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Pseudo IG: 115615
|Posté le: Sam 11 Aoû - 02:12 (2018) Sujet du message: price of membership are well worth the price (valued at ove
|TIANJIN， March 21 (Xinhua) -- The booming bike-sharing industry has had a polarizing effect on Chinese bicycle manufacturers， with big companies going full steam to churn out millions of bikes every month， and smaller firms dying due to a lack of orders.
At factories of Flying Pigeon， a bike maker in Tianjin Municipality， production lines are going full throttle.
"The company started to hire more workers at the end of last year. We have added at least 100 workers and are hiring more，" said Zhang Jinying， Flying Pigeon's general manager. The company is a supplier for Ofo， one of the biggest bike-sharing services， whose two-wheelers are commonly known as "the yellow bikes" among Chinese city dwellers.
There are 29 different bike-sharing providers in China. Riders spend as little as 1 yuan (about 0.15 U.S. dollar) per hour after unlocking bicycles with a mobile app， and they can drop them off anywhere for the next user. Mobike， Bluegogo and Ofo are among the major competitors.
Flying Pigeon is scheduled to produce 900，000 bikes in March， with half of the orders from bike-sharing start-ups， Zhang said.
"There have been so many more orders since January this year. Many of us have to work overtime，" said an employee who gave his name as Chen.
Fushida， another supplier for Ofo， is also busy dealing with spiking orders.
"Ofo ordered about 800，000 bikes for April. In total， we plan to make a million bikes in April，" said Liu Jie， general manager of Fushida.
"This year is definitely the peak of production for shared bikes. I expect output will drop next year when there are enough bikes，" said Liu Xuequan， director of the bicycle industry association in Tianjin， China's largest bicycle manufacturing base.
But there is also great room for development for the bike-making industry， said Liu.
A bicycle's service life is around two years if five users ride it each day.
"There are at least 10 million bikes that need repairs or replacement every year，" said Liu.
According to a report from Beijing-based BigData Research， by the end of 2016， there were 18.86 million users of shared bicycles， and the number is expected to expand to 50 million by the end of this year.
The fast growth of bike sharing has dealt a blow to the traditional bike market， said Liu.
"There is a wax and wane effect. The bike-sharing business is getting bigger， but the traditional bike sellers are faced with great difficulty，" Zhang said.
"When a person can ride a bike without having to worry about where to park it， or whether it will be stolen， there is little desire to own a bike of one's own，" Zhang said.h In the bike-making industry as a whole， there is certain overcapacity， Liu said.
"The big companies are doing reasonably well at this stage， but the smaller ones are definitely suffering，" he said.
Dozens of small and medium bike-makers have quite a few orders， Liu said.
According to the Tianjin Municipal Bicycle Industry Association， Tianjin has produced over two million bikes in the first two months this year. At least 10 million bikes will be produced by the end of this year.
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Not long now.
It looks like we could be in for another sell out Yeezy Desert Rat 500 release, after @theyeezymafia confirmed an “Ultraviolet” colourway will be releasing later this year.
Hot off the heels of last weekend’s Yeezy 500 Blush Desert Rat release, the three stripe giant has given us a taster of what’s to come.
Dressed heel-to-toe in a tonal dark purple upper, the Yeezy 500 “Ultraviolet” combines mesh and suede construction, with a gum outsole underfoot.
Judging by the success of its counterpart, we won’t be surprised if this doesn’t sell out on the day too.
Earlier today, we took at look at four Yeezy 500 concepts, including a black volt and Panda iteration.

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Peterbilt offering more options for Model 382
DENTON, Texas — Peterbilt Motors Company is now offering additional options for its Model 382, including higher axle ratings, horsepower and torque configurations to an expanded market range.
“Peterbilt is focused on providing its customers with competitive advantages that enable them to operate more efficiently and effectively,” said Bill Jackson, Peterbilt general manager and Paccar vice-president. “We have enhanced the already versatile Model 382 with greater component flexibility to make it the ideal vehicle for an expanded range of applications, and customers seeking to achieve an ideal balance of power and weight.”
New options on the Model 382 include:
– The Cummins ISL9 engine with REPTO functionality;
– Front axles rated up to 20,000 lbs;
– Rear axles rated up to 46,000 lbs;
– Frame rail options up to 11-5/8 inches;
– The Bendix ESP Stability system for truck applications;
– Hendrickson, Reyco and Chalmers rear suspension choices.
“The marketplace has already embraced the Model 382’s manoeuvrability, fuel efficiency and operator comfort and safety amenities,” said Jackson. “These new options will bring these established features to markets requiring robustness, durability and versatility for off-road and specialty operations.”
Have your say
This is a moderated forum. Comments will no longer be published unless they are accompanied by a first and last name and a verifiable email address. (Today's Trucking will not publish or share the email address.) Profane language and content deemed to be libelous, racist, or threatening in nature will not be published under any circumstances.
I would like to know when Peterbilt, or any of these companies that makes truck, will accommodate truck drivers who want to be o/o without paying interest on truck, but are willing to pay more for the actual price that the truck are being sold for. Meaning instead of paying with interest, they want to company to give them the entire price of the truck plus interest that does not change,and if the payment is late or if they pay more or double the monthly payment that they wont be penalties or interest increase. This will help the truck drive to get a new truck, truck manufactures companies will sale more, and clean air for the environment. Most truck drivers prefers to buy a used truck because of the interest that is not fixed, or when they loose a contract they still can afford to pay their truck without being stressed out. Drivers that will benefit are those who are currently working with a well known transportation companies, and o/o that want a newer truck.


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VOL. 126 | NO. 35 | Monday, February 21, 2011
FedEx Breaks Ground for Norcross, Ga., Facility
NORCROSS, Ga. (AP) – FedEx Corp. broke ground in Norcross for a distribution facility the company expects to employ 240 workers and 75 contractors when it opens next year.
Gov. Nathan Deal joined with company officials on Friday as ground was broken for the $55 million facility.
The 215,000-square-foot facility is designed to process 15,000 packages per hour, and have the capacity to dispatch 75 pickup and delivery vans each day.
Company officials say Norcross was selected because of its proximity to major highways and customer distribution operations.
FedEx says the new facility is part of a nationwide network expansion to boost daily package volume capacity and enhance the speed and service capabilities of the FedEx Ground network.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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If you need more proof that virtual reality is going wide, this should do it: McDonald’s is beginning the rollout of Happy Meal boxes that transform into VR headsets.
Wired reports that the launch begins this week in Sweden.
“On Friday, with help from ad agency DDB, McDonald’s Sweden will begin selling Happy Meals in boxes that transform into VR headsets. The program is called Happy Goggles, and it will make a limited run of 3,500 headsets available at 14 McDonald’s restaurants across northern Sweden,” Wired reports.
The move follows a VR initiative by one of the world’s other biggest brands, Coke. “In mid-February, Coca-Cola released a tutorial demonstrating how to make VR viewers out of old Coke boxes,” Wired notes.
The McDonald’s device differs from the original Google Cardboard template, but Wired reports that it works. “By tearing off eye and nose holes, folding up one-half of the box, and inserting lenses, you get a Cardboard-esque gadget in McDonald’s red,” the story reports. “Customers who buy one can access a link on their smartphone to retrieve the inaugural Happy Goggles VR game, a low fidelity animated skiing-racing game called ‘Se upp i backen,’ or, in English, ‘watch out on the slopes.’”


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NOSE / worthy
Established nearly 344 years ago in May of 1670, The Hudson's Bay is not only one of the oldest companies in the world, it is also older than Canada itself. Known mostly for its signature blanket bearing the green-red-yellow-navy horizontal stripes, the company has changed ownership several times in the last few years, most recently falling in the hands of retail mogul Richard Baker.
Today it was announced that following a recent acquisition of Saks Fifth Avenue, the company will be selling its flagship location in downtown Toronto -- the 3rd largest department store location in the world -- for a whopping $650 million. The Bay will lease back its store space as well as introduce a Saks location (the first in Canada). With Nordstroms moving into the old Sears flagship store across the street in the Eaton Center, this will mark a giant shift in the retail landscape for Toronto in the upcoming months.
Read more here.
More nose-worthy news:
Sears closes Chicago flagship store


