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Folks wander by a Nike shop in New York.
Spencer Platt | Getty Illustrations or photos
Nike is closing all of its outlets in the U.S., along with other elements of the environment, to attempt to curb the spread of the new coronavirus, the firm reported Sunday early morning.
Its areas throughout the U.S., Canada, Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand will near from Monday through March 27, the business mentioned.
Personnel will still be compensated in comprehensive throughout this time off, a spokeswoman verified to CNBC.
Meantime, Nike is continue to trying to keep open up its retailers in South Korea, Japan, most of China and in “numerous other nations,” the firm mentioned, primarily based on day by day assessments of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nike joins a increasing checklist of organizations getting comparable measures. Shops including Patagonia, Apple, Warby Parker, City Outfitters, Glossier and Allbirds are shutting their shops in the U.S. Walmart and Lululemon are amongst the retailers that are limiting retailer hours. In Italy and France, all non-critical retail has been ordered to be shut down.
Nike had 384 retail suppliers in the U.S., which include Converse and its outlet locations, at the finish of 2019, according to SEC filings. Internationally, it experienced additional than 750 places.
There have been more than 156,000 instances of the new coronavirus described globally, according to the hottest details from Johns Hopkins University, with at the very least 5,833 deaths.
Right here is the comprehensive memo from Nike pertaining to the retail outlet closures:
The effectively-staying of our teammates and consumers is our leading priority so we have decided to close our stores in multiple international locations all over the planet together with in the United States, Canada, Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand to limit the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19). These closures will go into outcome from Monday, March 16 through Friday, March 27. Prospects can keep on to store on Nike.com and on our Nike apps.
We are using further actions in other Nike-managed services, including the selection to get the job done from residence, staggered get the job done schedules, social distancing and further protection and cleansing actions to assistance defend and assist our teammates.
Our Nike-owned stores in South Korea, Japan, most of China and in many other countries are presently open and will go on their regular operations.


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One of Napa Valley’s leading fine wine labels, Opus One, has released its 2015 vintage – widely regarded as a tricky one in the Californian region.
The wine has been released through La Place at €208 a bottle, an increase of 9.4% on the 2014, leading to a case price of some £2,700 per dozen.
Allocations are reportedly down 20% due to reduced production.
Although certain commentators such as Antonio Galloni have said 2015 in Napa Valley is excellent when at its very best, there are inconsistencies away from the top end.
Happily, being at the top end of the Napa wedge, Opus One’s 2015 has received good scores so far including 96 from Galloni who said it “captures the essence of the vintage”, while James Suckling, with a 98 score, called it “gorgeous” and added he preferred it to the 2014.
Despite the price increase, the 2015 is in fact the ‘cheapest’ vintage available in the market, which Liv-ex suggested might make it an “exciting opportunity for buyers”.

domain: news


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Welcome to the Technology News Playlist, a compendium of the latest news, trends, products and solutions from the most in-demand tech startups in the industry. For everything related to business and technology, we’ve got you covered.
This week’s news series includes the winner of the She Loves Tech Startup Global Competition, Elon University alumnus who launched Jawnt, Executive Director of Human Resources and COO of Medikabazaar.
This tech news playlist brings you knowledge of the fast-paced digital space from across the industry – all in one platform. We bring you the latest updates, including news, funding announcements, product launches, events, campaigns and more.
Nordics Startup Wins Global She Loves Tech Competition
LeosThe IT and blockchain consulting firm won the 8th She Loves Tech Startup Global Competition held in Singapore on November 7, 2022, outperforming more than 70 other startups around the world. Formerly known as Restoring Hearing, Lios was created with the goal of enabling a calmer world using advanced technologies.
Elon University launched a startup in the field of transportation technology
Jeff StadGraduated from Elon University jaw, a transportation technology startup that provides access to the city through standardized transportation. The company’s goal is to increase the mobility of people in the city, especially for employers to provide transportation for their employees.
Health tech found new startup CHRO and COO
Medikabazaara B2B healthcare technology startup, announces two high-profile appointments: Sandeep Gandhi As Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) and Manish Goliath As Chief Operating Officer (COO). Gandhi is set to uphold a people-first corporate culture and human resource strategy, while Jhalout will improve supply chain management.
Cybersecurity firm Snyk is laying off 198 employees
In an unprecedented move, a cybersecurity company Snake 198 employees are laid off due to the ongoing headwinds of the global economy. Executive Director Peter McKay Announces that the company is restructuring and reducing its global workforce by 14% of its total workforce.
Digital Receipts startup shuts down its operations
flow, a fintech startup that provides digital receipts, is closing its UK operations. The founders informed their customers via email with the subject “Thank you, goodbye.” The company reached 1 million customers earlier this year with nearly 700,000 digital receipts produced.
SaaS or apps
HR Technology Leads India’s Largest Series A SaaS Funding
kikaHR tech startup is tapping WestBridge to launch India’s largest Series A Saas funding of $57 million. Executive Director Vijay Yalamanchili He asserts that finding the right investor and the right timing is critical to making this venture possible to be the fastest growing HR technology leader in the industry.
OpenAI will provide 10 AI startups with $1 million each
open ai, the San Francisco-based lab behind AI systems like GPT-3 and DALL-E 2, announces that it will provide 10 AI startups with $1 million each. It will also give them access to five weeks of working hours, workshops and events with OpenAI staff.
An Egyptian start-up in the field of food technology raises an initial $600,000
founded by Dalia Abu OmarAn Egyptian startup in the field of food technology Brotinni It raised $600,000 in a seed funding round to help it expand. The company offers a platform for ordering fresh, hand-cut, sealed, farm-sourced, vacuum-sealed meat and poultry.
#Technology #News #Playlist #Likes #Tech #Startup #Winner #Jawnt #Launch #Executive #COO #Medikabazaar #Omari #Horowitz


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[Guide]: 6 tips to unwrap the holiday season consumer buying journey
It feels like the holidays start earlier every year, which means retail brands need to set their holiday marketing strategies now to help shoppers make crucial buying decisions. That’s why Mindstream put together this collection of holiday shopping trends and tips.
Download our guide to learn:
- Six tips to help retail brands make the most out of their marketing efforts this holiday season.
- The new holiday season buying journey – including the impact of digital devices on holiday shopping habits.
- The growing role of e-commerce in the holiday shopping experience.
Did you know?
- 54 percent of consumers start their holiday shopping research in October or earlier.
- One-third of consumers start making holiday shopping purchases before November.
More from Mindstream Media Group
Yelp Rolls Out New Features For Multi-Location Brands
On February 11, Yelp announced new offerings aimed at national and multi-location brands. This is not a surprise as the […]
Meet Gen X: 65 Million Consumers Can’t Be Ignored
They’ve been called the Forgotten Generation. Born roughly between 1965 and 1980, Generation X falls between Baby Boomers and Millennials. […]
2019 Google My Business Year In Review And Industry Predictions For 2020
If 2019 taught us nothing else, we learned that in addition to continuous updates that shape the way search results […]


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ClassPass, a subscription-based app providing access to thousands of gym and fitness offerings, has discussed merging with Mindbody, a business management software focused on wellness that has 1.3 million app subscribers of its own.
Terms of a potential deal aren’t available, but Bloomberg reported that the companies have talked about going public upon combining. Mindbody went public in June 2015 but went private again in 2018 amid a $1.9 billion buyout from Vista Equity Partners.
ClassPass reached a valuation of over $1 billion after a $285 million funding round in January 2020, just before COVID-19 closed gyms.
- The app features 40,000 businesses across 30 countries.
- A partnership with “digital health ecosystem” Wellteq was announced this week.
ClassPass paused subscriptions during shutdowns but plans to restart them soon in cities opening up, though some users have said they are canceling their memberships and not returning to brick-and-mortar gyms.
On the other hand, MindBody said in January it was on track to match the “typical” 30% increase in revenue it normally sees in the new year.
Of the Americans who started using an online fitness studio for at-home workouts last year, 68% plan to keep doing so.


