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The classic Christmas dinner is always worth the year-long wait, guaranteed to be a plate stacked full of delicious festive favourites.
But a study of the perfect Christmas dinner according to the UK has revealed a lot more food than you might expect.
Next has surveyed over 2,000 Brits to find out exactly what they have on their plate at Christmas, and the results are interesting.
There’s always controversy surrounding sprouts, not to mention whether the classic Yorkshire pudding should be on your plate at Christmas.
However, the figures are in and the sprout debate has been settled, with 43 per cent of Brits who believe their Christmas dinner isn’t complete without the vegetable.
Data shows that 31 per cent of Brits would rather avoid sprouts completely, and 61 per cent agree that roast potatoes are essential.
In terms of how many roast potatoes, Brits agreed that four on a plate was the perfect amount for the special day.
But what about a festive tipple? Surprisingly, Brits prefer a cup of tea over a glass of Bucks Fizz which may be hard for some to believe.
It was also revealed that the UK drinks more cups of tea on Christmas Day than Bucks Fizz, with 65 per cent having at least one cup, and only 40 per cent having a Bucks Fizz.
At least 57 per cent of Brits chose their favourite alcoholic tipple as wine (white, red, or rose) and 23 per cent admitted to drinking three or more glasses, which is basically a bottle.
In terms of the ultimate Christmas Dinner, let’s just say you’re going to have to have a big appetite to complete it.
The data shows that the perfect feast consists of eight slices of meat, three pigs in blankets, three stuffing balls, three spoonfuls of gravy, and 17 portions of vegetables.
Luckily for us, our ‘eating clothes’ usually consist of 33 per cent casual wear and 33 per cent pyjamas, so at least there’s room for more food.
Soft drinks like lemonade and cola take the crown with an average of 2.5 being consumed on Christmas day, with cups of tea and coffee following.
Caffeine over alcohol may make perfect sense, since 30 per cent of us are apparently opening our presents first thing in the morning.
Straight spirits, Bucks Fizz and champagne all scored the lowest, with soft drinks hitting the top spot.
Soft drink – 2.5
Tea – 2.3
Coffee – 2.3
Wine (red, rose, white) – 2.0
Beer – 1.9
Spirits and mixer – 1.8
Prosecco – 1.6
Straight spirits – 1.5
Bucks Fizz – 1.5
Champagne – 1.5


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Visa and JPMorgan Chase almost simultaneously launched apps that will allow merchants to use smartphones or tablets to accept payments via contactless cards instead of having to use the terminal.
On Tuesday, JPMorgan Chase (JPM) announced the launch of its mobile payment service QuickAccept, and on Wednesday, Visa (V) launched its app called Tap to Phone.
The purpose of both apps offer sellers a simple way to make contactless payments from customers via smartphone or tablet.
In the context of the global pandemic COVID-19 and social distancing increase in the use of technology for payment through the touch grew 40% this year, according to Visa. A recent survey showed that 48% of consumers said they would not shop at a store that only accepts cash.
The world’s largest payment processing company Visa has launched an app Tap to Phone in 15 markets, including Europe, with plans to expand in the U.S. and other markets.
Soon the app will appear in Brazil, Italy, the United Arab Emirates and the UK. In the US, the launch of Tap to Phone is scheduled for 2021.
Tap to launch Phone, for a pilot implementation together with Samsung last year.
App allows Android devices to serve as instruments of payments by Bank cards of international standard EMV (Europay, MasterCard and VISA), without any other additional equipment.
According to a study Visa, less than 10% of the 180 million micro – and small-scale traders (MSM) around the world to accept digital payments. The Visa survey showed that 63% of MSM stated that they are likely to use a Tap to Phone for their business, while about 50% of consumers said that they will use them if they were offered.
“If there are billions of phones around the world ready features, which makes their inclusion as units of reception of payments, huge,” said Mary Kay Bowman, global head of solutions for buyers and sellers Visa, in a press release. “Visa Tap to Phone may become one of the most effective ways to rethink the physical process of making purchases”.
The launch of mobile payment service QuickAccept JPMorgan opens up great prospects and will enable the Bank to compete with such mobile payments companies like Square and PayPal (PYPL).
This step is JPMorgan, the largest US Bank by assets, marks an even greater immersion in the fintech major banks.
Jen Roberts, Director General of the banking Department of Chase, said in an interview with CNBC that the Bank will transfer most of its more than 3 million small business customers for a new service. In this case, the service will be aimed at customers with an annual income of less than $500 000 that want to avoid paying a fee for instant transfer.
Visa shares, an increase of 19.26% over the past six months, fell by almost 2% last week.
Shares of JPMorgan Chase fell by 28.7% since the beginning of the year, but rose 11% in the last 6 months.

domain: news


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With apologies to the New Yorker’s There’ll Always Be an England series
From Monday’s Wall Street Journal:
New York can have its own (kosher) version of a heart attack on bread, a U.S. judge has ruled.
In May 2011, the Second Avenue Deli, a kosher deli in Manhattan, sued the Las Vegas-based Heart Attack Grill over the deli’s “Instant Heart Attack Sandwich” and its plans to introduce the “Triple Bypass Sandwich.”
Before the suit, the Heart Attack Grill sent a cease-and-desist letter claiming the sandwiches [the Instant Heart Attack features two latkes filled with corned beef, pastrami, turkey or salami] violated trademarks for its “Bypass” burgers.
From the Journal’s website version: “The ‘Quadruple Bypass Burger’ . . . features four half-pound beef patties, eight slices of American cheese, a whole tomato and half an onion. It weighs in at a whopping 8,000 calories.”
Bottom (so to speak) line: “U.S. District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer said the deli can sell the Instant Heart Attack Sandwich at current and future restaurants in Manhattan and advertise it on its signs. But it can’t use the name outside of Manhattan . . . “
Josh Lebewohl, a Second Avenue Deli owner, called the ruling “a victory for our customers.”
Only in America.


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Voxie Selected as a Venture Atlanta 2020 Presenting Company
"We're so excited to partner with Venture Atlanta this year, both as a presenting company and sponsor," said Bogdan Constantin, Voxie CEO. "Voxie has enabled two-way, conversational text messaging with all attendees for the very first time. We hope to continue growing our presence in the Southeast, building relationships with investors, and connecting with other emerging tech companies in the area through our partnership with Venture Atlanta."
Voxie is on its way to becoming the fastest-growing SaaS company in history. The platform differentiates from other SMS automation services by leveraging customer responses, behavioral data, and AI to deepen one-to-one relationships with consumers and drive repeat purchases.
"Venture Atlanta has become the authority for recognizing technology innovation across the Southeast and beyond, connecting the best and brightest innovators with top-tier, national investors and other leaders in our technology ecosystem that helps drive success and results with over $4.5 billion in funding awarded to date," said Venture Atlanta CEO Allyson Eman. "This year, we've pivoted to a digital format to best serve the needs of our vibrant tech community and are thrilled to be showcasing our largest line up of companies ever. These companies reflect our incredible pool of talented people, inspiring innovation, and continued opportunities for growth within the technology community."
Venture Atlanta Live Online will offer an unparalleled experience that streams two days of immersive events and interactive networking opportunities. Attendees will be able to connect with others at the conference, set up one-on-one meetings, stroll the virtual show floor, watch pitches in real-time, and use features like live chat, and audience polling. Atlanta-based independent investment management firm, Invesco, is this year's premier sponsor, with Cherry Bekaert, Nelson Mullins and Truist as additional headline sponsors. Venture Atlanta Live Online will conclude with TechSquare Labs' Atlanta Startup Battle (https://atlantastartupbattle.com), in which top five companies will pitch on stage against one another to win a $100,000 investment.
To learn more about Voxie, visit www.voxie.com. For additional information about Venture Atlanta, to register for the event or to view the conference schedule, please visit www.ventureatlanta.org.
Page Updated Last on: Sep 24, 2020


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A proposal to allow grocers and big-box retailers to sell hard liquor in the same store as more wholesome wares lives on, according to state Rep. Greg Steube on Friday.
The Sarasota Republican’s HB 107 was pulled from consideration during Week 6 of this year’s lawmaking session after intense pushback from public health advocates and liquor store industry lobbyists, but it appears to be ready for consideration in a meeting notice ahead of a House Regulatory Affairs Committee hearing set for Tuesday.
The move comes amid changes to the bill that would no longer reverse a longstanding state policy requiring liquor to be sold in a separate store.
Instead, the measure simply provides that the entrances to normal retail outlets and stores that sell intoxicants can share the same building, but that they must be partitioned by a door.
On the Senate side, these changes are also reflected in the current version of SB 468 sponsored by state Sen. Denise Grimsley. That bill was approved in Regulated Industries late last month and currently sits in Commerce & Tourism. So far, the Senate companion bill is not slated to be taken up next week, but like so much else in the final weeks of session, that could change.