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California's plan for full-blown ePedigree implementation by 2009 just got a reality check. The hang-up? The systems are cost more and are taking longer than expected to get up and running.
Pharma companies sweating over the pending electronic-pedigree law in California can breath a little easier. The California Board of Pharmacy announced last week that firms selling drugs in the state now have until January 2011 to set up a system to track each and every product as it travels through the supply chain. The pharmaceutical authorities may even grant a little wiggle room to push the deadline if a company is unable to implement all the technology necessary to attain full-blown ePedigree status.
"The board has concluded that in the absence of such delay, the California drug supply—and potentially the entire US drug supply may very well be negatively impacted—by an imperfect or non-uniform implementation of pedigree requirements," stated William Powers, president of the state board of pharmacy in a release.
The Price of "Progress"
For the last year and a half, the California board has been holding monthly meetings with pharma to monitor its progress—and the drugmakers have increasingly begun complaining about the cost of such a project.
"While some companies have successfully implemented the technology, to be honest, a larger population has not moved," Mark O'Connell, president and CEO of Supplyscape, one of the biggest ePedigree solutions providers, told Pharm Exec on Tuesday. "Last week, the senior vice president of McKessan sat in front of the board and said that of the 600 manufacturers that provide the company with product for the state, only 100 will be prepared by January 2009."
The board expressed concern that the companies were not moving fast enough to meet the deadline, but finally had to acknowledge how difficult it is to move that much technology into the supply chain.
"The board only wants one thing—complete compliance," O'Connell said. "This has been a major wake-up call for the industry. Now there is no place to hide."
A State or Federal Affair?
California's law calls for a rigorous electronic track-and-trace component that would require full-item label serialization—a pricey proposition. One large pharmacy chain told the board that just to bring the technology in state would cost $50 million. "If you are pharmacy chain that isn't making a lot of profit, $50 million is an enormous expense—and the complexity of getting that technology into the hands of a pharmacist is just beyond what they can do," O'Connell said.
But with California the only state to mandate ePedigree, many skeptics see it as a potential boondoggle in the making. An electronic track-and-trace system covering the whole country would offer much greater bang for the buck, they argue. Currently, 20 different states are working on similar legislation and a lot of folks are looking at the federal government to create a national uniform implementation.
"It's only a matter of time before FDA comes out with a mandate, but I think the government is giving the pharma industry some time to develop products and solutions that are workable for the industry," Bill Allen, group director for RFID at CMP Technology, told Pharm Exec in July 2007.
18 Months and Counting
The California board was clear that delaying the deadline by two years was the last compromise. Companies must now get serious about their ePedigree plans or face hefty fines of up to $5,000 for each saleable unit without a pedigree. And as it is, companies must have pedigreed drugs in the supply chain six months before the deadline to ensure that the entire supply is up to standard. That takes a big bite our of two years.
"The board is not going to go away," O'Connell said. "It is going to continue to make companies show progress. A lot of people look at the 2011 date as a blessing, but many realize they will still be paying fines because the project is that complex."


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revenue eased and second-quarter earnings dropped 59% from last year, but the company's results beat Wall Street's expectations.
The producer of paper and wood products earned $88 million, or 19 cents a share, for the second quarter, down from $215 million or 45 cents a share, in the same quarter last year, according to a Thursday press release.
International Paper's second-quarter sales dipped to $6.2 billion from $6.3 billion in 2002.
Despite the drop, the earnings beat analysts' predictions and the bottom line from the first quarter, when the company earned $44 million, or 9 cents a share. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call expected 17 cents a share in the second quarter.
"We improved our earnings since the first quarter in a lackluster economy through our strong manufacturing operations, better product mix and administrative cost-control measures," Chairman and CEO John Dillon said in a prepared statement. "Energy and weather-related wood costs remained high, volumes were slightly lower than the first quarter and prices declined in uncoated paper, linerboard and boxes."
The company's shares were recently unchanged at $38.58.
Going forward, International Paper expects flat demand, but said raw material and energy costs should improve from the second quarter.


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Mergers & Acquisitions
MARRIAGE OF PHARMA GIANTS
The acquisition of Wyeth by Pfizer, Inc. in 2009 found arguably the largest pharmaceutical company in the world buying its chief rival to become the world industry leader in research and biopharmaceuticals. Considered one of the largest acquisitions in the US, Pfizer purchased Wyeth for $68 billion in cash and stocks and made Wyeth a subsidiary of the pharmaceutical giant.
Though the merger angered some critics, Pfizer is determined to prove the naysayers wrong. Positioned as an industry leader, Pfizer is able to reach a broader market, including emerging markets around the globe.
Through this merger, Pfizer is able to improve their overall global footprint in pharmaceutical research and consumer sales of prescription medications, animal health products, and enter the lucrative market of over-the-counter medications. Wyeth’s successful consumer healthcare product brands include Advil®, Dimetapp®, and Robitussin®. Wyeth is also a leader in the nutrition market with their milk products available in 60 countries. This gives Pfizer the opportunity to enter this highly successful market and reach more people around the globe.
With increased access to the latest innovations in pharmaceutical research, Pfizer is able to research and develop a wider-range of effective medicines, vaccines, and biotherapeutics that reach consumers at every stage of their lives all over the world.
BIG OIL & NATURAL GAS
Oil and gas giant Exxon Mobil acquired natural gas leader XTO Energy in 2009 for $41 billion in stock. Both are Texas-based companies, headquartered out of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. This business transaction came at the heels of the purchase of Hunt Petroleum Corporation by XTO Energy in 2008.
XTO Energy is an established leader in natural gas production from unconventional resources such as shale gas and oil and coal bed methane. Experts predict that natural gas will be a key energy source well into the next few decades and is set to increase globally by 50 percent.
The acquisition of XTO Energy helps Exxon Mobil diversify their energy portfolio and gives them an opportunity to become a leader in the natural gas sector. Exxon Mobil is able to reach out to more consumers, particularly those in emerging markets, providing a necessary energy resource essential to the lives of many.
By breaking into in the natural gas market, Exxon Mobil can position itself to become a comprehensive energy leader. Though Exxon Mobil has shown interest in developing its own natural gas technology, the purchase of an existing successful natural gas purveyor allows for a more efficient transfer of technology. By increasing their efficiency, Exxon Mobile can add to their bottom line.
THE GREAT CHOCOLATE WAR
Considered one of the more controversial acquisitions in recent history, Kraft Foods successfully purchase the majority of shares in Cadbury after a lengthy, often hostile, bidding process for $19 billion. The agreement was finalized earlier this year with Kraft Foods, the second-largest food, beverage and confection corporation in the world, holding 71 percent of shares in Cadbury.
Cadbury, the UK-based company responsible for delicious confections, including Dairy Milk and everyone’s favorite Easter treat, Cadbury Crème Eggs®, rejected an initial offer by Kraft Foods, arguing that Kraft undervalued Cadbury. After intense negotiations and a bidding challenge by the Hershey Company, Cadbury finally reached an agreement with US-based Kraft.
The purchase is seen as a horizontal expansion of two leading food brands. Cadbury will benefit from the diverse brand and product portfolio of Kraft Foods. Kraft is able to expand into emerging markets such as India, where Cadbury has a strong presence. India has proven to be a tough market to break into as they are not as quick to embrace Western products, particularly food and confectionary products. However, many of Cadbury’s products — Dairy Milk and Bournvita malted drinks — are successful throughout India. In fact, the company has over 70% of the chocolate market. Through this acquisition, Kraft can continue to expand on the groundwork of Cadbury and become a powerhouse in India.
In many cases, mergers and acquisitions are beneficial for all companies involved, as each company gains from the associations with the other’s brand and product portfolio. As a result, the companies strengthen and increase their markets to become a profitable business venture.
Six issues at the top of tax and finance leaders’ agenda
New Deloitte research reveals that tax leaders are under increasing pressure to add strategic value as companies accelerate business model transformation, from undergoing digital transformations to rethinking their supply chains or investing in green initiatives.
According to Phil Mills, Deloitte Global Tax & Legal Leader, to “truly deliver value to the business, the tax function needs to rethink its resourcing model and transform its technology infrastructure to create capacity and control costs”.
And the good news, according to Mills, is that tax and business leaders have more options at their disposal to achieve this.
Reflecting the insights of global tax and finance executives at global companies, Deloitte’s Tax Operations in Focus study reveals the six issues at the top of tax and finance leaders’ agenda.
Trend 1: Businesses seek more strategic counsel from tax
Companies are being pushed to develop new digital products and distribution channels and accelerate sustainable transformation and this is taking them into uncharted tax territory. Tax leaders say their teams must have the resources and skills to give deeper advisory support on digital business models (65%), supply chain restructuring (49%) and sustainability (48%) over the next two years. This means redrawing the boundaries of what tax professionals focus on, and accelerating adoption of advanced technologies and lower-cost resourcing models to meet compliance requirements and free up time.
According to Joanne Walker, Group Tax Director, BT Group PLC, "There’s still a heavy compliance load today, but the vision for the future would be that much of that falls away, and tax people become subject matter experts who help program the machine, ensure quality control, and redirect their time to advisory activity.”
Trend 2: Tipping point for resourcing models
Business partnering demands in the tax department are on the rise, but 93% of tax leaders say their department’s budget is remaining flat or falling. To ensure that the tax function can redefine itself as a strategic function at the pace that is required, leaders are choosing to move increasing amounts of compliance and reporting to a combination of shared service centers, finance departments, and outsourcing providers that have invested in best-in-class technology.
Trend 3: Digital tax administration is moving faster than expected
in addition to the rising focus of the corporate tax department partnering with their business counterparts, transformative changes to the way companies share tax information with revenue authorities is also creating an imperative to modernize operations at a faster pace. Nine in 10 (92%) respondents say that shifting revenue authority demands on digital tax administration will have a moderate or high impact on tax operations and resources over the next five years—and several heads of tax said the trend is moving faster than expected.
"It’s really stepped up in the last couple of years," says Anna Elphick, VP Tax, Unilever. "Tax authorities don't just want a faster turnaround for compliance but access into a company’s systems. It's not unreasonable to think that in a much shorter time than we expect, compliance will be about companies reviewing a return that's been drafted by the tax authorities."
Trend 4: Data simplification and lower-cost resourcing are top priorities
Tax leaders said that simplifying data management (53%) and moving to lower-cost resourcing models (51%) must be prioritized if tax is to become more proactive at delivering strategic insights to the business. Many tax teams are ensuring that they have a seat at the table as ERP systems are overhauled, which is paying dividends: 56% of those that have introduced NextGen ERP systems are now highly effective at supporting the business with scenario-modeling insights. Only 35% of those with moderate to low use of NextGen ERP systems said the same.
At Stryker, “we automated the source P&L process for transfer pricing which took a huge burden off of the divisions," says David Furgason, Vice President Tax. "Then we created a transfer price database to deposit and retrieve data so we have limited impact on the divisions. We are moving to a single ERP platform which will help us make take the next step with robotics.”
Trend 5: Skillsets are shifting
Embedding a new data infrastructure and redesigning processes are critical for the future tax vision. Tax leaders are aligned — data skills (45%) and technology process experience (43%) are ‘must have’ skills in a tax department of the future, but more traditional tax specialist knowledge also remains key (40%). The trick to success will be in tax leaders facilitating the way these professionals, with their different backgrounds, can work together collectively to unlock lasting value.
Take Infineon Technologies, which formed a VAT technology and governance group "that has the right knowledge about how to change the system to ensure it generates the right reports", according to Matthias Schubert, Global Head of Tax. "Involving them early was key as we took a greenfield approach, so we could think about what the optimal processes would look like and how more intelligent systems could make an impact
Trend 6: 2020 brought productivity improvements
Improved productivity (50%) and accelerating shifts to remote working (48%) were cited as the biggest operational benefits to emerge from COVID-19-driven disruption. But, as 78% of leaders now plan to embed either hybrid or fully remote models in the tax function long term, 34% say maintaining productivity benefits is a top concern. And, as leaders think about building their talent pipeline and strengthening advisory skill sets, 47% say they must prioritize new approaches to talent recognition and career development over the next two years, while 36% say new processes for involving tax in business strategy decisions must be established.


