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In this January 10, 2020 photo, Cebu City Councilor Joel Garganera rides an electric scooter during the Sinulog Festival 2020 launch parade.
CEBU CITY, Philippines – Djan Dyll Ardiente, primary care doctor and nurse, has trusted his electric scooter (e-scooter) for several months now.
Djan, who lives here on D. Jakosalem Street, decided to buy an electric scooter last March when the lockdown due to coronavirus disease was put in place and crippled public transport.
âI had planned to buy a motorcycle but with the confinement, getting a driver’s license would be too difficult. That’s why I bought an electric scooter, âsaid Djan in a mix of Cebuano and English.
Since then, the 23-year-old nurse has been using his electric scooter for personal transportation and he said he was very happy to have made this decision.
âI usually spend around P200 a day to get to and from work when I take a cab. But now that I’m riding an electric scooter, it has helped me cut down on my daily expenses, âDjan told CDN Digital in an interview.
He added that driving an electric scooter also cuts his commute time from an usual hour to around 10 to 15 minutes between his home and his workplace in IT Park, Barangay Apas.
âWhen you drive a four-wheeled vehicle like a taxi, you might get stuck in traffic, whereas in an electric scooter you may just find small roads and shortcuts that will get you to your job faster, and without bumping into you. in traffic, âhe explained.
Electric scooters parked in front of a building in Gonzalez Compound, Brgy. Kamputhaw, Cebu City CDN Digital Photo | Morexette Marie Erram
CDN Digital met Djan at Gonzalez Compound at Barangay Kamputhaw on Saturday September 26, 2020.
At that time, he was with several other Cebuanos who, like him, own and drive electric scooters to take them anywhere in the Cebu metropolitan area.
Recently, the Cebu City government has warned individuals like Djan who use electric scooters on public roads that their vehicles could be impounded and could be issued with tickets.
This is after Mayor Edgardo Labella and the Cebu City Transportation Bureau (CCTO) announced that they would tighten up a provision in the city’s highway code that allegedly prohibits electric scooters from driving on the streets.
Labella, in previous interviews, also said the move was aimed at preventing accidents involving scooters from occurring on Cebu City’s roads and major arteries.
READ MORE: Banning electric scooters from major arteries, city roads are for public safety – Labella
The move drew much criticism and reaction from the public, citing the need for alternative modes of transportation due to the âlack of public utility vehicles (VPUs)â amid an ongoing public health crisis.
Read: Cebu City father bans electric scooters: “It’s premature”
This prompted Sugbo Skooteros, a Cebu-based community that promotes electric scooters as an alternative and sustainable mode of transportation, to launch a plan to help cyclists like Djan.
Dr Evanuelle Mendoza, one of the founders of Sugbo Skooteros, said her group was willing to help the city government regulate electric scooters if that meant not restricting the use of this two-wheeled vehicle to transportation purposes.
Dr Evanuelle Mendoza, founder of Sugbo Skooteros. Digital Photo CDN | Morexette Marie Erram
âWe don’t use electric scooters for recreation. We use it as a means of transport which will help us to travel from point A to point B â
“We met (the head of CCTO) and offered to help with regulation until there was a final draft (of guidelines on electric scooters) approved by the LTO (Land Transport Authority)” , Mendoza said.
The doctor was referring to the statement by Secretary of Transportation Arthur Tugade that the Department of Transportation (DOTr) did not want the mandatory registration of electric scooters and e-bikes (e-bikes) until the LTO issues a memorandum official or directives concerning the regulation of these vehicles.
Mendoza said that if local officials accept their offer, Sugbo Skooteros will provide consultation and technical assistance to ensure the city’s roads are safe and inclusive for electric scooter riders.
âWe would like to work with the Cebu City government, and we hope they will accept our offer,â he said.
Sugbo Skooteros was established in 2019. According to Mendoza, it was an offshoot of growing interest nationwide in electric scooters as sustainable modes of transportation that could help reduce carbon footprints and the number of gasoline vehicles on the streets.
One of the main functions of Sugbo Skooteros was to inform, educate and train drivers on the correct way to ride electric scooters, as well as the relevant traffic rules and regulations.
âAs a community, we watch each other once we ride our electric scooters on the roads. We all understood the traffic rules and the safety measures needed to cross the roads, âMendoza said.
Electric scooters and pandemic
When the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) hit the city of Cebu earlier this year and quarantine restrictions halted PUV operations, the membership of Sugbo Skooteros rapidly increased.
Mendoza said about 45% to 55% of people who joined their community were workers like Djan, battling the pandemic on the front lines.
âWhen they said they were going to ban electric scooters, they weren’t just reaching a small community,â Mendoza said.
âWe are ready for regulation with the appropriate consultation. What we are opposed to is prohibiting someone from moving and crossing the road. This is why we want to work with the government and make the public understand why it is a sustainable mode of transport, âhe added.
The group takes issue with city government claims that City Ordinance 801 or Cebu City Traffic Code prohibited roller coasters, roller skates and toy vehicles or similar devices on any road, except when crossing a street.
But Mendoza, citing the initial findings of Sugbo Skooteros’ own legal team, said electric scooters did not fall into the prohibited category by Cebu City’s traffic laws.
âWe don’t use electric scooters for recreation. We use it as a means of transportation that will help us travel from point A to point B, âhe explained.
In the meantime, Mendoza said his group is helping its members know what to do in case a traffic cop in Cebu City reports them for riding their electric scooters.
âMany of our members have asked us for clarification. Our legal team helps them know what to expect and what to do when an enforcement official tells them to stop, âMendoza said.
For Djan, the city government’s statement was “not right at the moment and inappropriate.” But that won’t stop him, and Sugbo Skooteros for that matter, from riding their electric scooters to promote their advocacy and invite more people to join their community.
Nurse and Sugbo Skootero Member Djan Dyll Ardiente CDN Digital Photo | Morexette Marie Erram
âIt’s not right now and inopportune given that people like me needed an affordable way to get from point A to point B when there was a pandemic going on. But I know what to say in case the authorities ask me why I am driving an electric scooter. For me, the key is to continue to be a law-abiding cyclist who obeys the proper traffic rules and regulations, âsaid Djan.
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Saatchi & Saatchi London
Fri, 28 Feb 2014 10:27:38 GMT
Coca-Cola Amatil has launched a new campaign this week in a bid to help extend the summer holiday feeling for L&P drinkers, after the return to work and University.
Starting from this week onwards, L&P is offering people around Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch a range of ways to hold on to that summer feeling in unexpected places across the three cities. People will be given the chance to swap their shoes for jandals, bring a bit of summer to their workplace, or even take an impromptu urban dip to cool off.
Saatchi & Saatchi Creative Director Guy Roberts said: “We’ve all experienced that sinking feeling when the holidays are over and we’re forced to hang up our togs, get back into our work clothes and re-join the commuter crowds to work or Uni. You’re back at your desk and reduced to watching the best days of summer from your office or classroom window. For many kiwis, L&P and summer go hand in hand and we hope this campaign will help kiwis hold on to that great summer feeling just a little bit longer.”
Wendy Rayner, General Manager, Marketing, CCA Amatil said: “L&P believe there’s no reason that summer feeling should end with the last day of our holidays and this inventive use of outdoor advertising is a fun light, hearted way of bringing this to life.”
The campaign will roll out over the next 6 weeks through a range of customised ad-shels, street posters and promotional partnerships.
Categories: Carbonated Drinks, Soft DrinksSaatchi & Saatchi London, Fri, 28 Feb 2014 10:27:38 GMT

