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A former owner of several Subway fast-food restaurants in southern California pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges stemming from a gift card scheme that involved tampering with several other Subway stores' computerized cash registers.
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission and the CTIA, a lobbying group for the wireless industry, discussed a major initiative last year that could have significantly cracked down on trading in stolen phones, but the plan appears to have gone nowh...
Some drivers would love to have a cellphone-free bubble around their cars, but when a Florida man allegedly created one every day on his commute, it didn't necessarily make the highway a safer place.
Police shouldn't be able to search suspects' mobile phones at the time of arrest because of the huge amounts of private information now stored on those devices, lawyers for two criminal defendants argued before U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday.
A bill that would mandate a kill-switch on all smartphones sold in California failed a key vote in the state's senate on Thursday.
Megaupload, the defunct file-storage site, is asking a Hong Kong court to release millions of dollars in assets as part of efforts to allow its former users to reclaim their data.
A U.S. federal court has affirmed contempt charges against Lavabit, rejecting an attempt by company attorneys to argue new issues on appeal.
Wireless carriers in the U.S., handset makers and the industry's lobbying group have made a significant concession on technology that could remotely disable stolen smartphones and tablets.
Andrew Auernheimer, known online as "weev," has won an appeal against his conviction for exploiting a vulnerability in AT&T's website to collect the email addresses of Apple iPad users. The 2010 incident earned him a 41-month prison sentence.
Hewlett-Packard will pay $US108 million in penalties after subsidiaries in Russia, Poland and Mexico were found to have paid bribes to win business, the US Department of Justice said.
Google has filed a protest with the Turkish courts about the government's country-wide ban of YouTube, according to a Turkish newspaper.
Technology that remotely makes a stolen smartphone useless could save American consumers up to $2.6 billion per year if it is implemented widely and leads to a reduction in theft of phones, according to a new report.
U.S. prosecutors do not have to provide defendants in a high-profile criminal copyright case full copies of documents it references in its extradition request, New Zealand's Supreme Court ruled Friday.
This week's emphatic denial from Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto that he had anything to do with the creation of Bitcoin also hinted at a possible lawsuit against Newsweek, though legal experts say it would be an uphill battle.
Law enforcement agencies in California are using devices that mimic cellular base stations to track mobile users, public records have revealed, triggering charges that the practice may be unconstitutional.
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My first impression after unboxing the Q702 is that it is a nice looking unit. Styling is somewhat minimalist but very effective. The tablet part, once detached, has a nice weight, and no buttons or switches are located in awkward or intrusive positions.
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WOODLAND HILLS, Calif., April 8, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --Farmers Insurancetoday announced it is offering its new usage-based commercial automobile insurance program, FairMileSM, in Washington state. With the FairMileSM program, business owners will now have the opportunity to choose per-mile insurance pricing providing the opportunity to save on insurance when business vehicles are not being driven. In addition to potential savings, business owners enrolled in the FairMile program will gain access to the FairMile app, which contains helpful information to review and manage the use of their vehicles.
Farmers Insurance Logo. (PRNewsFoto/Farmers Insurance)
“Farmers is excited to bring the FairMile program to the small business community in Washington,“ said Aaron Cruz, product development lead for the FairMile program at Farmers Insurance. “At Farmers, we are deeply committed to innovating based on the emerging needs of our customers. We recognize that all businesses are created differently, but for many, driving operations can change from day-to-day or from season-to-season. The FairMile program provides a flexible option for customers who prefer usage-based pricing to address this variability. As an added value, we look forward to providing our customers with insightful vehicle information displayed via the FairMile app. This new offering is just the latest demonstration of our commitment to meeting needs of an evolving marketplace.“
Based on an internal survey* of Business Insurance customers, Farmers found:
- While 33% of business insurance customers were already likely to use telematics technology, nearly 75% were likely to use telematics technology if accompanied by additional savings on their insurance policy.
- While per-mile pricing expectedly resonated with businesses that were driving less, those that preferred a per-mile pricing concept tended to be smaller in size.
With the FairMile program, premium is based on the actual miles driven in each business vehicle insured by a Farmers Commercial Auto policy. It may be ideally suited to provide potential cost savings to customers that have a seasonal or cyclical business, such as landscapers or florists, businesses where driving is infrequent, or businesses where certain vehicles are used sparingly. Each month, premium adjustments are made to reflect actual miles driven compared to the mileage amount originally estimated. Business owners have the option to select between a monthly EFT or credit card payment plan to facilitate premium adjustments.

domain: news


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Kier will not chase large increases in its housebuilding volumes as outgoing chief executive Paul Sheffield doesn’t want the business “exposed to the next housing slump”.
Mr Sheffield, who last week announced he would stand down in June, insisted he had no regrets about the contractor’s decision not to pursue large housebuilding volumes, in a week in which housebuilders recorded record profits.
“To be frank, I don’t want the business exposed to the next housing slump when it comes, and it will,” he said.
“There’s also a strong desire not to be classified in too many different sectors of the market; we want to be streamlined.
“We strategically chose not to invest in housebuilding over the last few years. The reason [other housebuilders] are doing well today is they invested four years ago.
“If we suddenly changed tack and decided to invest it would be at least three years before you see it coming through.”
Shorter payment terms:
Kier’s incoming chief executive Haydn Mursell, speaking to Construction News after the contractor posted interim half-year results, said he expected Kier to take a £40m cash hit over the 2013/14 financial year as subcontractors on building jobs seek 30-day payment terms on contracts.
Mr Mursell said: “The supply chain are in a position where they have been suppressed and want better terms, and we are seeing that coming through in the public sector and on frameworks where 30-day terms, or similar, are becoming the norm.”
He added that the industry was “entering a phase where there is a culture of just having explicit shorter terms within contracts… the days of the past of 45 or 60-day terms are becoming less frequent”.
Mr Sheffield was speaking to Construction News after the contractor announced interim results for the six months to 31 December 2013.
The group’s turnover in the half-year was £1.4bn, up from £976m for the same period in 2012 – a rise of 47 per cent following the purchase of May Gurney in July last year.
“I don’t want the business exposed to the next housing slump when it comes, and it will”
Paul Sheffield, Kier chief executive
Operating profit before exceptional items was £44.4m, up 96 per cent on 2012, while pre-tax profit grew 90 per cent to £36.8m.
Its property division, which includes Kier Homes, saw turnover fall 19 per cent to £55m but operating profit was up 56 per cent to £11.1m.
Mr Sheffield said: “I have no regrets at all. Housebuilding is very different to construction, it’s a different mentality, a speculative sector.
“If you look at what we’re doing in property, the whole focus is [on] avoiding the speculative risk.
“We won’t build much at all without having an end-user and an exit route at the start. In housebuilding you have to be quite confident the market will be there five years down the road.”
Kier’s development arm has sold a cash and carry warehouse on one of its sites in west London for £41m to discount retailer Costco.
The 140,0000 sq warehouse is the final phase of the scheme on the old Western International Market site in Hayes, Middlesex and will be complete in the summer.
Group finance director and incoming chief executive Haydn Mursell said: “Many [Kier Property schemes] are mixed-use; if it’s resi or commercial or retail we’ll always seek to have a pre-let.
“Costco is fundamentally a warehouse – that pre-let was all signed up before we committed to any land or building contract; that’s the way we manage the risk.”
Kier Property began the project in 2008 by relocating the businesses on the site to a new site nearby.
The old Western International Market site includes the Costco scheme, Kier’s “Trade City” scheme, and a data centre for Virtus.
Kier developed “Trade City” with clients of DTZ Investment Management which has nine units to let ranging from 4,500sq ft to 28,000sq ft. Kier sold the other part of the site to Virtus, which is currently building a 180,000sq ft data centre.
Kier said it had acquired more than £1.5bn in new work during the six-month period, with 100 per cent of forecast revenue for construction secured.
The firm posted a 2.3 per cent operating margin for its construction business and a 4.3 per cent margin for services. Its net debt was £138m.
“We have walked away from quite a number of contracts where customers have insisted on uncapped liabilities on projects; it’s something we will not do”
Paul Sheffield, Kier
Asked whether client terms and conditions were easing, Mr Sheffield said: “Thank goodness, yes. I think clients have been advised by legal and commercial advisers over the last few years to try their arm at pushing risk down the supply chain.
“Inevitably as soon as we and our competitors start getting busier, people are pushing back on terms and conditions.
“Customers who have been perhaps aggressive over the last few years have less chance of making those terms stick.”
He said Kier had walked away from schemes where clients have demanded uncapped liabilities, and hinted things were worse in the private sector, as a lot of its public sector work was in frameworks with “serial procurers”.
“We have walked away from quite a number of contracts where customers have insisted on uncapped liabilities on projects; it’s something we will not do,” Mr Sheffield said.
“The daft thing is [that] sometimes customers are represented by someone with a real tick-box mentality and would rather place a contract with a small company with unlimited liability than with a robust company who insists on having a cap.
“The reality is that if a small company has a problem on a job, an uncapped liability means nothing because they just go pop. You end up with some pretty ludicrous positions; we have walked away because we won’t accept that.”


