10,000 six times more often than the rest of the players.
There have been four confirmed cases of retailer misconduct over the last two years, with three involving ticket sellers misleading ticket holders about how much or whether they had won.
Some ticket buyers say they have considered that possibility before.
One man says if the lottery retailer has the ...
Dec 14, 2006, 2:39 pm - Lottery News forum
N.C. lottery retailers caught selling to minors
Fourteen Western North Carolina lottery retailers were cited for selling tickets to minors in the state's first test of the underage law, according to state Alcohol Law Enforcement Division records.
A two-month investigation done in August and September randomly checked 348 retailers statewide. Of those, teenagers were successful 98 times in buying $1 scratch-off tickets.
Thirty-eight of those stores are in Charlotte, 33 in Raleigh, 13 in Greensboro and eight in Greenville.
The state's ...
Nov 27, 2006, 7:54 am - Lottery News forum
Man who stole winning lottery ticket gets 5 years
A judge on Friday sentenced Sam Grair to five years and four months in prison for stealing a lottery ticket worth $524,000 at the store where he worked.
Grair, 43, pleaded guilty in September to grand theft and presenting a fraudulent claim to a government agency.
Prosecutor Howard Wise said the message is this: It is a deterrent to any store clerk that is in a position of trust so they won't do the same thing.
Wise said Grair, of Camarillo, had no prior criminal history.
In cour ...
Nov 18, 2006, 10:45 am - Lottery News forum


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Bungie.net news update brought with it more than just info about Halo: Reach's Xbox Live stats -- it also featured a couple of screens showing an extra 10 Achievements and 250 Gamerscore for the just released title. In a segment explaining how to install the game to the 360's hard drive, two screens can be clearly seen with the adjusted Gamerscore and 'Cheevo count (1250 up from 1000 Gamerscore and 59 up from 49 Achievements).
Bungie doesn't directly address the changes in its update, instead hinting at "some new stuff" being added in a "potential second October update." Unfortunately, this hint is dropped right after talk of the regular housekeeping performed on Halo multiplayer, so it's unclear what's being hinted at directly. Halo 3 was eventually lavished with an astonishing 1750 Gamerscore when all was said and done, so the idea of an extra 250 doesn't seem like much of a reach if you ask us.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]


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This certification validates Novetta’s ability to provide consistent, high-quality products and services to our customers while striving for continual improvement throughout the organization.
McLean, VA – May 17, 2019– Novetta, a leader in advanced analytics technology, announced today it has received ISO 9001:2015 certification through BSI Group America, an IAF/ANAB accredited Certifying Body.
Novetta obtained ISO 9001:2015 certification based on our ability to provide products and services that meet customer requirements, enhance customer satisfaction, and improve business processes.
“We are extremely proud to have achieved ISO 9001 certification. It reflects long-standing best practices in growing our business and retaining high-performing staff,” said Tiffanny Gates, President and CEO of Novetta. “This certification recognizes our commitment to quality in policies and procedures, business operations, and customer engagement.”


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Today, CI Games have announced a further push back to their stealthy-shooter, Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3. This time, the push back has only been a short delay of 3 weeks to make further improvements the devs felt were necessary after receiving feedback from the game’s most recent open beta.
Studio CEO, Marek Tyminski said, “We’ve worked tirelessly creating a whole new Sniper Ghost Warrior experience set in an ambitiously crafted open world new to the series. While it’s an unfortunate decision to delay the game one last time, we believe these final changes will result in a better experience for players worldwide on day one. Thank you for your patience – we know the wait will be worth it.”
Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3 now has a worldwide released date of Tuesday, 25th April 2017 and will be available on Xbox One, PS4 and PC. Below is the official announcement trailer that was released in August of last year, in it we also see the original release date of 27th January 2017.


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Activision Blizzard Inc. said Thursday it sold about 5.6 million copies of "Call of Duty: Black Ops" for $360 million on its first day, setting a new record for the video game industry.
Analysts said the strong day one performance was largely expected given the sizeable number of preorders. "Black Ops," a gritty military-themed shooter game that is the seventh installment of the popular "Call of Duty" franchise, has received good initial reviews. The game went on sale on Tuesday in the U.S. and Britain in one the most highly anticipated game debuts of the year.
Last year, one-day global sales of the last version of the game, "Modern Warfare 2," were 4.7 million units in the United States and the United Kingdom.
•CLICK HERE to read the Reuters story.
For reprint and licensing requests for this article, CLICK HERE.
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“Continued weakness in the global PC market was the primary factor in our disappointing results,” said Logitech’s CEO, Bracken P. Darrell, after the company announced an operating loss of $180m for the third quarter of their 2013 fiscal year. Based on this, the company wants to place greater focus on manufacturing tablets and smartphones and added that their goal PC-related “is to maximize profitability.” Some products will be discontinued.
Logitech, who are headquartered in Switzerland, have been manufacturing computer peripherals for over thirty years and make an awful lot of products that slot into your PC, from mice to webcams to very big and very complicated joysticks.
Darrell said Logitech’s future strategy would “reduce costs significantly across the company” and would be characterised by an “unwavering focus on developing great products both for large and for fast-growing markets,” such as mobile devices.
“We plan to expand our presence in the growing tablet accessories category with the launch of a number of exciting new products later this quarter,” his statement continued. “Our goal with PC-platform products is to maximize profitability, while investing selectively in growing categories… We plan to discontinue non-strategic products, such as speaker docks and console gaming peripherals, by the end of Calendar Year 2013.”
Thanks to Polygon.
Please note: this article has been corrected after an earlier version stated that Logitech’s plans to expand in the mobile market also meant they would shift their focus away from PC peripherals. This is not the case.