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Healthcare Data Solutions expects continued sales and job growth
Miami-based Healthcare Data Solutions expects to continue its rapid sales and job growth over the next year as it increases sales of an electronic health records system.
After starting from scratch in 2008, HDS has 35 employees. Company officials said it will likely grow to 60 staff in the next 12 months. They noted there would also be a cash infusion this year to fuel the company’s growth.
HDS is a channel reseller of the MyWay EHR system developed by Chicago-based Allscripts Healthcare Solutions (NASDAQ: MDRX). HDS purchases the software licenses from Allscripts, then resells them to small physician groups at a profit.
While Allscripts has 125 channel sellers for MyWay, HDS was the top regional channel seller of the system in both 2010 and 2011, said Kelley Schudy, Allscripts group VP of channel sales. Only two national channel sellers, both big distributors, sold more MyWay systems, which are not directly sold by Allscripts.
HDS was founded in 2008 by Rodney Barreto, a veteran entrepreneur and the former chairman of both the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the South Florida Super Bowl Host Committees in 2007 and 2010. Other Barreto ventures include the founding of consulting firm Floridian Partners, numerous commercial real estate investments, and serving on the boards of the Baptist Hospital Health Foundation and Doral-based U.S. Century Bank, which is in “undercapitalized” status.
In 2010, Barreto hired Chad Novitski, formerly the channel sales manager at Allscripts, to become CEO of HDS.
Since he joined, the company has grown sales 579 percent, Novitski said. It currently has 170 practices and more than 356 doctors signed up for the cloud-based EHR program. HDS hosts data at the NAP of the Americas in Miami. Barreto said the company is profitable.
Brian Bandell covers real estate, transportation and logistics. Get the latest news with our free daily newsletter. Click here to subscribe.
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Perhaps it had something to do with it being Earth Week, but it's clear that something amazing -- and very Green -- is happening here in the City of Angels. We are rapidly emerging as the epicenter for clean technology and green business, as well as attaining new status as the EV capital of the world. Yes, the world. Once mocked by our admittedly more environmentally-evolved Northern CA brethren (my New Yorker parents love to hate L.A. too) as being a congested, smoggy nightmare, L.A. is rising to the challenge and building an entirely new economy and infrastructure, in part fueled with one of our "other" greatest assets -- the sun.
Seven years ago, pregnant with my daughter, several like-minded, mostly Prius-driving business professionals and I conceived the Sustainable Business Council LA, with a mission to establish Southern California as a center of sustainable business. After spending the past week attending various sustainability-related events here in L.A. and grasping the magnitude of the upcoming, potentially explosive economic and environmental convergence here, I can confidently say "mission accomplished!"
Shuttling across the city in my ice blue Nissan Leaf, I had the honor of moderating a panel on California's bold Renewable Portfolio Standard at USC, crowning L.A. Car Guy and Miyako Hybrid Hotel as co-winners of the Inaugural SBC Sustainable Business Award, marveling at the over-subscribed luncheon launch of the L.A. Emerging Commerce Council at the L.A. Chamber, hearing Mayor Villaraigosa (who was introduced by as L.A.'s Greenest Mayor by longtime environmental champion L.A. Mayoral Candidate/ City Council Member Eric Garcetti) at LABC's always fascinating Sustainability Summit at the Getty Center, and finally, proudly celebrating Santa Monica's newly awarded status as the 2012 Siemens Sustainable (mid-size) Community.
Alisha Auringer, Manager of the Environment, LAcarGUY, accepting SBC's Sustainable Business Award.
In the absence of consistent and effective federal legislation and support (with exceptions, like the innovative SunShot Program) progress is definitely emanating from the local level: The DWP, L.A.'s electric and water utility and the nation's largest "muni," just announced their CLEAN L.A. Solar Program, which means that you can now install solar panels on your roof, sell all the power back it to the DWP, and receive a competitive return on investment.
Next10's recently released 2012 California Green Innovation Index documents how clean technology investment and innovation are helping drive growth in California's overall economy. Yes, the traffic is still horrendous, but we are witnessing L.A. rise to meet this challenge and embrace electric vehicles. China's BYD (EVs, batteries, solar) decided to locate its U.S. headquarters here in L.A., and we've got our own crop of homegrown EV companies, such as CODA automotive and 350 Green, a resident at downtown L.A.'s Cleantech Incubator. Mariana Gerzanych, CEO, spoke to a packed room at the Chamber as she spoke about her company's explosive growth. 350 Green just installed California's first public fast-charging station, which can recharge the battery of my Nissan Leaf in about 30 minutes.
L.A.'s green businesses are also spearheading innovation and economic development. At our Inaugural SBC Industry Achievement Awards In Santa Monica, more than 200 members of L.A.'s vibrant Green Business Community gathered at the Lexus Santa Monica showroom on the evening of April 18th to honor and celebrate Southern California's most sustainable businesses. So Cal businesses Earth Friendly Products and Patagonia were awarded ficus bonsai tree "trophies" to recognize their Lifetime Achievement in Sustainability. Van Vlahakis, owner and CEO of Earth Friendly Products, spoke about his company's CA-based solar-powered factory, and Ecos laundry detergent -- his company's number-one-selling green laundry detergent. Attendees also got a sneak peek of the upcoming feature film A Green Story, which portrays Vlahakis' skyward path from his humble beginnings in Greece.
Van Vlahakis, Owner and Chief Executive Officer, Earth Friendly Products, presented with SBC's Lifetime Achievement Award in Sustainability by his daughter, Kelly Vlahakis-Hanks, VP, Earth Friendly Products.
Patagonia was heralded for its historic commitment to pesticide-free cotton; the fact that they have helped to create a huge demand for organic cotton; their tithing initiative; their commitment to donating one percent of sales or ten percent of profits to charity; and the fact that they became California's first Benefit Corporation, which will likely inspire many other businesses to do the same.
L.A.'s challenges (traffic, pollution, an aging infrastructure and electricity grid) are creating enormous opportunities for those businesspeople who see an immense economic opportunity in clean technology, electrifying our transportation system and saving energy. According to Fred Walti, Executive Director of the L.A. CleanTech Incubator, "I've been a part of the PC revolution, I was part of the Internet revolution, and now I think the CleanTech revolution is going to dwarf those previous two in size. It's a huge business opportunity." L.A. is an exciting place for this enviro/working mom to be in 2012.


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An anonymous source has told the Wall Street Journal that Jaguar Land Rover is mulling over a decision to develop a manufacturing plant in India, which indicates that the automaker is looking to grow their foothold in the world’s fastest growing economies.
Currently, Jaguar Land Rover has plants in Pune, India that allow teams to assemble vehicle components shipped from the UK. These assembly plants cut down on shipping costs by sending parts - rather than complete vehicles - to India. Still, a full-fledged manufacturing plant would allow the company to be even more profitable in a region that has seen increased demand for Land Rover vehicles over the past five years. Manufacturing Rovers in India would reduce labor costs and allow the company to save on government taxes or duties.
Building a manufacturing plant in India would provide Jaguar Land Rover with a competitive edge over luxury competitors such as Audi, Daimler Chrysler (Mercedes) and BMW each of which do not currently have a facility in the region. The anonymous source noted, “Like Brazil, India is one of the possibilities for Jaguar Land Rover to fully manufacture cars.
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In a ceremony that was moved indoors because of heavy rain, Swedish Match broke ground on its new research and development facility this afternoon.
The Swedish company, established in 1904, produces tobacco products including moist snuff, cigars, and chewing tobacco. The company operates in six countries, sells products in more than 100 countries, and employs over 4,400 people. The Owensboro facilities employ a workforce of 340.
The expansion of the Owensboro plant will add eight employees to the research and development department. The primary focus of the new facility will be microbiology with a concentration on fermentation. The extension will increase the company’s ability to create new products in Daviess County while ensuring pre-marketing approval by the FDA.
Daviess County Judge-Executive Al Mattingly is thankful for Swedish Match’s continuous investment in the community. “The jobs expected to be created as a result of this investment are highly desired by most communities, so we are fortunate to have been chosen as their location,” Judge Mattingly said.
Tommy Thompson, Kentucky State Representative, said that Swedish Match’s decision to expand in Owensboro, is a “testimony to the quality of the product and the work force employed here.” While discussing economic development, he added, “With this investment in the future of the plant and the community, Swedish Match continues to move Kentucky forward economically.”
During the ceremony, Deputy Commissioner John Bevington said, “By providing Owensboro with highly coveted research and development jobs, Swedish Match has put Kentucky at the forefront of innovation.”
“It is a very exciting day for me!” said Thord Hassler, Vice President of Swedish Match’s Research and Developing. Hassler explained that Swedish Match is the leading European snus supplier and a key supplier of similar moist snuff products in America. “Swedish Match completed a R&D center in Götenborg, Sweden, three or four years ago, and it has proven to be a worthy investment,” said Hassler. The company believes that the expansion at the Owensboro location will prove to be a similar worthwhile investment.
Senior Vice President Lars Olof Löfman concluded the ceremony by emphasizing the importance of research and development. “R&D is as important as water is to the shipping industry,” Löfman said. In his closing remarks, Löfman also added that this investment is “a token to our commitment to an industry and world without cigarettes.”
Swedish Match expects to complete the expansion in May and open the facility by early June.