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German consumers consider paper packaging to be particularly environmentally friendly. However, they tend to be suspicious of innovative products such as paper bottles. This is shown by a recent study by the University of Bonn and the Forschungszentrum Jülich. Almost 3,000 women and men from all over Germany were surveyed for the study. The results have now been published in the journal Food quality and preference.
Worldwide, nearly 400 million tons of plastic is produced annually – all cars in Europe together weigh only a little more. It is estimated that 40 percent of plastics are processed into packaging: for refrigerators, books, deodorants, but also for drinks or cucumbers. Much of this later ends up in the litter or in the environment. At the same time, production wastes valuable fossil resources and endangers the climate.
“One of the possible solutions to these problems is environmentally friendly plastic alternatives,” explains Janine Macht, a doctoral student at the Institute for Food and Resource Economics at the University of Bonn. “This includes plastic made from renewable raw materials, such as agricultural waste. Some manufacturers are also relying on innovative paper packaging such as cups or ice cream bottles. We wanted to find out what level of acceptance these alternatives are receiving from consumers and to what extent this also depends on the product packaged.”
Macht researched these aspects with her colleague Janet Klink-Lehmann and project coordinator Dr. Sandra Wenghaus of the Forschungcentrum Jülich (Venghaus has since moved on to a junior professor at RWTH Aachen-University). The researchers conducted an online survey with nearly 3,000 male and female participants from all over Germany. The sample was chosen to be as similar as possible to the distribution in the general population in terms of sex, age distribution, and education.
The researchers focused their survey on three very different foods: blueberries, butter, and vegetable oils. In addition, there were three different ways to package these products: in a traditional (but at least recyclable) plastic container, in a bioplastic container, or in a paper alternative. So there were nine different food packaging packages in total.
The respondents were now randomly divided into nine groups. Each group was shown a picture of one of these kits, along with brief information on the packaging. The subjects were then asked to indicate how environmentally friendly they thought the displayed packaging was. They were also asked about the suitability of the packaging, which they believe is suitable for protecting, transporting and storing the food in question.
A key finding: Paper packaging had significantly better environmental scores on average than packaging made from bioplastic. Traditional plastic packaging scored the worst at this point. However, respondents were skeptical about the practicality of paper packaging. They considered it well suited to protect soft fruits such as berries from damage in transit. On the other hand, as storage containers for vegetable oils, they clearly saw plastic containers in the foreground. In fact, traditional plastics scored best here.
Participants were also asked to indicate whether they would purchase the product in the packaging shown. According to the study, far more people pick berries in a cardboard container than in a plastic basket. On the other hand, vegetable oil was more attractive to purchase when it was filled in a bioplastic bottle. “So when it comes to making a purchase decision, customers look not only at the supposed environmental friendliness, but also at the appropriateness of the packaging they think is appropriate for the food in question,” says Matakht.
By the way, the study says nothing about how sustainable bioplastics or cardboard bottles really are. “In some cases, there is not even any data on the new packaging yet,” explains Machtakht, who is also a member of the interdisciplinary research area “Sustainable Futures” at the University of Bonn.
In any case, she adds, it has been difficult to make a general assessment of ecological balance. Whether plastic made from renewable raw materials, for example, is truly sustainable depends on many factors: Where the source materials come from. Whether valuable farmland has been sacrificed for production, which could then lead to further deforestation. How compostable and recyclable is the plastic?
It’s a similar story to paper packaging: its production also takes up resources and energy—sometimes more, sometimes less, depending on the location and method of production. “In principle, it is certainly best to avoid encapsulation as much as possible,” stresses the researcher. “But that doesn’t always work. Liquids need a container to be stored in. Fruits like berries will not survive transportation to the retailer or even from the supermarket to the house without protective packaging.”
However, she is convinced that solutions made from renewable raw materials could be a first step towards solving at least some problems, such as the consumption of precious fossil resources or – in the case of compostable packaging – the huge amounts of waste that will pollute our region. oceans for centuries to come.
Janine Macht et al., Environmentally friendly alternatives to plastic-packaged food: German consumers’ purchase intentions for different biological packaging strategies, Food quality and preference (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.foodqual.2023.104884
the quote: Study Examines How Packaging Type Affects Purchase Intention (2023, May 15), Retrieved May 15, 2023 from https://phys.org/news/2023-05-packaging-intention.html
This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without written permission. The content is provided for informational purposes only.


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- JBS USA Holdings CEO Andre Nogueira told The Wall Street Journal the pandemic is expected to slow meat production in America for several months.
- Nogueira said JBS USA is reconfiguring its facilities to space out employees more, and roughly 10% of its workers have been sent home because they are at higher risk for coronavirus. "We will not be able to go to full capacity anytime soon as we fight this virus because of all the changes we have implemented," he said.
- The company is a part of Brazil-based meat conglomerate JBS SA, which just posted a $1 billion net loss in the first quarter. JBS slaughters about 23% of cattle in the U.S. and makes roughly a fifth of its pork.
With financial losses and depleted operations, the issues facing the meat industry aren't expected to clear up anytime soon. As increased safety measures and limited staffing slow plant operations, some companies are still warning of the potential of empty meat cases. JBS is the largest beef producer in the U.S., and despite new efforts to keep plants open, its top executive is still concerned about production.
As coronavirus has spread rapidly among employees in meatpacking facilities, sickening thousands and killing at least 20 workers, more than 30 meat processing plants across the country — including several owned by JBS — have temporarily closed or reduced production. Many have criticized the meat industry for waiting too long to implement safety measures and shutter facilities, but as supply has become a concern, the pressure to reopen plants and keep them running has escalated.
President Donald Trump issued an executive order in April declaring meat plants "critical infrastructure" using the Defense Production Act in order to keep them open and help prevent shortages. Labor unions and workers have criticized the move, saying it puts workers at risk. While the meat industry has largely applauded the order, companies such as JBS have said it will take a while to get production back to full capacity.
JBS has reopened plants it shuttered in Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Colorado and Wisconsin after workers tested positive. Their plants are now producing at 70% to 95% of their normal capacity, The Wall Street Journal reported.
About 6,000 JBS workers, who are over 60 years old or have preexisting health conditions, have been told to stay home. Additionally, absenteeism from workers afraid of catching the virus has continued to be a problem for plants. But the company did hire 1,000 new workers in response, with about half to do the extra cleaning in plants, Nogueira said.
Despite concerns about meat supply in U.S. grocery stores, an analysis from Reuters found U.S. meat shipments overseas have skyrocketed. Pork supplies dropped about 40% since mid-March in the U.S. because of shuttered plants, but pork shipments to China have more than quadrupled during the same period, according to USDA data. But JBS's Nogueira said the company is selling more meat domestically than exporting it.
"Will we have all the items in the grocery store? Probably not for the next several weeks, but at this point I am not concerned about a shortage of protein," Nogueira said.
Companies are not the only ones warning of a longer-term impact. A new report from CoBank found even if the reduced processing capacity at these U.S. meat plants is just for a short time, it will likely have a lasting impact on meat processors, producers, retailers and consumers in America. Meat supplies for grocery stores could drop 30% by Memorial Day, resulting in pork and beef price increases as high as 20% compared to last year, CoBank predicted.
As analysts and executives continue to express concerns about production for months to come, companies will need to find ways to produce enough product to keep shelves stocked here and abroad.


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All the latest insights and features on the automotive and roadside sector
By Sally Hickey
Ark Data Centres has acquired Renault Retail Group’s west London site on Western Avenue, Park Royal.
By Elli Morris
Editor: As lockdown restrictions have lifted, traffic has migrated back to motorways with even more visitors than before.
By Mitchell Labiak
Tesla chief executive Elon Musk has been searching around the Bristol area to find a site for a potential electric car-battery gigfactory near the city.
By Jessica Newman
LondonMetric has acquired two assets for a total of £11.6m, reflecting a blended net initial yield of 5.1%.
By Rob Brown
Food sales have been driving profits, but the sector still faces a number of challenges.
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Apple, Google, Intel and Adobe reached an agreement with plaintiffs over charges that the companies conspired not to hire one another’s employees.
The company had earnings per share of 23 cents, exactly hitting forecasts. Last quarter, analysts expected more than twice that amount.
The attention of investors seems to be less on the solid financial results and more on a series of bold bets to reshape the company, including the acquisition of Nokia.
Though a laggard in smartphone location apps, Nokia’s Here mapping system is a leader in car navigation and might be a tantalizing takeover target.
Mr. Gundotra, who has been a strong proponent for Google’s social network, did not detail what he planned to do after leaving the company.


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Google teased an upcoming release of the Play Store with Material Design element at I/O last month, and we actually got a pretty good look at the new version ourselves last week. Starting today, that new version, 4.9.13, is rolling out, and we've got the APK for you, as always. Take a look at this quick visual overview of the changes (we've got more images down below as well), and be sure to read Liam's post on the update for all the details.
It's not update Wednesday anymore, but Google can do whatever it wants with its apps. That's how things work. Today Mountain View has started rolling out an update to Google Maps with some stuff to make cyclists very happy. Not to leave everyone else out, there's now conversational voice actions while in navigation.
Update Wednesday has gotten off to a slow start, but there's a new Google Wallet version to get things moving. You can now use Wallet to manage your gift cards and request money. As usual, it's US only.
Google has certainly been busy today with all sorts of Play Store improvements, and here's a new version of the Android client to top it all off. Version 4.8.19 has started rolling out to devices, and we've got the APK below for you to install on your own.
We're digging in to see what's new. We already knew about the PayPal and some UI tweaks, but it's looking like there's more going on.
If you thought (like me) that Update Wednesday had concluded, you thought wrong. It appears Google's also started pushing an update to Google Play Games, bringing the app up to version 2.0 with Level-up notification controls, XP rankings, and a few UI changes.
Readers may remember Quests and Level-up notifications from one of our exclusives last month. The functionality, along with Snapshots, was confirmed in the official announcement of Google Play Services 5.0.
Earlier today Google flipped a switch enabling the screen casting feature it unveiled at Google I/O. If you have one of the supported devices, you don't have to do a thing to try it out. Just fire up Quick Settings and hit the screen cast icon. But if this isn't discoverable enough, Google has also updated the Chromecast app to bring more attention to the feature.
A Cast Screen option is now available in the navigation sidebar.
We knew big changes were coming to Google's office suite with the announcement that QuickOffice was shutting down, but we didn't expect it this fast. Not only does today's Docs update fix that Android L incompatibility, it adds a ton of new features. Hold on to your butts.
What is this? Update Monday? Google's updates are becoming so prolific they cannot be contained by a single day of the week. Today the slow rollout of Google Play Music v5.6 has started, but before you get your hopes up, it's not a huge update. And no, it's not #materialyolo. There are still some notable changes, though.