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Google is holding an important event on September,29th in San Francisco, the tech giant will be announced TWO Nexus flagships. Yes, looks like Google is preparing some very cool stuff for us on this special event.
Google Nexus 2016
One of those flagships will be a smaller Nexus device with 5-inch display built by LG. The second device will be a larger one with 6-inch display built by Huawei. We have no confirmed info about the hardware specs or prices of those devices, yet.
This will be the first Huawei Nexus device to be announced since the launch of the Nexus line-up, but it's the third time Google has partnered with LG on a Nexus phone. Both devices will be the first in the market to launch with Android 6.0 Marshmallow Pre-installed.
Android 6.0 Announcement and Updates
Along with these two Nexus devices, Google will also announce the official release of Android 6.0 Marshmallow final version, after 3 developer previews released in the past 2 months. The final version will pack all bug fixes that was reported in the past previews along with some new features. The current Google Nexus lineup should get marshmallow factory images be early October.
Stay Tuned for our full coverage!
As the financial reports of Xiaomi for 2015 states, it wasn't a great year for the Chinese smartphone giant. Make no mistake though as Xiaomi did not suffer any losses and their annual sales report suggests that the company sold over 60 million units in 2015! However, where it failed was in matching up to its own expectations. After an extremely successful 2014 which had put them even ahead of LG in the list of top five mobile phone manufacturers internationally, Xiaomi had set themselves a sales target of 80 million units by the end of 2015.
The business model followed by Xiaomi (and a lot of other Chinese manufacturers) works by creating a controlled situation where the demand is always greater than the supply, at least in the beginning. The aggressive advertising strategy, coupled with "flash sales" that only allow a limited number of the handsets to be sold at any one time, made Xiaomi the number one startup venture in the tech segment ($45 billion) in 2014.
Some business analysts are of the opinion that the best days of Xiaomi are behind them as their low-cost high-performance devices are no longer unique. Chinese manufacturers have flooded the market in 2015 with cheap but powerful devices. This has not only made it more competitive for Xiaomi, but has also made flash sales a risky strategy. People may no longer wait to buy a smartphone that's out of stock because another product would be available to them with the same specs and a similar price tag.
Things in 2015 did not look that good for Xiaomi in its own country either as Huawei replaced them as the number one smartphone maker in China. If Xiaomi has to go back on top of the list again, they will have to hit harder in 2016.


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Business opportunities will become available predominantly in KSA and UAE as the top two growth markets as the region progresses with the recovery phase
- Canon ME Printing Industry Market Study 2020 identifies opposing insights on sustainability between corporates and print service providers
- A majority, 69%, also agree that printing will still be used for major company or product announcements
- 64% of print businesses want to diversify into new areas of printing and packaging
Canon Middle East (CME) revealed the study’s results during a webinar on Tuesday, August 25, 2020 hosted in partnership with ME Printer Magazine. The study recognises the varied opinions between corporates and print service providers on the evolution of the industry, especially with regards to sustainable printing solutions, and aims to establish closer dialogue on the issue between both groups. It also gives an in-depth look into the opportunities, challenges and the latest market trends in the region during COVID-19, more specifically within the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.
The industry-first study also supports print service providers looking to implement an informed and sustainable business strategy based on their customers’ requirements in a post-COVID world.
Shadi Bakhour, B2B Business Unit Director, Canon Middle East , said: “With the onset of the pandemic and the lockdown, we knew that there is going to be an impact on the print. There was already a change in motion with the natural progression brought forth by digital trends and new print sectors emerging, but we believe the change was accelerated by COVID-19 and put the industry on a path where transformation was now a necessity. Our objective is to support the print industry in the region, and conducting the Canon ME Printing Industry Market Study 2020 early on allows businesses and stakeholders in the sector to make solid strategic decisions and capitalise on the opportunities that are now available based on these new insights.”
The study was conducted between June 2020 until the first week of July 2020 with print service providers as well as corporates in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and the Levant.
Out of the countries surveyed, there was a consensus between industry stakeholders that business opportunities will become available predominantly in KSA and UAE as the top two growth markets as the region progresses with the recovery phase.
The study also highlighted the opposing opinions between print businesses and corporates regarding sustainability. While 53% of corporates are transitioning to sustainable printing solutions in the coming months, 40% of print businesses believe pricing is a major concern and have not yet invested in sustainable products to answer the rising demand.
With environmental regulations being adopted globally, and the pandemic increasing the pressure on governments and businesses to follow sustainable business practices, print service providers will eventually have to invest in sustainable technology if they are to remain competitive in the market. This insight presents an opportunity to narrow the gap between print businesses and their customers in the immediate future.
Some of the challenges indicated by print service providers include minimal financing options or unstable supply and demand trends. However, only 21% feel digitisation is a major challenge, indicating the industry has already embraced this trend with the majority of print service providers agreeing that cloud-enabled digital workflow services were already adding value to their overall workflow.
These insights on the decline of print volumes and the transition toward digital solutions are correlated by the significant number of print service providers (64%) indicating they plan to diversify their print business into new areas of printing – with 30% planning on investing in new digital machinery in the near future to achieve this objective and meet customers’ demands for shorter print runs.
From a printing perspective, the study highlights that corporates see a decline regarding in-office printing, especially with the rise of working-from-home schemes, with 35% believing that the move towards digitisation is inevitable. A majority, 69%, also agree that printing will still be used for major company or product announcements.
This also true for offline media where 52% viewed that traditional print marketing material, while still relevant, will be optimised and used on a case-by-case basis with marketing dollars moving toward online and more focus placed on short-run on-demand printing. Another highlight of the study is that the packaging and label sectors witnessed a surge in demand due to the rise of e-commerce activity. On the other hand, wide format graphics, commercial printing as well as sheet-fed digital printing are other areas which can bounce back rather quickly post COVID-19.
“There are many outtakes from the Canon ME Printing Industry Market Study 2020; however, I believe the main insight is that while print volume and bulk is diminishing, print’s new role will become more focused and used more intelligently. With the transition to digital technologies and demand for more sustainable products, print service providers are at point where they must adapt their business to address these market trends and ensure business continuity,” Bakhour said.


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Supply chains lost nearly $56 billion worldwide last year due in large part to cargo theft and extreme weather, according to a new report.
The British Standards Institution found that the year's five largest natural disasters resulted in an economic impact of $33 billion on supply chains, while cargo theft resulted in losses of $22.6 billion.
The BSI report particularly pointed to a 30 percent increase in cargo truck hijackings in South Africa and rising vehicle shipment thefts in China. In India, meanwhile, gangs were able to steal goods and escape detection by conducting thefts without breaking customs seals.
The analysis also said terrorism resulted in billions in losses for global shippers. In addition to security concerns causing disruptions — particularly in the wake of the November attacks in Paris — terrorist-linked smuggling rings between Spain and the Middle East shipped stolen electronics in addition to drugs and weapons.
The refugee crisis in Europe, meanwhile, interrupted supply chains across the continent.
BSI analysts also said that shippers suffered due to sluggish economies in several countries and poor enforcement of labor relations. In China, an economic downturn helped fuel a nearly 60 percent increase in factory strikes.
"Such complexity creates extreme levels of risk for organizations, both directly affecting the bottom line but perhaps more seriously, hidden threats to the supply chain which, if ignored, could do serious harm to a company’s hard-earned reputation," said Jim Yarbrough, BSI's Global Intelligence Program Manager.
The report expects the cost of cargo theft to increase by another $1 billion this year, while the Syrian conflict and tensions in the South China Sea will continue to reverberate throughout the shipping industry
In addition, analysts expect that emerging health crises — most notably the Zika virus — could mirror problems caused by the Ebola epidemic in West Africa two years ago.


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First voyage of this year’s Wakkanai-Sakhalin cargo ship charter project enters port
The first voyage of this year’s Wakkanai-Russia-Sakhalin cargo ship charter project being undertaken by the ‘Wakkanai-Korsakov Regular Route Usage Promotion Council’ made up of local governments and economic organizations in northern Hokkaido, has arrived at the port of Wakkanai.
Officials from the City and Hokkaido governments looked on as the approximate 500-ton MATSUSHIMA vessel docked at the port’s International Passenger Terminal at 9 a.m. on July 29, and several cardboard boxes were unloaded from the ship. Many could be seen taking photos and displaying interest in the boxes, which were attached with slips completed in Sakhalin, and contained approximately 100 kg of folk crafts such as matryoshka dolls and ‘Khokhloma lacquerware’ similar to Japanese lacquerware.
This trial project aims to expand imports, of which the charter business has almost no track record, and hopes to re-examine the times and costs of customs clearance. The goods imported this time were done so with the cooperation of the Wakkanai Association of Japan-Russia Economic Exchange, and are scheduled to be sold and displayed in the city. Meanwhile, approximately 2.4 tons of foodstuffs, including rice and soy sauce will be exported and sold in the supermarkets of Sakhalin.
Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, cycling tourism has been growing in popularity as a leisure activity that does not incorporate "crowded, closed spaces". And in the Northern Hokkaido city of Wakkanai ...
A Russian folk art exhibit and market started on August 23 at the Japan-Russia Friendship Hall in Northern Hokkaido's Wakkanai City. The folk art items were imported via a cargo charter ship connec...
Heart Land Ferry (Sapporo), which operates the Wakkanai-Rishiri/Rebun route, has been added to the ‘voyage stamp-rally project’ in which shipping companies throughout Japan participate. The company...