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(New York Jewish Week) — Like so many stuck at home during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Marlo Gorelick picked up a new hobby: cake decorating.
She learned all the trendy techniques of the day, from of-the-moment decorations to how to properly layer colorful cakes and jams in order to create the all-popular rainbow cake.
But, unlike the myriad cottage food businesses that Jewish entrepreneurs launched during and after the pandemic, Gorelick’s cakes stood out for one significant reason: They weren’t edible. But don’t mistake this as a commentary on Gorelick’s baking skills: Gorelick’s cakes were never intended for eating. Rather, they’re designed to be worn — as purses.
“My husband said to me, ‘If you bake, you’re going to burn the house down,’” Gorelick told the New York Jewish Week. “So I took cake and I married it with something that my mother loved, which was handbags.”
During the pandemic she launched Cake Purses — a line of highly decorative vegan leather bags in the shape of confectionery, such as carrot cake and strawberry shortcake. Some of her bags, which can be found on her social media, are bedazzled with crystal stones while others are painted; all come with a zipper in the back to store items in the satin-lined interior.
Last summer, Gorelick wanted to find a new direction for her business. She began experimenting with creating purses in the shape of classic Ashkenazi Jewish foods: challahs, bagels and that New York City classic, black and white cookies.
“I said goodbye to it [cake purses] because I saw that people were just icing boxes and getting tons of hits and money from it,” Gorelick recalled. “I thought, ‘What am I doing? This is silly. This is ridiculous.’”
She began to roll out her first few Jewish food designs ahead of the High Holidays — but then, Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel gave her pause. Gorelick admits she was “scared” about being so outwardly Jewish. “I didn’t want anything bad to happen to me or anybody, so I tabled it,” she said.
But life had other plans. After a major illness the following month, Gorelick returned from the hospital knowing that pivoting her business towards Judaism was ultimately “what I was meant to do,” she said. And so, earlier this month, Gorelick, who is based in Princeton, New Jersey, officially launched Glam Judaica, a new line of Jewish food-themed purses and accessories that includes a rhinestone-covered matzah ball soup bag and a very realistic looking potato knish purse. She’s also crafted purses in the shape of Jewish holiday-specific treats like hamantaschen and sufganiyot.
“I’d gone through this near-death experience where so many things had been taken from me. I said to myself, ‘You can’t take away my Judaism — I will always be that,’” she said. “If I’m going to do this [make food purses], I’m going to do it with things that are near and dear to me.’”
Gorelick grew up in a Conservative Jewish family in New Jersey, and said that Judaism is a major part of her life and identity. “My grandfather immigrated from Kyiv, in what is now Ukraine, to escape pogroms. My father’s mother’s side of the family was in the Holocaust. My mother’s family escaped Russia. So [Judaism] is fully ingrained in me,” she said.
During the pandemic, Gorelick’s spangled designs made their way around the internet and to several craft and candy expo shows in the Tri-State area. She also partnered with the iconic East Side restaurant Serendipity3 last year to create exclusive “Frrrrozen Hot Chocolate” purses to celebrate the 30 millionth serving of its “world famous” sweet treat.
For now, she makes the Glam Judaica bags, which are generally between six and 10 inches wide, to order. Gorelick, who runs the business by herself with some design and content creation help from her husband, said it takes her up to three weeks to create a purse.
The Glam Judaica line includes bracelets, necklaces and pins. She adorns one of her bracelets with five different miniature food charms — a hamantaschen, bagel, black and white cookie, rugelach and challah — and decorates a shiny bagel pin with lox, onions and capers. Each item, including the purses, starts around $125, Gorelick said, though she adjusts the prices depending on the type of material and “bling” the customer wants.
The response so far to her new Jewish collection has been “fabulous,” Gorelick said.
“People see it, they identify with it,” she said. “It’s a bit of nostalgia and they want it, because that’s the cookie they baked with their bubbe or that’s what they served when they had their bar or bat mitzvah.”
But Gorelick is not done with cakes quite yet. In addition to Jewish food designs, Gorelick recently made a yellow cake purse with the words “Bring Them Home” written in white “frosting” to raise awareness for the 100-plus Israeli hostages still held in Gaza. Gorelick also used the proceeds for one of her other creations — a rainbow sprinkle black and white cookie purse — to raise money for Zaka, Israel’s volunteer emergency response teams.
“Everything I do is a little bit glitzy and glammy because that’s who I am,” Gorelick said. “My stuff is not for everybody — I get that. But if you like a little bit of sparkle and something to make you smile, I have something sweet and sparkly for you.”


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Ellandi, which has taken over the running of the centre after the demise of intu, says it plans to create a 'leisure district' as part of a complete design overhaul at the Brierley Hill centre.
The improvements are due to be completed over the next four years and come as a £14m project to add decorative panelling to the outside of the main shopping building nears completion.
Bosses have said new "big-name brands" will be opening stores at the centre and that improved cafes, restaurants and leisure activities will be on offer, however no details have been provided regarding which businesses are part of the plans or how the centre will look.
An initial relaunch of Merry Hill is planned for September ahead of the larger overhaul of the 2 million sq ft site, with announcements regarding the new cafes and shops planned in the coming months.
Mark Robinson, co-founder of Ellandi, said: “Our plans mean that by July 2025, Merry Hill will be the West Midlands’ most vibrant family lifestyle destination, embedded right in the heart of the local community.
“When complete, shoppers will be able to visit a range of new, big-name brands, in addition to familiar favourites and independent retailers. We are also thrilled to confirm Merry Hill will welcome a range of all-new family leisure attractions, providing visitors with plenty of fun and excitement in between shopping and dining.
“The expected arrival of the Wednesbury to Brierley Hill Metro extension in late 2023, which will see the creation of a new station close to The Waterfront, will also make getting to and from the centre easier and more environmentally-friendly than ever before.
We are extremely confident that our ambitious plans will transform the centre into the premier retail and leisure designation of choice for the West Midlands – creating a cherished destination that the whole community can take pride in.
“Despite the past 15 months, exciting occupiers seem to share our vision with over 20 units currently in negotiations with new retailers to Merry Hill.”
The Covid-19 pandemic has put major pressure on shopping centres and retailers, with previous Merry Hill owner intu collapsing last year as shops struggled to pay rent.
Ellandi took over at the site in the autumn of last year and while the last main intu sign has now been removed, many units remain empty including the flagship Debenhams shop which closed down in May.
However 22 shops and restaurants have recently signed new or renewed agreements at Merry Hill including Superdry, HMV, Foot Asylum, Bon Pan and toy store Hamleys, which opened this month and created 10 jobs.
A number of stores are also said to be planning upgrades, including Asda which is spending £3m on improving its store.
Jonathan Poole, who took over as manager of the centre in the spring, said: “I am delighted to have joined Merry Hill at such an exciting and transformative point in its history.
“The West Midlands is a wonderfully diverse and welcoming part of the country, and I have been truly blown away by the amount of pride people take in their local culture and heritage.
“Kicking off with our first-phase relaunch in September, the programme of improvements, upgrades and attractions will breathe new life into the centre.
“We know that people love Merry Hill for being home to more than 250 shops, but we also want them to love it as a leisure and lifestyle destination too and these improvements will deliver just that; a contemporary, attractive environment offering a spectrum of big-name and independent brands - as well as a range of new dining destinations - ensuring that customers will want to return time and again.”
The plans also include a goal to make Merry Hill carbon neutral by 2030 through schemes such as installing solar panels and 200 electric vehicle charging points.
The revamp will take place alongside the nearby work to redevelop the waterfront and build a new tram line from Wednesbury to Brierley Hill.
West Midlands Mayor Andy Street welcomed the news, saying:“Not only will these fantastic plans help to breathe new life into the centre, but it also represents yet more significant private sector investment in the West Midlands.
“That businesses are still investing here despite the uncertainty the pandemic has caused speaks volumes for how far the West Midlands has come in recent years.
“I wish the team at Merry Hill the very best for the coming months and years, and I absolutely cannot wait to see these ambitious plans come to life.”
Dudley South MP Mike Wood added: “As a major supporter of jobs in our region, this £50 million plus boost for Merry Hill will ensure the continued prosperity of thousands of constituents, all while delivering a premiere shopping and leisure destination in the heart of the West Midlands.”


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To mark its release, Treyarch and Activision have released a new trailer for Call of Duty: Black Ops 4’s Operation Dark Divide.
This update brings with it both the villains and the heroes in the Specialists of Black Ops 4. The new maps Lair and Launch have been included as well. The new playable characters Marlton, Stuhlinger, and Grigori Weaver will make their debut, along with the new game mode “Heavy Metal Heroes.”
Also included in this update is “Tag Der Toten,” which serves as the final chapter in the Zombies Aether story. For those looking for an edge, players can take advantage of the new elixirs Secret Shopper and Power Vacuum.
Learn more with the video below:
Official Call of Duty®: Black Ops 4 — Operation Dark Divide Trailer
The update is now live on the PlayStation 4. It will be released on other platforms at a later date.