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While slow and steady, restaurant sales are still trending in the right direction, according to TDn2K’s latest Black Box Intelligence, which gathers weekly sales data from more than 30,000 locations representing 170-plus brands and nearly $70 billion in annual sales.
The majority of Iron Chef Jose Garces’ portfolio of restaurants have been sold for $8 million in cash to 3BM1, a company funded by Ballard Brands and Philadelphia-based investor David Maser. Garces will stick on as chief culinary officer.
When John Plew opened his first Thirsty Lion Gastropub & Grill near Portland, Oregon in 2006, it was relatively straightforward for him to maintain relationships with local suppliers and tap into consumers’ growing appetite for local food and drink.
FAT (Fresh. Authentic. Tasty.) Brands Inc. announced Thursday that it has successfully completed the previously announced acquisition of Hurricane Grill & Wings for $12.5 million, which was funded through a combination of $8 million of cash and $4.
The owner of P.F. Chang’s Bistro said now “is an exciting time to explore a sale,” a move that could help the chain deal with debt burden of about $680 million. Centerbridge Partners and the Board of Managers of Wok Parent LLC announced they have retained BofA Merrill Lynch and Barclays to explore a potential sale of the Asian chain, which Centerbridge acquired in 2012 along with fast casual Pei Wei in a deal valued at $1.
For restaurant operators that want to grow and need funding, partnering with a private-equity investor can be a good place to start, as long as operators fully consider the pros and cons.Private-equity firms can provide significant benefits to a restaurant company, such as providing the financial backing that can fuel substantial growth.
AccorHotels and sbe Entertainment Group signed a Letter of Intent and entered into exclusive negotiations for AccorHotels to acquire a 50 percent stake in sbe, further illustrating AccorHotels's strategy to expand its offering in the luxury lifestyle hospitality segment.
Much of what has taken place at LongHorn Steakhouse in recent years counteracts the casual-dining playbook of old. Simplify and shrink the menu, but improve loyalty and accelerate same-store sales. Historically those results just don’t co-exist in the same battlefield.
Beef ‘O’ Brady’s, a family-friendly sports bar and restaurant franchise, entered the second quarter of 2018 poised with rapid growth momentum. The brand has undergone a number of strategic changes within the last 12 months, including an entirely refreshed brand image, renovations to existing locations and a revamp of the menu.
Darden’s strong close to fiscal 2018 soared its stock more than 15 percent Thursday to $107.06, its highest point since March 2009. Don’t expect that momentum to slow anytime soon. In fact, Darden said during a June 21 conference call that it plans to open 45–50 new restaurants in 2019—a pretty rare growth boom in today’s casual-dining arena.
Darden’s “brilliant with the basics” operating strategy has been the anchor for its industry-fronting results for years now, and the fourth quarter was no different. Same-store sales increased at every brand except its most recent acquisition, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, resulting in a blended lift of 2.
In recent years, fees charged by franchise brands have increased significantly without additional support. Buffalo Wings & Rings, a growing 80-plus unit global elevated sports restaurant brand, is bucking the industry trend and vowing not to continue charging franchisees investing in growing with the brand.
ARC Group, Inc., owner, operator, and franchisor of Dick’s Wings & Grill, said it intends to acquire Tilted Kilt, the Jacksonville-based company announced.Dick’s Wings, a 23-year-old brand, has 15 restaurants in Florida and five in Georgia.
It’s the end of an era for Dave & Buster’s. Since going public in 2014, chief executive officer Stephen M. King and chief financial officer Brian Jenkins have been the face of the company for investors.
Restaurant sales slowed a bit in May after a sizzling spring start. TDn2K’s latest Restaurant Industry Snapshot, based on weekly sales from more than 30,000 restaurant units, showed flat same-store sales growth across the industry—a significant slowdown from April’s 1.


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Messaging service Kik has revealed plans to launch its own cryptocurrency and ultimately create a new ecosystem for digital services.
The new digital token, called Kin, will be launched on the ethereum blockchain, the second largest cryptocurrency by market cap. Today, the company released a white paper outlining its strategy for Kin, how it will be integrated into the app and how it hopes to create a wider ecosystem for buying and selling digital services.
The Canada-based company, which has raised over $120m in VC funding, said the cryptocurrency will "combat the monopolization" of digital services where a large companies exert more and more control over digital services.
"These companies are the only ones with enough scale to effectively monetize through advertising," said Ted Livingston, CEO of Kik, arguing this makes it difficult for independent developers to monetize their services.
He told CoinDesk:
"We think this is leading to a future for consumers and for society that has less choice, less innovation and ultimately less freedom."
Some of the inspiration for the new token stems from Kik Points, a rewards system for users to access certain features inside the messaging app, but, Livingston said, the firm has been looking at the idea of a cryptocurrency since 2011.
Kik has now outlined multiple steps it will take for the creation of Kin and its ecosystem.
It will launch a token sale for the first Kin later in the summer and begin integrating the cryptocurrency into the Kik app where users buy and sell features and services like stickers, the use of bots and group chat hosting.
"It will also give Kin value on the public exchanges," the CEO said. His company ultimately wants to spread Kin beyond its own app and create a decentralized ecosystem, using Kin, for all digital services.
To support these aims, the company will establish an independent non-profit called the Kin Foundation later this year or early next year. The organization will oversee the fair and open growth of the ecosystem, and further manage the Kin Rewards Engine, a financial incentive program to encourage uptake of the cryptocurrency and foster the ecosystem’s growth.
"Every day, a certain amount of Kin will be given out to all the owners of the digital services proportional to the number of transactions that they drive in their particular digital service relative to the overall ecosystem."
A game developer, for example, could transact with its players using Kin, and get a payment from the rewards engine. This will create more reason to continue accepting and transacting with the token.
"Let's say you're creating 10% of all the transactions in the Kin ecosystem, you would get 10% of this daily reward,” Livingston said.
The foundation will also serve as an ID service, he added, likening it to a "decentralized Facebook Connect" that allows Kin users to move around the ecosystem:
“As a user when I show up to a new digital service, I start using Kin right away in a frictionless yet secure way.”
Kik has 15 million monthly active users and with this userbase, the company claims that Kin can become the “most adopted cryptocurrency in the world”.
Kik Messenger image via Shutterstock
Bitcoin Price Eyes Triangle Breakout Above $6.4K
Bitcoin (BTC) is again trading in a narrowing price range above $6,400, but the lateral trading may soon give way to a rally, according to technical studies.
The price consolidation comes after Mon
Security firm G4S Has Launched a Crypto Custody Service
U.K.-based security services company G4S now offers a crypto custody service aimed to protect investors' holdings of digital assets.
Announcing the move in a press release on Oct. 16, the firm said
Gates Foundation Partners With Former Ripple CTO's Blockchain Project
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has partnered with blockchain startup Coil as part of its mission to provide payment services for the unbanked.
The news comes via a tweet from Miller Abel, th
Mt Gox's Bitcoin Creditors Have 4 Days to Submit Rehabilitation Claims
Clients of the defunct crypto exchange Mt. Gox must submit claims for trapped funds by Oct. 22.
As previously reported by CoinDesk, the exchange first opened up the claims process in August, follow
Crypto Exchange Coinbase Open-Sources Its Security Scaling Tool
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The first big weekend of the holiday shopping season could be characterized more as "ho-hum" than a jolly "ho, ho, ho" by the nation's retail trade.
Forbes magazine reports the National Retail Federation estimated 133.7 million Americans went shopping this weekend, below the 140.1 million it was expecting and down 5 percent from last year.
The New York Times reported that earlier openings of many retailers on Thanksgiving did not appear to goose sales. Estimates by the NRF found sales, both in stores and online, dropped by 11 percent compared to 2013, with shoppers spending an average of $380.95 over the four days, 6.4 percent less than the $407.02 they spent last year.
Why the slow start?
The Associated Press reports Minnesota retailers suspect early deals at stores and on the Web may have cut into Black Friday sales, and caused fewer shoppers to visit stores.
"The post-Thanksgiving shopping at St. Paul big box stores was less frenzied than in years past," the AP noted, reporting that Target shoppers there experienced half-empty parking lots and easy access to checkout lanes.
Forbes noted that while both Minneapolis-based Target and rival Wal-Mart reported record online sales for Thanksgiving, it didn't translate to shoppers in stores.
The New York Times story offered some theories. The lower sales could mean that “there are a significant number of Americans out there for whom the recession is not yet over,” according to the NRF's Shay. But a stronger economy could also mean that shoppers did not feel compelled to seek out rock-bottom Black Friday deals, he said.
Or it could be that the ever-earlier start to Black Friday deals means many consumers have done their shopping and stayed home during the Thanksgiving weekend.
MOA the exception
The story said the nation's largest shopping mall counted about 258,800 people visiting between Thanksgiving night and 6 p.m. Friday, which sets the megamall up to shatter its all-time traffic record.
"It was really great, because there were no huge masses of crowds," MOA spokeswoman Sarah Schmidt said Friday. "It was a big crowd, but it was kind of spread out through the evening."
But not all hope is lost. The retail federation's CEO Matt Shay said his organizations remained confident overall sales would increase by 4.1 percent for the holiday season – despite the underwhelming Thanksgiving shopping week.