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Cuba sees economic increase in Tourism and Cigars
During this month's Bayamanaco Balcony meeting in Havana, Cuba; important trends such as higher-income travellers taking Cuba holidays and the link to the country's much-loved cigar industry were discussed by a group of tourism experts.
A group of tourism experts have been discussing the link between high-earning travellers taking Cuba holidays and the popular industry of Cuban cigars at this month’s meeting in the Bayamanaco Balcony reunion which is currently taking place at Hotel Presidente in Havana, Cuba.
Every month, the group gets together to discuss important trends in the country’s tourism market at a meeting called the Bayamanaco Balcony. During this month’s meeting, the tourism experts discussed topics such as the nation’s tourism industry’s strong links with gastronomy and its link to the increasing number of tourists taking holidays to Cuba.
During the meeting, attendees assessed the growth of the recreational options to be enjoyed during Cuba holidays and the impact they had on the national economy and the tourism industry. Several of the country’s attractions and historic sites are promoted throughout all hotels in Cuba with the objective to target the higher-income tourists.
The Bayamanaco Balcony, also known as the “Balcon de Habano”, gives both Cuban and international producers and distributors the opportunity to introduce new brands of first class products such as liquors, beverages and cigars, which enrich the offerings tourists can enjoy during holidays in Cuba. As well as representatives of beverage and food production houses, the event is also attended by bartenders, managers, journalists and diplomats who have the opportunity to sample these offerings.
Cuba is expecting to receive nearly three millions tourists this year with hopes to attract more visitors from Canada, Russia, France and Italy and closer nations in Latin America such as Argentina.
Jose Manuel Bisbe, Commercial Director of the Tourism Ministry, said: “Three million tourists to Cuba in a year is not far from achieving.”
Cuba travel is also being made accessible to American tourists after U.S. President Barrack Obama eased restrictions on holidays to Cuba for religious, cultural, academic and educational purposes. The President relaxed restrictions on the decades-long U.S-Cuba travel ban in January this year and many airlines and ferry companies have already commenced charter services between airports and ports in the U.S and Cuba.
The majority of tourists who visit Cuba come from Canada, the United Kingdom, Spain and Germany (in that order). Currently these countries are the Top 4 with the largest number of holidaymakers visiting the island. In 2009 the island nation recorded a total of 914, 844 Canadian visitors and tourism officials are expecting at least one million tourists from the North American country by the end of 2011.
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Start your Cuban experience at the NH Capri Hotel, one of Havana’s most historically popular mafia-run hotels of the...
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Walmart cuts more than just prices -- it cuts small businesses and jobs, according to a new study released by Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer. Weighing in on the debate about whether Walmart should enter New York City, the study found that between 30 and 41 small retailers would go out of business within the first year of just one Walmart opening in Harlem. By the second year, as many as 66 small retailers could be out of business. "When you lose local businesses, you lose local jobs," Stringer says. "And Walmart wages are so low, they're basically pushing people to public assistance."
Stringer used a 2009 Chicago study as a model for his research. That study found that 25 percent of competing businesses within a one-mile radius of a West Chicago Walmart closed within a year of the Walmart opening, and 40 percent closed by the second year. Stringer applied the model to a vacant location in Harlem that was big enough to house a Walmart, and surveyed 304 licensed local retailers with a fresh food component.
"I talked to small-business owners who have put their sweat equity and life savings into keeping these stores afloat during this recession," Stringer says. "These storeowners are pioneers in this community. They invested so much of themselves making sure these businesses could make it in the community at a time when banks were not in Harlem, when developers didn’t want to do business there, when there weren't any chains. We're doing everything in our power to make sure they have a fighting chance in the face of a Walmart coming to Harlem. To simply ignore the work of middle-class people trying to advance themselves in the face of a huge conglomerate coming in and wiping out everything they built is scary to me."
Walmart refuted the study's model as well as its conclusions. "How many times are the special interests going to try and repackage the same flawed -- and repeatedly debunked -- Chicago study?" said Steve Restivo, senior director of community affairs for Walmart. "The truth is that anyone who has been to the west side of Chicago knows the positive economic impact we’ve had there, just like anyone who walks the streets of Harlem knows residents want more affordable options when it comes to healthy, nutritious food."
A Walmart release also pointed to surveys indicating New Yorkers are in favor of a Walmart in the city, and that Manhattan residents are on pace to spend more than $65 million this year at Walmart locations outside the city. Stringer acknowledges that New Yorkers have a need to buy goods at a cheaper price, but says the study aims to educate local consumers about the bigger costs they might have to pay to get those lower prices, such as seeing local businesses close down. "When you ask New Yorkers whether they want to see small businesses in their neighborhoods go out [of business as a result], the answer is 'no way,'" Stringer says. "No one wants to see their local bodega driven out of business because we didn't ask these questions about a conglomerate."
Another critic of Stringer's study is Chicago City Council member, Alderman Emma Mitts, who said in a statement, "I would like to invite Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer to visit Chicago to see firsthand the economic development Walmart has created in my community. Walmart has been a boon to my constituents on the far West Side of Chicago. The change is obvious. No research report, especially one so flawed, will convince me otherwise."
"I would be delighted to visit Chicago, as Alderman Mitts suggested," Stringer responded. "And while I'm there, I'd like to meet with the owners of all the competing stores that had to close as a result of Walmart's opening -- more than 40 percent within a one-mile radius -- along with all of the employees who lost their jobs."


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Alibaba has blamed an outage at its Alibaba Cloud Hong Kong IDC Zone C on the failure of refrigeration equipment at a data center.
The cloud division, also known as Aliyun, said that the facility is operated by PCCW DC, which was acquired by DigitalBridge last year and merged into Vantage Data Centers.
"After investigation, we found the anomaly was caused by the failure of a refrigeration equipment in [a data center] site operated by PCCW, which affects the use of cloud products such as ECS, cloud database, storage products (OSS, Tablestore, etc.), cloud network products (Global Acceleration, NAT Gateway, VPN Gateway, etc.) in the availability zone C of Alibaba Cloud Hong Kong region," Alibaba said on its status page about the outage that began on the 18th of December.
"This issue also affected the console access and API call operations in the Hong Kong region."
Alibaba Cloud and PCCW engineers have now restored the refrigeration equipment, with the company saying that they are "gradually getting back to normal operation."
The cloud company promised to "make compensations accordingly based on the product/service agreements with customers, including service level agreements(SLAs) of relevant products," and apologized for the incident.
Cryptocurrency exchange OKX blamed the issues on its own outages, and glitches that have left users seeing $0 in their funds.
"There is currently an intermittent connection error with our cloud provider which is affecting the user experience," the company said. "Our dev team is resolving it with them. Funds are safe. Sorry for any inconvenience caused."
The Monetary Authority of Macau, Galaxy Macau hotel, Lotus TV Macau, and food delivery platform MFood were also impacted by the outage.


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SUNNYVALE — Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer announced her resignation Tuesday in a message to employees confirming the firm’s $4.5 billion sale to Verizon has closed.
“It’s an emotional time for all of us,” Mayer, 42, wrote in a blog post. “Given the inherent changes to my role, I’ll be leaving the company.”
Mayer’s nearly five years leading the iconic Sunnyvale internet firm were notable for her failure to reverse its declining fortunes and for two world-record hacks of user data.
But in her message to workers, Mayer pointed to achievements by the company that were largely overshadowed by the troubles.
Yahoo has drawn in more than a billion monthly users, making it one of three internet firms in the world to boast that number of viewers, while increasing monthly mobile users to more than 650 million, Mayer said
She pointed to the business areas she has dubbed “mavens,” meaning mobile, video, native advertising and social, saying they generated more than $2 billion in revenue last year, 42 percent of the company’s total income, up tenfold from 2012.
Mayer also cited other accomplishments under her watch, saying that since July 2012, “we oversaw the creation of $43 billion in market capitalization and shareholder value.”
Analyst Scott Kessler of CFRA Research counted 79 uses of the word “we” in Mayer’s message.
“Clearly she wanted to make clear that she and the team did and achieved quite a bit over the last nearly five years, and (she) articulated many points to various constituencies to support that notion, writing directly to users, advertisers, shareholders and employees,” Kessler said.
She was also aiming at another constituency: future employers and funders, Kessler said.
“That letter largely constitutes a resume for her to put in front of … companies and venture capital firms,” Kessler said.
Still, Mayer has a right — to a point — to highlight accomplishments by Yahoo under her leadership, Kessler said.
Yahoo’s stock price had fallen below $20 when Mayer came in and now it’s over $50, Kessler noted.
“There’s probably more to be proud of than many had understood or acknowledged, but I think it’s fair to say that the letter does not paint a completely comprehensive or objective picture of Yahoo over the last five years,” he said.
Absent from Mayer’s missive are any direct references to the massive data breaches, loss of market share to Google and Facebook, periods of poor stock performance, and revenue that has fallen precipitously since the end of 2009, Kessler pointed out.
And Mayer took substantial heat over expensive acquisitions that gained some talent for the firm but essentially went nowhere, such as Yahoo’s $1.1 billion purchase of blogging site Tumblr in 2013 — the venue she chose for publishing her message Tuesday.
“Ironically, everyone was looking at her Tumblr post, but how many times do people find themselves on Tumblr these days?” Kessler said.
Mayer’s tenure as Yahoo’s CEO has been subjected to constant scrutiny and frequent attacks by analysts, investors and the media — and much of the judgment arose because of her gender, argued Women in Technology International President David Leighton.
Leighton compared the $4.4 billion sale to Verizon of a struggling AOL under CEO and former Google executive Tim Armstrong with the $4.5 billion sale to Verizon of a troubled Yahoo under CEO and former Google executive Mayer.
“Tim sold the company to Verizon and he was a hero,” Leighton said. “Marissa sold the company to Verizon and basically did the exact same thing, and she’s a failure.”
The flak Mayer caught for ordering employees to quit working remotely stands as an example of the handicap she faced as a woman in an industry dominated by men, Leighton said.
Men in this position are typically seen as great leaders, he said, but a female leader who acts aggressively is derided.
“She’s just an off-the-charts genius, and I’m sure she’ll do very well,” he said.
Mayer is to receive a $23 million golden parachute, according to a Yahoo regulatory filing.
The sale to Verizon included Yahoo’s core assets, which Verizon will merge with AOL into an internet company called Oath.
What remains of the former Yahoo will become an investment company called Altaba, headquartered in New York City, with holdings of about $52 billion in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba and about $9 billion in Yahoo Japan, plus a collection of patents.