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“Games are nice, but not really life-changing,” says Oded Ben Dov, an Israeli entrepreneur who turned from making mobile phone games to creating a phone for people with spinal cord injuries, ALS, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis and other mobility impairments.
His invention is an Android device activated with the voice command “Open Sesame.” The phone has a front-facing camera that searches for a face in the frame. Once it finds your face, you control a cursor by shifting your head up, down and sideways, your movements tracked by a proprietary algorithm. When you rest in one position for a couple of seconds, a navigation icon pops up and you can choose whether you want to click, swipe, see more options or exit by moving the cursor to hover over one of four circles that appear on the screen like a compass rose.
With the Sesame smartphone, those with mobility impairments can call, text, surf the Web, participate in social media and play games, just like anybody else, without buying any special equipment, says Ben Dov: “Our intention is to help them regain control, regain independence, privacy.”
Ben Dov co-founded Sesame Enable with Giora Livne, who served as a naval commander in the Israeli Defense Forces and then worked as an electrical power engineer in the private sector before an accident left him a quadriplegic nearly a decade ago. Livne called Ben Dov—who specializes in computer vision—after the young coder appeared on television to demonstrate a game operated by gestures.
“I can’t move my hands. I can’t move my legs. Can you make me a phone I could use?” Ben Dov recalls his future partner saying.
Sesame Enable was named a winner of Verizon’s Powerful Answers Award in December as the company was in the midst of an Indiegogo campaign to crowdsource funds for its first shipment of phones, in March, and tablets, due out in June.
The award will cover the development costs. (Verizon will announce at the end of January whether Sesame will receive a $250,000 or $1 million prize.) The company plans to use the nearly $34,000 it has already raised to donate some Sesame phones to those in need. The phones cost $700 to preorder on Indiegogo, and the retail price will run up to $1,000.
For the recipients, the phones can mean much more than a mindless 20 minutes with Angry Birds and Candy Crush . “We started realizing that through giving someone a smartphone, we’re actually opening up so many more options—accessibility to the virtual space but also to physical space,” says Ben Dov. “My partner Giora just ordered a smart home system,” for example. Combined with the Sesame smartphone, it will allow Livne to control his television, thermostat, and lights.
When Livne first started using his touch-free phone, though, it wasn’t being able to check his email or control of the television that he was most excited about. He just wanted to order flowers for his wife, without asking her to dial.
Correction: This article originally misstated the name of Verizon’s Powerful Answers Award.
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Zee Entertainment (ZEEL) has partnered with the US based Internet TV portal FilmOn to launch a customised channel called Zee Bollywood TV, reports Indiantelevision. The channel will be broadcast in Hindi with English subtitles and be available for free on the desktop, tablet and mobile.
According to the report, this partnership will broadcast Zee’s programmed content to Indian audiences in the US and UK as well. The HD channel will allegedly also broadcast premium content, along with Bollywood movies, talk shows and drama shows. FilmOn claims to have over 65 million unique monthly users, over 600 free channels and over 90,000 video on demand titles.
Founded by Greek billionaire Alki David in 2006, FilmOn is an Internet TV portal which lets users view local TV across the world. It also allows users to create live and VOD channels and the channel lineup differs for different countries. The company reportedly launched an internet TV streaming service for mobile devices in 2010 and claims to have an over the air (OTA) distribution model through FilmON AIR, a portable tuner which brings OTA HD channels to mobiles and computers.
Previous ZEEL developments:
– Last month, ZEEL’s digital ecosystem Zee Digital Convergence (ZDC) and its content studio Essel Vision Productions Ltd were working on a new online-only instrumental musical show called Life is Music. The seven week series was to launch on June 15 and would be available on lifeismusic.in and ZEEL’s live TV streaming and VoD service Ditto TV. This was ZEEL’s first attempt at producing original digital content.
– In April this year, ZEEL hired Piyush Sharma as the CEO of new initiatives for India and Asia-Pacific. In his new role, Sharma would be responsible for new initiatives like showcasing programming and content across multiple media platform including web, mobile and on-demand video.
– In April last year, Zee Entertainment was planning to launch an online video portal called Bollyvod, in partnership with Voddler. Zee already had a mobile based video on demand service called Ditto TV.
– In 2013, Asia Today (Mauritius), a wholly owned subsidiary of ZEEL formed a joint venture with the Stockholm based video on demand provider Voddler Group, other than obtaining an in-principle approval from the company board for this initiative. It committed $5 million investment for this joint venture and planned to develop a proprietary storage and streaming technology which would enable the distribution of its video on demand service (Ditto TV) on a large scale in the international market.
– In 2010, ZEEL inked a joint venture with US based digital media firm Mail.com Media Corporation (MMC), to launch an entertainment website. MMC’s portfolio of websites included Mail.com, Hollywoodlife, OnCars, Movieline, Deadline, Fan, Young Hollywood Awards, Hollywood Style Awards and Fashion Rocks. The new portal would apparently offer users “exciting entertainment viewing options and other leading portal applications”.
Image Credit: Flickr user Paul Townsend


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Kiowa Casino Press Release
Oct 26, 2016
Kiowa Casino Sets Goal to Help Give over 20 Tons of Food to Area Food Pantries in November
October 26, 2016 – Organizations including Wichita Falls Food Bank, Lawton Food Bank, Faith Mission, The Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma and other local area food banks and not for profits will be recipients of the canned goods collected at the annual canned food drive at Kiowa Casino taking place November 14 through November 18. Guests to Kiowa Casino can bring five large cans of food with a valid expiration date to receive a scratch off card worth up to $200 in freeplay.
“We are hoping to gather and donate over 20 tons of canned goods to area food banks and organizations that are in need this holiday season. We have been amazed by how well our guests have responded to our canned food drives in previous years. Last year, our guests helped collect over 40,000 pounds of food totaling about 40 large bins,” said Jim LaPorte, the Chief Operating Officer for Kiowa Casino.
About the Kiowa Casino-Devol:
The 63,000-square-foot Kiowa Casino floor features 700+ slot machines, nearly one dozen table games, a gift shop, complimentary valet, smoking and non-smoking areas with three classic casual dining restaurants including Morning Star Steaks, the Morning Star Buffet and the Winner’s Circle Sports Bar and Grille, each with its own unique menu and distinct flavors.
For more information about Kiowa Casino, please call 1-866-370-4077 or visit www.KiowaCasino.com.


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The Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) has reportedly run out of exhibition space making this year’s edition the biggest since 1959 when it started. The one-week long business exhibition starts on Tuesday, 23 April to Saturday 27 April 2019.
ZITF company chairperson Ruth Ncube told Sunday Mail in an interview:
The show is the biggest ever. We sold all possible space and for the first time in the history of ZITF, we had to hire tents to accommodate 100 more exhibitors. This year we won’t be having VIP parking because we converted that space for extra exhibition space and the halls, which we haven’t been using for the last four to five years, have been refurbished and converted to exhibition space.
More: Sunday Mail


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In case you missed it see what’s in this section
CEO OF LEADING FREE-FROM BRAND IS JUDGE FOR INAUGURAL FOOD & DRINK HERO AWARDS
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WHY USE ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPHY IN YOUR BUSINESS?
Professional photographer Neil Moore is urging business owners to consider the power of using original images in their marketing.
Inventor Tom Lawton Donates £1,000 to Sea Sanctuary to mark World Mental Health Day
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BE SMART WITH YOUR DATA - BUSINESS SPECIALIST URGES COMPANY OWNERS
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Entrepreneur Liz Hutchings gains prestigious Qualified Franchise Professional award
Entrepreneur Liz Hutchings of the Total Guide To franchise has succeeded in gaining the prestigious Qualified Franchise Professional (QFP) Award.
A DIGITAL HUB FOR BRISTOL GOES LIVE TO SUPPORT THE CITY TO BE EVEN MORE GREEN
Introducing Action Net Zero CIC
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South West accountant Mike Lloyd is urging business owners to start planning now for the end of ‘furloughing’ next month.
Training company embraces technology to deliver permanent blended learning sessions
National training company, Ouch, has launched a series of new training courses that are safely delivered face-to-face as part of ...