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Dixons Retail sank deeper into the red in the first half of the year as the electricals giant was dragged down by chaos in the eurozone and a £4m bill to restock and repair the PC World and Currys stores looted during the summer riots in London.
The electricals giant said trading in Greece and Italy had been affected by the sovereign debt crisis which was eroding consumer confidence, contributing to a near £20m loss for its international division.
"The economic instability across southern Europe has inevitably led to a tough trading environment," said chief executive John Browett, although he insisted the situation was not yet as grave as in the wake of the Lehman Brothers collapse in 2008: "There's no panic among our customer base. People are a little more cautious."
Looters targeted PC World and Currys stores for flatscreen TVs and laptops during the summer unrest in the capital. The company said the £4m figure related to stolen stock as well as repair costs.
Another disappointment was the group's internet arm, which includes the Dixons and Pixmania websites, where underlying sales plunged 16% and losses widened to £7.4m. That took the group to an underlying loss of £25.3m for the 24 weeks to 15 October. That compared with a loss of £6.9m last year, but was better than many analysts expected.
In the UK, like-for-like sales fell 8%, but the retailer gained market share in a "challenging environment" that saw US consumer electronics group Best Buy announce it was pulling out of the UK earlier this month and Kesa pay a turnaround specialist to take the loss-making Comet chain off its hands. Argos has also warned of steep sales declines at its consumer electronics business in recent months.
Browett has been overhauling Currys and PC World by remodelling its stores and investing in staff training to improve customer service. The turnaround has started to pay off, with losses at the UK division narrowing to £3.9m on sales of £1.5bn during the period.
Browett said that despite the tough climate households were willing to make "sacrifices" to get their hands on the latest technology with strong demand for the Ipad 2, high-end food mixers and cappuccino-makers. "There's very little evidence of trading down," said Browett, although households were skimping by buying cheaper TVs for their bedrooms.
To get shoppers to start their Christmas shopping, Dixons kicked off a "100-hour online price crash" on Thursday that will run until midnight on Monday – dubbed Cyber Monday – which is expected to be the biggest online shopping day of the year. Discounts include £100 off an iPad and 30% off Beats by Dre Headphones, one of this year's must-have gifts.
The shares, which hit a three-year low of 9.245p on Wednesday, closed up 7% at 10.02p.


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Suzohapp has appointed Tim Kennedy, current director of sales for the UK, to the position of vice president of sales for Europe, effective immediately.
Kennedy has over 30 years of experience in the industry. Prior to joining Suzohapp, he served as an advisor for the preeminent international gambling consultancy, Regulus Partners. He also spent time at the sports betting platform provider, OpenBet, where he ran the Retail and Omnichannel divisions.
“Tim has proven himself an invaluable team member and trusted partner to our customers. He has delivered solid results in the UK and we look forward to what he will accomplish throughout Europe,” Sim Bielak, Global President of Suzohapp, said.
“It’s an exciting time to be at Suzohapp. Our European team is very strong with many years of experience, allowing us to add immediate value to our customers’ businesses whether it be a simple fulfillment or a complex customization. I look forward to working with this team and sharing these developments with our European customer base,” Kennedy said.


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Cargo theft threat looms on Labor Day
Cargo theft increased 19% during last year’s Labor Day holiday over the previous year, an analysis by CargoNet revealed.
To help transportation industry professionals prepare for the upcoming Labor Day holiday, CargoNet analyzed records from the previous five Labor Day holidays.
In total, CargoNet recorded 134 events involving cargo theft or theft of a trucking vehicle in the analysis period. Each event was worth an average of $147,027. Nearly half of all events in this analysis took place on the Friday, Saturday, or Sunday before Labor Day.
Electronics – specifically computers, computer parts, and televisions were the most stolen category of goods in this analysis period.
Electronics goods were distantly followed by household commodities such as major appliances, tools, and mixed shipments of household and houseware items.
Theft activity was highest in California, Texas, and Florida. Theft was most common at warehouse locations, followed by retail store parking lots and truck stops.
To defeat identity fraud and cargo theft schemes, CargoNet is urging organizations that are tendering shipments over the internet to verify details of all transactions prior accepting a bid.
Shippers should warn motor carriers of misdirection theft schemes and verify the intended delivery address with the driver prior to loading. Organizations can step up security by arranging for same-day delivery of short-haul shipments, embedding covert tracking devices, and by using high-security locks to prevent trailer burglaries.
Drivers should not leave their vehicles or shipments unattended, especially within 250 miles of pickup. Drivers should also be on the lookout for any vehicles that appear to be following them.
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.
In over 40 years of driving, I’ve only had 1 trailer stolen from me. I had to drop it to get a truck repair. It was found it the next day on the side of the road still loaded, with potatoes! I guess the stupid crooks got the wrong trailer.


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According to a new report published by iGyaan, Xiaomi's first foldable smartphone will be considerably more affordable than Samsung's, half the Galaxy Fold's price, in fact. Investors in Xiaomi's supply chain said that the company's foldable phone will launch at the end of April, or in early May, claims iGyaan. The phone will be announced during a separate event which will be hosted in China, while several localized launches will follow in "important markets".
As far as price is concerned, the source claims that the phone will cost $999 / €999 (depending on the market), which means it will cost half as much as the Galaxy Fold, and 2.6 times less than the Huawei Mate X. As a reminder, the Galaxy Fold is announced to cost $1,980, while the Huawei Mate X will be priced at around $2,600.
The source even offers an explanation for this price tag, in other words, how will Xiaomi be able to offer such a price tag for a foldable phone. Its display is listed as one of the reasons, as Xiaomi is expected to use Visionox Technology OLED displays, compared to Samsung and Huawei, as Samsung will use its own panel, while Huawei will use BOE's displays.
Visionox has, allegedly, developed flexible displays as per Xiaomi's requirements, and Xiaomi has also funded development and manufacturing resource infrastructure costs for Visionox Technology, the source claims.
Xiaomi's upcoming foldable smartphone is rumored to be called the Mi Fold or Mi Flex, and we don't have all that much info about its specifications, though it is expected to ship with the Snapdragon 855 64-bit octa-core processor. In addition to that, the phone will probably include at least 8GB of RAM, though it's possible Xiaomi may include 10GB or 12GB instead, or in addition to 8GB of RAM, as the phone may ship in more than one variants.
Xiaomi's CEO had already demoed the company's foldable smartphone prototype via a Weibo (Chinese social network) video, though chances are that the company's upcoming phone will differ in terms of the design, as that was just a prototype. In any case, it is possible that it will fold outwards, and that it will fold in two places, like the prototype phone. If that ends up being the case, Xiaomi's approach will be somewhat different to those of Samsung and Huawei.
Samsung, Huawei, and Xiaomi are not the only smartphone manufacturers who are planning to offer their foldable phones for purchase in the near future, Motorola is also planning to join the fold, same goes for several other smartphone manufacturers who are currently working on foldable smartphones, like LG, for example.
Motorola will revive its Razr brand with its upcoming foldable smartphone, and that phone is expected to offer a clamshell design. It will include one large display on the inside, and once you fold it, a small display on the outside will be available. This design was shown in one of Motorola's patents way back, and that design was widely welcomed by critics, though it remains to be seen if the final design will differ from those patent sketches.


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The sale of high-end tablets is forecast by Gartner to decrease as tablet penetration passes 50 percent of U.S. households with the next wave of adopters more attracted to lower-priced utility tablets.
| Wednesday, December 17th, 2 pm ET / 11 am PT | Sponsored by: Kony
As the Apple App Store nears its sixth year of operation, how much work should developers expect to put into modifying their apps to work across iOS, Android, Windows Phone and other platforms? Have cross-platform development tools matured to a point where this is now economically viable for both large and small developers? Register Today!


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Nexus 7 2016 Rumors, Spec & Release Date: New Models To Be Unveiled In May?
Google has been working on their Nexus 2016 line up to add a new tablet, according to latest rumors. The upcoming tablet could be manufactured by Chinese tech giant, Huawei.
The discounts given to customers on the current Nexus products seem to be a good indication that something is coming up. Fans are almost sure that it will be the Nexus 7, writes Christian Times.
As of now, Nexus 5X with the 16 GB internal storage is being sold in the market at a discounted price of $199. The higher version of Nexus 5X, which has a 32 GB storage capacity is also available at a discounted rate of $249. Reportedly the discounts will go on until April 7.
Rumors also suggest that Huawei will make an official announcement during this year's Google I/O Conference in May.
As early as last year, rumors have emerged saying that Google has a new Nexus tablet blueprint that will produce a compact and premium tablet. The device is aimed to end the iPad monopoly and that a Chinese manufacturer will be a partner to the project. Huawei is said to have been picked for its impressive work on the Nexus 6P. For now, the device is codenamed Nexus 7 2016 as it is likely to sport a 7-inch screen profile, reported Yibada.
Google's 2016 I/O Developers Conference will kick off May 18, where it will likely introduce the Android N or version 7.0 final cut.