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The Uniroyal brand has launched six commercial truck tyres in the US market, providing an affordable offer for every tyre position and application — from long-haul to regional to on-/off- road.
Two of the tyres, Uniroyal RS20 and Uniroyal LS24, are SmartWay-verified and meet the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requirements for outstanding fuel efficiency.
“We are pleased to bring the Uniroyal brand, which has been in the US passenger and light truck market for over 120 years, to the US commercial truck market,” said Donna Murphy, Business Segment Manager for Uniroyal Commercial Truck Tyres. “Uniroyal truck tyres provide affordable, reliable solutions for commercial truck operators.”
DuraShield construction, at the heart of every Uniroyal tyre, provides a unique combination of features for durability, dependability and retreadability. Three strategic features — including pyramidal steel belts, insulating belt edge strips and a heavy gauge inner liner — work together to reduce stress, promote endurance and protect the tyre’s casing. Uniroyal commercial truck tyres are backed by a four-year manufacturer’s limited warranty. Certain tyres used in long-haul and regional applications are also covered by a one-retread limited warranty.
The new Uniroyal line consists of six tread designs with 28 sizes:
- Uniroyal LS24: SmartWay-verified long-haul all-position tyre optimised for the steer axle
- Uniroyal LT40: Long-haul and regional trailer tyre
- Uniroyal RS20: SmartWay-verified regional all-position tyre optimised for the steer axle
- Uniroyal RD30: Regional and long-haul drive tyre
- Uniroyal HS50: On-/off -road all-position tyre optimised for the steer axle
- Uniroyal HD60: On-/off-road drive tyre


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Kotani, Kenya’s 2-year-old crypto remittance startup based is working on creating a seamless cross-border payment process. This payment platform will help Africans who have no access to banks and bank accounts. Kotani is focusing on Kenya, Ghana, Zambia, South Africa, Nigeria, Rwanda, Ivory Coast, Tanzania, and Senegal.
To facilitate quick establishment of the cross-border payment process, Kotani has secured a $2 million pre-seed investment. P1 Ventures led the funding round with investors like DCG/Luno and Flori Ventures.
Kotani realized there were issues in the usual money transfer process. This issues include heavy transfer fees, information imbalance, and currency variation. Due to this, the startup is establishing a seamless way for money transfers, especially for people in remote areas who lack access to banks and internet connection.
Kotani is utilizing blockchain to make an easy way for remittances. The company is making use of stablecoins, cryptocurrencies fixed to flat currencies such as American dollars, to transfer cash globally at a cost that is just a fraction of the old way.
The startup is pushing out its service as a business-to-business (B2B) solution, linking crypto platforms’ smart contracts and also mobile APIs side by side. Yellowcard, DCG, Fonbank, Celo’s Valora, Mercy Corps, UNICEF Crypto Innovation Fund, and Stellar are some of Kotani’s major crypto affiliates.
The co-founder of the startup said, Kotani also allows users to “on-ramp,” or convert their local currencies into USD, a solution that’s tailored more to businesses at the moment but could open to retail users in the future with the required licenses.
The co-founder further said that the process is enabled by a “network of liquidity providers through partnerships with local forex services and money transmitter operators from whom we source local USD.”
Kotani’s platform has performed transfers to the sum of $23 million which are all inbound payments with an average remittance value size of about 150,000 dollars. The startup monetizes through an exchange rate of about 1% of the total transaction size.
Kotani is planning on launching other services such as Reconset which is a Reconciliation-as-a-Service offering, and Money Ledger, a Ledger-as-a-Service solution. This service comes in the wake of Kotani buying Fuhlstack, a Nigerian startup. The acquisition led to Lemuel Okoli, Fuhlstack founder joining Macharia and Samuel Kariuki becoming co-founders of Kotani


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What’s the deal with trying to identify the “next big entrepreneur” in Europe? Perhaps we’ve gotten tired of looking for the next big idea, and now it’s time to identify the next big entrepreneur. Award ceremonies for startups have always lived up to the Golden Globe-like atmosphere they try to give off, in that everyone secretly knows that the awards don’t mean a thing, and yet we nonetheless want our favorite startup (or ourselves) to win this meaningless award.
The Europas – it’s like The Crunchies, and all the glory that goes with that comparison
The Europas, recently handed off to the Web Summit gang, has been pushing to not only award the top European startups, founders & VCs, but has been pushing regional awards as well, having announced the shortlists for awards for best startup in France, Russia, the UK, and pretty much everywhere in Europe. While the event promises to live up to the standards of SV’s The Crunchies, as well as to the reputation of the previous editions of The Europas, I can’t help but point out that neither of those two things carries any real value.
MIT – they also kill time…
At the same time as The Europas looks to define Europe’s next big startups and entprenreurs,, MIT is doing its 2nd annual TR35 event, which also includes a regional look for inspiring Entrepreneurs under 35 – the French site is here, with all its too-confusing-to-find-how-to-nominate-people beauty. The nominations close today, and I’m not too sure how representative any nomination will be of the ecosystem, given that I only found out about it last week, thanks to a tweet or two that seemed borderline sponsored.
The Europioneers – the last entrepre-frontier
Lastly, the European Commission and TheNextWeb have teamed up to bring the Europioneers, “an initiative to celebrate Europe’s finest technology entrepreneurs.” It sounds like a nice idea – the EC has certainly been doing a lot of consideration on how it can support the ecosystem – but is an award show organized by a government body really the solution? You can nominate your favorite European Tech Entrepreneur for the Europioneers through February 14th.
Do entrepreneurs really need awards?
I find myself asking this question often. Given the amount of time we spend writing, watching, analyzing predicting, investing, chewing out, supporting, hating, loving, hating again, and finally saying we knew they would make it all along, do entrepreneurs really need “best travel/wine startup” awards to help the rest of us follow the vast scene in Europe?
I’ve often argued that there aren’t enough startups in France that we need a local accelerator – that isn’t to say that there aren’t a lot of startups, there are, it’s just that what French startups need is hands-on mentoring and someone to say “hurry the fuck up,” not free office space & PR. I feel oddly similar about startup award ceremonies. While I will always root for my favorite startup to win, especially a French startup, I have to ask myself: am I wasting my time or that of the nominated startups? Even worse, am I misleading my readers to thinking that these startups are the most important ones to watch?


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In fall 2009 Manfrotto, world-leader in photo and video professional support, launched a corporate adv campaign on its brand, featuring the Manfrotto logo, and the company’s flagship products.
The agency chosen for the job was the Italian Claim Advertising, while the photographer called in to capture the flagship products was Roberto Bigano.
Read the full article here
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From The Huffington Post:
Don’t lament the lost days of cutting your fingers on pristine new novels or catching a whiff of that magical, transportive old book smell just yet! A slew of recent studies shows that print books are still popular, even among millennials. What’s more: further research suggests that this trend may save demonstrably successful learning habits from certain death. Take comfort in these 9 studies that show that print books have a promising future:
Younger people are more likely to believe that there’s useful information that’s only available offline.
While 62 percent of citizens under 30 subscribe to this belief, only 53 percent of those 30 and older agree. These findings are from a promising study released last year by Pew Research, which also found that millennials are more likely to visit their local library.
. . . .
Students opt for physical copies of humanities books, even when digital versions are available for free.
While students prefer reading digital texts for science and math classes, they like to study the humanities in print. A study conducted by the University of Washington in 2013, and quoted in The Washington Post, shows that 25 percent of humanities students bought physical versions of free ebooks.
Link to the rest at The Huffington Post and thanks to Ron for the tip.
And because studies have shown that the audience remembers more from a live stage play than from a television show or movie, the latter two media formats have no future.