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Dublin company Ethnic Media is to launch Ireland's first ever lifestyle magazine for the Chinese community living in Ireland.
The monthly magazine, called Tiao Wang (looking to the future from a great height), will hit the shelves in November and will carry features on fashion and health, arts and culture, current affairs, technology and business.
Publisher Niall Kehoe said the magazine would target the official 75,000 or unofficial 125,000-strong Chinese community in Ireland. “It will...
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Jimmy Powell opened Oscar’s Full Belly Deli drive-thru last week in the former location of his Jimmy’s Gyro Hut, in front of LAXprint at 146 Rose St.
The revamped drive-thru sells soup and deli sandwiches.
Powell also owns Jimmy’s North Star at 1732 George St., which is known for gyro sandwiches. He had operated the Jimmy’s Gyro Hut drive-thru from 2009 to 2010, and again from November 2015 until July 1.
He said when he reopened the gyro drive-thru last November, he figured (correctly) that it would boost traffic to Jimmy’s North Star, and planned to switch to a new drive-thru concept within six to 12 months.
“Freshness and quality are our focus” at Oscar’s Full Belly Deli, Powell said. It offers five specialty sandwiches, such as The Oscar – which is made with ham, roast beef, bacon, salami, provolone cheese, lettuce, onion and tomato. The deli sandwiches are made with bolillo rolls that are baked fresh daily.
“We also have all kinds of build-your-own options,” as well as fresh soup and a kids’ menu, said Powell, who named the deli after his dog, Oscar.
The drive-thru (customers also can walk up) will be open year-round. Hours are 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. For more information, the drive-thru plans to soon have a Facebook page.
Noelke Music opened its studio in August at 123 W. Hamilton St. in downtown West Salem.
“I have been teaching (music) for many years, but made it a business in 2013 out of my home after I stopped teaching full time in schools where I was a middle school band director,” owner Laurie Noelke said. “I expanded it to a studio since there were requests for different kinds of lessons that I did not offer.”
Noelke and other instructors offer private lessons at the studio in piano, flute, voice, guitar, brass instruments and drum set. “We also offer children’s music classes and adult learning opportunities,” Noelke said. “Our first children’s class, called ‘Music and Movement,’ will be Oct. 13 at 6 p.m. and is for 3- to 5-year-olds.”
For more information, call (608)-612-0022 or visit www.noelkemusic.com or the studio’s Facebook page.
Journey Active fitness studio will open in late fall at 1245 Badger St., on the second floor of the new Aguilera building in La Crosse.
Kevin and Devan Weis own the new business. He received a business management degree from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, with an emphasis in sustainability and minor in economics and is a financial advisor in La Crosse. Devan has a degree in kinesiology-movement studies and nutrition and has five years of experience teaching classes and working with individuals in the fitness industry.
The new fitness studio will focus on group classes when it opens, Devan said, adding that there also will be open gym hours. “We will also be phasing in small group training, personal training and online training,” she said. “We want to focus more on overall wellness rather than just fitness – so we will be having monthly seminars/educational sessions for all community members to attend and learn more about all aspects of wellness.”
For more information, visit www.journeyactive.com or the studio’s Facebook page.
An Arby’s restaurant is being built in front of the Walmart supercenter on Hwy. 54 in Black River Falls.
The restaurant is expected to open in late November and will have about 50 employees, said Abbey Ramsey, director of marketing for Arby’s franchisee DRM Inc., based in Omaha, Neb.
“It’s a great location and we love opening in new communities,” Ramsey said of DRM’s decision to build an Arby’s in Black River Falls.
DRM operates 71 Arby’s locations in Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska and Wisconsin, and plans to add 25 more in those states over the next seven years. “Sparta and Black River Falls will be numbers 72 and 73” when both open in late November, Ramsey said.


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Pixel artists need accesible tools and a comfortable interface for pixelart.
Indie developer D-jinn has created a new pixel art drawing APP, DotArt.
DjinnGames is actually developing a video game for PC named Mazgeon - the life dungeon.
Mazgeon website is now live! You can stay tuned from now and on about any upcoming update:
Mazgeon is a Dungeon Roguelike game that has been in development for +3 years, and now is going Closed beta through Steam before full release soon.


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After three seasons of presentations, Diego Marquez and Mirko Fontana, the Italian designers behind the Au Jour Le Jour brand, will hold their first runway show at the Armani Theater on Saturday.
“Showing for the first time in such an important location is both a test drive and a launching pad for our brand,” said Marquez, who founded Au Jour Le Jour with Fontana in 2010. “We were on vacation in Mikonos when we realized we wanted to create our own thing.”
Launched under license, in 2012 Marquez and Fontana closed the licensing agreement and established a company that directly manages the label. “We felt that we wanted to be more independent [on the business side and] also on the creative side,” Marquez said.
Positioned in the upper segment of the contemporary market, Au Jour Le Jour (which translates to “From Day to Day”) built a name for itself with cool, fun collections, characterized by bold, cartoonish prints, and is entirely manufactured in Italy.
“Our clothes target independent, ironic and confident women between 25 and 45 with a vast fashion knowledge,” Marquez said.
For fall, the duo cut precious fabrics, including jacquard mohair and furlike silk, in clean, sharp silhouettes, “between the Sixties and the Seventies,” as Marquez said. Rich embroideries, cross-stitched puppies and eye-catching prints, such as the label’s signature lip motif, decorate many of the pieces. Jersey sweatshirts retail between 200 euros and 400 euros, or $270 and $540 at current exchange, while knitwear prices range from 270 euros to 400 euros, or $365 to $540. Dresses are 350 euros to 750 euros, or $473 to $1,013, while outerwear is between 700 euros and 1,000 euros, or $946 and $1,351.
Au Jour Le Jour also features a men’s wear line, launched in 2013. It is currently sold in about 100 points of sale around the world, especially across Asia, Russia and Italy, and via its own online store.
@chanel and @pharrell dropped what’s being dubbed as the world’s most exclusive sneakers yesterday. The Adidas Originals NMD Hu, which Williams designed in collaboration with Chanel and @adidasoriginals, has a waiting list of over 120K people who pre-registered online at chanelatcolette.fr –– and only 500 pairs are on sale. The singer predicted the resale value of the shoes could reach $40K. Read the full interview on WWD.com. Link in bio. #wwdfashion (📷: Dominique Maître)
@imanshumpert is diving deeper into his creative endeavors and relaunching his clothing line, Post 90s, and is helping to raise money for the hurricane victims in St. Maarten with a jersey he’s designed with his brother. The Cleveland Cavaliers player talked to WWD about kneeling during the national anthem, working with fashion brands and how he wants to be more than an @nba player. Read the interview on WWD.com #wwdfashion (📷: George Chinese)
Not only does #TheProfit return to CNBC tonight, but @marcuslemonis has launched @shopmarcus, a new shopping and lifestyle retail experience in Aspen and Chicago, with more locations to come. The retail stores offer in-store stylists and a variety of contemporary womenswear selections.
“It’s life, I’m going to face it,” @mingxi11 sighed. “I fell, but you know, I think the most important thing is that I get back up. I had the love, the help from my sister — the girl next to me Gizele [Oliveira] — she’s so nice. When I went backstage everybody was trying to comfort me like ‘Oh Ming, it’s OK.’ I’m really, really touched. I think it’s them who gave me the courage to go back on stage for the finale,” Xi told WWD of her fall at the @victoriassecret fashion show. (📷: David Fisher) #wwdfashion #vsfashionshow #victoriassecret
@louisvuitton tapped @therealpeterlindbergh for its latest city-centric photo book, which is part of a series called Fashion Eye. The primarily black and white book captures the spirit of Berlin in 57 images shot between 1989 and 2019. “Berlin is an inspiration for me, more than a city. I mean @millajovovich is simply Berlin!” said Lindbergh. #wwdfashion
“You know, I think audiences expect a certain performance so I have to deliver to them what they’re expecting to a certain degree. But I’m also a different actor and a different person, I have my own spin on the character,” says @noahegalvin of his takeover of the leading role in “Dear Evan Hansen” following the departure of @bensplatt, who originated the role. Read WWD’s interview with the 23-year-old actor on WWD.com #wwdeye (📷: @jilliansollazzo)
For pre-fall 2018, @etro created richly-colored wonderland, using tapestries, textiles and wallpapers from the Eastern world at large. The line featured floral and graphic prints and jacquard motifs, like this two-piece look featured here. #wwdfashion (📷: Giovanna Pavesi)
@kith is moving into children’s. The men’s and women’s streetwear brand has launched Kidset, a Kith kids line located in New York at 64 Bleecker Street. The line includes mini versions of staple Kith pieces like the Astor bomber jacket and the Kith box logo sweatshirts, along with a wall that can display up to 120 pairs of shoes from @adidas, @newbalance, @timberland and more. #wwdfashion
“I just wanted to create this fully rounded character, but I do think what excited me most was just the opportunity to give a group of people representation that I feel needs it. I like to do characters in projects that stand for something and Karolina definitely does, so that was really exciting to me,” @ginnygardner says of her new role in @hulu’s “The Runaways.” Gardner plays Karolina Dean, a queer superhero, which is a rarity for @marvel. Read more about Gardner’s character on WWD.com #wwdeye (📷: @dandoperalski)