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Michael Moss, Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times contributor and author will be the April guest speaker for the upcoming entry in the SOIL Sangre de Cristo “Speaker Series”. The public is invited to join this free, virtual event for a fast-paced, and frightening survey of how the choices in our grocery stores are being manipulated without our knowledge.
This virtual event begins at 7:00 p.m. Tuesday, April 26. To receive the Zoom Link for the virtual event click on soilsangrececristo.org
Moss, who is a #1 New York Times bestselling author, will discuss his new book, “Hooked”, a powerful exposé exploring the science of food addiction and how the processed food industry exploits our evolutionary instincts and legal loopholes in the name of profit over public health. He will discuss food choices, free will, and how the giant food conglomerates exploit our addictions.
Moss’s style of writing with specific examples and sharp-eyed reportage suggests human willpower is helpless against corporate puppeteers toying with humans’ neurochemical and digestive strings. Like a true David-and-Goliath story, Moss also shows us what we can do to retrain our brains to change what we value in food and seize control of our health.
“No one has done more to reveal the intentional and underhanded ways in which food companies manipulate our desires and eating habits than Michael Moss,” says Mark Bittman, the author of Animal, Vegetable, Junk. Moss’s book “Hooked” is available at the Narrow Gauge Bookstore, 602 Main St. in Alamosa.
This speaker series is but one aspect of the work of SOIL Sangre de Cristo. “SOIL” which stands for “Slow Opportunities for Investing Locally,” is the first word of the local nonprofit SOIL Sangre de Cristo. It allows community members to invest in our common good, to support the health of our environment, and have delicious high quality food available as the end result. SOIL Sangre de Cristo awards zero percent interest loans to local food producers by pooling money from the community and awarding the loans each year.
For more information and to receive a Zoom invite to the event, go to SOILSangedeCristo.org .
See Upcoming Events on their Homepage


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This was quite evident when Cramer went to his local Costco over the weekend. As soon as he walked in, he was greeted with a pile of nice fall jackets. He watched as patrons continued to walk right past the giant display of warm weather goods. After all, why would they be worried about buying winter jackets if they were wearing a T-shirt and jeans?
"Sure, there is going to be a winter, but not until you see the whites of winter's eyes do you feel like shelling out big bucks for it," Cramer said.
Read more from Mad Money with Jim Cramer
Cramer Remix: This could kill Macy's
Cramer game plan: Stocks in the jobs blasting zone
Cramer on the jobs report: Not time to sell stocks
So while retail will take a beating from the warm weather, Cramer says it won't last forever. Ultimately stocks will be so low that the weather will be factored into prices. Investors will know that it is factored in when stocks no longer react to downgrades.
But that time is not now, and the headwinds will continue to be brutal with no end in sight.
"I think it is too early to try bottom fishing in retail. We won't get a bottom until people feel like their disposable income has risen versus the past, and their lower oil and gas bills come due," Cramer said. (Tweet This)


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Sprint Corp. had received serious criticism as it was thought to merge with T-Mobile recently. It was a failed attempt and Sprint received a serious blow because of it. It has recovered however, and recovered very well indeed. Since the launch of its aggressive iPhone promotions, the shares of the company have skyrocketed and the analysts experts more jump in the share price in coming days.
The stocks of the company increased to a whopping 6.5 percent and to $7 in New York just yesterday. Since August 5, this has been assumed to be the highest closing price for the company. It has spread a wave of excitement among the employees and the management staff.
The naming of Marcelo Claure as the CEO of Sprint Corp. has come as a blessing for the company as their shares have taken some great bounces since his assuming of the office. He was hired by the company in order to help recover from the losses incurred in the recent past. Claure has successfully attracted the attention of the customers despite of huge competition from its rivals such as AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc.
When Jonathan Atkin, the analyst at RBC Capital Markets was confronted for giving a statement, he stated, “The new prices got some attention, but I think the stock reflects the fact that Marcelo has been speaking in public for the first time, People probably sensed that there’s a decisiveness in his tone about cost cutting and network improvements.”
Since the introduction of “iPhone for Life” plan, the stocks of the company have risen up by 21 percent, which is an unbelievable deal for the mobile carrier company. There is more expected from the company so we will have to wait and watch for the results as the time rolls by.


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Car sharing didn't exist in Chicago a decade ago when a little known nonprofit called the Center for Neighborhood Technology launched I-GO as an alternative to car ownership.
Today, the idea of renting cars by the hour is commonplace, one reason the nonprofit decided to sell I-GO CarSharing to Enterprise Holdings, I-GO Chief Executive Sharon Feigon said Tuesday.
Terms of the deal, which was set to close Tuesday, were not disclosed.
Enterprise Holdings, based in St. Louis, owns the flagship Enterprise Rent-A-Car brand as well as National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car. Enterprise has been acquiring car-sharing concerns; I-GO was the last major independent remaining.
Feigon said that with Enterprise's backing I-GO will "grow bigger and stronger."
"I-GO's 10 years old," she said. "We've done very well. We brought car sharing to the market, we introduced the idea and we grew it.''
In an email, Enterprise said it plans to update about a quarter of I-GO's 250 cars within the next two weeks and to expand into new neighborhoods. The company also said a mid- to longer-term goal is to provide I-GO members automatic access to car sharing in other cities and that it hopes to continue I-GO's relationship with the Chicago Transit Authority. "We look forward to working with them for the long term,'' Enterprise said.
The deal was structured so that the Center for Neighborhood Technology, an original investor, would be paid back from proceeds of the sale by Bucktown-based Alternative Transportation for Chicagoland Inc., formerly I-GO. Alternative Transportation will continue to focus on other ways to live without a car in Chicago, Feigon said.
For example, it's working on a pilot project that would allow car owners to share their cars by the hour with people who don't have cars.
Car sharing has grown in popularity, seen as a simpler alternative to traditional car rentals in cities and on college campuses. It allows users to pick up a car from a nearby parking space rather than trudging out to an airport or rental car store for trips of an hour or two. Gas and insurance are included, unlike with traditional car rentals.
Avis earlier this year bought I-GO's far-larger rival Zipcar for about $500 million. Zipcar had 775,000 members as of March, and serves 20 cities, including Chicago, and 300 colleges. Avis Budget Group Inc. is the third-largest U.S. rental car company, behind Enterprise and Hertz Global Holdings Inc.
Hertz started its own car-sharing service in 2008 and in 2009 bought Eileo, a car-sharing service based in Paris.
Enterprise acquired PhillyCarShare, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit, in 2011 and last year Mint Cars On-Demand, which serves more than 8,000 members in New York City and Boston.
I-GO, with 23 employees, serves 15,000 members in 40 neighborhoods. The goal was to have cars on every block of Chicago's 200-plus neighborhoods. Its mission was to provide affordable transportation to everyone regardless of neighborhood or income.
Kathy Tholin, chief executive of CNT, said, "We couldn't be more excited'' about Enterprise buying I-GO, which it backed from the outset. She said the concept was discovered in Europe by a CNT staffer, and that I-GO was among the first nonprofit car-sharing services in the United States. CNT, an innovations lab, will use its proceeds from the transaction to invest in other urban initiatives, Tholin said.
Feigon said I-GO was approached by several companies over the years, but it believed Enterprise was the best fit for serving neighborhoods. The company, she said, is interested in retaining all of I-GO's 23 employees as well as a local call center.
Mark Warner, who lives in Wicker Park, has been an I-GO user since the company's birth.
He said he uses the service for his business, MDW Consulting Inc., a fundraising consultancy where he is president. He said it is less expensive than owning a car and renting a neighborhood parking space.
"It sounds like a deal that could be very beneficial because it could bring new capital that they could invest in other businesses,'' Warner said. He said he hopes it means he will be able to tap Enterprise's network of vehicles when he leaves the Chicago area.
Gabe Sulkes, 23, moved to Chicago in August 2011 with no plans to buy an automobile, but last year found he needed one to haul things back to his Bucktown apartment.
"As a frugal hipster in Chicago, I decided to go without a car and just use my bike as a means of sustainable transportation," said Sulkes, policy adviser at the Illinois Department of Transportation's Office of Planning and Programming.
That combination works well 90 percent of the time, he said. But the Cornell University graduate added, "Every time I found an object on Craigslist and couldn't balance it on my bike, I would take out a car," he said.
Sulkes said he opted for membership in I-GO to support a local company, and he liked being able to use one card to access cars and ride the CTA.
Freelancer Cheryl V. Jackson contributed.


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U.S. Files WTO Complaint
Against China Over Aluminum
he United States has ﬁled anoth-
er trade enforcement complaint
against China at the World Trade
Organization (WTO), alleging the
country is skirting WTO rules by pro-
viding subsidies to certain producers
of primary aluminum.
The government said it took the
action to address U.S. concerns
that China’s subsidies are artiﬁcially
expanding Chinese capacity, produc-
tion and market share and causing
a signiﬁcant decrease in the global
price for primary aluminum.
and low-priced inputs for Chinese
aluminum are contributing to excess
Artiﬁcially cheap loans from banks
Source: Ofﬁce of the
U.S. Trade Representative
capacity and undercutting American The U.S. says China has unfairly propped up its domestic aluminum industry. That’s
workers and businesses,” U.S. Trade led to a big drop in the global price for the metal.
Representative (USTR) Michael
Froman said in a statement. num production increased by 154 per- COMPANY NEWS
According to the USTR’s ofﬁce, the cent and capacity increased by 243 B.F. Rich Ceases Operations
country’s apparent subsidies raise percent, while global prices fell by 46 B.F. Rich Windows & Doors, a long-
concerns that China is not acting con- percent. It notes that during the same time manufacturer of vinyl replace-
sistently with its obligations under period, U.S. primary aluminum pro- ment fenestration products head-
the WTO Agreement on Subsidies and duction decreased by approximately quartered in Newark, Del., closed its
China’s Commerce Ministry said 46 percent, even though overall U.S. people out of work.
in a statement the U.S. complaint consumption increased. The number “Unfortunately, despite a long leg-
of U.S. aluminum smelters fell from acy of achievements, B.F. Rich has
The USTR ofﬁce claims that from 14 in 2011 to ﬁve in 2016, with only experienced ﬁnancial setbacks dating
37 percent and capacity decreased by doors in February, putting about 130
lacked a factual basis.”
007-2015, Chinese primary alumi- one operating at full capacity.
back to the beginning of the Great
Recession in 2007,” said Terry Rex,
vice president of sales and marketing,
in an e-mail to DWM. “This situation
could not be sustained.”
Sources told DWM that B.F. Rich
had been in negotiations with a poten-
tial buyer but the deal fell through,
forcing the company to close.
B.F. Rich was founded in 1957 by
Benjamin Spiller, Frank Chaiken and
Richard Guyer. (B.F. Rich is a combi-
nation of their names.)
Jeld-Wen’s IPO Goes Live
On January 27, Jeld-Wen launched its initial public offering (IPO) on the New
York Stock Exchange at an announced price of $23 per share. In a release, the
company said it put 25 million shares of its common stock into the IPO, which
could raise up to $575 million.
The company said it will use about $375 million of the IPO to pay down
its debt. The rest will be used for “general corporate purposes,” according to a
prospectus ﬁled with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Jeld-Wen initially ﬁled for an IPO on June 1, 2016.
Jeld-Wen operates 115 manufacturing facilities in 19 countries. It’s head-
quartered in Charlotte, N.C. In November, the company announced that it
would build a new corporate campus in Charlotte and hire about 200 workers.
continued on page 16
Door & Window Market


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Another tragedy unfolding: the sheeple won’t buy into the green Ponzi.
China is determined to become the low-emissions electric-car capital of the world. Unfortunately, its car buyers aren’t cooperating.
The Chinese government has been spending billions on research grants, steep subsidies and new infrastructure – such as charging stations – to encourage consumers to go electric.
Clearly more coercion and taxation (so that the encouragements can be made even more generous) are required to get this awesome new tech going in China.