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|Archives - September 2007|
|Saturday, September 01, 2007|
BEAVERTON Partnering with two other Portland-area companies, Nike launched its first interactive television ad last month. Nike’s “Quick is Deadly” campaign, by the swoosh’s longtime ad partner Wieden+Kennedy, is supporting the rollout of the Zoom footwear line and features athletes such as football’s LaDainian Tomlinson and basketball’s Steve Nash. Customers of the Dish Network with a DVR receiver will be able to access the interactive part of the promotion developed by Portland-based interactive TV company Ensequence. Those viewers will be able to watch bonus footage and pull up a menu for access to product information. Ensequence, which has brought interactivity to television characters such as Dora the Explorer and Bravo’s Top Chef, has done more than 20 interactive commercials since 2006, including one for Nike rival Reebok.
Monday, April 27, 2015
BY JACOB PALMER AND EILEEN GARVIN
A power lunch at Solstice Wood Fire Cafe & Bar.
Monday, April 27, 2015
BY LINDA BAKER
A longtime technologist and entrepreneur, Dwayne Johnson, 53, is managing partner of PDXO/GlobeThree Ventures, a strategy and business consultancy in Portland.
Friday, April 17, 2015
PHOTOS BY JASON E. KAPLAN
The 32nd annual CBC attracted a record number of attendees (11,000) to the Oregon Convention Center.
Thursday, May 21, 2015
BY JASON NORRIS | GUEST BLOGGER
Uncertainty is a part of doing business, whether in through the lens of investment opportunities and risks or the business of running an enterprise.
Thursday, April 23, 2015
BY JACOB PALMER | DIGITAL NEWS EDITOR
The entrepreneurial spirit was alive and well at the Oregon Angel showcase, an annual event for angel investors and early stage entrepreneurs.
Tuesday, May 26, 2015
BY KIM MOORE
A conversation with Gene Pelham, CEO of Rogue Credit Union.
Thursday, May 14, 2015
BY JASON E. KAPLAN | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
There are more than 160 farmers markets in Oregon, contributing an estimated $50 million in sales, according to the Oregon Farmers Markets Association. We checked in on the Forest Grove market, which for several years has brought local produce and food vendors to Main Street in the center of town.
|The Good Hacker|
|It's a Man's Man's Man's World|
|Short Shrift:The threat of just-in-time scheduling|
|Downtime with the director of Barley's Angels|
|Fighting Fire With Fire|
|Shades of Gray|
|Man for All Seasons|
|Two protesters chain themselves to Shell ship outside of Bellingham|
|PDX Carpet Adidas sell out in limited edition release|
|How to court millennials|
|Wal-Mart wants meat suppliers to improve treatment of animals|
|Scandal negatively impacts Tom Brady's endorsement value|
|John Kerry pushes TPP in Seattle speech|
|Big banks hit with $2.5B fine|
New conference aims to solve challenges, quell fears amid regulatory changes.
Tourism marketing supports entrepreneurship by attracting visitors to all corners of the state.
Beaverton firm's business intelligence platform rivals that of industry heavyweights.
The Oregon Entrepreneurs Network (OEN) will be presenting its third annual Entrepreneurial Summit on Friday, June 5 at Castaway in Portland, Oregon.
On June 13th Mayor Charlie Hales will attend nonprofit organization Dream Change’s inaugural Love Summit and will introduce one of its keynote speakers, Dan Wieden of Wieden+Kennedy advertising agency.
34 spots for food, 17 places to sip, and 7 sites to choose a brew beckon visitors.


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NEW YORK (MainStreet) - In what is widely expected to be an ongoing trend this year, mergers and acquisitions activity in the cannabis sector continues to steam on strong.
Surna Inc. (SRNA), an OTC-traded cannabis-sector manufacturing company in the water cooling and hydro grow space, has acquired a 66% stake in Agrisoft Development Group. Agrisoft develops seed-to-sale tracking systems to aid with mandatory compliance measures in state-legal marijuana markets.
Surna was founded by by Tom Bollich, best known to date as the creator of Farmville, a Zynga Facebook game. Bollich, in addition to being an innovative social gamer, also has a background in artificial intelligence (AI). He also has clearly developed a passion for taking a managed virtual grow space and overlaying this idea against real world industry needs for a highly managed industrial marijuana grow farm infrastructure. Surna's products help commercial growers more tightly control energy and water use - all bottom-line expenses that can evaporate profits.
"Agrisoft allows Surna to expand upon our existing platform," said Katie O'Block, a spokesperson from Surna. "Growers will have the ability to know exactly what's going on in their garden and will be able to have maximum control."
Surna is clearly positioning itself as a leading firm in one of the most intriguing growth areas of the overall industry in its immediate future - from policy to on-the-ground implementation.
Resource-managed, internal grow spaces are not just the future of the cannabis industry, however. They are here now. The vast bulk of the legitimate industry in Colorado is indoors, and this is a trend that appears to be sweeping the country. New York State may ban outdoor "old fashioned" cannabis farming altogether.


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‘Sustainable by design’: Inside P&G’s Vault to shape sustainable behaviour change
EXCLUSIVE: edie heads to Geneva, where multinational goods giant P&G has opened up its “Vault”, designed to inform product designs based on consumers trends and preferences, which are increasingly focused on sustainability.
“No picture, no photos.” That is what journalists are told as they are escorted into an elevator and down to the bottom floor of P&G’s Geneva headquarters. A group of about 20 people are set to be the first media representatives to ever step foot into the company’s “Vault”.
Created in 2002 the 4,000 sq.m floor has been designed as a “store of the future” to explore how technology can be harnessed to uncover customer habits and utilise data to ensure that P&G products are front and center in the minds of shoppers at the exact moment they want or need them.
P&G reps tell me that what we’re about to see in the Vault is the “equity of [the company’s] intellectual gold,” which is fitting considering that the building used to belong to the banking sector.
The Vault itself is a labyrinth of moving walls that can be pushed and pulled to escort you to the next stage of a futuristic journey that examines the shops and households of tomorrow. Its central focus is to explore “growth that is sustainable”, but in truth, it takes a while for sustainability to become the central talking point of the tour.
First, journalists are allowed to explore the psychology of a shopper and how purchasing decisions are impacted by structural and societal trends, one of which happens to be sustainability considerations.
Research suggests that six in ten people would prefer businesses to do more to offer sustainable options. Half said they are keen to make “significant” changes to their lifestyle in a bid to cut their environmental impact – particularly if this results in cost savings.
However, less than half of consumers are willing to pay a premium on a product based on its perceived sustainability credentials, with a new global survey of shoppers finding that fewer are inclined to shop sustainably as they grapple with the cost-of-living crisis. The trick for brands like P&G is to find the balance.
We’re funnelled through more parts of the labyrinthian vault and get more glimpses of the future of shopping – a mock-up of a living room with Virtual Reality Headsets, smart mirrors that can provide feedback on your skin routine and how smart fridges and washing machines can work collaboratively with brands like P&G to help consumers purchase new, sustainable items at the point of need. P&G describe this as a “glimpse of the future”.
Back above ground, P&G’s chief R&D and innovation officer Victor Aguilar explains how the vault is part of a global investment drive to “help improve consumer life”.
“We invest more than $2bn every year dedicate to serving our customers to improve their lives,” Aguilar says. “Our network of innovation companies all start with a consumer-focused mindset of ‘what do they have today?’ and how do they want to live their lives in the future?
“We have the benefit of operating in 10 different categories and in multiple countries around the world, which gives a very global view of how consumers will lie now to live now and how they want to live. In the UK, for example, we’re seeing that more consumers want to wash their dishes while they’re cooking and prepping, so they have less time for our product formula to activate, so we need to respond to these consumer trends.”
P&G’s overarching commitments on plastics packaging include halving the use of virgin plastics by 2030 across all product categories and innovation and consumer habits will both determine whether this goal will be successful.
The company has embarked on numerous collaborative initiatives to help explore how packaging can be redefined.
P&G Fabric & Care, for example, is working with a consortium of other businesses to support the Paper Bottle Company (Paboco) to trial paper-based alternatives to paper-based alternatives.
A pilot will be launched between P&G and Dutch supermarket chain AS Watson in summer 2023 to sell 75,000 paper bottles of Lenor Fabric Softener bottles. The main challenge facing paper bottle prototypes is keeping the integrity of the bottle shape while housing products like Lenor. The first prototypes feature a pulp-based paper outer layer, and an internal barrier made of 100% recycled PET, which delivers a 30% reduction in plastic used by weight.
Other plastic-focused innovations from the company include refillable aluminium shampoo and conditioner bottles with flexible plastic pouches and incorporating ocean-bound plastics into packaging to reduce virgin material usage.
For Aguilar, the success of these packaging initiatives largely depends on whether P&G, its products and the packaging can meet three key criteria that ultimately ensure that the consumer is satisfied and living a more sustainable life.
“Our programme of sustainability is focused on three pillars. Firstly, we want to reduce our own footprint through our innovations,” Aguilar says. “Secondly, we want to help our consumers live a more sustainable life, so we need to understand how our products interact with what they use and how much energy they use.
“Thirdly, we want to help the industry. We want to help the industry become more sustainable in terms of the packaging they use and the lessons we can share.”
P&G was one of the pioneers behind the development of Life Cycle Analysis standards and metrics, with the aim of uncovering where the biggest carbon impacts of its products were across the value chain. This approach also enables the company to view sustainability innovation without having to settle for trade-offs in performance or value of the products.
Last month, for example, P&G’s Fairy brand used LCA studies to uncover that heating processes tended to account for up to 93% of the carbon footprint from washing dishes by hand, and up to 72% when using a dishwasher. In comparison, the packaging accounts for around 1%, according to the LCA studies.
So while P&G is using both the Vault and its R&D expertise to embed sustainability across its product portfolio, the company is acutely aware of the role that consumer engagement can have in reducing emissions – and in some cases saving households money on energy costs.
Sticking with dishwashing as an example, Fairy is educating customers on the fact that emissions from dishwashing can be reduced by between 33% to 60% annually by reducing the temperature of the water used. This, in turn, can save households money on heating, a factor that is extremely important in the UK where energy bills have increased by more than 50%.
The LCAs are invaluable to P&G’s approach to innovation, by uncovering hotspots where emissions and environmental impact can be reduced, testing on new formulas and products can begin. The trick is finding a solution that benefits the environment, the customer and the company’s growth and value propositions.
The latest Fairy formulas, for example, are designed with a Fast Activating Cleaning System for faster action in short cycles and to work quickly even in cooler water temperatures at the sink. In short, they work in harmony with the LCA findings that emissions from usage need to be reduced, rather than trading off against it.
While the Vault sounds secretive, I’m informed that P&G welcome numerous non-competitive collaborative businesses to explore their futuristic trends. Manufacturers of white goods products like dishwashers, fridges and washing machines, for example, could potentially collaborate with P&G on smart sensors that send the consumer notifications when they need to restock products.
But P&G is not a company that keeps its cards close to its chest. The company’s brands have long collaborated across the sectors they operate in to drive sustainable change. This is most notably evident in the HolyGrail partnership, which won an edie Award for circular economy initiatives back in 2020.
The HolyGrail project aims to use “digital watermarks” the size of postage stamps on consumer goods package that can be detected and decoded by a standard high-resolution camera on the sorting lines when in a waste sorting facility. Once identified, the facility is able to sort packaging into different streams. It is hoped this will deliver more accurate sorting streams, which in turn would create a larger market for higher-quality recycled materials.
In developing the project, more than 30 companies across the plastics packaging value chain, including manufacturers, waste managers and academics, worked together for more than a year to prove the sorting concept.
For P&G’s sustainable packaging expert Gian deBelder, the HolyGrail project is an example of how businesses can work together to deliver large-scale changes that make circularity not just easy for the consumers, but for the waste management industry as well.
“We are putting these types of digital markers on these products and while you won’t see it, they will help in keeping things in the loop. Infrastructure will be able to identify the features of the packages. It’s about banking the data to make better decisions and reduce waste.
“This is still an R&D programme for us,” deBelder says. “We’re upscaling this technology by the end of the year and this is going to be a big scale up. The plan is that the industry will pick this up and roll it out.”
So the Vault will continue to act as P&G’s playground of innovation and data insights, with a specific focus on creating more sustainable habits and products for consumers. Opening the Vault to help spread wider change across the industries that P&G operates in could drastically improve sustainable behaviours without impacting shopping preferences on quality and price.
© Faversham House Ltd 2023 edie news articles may be copied or forwarded for individual use only. No other reproduction or distribution is permitted without prior written consent.