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OVERLAND PARK, Kan., April 11, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Shippers looking for a faster standard shipping option can now rely on the new “Accelerated” service from YRC Freight. Shipments delivered through the new Accelerated service reach their destinations one to two days faster than standard transit times and are made possible through a dual speed network at the company.
The Accelerated service is the direct result of customer feedback and rounds out what is already one of the most comprehensive and diverse service offerings in the industry.
“It is important that our customers always know we have the technology, the services and the people to fulfill their needs,” said Darren Hawkins, president of YRC Freight. “Today, I’m excited to announce our new Accelerated service which provides a faster standard shipping option for their shipments. This new service addition, combined with our already comprehensive portfolio of services and coverage, creates the opportunity for customers to use YRC Freight in every aspect of their supply chain.”
Read more at yrcw.com


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- 4G Smartphone shipments grew 14% YoY
- Xiaomi is No.1 in smartphone shipments, with POCO registering a whopping 465% growth
- OnePlus and itel smartphone shipments recorded triple digit YoY growth
New Delhi/Gurugram, 10 May 2021: According to CMR’s India Mobile Handset Market Review Report for Q1 2021 released today, total smartphone shipments in India in the three months ending March grew 23% YoY, with strong demand for 4G smartphones. In Q1 2021, 4G smartphone shipments grew 14% YoY.
According to Shipra Sinha, Analyst-Industry Intelligence Group, CMR, “Q1 2021 recorded the highest ever shipments in three years. It also marked an extended good run for the smartphone market, on the back of continued pent-up consumer demand driven by continued everything-from-home context. Xiaomi remained on top in smartphone shipments, and POCO’s remarkable growth bodes well for Xiaomi. It is facing tough competition from the likes of Samsung and vivo. During Q1, OPPO continued to build on its growth momentum, with new 5G-capable offerings.”
Xiaomi (28%), Samsung (18%) and Vivo (16%) captured the top three spots in the smartphone leaderboard in Q1 2021. Oppo shipments grew by 16% YoY. OnePlus led the 5G smartphone segment with 33% market share followed by realme at 14%. The 5G smartphone shipments accounted for 7% of the overall smartphone shipments in Q1 2021.
The feature phone segment increased 21% YoY primarily driven by Jio’s new 4G Feature phone. The 2G feature phone segment grew 9% YoY, with itel (20%), Samsung (20%) and Lava (19%) capturing the top three spots.
Q1 2021: Key Smartphone market Highlights
Xiaomi captured the top spot with 8% YoY growth in shipments. Redmi 9A and 9 Power together accounted for 38% of its overall shipments. Xiaomi refreshed its 5G lineup with its most affordable 5G handset Mi10i and introduced 10th generation Redmi Note series. POCO had a whopping 467% YoY growth in Q1 growing from a small base. The Poco C3 accounted for 28% of its shipments. POCO launched M3 and X3 pro in Value for Money segment.
Samsung grew 41% YoY, and with an 18% market share, was placed second in the smartphone market. It launched atleast 12 new models with the Samsung A12, A32, A52 and A72, accounting for close to 25% of its shipments. In the featurephone segment, Samsung stood at second spot with 20% market share.
Vivo garnered 16% market share, with its shipments growing by 20% YoY. It launched 7 models including the vivo X60 5G series in the premium and super premium smartphone segment. The vivo Y51A, Y20a and Y12s constituted almost half of its sales.
realme shipments recorded negligible 1.5% YoY growth, mostly driven by the realme C12, Narzo 30A and Narzo 20 series contributing 26% of its share. realme continued to drive 5G smartphone accessibility and affordability by introducing the Narzo 30 Pro 5G in the sub 20,000 segment.
OPPO grew 16% YoY almost dethroned realme with 11 % market share each. In Q1 2021, it debuted its OPPO Reno 5G model, and introduced the OPPO F19 Pro Plus and F19 Pro. OPPO A15 series constituted more than a third of its shipments.
OnePlus shipments recorded a significant growth of >400% YoY, almost touching a million shipments. OnePlus debuted the new OnePlus 9 Series during the quarter. OnePlus Nord continued its good run and accounted for 37% of its shipments.
Apple stood at the 8th position in the top ten leaderboard in Q1 2021. Apple iPhone 11 and iPhone 12 models together accounted for 71% of its overall shipments.
Transsion Group brands (Itel, Infinix and Tecno) overall shipments grew 12% YoY, while its smartphone shipments grew 44% YoY. itel recorded 152% YoY growth, Tecno grew 70% while Infinix declined 36%. itel continued to lead in the overall featurephone segment with 20% market share in Q1 2021.
In the 2G feature phone segment, while Nokia and Micromax declined by 7% each, Lava shipments increased by 15% YoY.
As per CMR estimates, driven by lockdown restrictions across Indian states, the smartphone market will face a significant growth challenge in Q2 2021 and beyond.
“Owing to the second COVID wave and associated state-wide lockdowns, we see a significant dip of 15-20% QoQ in smartphone shipments in Q2 2021. Coupled with that, supply chain disruptions and component shortages will continue to test smartphone brands. That said, with remote work and e-learning continuing to gain permanence, it potentially bodes well for smartphone industry prospects in H2 2021. While current market conditions remain turbulent, we remain cautiously optimistic of the smartphone industry prospects going forward,” added Anand Priya Singh, Analyst- Industry Intelligence Group, CMR.
– ENDS –
About CyberMedia Research and Services Ltd
CMR offers industry intelligence, consulting and marketing services, including but not limited to market tracking, market sizing, stakeholder satisfaction, analytics and opportunity assessment studies.
A part of CyberMedia, South Asia’s largest specialty media and media services group, CyberMedia Research (CMR) has been a front-runner in market research, consulting and advisory services since 1986. CMR is an institutional member of Market Research Society of India (MRSI).
For queries, please contact email@example.com


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Matt is a finance reporter covering venture capital and private equity.
PacWest Bancorp in Westwood on Tuesday reported strong second quarter earnings, beating analyst estimates in the first quarter since the company closed its merger with CapitalSource, another Los Angeles bank.
CLOTHING: Revenue, cost savings from Hudson deal boost shares of Joe’s.
Joe’s Jeans buttons up more investors on the strength of its earnings report.
hospitality: Terranea has channeled Code into boosting hotel’s profile.
Terranea Resort touts its link to Code Conference to promote itself beyond the Internet industry.
Smart & Final Stores Inc. has filed for an initial public offering.
investment: Face time seen as key to cracking L.A. market.
Firms hope the value of having a physical presence in Los Angeles will show up in more business.
TECHNOLOGY: Shares of Simulations Plus climb as firm plans more growth.
Investors stock up on Simulations Plus after the software maker’s strong earnings report.
American Apparel cut a deal that with its main investor that will allow the downtown Los Angeles clothing manufacturer to pay off a loan and avoid a default and potential bankruptcy, the company announced Wednesday.
FINANCE: Bond buyers at TCW and DoubleLine see risks outweighing rewards.
Two local portfolio managers are breaking their bonds with the riskiest of junk offerings.
bIOTECH: Staar shares fall after company receives FDA warning on records.
FDA warning blindsides investors in implantable-lens maker Staar Surgical.
Ilya Kuntsevich studied economics as a college student in Russia, but his training wasn’t exactly the industry standard for employees of big international companies.