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Mario Superstar Baseball gets a Wii-bound sequel later this year.
As part of its ongoing media summit in San Francisco, Nintendo today announced that Mario Super Sluggers – a Mario Superstar Baseball (GCN) sequel slated to hit Japan this June – is also headed stateside later this year. While the details on this upcoming Wii title are still somewhat sketchy at the moment, we do know that Nintendo is hoping the game will provide the next step for the expanded audience brought in by Wii Sports, offering the same simple, motion-based controls, as well as Mii support (in addition to a gaggle of returning characters). Apart from that, all we have is the official statement from Nintendo below:The ongoing excitement over Nintendo’s groundbreaking Wii system gets a suprise springtime boost with the announcement of a new game. Kicking off its semiannual media summit in San Francisco near the company’s new sales and marketing offices in Redwood City, California, Nintendo of America today revealed plans for Mario Super Sluggers for Wii, giving baseball fans even more reason to root this season.
“Mario is truly a one-of-a-king character; clearly fans can’t get enough of him and his friends,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of sales and marketing. “We’re giving Wii users brilliant new ways to enjoy him while expanding our series of active-play games.”
In the same spirit as other sports-themed Mario games on Wii like Mario Strikers Charged and Mario Kart Wii, Mario Super Sluggers blends richly interactive baseball action with eccentric characters and elements from across the popular Mario universe. Players can swing the wireless Wiimote just like a bat or wave it toward the plate to deliver a masterful pitch, enjoying the same intuitive, easy-to-learn controls that helped make Wii Sports a living room hit. With Mario and his unpredictable pals filling out the roster, imagination and active-play innovation are sure to dominate the diamond in this lively title, scheduled for release later this year.
Naturally, we plan to keep an eye on this story as it hopefully develops over the next couple of days. If we learn anything more about Mario Super Sluggers – or any other new titles for the Nintendo Wii and DS – you’ll see it right here, so be sure to check back at VGGEN often!
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After The Eyeopener reported that the Ryerson Students’ Union (RSU) received mysterious packages from Amazon containing various electronics, including sex toys, four other student unions across Canada came to the RSU with similar stories.
The University of Regina Students’ Union (URSU) has received about 15 packages since the end of November. The most recent shipment was sent last week. URSU vice-president student affairs Shawn Wiskar told The Eye via email that the items in the packages were headphones, charging cables and sex toys, such as a vibrator, dildo and a “fleshlight-knockoff.”
Wiskar said the student union called Amazon multiple times and was told no information could be released and they “should just accept the packages.”
“The last call we made to Amazon was more fruitful. They said the purchases were all made with gift cards and the name on the orders was gibberish,” he said. “They said this happens quite often and that there was nothing to be done but for us to keep the packages.”
The sex toys and most of the electronics were then given away at a URSU holiday staff party. Wiskar said the remaining items—charging cables and iPad cases—are being used in the student union office. URSU still doesn’t know who the sender is.
“[Amazon] said this happens quite often and that there was nothing to be done but for us to keep the packages.”
“Our best guess is that we have been selected at random [since] Amazon has reported this happening to random individuals as well,” said Wiskar.
In Toronto, the RSU has received about 30 packages since September. However the student union wasn’t able to find out more information about the sender because Amazon told them releasing that information was a privacy concern. The Dalhousie and York University student unions are also on the list of student unions being bombarded with the mysterious packages.
According to Amazon’s return policy on items a receiver didn’t purchase, they can return the package by using the order number that is usually on the box. However, if the item is purchased from a third-party seller, the original purchaser must be the one to return it.
The University of Manitoba Students’ Union (UMSU) is the latest student union to receive such packages.
UMSU president Tanjit Nagra told The Eye that her student union received a package in the first few weeks of the fall semester that contained a dildo and a mount to hold phones on car dashboards. She said a second package was sent earlier this week that contained another phone accessory.
“This is still a lot of money to be spent on an elaborate prank, if that’s what this is.”
“I have no idea who is sending this to us,” Nagra said. “We’ve only received two packages so far but this is still a lot of money to be spent on an elaborate prank, if that’s what this is.”
Nagra said no one from the student union claimed the packages, so the dildo was given to the Rainbow Pride Mosaic—one of UMSU’s community groups—for their raffle event.
If more packages are sent, Nagra said she would call Amazon to try and find out information on the sender.


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Fri, 01 Aug 2014 17:29:53 -0700
A day after news that Apple has turned on its own content delivery network, it has emerged that Microsoft has registered some domain names that use the term CDN — pointing either to Redmond also readying some kind of new CDN service, or possibly a service that will be based around a CDN. Jamie Zoch at Dot Weekly has discovered that Microsoft has registered the Sway.com domain, along… Read More
Fri, 01 Aug 2014 17:06:01 -0700
A Buffalo Bills fan group and Texas A&M have reached an amicable resolution over their dispute about “the 12th man.” The Texas university originally threatened a lawsuit because it had a trademark on the phrase “the 12th man,” which the Buffalo group used in its website name.
Fri, 01 Aug 2014 13:15:24 -0700
When the NFL on July 24 announced its suspension of Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice for allegedly knocking his then-fiance out cold in an Atlantic City casino in February, the league's discipline — just a two-game ban — drew a tidal wave of criticism. The blowback came from far and wide after the league's announcement, with critics arguing that Rice's light suspension illustrated a lack ...
Headlines for "domain names" provided by Yahoo! News


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Pre-leasing is now underway for apartments at Eve At The District (also known as District 36), as construction on the 19-story tower across from Midtown Miami nears completion.
195 apartment units are being offered for rent. The lower levels of the project feature over 60,000 square feet of retail and other commercial space.
The building is right next to I-195, but construction workers at the site told TNM that the glass is thick enough to block the noise from the highway.
may 2016 progress:
(photo: phillip pessar)


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The Mahindra XUV300 has become the first car in South Africa to get a 5-star NCAP safety rating after achieving the same success in India in 2020. According to the Global NCAP, the Mahindra XUV300 provides sufficient protection for adults and child occupants meeting the Side impact Regulation UN95. Here’s everything you need to know.
It’s raining SUVs in Mahindraland. India’s largest utility vehicle manufacturer has announced the launch of six new SUVs for 2021, including two electric vehicles (EVs) that were shown at the Auto Expo this year.
Let’s look at the EVs first:
In cars, the joint venture is the name of the game, baby. The thing is, there is no such thing as a bad car anymore (Yes, there are, but we don’t talk about them), so brand loyalty has become extremely negotiable. Nowhere more so than in the highly competitive Indian market. Only when two or more similar cars are in the same ballpark will today’s consumer buy exclusively on brand.
Think of your car as an egg carton and your family as the eggs inside. How far can you drop it before the eggs break? What happens if you drop it on an edge, a corner? How many eggs will break then?
Last year there was quite a bit of chatter about India launching BS6-compliant vehicles and they have done so. The Mahindra Bolero has undergone significant changes with the BS6 transition while receiving a facelift and some safety upgrades.
The car market in India is a hotbed of intense competition between not only the local marques but a host of foreign competitors as well. The apex of this is the lucrative SUV market, and market demands have resulted in the rapid design evolution from practical utility to sleek urban desirability. This is especially noticeable in the top-range XUV500currenly on sale here.
Mahindra SA has done exceptionally well within the hotly contested local SUV market and wants to retain some of the momentum they’ve deservedly generated over time. Since launching their latest products with much success from as early as 2015, the company has set its sights on the future.
The Mahindra XUV300 continues to impress as it becomes the second SUV in India to receive a 5-star GNCAP safety rating. While that score for the Global NCAP Crash Test is an achievement in itself, it also secured 4 stars in child safety making the Mahindra XUV300 the first Indian car to do so.
Mahindra South Africa has already beaten their sales target for 2019 and they are now aiming to reach a new record. According to reports, Mahindra is on track for a tremendous year as they continue to push out passenger vehicles and bakkies at a staggering rate.


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Jambojet Takes In-flight Tray Table Advertising to The Skies
Kenya's Budget Airline, Jambojet has launched an onboard advertising program that will feature advertisements on the folding tray tables in select aircraft.
The move which is a first on the African continent is a joint partnership with leading in-flight graphic and digital advertising company Global Onboard.
The airline has already signed their first client, Safaricom who will be running the Safaricom 4G data campaign on the foldable tray tables on one of the 78 seater Bombardier Q-400.
In-flight advertising has proved to be an additional revenue generator across for many airlines across the globe especially the low cost carriers that are constantly striking a balance between low cost tickets and soaring fuel prices.
Other than table-tray advertising, Jambojet currently offers airborne advertising on it boarding passes, head rest covers and in-flight sampling of products.
The four year old airline currently operates one of the youngest fleet of four Dash 8 Q400 aircraft to Eldoret, Kisumu, Malindi, Mombasa, Nairobi, Ukunda and Entebbe from Jomo Kenyatta Airport. It has flown over two million passengers.