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Marketing technologies solutions provider Wireless Ronin Technologies Inc. announced it has rolled out an upgrade of its flagship RoninCast software platform to continue to extend the multichannel integrated marketing technologies offering launched in 2011.
The RoninCast software update includes several key features, including:
- Automated conversion capability for smartphone and tablet content delivery.
- Additional data integration capabilities for data-driven content and integration with social media.
- New organization and control features allowing users to align content to their organizational structures.
- Performance and usability improvements.
RoninCast software now also features an enhanced reporting infrastructure for improved system monitoring and business intelligence. This reporting, along with a full upgrade of its network operations center ticket management and CRM system, provides the support capacity needed for large-scale rollouts.
The upgrade has been a key driver for recent new business, including new pilot programs with major brands such as Buffalo Wild Wings, Nissan Canada and Burgerville, the company said. Wireless Ronin has also deployed these upgrades to longstanding clients such as ARAMARK and Chrysler.
"Our recent wins demonstrate the unmatched value RoninCast software brings to our end-users, as well as our ability to handle large-scale rollouts for national brands," said Scott Koller, Wireless Ronin's president and CEO, in the announcement. "These enhancements reflect our commitment to delivering best-in-class technology solutions across our key vertical markets of food service, automotive and retail. The RoninCast software updates create greater and more timely customer ROI, and we hope will create new wins and existing customer rollouts over the coming quarters."
Read about digital signage software.


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New Thomas Cook UK managing director Salman Syed has outlined four key priorities for the business under his helm along with a cultural change in the way the business connects with staff and customers.
Speaking for the first time to Travel Weekly, he said the four areas of focus for the UK business were: the customer; creating a successful omni-channel business combining the use of shops, web and call centre in the sales process; product development, particularly innovation; and staff.
He added: “Our people are a great asset and taking that engagement to the next level is going to be our priority. We have a lot to celebrate; we need to be proud of our heritage and the trust customers have in us. We need to do more to keep that trust and earn more trust.”
Syed said the group’s high-street shops were “very much” part of the business’ omni-channel approach as well as focusing on improving the experience for customers using the telephone, web, mobile phones or tablets. Almost half of UK web traffic is now through mobile or tablet devices, he said, but less than half of bookings are made online.
“There is still a lot more we can do to add value and improve the customer experience,” he said. “We are committed to the high-street.”
Syed would not comment on the future of The Co-operative Travel brand on the high-street but added: “I am extra optimistic about the future. We have to be focused on cost and on growth and I think it’s a balance for us.”
In light of rival Tui Travel’s decision to launch an early peak season marketing push, Syed promised “a few surprises” with a peak season campaign of “greater impact than last year”. He would not be drawn on the details of the campaign.
Syed also pledged to introduce a cultural change to the business to improve the company’s connection with customers, with a more personal approach, and a more open relationship with its own staff with an “inclusive leadership” approach. Already 150 top managers in the business, including Syed, are to “adopt a store”. They will be tasked with spending five full days in a shop during the next year to improve their understanding and needs of the business.
He added: “We want a more personal and much closer emotional connection with the customers because ultimately this a big part of the experience. I will be in shops and doing mystery-shopping and talking to our people. It’s the culture that we are trying to drive and change.”
Syed was named UK MD earlier this month. He joined the group in April this year as managing director of commercialisation, supporting chief executive Peter Fankhauser in the management of UK operations.
Today he announced a shake-up of his senior management team, with Stefanie Berk promoted to the role of product and yield director following Uli Sperl’s return to Germany to become head of transformation, central product unit.