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This milestone development will help local businesses expand to both local and global audiences through a wide range of payment services and methods
UNITED KINGDOM: London-based global fintech Unlimint, has today announced the launch of its operations in Nigeria, after receiving its Payment Solution Service Provider (PSSP) License from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). This milestone development authorises Unlimint to operate as a recognised payment service provider in the region, enabling the delivery of a wide range of payment services and methods that will help local businesses expand their reach to a local and global audience.
Unlimint is an award-winning global all-in-one fintech offering advanced payment capabilities through an evolving financial interface to startups and businesses across the globe with 16 offices across five continents. The company’s entry into Nigeria comes at a critical time when the country is experiencing an increased demand for faster and more secure payment solutions. Unlimint is poised to leverage its expertise and experience in the global payments industry to deliver tailor-made solutions that meet the unique needs of the Nigerian market. In addition to this, companies based in the UK will be able to easily expand operations into Nigeria and allow local customers to complete transactions with a wide range of payment options.
Over the last few years, the fintech industry has experienced consistent growth. According to Siegemedia, the fintech market is expected to grow and reach a value of over $37 billion USD (£29 billion) by 2026. A report by EY shows that in 2019, 64 percent of the global population used at least one fintech.
Commenting on this remarkable accomplishment, Trevor Goott, Director for Africa & India, said:
“We are delighted to announce this expansion. Unlimint’s vision is to be a key player in the region and it is essential that we ride the wave of the digital and technological innovations sweeping across the financial technology and payments sector within the African continent. The region’s technology and payments sector has witnessed an exciting transformation over the past few years, with Nigeria being at the forefront of the African payments revolution. The Nigerian economy holds significant potential for fostering the development of innovative organisations such as Unlimint. We are here to offer a safe, secure, and reliable payment experience to businesses, entrepreneurs, and their customers. We have been perfecting our customer journey and our payments experience on a global scale over the past 13 years and are now bringing this capability to the Nigerian market. This launch is the first step in Unlimint’s African market expansion, with other announcements expected to be made over the coming months. We are excited about the endless opportunities our presence in Nigeria will bring for businesses and their customers alike and we look forward to being part of the Nigerian Payments Landscape”
Kirill Evstratov, Unlimint’s CEO, added:
“Unlimint’s expansion to Nigeria is a testament to our unwavering commitment to empowering businesses globally with our innovative payment solutions. We are proud to bring our cutting-edge technology and deep expertise to the Nigerian market, and we are confident that our solutions will enable businesses of all sizes to thrive and succeed in the digital age. We also understand that digital business transactions especially must be borderless and boundless, as such, its financial infrastructure must be increasingly flexible, timely, seamless, and reliable. Our vision is to create a world where payments are seamless, secure, and accessible to everyone, and our expansion to Nigeria is a significant step towards realising that vision.”
Founded in 2009, Unlimit is a global fintech company that offers a large portfolio of financial services, including payment processing, banking as a service (BaaS), and an on-ramp fiat solution for crypto, DeFi, and GameFi. The company’s mission is to deliver solutions that eliminate financial borders, enabling businesses to operate both locally and internationally with ease across Europe, the UK, LatAm, APAC, and Africa. Based in London, Unlimit has 500 employees across 16 offices and five continents, including Frankfurt, Singapore, São Paulo, Hong Kong, and Mexico.


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The three major cruise lines announced more itinerary changes due to Hurricane Dorian following Thursday’s itinerary change news; and more adjustments are expected to follow on Friday as the storm develops.
The Carnival Paradise will now leave Tampa early on August 31, with Carnival asking guests to arrive at the cruise terminal between 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM.
For the Carnival Miracle, with the anticipation of a potential port closure on Sunday, this sailing will now operate as an eight-day sailing, departing on Saturday evening.
Royal Caribbean has modified more sailings as a result of the impact of Hurricane Dorian.
Guests aboard the Navigator’s August 30 sailing are now returning to Miami on Sept. 4 as opposed to Sept. 2, meaning the ship’s Sept. 2 sailing will leave two days later.
The Empress will see guests get multiple days added to the itinerary. Unable to return to Miami this Sunday, the cruise now will add a call to Roatan, spend two days at sea, call in Nassau and then return to Miami on Sept. 4.
The Mariner will also get two days added to its current itinerary, returning to Port Canaveral on Sept. 4 as opposed to Sept. 2.
The Norwegian Breakaway will extend its port time in Cozumel until Sept. 1, giving guests a chance to disembark and return home, or remain onboard if they choose. Guests who choose to end their cruise in Cozumel will receive a 25% future cruise credit.
The Norwegian Sun departed from Port Canaveral, Florida Thursday, August 29, 2019 as scheduled. The calls to Nassau, Great Stirrup Cay and Freeport, Bahamas have been cancelled. Instead, the ship will spend a day at sea on Friday, August 30 and will call to Cozumel, Mexico on August 31. She will remain at sea on September 1 and is scheduled to return to Port Canaveral on September 2.


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In Friday’s Business Beat, a local gun store is about to make a bang.
Spartan Firearms in Minot has been around for a few years, but are now expanding their services. In just a few weeks, a new 22,000 square feet gun range will be up and running.
The new space will also be home to training classes on how to operate and carry a firearm and a state-of-the-art 12 lane shooting range.
We spoke to the owner who said he wants to give a better variety to people in the area.
“So our store will go to this building that we are currently in over there. It will be about three and a half times the size of our current store. We are going to expand our inventory. Carry some reloading supplies. Because I think that’s an area that’s missed in Minot or in this area a lot,” said Rob Fuller, owner of Spartan Firearms.
The new complex is located next door to the current gun shop west of Minot on Hwy 2.


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US luxury jewelry retailer Tiffany & Co is set to appoint a former Jaeger-LeCoultre executive as its China lead. The appointment will come as part of a top management reshuffle for the jeweler after the company was taken over by LVMH, reports Bloomberg. According to people familiar with the matter, Maxence Kinget will replace Laurent Cathala in coming months. The shift was announced in a memo to employees, according to one person, who asked not to be identified because the matter is internal.
Kinget’s most recent role was managing director in China for Jaeger-LeCoultre, a Swiss watch brand owned by Richemont. He’s also worked in Singapore and Geneva for the watchmaker and previously worked at Cartier, another brand owned by Richemont, according to his LinkedIn profile.
LVMH has been naming new top management at Tiffany after the French conglomerate bought the US brand last year. The maker of engagement rings is now led by Chief Executive Officer Anthony Ledru. Alexandre Arnault, the third child of billionaire LVMH Chairman Bernard Arnault, is in charge of product and communication.
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US trade gap fell 2.7% in July
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. trade deficit declined in July, including the gap with China that has been the focus of President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
The Commerce Department says that the gap between the goods and services the U.S. buys and what it sells abroad fell 2.7% to $54 billion in July from June. Exports rose 0.6% to $207.4 billion, while imports ticked down 0.1% to $261.4 billion. Compared to a year ago, the average trade gap has increased $7 billion.
Trade with China tumbled in July as U.S. imports have been intensifying. The trade gap fell $500 million in July to $29.6 billion, as imports to the United States fell more sharply than a decline in exports. Trump has been taxing Chinese imports in hopes of reducing the trade gap.


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The Italian fair will take place between the 17th and 20th of September
The Brazilian Footwear Industries Association (Abicalçados), through Brazilian Footwear, a program to support exports in the sector maintained in partnership with the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (ApexBrasil), will bring 76 Brazilian footwear brands to Micam Milano. Considered the main international fair for footwear, the Italian fair will take place between the 17th and 20th of September in Milan.
Abicalçados' Commercial Promotion analyst, Paola Pontin, points out that the number of green-yellow brands is a record in the post-pandemic period. "Micam Milano, one of the largest and most internationalized world fairs for the sector, has increasingly attracted the attention of Brazilian brands. In September last year, there were 60 brands, which generated more than US$ 32 million in business,” says Paola.
Registering more than 1.2 thousand exhibitors every year, half of them international, Micam Milano receives, in its four days, more than 45 thousand buyers from more than 130 countries around the world, most of them from Europe and the Middle East.
Participating in the 96th edition of Micam Milano, with the support of Brazilian Footwear, are the brands Actvitta, Adrun, Anatomic Prime, Anatomic Shoes, Andacco, Andine, Archetti, Awana, Beira Rio, Bibi, BR Sport, Campesi, Capelli Rossi, Carrano, Cecconello, Cocco New York, Comfortflex, Cristófoli, Dakota, Democrata, Eléia, Ferracini, Ferricelli, Guilhermina, Ipadma, Itapuã, Jorge Bischoff, JotaPe, Kenner, Killana, Kolosh, Kolway, Lamara London, Levecomfort, Leveterapia, Levine, Lia Line, LigthGel, Loucos & Santos, Luiza Barcelos, Luz da Lua, Madeira Brasil, Mississipi, Modare Ultraconforto, Moema, Moleca, Molekinha, Molekinho, New Face, Offline, Opananken Antitensor, Pegada, Perlatto, Petite Jolie, Piccadilly, Pink Cats, Ramarim, Ramony, Redley, Satryani, Savelli, Smidt, Stéphanie Classic, Sua Cia, Suzana Santos, Tabita, Usaflex, Valentina, Variettá, Verofatto, Villione, Vizzano, Voices Culture, Werner, West Coast and Wirth.
About Brazilian Footwear:
Brazilian Footwear is an export incentive program developed by Abicalçados in partnership with ApexBrasil. This program aims to increase the presence of the Brazilian industry and its brands in the international market through development actions, commercial promotion and image. Read more: www.brazilianfootwear.com.br | www.abicalcados.com.br/brazilianfootwear.
Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (ApexBrasil) is the Brazilian government’s trade and investment promotion agency. Regarding the investment activity, we support international investors as they analyze the opportunities to establish a plant in Brazil, start a partnership with a Brazilian company, or commit capital in Brazil through funds and companies. Our goal is to satisfy investors needs and generate results as we attract technology, innovation, new companies and generate jobs in Brazil. Learn more: https://apexbrasil.com.br/br/en.html#home.