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European Commission announces new initiatives on copyright and portability of content
On Wednesday 9th December, the European Commission announced new EU policy initiatives concerning copyright and cross border access to online content.
One of the key objectives of the Commission’s Digital Single Market strategy is to allow wider online access to works by users across the EU. Therefore, the European Commission published a proposal for a Regulation on ensuring the cross-border portability of online content services in the internal market. Portability would essentially allow consumers to access the services they have legally subscribed to in their member state of residence when travelling in another member state for a temporary period of time.
The Regulation applies to all online content services, such as Sky and BBC, and includes films, sports broadcasts, music, e-books and games. It creates a legal fiction which means that a consumer temporarily accessing a legally subscribed service abroad is considered to be in their member state of residence and not where they physically are. The Regulation also outlines how to verify a subscriber’s Member State of residence and clarifies that services cannot be expected to provide the same quality of service. The Regulation does not define what is “temporary”. A short timeframe of six months for implementation is given following publication in the Official Journal of the EU. The Regulation will apply to contracts concluded and rights acquired before the date the proposal is applied.
In the official press release from the Commission, Vice-President of the European Commission Andrus Ansip stated that “people who legally buy content – films, books, football matches, TV series – must be able to carry it with them anywhere they go in Europe. This is a real change, similar to what we did to end roaming charges.” Commissioner Günther H. Oettinger said that portability must be a reality by 2017. The Regulation will now be sent to the EU’s two legislative bodies, the Parliament and the Council.
The Communication on Copyright covers cross-border access to content, exceptions, fair remuneration in the online marketplace, and enforcement. The majority of the proposals are scheduled for spring 2016, including the remaining cross-border access initiatives. Here the Commission states that they will consider support to help rights holders and distributors reach agreements for multi-territorial licenses. This could include mediation and alternative dispute resolution mechanisms. They will also consider a proposal on out-of-commerce collections to digitise and make them available and possible changes to the Satellite and Cable Directive. New tools in Creative Europe will also be developed to facilitate cross-border access and industry dialogue.
The Commission is considering new and harmonisation of existing exceptions in the areas of education, research and access to knowledge. They will also look at how to guarantee that the value generated online is shared fairly. This includes looking at the definition of the rights of “communication to the public” and of “making available”, alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, and remuneration for authors and performers.
Finally, the Commission will come with initiatives to improve intellectual property rights enforcement and tackle criminal entities which use copyright content without permission to generate revenue on a commercial scale. This could include setting up and applying “follow the money” mechanisms, amending the legal framework on IPR enforcement and assessing notice and action procedures. A consultation on the enforcement of IPR was published at the same time as the Communication and will be open until 1st April 2016. A separate consultation on online platforms was launched in September and also tackles some of these issues.
Whilst the Commission provides some insight into their plans there is still a great deal of ambiguity in the Communication. The Commission appears to be keeping their options open as they continue to assess their feasibility in the new year.


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The current era could be expected as the era for augmented reality.
Ever since Google, Qualcomm and many other companies poured $542 million into an augmented reality startup called Magic Leap, the tiny company has been one of the tech world’s most mysterious ventures. But for Magic Leap CEO and founder Rony Abovitz, Magic Leap will soon pull back the curtains on its creation.
In an ‘Ask Me Anything’session on Reddit Tuesday morning, Abovitz described a future where smartphones are replaced by his company’s technology, which projects a digital light field into a user’s eye to create realistic images over the physical world. He claims, people would use the new form of computing more than their smart phones in the near future.
Virtual reality and augmented reality have been a hot topic in the tech world recently. Most tech giants have announced that they are developing some variation or augmented reality device. Microsoft, Facebook, Sony and even Nike have all jumped on the bandwagon.
Magic Leap’s technology has been kept mostly under wraps but was explored recently in a MIT Technology Review article, where the author described feeling a tingling on her palm as she watched a pocket-sized monster walk on her hand. Magic Leap has a tiny projector that shines light onto a transparent lens, which deflects the light onto the retine,” she stated. “That pattern of light blends in so well with the light you are receiving from the real world that to your visual cortex, artificial objects are nearly indistinguishable from actual objects.”
It is more or less like Microsoft’s HoloLens but the difference is that Magic Leap has come up with a new way to generate those virtal objects. It is called digital light-field signal technology, according to Abovitz, it is safer than any other product currently developed.
Abovitz claims that Magic Leap has been testing the safety of its products using many of the same methods he used for Mako Surgical (a surgical robotics company that sold to Stryker for $1.6 billion). He assures there would be no side-effects like nausea and headaches that could be caused by other 3D technology devices. The technology has clear applications to gaming and entertainment, but Abovitz anticipate that it will go much further, becoming the way consumers interact with technology for every part of their life.
Abovitz still declined to discuss when Magic Leap will be available commercially, but he did say that the company plans to open its technology up to developers some time this year, including developers outside the gaming and entertainment world. That’s because, he believes Magic Leap’s technology is more than just an entertainment product, but a replacement for smartphones, and indeed all the screens in our lives.


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Investors are taking a dim view of Japanese Internet retailer Rakuten Inc.'s plan to pay nearly $1 billion for Viber Media Inc., amid questions about whether it is paying for customers it can't make money from.
Rakuten shares plunged as much as 13% on heavy trading volume Monday, the first trading day after the company announced the $900 million acquisition of loss-making Viber. Rakuten closed down 9.5% at Y1,499 on about three times normal volume.
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WEXNER, LIEUTENANTS PUSH DIVISIONS, BRANDS BEYOND LIMITED APPEAL
Byline: David Moin
NEW YORK — Like many retailers, it’s been a rough ride for The Limited Inc. this year, marked by negative comps, decreased earnings per share, cautious inventory planning, some order cancellations and reduced capital spending. Yet, there’s no shortage of optimism at the specialty giant.
At the retailer’s annual presentation Wednesday to analysts and investors in Columbus, Ohio, top executives spoke of “claiming space” and big volume gains in underdeveloped categories, and building Express and Bath & Body Works into “360-degree, master brands.”
According to Leslie Wexner, Limited’s chairman and chief executive officer, the Victoria’s Secret model of expanding and integrating its stores, catalog and Internet operations, representing a combined $3.5 billion business, “is the model that you could put on the other large businesses. We see that kind of growth and acceleration. We are clearly moving to advance all the brands.”
His division lieutenants see a doubling of the Victoria’s Secret bra business, from $900 million currently to $1.8 billion; Bath & Body Works aromatherapy growing to a $400 million business from $100 million; and VS Beauty developing into a $1 billion brand over the next few years, taking a 10 percent share of the $6.2 billion fragrance market, up from 8 percent.
Among the projects in the works or upcoming:
BBW’s larger store format, up to 8,000 square feet with a broader range of products and some higher prices. A 7,000-square-foot unit just opened in Easton Town Center.
In the retail joint venture with Shiseido, four sites are set for spring and 10 to 15 more will follow next year.
The first full men’s assortment under the Express label will be ready in the spring. Formerly, men’s wear was called Structure.
A prestige men’s fragrance, Very Sexy for Him, will be launched next week, in two bottle sizes and ancillary products. It’s seeking $30 million to $40 million in sales on an annualized basis.
The Victoria’s Secret fashion show, a blockbuster marketing event, returns to Manhattan on Nov. 13 at Bryant Park and will be broadcast in prime time, for the first time, by ABC on Nov. 15.
In his opening remarks, Wexner, an industry visionary and firm believer in the cyclical nature of the fashion industry, said the nation is in recession and he saw it coming a year ago.
“It’s not fun, but in a way, it’s not scary,” he said. “My attitude having lived through these kind of [economic] events, is to check my instruments very carefully+.We did foresee an economic downturn and began to manage very conservatively.”
Just one day after reporting a comp-store decline of 10 percent in September, Wexner discussed how the company dealt with the events of Sept. 11, noting his five stores in the World Trade Center were destroyed but no personnel were killed. Overseas staff came home quickly, Limited provided counseling services, and all stores were closed for several hours the Friday after the attacks, for a period of prayer.
Optimistically, Wexner said that “things will get back to a norm. I don’t know what that norm will be. The world has never gone off its orbit.” He said his company is focused on the longer view, not making short-term shifts. “The future of brands and of our brands is very bright.” But to make them work, it’s been the corporation’s goal to recruit top talent and “form a team of eagles that fly in formation. Teams produce the best possible result and produce it fastest.”
He added that the bottom line in retail is detail, making customers happy one at a time and retaining their loyalties.
“There is a robust future that’s more exciting than the past. I sincerely believe that. It is about building a portfolio of world-class, master megabrands that are valued by customers and all stakeholders.”
According to Ann Hailey, chief financial officer, “the most important financial priority is management of inventory.” The company took a conservative approach to fall, delayed fourth-quarter purchases as long as possible to “maximize our ability to chase winners,” and is reducing targeted inventory investment every month, she said.
Michael Weiss, ceo of Express, said the division edits for a 28-year-old man, and a 22-year-old women, though the customer base is obviously much wider. He said Express does best in knit tops and sweaters; targets sales of more than $2 billion in 2003; maintains a “good, better and best” pricing strategy; and changed key merchandise categories in men’s to align them to women’s. Knits was the top category this season in women’s, followed by denim, which is a must-win, he said.
“The goal is to be an innovative sexy jeans destination for men, as we think we are for women. Denim is the lens through which the new brand will be viewed.”
Of the 1,200-unit Express chain, there are 16 experimental stores offering men’s and women’s merchandise, though Weiss added that there are 160 “side-by-sides.” Most of the growth will be driven by jeans and knitwear, he said.
Grace Nichols, ceo of VS Stores, cited the opportunity to double the bra business, noted strength in glamour bras and demi-bras, and opportunities in full coverage bras, both with and without wire frames. “It’s necessary for us to maintain our dominant position in sexy and glamorous bras,” and essential to “claim space in the everyday category.” Other opportunities are: more bras at opening price points, fixing sleepwear and creating a balance between glamour and relaxed classics.
Sharen Turney, head of VS Direct, said correcting clothing offerings was “the greatest challenge” and cited a “master-brand strategy around gifting” for holiday to extend fragrance, home fragrance, sleepwear and panties.
Robin Burns, head of VS Beauty, said regarding the Shiseido venture, a name will be revealed in early 2002, more than 300 products are being developed, and a store design is set. It’s potentially a $1 billion business, she said.