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The Underlying Climate Mechanisms of International Food Trade
Corn is particularly vulnerable to extreme heat events. As extreme weather events rise, we expect US corn yield to become increasingly unstable. This type of instability – known as yield volatility – means that the commodity market will consequently also become more volatile and unstable. Just how unstable it becomes will depend, in part, on our economic integration. International market integration, through free trade, is shown to dampen the instability of the prices of commodities (agricultural goods and products). In addition, increased integration between the food and energy sectors also has the potential to diminish this type of volatility – but only in the absence of biofuel mandates.
Climate change will have long term affects. The predicted impacts vary by crop type and location, but, by the end of the century they are expected to be overwhelmingly negative and world food prices will rise (relative to baseline values). The impacts won’t be the same for everyone. Farm households, and those employed in agriculture may benefit from higher prices. Urban households, however, are expected to lose – particularly the poorest households who devote the largest share of their income to food. As world prices for crops rise, the areas that are least affected by rising temperatures will benefit (relatively) more from climate change.
Over the coming decades, different regions’ comparative advantages will be altered by the changing climate. Areas that now produce an abundance of crops may find that they are no longer able to do so, and areas that were historically poor for crop growth may become more viable. In a freely functioning global economy, trade patterns would respond to this by evolving to comparative advantages. This would in turn give low income consumers access to food at the most favorable prices possible. Historically, however, food trade has faced many obstacles – both tariff and non-tariff barriers – as well as poor infrastructure and limited trade facilitation. This limits the ability of trade to adjust to a changing economic landscape.
In the worst case scenario, climate change impacts on agriculture will cause a 120% rise in malnutrition in South Asia under current trade policies. However, under fully integrated world markets, the rise in malnutrition headcount is far smaller. Global integration of commodity markets significantly reduces food security risks due to climate change at mid-century. Economic integration can facilitate adaptation to climate change and lead to enhanced food security in the near term and in the long run.


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China said to stop Tencent and Alibaba from offering virtual credit cards
As the Chinese government ramps up its efforts to increase restrictions on web-based financial products, a source told Bloomberg News that the People's Bank of China has stopped Tencent Holdings Ltd and an affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd from providing virtual credit cards to its clients.
The Chinese central bank has said to have notified its branches in Shenzhen and Hangzhou to stop the use of virtual cards. The person added that payments operations that relied on Quick Response codes were also blocked because they posed risks to safety. The source spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the confidentiality of the information, the report said.
There are 618 million Web users in China and Tencent, Alibaba and Baidu Inc are trying to outdo each other in providing these users with online financial products. Alipay.com, an Alibaba affiliate, and China Citic Bank Corp intended to roll out a million cards bearing a CNY 200 or $33 minimum credit limit next week. The bank was also set to make more cards available with Tencent and Zhongan Online Property & Casualty Insurance Co, the report said.
Shanghai-based Internet consultant IResearch Analyst Wang Weidong told Bloomberg News in an interview, "The PBOC could be worried about payment risks involving QR codes. As for the credit cards, a lot of the credit risk calculation is based on data provided by Tencent and Alibaba, so the central bank might be worried about their models."
Wang added that they PBOC could change its mind and allow the use of virtual credit cards, which would give customers the opportunity to purchase goods on online retail platforms on credit, after a thorough evaluation has been conducted and regulations tightened. PBOC Deputy Governor Li Dongrong said earlier this month that the central is looking into ways to come up with regulations related to web-based finance, the report said.


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XTAGE, the cryptocurrency branch of Brazilian financial services giant XP Investimentos (XP, Inc), has decided to wind down its operations. Starting tomorrow, users will no longer have the ability to purchase any of the digital assets listed on the platform, which includes popular cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Polygon, Chainlink, Solana, Cardano, and Litecoin.
XP removes the crypto purchase feature from XTAGE
The specific reasons behind this closure remain somewhat mysterious. However, the company has communicated to its customers via email that the decision is an internal one and not prompted by any risks associated with their client base. Despite the impending shutdown, XTAGE has provided a grace period for users to manage their assets. Users will still be able to sell their holdings without incurring fees or brokerage charges until December 15.
XTAGE hopes that this two-month period will assist customers in making the best decisions regarding the liquidation of their cryptocurrency positions. Additionally, the company will maintain its customer service operations until December. Effective December 16, XTAGE will take the remaining assets in users’ accounts and sell them. The proceeds from these sales will be deposited into a corresponding digital account at Banco XP. XP Investimentos, founded in 2001, stands as Brazil’s largest broker, boasting more than $1 billion Brazilian reals (approximately $202 million) in client assets under management.
The firm says it will continue to offer crypto products
The company was valued at $15 billion when it was listed on Nasdaq in 2019, and its current market capitalization, according to MarketWatch, is approximately $11.37 billion. XTAGE marked XP’s second venture into the cryptocurrency industry. The company initially launched the exchange XDEX in 2018, only to close it down in March 2020 due to regulatory uncertainties. XP Investimentos, alongside Itaú BBVA (Brazil’s largest private bank) and Banco Genial, had the responsibility of coordinating Brazil’s sixth cryptocurrency exchange-traded fund (ETF).
According to the crypto market in the region, the ETF was described as the “world’s first DeFi ETF.” Despite the decision to close XTAGE, XP Investimentos has made it clear that they will continue to offer a range of cryptocurrency products to customers interested in maintaining exposure to the digital asset space. These offerings will include ETFs and cryptocurrency funds, ensuring that the company maintains a presence in the cryptocurrency market.