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Doug Field used to be VP of Mac Hardware Engineering at Apple–a pretty critical role since the Mac is one of Apple’s biggest icons, and its hardware has been leading the PC design field recently. Now Field has been recruited for an altogether different kind of hardware development job: He’s now VP of Vehicle Programs at Tesla.
In its post announcing the news, Tesla makes a point of mentioning Field helped develop the latest MacBook Air, the MacBook Pro, and the iMac–all devices that have helped define Apple as a leader in the PC game. Field was originally an engineer at Ford Motor Company, but reportedly left because he wanted more fast-paced, high-tech challenges.
Tesla is the best known U.S. example of modern generation electric car makers, and it’s seen as leading the way for other automakers to follow–even if it occasionally slips up with some white lie PR moves and high profile accidents.


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adidas Originals' Latest Trefoil Logo T-Shirt Is the Perfect Wardrobe Staple
Trade your pastels for dusty colors this spring.
adidas Originals previously dropped a must-have dusty pink jacket this month, and now the sportswear giant is sticking to the muted color scheme with its latest T-shirt. Arriving in a spring-ready green hue emblazoned with the label’s iconic Trefoil logo in white, the piece is perfect for relaxed outfits and is guaranteed to become a staple in your wardrobe.
Retailing at $35 USD, you can cop the sporty T-shirt over at Net-A-Porter.


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South Korea's exports (Yonhap)
The South Korean economy is on a recovery path, aided by a mild improvement in the manufacturing sector, but it faces growing downside risks amid a global resurgence in new coronavirus cases, a state-run think tank said Sunday.
The country's service industry has slackened as people refrained from making in-person contact and going outside, while the manufacturing sector has undergone a limited recovery on improving demand at home and abroad, according to a monthly economic assessment report by the Korea Development Institute (KDI).
"Despite a modest recovery in the manufacturing sector, the Korean economy shows a continued contraction, mainly in the service industry, and downside risks are high over accelerating COVID-19 in Europe," the English-language report showed.
South Korea's production, consumption and investment returned to growth in September following months of slumps amid the virus outbreak.
The country's industrial output gained 2.3 percent on-month in September, after a 0.8 percent on-month decline in August, according to data from the statistics office.
Retail sales rose 1.7 percent on-month in September, and facility investment gained 7.4 percent, the largest monthly increase in six months.
Asia's fourth-largest economy grew 1.9 percent on-quarter in the third quarter, marking the first quarterly growth after the second straight quarter of contraction, as exports rebounded amid eased global lockdowns.
The KDI said despite signs of economic recovery, external economic conditions are deteriorating amid lockdowns by major European countries over a flare-up in COVID-19 cases since late October.
"The lockdown in Europe may lead to a rapid contraction in world trade volume. This implies that economic uncertainties are mounting centering around external conditions," the report said. (Yonhap)


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You can buy Fat Bastard wine in Alabama, but you'll have to go elsewhere for Dirty Bastard beer. The state alcoholic beverage control agency has banned sales of the beer in the state because of the profanity on its label. The idea is to keep it away from young, innocent eyes in the supermarket, says an attorney for the state agency.
"That's the whole reason for the rule, to keep dirty pictures and dirty words away from children," he says. "Personally, I believe the staff made the right call." So why is Fat Bastard wine, also sold in supermarkets, OK? Or, for that matter, Raging Bitch beer? They were approved years ago. "I have no idea how or why or exactly when that went through," says the attorney. (Read more Alabama stories.)


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Director Rian Johnson attempts to shut fans up about Luke Skywalker's new Force powers in The Last Jedi by interrupting a Twitter argument.
The Last Jedi proved that Force Ghosts are still magical mysteries entities which have never been fully explained in the movies, so what's the whole story?
A clever YouTuber has offered up the Porg scene that everybody wanted to see on Ahch-To in The Last Jedi.
New advertisements from online retailers show The Last Jedi Blu-ray and DVD up for preorder.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson confirms that, while Leia uses the Force, she isn't a Jedi.
New DLC from Star Wars: Battlefront II settles the Dreadnaught debate from The Last Jedi.
Director Rian Johnson explains and justifies one of the significant plot holes in Star Wars: The Last Jedi involving Luke and his lightsabers.
Mark Hamill shares a major change that had to happen in the original Force Awakens for The Last Jedi to make sense.
The editor behind Star Wars: The Last Jedi has opened up about a controversy scene involving Admiral Ackbar.
Director Rian Johnson explains his decisions on handling Snoke's bigger personal story in Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
Daisy Ridley wasn't so sure about Rian Johnson's script for The Last Jedi, mirroring remarks Mark Hamill has made in the past.
Following an attack from the First Order during the Resistance evacuation of D'Qar, Resistance leader Admiral Ackbar was killed.
Director Rian Johnson opens up about what went into making the end of Star Wars: The Last Jedi and what it represents.
There were a dozen fan theories about Rey and her parents before The Last Jedi, all of which were proven false by the sequel.
Disney and Lucasfilm still can't find a way to get China as interested in Star Wars as the rest of the world with Last Jedi struggling during opening weekend.
Lucasfilm Executive Pablo Hidalgo explains George Lucas' role in helping create The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi.
The final box office tally for 2017 reveals that the box office suffered the lowest ticket sales in 25 years.
Neal Scanlan reveals how he and the creature shop brought a major Star Wars character back for The Last Jedi.
A new Star Wars fan theory suggests why Luke Skywalker might not be the Master he once was in Last Jedi.


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Snapcard, is a Bitcoin wallet and one of the world’s leading Bitcoin payment processors. This Monday, the company announced it has signed a partnership with Alpha Payments Cloud enabling AlphaHub users to accept Bitcoin payments globally.
Snapcard is headquartered in San Francisco, California. Founded in 2013, Snapcard’s Merchant API is an easy to integrate, enterprise-level solution that allows merchants to accept Bitcoin payments anywhere in the world without taking on any currency volatility risk. Snapcard offers a suite of products and services designed facilitate the use of digital currencies.
With this new partnership, AlphaHub merchants will have the opportunity to accept Bitcoin payments with Snapcard’s simple pricing of 0.5% per transaction, with no monthly fees or setup fees. Through a single, simple API integration, online merchants have access to the AlphaHub platform and can add Bitcoin functionality in a matter of clicks as an alternative payment method and gain access to a targeted demographic of more than 7 million active Bitcoin users worldwide.
Michael Dunworth CEO of Snapcard noted that a new payment method like Bitcoin needs to stay involved in the educational process. Alpha is known for its innovative initiatives and with this partnership the company is looking to bring a beautiful line of Bitcoin products to Alpha’s clients.
The AlphaHub is a single platform for Payment Providers to plug into and expose their solutions, Banks and other Financial Institutions to access and sell these solutions, and Merchants to gain access to use and customize between available solutions.
Rónán Gallagher, Chief Product Officer at Alpha Payments Cloud commented:
“We’re excited to work with Snapcard to help our clients capture the added-value of accepting global alternative payments like Bitcoin.”
Aiming toward digital currency awareness, the partnership will also allow both companies to cooperate and work closely in educating merchants about Bitcoin and how it works.
Source & Image


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Debate raged across social media after a blog post claimed that a Halloween costume of the Disney character Moana being worn by those not of Polynesian descent is culturally inappropriate.
Disney pulled its Moana costume from shelves before Halloween due to complaints from people across the country that the costume was an example of cultural appropriation.
Blogger Sachi Feris debated allowing her daughter to dress up as the popular Disney princess and wrote about it on her blog.
“I don’t like the idea of dressing up using the same traditional clothing that someone from Moana’s culture may have worn because that feels like we are laughing at her culture by making it a costume,” she told her daughter.
“A child whose family is Polynesian could dress up using that type of traditional clothing but Moana’s culture is not our culture.
If you want you could dress up as someone from one of your cultures, you could be a tango dancer from Argentina…(or as Che Guevara!). Otherwise, maybe you could be a modern-day Moana and dress up in the clothing you think Moana might wear today.”
Dr. Trisha Bruce, associate sociology professor with Maryville College, told WATE that the key to getting people to understand cultural appropriation was changing the conversation and the language.
“If we can think instead of the word ‘political correctness,’ and camaraderie, and respect, maybe that builds a different conversation and makes us think about our choices a little bit differently,” she said.
Despite many feeling as though white children dressing as Moana is inappropriate, others felt that the issue was overblown.
“I think it’s silly to take children’s Halloween costumes so seriously. They’re kids, can’t they just be kids and not involved with the whole political correctness thing?” one mother told the New York Post. “Parents need to chill out a little bit.”
Others, however, felt that the controversy surrounding the costume was warranted.
Click Next For Dress…