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September 9, 2020
Peak Season Shipping Outlook Reflects this Year’s Freight Forwarding Volatility
With the traditional peak season in progress, this year’s erratic shipping volumes highlight a freakish pattern of supply, demand, and capacity. Covid-19 has created an unprecedented scenario, featuring an artificial peak, several flat weeks, and, lately, a hint of cautious optimism. As trade presses on, shipping rates and capacity remain in flux.
In the second quarter of 2020, demand exploded for airfreight to move Covid-19 medical supplies. Meanwhile, a slew of blank sailings kept ocean rates high when shipping volumes were low.
By July, when back-to-school usually creates a mini-peak season, import volumes reflected lower demand for the usual shopping sprees. The exception was a slight increase in electronics, driven by remote learning. Device companies were able to meet rapidly shifting demand in a tenuous trade environment by relying on diverse suppliers, maintaining the right inventory levels, and, to a certain extent, forecasting on the fly.
Currently, container shipping to the US is on an upswing. Much of this volume is because export from origin has to occur by the end of September for goods to be available for holiday shopping. Timing is compounded by China’s Golden Week holiday closures, from October 1-7 this year.
While true peak-season shipping is underway, those who base forecasts on holidays should note some retailers are stocking more than they expect to sell this year. Covid-19 has compelled a substantial shift from brick-and-mortar to e-commerce. And, retailers want to play it safe with inventory available for either.
Additionally, some volume is a reflection of pent-up demand from when uncertainty chilled consumerism or supply was limited. People can’t socialize indoors or in groups, but they can buy bicycles for outdoor workouts or upgrade home appliances.
Up ahead, a few major product launches—most notably, smartphones, which typically rely on airfreight—are likely to impact overall capacity. Vaccine shipments will take precedence once available, too. The foreseeable future is a carrier’s market, which underscores the need for trusted partnerships and full awareness of how to navigate RFP season.
And while electronics or pharmaceutical companies often have capacity guaranteed in advance, all companies can take cues from this year’s volatility. As trade takes the first steps towards recovery, future rates and capacity can be expected to stay in step with other demand factors, real or artificial.


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Greater clarity on rebates and agency business models is key to the level of trust between brands and media agencies, according to a new survey by ID Comms, the UK-based media management consulting group.
The ID Comms 2016 Transparency Survey found that globally more than 70% of advertisers and agencies believe that the way an agency manages rebates is the most important factor in the level of trust that advertisers have in media agencies.
Rebates are a commonly accepted part of the media-buying process in many parts of the world, although there is ongoing debate about how extensive the practice is in the U.S. Some top adland executives including WPP CEO Martin Sorrell have asserted that the practice is not widespread here. Others -- notably, former MediaCom U.S. CEO Jon Mandel -- disagree. Mandel rekindled the debate last year with a presentation at a conference put on by the Association of National Advertisers.
And the ID Comms survey suggests that many U.S.-based agency people believe rebates are an issue. Some 67% of U.S. agency respondents to the survey cited “how the agency trades with media vendors” and “how the agency manages rebates” as the most influential factors in determining advertiser trust in their agencies. And 81% of all U.S. respondents rated “how the agency makes money” as an important factor in the trust equation.
The findings are based on responses from 140 senior executives at agencies and advertisers including marketers from brands spending an estimated $20 billion annually and responses from all the major media agency networks. The survey was conducted in February and March of this year. Sixty-five percent of respondents were based in Europe, 25% in the U.S. and 10% in the rest of world.
U.S. marketers were slightly more positive about the levels of trust they have in their agencies, with 61% describing current levels as “average,” 26% as “low” and 13% as “high.” By contrast, some European marketers were very negative, with 14% saying trust levels were “very low” and 22% describing them as “low.”
Agencies overall believe that the areas important to the level of trust that exists from their clients include “how agency group buying/share deals work" (62%) and “how the agency manages client data and uses it for decision making” (52%).
Both sides acknowledge the importance of establishing a trusted relationship between client and agency with the majority (77%) agreeing or strongly agreeing that a close relationship with external marketing agencies will “tend to deliver a stronger marketing performance.”
Agencies were more optimistic than clients about the future prospects for their client relationships, with 38% indicating a belief that they’ll improve.
Among clients, the outlook was more skeptical, with just 7% expecting trust to increase “a lot” compared to 15% for agencies. U.S. marketers were even more hesitant than their European counterparts, with 17% expecting trust in media agencies to decline “a lot” compared to 11% for European-based marketing executives.
“We want to show how transparency in its broadest sense, as a business principle, can deliver benefits for both advertisers and their agencies,” stated Tom Denford, chief strategy officer at ID Comms. “The challenge is that issues such as transparency in planning and data, all of which are critical to a trusting relationship, are overshadowed by advertisers' concerns around the business models that have been adopted by the big agency groups,” he added.
Denford continued: “An advertiser that has a strong and transparent relationship with their agency, including a transparent and fair payment model, best-practice contractual language that protects their interests and a clear view of how their budgets are traded by the agency is most likely to build a trusting partnership for the benefit of both parties, including longer tenure for the agency and an increasing willingness to reward them when they deliver business value.”


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Pay-TV provider DISH Network Corp. announced at the NTEA's 2013 Work Truck Show in Indianapolis that it will roll out 200 ROUSH CleanTech propane autogas-fueled Ford E-250 cargo vans in its fleet in 2013.
The satellite-TV company estimated that these new propane autogas-powered vehicles will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 12.5 million lbs. over the lifetime of the fleet’s operation when compared with gasoline-powered counterparts. DISH said its new alt-fuel vans will support its residential and commercial customer service in Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.
“These clean-burning propane autogas vehicles are better for our environment, our communities, and operate more efficiently,” said Erik Carlson, executive vice president of service and installation at DISH. “DISH expects to save about $2,500 per vehicle in annual lifecycle costs due to a 55% reduction in fuel costs and the cleaner burning properties of propane autogas.”
ROUSH’s Todd Mouw commented on DISH Network’s decision, saying “Economical, clean-burning propane autogas is an excellent option for fleets looking for more efficient operation,” said Todd Mouw, vice president of sales and marketing for ROUSH CleanTech. “Propane autogas is sourced domestically and is cheaper per mile to operate.”
DISH said since private, on-site propane autogas refueling infrastructure is cost-effective; it makes it economical for DISH to install refueling stations at each of the company’s initial deployment locations. The company added that more than 90% of the propane used in the U.S. comes from domestic sources of natural gas and petroleum. DISH also said the domestic nature of the fuel and related technology influenced its decision to go with propane autogas. ROUSH added that its supply chain is primarily based in North America.
“As one of the nation’s largest fleets with locations across the country, we believe we can have a real impact by putting a viable alternative fuel to work for us,” DISH's Carlson said.


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Rocket Fuel continued its growth trajectory last quarter, with revenue more than doubling, the company reported.
The digital advertising tech firm generated $85.6 million in the fourth quarter, 113 percent greater than the same period the year prior. For full-year 2013, Rocket Fuel's revenue grew 126 percent to $240.6 million.
The company went public last year, and shares have been volatile. But in after-hours trading, they trended upward on the quarterly results. Rocket Fuel stock rose nearly 4 percent to $54.75 per share.
The company still doesn’t turn a profit, however, posting a more than $20 million loss last year. A net loss of $2.2 million in the fourth quarter compares to a loss of $5.9 million during the year-ago period.
Rocket Fuel said it doubled its customer base last year versus 2012 and that revenue from mobile, social and video channels improved 721 percent. Revenue from those areas accounted for 32 percent of sales, or $27.4 million, in the fourth quarter.
The company also announced new products, rolling out its Mobile Advertising Suite, which enables a company to place ads across a number of real-time mobile bidding exchanges. The products also offer data on user locations and apps.
Rocket Fuel is a closely watched company in the ad space, as it and other tech firms have recently made public stock offerings. Criteo, Tremor Video and YuMe are among those that have already gone public, while PubMatic and The Rubicon Project recently announced plans to do so.


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Mandriva Flash 2010 Christmas Sale
Dec 17, 2010, 00:03 (0 Talkback[s])
(Other stories by Marius Nestor)
Re-Imagining Linux Platforms to Meet the Needs of Cloud Service Providers
[ Thanks to An
Anonymous Reader for this link. ]
"Now here's a special Christmas present for all of you
Linux enthusiasts out there, as Mandriva announced the availability
of its portable USB Mandriva Flash Drive. It is based on the KDE4
Edition of the Mandriva Linux 2010 distribution (released on July
8th, 2010) and it's available as an 8GB USB flash drive.
"Mandriva announced three days ago, on December 12th, that a new
version of its portable USB Mandriva Flash Drive is now available
"Think of Mandriva Flash 2010 as your personal and private 3D
mobile desktop, which empowers you to perform your daily computer
tasks from anywhere."