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US: Kohl's Department Stores in RFID rollout
Kohl's Department Stores has deployed RFID solutions across select departments after a successful pilot of the technology last year across 25 of its stores.
The retailer is using Checkpoint's Merchandise Visibility enterprise software centrally in data centre, handheld RFID readers to perform regular in-store inventory counts, RFID printers and handheld readers for tagging at distribution centres and Checkpoint's RFID tags and labels for initial store tagging, tagging at distribution centres and source tagging.
"RFID will further enhance our customers' shopping experience by providing improved operational visibility, enabling us to more efficiently identify items which need to be replenished on the sales floor," said Ken Bonning, senior executive vice president at Kohl's Department Stores.
The company's RFID deployment is focused on a large number of strategic apparel departments including footwear, denim and men's basics.
Department store retailer Kohl's Corporation has reported a double-digit drop in third-quarter profit - but according to one analyst, new initiatives in place will lead to improvement in the fourth qu...
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Food awareness NGO, ProVeg Czechia, welcome commitments at Prague gathering
Retailers operating throughout the Czech Republic have pledged to boost their plant-based product ranges, with rising numbers of consumers buying plant-based meat and dairy alternatives.
Commitments made at this year’s New Food Forum, organised by food awareness organisation, ProVeg Czechia, included a pledge from retail giant Upfield to go completely plant-based within the next three years.
Another global player, Tesco, told conference delegates that it continues to push ahead with its goal of boosting its plant-based product range by 300% by 2025.
“It is really heartening to hear that retailers are responding to customers’ demands for more climate-friendly food,” Martin Ranninger, said Director of ProVeg Czechia.
“When retailers offer people a greater variety of plant-based alternatives, it helps people to transition to more flexitarian diets. This is vital because plant-based foods emit half the amount of greenhouse gases as animal based foods, so going flexitarian, vegetarian or vegan is an effective way for individuals to respond to the huge challenge that climate change presents,” Ranninger added.
The New Food Forum, which took place in Prague on 26 April, brings retailers and manufacturers together every year to talk about food innovation and sustainable diet trends.
Food giant Upfield was among the delegates at the conference and has made it a mission to go 100% plant-based.
“We believe the future belongs to a plant-based diet and that this trend will keep up because of consumers’ interest in their health and the planet. We want to continue changing the food tradition for the better, which is why Upfield will be a 100% plant-based company in three years,” Sebastian Tolwinski, Director of Corporate Affairs and Communications Central and Eastern Europe for Upfield, said.
At the conference, retailers and food manufacturers discussed the need for better availability, quality, and equivalently-priced or cheaper plant-based alternatives to animal products.
Audiences also heard that innovations and new technologies are the key to transforming the global food system and will help determine the right development direction in this sector. Interest in the sector is being driven by flexitarians – people who eat meat occasionally, with the product’s taste being their priority.
Tesco Czechia’s Product Director, Chris Gee, said his company had embraced the need to shift to more plant-based alternative products.
“We need to move forward much faster in the plant-based sector. With Tesco’s’ goal to increase the sale of plant-based products by 300% by 2025, we are responding to the changing dietary habits of Czechs, through a healthier and more sustainable product range,” Gee said.
In a panel discussion at the conference, retailers focused on the importance of consumer education around plant-based products, which is needed especially in the current product-labelling debate regarding the position of the country’s food regulatory authority, the SZPI.
The SZPI said in January 2023 that labels such as “milk alternative” should not be used to describe plant-based products.
“Unfortunately, the January standpoint is still posted on the SZPI website, despite the recent verdict of the regional court, which ruled in favour of the producers of milk alternatives. This authoritative verdict confirms what we have been saying for years: consumers are not confused by the names of plant-based products,” ProVeg’s Ranninger said.
About New Food Forum Conference 2023
This year, participants at the New Food Forum had the chance to choose between interactive workshops on a variety of subjects, including marketing and plant-based cooking.
The catering company Cibule provided delicious plant-based catering throughout the day. The conference also presented the winners of the best plant-based alternatives. Müller’s Vegan Mousse won best dairy alternative, Lindt’s Vegan Bunny won best plant-based confectionery alternative, and Garden Gourmet’s Vuňák won best plant-based meat alternative.
Partners of the conference were: Upfield, Perfect Catering, Cibule, Garden Gourmet, Semix, Frujo, V-Label, Ogilvy, Frujo, Limenita, Wunderman Thompson, Pábení, Semix and Vegetus. You can find more information on the website newfoodforum.cz.
Notes to Editors
For media inquiries, email Aneta Kudolániová at [email protected]
Editors can find photos of the event available for use here
About ProVeg Czechia
ProVeg Czechia is part of ProVeg International, a global food awareness organisation working to transform the global food system by replacing conventional animal-based products with plant-based and cultivated alternatives.
ProVeg works with international decision-making bodies, governments, food producers, investors, the media, and the general public to help the world transition to a society and economy that are less dependent on animal agriculture and more sustainable for humans, animals, and our planet.
ProVeg has permanent-observer status with the UNFCCC, is accredited for UNEA, and has received the United Nations’ Momentum for Change Award. ProVeg also has Observer Status at the IPCC.