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At this year’s RAPID + TCT event (May 17-19, 2022, Detroit), Inkbit will display its range of high-performance thermoset plastics offering exceptional longevity and stability to meet real-world demand. Moving away from the materials used by most photopolymer AM systems, Inkbit materials are acrylate-free, delivering a step-change improvement in chemical and UV resistance and opening doors to high-performance material development in the future.
The team behind ‘3D Printing powered by Vision-Controlled Jetting (VCJ)’, which unlocks production scale AM, will be on hand to explain how their innovative solutions can open new possibilities across myriad applications. Visitors can also learn more when Greg Ellson, Director of Product and Applications at Inkbit, leads a Tech Hub session on ‘Using Vision-Controlled Jetting for Next-Generation Industrial Automation Equipment’ at 10:30am on Tuesday 17th May.
“We’re delighted to participate at RAPID + TCT where the pioneers of Additive Manufacturing come together to drive our sector forward. At Inkbit we are focused on creating technologies that push the boundaries of what is possible in manufacturing. Our Vista AM System, in combination with our range of thermoset materials, offers a level of robustness and reliability to match the requirements of volume manufacturing. Our technology enables the use of additive manufacturing in demanding applications such as industrial automation, fluid handling, robotics and wearables,” says Davide Marini, Co-founder and CEO at Inkbit.
10 May 2022


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The company said Friday it will establish its headquarters as well as design and production facility in the city, taking up 25,000 square feet of space and creating 119 new jobs.
Rapidflight Founder and CEO Jay Gundlach said the city “was a perfect fit” for launching the company’s next-generation manufacturing plans. “By breathing new life into this facility… we are excited to set the stage for the next evolution of unmanned systems,” he added.
Founded in 2021, Rapidflight uses unique additive manufacturing, advanced avionics and propulsion system technologies in UAS to expedite mission response times.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin underscored the state’s position in the unmanned systems industry and RapidFlight’s developments in the technology sector while Manassas Mayor Michelle Davis Younger remarked that the project “cements” the city’s leadership position in UAS design and production.


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Pour Moi, the leading coffee shop vending concept from Aimia Foods, has launched a brand new range of Limited Edition 12oz paper cup designs for 2018. Highlighting historical figures that are famed for their passion for hot drinks, the new ‘Fuel for Inspiration’ design is set to prove a real talking point with customers.
Consisting of three different variants, individual designs feature black and white illustrations of Ludwig Van Beethoven, Florence Nightingale or Teddy Roosevelt, along with explanations of how coffee or tea fuelled their inspiration.
Richard Ashton, Marketing Executive at Aimia Foods, is delighted with the latest offering: “The coffee cup is an extremely important part of the coffee shop / vending experience”, he said. “A well designed, top quality cup encourages customers’ confidence in the contents, helping them make a subconscious, positive assessment of the drink before it even touches their lips. These latest designs have been created to promote that process by highlighting the important role that hot beverages have played in the lives of historic characters through the ages.”
Synonymous with premium hot beverages, Pour Moi aims to bring the ‘Coffee Shop’ experience to the vending market by providing a unique, innovative concept to establishments requiring a simple – but modern – vending solution. Providing everything from the branding, the cups, the beverage and the milk, Pour Moi is the one stop solution for vending requirements.
Having delivered almost £3 million revenue to customers in the last 12 months, the quality proposition of Pour Moi allows operators to command premium prices, in turn delivering greater operator margins.
“The latest Pour Moi cups are manufactured using PEFC accredited paperboard, which is the world’s largest sustainably managed forestry certification system”,Richard said. Thanks to individual codes, each Pour Moi cup can be traced back to its forest of origin and for every tree that’s felled in the making of our cups, three to four saplings are planted.
“Our cups can also be recycled after use, via specialist recycling programmes”, Richard added. “Many collection and recycling schemes are now on stream to enable this to happen: in fact, there’s ample recycling resource already up and running in the UK to ensure every paper cup supplied to the market can be recycled.”
*Find out what happened when PV editor Ian Reynolds-Young visited Richard Ashton to take the Milfresh taste test – HERE
*…and the results of the consumer test, HERE


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New factory to be built in China
The expansion in Asia continues, and SKF is building a new factory in Jinan, China, on newly acquired land. The investment is part of SKF’s strategy to strengthen its manufacturing footprint in China and will support the rapid growth of SKF’s business in the region.
The factory will be built according to LEED certification standards and will manufacture mainly tapered roller bearings and truck hub units for the automotive business, but it will also serve the industrial market and aftermarket.
The investment amounts to around 67 million euros. The 16,000-square-metre factory will be fully operational in the first half of 2012 and will employ about 500 persons in the first phase.


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Great news for Isuzu fans in Australia, as the carmaker has just confirmed the arrival of the lovely 2017 D-Max and MU-X models on the local market, both models coming with plenty of styling tweaks and new mechanics. We are looking here at the facelifted variants of the 2016 models, with the models adding some
We have recently seen some future high-end models from Mercedes-Benz being sent for testing at the Ring or on the roads, like the future E-Class Coupe. But the German carmaker is also paying a lot of special attention to its utes models, with a high-end pickup truck getting a lot of interest from the media
Just over a week ago, the BMW M3 pickup was spotted round the Nurburgring and it got me so excited I started digging up stuff about a BMW M5 pickup. Sadly though, my enthusiasm (and that of millions of Australians) has been cut short by BMW who clarified the situation of an eventual M3 pickup.


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Creates seven discreet practices following acquisition of The Huffington Post.
AOL has revamped its ad sales team following the acquisition of The Huffington Post (and four straight quarters of double-digit declines).
The "industry development team" has been organized into seven discreet practices: health/CPG, travel, automotive, finance, entertainment, technology and retail. John Burke, who joined AOL earlier this year as SVP of global sales strategy, will oversee the entire unit, though each practice will have its own lead.
“The Industry Development team is the next evolution of our strategy to be the most customer centric sales team in the marketplace,” said Burke in a written statement. “The Industry Practice Head brings domain expertise, strategic vision and significant client experience in their respective categories.”
In February, AOL reported a 30 percent drop in ad revenues year-over-year from $468.6 million in Q4 2009 to $331.6 million in Q4 2010. Display revenue fell 14 percent to $151 million in Q4.
Douglas Quenqua is a journalist based in Brooklyn, NY who writes about culture and technology. His work has appeared in The New York Times, Wired, The New York Observer, and Fortune.
2015 Holiday Email Guide
The holidays are just around the corner. Download this whitepaper to find out how to create successful holiday email campaigns that drive engagement and revenue.
Three Ways to Make Your Big Data More Valuable
Big data holds a lot of promise for marketers, but are marketers ready to make the most of it to drive better business decisions and improve ROI? This study looks at the hidden challenges modern marketers face when trying to put big data to use.
December 2, 2015
1pm ET/ 10am PT
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
5pm HKT / 5am ET


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Dec 31, 2020 12:27 PM (GMT+8)
Weilai announced on its official microblog that it is the first auto company in China to accept bitcoin payment for car purchase. Later, GAC Weilai changed the saying from "bitcoin" to "digital currency". As a result, GAC Weilai has become the first auto company in China to accept digital currency payment for car purchase.
This text is a result of machine translation.


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Kanye West and Kim Kardashian are in Paris for fashion week, and Kim’s Instagram has been full of awesome pictures from their time in France. While most of the pictures are super-extravagant and posh, one […]
The singer was crowned as her muse for the latest collection, but did Madonna wear it better in the ’90s?
These stars made it easy to copy their style by creating their own fashion lines.
Taylor Swift graces the cover of Harper’s Bazaar Australia in April in a stunning gold Gucci frock. It isn’t her cover photo that’s making the news though. Instead, she’s wearing one designer you might not […]
Those crazy couture designers have done it again. Each season, there are bound to be styles that the average person could NEVER get away with wearing in public. We scoped out runway photos from the […]
Johnny Weir is either fashion forward or a fashion trainwreck at New York’s Fashion Week, and which designer’s show almost did not happen? Steve Kemble has more Fashion Week gossip and What’s Hot! today.
Yesterday Los Angeles, today New York! Steve Kemble is on the opposite coast telling us all about Fashion Week in New York! Hear about all his celebrity sightings and What’s Hot!…


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Which version of Final Fantasy XV is coming to the Nintendo Switch? Or is any version coming to the platform?
Ever since Gamescom 2017, a singular rumor/tease has been spreading through the internet like wildfire, “Final Fantasy XV is coming to the Nintendo Switch.” At first, it was thought that the main game was coming, then it was “stated” that it was the Pocket Version that’s coming to mobile phones. These conflicting statements left everyone confused, and in some cases mad.
To clear up the rumors, director Hajime Tabata talked to Dualshockers about what the team did for the Nintendo Switch. They took the Final Fantasy XV engine, the Luminous Engine, and tested it out on the platform. The results weren’t what they wanted though, so they stopped.
However, it’s important to note that Tabata stated that they did this on a basic level. They literally ran the engine straight up, they didn’t try and tweak it, or do modifications to make it flow better like they did for the PC version of the game. And Tabata also stated they’re looking into making it work.
So for now, it’s probably safe to assume that Final Fantasy XV could still come to the Switch. But as for which version? That’s stil very much up in the air at the moment.


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CoreLogic vets’ new firm, Auqeo, provides sales support for tech startups
Two executives who started CoreLogic in 1997 have launched a new company to provide sales support to local tech firms.
Kraig Clark was a co-founder of CoreLogic and Andrew Battistessa was the company’s first employee. They helped the company grow from three people to 250 in eight years before the company was sold for more than $100 million.
Now based in Irvine, CoreLogic is a leading provider of information about mortgage, consumer and auto lending.
Their new venture, which they started three years ago, is called Auqeo Inc. Its offices are in the same building CoreLogic used near Mather years ago.
Auqeo (pronounced ay-kay-oh) recruits, hires, trains, pays and provides office space for its client companies’ sales divisions, said Battistessa, president of Auqeo. Client companies interact directly with sales staff, not with Auqeo, he said.
Auqeo intends to have long-term relationships with its clients; the five companies it has worked with so far have been clients for three years. But Auqeo expects its clients eventually will grow enough to buy their sales teams and move them in-house.
The advantage for client companies is that they can conserve cash in their early years.
Auqeo takes some equity from its clients, and it can collect income from the sales it generates. Every deal is different. It has worked in the areas of banking software, social media and data analytics, among other industries, Battistessa said.
Auqeo has signed confidentiality agreements with all its clients and declined to name them.
“Some people consider it sales outsourcing. I look at it more as in-sourcing. It is very collaborative,” said Clark.
“It’s an interesting combination of outsourcing and support,” she said.
The concept makes a lot of sense, agreed Lonnie Martin, a veteran CEO; current chairman of Vistage, a CEO consulting company; and a member of the Sacramento Angels. Though, he noted, “I’m sure it is easier said than done.” More important than just pushing sales, however, Martin said companies need to have a well planned marketing strategy.
Clark said Auqeo plays a key role there.
“We like to be highly influential on the product development side,” Clark said. “We’re interested in building companies. At CoreLogic, that is where we had the most fun.”
Both Clark and Battistessa also are interested in helping grow companies in Sacramento, where both of them were raised.
“There is a lot of talent and a lot of good ideas in this area,” Clark said, adding that some people have a perception that they need to go to the Bay Area to be successful with a company. “We want to do our part to change that.”
Some of Auqeo’s clients are Bay Area companies, and they always ask why is it based in Sacramento.
“We have a good university system, and people are attracted to this area from around the country and around the state,” he said.
CoreLogic started in Sacramento in 1997 as C&S Marketing, which built a database to search for fraud in mortgage valuations in 1997. By 2005, under the name CoreLogic Systems Inc., it was one of the fastest-growing companies in the country and listed most major mortgage companies as clients. It had revenue of $74 million in 2006.
First American Title bought 82 percent of CoreLogic Systems in 2007 in a cash-and-stock deal that paid CoreLogic investors $100 million. The title company spun out what is now CoreLogic Inc. (NYSE: CLGX) in June 2010 in what was a $2 billion deal.
Mark Anderson covers technology, agriculture, banking and finance, venture capital, energy, mining and hospitality for the Sacramento Business Journal.
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A Magecart skimming campaign, recently discovered, was traced back to an earlier attack in November 2021.
Two malware domains have been tracked for hosting credit card skimmer code in the light of the Magecart campaign. It appears these domains are part of a broader infrastructure for executing intrusions, Malwarebytes said in a Tuesday analysis.
“We were able to connect these two domains with a previous campaign from November 2021 which was the first instance to our knowledge of a skimmer checking for the use of virtual machines,” Jérôme Segura said. “However, both of them are now devoid of VM detection code. It’s unclear why the threat actors removed it, unless perhaps it caused more issues than benefits.”
The first evidence of the campaign’s activity suggests that the attack goes back to May 2020.
The operatives get access to websites either directly or via third-party services that render software to the targeted websites.
While the attacks rose to prominence in 2015 for targeting Magento e-commerce platform (the name Magecart is a portmanteau of “Magento” and “shopping cart”), they have expanded their operation and now include a WordPress plugin named WooCommerce.
Further, during the first five months of 2022, 61% of known credit card skimming malware detections were traced to WordPress Websites, followed by Magento (15.6%), OpenCart (5.5%), and others (17.7%).
“Attackers follow the money, so it was only a matter of time before they shifted their focus toward the most popular e-commerce platform on the web,” Sucuri’s Ben Martin noted at the time.


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As the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak continues to disrupt and alter our lives, we’re helping quantify shifts in movement and are providing some insight into what’s happened thus far, now with data through the week of March 16.
TLDR: Footfall has significantly decreased across all of the business categories we examined — even grocery and pharmacy. Entertainment has been the worst-hit category and saw a 57% decrease in foot traffic the week of March 16 (compared to the previous week).
Unless otherwise noted, percentage changes reflect the comparison in footfall between the week commencing March 16 and the week commencing March 9.
Grocery, Pharmacy and Retail
After weeks of surging traffic, grocery stores and pharmacies nationwide have started to see a decline in foot traffic, perhaps signalling that initial panic buying has somewhat subsided. Additionally, more people are turning to meal kit and grocery delivery services as they do their best to avoid leaving the house, and many grocery stores began limiting the number of customers allowed in-store at a given time.
Since mid-February, grocery stores have seen a 10% decline in traffic, and pharmacies have seen a 12% decline. In fact, foot traffic to grocery stores decreased by 20% the week commencing March 16 compared to the week prior, and that percentage jumps to 25% for pharmacies.
Despite long lines still being witnessed outside of warehouse clubs Costco and Sam’s Club, they’ve both seen a sharp decline in foot traffic (28% and 23%, respectively). Target saw a 31% drop, while Walmart, CVS, and Walgreens all saw approximately 21% less foot traffic than the week prior.
Restaurants and Dining
Through March 15, our data showed little decrease in restaurant and bar visitation across the US, with heavily impacted states like California and Washington being the exceptions. However, nationwide foot traffic to restaurants and bars declined sharply the week of March 16 (41% and 49%, respectively), when states like California announced statewide shelter-in-place orders and the White House released new guidelines that advised against visiting bars, restaurants and food courts.
Travel and Airports
Unsurprisingly, the travel industry has been greatly impacted by Covid-19. As of March 22, airports nationwide have seen a 42% decrease in foot traffic compared to mid-February, and other travel-related locations (including hotels and tourist attractions) have seen a 43% decrease. Visitation changes were not, however, significant in the US until the week of March 16. By this time, France had imposed a nationwide lockdown and the EU had closed off at least 26 countries to visitors from the rest of the world.
While foot traffic to places within our Entertainment category (including movie theaters and theme parks) has been steadily declining, it took a sharp downward turn the week of March 16. Compared to mid-February, footfall has decreased by 61% to these locations.
Around The World
We examined visitation data in Australia and Japan to get a sense of how Covid-19 has been affecting other countries around the world. While the trend in Australia is very similar to the US (though the decreases are not as dramatic), our data shows that foot traffic in Japan has almost stabilized and that there weren’t any significant changes between the week of March 16 and the week of March 9. In Australia, the sharpest declines in footfall were seen in airports (-30%), bars (-30%), places within the Entertainment category (-27%), and restaurants (-21%).
As circumstances around Covid-19 continue to change, we will continue to monitor the real-world impact to these and other industries.
Sign up for our blog to ensure you get the latest updates, or learn how you can gain free access to our Places Insights product for a limited time.


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Shouldn't Sam Walton's heirs at least pony up a pittance from their prodigious inheritance for a few turkey-and-sweet-potato dinners on Thanksgiving?
As the Miami Dolphins' case shows, our society has trouble dealing with adult-on-adult bullying.
If you happen to have a job in a chain store, don't even think about taking a holiday.
Working for free shouldn't be a rite of passage.
We need a national "milk carton" campaign to spread awareness of these lost workers.
Taxpayers will shell out $1.2 billion this year to support workers subjected to McDonald's miserly wages and benefits.
Abusing workers hurts the economy.
Burger assembly doesn't pay like automotive assembly used back in Henry Ford's day.


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Would you have ever in a million years thought that this day would come? Well, it’s not quite the end of the world. Perhaps it is a sign that a new one is swiftly upon us. Approaching is a new age, and these are the signals that tell us that the times are certainly changing. Of course, we have gone from payphones and landlines to pagers to cellphones to smartphones to phones that are now more powerful than some computers. The trajectory of every technology is just so. That is simply the nature of the game.
What I am talking about are mobile devices. Just this past week mobile devices that can access the internet surpassed PCs in use for the first time in history. A report from comScore, an American digital analytics company, tells us that in January of 2014 American’s used smartphone and tablet apps to access the internet with more frequency than they used PCs to gain the same access. Whether or not these statistics surprise you, they truly indicate the arrival of a paradigm shift. This is the affirmation of the age of mobility. We are now deeply entrenched in a world where remote and mobile access to applications dominates the interest and convenience of consumers.
“Mobile devices accounted for 55% of Internet usage in the United States in January. Apps made up 47% of Internet traffic and 8% of traffic came from mobile browsers, according to data from comScore, cited Thursday by research firm Enders Analysis. PCs clocked in at 45%.”
No longer can cumbersome technologies stand their ground. Perhaps another example would suffice. Worldwide shipment of PC’s fell around 10% in 2013, landing this industry in its worst ever sales decline. The signs are all around us! Investment in mobile technologies and remote access to applications are the way to go. Whoever is able to recognize and capitalize on one simple fact will have a huge advantage in the coming technological horizon—we have become a society that is addicted to mobility, forever on the go, and unable to disconnect.


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Apple just released iOS 9.3.5, the latest security update for iDevice users.
We suggest you apply this update as soon as you can, and here’s why.
According to Apple’s security bulletin, it fixes three security holes along these lines:
- WebKit bug: visiting a maliciously crafted website may lead to arbitrary code execution.
- Kernel bug: an application may be able to disclose kernel memory.
- Kernel bug: an application may be able to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges.
You can imagine how these three vulnerabilities could be combined into a serious exploit, where visiting a booby-trapped website might not only infect you with user-level malware, but also go on from there to promote itself to gain kernel-level superpowers.
The security built into iOS does a great job of keeping apps apart, so user-level malware is limited in what it can do: if you have a rogue GPS app, for example, it shouldn’t be able to reach across to your authenticator app and steal its cryptographic secrets.
Nevertheless, a rogue GPS app would be bad enough on its own, as it could keep track of you when you weren’t expecting it.
But if that rogue GPS app could also sneak itself into the iOS kernel, where the security checks and balances that keep apps apart are managed, then you’d have a lot more to worry about.
Loosely speaking, malware than could arrive just by clicking a web link and then boost itself automatically to kernel level would effectively be a “one-click jailbreak.”
A jailbreak is where you sneakily bypass the very security controls that are supposed to stop you bypassing the security controls, so you no longer have to play by Apple’s security rules. Notably, you are no longer restricted to the App Store, so you can follow up a jailbreak by installing whatever software you like.
Well, reports suggest that just such a one-click jailbreak has been reported in the wild: Gizmodo claims that the attack was created by an Israeli company called NSO Group that sells exploits and hacking services.
Ironically, iOS 9.3.4 came out just three weeks ago, and that update also seems to have been hurried out to close a hole that was ostensibly being used for jailbreaking.
Interestingly, another exploit-gathering company, Zerodium, last year famously offered up to $3,000,000 in bounty money for a trifecta of iOS “click-to-own” bugs, as they’re often called, and later claimed that just before the bounty expired, they’d received a bug submission that could be used for jailbreaking.
Did that bug exist, and was it one of the three that were patched in the latest 9.3.5 update?
We don’t know, but whether it was or wasn’t, you should get yourself the latest patches right away.
Go to Settings | General | Software Update and see what version you’re on right now.
Annoyingly, even though the update is just 39.5MB, you have to update via Wi-Fi. As usual, no updates are allowed via the mobile network. For urgent updates of this sort, it really would be handy for Apple to relax that restriction, especially when you think that you could just stick your SIM card in another phone, turn it into an access point, and update using the mobile network as your carrier anyway.


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Mossimo and Wife Change Plea to Guilty, Agree to Serve Time in Prison
Industry veteran Mossimo Giannulli and his wife have changed their tactics in the college admissions cheating scandal and will now plead guilty, according to various news reports.
Prosecutors will recommend that Mossimo serves five months in prison, and that his wife, the actress Lori Loughlin, serves two months, a deal the couple agreed to, according to news reports.
Mossimo is a longtime SES reader and still has lots of friends in the industry. We reached out to him to see if he would like to comment, but he said unfortunately, he does not have a comment at this time.
The two are accused of working with a college counselor to package their daughters as fake rowing athletes to help get them into USC. They paid $500,000 to the college counselor’s charity and to the university under the guide of donations, according to authorities.
In addition to jail time, Mossimo and Loughlin reportedly also agreed to two years of supervised release and community service.
However, the judge will decide the ultimate sentence and does not have to accept the agreed upon sentencing recommendation.
Mossimo was an industry star who turned his namesake brand into a publicly traded company, which eventually hit a rough patch. The brand had moved from the surf industry, where it had been very successful, to making high fashion, where it wasn’t.
The company was close to bankruptcy when it signed the DTR deal with Target in 2000, an arrangement that was revolutionary at the time. The Target deal introduced Mossimo to the mass market while saving the company.
The guaranteed royalty revenue from the Target deal made the Mossimo brand much more attractive to Iconix, which acquired Mossimo in a deal valued at $119 million in 2006. According to the LA Times, Mossimo reaped an estimated $88 million in cash and stock from the sale.
Target had the exclusive rights to sell the brand in the U.S. since 2000. But that relationship ended in October 2018 after Target decided to focus on creating its own new apparel labels.
Since then, Giannulli has had other successes, including creating a younger, hipper golf sportswear and accessories line called G/Fore. Giannulli sold G/Fore to traditional men’s lifestyle brand Peter Millar in 2018 for an undisclosed sum.
Giannulli and his team in Los Angeles remain responsible for the creative direction, design, and marketing, and Peter Millar operates back office functions, parent company Richemont said in its annual report. Richemont owns many luxury brands including Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Piaget, and Montblanc in addition to the high fashion label Chloé.


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Stronger than expected chip sales and positive analyst comments about chip equipment stocks gave the market a much-needed boost on Monday.
The Semiconductor Industry Association said chip sales jumped 4% in August, the sixth straight monthly gain, led by demand in the consumer, computer and wireless sectors.
Prudential said channel checks indicate that sales at Novellus
are in line with or better than expectations, and that the fourth quarter is shaping up to be even better.
And JP Morgan said chip equipment stocks are the most oversold they’ve been since the March lows, and that concerns about fourth-quarter orders are overblown.
Together, those comments settled some jittery nerves ahead of October’s earnings reports, and sent chip stocks to a 2% gain on the day. Intel
and Novellus each gained 4%.
The broader market also got a boost from a report that personal spending remained strong in August, even as personal income grew less than expected.
The Nasdaq surged 32 to 1824, the S&P 500 climbed 9 to 1006, and the Dow rose 67 to 9380. Volume declined to 1.32 billion shares on the NYSE, and 1.68 billion on the Nasdaq. Advancers led 22-9 on the NYSE, and 19-12 on the Nasdaq. Upside volume was 72% on the NYSE, and 76% on the Nasdaq. New highs-new lows were 74-14 on the NYSE, and 102-10 on the Nasdaq.
After the close, Sun
fell on a warning and $1 billion charge.
During the day, Nokia
rose 4% on a positive Barron’s cover story.
gained 6.4% after buying IBM’s
surged 7.5% after raising estimates.
climbed 4.5% on a Department of Defense deal.
fell 5.4% on a Merrill Lynch Sell rating based on competitive weakness.
Market Commentary: For our free daily market commentary and technical analysis, please visit the InternetStockReport.com home page at:


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by Mike Saunders on 23/03/10 at 5:00 am
Two weeks ago Facebook received more traffic than Google in the US.
Although this is a statistic about American traffic there is cause to believe that this is a sign of the future of the internet. Americans in general use the internet more than the rest of the world and have become the internet trend setters in many ways.
The blogging example
As Americans started blogging the world slowly followed suit and thus South Africans began to blog. In South Africa we are already starting to see a higher respect towards bloggers and blogging as a marketing exercise. So the trend in South African blogging can be linked to the trend that was set by the US. In general – look at what succeeds on the internet in the US and you will start to see those trends start to pick up in South Africa.
What on earth do I do with this new information?
So what does this mean and how can we derive some direction for the future of marketing on the internet? I would suggest that the following trends may appear in the future on South African internet marketing:
As the business world is starting to become more saturated with Generation X we will see more and more opportunities to extend our business networks inside social media realms.
The Friendship 2.0 study revealed: “The results, out now, bust the myth that only youngsters do social networking. On average, adult social networkers in South Africa are in their 30s, employed full-time and describe themselves as sociable and outgoing.”
Consumer demand will force social media marketing
The demand for social media services by internet consumers will mean that any organisation that does not market themselves in social media will lose a foothold in the market place.
Mobile will become the new road to social media
Mobile media is taking off at an incredible rate in South Africa. We have already seen how people have adopted to Mobile Facebook and MXit as the primary means of social communication. Even the simplest of cellphones can access networks like Facebook without an PC. This access could see rapid growth in internet usage from the current 9.4%. This could mean that sometime in the future we may be able to run marketing campaigns to lower LSM markets.
Does this mean that SEO is not enough to gain majority market share
Traffic to Google and Facebook is on the increase the difference is that Facebook traffic is increasing at a higher rate. SEO has always been the primary approach to gain majority market share on the internet. The question that is not quite answered yet is “Will Facebook grow to be the new King of the Internet and will this become the new primary method to gain the majority internet market share?”
If so, maybe we need to put more effort into understanding this medium.
Would love to here you thoughts!!