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This Week in Louisiana Agriculture's 40th Anniversary
One of the longest running television programs in the state of Louisiana turned 40 in 2021! Naturally, the brand celebrated with a special logo that ran from it's anniversary in September to the end of the calendar year. Exclusive giveaways and custom television graphics were created to mark the milestone.
TWILA 40th Sticker pack stickers


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Denver could raise tobacco and nicotine age to 21 — and change how products are sold locally
The city’s public health department sent underage kids into stores to buy cigarettes and vape products. More than a quarter of the stores sold vapes and e-cigarettes to the kids.
Because the kids these days vape and (still) smoke, the government these days is looking to make it harder to do.
The Denver City Council’s safety committee will consider a proposal Wednesday that raises the minimum age for buying tobacco and nicotine products to 21.
The bill, initiated by the Hancock administration’s public health department, would also force licenses on stores that sell tobacco, e-cigarettes and vapes with nicotine cartridges. Business owners within 1,000 feet of schools, childcare centers, rec centers and public pools would be denied licenses, according to the bill language.
Currently the city does not license stores that sell tobacco any differently than other stores. So officials don’t have a grasp on who sells what, making underage sales harder to enforce, said Tristan Sanders, public health manager with the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment. He thinks licensing the stores will curb underage sales and hold sellers accountable.
The public health department has been sending underage kids to buy cigarettes and electronic nicotine devices for the past two and a half years. Between 7 and 10 percent of Denver stores sell cigarettes to minors, according to DDPHE. But 27 percent sold kids vapes and e-cigs.
“Tobacco use around the world used to look a lot different,” Sanders said. “Now we have an epidemic, really, of vape usage.”
Bear with us for some more numbers, which come from a 2018 survey by the state public health department: 23 percent of Denver high school students reported using tobacco, while 18 percent reported vaping specifically. Around half the kids surveyed said they could easily get tobacco products, and 55 percent said vaping and toking e-cigarettes aren’t risky behaviors.
City Councilwoman Jamie Torres says she supports the bill, which actually stemmed from a group of students at the Denver Center for International Studies about five years ago. Her predecessor, Clerk and Recorder Paul López, initiated a bill but it never became law. The public health department revived it.
“It became a snowball effect of policy that initiated with these kids and what they were seeing everyday,” Torres said.
No one from the tobacco or vape industries has lobbied elected officials, at least recently, according to public disclosure records. The City Council committee will decide whether to advance the bill to the full legislative body Wednesday.


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Google’s parent company, Alphabet, yet again beat financial expectations with its second-quarter earnings, bringing in $26 billion in revenue for the three-month period, an increase of 21 percent from the second quarter of 2016. Earnings per share totaled $5.01, beating Wall Street’s forecast of $4.46 per share.
According to its earnings statement released today, the company brought in $22.67 billion in advertising revenue in the second quarter, an increase of $3.53 billion from the same same period the previous year. Aggregate paid clicks also increased, jumping 52 percent, while paid clicks on Google’s properties jumped 61 percent. Meanwhile, aggregate cost per click fell 23 percent and cost per click on Google’s properties fell 26 percent.
“We’re delivering strong growth with great underlying momentum, while continuing to make focused investments in new revenue streams,” Ruth Porat, Alphabet’s chief financial officer, said in a statement.
Google also increased revenue on its “other bets”—moon-shot projects not yet released to advertising such as self-driving cars, virtual reality and smartphones—with revenue in the second quarter totaling $248 million, driven in the quarter by Cloud, Play and other hardware, according to the company. Total revenue for other bets in the second quarter of 2016 was $185 million.
Despite the tech giant’s overall growth, the second quarter also came with a massive regulatory price tag after the European Union stuck the company with a $2.7 billion fine for antitrust violations related to giving Google’s own services preference over its rivals. The New York Times last month reported that the record fine was twice the size of the previous largest penalty.
In an email earlier today, James Cakmak, an analyst with Monness, Crespi, Hardt & Co., said he thought the EU crackdown was “more posturing.” However, if the U.S. takes similar action in the future, it could be something to watch.
“Fines are one thing; forcing change on business practices is another,” Cakmak wrote. “Bottom line, we’re optimistic for resolution with the risks limited to dollars and not opportunity costs. Second, we believe there is an ever-growing need for paid search advertising given consumer consumption patterns on mobile, thereby limiting the effectiveness of organic results. Said another way, we see the future as increasingly driven by search engine marketing (SEM) and decreasingly search engine optimization (SEO). Hence, the wind is very much at Google’s back.”


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Ms. Vichaya Soonthornsaratoon, Acting Director of Meetings Industry Department, Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (second from right), Mr. Ooi Peng Ee, General Manager of TTG Events, TTG ASIA Media (first from left) and Ms. Prachoom Tantiprasertsuk, Chairperson, Marketing Committee, Thailand Incentives and Conventions (second from left) join hands in celebrating the anniversary of the 20th IT&CMA and the 15th CTW Asia-Pacific, the only double bill event in Asia. The event is the paramount of trade show in meetings and incentive of Asia Pacific region for which Thailand has been hosting for eleven years in a row. The 20th IT&CMA and the 15th CTW will be held from 2-4 October 2012, at the Bangkok Convention Center, Central World, Bangkok, Thailand.
Friday, July 13, 2012
IT&CMA, Asia's Best MICE Trade Show, Celebrating 20 Years!
Source = Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau
More Top Stories
More MICE News
- Kyoto¡¯s cultural grant scheme expanded to cover promotional gifts and mementos
- Hot and Powerful: Tallinn to Host EHP Congress in 2015
- The First Bali Travel Exchange 2013 embraced by Focused International and National Buyers representing multinational corporations across the world and Bali Hospitality Brands as Sellers
- Thailand to Host the 7th CSR Asia Summit 2013 Focusing on Responsible and Inclusive Business in Asia
- IMPACT held Spirit Day under a theme to welcome AEC


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Europe’s biggest taxi app, mytaxi, yesterday announced its launch in Leicester, and to celebrate, is offering 50% off all trips until 25 March. Supporting and promoting local licensed taxi drivers is fundamental to mytaxi, as the business seeks a central role in Leicester’s transport system. Having just launched in Derby, as well as also operating in Nottingham, the Leicester launch will not only provide faster and more efficient travel for locals travelling throughout the city, but also those looking to visit neighbouring cities in the wider East Midlands region.
David Savage, UK General Manager at mytaxi comments: “We are really excited about mytaxi coming to Leicester. It’s our second launch in the East Midlands this year, and we’re keen to replicate our success here like we have in other cities. Leicester is such a fast-moving city with a real buzz, not to mention its famous football team and bustling nightlife. We hope our launch will add to the ease of getting around the city, and benefit both tourists and locals alike.” Leicester Deputy City Mayor responsible for regulatory services, Cllr Piara Singh Clair, comments: “We support the development of a taxi-booking app for Leicester, and welcome mytaxi in providing that.” Kaleem Ashraf, a taxi driver in Nottingham comments: “It’s great to see that mytaxi has launched in another city in the East Midlands. Using the app has made my life so much easier and I can’t imagine working without it now. It’s both increased the amount of journeys I do per week, and made me more flexible with my jobs. I’d recommend it to all cabbies!" The launch of mytaxi is Leicester marks the firm’s second regional launch in 2019, with the app already operating in eight other UK cities including London. mytaxi officially launches in Leicester on the 11th March and is a free app available for iOS and Android.


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UK retail sales fell by 0.2% in September, the fifth straight decline, the longest losing streak since the series began in 1996. The outcome was far below City expectations, but confirmed the warnings of retail industry insiders highlighted in MNI's latest Reality Check.
Sales volumes slumped by 3.9% between July and September, leaving retail poised to shave 0.2% from gross domestic product in the third quarter, the ONS said Friday. Total sales declined by 1.3% over September of 2020, but remain 4.2% above pre-pandemic levels.
Despite widespread reports of petrol shortages last month, motoring fuel sales rose by 2.9% in September, as consumers filled their tanks when they could. The leaves fuel sales 1.8% above pre-pandemic levels.


text: Another game has just been confirmed for the Nintendo Switch. Never Stop Sneakin’ will be releasing on the console this Holiday 2017. The game is being created by Humble Hearts, the same team behind Dust: An Elysian Tail. The video description explains the basic premise of the game. The plot is that “Amadeus Guildenstern just traveled through time and kidnapped all the U.S. Presidents”. Your job will be to “Infiltrate the enemy base, avoid their patrols, and hack their systems to gain valuable intel”. The announcement came with a trailer, so we’ve included that down below.


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A Harold couple have caused controversy by opening a food bank for the super rich. Oofy and Lysander Eastoft reject accusations that their venture is in bad taste and say that it has been extremely popular amongst their social set which includes some of the wealthiest people in the country.
“It all started when we went to the food bank run by the church,” said Oofy, 32. “We going to get the three days emergency food that they give out and use it all for an ironic dinner party. But the vicar got majorly cross – seriously are vicars even allowed to know words like that? – and she said the food bank was only for people who were in desperate circumstances and had a voucher from their GP or social services.”
“We were absolutely gutted because food banks are so popular now,” Lysander, 37, told us. “Did you know that since Cameron got in the number of people relying on them has risen from 45,000 to 350,000? It’s such a growth industry so we thought with austerity being so hot right now why not open a food bank that lets our friends get in on the fun?”
The couple hired global advertising agency SnapDragon who after six months and £500,000 came up with the name Food: The Bank which the Eastofts hail as mind-blowing example of creative thought.
“We’ve kept it real,” said Oofy. “We give our customers handwritten vouchers in these incredible bespoke leather wallets and then they pretend to queue up for a few minutes which some have said has totally given them an insight into poverty and they all find the cheap plastic bags we use – we managed to source some like we saw at the church – a real scream! At other food banks you get non-brand cornflakes and a tinned pie or something at Food: The Bank we give our customers three days of essentials including Culatello di Zibello, donkey cheese and white truffles. Some food banks charge a token payment of £1:50 – we charge £12,000.”
Flush with the success of Food: The Bank Oofy and Lysander have plans to build on their social disadvantage theme.
“We got this building in Dunstable for pennies,” crowed Lysander. “And we’re going to create an exclusive nightclub. To keep out the riff-raff there will be actors dressed as nurses and everyone who wants to come in will be assessed to see if they are fit for entrance. It’ll be so funny – Club Atos is going to be mega.”
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