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MANILA, Sept 13 (Xinhua): The number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in the Philippines surged to 261,216 after the Department of Health (DOH) reported 3,372 new cases on Sunday.
The DOH said that the number of recoveries also rose to 207,568 after 20,472 more patients recovered.
The DOH added that 79 more patients died, bringing the death toll to 4,371.
Metro Manila topped the five regions or provinces with the highest number of daily confirmed cases reported on Sunday at 1,307, followed by Cavite province, south of Manila, 240; Laguna province, south of Manila, 207; Negros Occidental province in the central Philippines, 199; and Bulacan province, north of Manila, 145.
According to the DOH, the country's 121 Covid-19 laboratories have tested over 2.89 million people so far.
Meanwhile, the government announced that the social media is now a market place that caters to people that prefer shopping from the comfort of their homes and on their smartphones due to the pandemic in the Philippines.
The Philippines' Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said online business registration in the country skyrocketed as more and more small entrepreneurs conduct business via the internet due to strict lockdown restrictions imposed to stem the spread of the deadly virus.
DTI data showed that registration of online businesses jumped to 75,876 as of Sept. 2 from 1,753 recorded in January to March 15 before the government placed Metro Manila and a large part of the economy under quarantine.
"We are pleased to know that our citizens are starting their businesses right by registering their business with appropriate government agencies, such as the DTI," Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said.
With the online business name registration system, Lopez said entrepreneurs find it easier to comply as they can finish the entire registration process within eight minutes.
He said the DTI saw a drastic increase of registration during the pandemic when business name applications reached 9,692 in May and further peaked in June when over 33,000 business names were registered.
"The silver lining in Covid-19 is the accelerated adoption of e-commerce," he said, adding that the DTI is also increasing its efforts to promote e-commerce "by building trust between consumers and merchants, and focusing on the digitalization of our micro, small and medium enterprises."
Aside from the increase in the number of total businesses registered, Lopez also said there was a surge in people transacting payments online. - Xinhua


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AUSTRALIA: Austrim To Close Textile Plant, 150 Jobs To Go
Diversified manufacturer Austrim Nylex has announced plans to close its Coburg textile plant in Melbourne. On April 11, the company said 150 jobs will be lost, and that most of the work at the plant will be transferred to other factories. Experts say the decision will save the company between A$5m and A$8m.
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TACLOBAN CITY – Being the center of the agency’s existence, the National Maritime Polytechnic (NMP) marks the 25th day of June 2021 to pay homage to the key workers and modern heroes – the Filipino seafarers.
Taking into recognition their unique and all-too-often overlooked contribution in the world trade especially amid the risks of the COVID-19, this year’s International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Day of the Seafarers campaign theme is #FairFuture4Seafarers.
This campaign focuses on the need of the seafarers for fairness in the aspects of port access, re-supply, crew changeovers, repatriation and more.
To give respect and divine protection, a Holy Mass was conducted at the NMP Firefighting Area at 8:00 a.m. followed by a Floral Offering Rite held at the Boat Davit Area for the departed seafarers.
Likewise, part of the celebration is the conduct of an Online Gender Sensitivity Training for Seafarers (GSTS) at 10:00 a.m. to shipping companies in partnership with the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA).
The passion, focus and determination of the NMP family on creating value are all aimed towards the wellbeing or the future of the country’s seafarers in the context of quality, accessible and relevant trainings and researches.
NMP transcends and goes the extra mile in serving the Filipino seafarers – gearing them up with competitive edge and ushering them onward to become the “choice seafarers” in the world, and competent as well to man international and domestic ships towards a vibrant and sustainable maritime industry.


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Residents and out of towners came out in force Tuesday to sample the best food and drink area Seekonk restaurants have to offer. The special affair was the 16th Annual Kiwanis Taste of the Town.
One of the largest tables at the event belonged to , the restaurant within the Johnson and Wales Inn that is run by students from Johnson and Wales University.
Audrey’s was showing off its expanded brunch menu, which runs from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. every Sunday.
Janee Howard of Audrey’s said the event was a great opportunity for students to expand their knowledge and their experience in the restaurant industry.
“We have a great staff on hand," Howard said.
, which is located at 540 Central Avenue, brought a selection of their restaurant's specialty: chicken wings. The owner is Seekonk resident Carnig Ashchian.
“We’re definitely known for our wings,” said Ashchian, who said they sold over 2,500 pounds of wings this past Super Bowl Sunday and have over 40 flavors.
Rehoboth House of Pizza, which is located on 503 Winthrop Street in nearby Rehoboth and delivers to locations throughout Massachusetts and Rhode Island, is a family-owned pizzeria run by husband and wife Michael and Fatima Benjamin. The couple also employs their son, John, and daughters, Brook and Mackenzie.
“We like to make the extra effort for our customers,” said John Benjamin, adding that they have delivered to as far as Cumberland, R.I. and often get ideas for new specialty pizzas from their customers.
They also noted that while they are currently a delivery business, they are looking to expand their dining room to provide a sit down experience as well.
In addition to the variety of food on hand Tuesday, attendees were able to wash down their samples with a large selection of wine and beer from local vendors.
Robert Hammel and Vinnie Auciello of Quality Beverage in Taunton showed off their selection of Shocktop beers and the new Bud Light Platnium.
Brian Leary of Yiannis Distribution shared four different beers that were brewed in nearby South Hampton, MA. Patrons tasted a lager, a light beer, a blueberry flavored beer and an IPA.
“We specialize in craft beers,” said Leary, who said the beers can be found at on Route 6 in Seekonk.
The $30 entrance fee to sample these foods went to benefit the Kiwanis Club of Greater Seekonk. Kiwanis is a global organization of community service volunteers.


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CINCINNATI - Specialty film producer Clopay Plastic Products Co. has formed a joint venture in Germany to supply plastic films and laminates for markets in Europe, South Africa and the Middle East. Clopay of Cincinnati teamed up with Corovin GmbH of Peine, Germany, a producer of nonwovens. The venture plans to make films and film/nonwoven laminates for infant and adult diapers and feminine hygiene products. It also aims to market its production for surgical gowns and drapes and protective apparel.
The joint venture, Finotech Verbundstoffe GmbH, will begin production in the first half of 1997 at a new facility in Aschersleben, Germany. Its initial production will be sold under contract to an undisclosed ``major international customer.'' Clopay predicted in a Nov. 6 news release that initial sales will be nearly $50 million annually and that the partners will develop new film composites.
Clopay Plastic reported film sales of $111 million for the year ended Sept. 30, 1995, in Plastics News' 1996 film and sheet ranking. Clopay has three plants in North America and mainly processes polyethylenes and nylons to make films for diaper, feminine napkin, incontinence, surgical and medical products.
Clopay Plastic is a subsidiary of Griffon Corp. of Jericho, N.Y.
TORONTO-Polyethylene bubble products maker Polyair Inter Pack Inc. is expanding its Youngs-town, Ohio, operation by moving to a larger plant and adding extrusion and other equipment.
The Toronto firm announced Oct. 30 that it completed US$8.5 million Ohio Government Loan and Bond financing for a new 156,000-square-foot plant. It will relocate its Youngstown pool products operation there in December and by February it plans to add packaging production, President Henry Schnurbach said in a telephone interview. The expansion includes an extrusion line to reduce the company's reliance on film purchasing.
The new facility replaces a leased, 65,000-square-foot Youngs- town building. Polyair revealed its intention to expand in Youngs-town when it closed an initial public offering last spring. Its operation there houses its U.S. sales office. Schnurbach did not reveal equipment details for Youngs-town but he said the company will arrange its own financing for machinery purchases. The Ohio loan only covered construction.
Polyair expects to open another U.S. facility by fall 1997 but has not chosen a site yet. Schnurback said his firm also has expansions under way in Chicago, Corona, Calif., Atlanta and Toronto.
Polyair Inter Pack raised C$19.2 million (US$14.4 million) in its IPO, which closed in mid-April. Its sales for the nine months ended July 31 at C$51.2 million (US$38.4 million) were about 24 percent higher than a year earlier. Net profit of C$921,000 (US$690,750) was up about 26 percent.
WILMINGTON, DEL.-DuPont Co. of Wilmington is accepting entries for the 1997 DuPont Plunkett Awards for Innovation with Tef-lon. Entrants must be processors or users of fabricated products who have placed products using Teflon or Tefzel-brand fluoropolymer resins, film, fibers, finishes and DuPont fluoropolymer products licensed under the Teflon trademark in commercial markets in the last five years.
The entries will be judged on innovation, breadth of application and significance to or impact on industry or consumers. Applications include aerospace, automotive, environmental, telecommunications, chemical process- ing, electronics and wire and cable. The awards are conducted worldwide with regional winners. Deadline for entries from the Americas is Jan. 24.
The award is named for Roy J. Plunkett, the scientist who discovered Teflon, known generically as polytetrafluoroethylene.For entry forms, call (800) 432-7536.
The following firms received ISO 9001 certification: injection molder Key Plastics Inc. of Novi, Mich.; and calendered PVC film maker Vereinigte Kunststoffwerke GmbH of Staufen, Germany.