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- Best Buy cut hundreds of jobs last week in its stores as the electronics retailer anticipates declining demand from its customers, according to The Wall Street Journal and other media outlets.
- According to the Journal, which cited anonymous sources, the positions cut include workers who help with purchasing or planning home-entertainment systems.
- Best Buy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Best Buy was among those retailers able to capitalize on the pandemic, as consumers outfitted and upgraded their homes and home offices with new technologies, with help from government stimulus that has since run dry.
Some of those customers’ purchases, such as televisions and computers, likely won’t need repeating anytime soon. And in the meantime, inflation in essentials like food and gasoline has led many consumers to pare back spending on discretionary and big-ticket items. According to Adobe’s Digital Price Index, online prices for electronics fell 9.3% year over year and 2% month to month in July — a sign of weakening demand.
In a better market, as the retailer’s sales and profits boomed starting in 2020, Best Buy still excised thousands of full-time jobs, as executives anticipated more digital shopping and sought to reduce the proportion of full-timers to part-timers on its rosters.
Some employees told Retail Dive last year that the cuts exacerbated difficulties in their jobs, making it harder to assist customers for example. Adding more tasks to store roles also made it more difficult to serve customers and build up deep knowledge in a product category, sources also said last summer.
The latest cuts come after Best Buy revised down its guidance for the second quarter. The retailer now expects Q2 comp sales to fall about 13%. CEO Corie Barry said at the time, “As high inflation has continued and consumer sentiment has deteriorated, customer demand within the consumer electronics industry has softened even further, leading to Q2 financial results below the expectations we shared in May.”
After last year, when comps grew a record 10.4% on top of 9.7% growth the previous year, it was likely inevitable Best Buy would face declines this year. It started the year forecasting a decline of 1% to 4%, but the retailer’s Q1 and projected Q2 have already significantly outpaced that.
“Electricals, which is Best Buy’s area of focus, has been particularly hard hit as it requires not only cash but confidence to buy many of the big-ticket items,” Neal Saunders, managing director with GlobalData, said in emailed comments. “Against this backdrop of declining sales, Best Buy needs to retool its operations so that it is not overstaffed and pressuring its bottom line.”
Best Buy’s store-level cuts follow a year when many retailers complained of a labor shortage across the U.S. Barry, after the company let go of 5,000 employees in 2021, joined the chorus of retail executives discussing how hard it was to find good help.


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Making Cloud SLAs readily usable in the EU private sector
Why the UK's G-Cloud Programme is a model for Europe
The G-Cloud, which launched in 2012, essentially provides an online Digital Marketplace where public organisations can find different services offered by a large amount of suppliers that are part of the G-Cloud Framework Agreement. The G-Cloud has definitely had an impact on the way the UK public sector buys commodity IT services and the government has been commended on the strides it has taken to refine the procurement and certification process through the G-Cloud.
A research report issued by IDC at the end of last year, claims the UK government is “ahead of the curve” when it comes to cloud adoption and streamlining digital service procurement practices across Europe.
However, over the past five or six years, western European governments have certainly embraced and realised the potential benefits of cloud computing. Whilst initially deemed as a way of saving considerable cap-ex now Government CIOs are starting to see the wider benefits of cloud computing, like improving accessibility to applications and data from remote locations and multiple devices, as well as the extra scalability and elasticity to deal with peak workloads.
The time is ripe for desperately cash-strapped European governments to put in place a G-Cloud style framework to not only save vast sums but also reap some of the rewards the UK G-Cloud programme has delivered.
Market sector targets
European-Government. By implementing a G-Cloud Framework similar to what the UK have put in place, the programme has the potential to save European governments billions. For example, I’ve calculated that the UK government should actually be aiming for a 70-80% savings on their ICT spend from the G-Cloud. If done properly, G-Cloud has the potential to be hugely disruptive and could be saving the government £12bn per year by 2020.
Measuring efficiencies and impact - Working For Government
The G-Cloud has made it clearer, simpler and faster for the whole of the public sector to buy digital products and services when they need to. By creating a marketplace of quality suppliers of all sizes, who work in agile ways, to supply and work with government.
G-Cloud has facilitated four types of savings for government:
- Published prices in the Digital Marketplace are transparent and comparable across providers. This has enabled the government to buy products and services at lower prices;
- Reduced procurement costs for the buyer. The procurement of a service is done directly with the actual supplier under the framework agreements of G-Cloud, without the need for intermediaries.
- Benefits from adopting agile solutions
- Creating deflationary pressure in the wider market
Opening Up The Market To SMEs
System Integrators have traditionally held a cast iron grip on the public sector IT market for years, imposing long, expensive contracts with little room for innovation. G-Cloud has helped to widen the playing field and open up public sector opportunities to SME suppliers like Memset who not only bring lower prices to the market, but are also much more agile by nature.
G-Cloud’s other hailed success is the reduced time it takes for procurement by public sector buyers of off-the-shelf cloud services. For example;
The average time to obtain a cloud service via G-Cloud is 18 days as opposed to 171 days using the conventional OJEU procurement process.
A Single Market for Services
The European Council has called for all efforts to be made for Europe’s industry to regain momentum in digital products and services, describing an urgent need for an integrated single digital and telecoms market, benefiting consumers and companies.
In order to take advantage of the full potential of the digital economy the Council stated that Europe needs investment and the right regulatory framework to enable infrastructure roll out of high speed broadband and 4G whilst maintaining technology neutrality.
In addition, investment in a Framework for actually selling these services will be to all our benefits. I passionately believe that we should not be afraid of competing with each other, rather that if we can foster international excellence in low-cost, high-security, high-efficiency cloud services, whether IaaS, PaaS or SaaS, in Europe it will be to all our benefits.
The old guard (systems integrators etc.) are protectionist. They expend huge efforts to preserve dwindling revenues, especially from government. What they fail to understand is one of the foundation stones of my part-time doctorate; that if you make something a lot cheaper, faster, better and more efficient, in the long-term markets actually end up spending more on it.
In technology’s case this increased long-term spend will represent orders of magnitude efficiency gains on where we are now and much greater savings through transformation of public services. In the short term, however, the public sector’s spending on technology should fall significantly as the market moves away from consultancy towards automation.
This message should be especially poignant for Europe. The austerity measures have barely started biting; we are at the tip of the iceberg. The way we, Europe, will save the public purse is through technology.
By working together we can form the foundation of the new European cloud industry, while at the same time saving the desperately cash-strapped European governments huge sums and boosting the European economy. It is our time!
How is cloud disrupting the market?
The G-Cloud public sector cloud services procurement framework has been active for two and a half years and the numbers speak for themselves. To date, over £350m worth of sales have been made through the framework, with SMEs securing roughly half of the contracts. Even with the conservative estimates this represents a 50% saving over what the government would have paid in the old world.
The framework has definitely started to level the playing field and open up the market for SMEs. Sales will continue to grow as the public sector embraces the flexibility and potential savings available through cloud computing.
Links and references
Author - KateCraig-Wood, Memset


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Nissan today expanded its electric e-NV200 line-up across Europe with the versatile e-NV200 XL Voltia. The electric van for urban deliveries, the e-NV200 XL Voltia is a highly versatile conversion of the..
Tag Archives: Nissan
Nissan’s twin-motor all-wheel-control technology e-4ORCE expands electric vehicle performance capability
Nissan is elevating the performance capability of electric vehicles with its new twin-motor all-wheel-control technology called e-4ORCE. The technology provides instant torque to all four wheels to deliver balanced, predictable power and..
The first customer model of the Nissan GT-R50 by Italdesign will go on display at the Geneva Motor Show in March, before deliveries of the limited-edition car begin in late 2020. Subject..
Nissan has developed a new way to use robots to make car parts out of sheet steel, a breakthrough that could make replacement parts for discontinued models more widely available for customers…
Nissan today announced its latest innovative concept, the ProPILOT golf ball. The ProPILOT GOLF BALL is inspired by Nissan’s ProPILOT 2.0 driver assistance technology, set to debut on the new Nissan Skyline..
Nissan will share its vision for the future of mobility at CES Asia 2019 by showing technologies that access brain waves and merge the real and virtual worlds to assist drivers. Nissan..
Nissan today unveiled a world first in driver assistance technology, combining navigated highway driving with hands-off single-lane driving capabilities. The award-winning ProPILOT system will debut on the Japanese-market in the fall of..
The 2020 Nissan GT-R NISMO made its world debut today, with race car-inspired upgrades and tuning improvements that maximize its exhilarating performance. For the 2020 GT-R NISMO, Nissan engineers set out to..
The all-new Nissan Dayz, the first minivehicle to offer ProPILOT semiautonomous driving assistance technology, goes on sale in Japan today. The all-new Nissan Dayz joins the Nissan LEAF, Serena and X-Trail among..


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As it does each year, the IT industry gathered for the annual CompTIA ChannelCon conference from July 31 through Aug. 2. This year’s event was held in Washington, D.C. and focused on “The Business of Technology.”
Unless you have been living under a rock or entirely “off the grid,” you know technology is more pervasive than ever. Every business relies on technology today and for many, it is the most important competitive differentiator that they have. The “Business of Technology” encompasses every aspect of the information technology industry and quite literally, every business that leverages technology to deliver their good and/or services to their customers.
More than 1,000 technology professionals attended the event in person and several thousand more participated via ChannelCon Online, a live stream of the event for those who were not able to get to DC. ChannelCon is a unique event in the technology industry as it is not sponsored by any vendor. As the industry’s nonprofit trade association, CompTIA is in a unique position to give all organization an even playing field on which to participate. Tracks included things like BizTech, field trips, future trends, IT Pro, networking events, a technology vendor fair, vendor education, community meetings and general sessions. As I’m sure you would expect, the sessions were packed with insight into the future of the industry as well as reflections on where we have been and where we are at present.
The conference was keynoted by Four-Star General Stanley McChrystal, former commander of U.S. and International Forces in Afghanistan. At first glance, you might not think there is a lot of commonality between fighting terrorists and business, but Gen. McChrystal drew some impressive parallels of how adaptability and technology allowed JSOC, the Joint Special Operations Command to be become a modern hybrid model that leveraged technology, trust and a common purpose to confront one of the most difficult adversaries they had ever encountered.
They leveraged technology to connect ever member of the command, no matter what their role or physical location and it transformed their ability to deliver on their mission. The parallels to business communications, processes and technology were quite clear.
Another key theme that was present throughout the conference was the changing ways that technology is procured and implemented. Technology decisions are no longer the sole domain of the senior executive in charge of information technology. Many decisions are now made at the business unit or functional level within a company. Consultants, managed service providers and the technology vendor themselves, all need to be engaged with the right people within their customers organization. Only with this deep level of engagement, can the end customer ensure that they are getting the best advice, products and services to help them accomplish the business outcome they are seeking. This is a shift in how business technology has historically been consumed and managed. This is what the “Business of Technology” is all about.
I sat in on several sessions throughout the event and one that really stood out was a meeting of the Joint Advisory Councils. This group comprises senior executives in the technology industry representing companies from established and emerging technologies. They presented several infographics covering topics as diverse as how drones are being used in businesses, to how technology is allowing the development of “smart cities,” the evolution of software consumption and licensing models and more.
And of course, there was plenty of talk about cyber security. You can’t talk about technology without getting in to a discussion about security, for good reason. As a trade association, CompTIA has some very insightful research and other resources to help its members address the cyber security concerns of their customers.
Attendees also had the opportunity to learn about the products and services offered by more than 150 vendors who had a booth at the Technology Vendor Fair. Unlike other industry events, CompTIA levels the playing field, providing each exhibiting vendor with the same size booth from which to make their pitch. It allows attendees to very objectively survey the technology landscape, learn about new and established vendors alike and ensure that the services that are brought to market are best-in-class.
The IT industry shined bright in DC. These are exciting times and new technologies continue to come to market that will truly revolutionize our lives. It’s a privilege to work in such an exciting business and be part of a great company, Onepath and a member of a fantastic organization, CompTIA.


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YouTube has now turned into a video streaming service. For this, the company has also talked to many entertainment companies. YouTube has been working on this for the last 18 months.
YouTube will soon launch online store, users will also benefit from video streaming service
YouTube will soon make video streaming even better. For this, YouTube is going to launch its first online store separately. A Street Journal report has claimed this on Friday.
According to the report, YouTube is in talks with many big entertainment companies for video streaming. YouTube may name its online store Channel Store. The report claimed that YouTube has been working for the last 18 months. But the company did not disclose it. However, YouTube hasn’t said anything officially yet.
This is the plan behind the online store
YouTube is planning to move its satellite TV users to a subscription-based video streaming service. After launching the YouTube online store, it will join the ranks of giants like Roku and Apple. Both these companies already have subscription video streaming services.
Walmart company can also be involved
A New York Times report this week claimed that Walmart is preparing to enter the world of video streaming services as well. Walmart has also talked to some media companies for this. However, the company has not disclosed anything concrete about this as well.
Partnership with a Canadian e-commerce company
YouTube signed a deal with Canadian e-commerce company Shopify in July. The company has also announced a partnership with Shopify. After partnering with Shopify, content creators will be able to sell their products on YouTube only. YouTube’s 2 billion users will benefit.


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Managing freight shipments tends to be an afterthought for a lot of businesses that import and export goods. But the inefficiencies in this sector can lead to a lot of wasted time for small businesses.
A recent survey from logistics company Freightos found that small businesses spend about 500 hours annually managing freight shipments. More specifically, 42 percent of business owners reported spending more than two hours on each individual shipment. That’s an estimated $100 in labor just for one shipment.
For small businesses, that’s a major output of resources. So if companies aren’t putting a major focus on making the freight management process as efficient as possible, it could lead to big losses.
Eytan Buchman, VP Marketing at Freightos said in an email to Small Business Trends, “Companies tend not to think about global logistics on a day to day basis, seeing it more as a commodity, like water or electricity, where you pay the bill and forget about it. But given the fact that nearly everything, whether components or finished goods, are imported, the quality, cost, and operating cost of international freight is a variable that’s very much open to change. Over the past decade or so, managing supply chains has become even more important, driving the nomination of CEOs that have extensive supply chain backgrounds (ie Apple, Old Navy, Lego).”
You Can Reduce Freight Shipping Costs
But not all hope is lost. Technology like the Freightos Marketplace, which is an online platform for freight quotes, aims to make managing freight shipments and costs more accessible for businesses of all sizes. In fact, Freightos believes this type of transparency and accessibility has led to more small and mid-sized businesses taking advantage of opportunities in the industry.
Buchman says, “Technology and transparency can combine to drive down international freight costs, while making them significantly more effective. More importantly, this plugs in to a global trend of increased imports from small businesses. While the latest US data shows that nearly 97 percent of importers in 2015 were small and mid-sized businesses, accounting for one third of all US imports, this number has likely increased, as global sourcing becomes easier with platforms like Alibaba and Sourcify and importing becomes easier with technology like the Freightos Marketplace. The internet has been a driving force for cutting out middlemen and associated costs; properly harnessed, this trend can be a shot of adrenaline for small businesses.”
Basically, Buchman believes that there are enough tools out there to help small businesses manage freight shipments effectively. If you’re willing to do the research and create the processes that work best for your team, you can turn what seems to be a weakness for a lot of companies into a strength for yours.
Photo via Shutterstock


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Fighting off recession?
The fate of the American economy is under the spotlight again this week as the Federal Reserve’s main policymaking body meets on June 26th-27th. Can the Fed stave off recession?
The “R” word. It seems nobody wants to be left out; Japan, America and now Germany, if not the rest of Europe, are all said to be on the brink of recession. But it is the position of the American economy which most excites economists, not least because of its enormous size (more than twice as large as the world's second-biggest economy, Japan). After an unprecedented peacetime expansion, American economy activity has stalled. The main policymaking body of the Federal Reserve—America's central bank—meets for a two-day session on June 26th-27th, at the end of which it is widely expected to cut interest rates for the sixth time this year.
Attention is focused on the likely size of the cut—a half or a quarter percentage-point—and on its potential effectiveness. And yet many economists now believe that, even if the Fed does cut again, an American recession is now inevitable or, indeed, already under way. The pessimists can point to plenty of disturbing statistics. On May 25th, revised figures showed that American GDP only grew by 1.3% at an annual rate in the first quarter of this year, compared with a previously estimated 2%. (The eagerly-awaited final version of this figure will be published on June 29th). That means that, year-on-year, America grew by 2.5%: not a bad figure, perhaps, except that only six months ago, year-on-year expansion was 5.2%.
Worse, industrial production has been falling fast: figures published on June 15th, showed that in April it fell by 2.8% compared with a year earlier. Unemployment is up, employment is down and even consumer confidence has begun to fall.
Alan Greenspan, the powerful chairman of the Fed and the man who got much of the credit for successfully managing America's spectacular growth during the 1990s, has been doing his best to sound reassuring. His reputation, as well as America's economic future, is riding on the Fed's ability to reverse the downturn and moderate its effects, before it turns into a full-scale recession.
From the first interest-rate cut on January 3rd, Mr Greenspan has signalled his willingness to use monetary policy aggressively to counter the sharp slowdown. And although consumer-price inflation remains stubbornly high, the Fed chairman has made it clear in recent weeks that he does not believe inflation is a serious economic risk at present. Most people have taken that as a clear hint that there is room for at least one more rate cut.
Recollected in tranquility
Mr Greenspan still seems to be hoping for a “soft landing” for the American economy, though for manufacturers the landing has already proved hard enough, as the recent downturn in industrial production has shown. Nevertheless, there is still hope of avoiding an outright recession. A report published this month by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) offers some crumbs of comfort.
The NBER is America's official recession monitor. Its business-cycle dating committee decides when recessions have occurred and how long they have lasted. Contrary to popular perception, a recession is not defined by the NBER as two consecutive quarters of economic decline. It says that a recession is “a period of significant decline in total output, income, employment, and trade, usually lasting from six months to a year, and marked by widespread contractions in many sectors of the economy”.
The NBER's latest paper, written by Robert Hall, an economics professor at Stanford University and head of the NBER's business-cycle dating committee, argues that there is not yet enough data to judge whether or not the US has entered a recession, or even to merit a meeting of the committee. Specifically, Mr Hall points out that the contraction so far appears to be limited to the manufacturing sector and has not spread to other sectors of the economy. Neither employment nor real retail sales have yet fallen significantly.
In other words, it is still too soon to say. In fact, the jury has not even begun to consider a verdict. Mr Hall notes that the 1990s expansion became the longest in peacetime; if it turns out that the economy continued to expand past January (and, as Mr Hall's paper points out, economic turning points cannot be identified with any certainty until well after they have happened), America will have broken all previous records, even taking wartime expansions into account.
That is a tantalising prospect for Mr Greenspan: the right action might still avert recession—though it is probably fair to say that a diminishing number of people think it will.
From the print edition


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The brand new Voicemail+ app, launching for the iPhone in the UK today and in the US later this year brings text transcription, e-mailed voicemail receipts, push notifications, and it matches your messages to your contacts.
Pricing not available
Visual voicemail is now available on Orange, but it's only free if you pay more than £35 per month. Otherwise this ancient feature will set you back a quid.
The five-year-old feature, which lists your voicemails in easy-to-digest form, was previously only available on O2.
Ecamm Network has released a new version of PhoneView that supports MMS messaging and Visual Voicemail.
AT&T releases a software update that brings visual voicemail and other enhancements to the RIM BlackBerry Bold.
Visual voice mail is the latest in a series of apps by T-Mobile for Android phones.
Google Voice offers advanced visual voicemail features.
Users will now be able to place free calls from within Hangouts and will also see voicemail transcripts and messages from Google Voice show up in their Hangout listing.
Several users have experienced an issue in which the iPhone 3G does not ring and calls are, instead, routed straight to voicemail.
Google is partnering with homeless shelters to give out free phone numbers and voicemail to San Francisco's homeless.


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Last year Samsung announced a solution that allows consumers to secure their mobile devices making it ideal for use in the corporate environment. Samsung Knox provides a comprehensive solution that segregates corporate data from applications or personal use. While many corporate businesses are now using this, cyber security researchers from Ben Gurion University in Israel say that they have discovered a flaw.
The security vulnerability could potentially allow a hacker to intercept data from a Samsung device. Samsung then began to investigate this and just released their response now.
According to the company “After discussing the research with the original researchers, Samsung has verified that the exploit uses legitimate Android network functions in an unintended way to intercept unencrypted network connections from/to applications on the mobile device. This research did not identify a flaw or bug in Samsung KNOX or Android; it demonstrated a classic Man in the Middle (MitM) attack, which is possible at any point on the network to see unencrypted application data.”
Samsung further added that Knox offers protection against MitM attacks with these configurations
- Mobile Device Management — MDM is a feature that ensures that a device containing sensitive information is set up correctly according to an enterprise-specified policy and is available in the standard Android platform. KNOX enhances the platform by adding many additional policy settings, including the ability to lock down security-sensitive device settings. With an MDM configured device, when the attack tries to change these settings, the MDM agent running on the device would have blocked them. In that case, the exploit would not have worked.
- Per-App VPN — The per-app VPN feature of KNOX allows traffic only from a designated and secured application to be sent through the VPN tunnel. This feature can be selectively applied to applications in containers, allowing fine-grained control over the tradeoff between communication overhead and security.
- FIPS 140-2 — KNOX implements a FIPS 140-2 Level 1 certified VPN client, a NIST standard for data-in-transit protection along with NSA suite B cryptography. The FIPS 140-2 standard applies to all federal agencies that use cryptographically strong security systems to protect sensitive information in computer and telecommunication systems. Many enterprises today deploy this cryptographically strong VPN support to protect against data-in-transit attacks.
Samsung collaborated with Google in coming up with this response.
Basically what Samsung is saying is that the vulnerability is linked to Google’s Android operating system and that proper configuration of Knox can help protect a system from MitM attacks.


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Since 2016, Sydney-based smartphone app The Burger Collective has collated and showcased the best burger joints in the city. And that’s no easy feat, given that Sydney has what is arguably one of the absolute greatest collection of burger restaurants in the world. Burger Head, BL Burgers, Happy Ending, Mister Gee, Superior Burger – need we go on?
To celebrate a swift refurb to the app, Burger Collective are doubling down on their goal to highlight Sydney’s best burgers by committing 350 freebies to new users. One in every five new downloads on the day will score a free cheeseburger, and all you need to do is download the free app on the National Cheeseburger Day, Friday 18th September.
Specific instruction as to what cheeseburger you’ve won and where to collect it will be fed through the app to the winners, who will find out instantly when they open the app.
Though even if you don’t win anything, you can still grab a good deal on day. Simply rock up to a premium restaurant partner (listed in the app) and you can grab any full-priced cheeseburger for a cool $5.
Additionally, any user who downloads the app and leaves a review of a burger during the week of National Cheeseburger Day (so Friday 18th to Friday 25th September) will be entered into the draw to win a year’s supply of burgers from one of the app’s premium partners, to the value of $850. Just make sure to leave your review on the app before 5pm Thursday 24th September, as winners are announced 9am Friday.
And those who don’t pick up the year’s worth of free burgers are still in the running of second – dinner at a Burger Collective partner for you and four mates to the value of $250 – and third – four cases of Jarritos Mexican Soda and a Truff Hot Sauce prize pack – prize.
For more info on the app click here.
Photo: BL Burgers


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The drought last summer has had a big impact on the European potato season. These challenges were also felt in Poland, as traders had to import potatoes to be able to meet the domestic demand. Although the situation is stable now, there is a good chance more imports are needed at the start of 2020.
“When talking about the potato season this year, the drought last summer was the major issue for potato growers all over Europe. For some it was worse than others, but the extreme weather resulted in shortage of new potatoes. Poland is a major player when it comes to new potatoes. Normally supplies are plentiful and growers will always be able to sell all of their produce, even without contracts. Growers want to sell their produce quickly as well, as they want to use these same fields to start growing cauliflowers or other vegetables. It’s been like this for as long as I can remember, but this year was very different.” said Łukasz Ostrowicz from Polish potato trader Bugaj.
This year Poland did not have an abundance of new potatoes available, which impacted the market heavily, says Ostrowicz. “There have been shortages ever since the drought began and it was very difficult to meet the demand of the domestic market. It was so bad that we had to import potatoes from Germany and the United Kingdom, this hardly ever happens. Prices were three or four times as high as they normally were. Luckily the rains started in August and the situation has improved since then. Prices dropped and especially when other European countries entered the market, they put even more pressure on the prices of Polish potatoes, even though the available volumes are not that great.
Although some regions had it really bad, the North of Poland was spared from some of the extreme weather conditions. Therefor this region had bigger volumes available and was able to sell them at the high prices that were set. “You could say some of these traders and growers will have had the best season they’ve ever had. Overall I think the high prices did offset some of the losses Polish growers would have sustained otherwise, but if growers did not have an irrigation system of any kind they surely had a challenging season,” Ostrowicz explained. “Our supply of potatoes is stable now, but I do expect there will be shortages again relatively soon. Maybe at the end of this year, or the start of next year, we’ll have to start importing potatoes from Germany and other European countries once again. It’s a very strange season.”
For more information:
BUGAJ Sp. z o.o.
Tel: +48 698 678 536


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Nestle to exit from bulk of Jenny Craig business to private equity firm
Food giant Nestle announced on Thursday that it is going to sell its Jenny Craig diet businesses in North America and Oceania. The business would be bought by private equity firm North Castle Partners, according to a report by Reuters. Although the sum of the deal is still undisclosed, it was estimated to be less than USD600 million. This was the amount that Nestle paid for Jenny Craig in 2006, The Wall Street Journal said.
Nestle, the world's largest group of food companies, said its Jenny Craig business in France would not included in the acquisition deal. In a statement, the food group said the new owners of its weight management businesses would be taking over the management. It would also be offering jobs to the North America and Oceania staff, Reuters said.
The food company announced last month its intention to sell the diet business. It stated that it wanted to divest businesses that were not hitting targets, said the report.
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Canadian classic car prices stay strong at spring auction
Close to 300 classic cars and trucks crossed the auction block at the 25th annual Toronto Classic Car Auction
Close to 300 classic cars and trucks crossed the auction block ranging from a wood-bodied 1915 Ford Model TT depot hack selling for $9,000 to a near-perfect 1971 Pontiac Trans Am with a 455 cu.-in. engine and four-speed transmission at $34,000. The Trans Am owner claimed the “nut and bolt” restoration cost $75,000.
There were bargains for sharp bidders. A red 1986 Porsche 944 sports car originally from Texas drew a winning bid of only $2,250. A lucky buyer closed on a show quality 1934 Chevrolet coupe streetrod with a 435 horsepower engine for $23,500.
Chris Verden flew in from Winnipeg for the auction to buy a Corvette. He scored a fully optioned 1977 model that had travelled just 87,800 kilometers for $7,700 plus 10 per cent buyer fee. “I love Corvettes and it was always my dream to own one,” says the moving company owner who was a teenager when he decided he would own a Corvette one day.
“I started my company in 1977, so it was only fitting that I buy a 1977 model,” he says. Apart from a missing turn signal lever and broken headlight switch, he was happy with his purchase. “The three days here is my vacation and I got what I came for.”
Not so lucky were Alain and Denise Courtois who drove to the auction from Victoriaville, Que. They specifically wanted to buy a fully restored 1952 Chevrolet ice cream truck that is completely functional and spent its working life selling frozen delights in the Texas panhandle before ending up in a junkyard.
Cambridge Custom Chrome shop operator Brian Pollock brought a piece of local motoring history to sell at the auction. His 1936 Packard 1408 limousine with a smooth-running V12 engine was purchased originally by the owners of the century-old Walper Hotel in Kitchener.
The car chauffeur-driven limousine was used to pick up hotel guests at the train station. Among the thousands of passengers helped into the luxurious rear seating compartment over the years were Will Rogers, Bob Hope, Eleanor Roosevelt, Liberace, Guy Lombardo, Duke Ellington, Tony Bennett, Art Carney, Bob Newhart and James Brown.
The car was retired from service in 1961 and given to the employee who had chauffeured passengers in the old limousine for 25 years. The engine had developed a knock and a series of subsequent owners stored the car for more than 40 years.
The car is completely original inside and out with missing paint patina. The original engine has been rebuilt. Owner Brian Pollock was hoping offers would exceed his reserve price of $65,000. “I have butterflies,” he said as the car was driven onto the stage in front of several thousand spectators. The final bid of $54,000 just wasn’t enough and he took his venerable limo home.
But there were many vintage vehicles that did change hands including a beautifully restored midnight blue 1938 Chevrolet Master Deluxe sedan sold for $22,000; a 1936 Auburn 852 cabriolet, $87,000; a 1969 Pontiac GTO Judge, $64,000; a 1935 DeSoto Airflow sedan, $27,500 and a red 1963 Falcon Futura convertible hammered down at $14,000.
A seldom seen 1958 Oldsmobile Super 88 hardtop in red sold for $54,500. It featured the rare “J2” triple carburetor engine option and a three-speed standard transmission.
Pickup trucks continue to bring strong money including a 1947 Studebaker selling for $16,500, a red 1958 Chevrolet Apache 3100 for $34,000 and a medium blue 1958 Chevrolet Cameo bid up to $50,000, which did not meet the reserve price.
Continuing the country theme was a restored 1949 Massey-Harris Pony tractor in red with yellow wheels, which sold for $5,100. It would make a terrific piece of yard art for the new owner or be used to pull a hay wagon.
The auction runs until Sunday in Toronto. Stay tuned for more coverage and photos.


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Taylor Swift Ends Dispute With Apple Music – Ok To Stream!
[thumbnail size=large align=right]Courtesy of Wenn Newsdesk
The Shake It Off hit-maker criticized Apple Music executives in an open letter, accusing them of failing to offer artists royalties during a planned three-month free streaming trial for subscribers.
Apple chiefs subsequently backed down and agreed they had made an error of judgment, and would be paying artists for their work.
The move appears to have appeased Swift, who is now throwing her support behind the streaming service, which launches next week, June 30th.
In a series of messages on Twitter, she writes, “After the events of this week, I’ve decided to put 1989 on Apple Music… and happily so.
“In case you’re wondering if this is some exclusive deal, like you’ve seen Apple do with other artists, it’s not. This is simply the first time it’s felt right in my gut to stream my album. Thank you, Apple, for your change of heart.”