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SEARCHED FOR:FESTIVE SEASON DEMAND
Brands bring the premium down to keep demand ticking in peak festive season
Companies such as Tanishq are launching light-weight jewellery to make it more affordable. In alco-beverage segment, several companies have launched premium products in smaller packs at lower price points.
Gold demand revives as jewellers start restocking for festive and wedding season
Until a week ago, bullion dealers were offering discounts on...
Festive discounts: Out of stock chains, ecommerce sites run out of appliances
Several models of LG, Samsung, Lenovo, Bosch, Siemens, TCL, Kodak and Thomson are no longer available. Online-focused brands such as Vu have just half of last year's stock while BPL hasn’t featured at all on the marketplaces this festive season, four industry executives said
M&M gears up to meet festive season demands
We are confident with the product configuration and pricing for Thar and looking at the demand, we are going to ramp up capacity substantial...
Increasing production, sales during festive season our focus right now, says SIAM
"Right now, nationally and globally everybody is fighting the coronavirus. We will have to collaborate and integrate our effort to fight this pandemic. It is the priority right now," Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) President Kenichi Ayukawa told reporters.
Flipkart, Amazon strengthen furniture offerings ahead of festive season
With consumers now investing more in creating their own comfortable space at home, there is a notable increase in the demand for ergonomic furniture across furniture segments, said a Flipkart official.
Malls expect surge in footfalls in the upcoming festive season, anticipate increased demand
According to a survey by Retailers Association of India (RAI), there were signs of marginal recovery as retailers continued to signal a contraction of 52% in August on a Y-o-Y comparison. The survey said large retailers are performing marginally better than medium-sized retailers.
Reports of hike in fares during festival season misleading, clarifies Indian Railways
The fares of these trains will be similar to those applicable for special trains, which means 'special charges' will be levied making the tickets costlier by 10-30 per cent as compared to the fares of mail/express trains, depending on the class of travel.
Automakers pin demand hopes on festive season, govt intervention
Passenger vehicle sales are making a slow but steady come back. But the market share positions of automakers are in a flux.
Fynd, Flipkart ink partnership ahead of festive season
Fynd’s existing marketplace integrations include Amazon, Myntra, Ajio, Tata Cliq, and now Flipkart.
Yamaha expects sales momentum to continue in festive season
The company's sales increased by 17 per cent to 63,052 units last month, as compared with 53,727 units in September 2019. Similarly, the two-wheeler maker saw its sales increase by 4.3 per cent in July to 49,989 units, as compared with 47,918 units in the same month last year.
Centre unveils plan to boost demand ahead of festive season; drop in the ocean, say economists
The package aims to lift demand for consumer goods by offering festival loans to central government employees and promises additional capital spending and interest free loans to states. Staff can also use their leave travel allowance to pay for consumer goods.
Business activity resumption nears pre-Covid levels as festive season rolls in
Various indicators such as purchasing managers’ indices, goods and services tax collections, e-way bills, railway freight loading, highway toll collections, power demand and exports are pointing to an economy on the mend. There, however, is caution that this could just be a ‘faux recovery’, limited to increased consumption during the festive season.
With festival season round the corner, liquor companies are betting on premium products
United Spirits Limited, Radico Khaitan, Brown-Forman, William Grant & Sons and Amrut Distilleries have all said premium brands will drive the festive quarter where they see at-home consumption in small gatherings replacing holidaying and large parties during Dusshera and Diwali due to the pandemic.


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Persistent shortages of motor automobiles all through the pandemic have delivered file earnings to new-car sellers in Australia, as clients pay full retail and endure lengthy ready occasions.
The return of reductions on new vehicles might be years away – trade analysts have forecast – after a brand new report revealed inventory shortages and excessive costs through the coronavirus pandemic delivered the largest monetary windfall on file to sellers throughout Australia.
Analysis agency Deloitte – which has forensically monitored the Australian automotive trade for 25 years – has revealed new-car sellers made extra money final 12 months than ever earlier than in recorded historical past.
Seller earnings have greater than tripled over the previous two years amid ongoing inventory shortages, larger transaction costs, and the sudden dying of reductions and drive-away offers.
Over the previous two years, clients have been pressured to pay full retail and endure lengthy ready occasions to safe a brand new motorized vehicle.
Figures equipped by Deloitte present within the 2019 lead-up to the pandemic, new-car sellers on common made a revenue of $600,000 a 12 months – however final 12 months the common revenue per vendor was $3 million.
Deloitte stated the newest revenue figures got here from month-to-month reported information of 1650 sellers nationally – greater than half the community of 3000 showrooms in Australia.
For ever and ever to restrictions on the availability of recent motor automobiles, trade analysts have forecast excessive earnings – and an absence of reductions on new vehicles – might proceed for a number of years.
“Sellers have made a greenback … we’ve made some huge cash,” Lee Peters, one in all Deloitte’s longstanding automotive trade specialists, instructed the Australian Automotive Sellers Affiliation (AADA) convention in Brisbane final week.
“Low ranges of (car) provide have meant … discounting has been eradicated,” stated Mr Peters.
“Make hay whereas the solar shines,” Mr Peters instructed the automotive vendor convention. “These distinctive situations, essentially the most distinctive situations that we’ve seen in no less than 25 years, they’re in all probability going to be right here for the following two years. Make as a lot cash as you possibly can proper now. Ensure (to not) miss a trick.”
Mr Peters stated new-car sellers ought to use the present ranges of prosperity and excessive revenue margins to safe their companies for the long run.
The Deloitte automotive specialist suggested sellers to not look again at this era of excessive earnings a decade from now and suppose: “‘Wow, that was a pleasant little injection.’ What we must be is to say, ‘That was a pleasant reset,’ moderately than simply an injection (of upper earnings).
“As a enterprise mannequin (the automotive trade must concentrate on) cost-out and customer-first,” stated Mr Peters, who urged sellers to “use this two-year interval to … future-proof our enterprise.
“We’ve all acquired money, we’re all making revenue, our steadiness sheets are fatter than they’ve been within the final 5 years,” stated Mr Peters. “Ensure we do one thing with that, in order that we’re arrange.”
Mr Peters stated an absence of competitors throughout the new-car market – attributable to persistent and ongoing inventory shortages over the previous 12 months or so – contributed to the current interval of file vendor earnings.
“There’s much less competitors,” stated Mr Peters. “The truth is, most clients are now not procuring round, so there’s no want for them to go to a number of dealerships as a result of no one’s acquired inventory.
“As an alternative what we see (clients) doing is … visiting their native dealership, inserting an order, and attempting to get within the queue as quick as potential. That’s a pleasant, wholesome method to promote on this atmosphere.”
Fellow automotive knowledgeable at Deloitte, Dale McCauley, instructed the convention: “When the pandemic hit, no-one might have predicted this final result. (The pandemic) produced … essentially the most fascinating set of information we’ve seen within the final 25 years.
“For the primary time that I can recall in a few years, demand (for brand spanking new motor automobiles) has exceeded provide, with $60 billion of abroad journey and dinners out with associates … being redirected into retail, vehicles, home journey, and residential renovations.”
The Deloitte specialists stated larger transaction costs pushed by elevated demand amid semiconductor shortages, manufacturing slowdowns, and transport bottlenecks – in addition to the Federal Authorities’s ‘Job Keeper’ monetary help bundle – helped drive up vendor revenue figures.
The information confirmed the common revenue on every new automotive bought final 12 months was near $5000, roughly double the common revenue per new automotive bought previous to the pandemic.
Over the previous 12 months or so, automotive sellers haven’t wanted to low cost to win a sale – and automotive firms have saved cash as a result of they haven’t wanted to supply beneficiant bonuses or provide different monetary incentives to maneuver steel.
The pinnacle of the Australian Automotive Sellers Affiliation (AADA), James Voortman, instructed the convention: “Whereas (inventory shortages) introduced an finish to the discounting wars we noticed pre-pandemic – and it is significantly assisted vendor profitability – it has created a really tough working atmosphere for a lot of of our members who should take care of clients ready for automobiles.”
The Deloitte specialists stated final 12 months’s monetary enhance for new-car sellers arrived after a sustained interval of low earnings – and famous, instantly previous to the pandemic, greater than a 3rd of sellers have been the truth is working at a loss.
“We reached a degree in 2019 the place the common vendor was making simply 0.6 per cent (revenue), and greater than a 3rd of all sellers have been working at a loss,” stated Mr McCauley.
“So out of the 3000 (dealerships) on this nation … greater than 1000 sellers misplaced cash in 2019,” he stated.
After a decade of common vendor earnings working at a charge of 1.5 to 2.5 per cent of turnover, the common revenue made by new-car sellers final 12 months climbed to 4 per cent – and benchmark sellers (the common of the highest 30 per cent) made a revenue that equated to six.4 per cent of their turnover.
New-car sellers in NSW have been essentially the most worthwhile nationally – with benchmark showrooms delivering a peak common of seven.0 per cent revenue from their whole turnover – forward of West Australia (6.1 per cent), Queensland (5.8 per cent), Victoria and Tasmania (5.7 per cent), and South Australia (5.6 per cent).
“For the primary time, we’ve acquired 90 per cent of sellers on this nation incomes cash and solely a small share are shedding cash month-to-month,” stated Mr McCauley, including it was essential to notice how sellers struggled for the earlier 25 years “to have the ability to perceive precisely how outstanding the final couple of years have been.”
“Within the Nineties … the aspirational aim for benchmark sellers was 2 per cent (revenue on turnover),” stated Mr McCauley. “The typical vendor is now incomes 4 per cent or extra (revenue on turnover), and the benchmark is above 6 per cent. Solely a small share (of sellers) are shedding cash month-on-month.
“The final two years have given us the most effective case examine look into what the way forward for automotive retail might appear to be or ought to appear to be,” stated Mr McCauley. “COVID has modified the best way we stay, the best way we store, the best way we work … and all of those have impacted clients who purchase vehicles, and it’s pressured (automotive sellers) to vary.”
Mr McCauley stated, over the previous two years through the pandemic, automotive retailing had reworked from being “an trade that was making low earnings, to an trade that’s worthwhile for many stakeholders.”
As an alternative of being pushed by an oversupply of recent vehicles and aggressive discounting – because it was previous to the pandemic – the automotive trade is now being pushed by buyer demand, the place sellers will now compete “not simply on worth, however on product, and on model, and on buyer expertise.”
Mr Peters stated the common vendor revenue of 4 per cent to five per cent over the previous two years “is the kick (automotive dealerships) wanted.”
“As an trade, we have to do one thing with that kick … if we get to 2023, 2024, 2025 and we haven’t discovered the teachings of this final 10-year journey, we may have missed the trick.”
Mr McCauley stated new-car inventory was “at critically all-time low ranges … and you may clearly see the affect that’s having on (earnings).”
“What we’re seeing is that, as new inventory arrives, most of that’s already bought or pre-sold to a buyer, so it’s transferring in a short time by means of showrooms.”
Deloitte forecast the automotive trade will grow to be a “two-speed economic system” over the following 12 months or so, based mostly on which manufacturers can get vehicles and which might’t.
“We do see two speeds occurring, these that may have inventory and those who received’t have inventory,” stated Mr McCauley.
“These with inventory will achieve momentum and market share (and) some clients then might pivot to different manufacturers, or go take a look elsewhere for a automotive that’s accessible and in inventory.
“So be sure to are hanging onto your clients, speaking with them, and … holding their hand by means of this journey to supply.”
Regardless of the challenges going through the automotive trade, Deloitte forecasts a new-car market in extra of 1 million gross sales per 12 months for the foreseeable future.
“Our newest forecasts are, for the following three to 5 years, this market can be someplace between 1 million and 1.1 million, and this can be fairly constant,” stated Mr McCauley.
“With 70-odd manufacturers on this market competing for simply over 1,000,000 gross sales yearly, it implies that when provide does return, competitors ramps again up once more.”
Compared, the US has about 40 automotive manufacturers competing for roughly 18 million new-car gross sales yearly.
“When will our provide chains normalise?” stated Mr Voortman. “Who is aware of? That is the million greenback query, however sadly it’s past our management.”


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Small businesses are starting to gain recognition for their achievements and it's being welcomed with open arms.
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has begun the search to find the best small businesses in the UK. They announced an annual awards ceremony to recognise businesses who are going the extra mile with their work. From start-ups to traditional family businesses and everything in between, all are being encouraged to enter the awards in 2019 - FSB's Celebrating Small Business awards.
Self-employment has risen massively in the past decade and the FSB has seen what industry awards can do for a lot of businesses. Not only a chance to showcase what they do and network with other related businesses but winning an award can do wonders for gaining new clients or customers or that much need PR boost.
With an astonishing 5.7 million small businesses just in the UK, the FSB is looking forward to some exciting entries for the 2019 awards. The awards ceremony itself will be held at Battersea Evolution in London on 23rd May 2019.
From exporters to sustainable businesses, from innovators to the best young entrepreneurs, small businesses really are enjoying the spotlight that's been given to them through the awards.
With small businesses contributing such a huge amount to the economy and communities across the UK, it's surprising that the awards only began in 2018. FSB National Chairman Mike Cherry has been quoted as saying that the awards recognise the best, most innovative, and most determined of these, from every sector, industry, and background. The awards have been kept free to enter, meaning many businesses who wouldn't usually put themselves forward to be awarded may be tempted to try this year. Plus, it's not just small businesses they are looking for, self-employed people can also enter whether they are current FSB members or not.
The whittling down starts with twelve area finals taking place from January to April 2019 leading onto the national final in May. The finalists will be chosen to stand in 10 different categories and one winner will be chosen from that final 10.
Julianne Ponan was last years winner. She runs a superfood brand called Creative Nature and cannot speak highly enough of the awards. Commenting that winning the award has had a huge impact on her business, allowing her to speak at business shows and gain lots of media coverage from the win.
The award categories for the 2019 FSB Celebrating Small Business Awards are:
Business of the Year
Scale-Up Business of the Year
Family Business of the Year
Young Entrepreneur of the Year (aged 30 and under)
Employer of the Year
Community Award (area level only)
The 12 UK area finals will be held in: Scotland; Wales; Northern Ireland; East Midlands; West Midlands; North East England; Yorkshire & The Humber; South West England; South East England; East of England; North West England; and London.
So, what are you waiting for? It's free to enter and you may just surprise yourself.
To enter, visit FSB Awards


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Data-integration giant Informatica has made itself a private company in a $US5.3 billion deal that includes investments from Microsoft and Salesforce.com.
Enterprise customers can expect to hear more from e-commerce giant Alibaba Group. The Chinese company is accelerating the global expansion of its cloud computing business, with a US$1 billion investment.
Good programmers are notoriously hard to find, but HackerRank thinks it has the answer. A fresh cash infusion suggests it may be on to something.
There's no shortage of software vendors paying lip service to data science in this analytics-infused era, but Workday is putting its money where its mouth is.
China's largest chip foundry is entering into a joint venture with Qualcomm to develop chips, at a time when the country is looking for technology to emerge as a semiconductor producing powerhouse.
EBay has sold its 28.4 percent ownership stake in Craigslist as part of an agreement between the companies announced Friday .
If you’re looking to hire a developer, which is more important: her LinkedIn profile or samples of her code on GitHub?
Simplicity is an oft-cited goal in the world of enterprise software, but by most accounts, it's rarely achieved. Percolate is hoping to change that, at least for marketing professionals.
Google will give €150 million (US$163 million) to European publishers and digital journalism startups in the next three years as part of a wider package that aims to support the news sector.
It wasn't long after the launch of Slack's namesake team-communication software last year that the San Francisco company was catapulted into the "unicorn" club -- that growing group of startups with valuations above $1 billion.
Erwin Liu is the CEO of a fledgling Chinese startup, and he's been the happy recipient of free chips from Intel.
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group is investing US$200 million in photo-messaging app Snapchat, following a string of prior investments in U.S. tech companies.
IBM will dedicate $US4 billion in spending this year to the cloud, analytics and mobile technologies, as it struggles with seismic shifts that are changing the computing landscape it once dominated,
Apple is investing in a vast solar plant in Northern California that will generate as much electricity as the company uses to power all its operations in the state.
Alibaba Group is pumping $US590 million into a Chinese smartphone maker that's been helping the e-commerce company promote its own mobile OS against Google's Android.
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It’s been nearly three years since the Adidas Yeezy Boost 700 “Mauve” released and now, it appears that the colorway is coming to another Yeezy model.
Following the cancellation of his Rolling Loud Miami performance and showing up at an Atlanta United FC soccer match, we are learning that Kanye West is now living at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Kanye West is apparently dating Irina Shayk while his divorce from Kim Kardashian is ongoing.
After heavy anticipation, YEEZY and Gap (NYSE:GPS +2.58%) have now announced the inaugural release for the 10-year YEEZY Gap partnership.
Kanye West’s logo for his Yeezy collaboration with Gap is official.
Kanye West’s Grammy-worn Nike Air Yeezy 1 Prototypes are expected to usurp Michael Jordan’s game-worn AJ1’s to become the most expensive sneakers ever sold.
Kanye West is the richest Black man in U.S. history, according to new reports by People and Bloomberg.


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Travel firm insolvencies inevitable
by Gill Montia
Story link: Travel firm insolvencies inevitable
The UK’s travel sector is facing severe economic headwinds, with a 49% increase in companies suffering “critical” financial distress, compared with this time last year.
According to Begbies Traynor’s latest “Red Flag Alert”, further insolvencies in the sector are inevitable.
Putting aside the sharp annual rise in “critical” cases, the third quarter of 2011 saw a 29% increase in companies facing “significant” financial distress, compared with the previous three month period.
The insolvency specialist’s partner, Julie Palmer, comments: “Cash reserves at travel and tourism companies are typically at their lowest levels during the 4th quarter so the rise in distress during Q3 is a real warning signal to the industry.
“Consumers are reining in their spending but this responsible behaviour is actually nullifying any attempts by policymakers to boost spending in the UK.
“In the past quarter, sectors reliant on consumer discretionary spending are bearing the brunt of an increase in levels of ‘significant’ financial distress with a 29% increase hitting the Travel and Tourism sector.”


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We’ve been talking about Stylista for a while now.
H&M has just come out saying that they’re partnering with The CW for the new series, which premieres Wednesday, October 22 at 9:00 p.m. ET.
As you know, 11 determined fashionistas will vie to prove themselves to Fashion News Director and Elle Accessories Editor Anne Slowey and Creative Director Joe Zee from Elle magazine.
And the winner will receive a full year’s clothing allowance from H&M.
No word on exactly how much money the winner will get.


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Portugal’s top shoe designer appointed leader of the European footwear industry
The President of the Portuguese Footwear Association, Luís Onofre, has been appointed president of the European footwear confederation for the next three years.
“The President of APICCAPS (Portuguese Footwear and Leather Goods Association) has been appointed President of the European Footwear Industries Confederation (CEC),” said Portugal’s Minister of the Economy Pedro Siza Vieira said during a visit by a delegation of 90 Portuguese footwear companies which will be taking part in the industry’s largest international fair MICAM in Milan until Wednesday.
The value of Portuguese footwear exports has grown steadily since 2010 from €1.3Bn to nearly €2Bn in 2017.
And since 2010 the Portuguese footwear sector has created 238 new ‘Made in Portugal’ brands, 24 of which were created in 2018.
The minister said the appointment was a reflection of the importance that the European Footwear Confederation placed on Portugal as a manufacturer and enabled the country to “contribute toward the affirmation of the European industry as well as raising Portugal’s image in Europe”.
Portugal’s shoe industry was out in force at the Milan fair as the second largest delegation in Europe after Spain.
Regarding the Portuguese sector’s performance worldwide in 2018, in which, according to the latest statistics from the National Statistics Institute (INE), saw exports increase 0.98% (84 million pairs), but had declined overall in value 2.85% to €1.9Bn, Siza Vieira said there was still “a lot of work to do going forward in terms of market diversification and overseas promotion.”


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Donald Trump has directed nearly one-fifth of his campaign cash to companies part of his vast business empire
That spending has created fodder for Hillary Clinton
Donald Trump has directed nearly one-fifth of his campaign cash to companies that are part of his vast business empire, new federal records show.
Trump, hurting for cash after he suddenly stopped self-funding his campaign last month, has mixed his public campaign and his private ventures for nearly the entire 2016 race. He has promoted Trump products at campaign events, publicly litigated a federal civil suit he’s facing over Trump University on talk shows, and, this week, will bring the political press to Scotland for a tour of a Trump golf course.
READ: Donald Trump’s ‘Mad Men’
And it shows in his latest campaign finance report, filed Monday: Trump-linked businesses account for 17% of all campaign expenses to date. He’s paid almost $11 million to Trump organizations since launching his campaign a year ago.
The setup shows how unusual Trump’s campaign is – presidential candidates generally don’t own buildings or resorts in multiple states or companies that could be used as contractors.
He’s paid $420,000 to Mar-a-Lago, the private Florida club where Trump has led many an Election Night celebration, and $4.6 million to TAG Air, so he can use his private jets. Even about $5,000 to Eric Trump Winery Manufacturing LLC, the Virginia producer owned by his son.
That spending has created fodder for Hillary Clinton.
“What is Trump spending his meager campaign resources on? Why, himself, of course,” she tweeted Tuesday.
What Trump is doing is legal: He is required to pay fair market value for the goods and services enjoyed by his campaign – otherwise, they would have to be considered in-kind contributions. For those items, Trump would be, essentially, donating them to himself. Yet every time Trump uses one of his planes to drop in on hangars in swing states, his official campaign will be funneling dollars back to a Trump-backed entity.
It also highlights a concern some Republican donors have stated about Trump – that because his personal donations to his campaign are classified as loans, he could end up using campaign gifts from others to pay himself back.
Trump has told donors their money will be used for the campaign, not for himself.
“I have absolutely no intention of paying myself back,” Trump said in a statement last month.
Other expenses include $577,000 for payroll and rent at Trump Tower, which doubles as campaign headquarters, and $4.7 million to Ace Specialties, which supplies Trump’s online store and whose owner is Christl Mahfouz, who sits on the board of directors of Eric Trump’s foundation.
And $400 to Trump Ice LLC, which makes bottled waters.
Trump may be facing a serious cash crunch, with only $1.3 million on hand at the beginning of this month. But that’s not stopping down this Trump “spending.”
Just in May, he spent $208,000 on hats, $5,000 on signs and $694,000 on t-shirts, mugs and stickers.


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By Sara Harper, founder of Grounded Growth
Did you know that today’s consumers actually want honesty from brands and believe overwhelmingly that they are not getting it?
According to consumer research from the Consumer Goods Forum, 66% of Millennials and 79% of Gen Z consumers think that brands are never honest, or not honest enough about environmental issues.
What’s more — 58% of both Millennials and Gen Z report that they would trust a brand more if they shared challenges and “work in progress” on difficult issues.
As the study points out, “Millennials drove brands to be purposeful, but Gen Z are demanding proof.”
The research also reveals that while almost 90% of Millennials and Gen Z personally care if they receive honest information about products, only 42% of Gen Z think that brands care about providing that honest information (the number is 66% among Millennials). This overwhelming demand for honesty led Futerra to name Gen Z “The Honest Generation”. — CSR Newswire; June 14, 2019
But how does this connect to regenerative agriculture?
Some companies have been hesitant to pursue adding regeneratively-grown ingredients into their supply chains because they fear it would call attention to the imperfections of the rest of their supply chain.
These companies fear that calling attention to one “regenerative” ingredient, for example, could make consumers think badly or question the rest of the ingredients that aren’t.
Or, some brands fear that if they take a bold step forward — defining and supporting the expansion of regenerative agriculture in a way that has provable, outcomes-based data — but is not certified organic . . . they will be accused of greenwashing even though regenerative can be better on some environmental issues than organic.
What the consumer research shows . . . is that the default position of the consumer toward any brand is NOT trust, but rather, to believe the brand is doing what they can to avoid telling them the truth about their products. Can you really say they are wrong? Sharing the journey toward building an even better supply chain and bringing transparency to consumers who so clearly want it is the recipe to build brand loyalty. Talk about something that can distinguish a brand from its competitors . . . honestly talking about the challenges in your supply chain will do it!
Regenerative doesn’t mean perfect. In fact, defining regenerative in ways that very few farmers can achieve and very few consumers can afford defeats the very world-saving promises made by those aiming for perfection.
You can’t save the world without scale.
This approach does nothing to assuage consumers fears that they are not being told the truth.
There is another option. Brands that join the Grounded Growth network learn about regenerative farming from farmers that have been at the forefront of creating the movement. They have facilitated, honest conversations with those farmers about what improvements are possible.
Our members have access to resources, like outcomes-based testing companies, that can help them prove the benefits they claim without another expensive certification.
Members of our platform get access to the “LinkedIn” of regenerative agriculture . . . except in this platform, we actively facilitate conversations that help both parties create their own pragmatic regenerative supply chain — and share the honest “work in progress” journey that consumers are so clearly calling for . . . on their own terms . . . at their own pace.
Taking this journey not only helps a brand meet the “honest generation’s” expectations (as Gen Z are now called) . . . it adds a new level of purpose to the internal team of the company taking the journey — helping them retain and restore some of their best employees.
The mistake is in turning regenerative into just another high-priced unicorn . . . something that appears perfect, but isn’t believable or real.
Instead, our members take a workhorse approach to building a regenerative supply chain . . . take it step-by-step, focus on real, measurable gains and commit to transparency.
Consumers don’t believe the fairy dust they’ve been sold for the last several years . . . they are ready for the real story. By working directly with the people who make your ingredients . . . you could give it to them!


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Dear Vice-President of the European Commission,
Dear ICT Ministers,
We encourage you to support the development and implementation of robust net neutrality rules alongside the deployment of high quality broadband and next-generation networks around the world.
The telecom industry has often warned of reluctance to invest in its own networks, when lobbying against proposed regulations that promote competition and protect internet users. In reality, telecommunications companies always realised the economic benefit of investing in their own networks and such negative assumptions are quickly disproven. Recently, a group of 17 telecommunications companies – with the support of equipment manufacturers that rely on them as a market for their products – published a “5G Manifesto” in which they threaten to withhold 5G investment unless regulators water down European Union rules on net neutrality and other rules, including provisions on network access and privacy.
These threats are unsubstantiated and not credible. It is clear that telecommunications companies will invest based on demand and competition, not just based on weak regulation. The current threats in the “5G manifesto” are also false insofar as they allege that net neutrality rules actually harm their financial returns. Extensive economic research on investment in several jurisdictions with strong net neutrality rules in place demonstrates that open internet safeguards do not harm their profits or diminish their investments.
Net neutrality is at the core of the internet’s functionality and is crucial in ensuring the protection of users’ rights to free expression and privacy online. Protecting the open nature of the internet is compatible with – if not an absolute prerequisite for – the availability and the development of the Internet of Things and the ever-increasing number of innovative products and services, such as connected cars and e‑health. In fact, the principles on which net neutrality is based, including innovation without a need to obtain permission, end-to-end connectivity, transparency, and non-discrimination, are essential for these innovative products and services. Since these products often rely on significant and constant bandwidth, regulation – rather than a “free pass” rule or blind inattention – will be needed.
Net neutrality rules will ensure that the number of innovative internet-based services and applications will continue to increase. With global demand for faster and better access to the internet on the rise, internet access providers will continue to have a strong incentive to develop and invest in enhanced network capacity. This so-called “virtuous circle” illustrates the long-term economic benefit for telecommunications companies to invest in infrastructure.
Users and, indeed, regulators and lawmakers should not have to endure hollow threats and blackmail everytime a new technical evolution appears. We now have open internet rules in place in a large number of countries around the world, including the European Union, Chile, the United States and India, and they must be applied. We urge you to clearly reiterate that the principles of open, competitive, innovative and neutral internet are not negotiable.
Clear and robust net neutrality and the deployment of high speed broadband must go hand in hand to respond to the technological challenges of the 21st century. We urge you to protect users’ rights to receive and impart information online without interference by telecommunications companies and resist the unsubstantiated demands posited in the 5G Manifesto.
We look forward to working together to safeguard an open, secure and fast internet.
Access Now, International
AKVorrat.at — Working Group on Data Retention Austria
Asociación por los Derechos Civiles (ADC), Argentina
Asociatia pentru Tehnologie si Internet (ApTI), Romania
Bits of Freedom, The Netherlands
Center for Cyber Security, Pakistan
Chaos Computer Club (CCC), Germany
Derechos Digitales, Latin America
European Digital Rights (EDRi), Europe
Espacio Público, Venezuela
Fight for the Future, International
Free Press Unlimited, The Netherlands
Föreningen för Digitala Fri-och Rättigheter (DFRI), Sweden
Fundación Acceso, Costa Rica
Initiative für Netzfreiheit, Austria
Internet Democracy Project, India
Internet Freedom Foundation, India
Internet Policy Observatory, Pakistan
IT for Change, India
IT-Political Association of Denmark
La Quadrature du Net, France
Open Rights Group, United Kingdom
Public Knowledge, International
SurSiendo, Comunicación y Cultura Digital, Mexico
Usuarios Digitales, Ecuador
The Unwanted Witness, Uganda
VE Inteligente, Venezuela


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SINGAPORE (ICIS)--Singapore's economy expanded by 5.9% year on year in the fourth quarter, supported by strong growth in the manufacturing sector, official preliminary data showed on Monday.
Manufacturing expanded by 14% year on year in October-December 2021, faster than the 7.9% growth posted in the third quarter, as output across all industrial segments grew, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) said in a statement.
The construction sector grew by 2.0% on a year-on-year basis in the fourth quarter of 2021, much slower than the 66.3% growth recorded in the preceding quarter.
For the whole of 2021, Singapore's economy posted a 7.2% growth, reversing the 5.4% contraction in 2020.
Manufacturing expanded by 12.8% year on year in 2021, while construction was up by 18.7%.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had said that he expects the Singapore economy to expand by 3-5% in 2022.
"Our economy is recovering steadily. Barring fresh disruptions, it should grow in step with global economic recovery," he said in a speech dated 31 December 2021.


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Today, Pirata Group let us all know the exciting news to launch five new restaurants over the next six months.
- TMK at Wan Chai’s Star Street Precinct this February including craft temaki hand rolls and cocktails.
- A new concept called Pane e Latte in Stanley, which is a beachfront Italian bakery planned to open in April.
- Pici will be coming to Kennedy Town at 55 Cadogan Street in May.
- Finally, Pici and The Pizza Project will be opening overseas locations.
Such great news already from one of our favourite restaurant groups in Hong Kong. We have known the founders for many years and it is truely amazing to see the groups development with such strong food and beverage brands.
TMK, Pici and The Pizza Project are all great places to enjoy food and drinks together with friends, we cannot wait to visit Pane e Latte when it opens.


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GM Lithium-ion Battery Specifications For Chevy Volt
We all know that the Chevy Volt will soon be released in late 2010, but what are the details regarding the battery? Well, the battery is a lithium-ion type and is manufactured at a plant in Michigan. However, the actual cells for the lithium-ion are made by LG Chem, which is based in South Korea.
While the cells are outsourced, GM does all the manufacturing here in the United States. This involves the Chevy Volt lithium-ion design itself, development and vehicle integration. GM claims that it has been working on its electric car development for more than 15 years.
The Chevrolet Volt lithium-ion is used to power the electric motor on the automobile. The vehicle can be powered at low or high speeds for up to 40 miles without using a drop of gasoline. The plug-in electric car is designed for commuters who drive less than 40 miles per day. However, there are other ways to extend this transportation.
For example, if your workplace involves a one way commute of about 40 miles, you can still recharge the electric storage device by using any standard outlet. This means that you could achieve a two-way commute, totaling 80 miles, without using gasoline. In addition, utility companies around the country are adding public charging stations at supermarkets and fast food chains. Some of the companies involved are Walmart and McDonalds.
If the electric motor runs out of juice, the GM Chevy Volt will operate on a small combustion gas engine. The gas engine will also generate electricity to recharge the lithium-ion. Personally, I would feel more comfortable having a gas engine, just in case I couldn’t locate a public outlet.
We might be years away from seeing these new public charging stations in your local neighborhood, but experts suggest that a few metropolitan areas will get them first. It will be common to see these public outlets located near parking spaces. These stations are small and include a plug-in cord for electric vehicle owners to plug-in and recharge.
Another interesting note to mention is that new software is being installed in plug-in electric vehicles. This software is used for car owners to pay for the electric subscription service. The GM Volt will have this option located on its display console. It will cost anywhere between $0.75 to $2.00, depending on peak or non-peak hours, to fully charge the vehicle.


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A Tennessee woman has been awarded nearly half a million dollars after a furniture company illegally hounded her with hundreds of robocalls, sometimes more than 10 times per day, even after she asked them to no longer contact her, per court records.
Furniture chain Conn’s began contacting Veronica Davis in September of 2015, according to a court filing, about a month after she purchased furniture from its Memphis store that she was to pay off in monthly installments. Per her contract, payments for the furniture were due on the fifth day of each month, though the contract and a Conn’s representative informed her there was a 10-day grace period during which payments would not be considered late.
Despite this grace period, the company repeatedly spammed Davis between the day her payment was due and the end of the extension using an automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS). According to court records, Davis revoked her consent for the company to contact her in March 2017. But the company called her 306 additional times after she asked them not to, sometimes contacting her up to a dozen times a day, her attorney Frank Kerney told Gizmodo by phone.
Kerney, who represented Davis alongside attorney Joshua Kersey, said that by continuing to call her using an ATDS even after she told the company not to, Conn’s violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)—a law restricting robocalls and telemarketing—and therefore broke the law.
Arbitrator Michael Russell has given Conn’s 30 days from March 25 to cough up the hefty $459,000 award, which amounted to the maximum $1,500 per call to Davis’ phone after she revoked consent to be contacted. Conn’s has filed a motion to vacate the award in the Southern District of Texas, though Kerney said he feels “very confident” it will be dismissed.
The thing to recognize, Kerney noted, is that the company would not have violated the TCPA if it had used a human representative to manually contact her. It’s a good thing to keep in mind if you find that you too are being spammed with robocalls calls (and lord knows you probably are).
“If they had just picked up a desktop phone and called her by dialing her ten-digit telephone number, that wouldn’t have been a violation of the law,” Kerney said. “If a person says ‘don’t call me,’ you better stop calling them.”
Update 4/1/19 2:00 p.m. ET: A spokesperson for Conn’s gave Gizmodo the following statement by email:
“Conn’s HomePlus has helped over 5 million customers, providing a better payment option by lending to them directly. As a financial partner, we offer customers multiple ways to make it as simple as possible to purchase, helping to finance consumers who are unable to secure financing via traditional channels or institutions. As standard operating procedure, our team follows all applicable statutes and regulations, only calling customers that have an outstanding debt. We work with customers to assess their unique case with the goal of finding a payment plan that is customized to their particular circumstance. Once a payment is arranged, we discontinue customer calls. As this is an ongoing case, we are unable to comment further on this legal matter.”