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On Monday night, we hosted an energizing and emotional rally in Washington, DC as we prepared to hand-deliver 700,000+ postcards to Congress the next morning. One of the most impactful moments of the evening was when Change the Ref created a live art piece using the words his son Joaquin sent to Congress 5 years before he was shot and killed in Parkland in 2018. We were also joined by @vicmensa, @cleowade, MILCK, and our dedicated partners, each using their own unique voice to put out the call to #endgunviolencetogether. Black and Brown Gun Violence Prevention Consortium @everytown Faith in Action Giffords Live Free @marchforourlives @momsdemand #YRK #naomiwadler @ Union Market DC
Departments Casual Boots Athletic Shoes Casual Shoes Sandals Rainwear Dress Shoes Winter Boots Bags & Wallets Moccasins & Mukluks Slippers Safety Shoes & Boots Dress Boots Clogs Accessories Shoe Care Popular Styles Sneakers Chelsea Boots Dress Oxfords Casual Oxfords Footbed Sandals Casual Loafers Moccasins Slipper Boat Shoes Walking Shoes Chukka Boots Safety Footwear Snow Boots Backpacks Collections New Arrivals! Night Out Ride The Wave Sneaker Goals Get Tough Footbeds Shop By Size
A story by LA Weekly priced the manufacturing cost of a pair of Toms Shoes at $3.50-$5.00 in U.S. dollars, and noted that the children's shoes given out by the company were among the cheapest to make, which is not necessarily apparent to consumers. According to garment-industry author Kelsey Timmerman, many people he spoke to in Ethiopia were critical of the company, saying that they felt it exploited the idea of Ethiopian poverty as a marketing tool. An Argentina-based shoemaker agreed, saying that the imagery used by the company was manipulative.
In June 2014, the company announced that Mycoskie was looking to sell part of his stake in the company to help it grow faster and meet its long-term goals. On August 20, 2014 Bain Capital acquired 50% of Toms. Reuters reported that the transaction valued the company at $625 million; Mycoskie's personal wealth following the deal was reported at $300 million. Mycoskie retained 50% ownership of Toms, as well as his role as "Chief Shoe Giver". Mycoskie said he would use half of the proceeds from the sale to start a new fund to support socially minded entrepreneurship, and Bain would match his investment and continue the company's one-for-one policy.


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The car industry never sleeps. Each and every day, there’s a new review, piece of innovation or something even more grand in the works. So we’ve done a bit of digging to bring you the latest car and automotive news from around the world.
- Since cars were invented, people have imagined what the cars of the future would look like. Volvo has taken that one step further and are busy fine tuning a self-driving rubbish truck.
- New Zealand’s biggest agricultural expo will be happening next week from June 14th-17th at Mystery Creek, Waikato. And car manufacturer Lexus will be making its debut there.
- Dave McLeod has a look at the new 2017 Mazda CX-5 on his website tarmc.net.
- Peugeot is entering into the highly competitive Ute market with a new dual cab Ute.
- A stack of hotted up cars will be on display at the Bargo Sports Club next week, raising awareness for men’s health day on June 18th.
- Bruce Maclaren’s legacy has been given a new lease of life. Roger Donaldson recently release a documentary film about the race car driver, designer, engineer and innovator.


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Festive cheer for supermarkets as shoppers spend extra €90m
Irish shoppers splashed out an extra €90m on food and drink in the run-up to Christmas, with the average household forking out €1,532.
The figures from research group Kantar Worldpanel reveal a new-found exuberance after years of austerity.
In the 12 weeks before Christmas, it said that sales of food and booze soared.
David Berry, director of Kantar Worldpanel, said much of the increased spend was driven by staple items, with fruit, vegetables, meat and poultry posting a combined increase of €28m.
Alcohol sales rose by 6pc, or €13m, in the period. "Wine was the drink of choice this year with white wine and red wine sales up an impressive 10pc and 12pc respectively," said Mr Berry.
Lidl said that its highest footfall day coming up to Christmas was on December 23, when more than 250,000 people visited its stores in Ireland.
During the 12-week period to the end of December, Dunnes Stores remained the top grocery chain in the country by the value of sales, with a 23pc share of the multibillion-euro market.
Tesco also performed well, achieving its highest sales growth since February 2011, giving it a 22.8pc share. SuperValu was third with a 22.4pc share.
Lidl held a 10.4pc share of the grocery market in the latest period. Aldi had 10.3pc, with a modest rise in sales that was below the overall market level.


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The sky’s the limit for PS3 at the moment with Sony enjoying an 11th consecutive month of PS3 hardware sales growth in the US market.
Hardware sales reached 304.8k in June, an increase of 85 per cent year-on-year. Year-to-date sales are currently 1,591,000, a 42 per cent year-on-year increase.
PS3 software sales were up 17 per cent annually and 42 per cent so far in 2010.
However, with Xbox 360 also maintaining strong momentum Sony’s console can’t afford to let up if it hopes to catch Microsoft’s machine in the region. PS3’s US lifetime sales stand at 12,719,696 units – significantly less than Xbox 360’s 20,555,886.
Video games are fuelling new innovation for the entire consumer entertainment category and today’s numbers are a testament to the big impact we’ll play this holiday,” SCEA’s Patrick Seybold stated.
With a healthy flow of PS3s back in the channel, and eleven months of PS3’s consecutive growth behind us, we’re confident the PS3 will become the main entertainment hub for many new consumers this year and provide countless reasons to congregate in the living room.”


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Rochester, N.Y. - Tickets have sold out for the Diana Krall concert at this year's Rochester International Jazz Festival.
Norah Jones and Steve Martin sold out last Friday on the first day tickets were available.
Tickets are still available for Dweezil Zappa, the other headliner.
Tickets are also gone for the Bonnie Raitt concert on May 27th at 8 p.m. at the Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre.
The concert is a special Memorial Day weekend presentation before the Rochester International Jazz Festival.
You can buy tickets at www.rochesterjazz.com


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Lost Stock is offering shoppers boxes of clothes from the high street’s biggest fashion retailers at half the retail price in a bid to help manufacturers left out of pocket…Read More
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Feb 17, 2017, 11.22 AM | Source: CNBC-TV18
Sandeep Wagle, Founder & CEO at powermywealth.com advises selling Godrej Industries.
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Rahul Shah of Motilal Oswal recommends buying Indu
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Two DVD versions of Team America: World Police hit the shelves last month. One was R-rated. The other was unrated -- and for good reason. It contains, among other things, 50 seconds of new footage of a scene best described as Larry Flynt meets the Kama Sutra.
Often racier or more violent than their big-screen counterparts, unrated DVDs usually outperform the less-explicit version. Pouring new life into a movie franchise, they're a valuable marketing tool -- particularly effective with the 18-to-34-year-old demographic, the heaviest home-video users.
While studios belonging to the Motion Picture Association of America are prohibited from releasing unrated movies to theaters, home video lets the consumers choose. Film aficionados generally opt to see the director's vision, and a curious public often wants to see what was snipped.
"With the exception of the word 'free,' 'unrated' is one of the most enticing words in retail," said Thomas Lesinski, president of Paramount Pictures Worldwide Home Entertainment, which released the unrated Team America, an anti-terrorism satire from South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. "It suggests something clandestine or taboo."
According to data compiled by Home Media Research of Santa Clara, Calif., unrated versions of DVDs account for 80 percent to 90 percent of a title's sales when both versions come out simultaneously. Others say the figure is closer to 65 percent -- still a windfall.
Not every movie is a contender, however.
Teen comedies and thrillers such as Blade: Trinity are made to order, while animation, family fare and most PG-13 movies are not. A loyal following is crucial: fans who want more of what they liked the first time around.
Unrated merchandise dates to the late 1990s. But only in the last 18 months has the concept taken off.
Part of the problem was limited distribution. Although Best Buy, Tower Video and Amazon.com came aboard fast, Wal-Mart, a family-oriented video behemoth, wouldn't carry DreamWorks' unrated Old School when it came out in 2003.
"Retailers at first were skeptical and that kept the numbers down," said Matt Lasorsa, executive vice president of marketing for New Line Home Entertainment. Now, after reviewing the material in advance, "most of them will stock it. Having an unrated DVD in the mix leads titles to 'over-perform' . . . total sales go up 20 percent to 80 percent, depending on the title."
The unrated version of American Pie (1999) is considered one of the genre's earliest successes. It was a breakthrough for Universal Studios Home Entertainment, said Ken Graffeo, executive vice president of the company, helping to boost sales to more than 1 million units -- rare in an age when rentals were still dominant.
Releasing an unrated American Pie was an afterthought, he recalled. But now it's part of the game plan.
"We sit down with the filmmaker in the script phase, figuring out if we can shoot additional scenes that won't make the cut."
Even the squeaky-clean Walt Disney Co. has thrown its hat in the ring. While its Touchstone division has never released an unrated DVD, Buena Vista Home Entertainment released Badder Santa last year. Containing new footage -- a hot tub scene and a striptease -- it's an unrated version of Bad Santa, a comedy starring Billy Bob Thornton that was distributed by Disney's Miramax subsidiary.
Jack Valenti, former head of the MPAA and interim supervisor of the group that awards ratings to big-screen releases, said he has no problem with unrated material -- as long as the packaging is honest. "All we want to do is be transparent with the public, letting them know what's in the film," he said.
Studios, as a result, rely on self-regulation -- and take that mandate seriously.
Paramount's Lesinski said the decision to include a raunchier scene in Team America triggered internal discussion. In the end, they decided to go for it. "The characters are puppets," the executive observed, "and it's only make-believe."