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Pingree Detroit is a homegrown business helping veterans that live in the D.
CEO of Pingree Detroit, Jarrett Schlaff said he wanted the company to help men and women who served our country get back into the workforce. He said he had to come up with an idea of what kind of work can be created in Detroit that is meaningful and allows Detroiters to work with their hands.
"I had to create something that has never been done before," said Schlaff. He said that he decided to name his company after another veteran Hazan S. Pingree. "He was a veteran, a three term mayor of Detroit, an extremely progressive man who put the well being of the people first and he was also the 24th governor of Michigan."
Pingree makes unisex accessories like bags, wallets and footwear. The company utilize un-used or leftover leather from auto plants for their goods. "We take this gorgeous material that should not be discarded or shipped over seas and keep it in Detroit." Schlaff says he is really excited to be participating his community and focusing on job creation that's accessible to Detroiters, while keeping that wealth in the neighborhood.
You can find more information about Pingree Detroit, including where to purchase merchandise, on their website.


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Walgreens won't sell Easter baskets with toy soldiers
By Theresa Howard USA TODAY
Walgreens is retreating from plans to sell packaged Easter baskets in which toy soldiers and other war toys were featured nestled among the Easter candies.
The country's biggest drugstore chain will pull the cellophane-wrapped, woven baskets it, as well as several other giant retailers including Wal-Mart and Kmart, has on shelves alongside baskets featuring plush or large chocolate bunnies, dolls or action figures as their centerpieces.
Walgreens says intensifying talk of war in Iraq led it to rethink the combat sets that include troops in battle dress, assault rifles, planes, tanks and other toys, along with traditional candies.
"We reconsidered the appropriateness of having them in Easter baskets and considered the impending war and thought it would not be appropriate to sell baskets with soldiers or military men," says Carol Hively, a spokeswoman for the 3,998-store chain.
She says the company had received just one consumer complaint.
Other retailers with such baskets are sticking to their guns:
- Wal-Mart. The world's biggest retailer sells three types of baskets with military figures and accessories and has no plan to pull them.
"We share in the pride of Americans toward our service men and women," says Karen Burk, Wal-Mart spokeswoman.
"We think many of our customers will enjoy the baskets as toy soldiers have proven to be a popular toy for many years," Burk says. "Every decision we make on products is what we believe customers want, and this would be no different."
- Kmart. Bendable action heroes packaged with pistol, ammunition, hand grenades and Skittles are one of three military sets in baskets.
"We've sold these for years and haven't gotten any attention until this year," spokeswoman Abigail Jacobs says.
Kmart has had six complaints. "We wouldn't continue to sell action figures if they didn't sell well," Jacobs says.
While Easter has a serious religious significance for many, its significance to toy and candy sales has been growing. It is second only to Halloween, with candy sales of more than $1.8 billion. Increasing gift-giving and inclusion of dolls of all kinds or other toys in baskets is raising its importance to toymakers and retailers.
"The toy industry sees Easter as the second key seasonal pop," says Reyne Rice, director at NPDFunworld, which tracks toy sales. "We've noticed that and tracked that for years."
Any toy figure in the basket is "a good thing," Rice says. "There's so much press about obesity and kids being couch potatoes. If they're playing with toys, they're not eating the wrong foods."


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||Trademark recycling: Android smartphones from 'Commodore Business Machines'|
According to the Italian Wikipedia (automated translation) the "Commodore" trademark has been acquired by a Massimo Canigiani in 2014. If this is true or what "acquired" actually means is currently unknown to us. According to the EU trademark database, the relevant "Commodore" marks are still owned by Dutch Commodore Holdings B.V. There is a Commodore mark registered in Italy, but it's still assigned to ESCOM.
As Commodore Holdings is still defending the mark aggressively - the organisator of a Crowdfunding effort to reproduce the C64 II cases got a written warning recently - it's safe to assume the situation will become more clear soon.
At least Canigiani seems to be quite confident: He already incorporated a company called "Commodore Business Machines Ltd." in England. Using the official website and a Facebook page he's already advertising his first product: an Android based smartphone sporting a Commodore 'chickenhead' logo. (cg) (Translation: cg)
[News message: 06. Apr. 2015, 16:08] [Comments: 0]
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Pod Rods: a wild Ferrari, an Amelia award and some new concepts
This weekend's Pod Rods flogs a Ferrari on grass; looks at more upcoming car show unveils; tells you about an international award for the Amelia Island concours; and shows what happened to one local at another SE concours.
It's all on Pod Rods…
Only weeks after unveiling its ZEOD RC (Zero Emission On Demand Racing Car), which will compete at the 24 Hours of Le Mans next June, Nissan says it will unveil its new BladeGlider concept at the Nov. 23 Tokyo Motor Show. The 3-seat concept sports car is a proposal for the future direction of Nissan electric vehicle development, and a prototype of an upcoming production vehicle, Nissan said.
The car adopts the ZEOD's narrow front track for aerodynamics for reduced drag and enhanced maneuverability. Aerodynamic downforce is created by the rigid lightweight carbon-fiber underbody. Its in-wheel motors provide rear-wheel propulsion with independent motor management using lithium-ion battery technology. The cockpit seats three in a triangular configuration with the driver center-forward.
Honda has released a sketch of the Honda FCEV Concept it will show at Nov. 20's Los Angeles Auto Show, and it "expresses a potential styling direction" for its next-generation fuel-cell electric vehicle coming in 2015 to the U.S. and Japan.
"The Honda FCEV Concept demonstrates the company's vision for the future of personal mobility and our commitment to developing advanced alternative fuel vehicles," said Mike Accavitti, senior vice president of American Honda Motor Co., Inc. "As we work toward the introduction of our next-generation fuel-cell vehicle in 2015, our long-term experience with fuel-cell technologies will help us pave a way towards a zero-emissions future."
Honda was the first automaker to begin leasing fuel-cell electric vehicles to fleet customers in 2002. About two dozen customers are driving the FCX Clarity.
Further details about the Honda FCEV Concept will be revealed at the Los Angeles Auto Show.
Other LA Auto Show news includes Subaru's new Legacy Concept to celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Legacy and provide a look at the styling cues for future models. Adorned with a custom Ocean Silver Metallic paint scheme, concept has a more coupe-like silhouette and is a "modern interpretation of the Legacy" with a more distinguished front design, Subaru says. Flared wheel arches cover 21-inch wheels, and there's a pronounced character line flowing into the short rear deck.
Volkswagen announced a new e-Golf, its first fully electric vehicle, will to go on sale in the U.S. in the last quarter of 2014. The electric Golf debuts at the Los Angeles Auto Show, part of VW's structured powertrain strategy that will lead to the timely introduction of new and alternative drive systems. The car is powered by a 115-hp electric motor with 199 pound-feet of torque, allowing the e-Golf to reach 25 mph in 4.2 seconds and hit 60 mph in about 10.4 seconds. Top speed is electronically limited to 87 mph. Depending on driving style and charging behavior, the average range for the e-Golf is between 70 and 90 miles. The e-Golf is available in five-door form only with unique aluminum-alloy wheels and LED headlights, a first for a VW.
Chevrolet will introduce a mid-size cousin to its reengineered full-sized truck portfolio at LA - the new Colorado pickup. The Nov. 20 premiere will showcase a truck Chevrolet says "is engineered to be the most capable, most versatile and technologically advanced midsized truck in the market." Watch the reveal live from Los Angeles on Nov. 20 at http://youtu.be/-XkUGs-OEE4.
Porsche is celebrating two world premieres and three North American debuts at the 2013 Los Angeles Auto Show. The new Porsche Macan compact SUV, the automaker's fifth model line, will be unveiled on Wednesday, Nov. 20. Further debuts include the 911 Turbo Cabriolet and 911 Turbo S Cabriolet - top track speed of up to 195 mph. Additionally, the Porsche 918 Spyder will be shown for the first time at an auto show in North America. This plug-in hybrid sports car can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in less than 2.8 seconds and offers extraordinary low fuel consumption. The 570-hp Porsche Panamera Turbo S and Panamera Turbo S Executive models will also be on display shortly after their world debut at the Tokyo Motor Show the same day. The Executive version is available with a 5.9-inch-longer wheelbase.
A special version of the new 2014 Aston Martin Vanquish Volante, originally unveiled at the Pebble Beach Automotive Week this summer, is set to make its first public appearance at LA next week. The unique Neiman Marcus Edition Vanquish Volante has been hand crafted by the company's bespoke customisation arm; Q by Aston Martin. Inspired by the iconic 1969 DB6 Volante owned by the Prince of Wales and featured in the Royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, this exclusive car debuted as part of the prestigious 2013 Neiman Marcus Fantasy Christmas Catalogue. Production is limited to 10 examples. The Vanquish Volante is the first fully carbon fiber-skinned Volante in the brand's 100-year history and has a 6-liter V-12 engine capable of a top speed ofat 183 mph.
Mercedes-AMG debuts two high-performance vehicles at LA and Tokyo - the S 65 AMG and the SLS AMG GT FINAL EDITION. Tobias Moers, Chairman of the Board of Management of Mercedes-AMG, said the pair represent the "spectacular next level for our exciting model array."
"The S 65 AMG stands for maximum exclusiveness and the unparalleled dynamism of a V-12," he said. "With the SLS AMG GT FINAL EDITION, we are showing an ultimate, particularly attractive variant of our super sports car."
Twelve cylinders, bi-turbocharging, an output of 630 hp let the S 65 AMG accelerats from 0 to 100 km/h in 4.3 seconds.
A rare Jacksonville classic took home a class win Nov. 3 at the Hilton Head Island Motoring Festival and Concours d'Elegance. Tommy and Jane Entenza's 1954 Swallow Doretti was first in the Rare English Marques Class at the event, while "Best of Show" went to a one-of-a-kind 1929 Stutz Supercharged Coupe owned by Richard and Irina Mitchell of Montgomery, Tx. Attendees selected a police-equipped 1933 MG L1 as "People's Choice," the car owned by Bill and Sarah Richey of Bowling Green, Ky.
More than 500 automobiles appeared at the event, with Ocala collector Jim Schmidt recognized as the Honored Collector Award Recipient.
Kia Motors has confirmed the development of an all-electric version of the Kia Soul, scheduled to go on sale in 2014. The 'Kia Soul EV' will be Kia's first all-electric, zero-emissions vehicle marketed outside of Korea.
The new Soul EV is part of the company's 'Clean Mobility' program and takes its design cues from the recently-launched second-generation gas-powered Soul. With a target range of more than 120 miles, it has a high-capacity 27 kWh lithium-ion polymer battery pack. Recharging times are up to five hours for a fully depleted battery using a standard 240v outlet, or 25 minutes on 'fast' charge with 100 kW output. Front-wheel drive Soul EV prototype test cars are under development, built on modified versions of the 2014 Kia Soul and are powered by a 109-hp electric motor.
More than half of American drivers think government has unfairly placed bets on electrics over clean diesel vehicles, a new Audi survey shows. The survey by Harris Interactive among over 1,600 American drivers was done to gain insight into clean diesel perception and adoption. It states that 66 percent of drivers think the government should offer a tax incentive on clean diesel vehicles. It also says that 59 percent of 18-34 year old drivers said that if the cost of diesel fuel was on par with gasoline, they would purchase a diesel-powered vehicle.
Grassroots Motorsports magazine's $2013 Challenge is set for today at Auto-Plus Raceway in Gainesville. The aim of the event is for teams to buy, build and prepare a car that costs no more than the year of the competition - $2,013. The cars have to stand up to a beauty contest, handle an autocross, then tackle the dragstrip's quarter-mile asphalt track. Spectators are welcome and admission is free. For more information, go to http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/events/2013challenge.
Fiat has a new version of its compact 500 to celebrate the 57th anniversary of the original 1957 "Nuova" Cinquecento. The 2014 Fiat 500 "1957 Edition" was created for Italian car and design fans who want an added sense of the historic Cinquecento's spirit, Fiat says. That means this version of the Fiat 500 Lounge model gets classic exterior colors like Bianco (white) or a bi-color look with Verde Chiaro (light green) or Celeste (celestial blue) paired with a white roof and mirror caps. They get 16-inch retro wheel designs with a wide chromed lip, body-color accent and large center cap with historic "FIAT" emblem. Completing the look are throwback "FIAT" badges on the front fascia and rear liftgate. Inside, Marrone (brown) leather seats, while the1.4-liter MultiAir engine and five-speed manual transmission remain the same. The special edition arrives next spring, pricing to be announced closer to market launch.
The 2014 Range Rover Sport has been named to Road & Track magazine's "Best Cars" list in the "SUV" category. The list distinguishes the best new automobiles and trucks of the year and the honorees are recognized in the December 2013/January 2014 issue.
"We're thrilled to be recognized among Road & Track's list of 'Best Cars' in 2013," said Kim McCullough, Brand Vice President, Land Rover North America. "Our vehicles are known for their off-road capabilities and to be recognized by such a credible on-road focused publication proves that the handling and incredible agility of our newest Range Rover Sport makes us a force to be reckoned with on pavement, as well as off."
"The 2014 Range Rover Sport is 800 pounds lighter, and is available in three models: SE, HSE and Supercharged and starts at $63,495.
The Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance was selected as 2013's top Motoring Event of the Year at the third International Historic Motoring Awards, held Thursday evening in London. Amelia Concours founder and chairman Bill Warner said his event, set to hold its 19th iteration in March, beat out established events like California's Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance and London's Concours of Elegance at St. James's for the honor.
"It's fabulous and the culmination of 70 years of a misspent youth. It rewards the whole team, all the volunteers and the whole staff, and is wonderful recognition," Warner said from London. "... They were all excited."
The 2014 Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance is set for Friday to Sunday, March 7 to 9, in and around the Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island. The event displays more than 250 rare vehicles from collections around the world, and has donated more than $2 million to Community Hospice of Northeast Florida and other local charities since its founding in 1996. For more information, visit www.ameliaconcours.org.
Finally, we end with a wild video from a favorite site of mine called TaxTheRich. In it, a drive flogs a rare Ferrari 288 GTO on all sorts of surfaces, including grass! These folks have staged all kinds of exotica drives of late, including a big new Rolls-Royce doing doughnuts in a field and two Ferraris burning rubber as they stage a tug of war. Enjoy it, and don't do this at home!
The car show season is wrapping up as December approaches, but there's still some action:
¦ Oak Leaf High School Car Show - 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday Oak Leaf High School at 4035 Plantation Oaks Blvd. in Orange Park. Free to spectators and $25 per show vehicle.
¦ Brightway Insurance Car Show - 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at Brightway Insurance 660 Commerce Center Drive in Jacksonville. Free to spectators and show vehicles.
¦ Middleburg Fall Festival Car and Truck Show - 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the Middleburg Civic Center at 2102 Palmetto St.
¦ The Sunday Cats, Cars and Canines Car Show has been cancelled at the Jacksonville Humane Society at 8464 Beach Blvd.
¦ 40th annual Daytona Turkey Run - Thursday through Sunday, Nov. 28 to Dec. 1, Daytona International Speedway at 1801 W. International Speedway Blvd. in Daytona Beach. Display car registration is $50 at the gate, while admission is $15 per day Thursday to Saturday and $10 on Sunday. The event will celebrate the 40th anniversary of American Graffiti with actors Candy Clark, Cindy Williams and Bo Hopkins. The event, which fills the track infield with thousands of classics, hot rods and special interest cars, also includes cruise nights, a swap meet and a car corral. For more information, go to www.turkeyrodrun.com.
• Informal cruise-in - 7 to 9 a.m. every Saturday at the Krispy Kreme doughnut shop at 11117 San Jose Blvd. in Mandarin.
• First Coast Car Council - 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday at River City Marketplace, 13141 City Station Drive.
• Sunshine State Chevelles - 4 to 7 p.m. Saturday at NAPA Auto Parts, 11119 San Jose Blvd.
• Clay County Cruzers - 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday at Your Pie Pizza, 1545 County Road 220 in Fleming Isle.
• St. Augustine Cruisers - 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday at Hobby Lobby, 200 Florida 312 in St. Augustine.
• Lowe's cruise-in - 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday at the Lowe's store at 4040 Oldfield Crossing Drive.
Please send information on cruise-ins and automotive and motorcycle events to email@example.com or Dan Scanlan, Florida Times-Union, 1 Riverside Ave., Jacksonville, Fla. 32202


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Littleton Coin Company has shared the following press release:
The American Philatelic Society recently announced that Maynard Sundman (1915-2007), founder of Littleton Coin Company and former owner of Mystic Stamp Company has been named to the American Philatelic Society Hall of Fame class of 2015.
The award, established in 1940, annually honors collectors posthumously for a lifetime of service in philately. Mr. Sundman’s contributions included introducing thousands of new collectors to the hobby with innovative advertisements and mail order offers, as well as expanding the practice of sending stamps and coins through the mail with a range of “on approval” services.
In the January 2016 publication of The American Philatelist, Ken Martin, Executive Director of the APS, wrote that “Maynard’s name – the Mystic name – is synonymous with the most creative outreach venture to new collectors our hobby has ever seen.” He credited Maynard’s efforts as helping to keep the hobby vibrant into the 21st century.
Previous APS Hall of Fame inductees include John Walter Scott, “the Father of American Philately,” George Ward Linn, founder of Linn’s Stamp Weekly, and noted stamp collector Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Richard Helbock and Lester Winick were also named as 2015 recipients.