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Good news for Comics+ with these expanding digital times!
iVERSE MEDIA ANNOUNCES $4 MILLION PRIVATE EQUITY FUNDING COMMITMENT
iVerse to increase and expand digital content offerings with raised capital
Waco, TX, Nov. 3, 2011 â€“ iVerse Media, LLC, a leading digital content distributor, is proud to announce today a $4 Million commitment in Private Equity Funding to further expand its digital content business. The additional funding comes from PS&J Group, that is knowledgeable and experienced in the digital market.
iVerse intends to use the new funds to expand its digital content offerings, and increase awareness of its â€œComics+â€ and â€œComics+Kidsâ€ brands, through an aggressive marketing strategy, enhanced product offerings, and new platform distribution.
â€œ2011 has been a great year for iVerse.â€ said PS&J Group chairman Pierre LeRoy. â€œThrough digital comic sales, software licensing, and strategic partnerships, iVerse has been financially solvent for some time now. These additional funds will allow the company to really expand on what its started in some unique and compelling ways.â€
The iVerse powered â€œComics+â€ application is already the first major digital comics platform to support â€œPLUSâ€ features such as streaming video content for digital comics on iOS. The company will expand these offerings in a variety of ways over the next several months.
â€œWe love comics at iVerse,â€ said iVerse CEO, Michael Murphey, â€œand weâ€™re very eager to not only enhance that experience, but to expand the market as well, and introduce the next generation of readers to their first comics. We have had a tremendous amount of success with that so far, and we have several new initiatives planned that we believe will take that to the next level.â€
iVerse currently partners with 60+ publishers including Archie Comics, Peanuts Worldwide LLC, Ape Entertainment, Marvel Comics, IDW Publishing, Image Comics, BOOM! Studios, Dynamite Entertainment, and many more. iVerse is also uniquely partnered with Diamond Comics Distribution to bring an innovative and robust digital comics service to physical comic book stores, providing them with tools to sell digital comics in-store and online. iVerse powers many digital comic storefronts on iOS including Archie Comics, Sonic Comics, IDW Comics, Star Trek Comics, Transformers Comics, G.I. Joe Comics, and Pocket God Comics, among others.
About iVerse Media, LLC
iVerse Media(http://www.iversemedia.com)is a digital content distributor focused on the world of comics and popular culture. Founded in 2008, the company was one of the first to launch digital comics on Appleâ€™s iOS platform. As of Oct 2011 over 5 Million products in the iOS App Store have been downloaded that are powered by iVerse, making the â€œiVerse Engineâ€ one of the most popular and widely used platforms for reading digital comics in the world. The company is principally located in Waco, TX.


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While temperatures haven’t fallen back to the freezing point yet, Illinois American Water Company wants to make sure you’re home is ready for when it does. Company spokesperson Karen Cotton says one of the biggest and costliest challenges for homeowners is dealing with frozen pipes during the late fall and winter seasons.
She says preventative maintenance starts by taking a look around your home.
Click Here for Cotton Comments
Cotton says you should consult your local hardware store when buying insulation material to avoid any potential fire hazards. She also recommends sealing cracks and holes in outside walls and foundations, like where cable TV or phone lines enter the house.


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Celebrity-studded Montecito, Calif. just got a fresh dose of A-list appeal.
Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine and his Namibian model wife Behati Prinsloo have shelled out a cool $52 million for a trophy mansion in this tony oceanside enclave, which has drawn in household names including Oprah Winfrey, Ellen DeGeneres and Rob Lowe — the latter of whom built, and formerly owned, the property that the couple just bought.
The eight-figure transaction seems to have happened off-market, so the home’s current inclusions aren’t immediately clear.
But what’s for certain is that Levine and Prinsloo aren’t strangers to Montecito. In 2021, they flipped an estate there for $28.5 million — $5.8 million more than what they paid for it just three months earlier, according to Dirt.
And this purchase comes at a bit of a streak for them. What’s more, the couple reportedly listed their compound in affluent Pacific Palisades for $57.5 million just last month.
Lowe and his wife, the makeup artist and jewelry designer Sheryl, purchased the land upon which the mansion stands in 2005, then proceeded to build a roughly 10,000-square-foot spread reportedly inspired by the architectural style of the Virginia countryside, where Lowe spent time as a kid. In 2020, the pair sold it for $44.5 million. (They own two other homes in Montecito.)
The most recent owners of the 3.5-acre estate, called Oakview, are Jack McGinley — a healthcare private equity executive — and his wife, Julie. Levine and Prinsloo purchased the compound from them.
The home has six bedrooms and eight full bathrooms, along with three powder rooms, according to the marketing materials at the time of Lowe’s sale. The grounds additionally include a two-bedroom guest house and a pool house, which has another bedroom. The back of the main house has porches that look out to the Pacific — while other outdoor features include a motor court, an outdoor living room with a fireplace, a pool and a sunken tennis court.
Inside, the main home has reportedly sported wooden floors, moldings, and living and family rooms that open to the yard through French doors. Meanwhile, a home theater comes with top-grade equipment.


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Amazon is eating away at Google's core business
Alex Wong/Getty Images
Over half of Americans now go to Amazon to carry out their first search for products, turning away from search engines and other online retailers, according to a new study from marketing company BloomReach. (The research was previously reported on by Bloomberg.)
55% of those surveyed made their first search on Amazon, up from 44% a year ago. Meanwhile, just 27% of people begin at search engines, down 34%. Retailers also saw a decline, dropping from 21% to 16%.
(The study took place on Labor Day, May 1, and surveyed 2,000 consumers. There's no word on data from other countries, but it seems reasonable to assume that in Western markets where Amazon has a similar presence to in the US, the results would be similar.)
It's a yet another sign of how utterly Amazon is dominating online shopping - but it's also particularly bad news for Google.
Google's original, core business is a search engine. But more and more consumers are now opting to bypass it entirely, going straight to the ultimate destination instead of browsing around.
A Google spokesperson declined to comment.
That all said, there's no guarantee that people who go to Amazon first will definitely buy from there - something BloomReach acknowledges. "Just because consumers start on Amazon, that doesn't mean they ultimately buy from Amazon," marketing head Jason Seeba said in a statement. "Instead, they're often comparing and researching products on search engines and other retailers."
Plus, it's not like Google is solely dependent on search: Its revenue now comes from everything from its DoubleClick ad network to Google Play Store purchases.
But even so, Amazon has become the unrivalled go-to destination to start your search for products - and that has to worry the world's largest search engine.
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Call it Groupon 2.0. The company is “trying to re-imagine how Groupon might work if we were building it from scratch today,” said CEO and founder Andrew Mason in an interview on Tuesday. The new services, rolling out this week, will help it “dramatically increase” the number of businesses offering deals on the site, he said, and give customers new tools to use Groupon to find deals multiple times per day.
Read more at blogs.wsj.com
The first component is a self-service “Groupon store” platform for local merchants, where they can set up Groupons for themselves without going through a Groupon salesperson or waiting for an opening to become a city’s deal of the day.


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De Beers' profits are 'forever' as global diamond sales reach £55bn
The 1939 US advertising campaign ‘Diamonds are Forever’ is still helping De Beers shift its precious stones in the country and pushed diamond jewellery sales to a record £55bn last year.
De Beers’ latest Diamond Insight survey will today reveal that global diamond jewellery sales rose 3 per cent in 2014 to the all-time high – a 5 per cent rise at constant exchange rates.
Although growth in emerging markets such as India and China boosted global sales, the mature market of the US remained the largest country by far and is now the fastest-growing market internationally for diamond jewellery, up 7 per cent to £25bn.
Philippe Mellier, chief executive at De Beers Group, said: ‘The US may be mature but it is still our biggest market.
‘There are two kinds of purchase – the first-time buyer ahead of marriage and then repeat purchases.
‘The older you are, usually the more affluent you are and then the bigger the diamond – for anniversaries, birthdays. It is a virtuous cycle and is very important to us.’
De Beers, which launched its ‘Diamonds are Forever’ campaign to sell rings in 1939 in one of the longest-lasting successful advertising campaigns, said the US also has the largest demand for polished diamonds with a 42 per cent market share. He said 80 per cent of engaged couples in the country buy a diamond ring.
Despite the stranglehold by US consumers, China is still a significant and growing market.
The country – including Hong Kong and Macau – remained the second-largest market for polished stones at 16 per cent, followed by India and the Gulf regions each with an 8 per cent share. Diamond jewellery sales grew 6 per cent to £7bn in China.
Mellier added: ‘We saw continued growth across both mature and quickly developing markets.
‘As the number of middle-class households in the major consumer markets is set to grow by hundreds of millions in the years ahead, the medium to long-term prospects for the diamond industry are also exceptionally strong if the right investments continue to be made.’
China’s growth slowed compared with the previous year – in line with the slowdown in economic growth. However, Chinese consumers’ purchases abroad compensated for some of the domestic slowdown.
Mellier said: ‘The end of the protests in Hong Kong has helped retail sales in the region this year, and Chinese New Year was decent.
‘Chinese people have been buying across the world and its middle classes are still growing and travelling more.’
Demand in India also remained strong with growth at 3 per cent in local currency to £2.4bn. However, the depreciation of the rupee against the US dollar meant that the Indian market saw a 1 per cent decrease in dollar terms for 2014.
Mellier said the outlook for the market this year is good. He added: ‘The macroeconomic environment is still good. Retailers are also positive about the prospects for 2015 and, although there are some potential headwinds, the stage is set for another good showing across the major consumer markets.’
However, Mellier expects supply gradually to decline from 2020 in the diamond industry, which will mean more costly investments in mines to produce the same level of quality stones.
De Beers is spending nearly £2.5bn across its mines in Botswana, South Africa and Canada.
De Beers – which controls about a third of the diamond market – reported a 36 per cent rise in profit to £900m last month and contributed nearly a third of profits to parent Anglo American.
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By Vera Samuel Anyagafu & Prisca Sam-Duru
THE Ambassador of Finland to Nigeria, Pirjo Soumela-Chowdhury, has asked Nigeria to reduce dependency on oil, explaining that the drive to diversify the economy is what every country, including Nigeria has to look towards to.
Pirjo said this at the just concluded business networking meeting to ensure progressive trade promotions between both countries business individuals. According to her, the most central focus of Finland work is promoting trade and economic relations and the idea behind the business networking meeting is to explore potentials of both countries and note areas they can invest in for upward economic growth.
“The whole drive to diversify the economy is what everybody including the government of Nigeria is trying to do. Of course it is a great thing to reduce dependency on oil. Even though Nigeria is in a difficult situation at the moment because of the fall in oil price, I think you can also take it in a positive way, in a way as incentive to diversify. This is important especially when you want to create jobs for the young population.
This is the way to go, it is a commendable goal” Ambassador Pirjo said.
Era of diversification in Nigeria: Similarly, the country’s Honourary Consul, Mr. Kingsley Akinloye, who expressed fulfillment with the continuous business networking between the two countries business communities, also pointed out that promoting businesses in partnership with Nigeria is moving well ahead. He told Vanguard that it is a great opportunity for both countries businesses, saying that this first quarter business networking are mostly centered on ICT connectivity, banking industries, security, and housing, including, energy, oil and infrastructure.
He said, “This is bilateral, nobody has the knowledge or capacity, it is a question of how you place and see yourself. Nigeria and Finland are only trying to enhance each other’s potentiality. Nigeria has a lot to benefit from Finland and vice versa. We need to tap from each other’s potentials and work on it. It is good that Finland is ready, and having related with Finland for more than 30 years, I know all about them and I believe I know much about how both countries can work together in promoting trade. This is era of diversification in Nigeria so we are here to see how we can partner together to develop further.”
Finland not resource bound country: Finland’s Trade Commissioner for West Africa, Mr. Olu Raheem, said that the mindset for Finns come naturally because it is not a resource bound country. He said that Finland had to develop mainly through technology to be able to provide something so innovative that other countries want.
Olu further submitted that Finland has no oil or metals, that theirs have always been technology and how to make investment goods, saying that the delegation from Finland this time around is mainly ICT delegation, for fact that everything now world over, even here in Nigeria is ICT bound, so it is all about helping people to do things better in a cheaper manner.
“If you look at Finland’s history in technology, with emergence of Nokia which brought about the GSM standard, it is because of this that Nigerians are able to use GSM so we were already a part of Finland story.
So we decided to bring the Finnish people here, to bring the ideas and innovations closer and to understand the Nigeria business environment and how they can tailor their products and services to help Nigeria’s business people to move further”, Olu stated, adding that, “I have no doubt that Nigeria will diversify their economy, we define countries by what they have but I think Nigeria’s greatest resource is the people. You know tough times usually bring people together. Nigerians everywhere in the world excel, so there is no reason why they should not excel in their country. Finland has less people, and Nigeria has a lot of people, so the opportunities are here for us to use technology to do things.
“If European countries have as much as Nigeria has, they would be forever independent from any country in the world.


text: Rumors have been confirmed that the Pathmark in Millville is closing. Store officials confirmed that the Millville location is one of 25 stores that will be closing. About 75 jobs are being lost as a result of the closing. The company is consolidating in the northeast, including New Jersey. No official closing date has been announced at this time.


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|Developer and provider of multi-platform interactive game applications and solutions, Zone4Play, has signed a marketing and distribution agreement with Bluestreak Technology, who will introduce Zone4Play's iTV game packages to cable operators deploying the Bluestreak interactive TV platform, DEM (Digital Entertainment Middleware). |
Zone4Play's iTV packages have already been deployed on 8 different TV platforms globally, with the company recently penetrating the American market with deployments on Cablevision and Lodgenet.
DEM-enabled applications include advanced games with superior graphics, personalized interactive content and programming, email and online chat capabilities, and onscreen play-along and enhanced TV applications. Time Warner Cable was the first cable operator to launch DEM in the US, serving 10.9 million subscribers in 27 states.
Gil Arbel, VP Business Development of Zone4Play, commented, ' We are proud that Bluestreak has chosen to market and distribute our suite of game applications to cable operators deciding to deploy its exciting DEM iTV enabling platform. We look forward to leveraging their relationships to vastly expand the universe of subscribers of our iTV games.


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Nurtured in Australia, with a pan-Asia fan base in excess of 50 million, a cool new social networking service called mig33, is making an audacious bit to outdo Facebook on its own turf. With canny partnerships in Japan ( GREE), China (TenCent) and the US ( Openfeint), they hope to offer developers a massive 825 million strong market for their apps and services like chat, virtual gifts and games.
On Monday, Chris Chandler, mig33’s Singapore-based Vice President of Business Development, evangelised the opportunity at a gathering of Bangalore’s best and brightest application developers, inviting them to target the huge Indian diaspora worldwide with games and apps that would have a special appeal for them. In India alone mig33 had quickly built up a 7 million strong user base ( accounting for the major chunk in S Asia which had 9.6 registrants at last count).
Interestingly the fastest growth came from Nepal – and on a pan-Asia scale, Indonesia accounted for the biggest chunk of mig33 users, Chandler said. Since its July 2011 launch here, leading Indian developers like Nazara and Anantarupa Studios had come on board. To tap the market of youn Asian users who might be challenged by the need to have a credit card or Paypal account, mig33 had put in place a 5000 strong network of merchants who sold ‘credits’.
There is no registration fee for prospective developers to join the mig33 platform and the revenue sharing is approximately 70-30 in favour of the developer, Chandler clarified.
http://developer.mig33.com www.mig33.com Aug 22 2011


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McDonald’s Szechuan sauce become instantly famous when adult animated sitcom, “Rick and Morty,” mentioned it in the show’s storyline. As you may already know, Deadmau5 spent roughly 15,000 dollars on a 3.5 gallon bottle of this sauce about two months ago.
Since the company has now chosen to make the Szechuan sauce publicly available for the customers this autumn, the value of the sauce has plummeted astronomically, “On Oct 7, together with the collectible sauce-themed posters, we’re also giving away a one-time only, limited-edition, run of Szechuan Sauce in select restaurants. And when we say limited, we mean really, really limited!
McDonald’s couldn’t quite keep up with the demand and fans drew angry.
— John Estanislau (@johnestanislau) October 7, 2017
So Deadmau5 decided to simply give it away during his show at Rebel last night in Toronto. He took a break from his set to announce to the crowd that there was going to be a “nugget party,” having purchased 1000 chicken nuggets.
Check out the video below!
— David Pham (@Phamd89) October 9, 2017


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In the Spring/Summer 2009 campaign for French Connection (FCUK), male model Tyson Ballou gets stepped on by Danijela Dimitrovska.
This isnt the first time that Tyson Ballou has been beaten up in a fashion ad. Karen Elson schooled Ballou for Vogue Magazine, and he was also manhandled by the iconic supermodel Linda Evangelista in the September issue of Vogue Italia 2008.
This particular campaign was shot by Terry Richardson. Check out more of the images from the campaign above.


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McLaren have launched their 2015 F1 car as they look to fight their way back to the top of the sport.
The Woking squad had a miserable 2014 season as they failed to secure a single victory, despite being powered by the class of the field Mercedes engine.
This year they return to Honda power and will hope to repeat the success enjoyed by the same partnership in their previous spell together in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
The new car currently has a black and silver livery, with a distinctive red stripe around the nose.
Although it features Honda and CNN logos, there is no sign of a new title sponsor.
More pics of the new car:
To mark the return to Japanese car giant Honda, the team released a ‘Back to the Future’ style teaser video ahead of their 2015 car launch .
It features both Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso and an inevitable plug for their road-going supercars.
As they prepare to re-unite with Honda with high hopes of re-living their domination of the 1980s the whimsical three-minute video tells the story of the duo going “Back to the Future”.
It references the Michael Fox 1985 hit movie in which he uses a speeding gullwing DeLorean to roar into the past to arrange a better future for himself.
Today’s McLaren version starts with Jenson Button in a deserted factory car park late at night saying “Lewis? Is that you?” when he sees a car headlights but it is Fernando Alonso who steps out from behind the glare.
In a less than successful first test last year the new Honda engine had much the same problems as many of the teams adjusting to the challenges of the new hybrid V6 era – only they were a year behind.
Now the former champions are hoping they will be able to put that behind them and make a flying start at the first round in Melbourne in March.
Were McLaren right to choose Jenson Button over Kevin Magnussen?
500+ VOTES SO FAR
In pictures - 2015 cars so far: