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Shinola's Lewand Tells LTU Students: 'Don't be Afraid to Fail'
The new CEO of the watch, bicycle and leather goods manufacturer Shinola Detroit LLC told a largely student audience at Lawrence Technological University Thursday night to aim high and be unafraid of failure.
Tom Lewand, who spent 20 years with the Detroit Lions, was named CEO of Shinola in June. His appearance at LTU was part of the university’s Entrepreneurial Lecture Series, presented by the university and EMpwr, LTU’s student entrepreneurship organization.
Lewand’s remarks came in a one-on-one interview conducted by LTU student Justin Becker, a senior from Romeo majoring in civil engineering. Becker co-chairs EMpwr.
Lewand said he was attracted to the post at Shinola because of “the mission of Shinola – to celebrate the skills and talent that American workers have, particularly those here in Detroit. It was a daring idea, a big idea, a crazy idea, that our founder Tom Kartsotis had, to come from Dallas, where he had founded a company 30 years ago called Fossil that also made watches, but had sold. Tom decided he wanted to do something with those proceeds that would have some greater social impact and pursue his most deep-rooted entrepreneurial ideas. He convinced a Swiss manufacturing partner to go into a venture with him here in Detroit and bring back a long-dormant industry and do some of the world’s most complicated manufacturing and compete at a global level.”
Shinola has grown from zero to $100 million in revenue in just three years. Lewand noted that it took Fossil nine years to reach that mark.
And the company continues to branch out into other products from its original watches and bicycles. First into leather goods, and now the company has announced an expansion into audio equipment – turntables, speakers and headphones – as well as a line of jewelry. It’s also in a new partnership with Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert on a downtown hotel.
Lewand said that’s part of the entrepreneurial talent of Kartsotis, to make unexpected moves and break into other industries. “We look for skill, experience and authenticity in whatever space we’re in,” Lewand said. But at the same time, he said the company is “known for doing something out of the norm … we like those things, what our founder calls ‘What the F’ moments.”
With Shinola’s philosophy, when it enters new markets, “if we can raise the level of awareness, I know we can get you with our quality,” Lewand said.
Lewand also told the LTU students that in addition to management and manufacturing talent, it’s now on the hunt for engineers and people with technical skill for the audio equipment line.
And he praised Detroit as a center of entrepreneurial talent. He said Kartsotis “could have built Shinola anywhere in the country. But one of the things that attracted him to Detroit was how fertile the environment here is for startups. The barriers to entry are low, you see a lot of people getting funding from a lot of sources. It seems like there’s a new venture fund popping up every day. Technology, mobility, transportation are all huge here, but you also see things like apparel and fashion starting up downtown and in Midtown.”
Questions at the event were generated by those attending the talk, via a website that was projected on a screen behind the speakers.
In general, when it comes to business, Lewand said, “Don’t be afraid to fail. And don’t forget that we’re all part of a larger community in our professional lives and the community and the world we live in.”
Future events in the Entrepreneurial Lecture Series include Karen Evans, entrepreneur and director of the design incubator at LTU’s Detroit Center for Design + Technology, on Oct. 27, and engineer, economist, entrepreneur and activist James Felton Keith, on Nov. 17.
Lawrence Tech Magazine / Fall 2022LTU at 90: The University of the future celebrates 90 years
[ Read More ]
Innovation Magazine / Summer 2021Accelerating the future: Business incubator provides new ways to learn
[ Read More ]
Foundations Magazine / Fall 2022Master of Science Physician Assistant: A successful Launch, A Promising Future
[ Read More ]


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The unexpected inflation trap is like a time bomb, silently ticking away in the heart of many long-term contracts. In an era of low inflation, these clauses remained largely dormant, a relic of bygone days when the threat of spiraling prices was a constant fear. Yet, the recent resurgence of inflation has breathed new life into these forgotten clauses, creating an unforeseen financial challenge for many businesses.
Typically, price index clauses in contracts are there to adjust the costs of goods and services over time based on changes in a specified price index. These contract provisions serve as an insurance policy of sorts, shielding suppliers from the eroding power of inflation. In the past, when inflation was relatively stable and predictable, such clauses were hardly more than formalities.
However, as inflation begins to increase more aggressively, the costs of goods, services, and materials linked to price index clauses can skyrocket abruptly. For the buyer, this could mean a sudden and unanticipated increase in costs that their budgets may not have accounted for.
Imagine a manufacturing firm that signed a long-term contract for the supply of raw materials. The agreement, inked in an era of low inflation, included a price index clause linked to the cost of the commodity in question. Now, with inflation soaring, the cost of these raw materials surges far beyond what was initially estimated. This scenario is not a hypothesis; it's the current reality for many businesses.
Moreover, as businesses grapple with increased costs of materials and labor, they typically pass on these costs to the consumer in the form of higher prices, creating a ripple effect. This, in turn, stokes the fires of inflation further, setting off a vicious cycle of price increases.
In the midst of such tumult, many businesses are scrambling to navigate the murky waters of this inflation trap.
Some are revising their contracts, taking a closer look at the price index clauses, and renegotiating terms. Others are investing in productivity-enhancing technologies to offset the rising costs of production. These are not quick fixes but long-term strategies that may help to manage the consequences of these unexpected inflation traps.
In conclusion, the rising tide of inflation is causing many hidden traps to surface, particularly those tucked away in the price index clauses of long-term contracts. As we move forward into this uncertain economic climate, businesses must tread carefully, keep a keen eye on these hidden traps, and take necessary measures to mitigate their risks. Taking a look at the price index clauses is a good start.

domain: news


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Nintendo is having a truly difficult year. Things are tough! Yet, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe thinks the country can learn from Nintendo.
Earlier today, a member of the Diet asked him for his growth strategy for Japan.
"Well, for example, there's a company called Nintendo," Abe replied. "Over there, they made hanafuda cards, but gradually the people playing hanafuda decreased. However, that company called Nintendo makes hanafuda cards and whatnot, and I believe that only by doing that, it wasn't able to protect hanafuda."
So, Abe continued, Nintendo used technical expertise to lead the way in developing home video game consoles. "And at the same time, it is keeping the traditional hanafuda cards. For sure, I think this is something that we can learn from."
Bad timing to bust out the Nintendo comparisons. But hey, Shinzo Abe is a busy guy! He doesn't have time to check Nintendo financial statements. He has a country to run.
That being said, he does make a good point about how Nintendo was able to protect its traditional business and at the same time expand into new areas. Good thing Abe didn't bring up that failed Nintendo love hotel, huh?
To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him on Twitter @Brian_Ashcraft.
Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.


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Alibaba, Counterfeits, and China’s Shortcut Corporate Culture
For a long time, China has had the dubious honor of being famous for its ability to produce “knock-off” branded goods for sale. Many Chinese businesses also have been caught for their shady accounting practices and tricks that many businesses relied on to increase valuation for unsuspecting investors or partners. Explosive growth of e-tailers like Taobao (淘宝) and JD.com (京东), along with these two infamous schemes, created a perfect storm.
Just over 40% of goods that Chinese people buy online are counterfeits, said China’s State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) report. The findings, released in early 2015, accused Alibaba’s Taobao to be the worst among e-tailers — 63% of its goods being fakes. To be fair, with seven million Taobao-listed sellers, Alibaba’s battle against knock-offs may never be over despite its technology improvements and human capital investment for inspection. Given the traditional close relationship that Alibaba has enjoyed with the Chinese government, it is not surprising that SAIC conducted the study in July 2014 but delayed publishing it so as not to damage Alibaba’s US IPO preparations at that time. Furthermore, SAIC removed the report later from public access and did not release any follow-up study or data from 2015.
Compared to counterfeit goods, “brushing orders” (刷单), is a relatively new occurrence as Taobao gets bigger. Essentially, it is an organized, illegal and outsourced process designed to boost customer ratings, star ratings, and product reviews for Taobao vendors. The organizers of these activities, “brushers,” give the appearance of hot items or trust-worthy status for any vendors that hire them. The process is explained in an illustration from a recent WSJ article.
A quick search of “TaoBao Brushing order” (淘宝刷单) on Baidu.com yields 3.98 million results. Most are touting brushing orders as stable part-time income opportunities and are recruiting people into various brushing groups. Despite Alibaba’s ongoing effort to deploy smart software tools, making penalties stiffer, and having tougher audits, it is still very much a ‘Cat-And-Mouse Game.’
The overall numbers are staggering. The 2011 e-commerce market revenue for China was 4.8 trillion Yuan or 741 billion US Dollars. (To put this into perspective, it is only slightly less than Saudi Arabia’s GDP by 5 billion USD.) There is currently no way to determine how much of this e-commerce revenue is generated by brushers and by counterfeit goods. These two issues become thorns in Jack Ma’s side and impact investor confidence. In late 2015, Gucci, Veneta, Yves Saint Laurent, and other luxury brands sued Alibaba for promoting the sale of counterfeit goods. Ma also announced a new strategy of going after counterfeiters and brushers everywhere – not just on Taobao, but also ones operating on rival platforms like WeChat and JD.com. Issues of trustworthiness and integrity affects offline manufacturing or online platform businesses alike; Alibaba is a prime example and paying the price for systemic “shortcut” culture that is prevalent in China. One can only hope this will be the year this Goliath company will finally turn a corner on this fight.
“East meets West,” is a most fitting one-liner for YC Chen. Born in Taiwan, and relocated to the U.S. at age 13, she holds a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture, and an MBA from the Illinois Institute of Technology. She chose to defy the stereotypical Asian image by pursuing a “front-of-the-room” career in training and development.
Over time, YC refined skills by working as a trainer and corporate consultant in higher human performance and learning. She loves to take a situation, break it apart to the basic components, razor into problem spots, generate possible solutions, and then explain it with intriguing imagery and analogies for fuller understanding. She serves as the Director of Operations, Asia-Pacific region for Encephalon Accelerate Learning & Development (USA). Her recent project includes building private kindergartens and schools in Asia, as well as international business consulting. YC currently is based in Singapore and works extensively in China and SE Asian countries.
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Visa and Lloyds Sponsors Olympic Games Athletes
Visa and Lloyds TSB are the official partners with Samsung of the mobile handset which will be give to athletes in the run up to the 2012 Olympic Games.
Lloyds is an issuance partner, enabling contactless transactions through the use of mobile handsets. These Samsung mobile handsets will be given to Visa-sponsored athletes and linked to Lloyds TSB accounts.
In London there are already more than 60,000 locations where contactless payments are accepted and contactless and electronic card payments will be available for the 2012 Games.
With this type of payment, a customer only needs to press the Visa application, press pay and then hold their phone up to the contactless reader – so no card is required. This works for payments up to £15, and anything over this amount will require a PIN.
“Announcing Lloyds TSB as our issuance partner for our athletes continues this momentum as all eyes turn to London in the run up to the Games,” said Sandra Alzetta, head of innovation at Visa Europe.
“The future of payments is changing and Lloyds TSB will be key is transforming the way consumers make purchases, through the launch of mobile payments,” added Mike Regnier, Lloyds TSB director of personal current accounts.
“We are delighted to be working with Visa at such as exciting time.”
Visa Prepaid Cards
For those keen to keep close tabs on their spending, a Visa prepaid card could be a good tool to aid budgeting.
Virgin has a Visa pay as you go card that costs £9.95 to buy, with the option for customers to either pay as they go, or pay monthly.
Transaction fees are 2.95 percent, there are no monthly charges for using the card, ATM fees are charged at 2.95 percent and it is free to 2.75 percent to top up.


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Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd., trading as Foxconn Technology Group, is a Taiwanese multinational electronics contract manufacturing company, headquartered in Tucheng.
Popularly known as Foxconn has agreed to buy Los Angeles-based Belkin International for $866 million in cash. With this FIT is a subsidiary of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., the parent company behind the Foxconn brand. Belkin is known for having a broad range of device connectivity and power products under the Belkin, Linksys, Wemo and Phyn brands. With this we expect to enrich our portfolio of premium consumer products and accelerate our penetration into the smart home by leveraging Belkin’s research and development capabilities and consumer insights operations.
The deal is also a continuation of Foxconn’s movement away from being primarily a contract manufacturer for companies like Apple and towards one that has brands of its own.
Foxconn acquired Japanese electronics maker Sharp Corp. in 2016 and last year announced it would build a $10 billion LCD panel manufacturing campus in Wisconsin to sell televisions and displays in the U.S. market. The company has emphasized the potential of 8K resolution displays and 5G data connections to combine to produce new solutions in a variety of industries beyond consumer electronics.
The new “smart home” business by combining the existing Linksys and Wemo businesses with some of its own assets and the Belkin CEO and founder Chet Pipkin will stay on as CEO of a new FIT subsidiary.
The $866 Million cash deal Belkin, based in California, has been around for 35 years with more than 700 patents in its portfolio and is known today for creating an array of computer and phone accessories, including wireless chargers, laptop docks, and phone cases. Belkin purchased Linksys, which is well known for its home routers.
That’s a major shift for Foxconn, taking it from a behind-the-scenes manufacturing partner to the owner of three major consumer brands.
Foxconn completes $3.8bn takeover of Sharp, Linksys and other subsidiaries includes Infocus, Innolux, Smart Technologies and Toshiba (PC Units). Whereas, HMD global founded to create new generation of Nokia-branded smartphones, feature phones and tablets.


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According to an article from MediaWeek claims that Visa and McDonalds are going to refrain from ads during the Super Bowl in order to put those dollars towards the Winter Olympics Torino, Italy, which begin 5 days after SBXL.
Both are heavy Olympic advertisers and reason that their dollars will buy more exposure over the two-week Olympic run than 30 seconds during the game. One 30-second unit in the Olympics sells for about $700,000, roughly one-third the price of the upcoming Super Bowl.
"Spots in the Olympics are much cheaper, so you can run several to make up for the audience you would get in one Super Bowl spot, and there is no scrutiny about the creative level of commercials during the Olympics," said one media agency executive who buys ads for clients in both events.
The price for a 30-second spot is still at $2.4 million, which makes this year the third time in five years the price has not increased.
Media buyers also said last week that the inevitable flurry of critiques and consumer polls following the game, such as the one in USA Today, is giving advertisers pause.
"Some just don’t like the scrutiny that comes with advertising in the Super Bowl," said one ad agency executive.
Sources said McDonald’s was particularly miffed last year when its "Lincoln Fry" spot got spectacularly poor reviews among critics and consumers. The company had decided last year that if its spot didn't make the top 10 in the USA Today poll, it would not be back in the '06 game, sources said. McDonald’s had no comment.
According to the article other brands that will be returning include Anheuser-Busch (with 10 spots), GM's Cadillac (numbe of spots unknown), U.S. Ameriquest, CareerBuilder.com, FedEx and Paramount.


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Oracle used a Dubai media roundtable to highlight security updates to its cloud offering encompassing its Software-as-a-Service, Platform-as-a-Service and Infrastructure-as-a-Service offerings.
The firm recently announced enhancements to its SPARC M7 microprocessor, which now features ‘Silicon Secured Memory’ – which adds real-time checking of access to data in-memory.
This is designed to help protect against malicious intrusion and flawed programme code in production. Hardware-Assisted Encryption has also been added.
Oracle is offering a complete suite of SaaS applications and platform services available on the cloud with the addition of supply chain management. Customers can move their SaaS applications between public and private cloud.
All SaaS applications are built on open standards so can run on any open standards platform. There are also industry-specific solutions for hi-tech, retail, financial services, telecommunications, manufacturing, media and entertainment and consumer packaged goods.
Abdulrahman Al Thehaiban, Vice President, Middle East, Turkey and Africa, Oracle, said, “We’ve seen fast adoption of our SaaS solutions in the Middle East, particularly Human Capital Management in the cloud. We are now seeing faster uptake of our other offerings, for example ERP and Customer Experience in the cloud. Adoption is happening across all business types – private and public sector, and in the midmarket and in larger organisations.”
Highlighting the importance of Oracle’s hardware security enhancements, Alain Ozan, Technology Vice President, ECEMEA, Oracle, said, “Middle East manufacturers are typically not big or small – they’re medium-sized businesses. Development and testing is getting bigger in the region for these companies, and our Database allows customers to run this aspect in a secure public cloud. Communication to this cloud now has ‘always-on’ secure encryption at the silicon level.”
On the region’s prospects of a total transition to the cloud, Ozan said there would be no “big bang,” although Oracle had seen similar adoption rates in the Middle East to those of Western European markets.
He also highlighted how Oracle’s SaaS, PaaS and IaaS offerings could offer overlapping benefits to one another as part of the same stack.
Oracle’s PaaS offering has been in the market for little more than a year. It supports Oracle Database, Hadoop data management, Ruby, NoSQL and mySQL.
At OpenWorld, Oracle announced beta availability of Database 12c Release 2, which brings enhanced capabilities to its multitenancy and dual in-memory capabilities.
Also launched was Application Builder, a new tool that supports Oracle’s new consumer-like cloud user interface for non-technical users.
“ERP in the cloud is an excellent fit for the Middle East,” Al Thehaiban added. “Globalisation and compliance for financial and business processes are important for business and governments in the Gulf. Cloud ERP supports both these needs, as customisation and enhancements can be done more easily with tools available on our cloud platform.
“Security has always been a key focus, and with the M7 chip Oracle has built in security. Encryption should be always on, there should be no option to turn it off. We believe that the further down into the computer stack you drive security, the more difficult it is to hack in. We’ve put security into silicon and this addresses a critical concern of our customer base. Key Vault for storing encryption keys is important and this can be in the cloud or on-premise. Nobody at Oracle can read our customers’ data in the cloud. All data is encrypted and the keys are held by the customer.”


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Innovation – in the form of developing new products and services – has become as important to growth for CEOs as raising their share of existing markets. A survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers of 1200 CEOs from around the world found that innovation, along with increasing their existing business, now outstrips all other means of potential expansion, including moving into new markets, mergers and acquisitions, and joint ventures and other alliances.
According to a new PwC, study, "Demystifying Innovation: take down the barriers to new growth," the drive for innovation must arise from the CEO and other executive leadership by creating a culture that is open to new ideas and systematic in its approach to their development.
For CEOs today, innovation to fuel growth is not merely a consideration, it's an expectation. Now is the time to understand your organisation's capacity to innovate.
Whether you're in Minneapolis or Mumbai, it's clear the internet is changing the way we live our lives and conduct business. Happily, most of these changes deliver more choices with better pricing for consumers, and far greater access to new markets for businesses. Yet we know change is also disruptive.
The accelerating pace of change is a major reason why CEOs polled for PwC's 14th Annual Global CEO Survey believe innovation is now as important to growing their businesses as expanding in existing markets.
Source: this is a report by pwc - PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP


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Here’s a history lesson for sneaker fanatics: Puma has been around for 70 years, but for a short period of time, the Germany-based athletic staple had a different name.
After brothers Rudolf and Adolf Dassler shut down Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik (translated to Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory in English), Rudolf founded Puma in 1948. (Adolf would go on to create Adidas.)
Puma, headquartered in Herzogenaurach, was registered as Puma Schuhfabrik Rudolf Dassler on Oct. 1, 1948. However, before opting for Puma, its original name was Ruda, which came from pairing the first two letters of the company founder’s first name and the first two of his last.
“Rudolf’s vision was that all of his products would embody the characteristics of a Puma cat: speed, strength, suppleness, endurance and agility — the same attributes that a successful athlete needs as well,” the brand’s senior marketing advisor Helmut Fischer, aka “Mr. Puma,” said in a statement.
For the Aug. 27 issue of FN, megastar entertainer Selena Gomez graced the cover and spoke exclusively about female empowerment and her upcoming product collection with the brand. Also in the issue, Puma CEO Björn Gulden shared details on the company’s plans to impress U.S. consumers, its push to be a major player in basketball and how not to be deterred by the most daunting of challenges.
Puma CEO’s Plans on Making the Brand a Hit in the US
Exclusive: Selena Gomez on Empowering Women and Shutting Down the Haters
Why Winning in Basketball Is Vital to Puma’s Success in the US


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There are plenty of news commentators who say America’s workers are doing just fine. They see low consumer prices, low unemployment, and a booming stock market as signs that all is well. But out in the real world, things are more worrying. Millions of Americans are barely subsisting on retail work in shopping malls and restaurants. And the kinds of jobs available to them are now declining in quality.
Since 1990, the United States has been creating an overabundance of low-quality service jobs. In fact, new research shows that 63 percent of the production and non-supervisory jobs created in the U.S. over the past 30 years have been in low-wage and low-hour positions. That’s a major change from the start of the 1990s, when almost half of these jobs—47 percent—were considered “high-wage.”
For more than a year, a group of economists have been sifting through the nation’s jobs data. And what they’ve found in a new “U.S. Job Quality Index” (JQI) is that in the past three decades the U.S. economy has grown increasingly dependent on jobs that offer fewer hours of work—and at lower relative wages. That includes almost 15 million non-management jobs in leisure and hospitality paying an average of $360 a week, and 13.5 million retail jobs paying roughly $506weekly.
There are now 105 million production and non-supervisory jobs in the U.S.—83 percent of all private sector work. More than half of them pay less than the average weekly U.S. wage of $793. These are the best jobs that many Americans can find, and the most hours they can get.
So what’s driving all of this?
From 1970 to 2019, U.S. manufacturing employment declined from 22.6 percent of the workforce to only 8.2 percent. Those lost manufacturing jobs were often replaced with lower-wage work—and at reduced weekly hours.
Manufacturing once provided skilled, good-paying work, including healthcare and benefits. But Americans lacking a college degree now find themselves becoming progressively more underemployed. Almost two-thirds of America’s workforce—65.1 percent—do not have a college degree. And so, 100 million Americans are watching their employment prospects gradually deteriorate.
There’s no easy fix for this. But the priority should be to restore wealth-generating industries, like manufacturing, that can spur middle-class job growth. That will mean tackling predatory trade with China, and fixing an overvalued dollar—to make American-made goods globally competitive again. These are necessary steps to create large numbers of jobs that can provide a path to the middle class. Anything less will mean an ongoing decline for America’s workers—and lower-quality jobs.
Michael Stumo is CEO of the Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA)


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- Title: From farm to face, Gaza women create cosmetics from local herbs
- Date: 29th July 2021
- Summary: GAZA CITY, GAZA (JULY 28, 2021) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF WOMEN SORTING THROUGH HERBS IN THE FACTORY WOMAN CUTTING HERB LEAVES OFF STALKS VARIOUS OF WOMAN WASHING LEAVES IN TUB WOMEN CARRYING SIEVE WITH HERBS AND MOVING IT TO DISTILLING MACHINE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) CHAIRPERSON OF BOARD OF AL-NAJD DEVELOPMENT FORUM, REFQA AL-HAMALAWI, SAYING: "As women in Gaza, we are proud that we are making products like Europe. We hope people would support these women and develop their conditions, you know, currently, those who succeed are destroyed, therefore we hope that they support these women in developing themselves, instead of 40 women, they should reach a 100. The agricultural lands that are always damaged, should be reclaimed, to invest in these products, and it could be that we can produce and export as well." BEIT LAHIYA, GAZA (JULY 28, 2021) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF BEE ON PLANT VARIOUS OF WOMAN COLLECTING HERBS IN THE FIELD WOMEN COLLECTING HERBS IN THE FIELD (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) GAZAN WOMAN WORKING WITH HUSBAND'S FAMILY IN THEIR FIELD, IKHLAS MAROUF, SAYING: "They used to take these plants and export them to make shampoo and aromatic materials. Now they take them and manufacture them here, in the country, this is helping our farms develop." PALESTINIAN FARMER, DAWLAT MAROUF, COLLECTING HERBS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PALESTINIAN FARMER, DAWLAT MAROUF, SAYING: "I wake up every day at 5 a.m. to come to the field and prepare 40-50 kg ordered by the factory. I get them ready and they come and pick them up to make shampoo and soap." GAZA CITY, GAZA (JULY 28, 2021) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PHARMACIST, NARMIN AL-BANNA, STOCKING UP PHARMACY SHELVES WITH PRODUCTS MADE OF HERBS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PHARMACIST, NARMIN AL-BANNA, SAYING: "I like these products because they are natural and have no chemicals in them. I tried them with many people, and many customers and they gave me great feedback." BEIT LAHIYA, GAZA (JULY 28, 2021) (REUTERS) MAN WEIGHING BAG OF HERBS MAN CARRYING BAGS OF HERBS FROM FIELD GAZA CITY, GAZA (JULY 28, 2021) (REUTERS) WOMAN AT FACTORY VARIOUS OF WOMAN IN FACTORY FILLING UP SHAMPOO BOTTLES WITH PRODUCT
- Embargoed: 12th August 2021 12:24
- Keywords: Aromatic Cosmetics Essential Oils Farmers Gaza Herbs Land
- Location: BEIT LAHIYA AND GAZA CITY, GAZA
- City: BEIT LAHIYA AND GAZA CITY, GAZA
- Country: Palestinian Territories
- Topics: Middle East,Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA001ENW9JRP
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: For years, Palestinian farmers have exported herbs to Europe where they have been turned into high-end cosmetics and beauty products.
Now a team of Gaza women have brought the process home, extracting the essential oils themselves and creating products such as shampoo and moisturiser which are sold in 50 stores, including 30 pharmacies, across the enclave.
From a factory in Gaza City, the internationally funded project's four staffers, all women, use steam distillation to draw out the ingredients from plants including rosemary, basil, mint, thyme, and chamomile.
"As women in Gaza, we are proud that we are making products like Europe," Refqa Al-Hamalawi told Reuters of the project, which sources herbs exclusively from farms run by women.
Their range already runs to 17 products, including cleansers and body wash, under the brand GG - standing for green gold, as the farmers of northern Gaza call mint.
The project, aimed at empowering women and boosting the economy, is supported by Australia and the global charity Oxfam.
While small scale so far, the women involved say it has already begun to have an impact in Gaza, where unemployment hovers around 50 percent. Female unemployment is even higher at 62 percent, according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.
(Production: Fadi Shana, Mohammad Shana, Mustafa abu Ganeyeh, Nuha Sharaf)
- Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2021. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None


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Some of you might have already noticed it but we just released the 2.0.30 update. After last month’s large update with many new features, this June update includes a series of smaller add-ons and an improvement of our new Interactive Brokers import.
Here is what is new:
– You can merge trades in the journal
– Exclude trades from winrate calculations
– Bigger area for personal notes
– Weekdays have been added as a layer option in the Trade Analytics


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A Chinese court has banned the sale and import of most iPhone models in a stunning decision sure to escalate the nasty trade war between the United States and China.
Global battle between tech giants
…Apple and Qualcomm are suing one another in courts across the world. Billions of dollars are at stake, and each side has claimed some victories.
In 2017, Apple sued Qualcomm for $1 billion after the chipmaker stopped paying for the exclusive right to put its chips in iPhones. Qualcomm withheld its payments after the European Union began investigating them. The EU ultimately deemed the payments illegal, and In January 2018, the European Commission ordered Qualcomm to pay a $1.2 billion fine over the issue.
Apple and Qualcomm are also suing one another in several separate patent disputes. Qualcomm has asked a US federal judge to ban the sale of iPhones in one case. In June, a judge in the International Trade Commission found that Apple had violated one of Qualcomm’s patents related to battery-saving technology.
In July, Qualcomm said Apple would no longer include its modems in iPhones. Qualcomm cut its profit forecast after the announcement.


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Heated hybrid recall: Toyota is asking 626,000 units of the Prius+, Prius alpha, and Auris hybrid produced between May 2010 and November 2014 to return to base immediately. A software issue could lead the hybrid system to overheat, causing it to shut down while driving.
The Gigafactory will triple in size, the Wall Street Journal reports. Tesla has acquired even more land from the state of Nevada, most of which will serve as so-called buffer land. No structures will be erected there. Instead, it could serve as a location for solar panels.
Stranded in paradise: The Solar Impulse 2 will not take off from Hawaii before 2016. The batteries overheated during its record breaking flight over the Pacific and are beyond repair. The team stressed that the problem was due to tropical temperatures and not technical failure.
— Text Ad —
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Govecs expands: The German electric scooter manufacturer is taking over the Vectrix plant in Wroclaw, Poland. Vectrix filed for bankruptcy after a deal with Daimler to produce the smart e-scooter fell through. Govecs’ production will now quadruple, reaching 20,000 units a year.
As Tesla is splitting up its global sales operations (we reported yesterday), the electric carmaker is looking to hire a sales VP for Japan and South Korea. This is a very strong indicator that Tesla is actually trying to start selling in Korea soon.
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Accor has drawn up a plan to tackle the tough global hospitality market as it posted a 3.5 percent drop in 2008 operating profit, which was in line with forecasts.
The measures amounted to a “battle plan to face a difficult environment” after “the effects of the global economic downturn quickly spread to the hotels business, especially in the fourth quarter,” Accor said in a statement.
The French hotel chain said it would cut spending on renovations by €125m this year, and €100m less annually from 2011 on expands plans. It would cut marketing and purchasing costs by €75m this year and a further €25m in 2010.
Operating profit before non-recurring items fell to €875m last year from €907m in 2007, Accor said. In October it said it was aiming for 2008 profit before tax of €870m-890m.
Six directors at Accor resigned in protest on Tuesday and warned of potential conflicts of interest after the French hotel group’s two big private equity shareholders won a board vote to combine the posts of chairman and chief executive. Accor Chief Executive Gilles Pelisson was named chairman of the board of directors.


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Getting serious about the “Chicken Wars,” Taco Bell will soon test a Crispy Chicken Sandwich Taco in select markets.
Quite literally half sandwich, half taco, the emerging menu option is centered around a tortilla chip coated fried piece of jalapeño buttermilk marinated chicken. Seasoned with “bold Mexican spices,” the crispy, crunchy chicken is nestled between a “puffy bread” shaped like a taco. The Crispy Chicken Sandwich Taco comes with either creamy chipotle sauce or spicy chipotle sauce with slices of pickled jalapeño.
Priced at $2.49 USD, the Crispy Chicken Sandwich Taco will be tested at select Nashville, TN, and Charlotte, NC Taco Bell locations starting March 11. With plans to release nationwide later this year, the Crispy Chicken Sandwich Taco is just the latest “Chicken Wars” entry from Taco Bell and serves as the introduction to a slew of upcoming crispy chicken innovations from the fast-food chain.
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For more food and beverage news, Wendy’s got spicy with its new Jalapeño Popper Chicken Sandwich.
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Discussion and debate has always been at the heart of the festival and this year we decided to try and link some of the issues that will be under discussion around the festival.
The question posed in this year’s Festival Debate is whether we have become too frightened about food and whether we are relying too heavily on ‘experts’ to tell us what to eat and to police the food that is put in front of us.
First the visit of the nutritionist and obesity researcher, Zoe Harcombe.
Zoe is a graduate of Cambridge University whose own experience of eating disorders led her into a study of obesity, dieting and weight loss. And eventually to conclude that current dietary advice ‘a) doesn’t work and b) worse – that it is actually the cause of the obesity epidemic that it is supposed to cure.’
In her talk Make Friends with Fats Zoe will argue that the U-turn in dietary advice in the 1980’s – which urged people to reduce fats, especially saturated fats, and eat more starchy foods – has been a major cause of the present epidemic.
Second is the visit of Stephen Hook and David Paull, both dairy farmers who sell ‘green-top’ milk. Raw milk is banned in Scotland and Public Health scientists have lobbied hard for a similar course of action in England and Wales. Yet raw milk sales are enjoying an unprecedented boom among consumers.
Green-top supporters argue that unpasteurised milk is better for you, containing enzymes and vitamins which are lost in pasteurisation, and that the hygiene conditions in modern dairies have laid to rest the old fears of TB and bacterial contamination.
Stephen and David are taking part in our tutored tasting Real Milk – which will give you the opportunity to try raw milk, cream and butter alongside their pasteurised counterparts.
The speakers in both these sessions will be advocating courses of action that run directly counter to ‘official’ advice. Who is right?
The third factor in choosing this year’s topic is a bit of historical context. We are about twenty years on from the first great ‘food scare’ – salmonella-in-eggs – which was soon followed by the even bigger scandal of BSE.
These events attracted massive public discussion and legitimised the introduction of new laws not just in Britain but across the world. Food safety was suddenly at the top of the agenda.
Two organisations who saw their status significantly enhanced during this period were the organic movement and local authority environmental health-officers; and representatives of these two bodies make up the last two members of the panel.
Roger Mortlock is Deputy Director of the Soil Association, the lead UK organisation for organic food and farming. The Soil Association’s stock rose greatly during the BSE epidemic when they were able to point out that no organic cow had succumbed to the disease. Organics appeared to offer a safe haven in the storm.
Food safety legislation introduced in the wake of the salmonella crisis placed a new duty on food businesses to demonstrate ‘due diligence’; to be able to show that they had taken all reasonable steps to avoid food contamination.
Environmental Health Officers, as the arbiters of due diligence, found themselves with an important new role. Dr Victor Kuri,is a Lecturer in Food Science and Quality, a microbiologist, and a trainer of Environmen tal Health Officers.
Although neither salmonella nor BSE produced quite the apocalyptic outcomes that were predicted at the time, they produced far-reaching changes in our attitude to food risk and safety.
The question we ask is: have those changes been for the better?
This year’s festival debate will be chaired by Radio 4 Food Programme presenter, Sheila Dillon. It takes place on Saturday 17 September in the Market Hall (6.00 – 7.00pm). If you have a 5-venue Stroller Ticket then you automatically get in for free. Add this exciting event to your weekend itinerary. View 5-venue Stroller Tickets benefits and online now. Everyone who attends this event will be offered a free glass of beer courtesy of the Otley Brewing Company – official beer sponsor of the festival!


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Stefano Gabbana and Domenico Dolce have issued a statement following the cancellation of their show in Shanghai due to a racist marketing campaign.
'Our families have always taught us to respect the various cultures of the world, and for this, we want to apologize if we have made mistakes in interpreting your culture,'
said Domenico Dolce. 'We have always loved China; we have visited many cities... and certainly, we still have much to learn.'
'We offer our sincerest apologies to Chinese people worldwide,'
said Stefano Gabbana.
The brand was forced to cancel the show by local government agencies after it posted a series of videos in which a Chinese model tries to eat Italian dishes such as pasta and pizza with chopsticks. While the video was removed from the site after 24 hours, it had already been shared many times on other social media platforms and Instagram and screenshots were already made. The hashtag #BoycottDolce soon followed and the Weibo hashtag #DGTheGreatShowCancelled has already been shared 540 million times, and mentioned in 74,000 discussions.
More than 15 Chinese celebrity guests including Zhang Ziyi, Li Bingbing, Chen Kun, Wang Xiaoming, and Donnie Yen said they did not go to the event. Ziyi even said that she would never wear anything from Dolce & Gabbana on her Instagram while the editor-in-chief of Vogue China, Angelica Cheung, also turned against the brand. On social media people called for its boycott, while large online boutiques in China also opted for a boycott and removed accessories and clothing from Dolce & Gabbana.
Dolce & Gabbana claim that their account was hacked and that they were not behind the racist comments, however, that does not seem very credible. After all, this is the second time that the design duo has been accused of racism in the last eighteen months. Previously for their #DGLovesChina campaign, Beijing was portrayed in a way that Chinese internet users considered very inappropriate. Both designers have been accused often of making politically insensitive statements, about babies that come into the world via IVF as well as gay couples who want to adopt. The duo previously described their gladiator sandals as 'slave sandals'.
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Aluminum can shortage affecting local producers, consumers
The company that makes Dr. Pepper has announced its products are currently harder to find on shelves, and it is the latest major brand to announce a shortage during the pandemic. But it’s not just soda companies, Central Coast beer companies are also facing a shortage struggle.
Pismo Beach resident Scott Taylor said he can’t find his favorite beverage at most local stores, and if he does find it, there aren’t many of them.
"All of a sudden I noticed there was only one 24-pack of diet Dr. Pepper left,” Taylor said. “I can't run short on DDP, that’s my coffee.”
Taylor admits when he does find more than one on the shelves, he’ll buy a few.
“Yeah, I am part of the problem because I am stockpiling,” Taylor said.
There’s less because beer and soda production has been slowed to a crawl. According to The Aluminum Association, manufacturers are seeing “unprecedented demand” because of the pandemic and the nation is running low on new aluminum cans.
“Definitely waiting on cans is one of our new hobbies,” said Lee Samways, co-owner of Humdinger Brewing in Arroyo Grande.
Samways said because of the shortage, the company has had to downsize its 32-ounce canned beer for a 25.4-ounce because larger-sized aluminum cans can’t be found.
“We were using cans that aren’t really normal for the brewing industry to use,” Samways said. “But we could put beer in it, and people would take it home—so it worked!”
Samways said it also just takes longer now to get an order of any size aluminum can.
“Our first order was in like a week,” Samways said. “After that every single order has taken a month, six weeks, just to get the cans in just to ship them to us.”
This is just one of the many obstacles Samways has had to deal with being a business owner navigating the economic obstacles of a pandemic.
A new venture, Humdinger Brewing was set to open on St. Patrick’s Day, but an executive health order in San Luis Obispo County meant no alcohol sales for the holiday weekend.
Then Samways had to deal with opening, and closing, and re-opening with modifications ever since...and now an aluminum can shortage on top of that. But he stays optimistic.
“Yeah, we want to have a survival story, not some sob story,” Samways said. “So we are just going to keep on plugging away and keep our chins up and our smiles on.”


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Umberto Milletti, CEO, InsideView
On the heels of a Series C funding announcement, InsideView CEO Umberto Milletti shared more details about the company’s product development plans, as well as the important of bringing social information to customer-facing employees. In addition, Milletti shared details about the InsideView for CRM solution, which was launched at the show. Milletti also shares why operating on CRM systems alone is no longer enough.
Dreamforce 2011 Video Coverage:


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CHINA: Merino wool consumption on the rise
Demand for Australian merino wool in China is on the rise thanks to more growing interest from consumers about the provenance of the materials used to make their clothes.
"Chinese consumers are now showing a real interest in ingredient branding," said Rob Langtry, chief strategy and marketing officer at the Woolmark Company.
"That means not just the garment itself and the style of it, but the story behind it - how the fabric's made, where the fibre comes from, and what makes it special."
The Woolmark Company is the flagship organisation of the Australian Wool producers who supply 90% of the fine wool that is used in premium and luxury garments.
Langtry believes one of the key reasons why Chinese fashion shoppers are becoming more discerning and sophisticated is the increased international travel that many can now afford.
"A lot of more affluent Chinese people are spending a lot more time in overseas in cities like Hong Kong, London, Paris and New York. And increasingly they're looking for the same kind of quality and added value that shoppers in those places look for."
Leading Chinese and international textile companies, such as Youngor and Cerrutti 1881, have made their use of Australian Merino wool a key component of their collections that have proved very popular with Chinese consumers.
An interactive databank with intelligence on the major apparel sourcing countries
- Why China 5-year plan won't change garment-making
- Supply chains under pressure as Black Friday looms
- Navigating a turbulent sourcing landscape
- Jordan garment sector strong amid regional unrest
- C&A building brand loyalty through consistent fit
- US Q3 in brief: Burlington Stores, Guess, Chico's
- Adidas has greenest textile supply chain in China
- Global clothing and footwear trade to drop by 1.5%
- Cambodia living wage campaign kicks off
- New Balance launches first 3D printed running shoe
- Wearable technology: The future market potential for smart garments and e-textiles
- Practical Brand Sourcing Strategy
- Myanmar's Garment Sector in 2015 - now with updated members' directory
- Statistics: Trends in Global and Regional Man-made Fibre Production - 2015
- Technical Textile Markets: Product Developments and Innovations - 2nd Quarter 2015


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M&S will purchase Gist’s entire share capital for up to £255m from Storeshield, a subsidiary of The BOC Group.
The company will pay £145m in cash as an initial consideration followed by a further £85m, including interest, on the third anniversary of the deal’s completion.
It will also have to pay up to £25m more, as well as interest, ‘under certain conditions’.
Gist operates a network of eight primary and ten secondary distribution centres across the UK and Ireland, as well as a number of freehold warehouses.
The company provides most of M&S Food’s logistics services.
The acquisition will generate immediate benefits for the retailer by eliminating contractual fees and costs, as well as the implementation of aligned operational processes.
M&S chief executive Stuart Machin said: “M&S has been tied to a higher cost legacy contract, limiting both our incentive to invest and our growth.
“The last two years have shown what can be achieved by working collaboratively alongside our partners at Gist.
“This has given me confidence that now is the time to take action and remove an impediment to our growth.
“We have therefore acted decisively to acquire Gist, taking control of our Food supply chain for the first time in our history.
“This is the first step in a multi-year plan which will transform the entire supply chain.”
The acquisition is expected to add to M&S’s profits next year.
In May this year, M&S reported statutory revenue of £10.88bn ($13.68bn) for the financial year 2021/22 (FY22), up by 21.5% from the previous year.
The retailer’s sales before adjusting items grew by 21.6% year-on-year for the 52 weeks to 2 April.


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NEW YORK — Patrick Waterfield, the recently named president and chief executive officer of Guerlain Inc., knows the power of a name. He also knows when it’s absent.
Although he’s been in the post only since November, Waterfield already has a number of specific ideas on how to build the Guerlain name, something he calls “an absolute prerequisite” to selling Beaute, the cosmetics and treatment line.
It is not a new problem. Although 66 years have passed since Guerlain introduced Shalimar to the U.S., the company is still not as well known on these shores as its world-famous women’s fragrance.
Waterfield’s predecessor, Julia A. Farrell, once said some consumers think Guerlain is “Shalimar Inc.”
One way Waterfield hopes to correct that is with a new advertising approach that will capitalize on, rather than counter, the power of the Shalimar name.
“The starting point is Shalimar because everybody knows Shalimar,” he said.
Once the connection between Shalimar and Guerlain has been cemented in the public consciousness, Waterfield continued, “then we can say Guerlain is X,Y and Z” and use the name recognition to promote cosmetics, treatment and other products.
One of the problems in the past, Waterfield said, was that “there was no consistency in advertising,” in layout or impact. He also hopes to achieve a more coherent presentation in Guerlain’s store counters.
The company named a new agency — Weiss, Whitten, Stagliano Inc. — to succeed J. Walter Thompson, which had been its agency for seven years.
Although budgets have not yet been set, Guerlain also plans to dramatically increase advertising expenditures to help elevate its profile. Waterfield estimated that the company will spend “at least double” its advertising next fall over the same period in 1993.
He and other Guerlain executives declined to disclose budgets, but industry sources estimate that the 1994 budget would top $6 million. Waterfield said he will consider a range of formats for print. He’s also mulling TV. The advertising focus will be on “Shalimar and some key cosmetics and treatment products,” he said.
This effort, like others, is aimed at increasing Guerlain’s U.S. presence in terms of sales, as well as image. The U.S. market now does 15 percent — or $54 million — of the Paris-based parent company’s worldwide volume, which amounted to a total of $360 million in 1992.
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With South and Central America, the Caribbean and Canada added to the U.S., the Western Hemisphere does 21 percent, or $75 million, of the global total, or $75 million.
In comparison, the Asia-Pacific region does 16 percent of the worldwide total, one percentage point higher than the U.S. Waterfield oversaw the Asia-Pacific region for 15 years, based in Hong Kong as managing director and vice president.
According to the company, Waterfield built the Hong Kong market into Guerlain’s top profit earner outside France.
Hong Kong is also where Waterfield developed a business based more on treatment and cosmetics than fragrance. Although the Asian market traditionally shuns fragrance, the preponderance of treatment and color is notable, considering Guerlain’s worldwide identity as the oldest family-owned perfume house in the business.
Waterfield hopes to have a similar impact here. The firm said 85 percent of Guerlain’s U.S. sales in 1993 came from its 22 fragrances, with color accounting for 12 percent and treatment for 3 percent. Shalimar was responsible for 52 percent of total U.S. business.
Within three years, Waterfield would like juggle the balance to 65 percent fragrance, 20 percent treatment and 15 percent cosmetics.
That would put the U.S. in closer alignment with Guerlain’s worldwide results. In 1992, the company did 63 percent of its volume in fragrance, 19 percent in color and 18 percent in treatment.
Waterfield — who is acquainting himself with the U.S. market by calling on key accounts such as Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus — has been toying with an idea of elaborating on Guerlain’s present distribution to increase non-fragrance sales.
The company now has its full line in 32 in-store boutiques and a wide assortment from the line in another 100 doors. It also has a broad network of fragrance-only doors: 2,700 for Shalimar and 1,800 for the 1989 women’s scent, Samsara.
Waterfield is thinking of an intermediate tier, consisting of perhaps 25 or 50 top department store doors in cities such as Philadelphia, where there are no in-store boutiques. In these doors, Guerlain would have a counter, with perhaps a shop concept, that would stock a “selected range” of fragrance, cosmetics and treatment.
These counters also might be in high-traffic locations near other cosmetics vendors, Waterfield noted. He said he feels that in some outlets, the “tradeoff” of more space at the expense of good location needs to be “reexamined.”
Added to the other strategies is a lineup of launches, such as the Odelys treatment line for sensitive and weakened skin.


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Food labels are notoriously hard to read and often difficult to understand. A newly-proposed bill in Congress seeks to change all that. It would create a single, standard front-of-package label, require greater disclosure of sugar and caffeine content, and define how common claims such as "natural" and "healthy" can be used.
The Food Labeling Modernization Act is being introduced by three Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-N.J.), with backing from the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI).
"In the Bizzaro world of Superman comics, up is down, day is night, and things are generally the inverse of what they are in reality," said Michael F. Jacobson, CSPI's executive director in a prepared statement. "Regrettably, when harried dads and moms plow their shopping carts down supermarket aisles, they encounter a similar, strange world: One where 'whole grain' waffles can be made mostly of white flour, where 'all natural' granola bars can have factory-refined high maltose corn syrup, and where artery-clogging ice cream bars can cheerfully boast of their lack of trans fats."
The bill's sponsors argue that major labeling requirements, last updated in 1990 and, in some cases, the 1930s, are in need of major changes to deliver the consistent, clear information that Americans need to combat the obesity crisis and make healthier choices.
The bill would direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a single, standard front-of-package nutrition labeling system for all food products that are required to carry nutrition labeling.
Children at risk
“Childhood obesity has nearly tripled in the past 30 years and is a huge public health problem in this country that puts millions of American children at risk. Healthy eating is critical to combating this epidemic," said Rep. Pallone. "That is why it is so important that when families make the effort to eat nutritious, healthy food, the labels on food products help them make the right choices—not confuse or mislead them.”
Sen. Blumenthal said food labels are often "deceptive."
“Grocery stores throughout the country are filled with products that bear labels with deceptive dietary information,” Blumenthal said. “The Food Labeling Modernization Act updates laws that haven’t been touched since 1930s, ensuring that consumers will know what they’re eating and parents will know what they’re feeding their kids.”
The bill would established definitions for the terms "healthy" and "natural" and would require that any product using the "whole grain" claim conspicuously post the amount of whole grain (as a percentage of total grain) on the label.
It would also:
- Require the daily values for calories and sugar, as well as the amount of any artificial sweeteners, to be listed on the Nutrition Facts Panel.
- Require any product containing an amount of food reasonably consumed on a single occasion to state on the label that a single package contains one serving size.
- Require disclosure of the amount of caffeine in the product, if it exceeeds 10 milligrams.
- Require the Secretary to issue comprehensive guidance for industry clarifying the scientific support needed to prevent false or misleading information.
No one expects anything to happen anytime soon. Any attempt to impose new regulations on the food and drug industries turns into a long process. The food industry is expert and experienced at getting its way and has already launched its own program to simplify and standardize food labels.
Called Facts Up Front, the industry program is supported by a $50 million marketing campaign that touts it as an easy way for consumers to pick out healthy foods. But critics say it actually makes matters worse by allowing companies to highlight positive, marketable nutrients like fiber and protein, rather than listing only calories, saturated and trans fats and sodium content.
Many observers see the industry campaign as an effort to head off legislation like that introduced by Blumenthal et al.


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India with more than 200 Mn Internet users is set to overtake the United States as the world’s second largest market after China – but out of the total internet population only one-third of India’s online users are women, which is quite a less share. To bridge this huge gap, Google India has recently announced a ‘Helping Women Get Online’ campaign which will be aimed at providing all information regarding basics of how to use a computer and access the Web for the first time users.
There is no doubt that Internet can play a very important role in empowering women and help them to transform their lives in the country. “Internet can help women achieve self-esteem, express their views freely, open up new opportunities and help them to gain education. Our new campaign aims to bring 50 million women online in the next one year so that they can reap the benefits too,” Says Rajan Anandan Google India MD.
As a part of campaign, Google India had also launched a website which says – “With the aim of bringing a balance in the online space and to empower women, we have taken up the task of helping 50 million additional women get online by end of 2014.”
The website will be providing useful information regarding accessing computer and internet these include – computer basics, Internet skills, how to use chat and email services. Also, the website includes video guides to highlight benefits of Internet to women.
There is also Toll free helpline number service being launched to get answers for any queries that they may have about the Internet. One can access this service by dialing 1800-41-999-77.
A mass media campaign on Internet Moms will also be organized as a part of campaign, to help women discover hwgo.com.
Google India, for this initiative has partnered with Intel, Hindustan Unilever and Axis Bank, who have committed to drive this initiative through joint outreach efforts including Internet training in their digital literacy efforts.
It also has host of other partners who are creating relevant content which would serve as an important information source for the women – these include Johnson & Johnson, Indiatimes, Healthkart, Babyoye etc. IMRB is research partner to help track the impact of the initiative on women in India for this campaign.
To contact author of this post, email firstname.lastname@example.org


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It’s never too early to gain the confidence and knowledge needed to run a business. Girls Inc. of Orange County agrees.
Each summer, girls in third through fifth grade kickstart their futures by participating in a monthlong Girls Inc. Smart-Up program that teaches leadership, economic literacy and business skills.
It all happens at Chapman University.
Hosted by Chapman’s Argyros School of Business and Economics and the Leatherby Center for Entrepreneurship and Business Ethics, Girls Inc. challenges girls to launch their own businesses from the ground up. The girls design a product or service, develop a business plan, elect officers, create marketing materials, learn about profit margins and even execute customer-service strategies.
One of the program’s biggest goals is for the girls to try new things with confidence, said Sarah Hernandez, lead literacy program coordinator and smart-ups program associate.
“We have our Girls Inc. Bill of Rights, and one of them is that girls have the right to discover economic independence,” Hernandez added. “So we want them to explore more financial opportunities — find a line of work that’s interesting to them, and not just because that’s what a female typically does.”
The program culminates with an open house, during which supporters shop for products and services at the girls’ stores. Whether it’s smoothies or hand-painted rocks, value is always in store for the discerning consumer.
“We’ve had a cafe, we’ve had salons, we’ve had a pet supplies store,” Hernandez said. “This year we have a girl who is selling her calligraphy. The girls really get to express themselves with originality and enthusiasm.”


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De Beers’ rough diamond production in Q2 2021 that ended 30th June increased by 134% to 8.2 million carats, reflecting planned higher production in response to the ongoing consumer demand recovery as well as the impact of Covid-19 lockdowns across southern Africa last year, parent company Anglo American said in its latest production report.
De Beers sold an increased proportion of higher value rough diamonds during the first six months of 2021, which led to a 13% increase in the consolidated average realised price to $135/carat ($119/ct in 2020), it added.
The mining major noted that while the average price index remained broadly flat, the closing index increased by 14% compared to the start of 2021, reflecting tightness in inventories across the diamond value chain as well as positive consumer demand for polished diamonds.
In Botswana, rough diamond production increased by 214% to 5.7 million carats year on year, while Namibia’s diamond output decreased by 6% to 0.3 million carats, primarily due to planned maintenance of the Mafuta vessel which completed in the quarter and another vessel remaining demobilised.
South Africa production increased by 130% to 1.3 million carats, due to planned treatment of higher grade ore from the final cut of the Venetia open pit, as well as the impact of the Covid-19 lockdown in Q2 2020, De Beers said. Production in Canada increased by 14% to 0.9 million carats versus a year ago.
Anglo American said, “Consumer demand for polished diamonds continued to recover, leading to strong demand for rough diamonds from midstream cutting and polishing centres, despite the impact on capacity from the severe Covid-19 wave in India during April and May. Rough diamond sales totalled 7.3 million carats from two Sights, reflecting the impact of the reduced Indian midstream capacity on Sight 4, compared with 0.3 million carats from two Sights in Q2 2020, and 13.5 million carats from three Sights in Q1 2021.
De Beers tightened its full-year production guidance to 32-33 million carats from 32-34 million carats announced previously.


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Inside a dark East Austin warehouse on Tuesday afternoon, several dozen gamers gathered around a small stage, eager for a first glimpse of Advanced Micro Devices' new computer processor.
Called "Ryzen," the processor line is four years in the making at AMD and uses the "Zen" architecture that AMD spent four years developing.
It will be available for purchase in the first quarter of next year and is aimed at the PC gaming market.
Tuesday's invite-only event was an opportunity for AMD to build interest and excitement about Ryzen.
The live-streamed event, which included free food and drinks, featured gaming and virtual reality demonstrations using the new Ryzen computer processor.
AMD CEO Lisa Su told the room that Ryzen is evidence of AMD's "commitment to pushing the envelope."
The chipmaker says that Ryzen is more powerful and faster than its last iteration of computer processors and the company used its demonstrations to illustrate how the new Ryzen chip matches or exceeds Intel's chips when it comes to speed, latency and power.
AMD is rolling out its Zen line of products starting first with the Ryzen computer processing chip, with graphics processors and other Zen-based chips coming later in the year. Zen-based computer processors will also be available in notebook processors in the first half of next year.
AMD is technically headquartered in California, but Austin is where most of its top executives live. The company employs roughly 1,500 people in the Central Texas area.
Check out more photos of Tuesday's event below:
News on Open Source is free and unlimited. Access to the rest of 512tech.com comes with an American-Statesman digital subscription, which also includes myStatesman.com and the ePaper edition. Subscribe at statesman.com/subscribe.


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Last month, Boeing stock went wobbly on news that test flights and initial deliveries of the Dreamliner would be delayed. Apple’s stock, although it rebounded after a strong earnings report, dropped six percent when the company announced a $200 price cut on the iPhone only eight weeks after the product launched.
CEOs, often dismissive of marketing, are discovering a dangerous reality: aggressive marketing and brand-building can boost stock prices by raising customer and investor expectations. But the penalties for not delivering on marketing promises are fast becoming as significant as not meeting quarterly earnings targets.
Boeing had banked over 700 orders from 50 plus airlines when a prototype 787 was showcased to the public from behind the hangar doors on July 8, 2007. Boeing marketers had done a terrific job of positioning the Dreamliner as a step change improvement in air travel, all but blocking out news around the rival Airbus 380.
Slight problem: the 787 was already behind on its production schedule, with multiple parts suppliers falling short of their delivery targets. Should Boeing have backed off its much-hyped coming out party? Perhaps not. New airliners have typically experienced production delays (the Airbus 380 is two years behind schedule) and customers know this when they place their orders. They will simply operate their existing 747s and 777s a little longer. In addition, no airline manufacturer ever wants to be seen to be compromising safety by rushing a project.
And the delay to the 787 is not likely to give the equally-hyped (and delayed) Airbus 380 any competitive advantage.
The story at Apple is less benign and that explains why the stock was hammered harder. The iPhone was heavily promoted at the time of its June 29 launch, resulting in long lines and spot shortages at Apple and AT&T retail stores. Despite a retail price over $500, iPhones were quickly being offered on eBay for $100 extra.
Two problems then arose: First, the reviews were mixed. At that retail price and with that level of hype, the critics were going to be tough but a raft of concerns from delayed activation and sluggish email (AT&T’s responsibility as the exclusive network provider) to feature shortfalls began to dampen marketplace enthusiasm.
The hype had brought forward demand from the Apple afficionistas who love all things Apple. But these loyal customers were the very ones caught short when Apple announced a $200 iPhone price decrease eight weeks after launch. This suggested iPhone sales had slowed considerably below post-launch expectations and might not meet holiday season targets. The stock price was punished immediately.
More significant perhaps is the possible damage to Apple brand equity among its core customers. After heavy blogging complaints about Apple exploiting its loyal followers, Steve Jobs had to apologize publicly (after his curt “That’s technology” response fueled the fire) and volunteer rebates of half the price difference to those who had already bought the iPhone.
The moral of the story: Do not risk marketing hype unless you are sure of both your supply curve and your demand curve. Hype can hurt stock prices and investor confidence when expectations are not met.
MORE ON PRODUCT MARKETING:
Authenticity: What Consumers Really Want (Hardcover)
Preparing for the Perfect Product Launch (HBR Article)
Harvard Business Review Management Dilemmas: When Marketing Becomes a Minefield (Paperback)


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Even though the company has started to slack on fast updates, Motorola is still very good at creating budget devices. The recent Moto G5 and G5 Plus, the latest devices in Motorola's mid-range lineup, have received great reviews. Now it looks like Motorola is getting ready to make its cheapest Android phones yet, the Moto C and Moto C Plus.
You may be wondering, "What about the Moto E? Isn't that supposed to be Motorola's super cheap device?" Well, yes, and the next model may have passed through the FCC recently. But the C and C Plus are even less powerful than the current Moto E. As in, Motorola is scraping the bottom of the barrel here. Read More
The Moto G5 Plus was recently released, and is possibly the best budget phone you can buy. But if the $229.99 price tag for the G5 Plus is a little too high, you can now get the last-generation G4 Plus for just $189.99 on Amazon. Read More
We've gotten a few reports in recent days that Motorola's latest budget phone is hungry. Hungry for what, you may ask? SIM cards. Several reviews on Amazon allege the G5 Plus SIM card tray is defective and causes SIM cards to become lodged in the phone. Having a Moto G5 Plus at the ready, I'm struggling to figure out how anyone can get this wrong. Read More
Motorola released the Moto X Pure two years ago, as the North American equivalent of the Moto X Style. It happened about a month before the release of Android 6.0 Marshmallow, and received the update about two months later. Motorola doesn't seem to care about fast updates these days, so it should be no surprise that the Moto X Pure is still waiting for Android 7.0/7.1 Nougat. Read More
Ever since the Lenovo takeover, Moto's design language has changed pretty drastically. The unique material choices and dual front-facing speakers of yesteryear have been ditched for front-mounted fingerprint sensors, more obnoxious-looking cameras, and metal and glass designs. The latest edition of this comes in the form of the 2017 Moto X, which has just been leaked in several photos. It's not a looker. Read More
Motorola has gone through some big changes in the last few years; from its waning days of independence (with crummy phones), to the Google acquisition (with much better phones), and finally to being manhandled by Lenovo (with weird phones). One of Motorola's most important products through all of this has been the Moto G. The original Moto G boosted interest in budget devices by showing everyone they don't have to be terrible. Now, here we are with the fifth iteration—the Moto G5 Plus, a phone that can be yours for the low, low price of $230.
The Moto G5 Plus looks and feels more premium than past devices in the series, but it also comes with a few limitations that keep it slotted in firmly below the Moto Z family. Read More
We already covered that Amazon will sell Prime-exclusive Moto G5 Plus models with lockscreen ads, but other retailers have begun to take pre-orders for the phone as well. Best Buy, Motorola, B&H, and Ting are now selling the G5 Plus, with a release date set for March 31. Read More
In late June of last year, Amazon introduced its Prime Exclusive program, which offered unlocked phones to Prime members at a discount in exchange for a few Amazon apps and ads on them. It was a rather intriguing concept, and it's proven to be a success. David even used a BLU R1 HD in $60 Prime Exclusive guise for a month to see how a smartphone that cheap would fare. Now, Amazon is releasing another $60 Prime Exclusive phone in the form of the Alcatel A30, as well as the not-$60 Moto G5 Plus. Read More
Motorola used to be just as good as, if not better than, Google itself when it came to updates. On more than one occasion, a Motorola device would be updated to the latest Android version before the Nexus rollout was complete. Unfortunately, Motorola under Lenovo's ownership has a more relaxed approach to updates, leaving customers annoyed and upset (and rightly so). Read More
The Moto G lineup includes some of the best phones you can buy on a budget. But Motorola places a higher priority on the G4 in India than the US, considering devices over there received Android 7.0 Nougat almost three months ago. Now the company has finally started rolling out Nougat to the G4 and G4 Plus in the United States. Read More


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Features by Annie Baxter
Posted In: News
Expensive text books are being purchased less, to the detriment of learning.
Posted In: federal government, Travel, business
Some hotels set their rates based on the federal standard.
Posted In: ICE, Charity, nonprofits
The national ALS association says that social media campaign? It's working.
Posted In: college tuition, Pentagon, military
New rules will require under-performing service members to pay back their tuition.
Posted In: Ohio, water supply
Toledo residents can drink tap water again, but what does the future hold?
Posted In: college, high school, midwest, recruiting, News
Demographic shifts mean there are fewer high school grads available for colleges.
Posted In: Amazon, earnings report, stock, shares, S&P 500 index
Amazon's stock fell 11 percent this morning following another sad earnings report.
Posted In: Facebook, Earnings, mobile ads
Facebook’s strong second-quarter earnings were propelled by mobile-ad revenue.
Posted In: Target, big box stores, corporations
Target opened it's smallest store in Minneapolis. What's a Target if it's not big?
Posted In: Unemployment, job search, job seekers
After a long separation from working, it’s difficult to find jobs that last.


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Checking in periodically with your youngster about who is on-line, playing the sport with them. Some also identified the drawbacks of imposing a blanket ban, suggesting that there must be guidelines that apply for “totally different sorts of games and minors of various ages.” The new guidelines prompted outcry on Chinese social media, where many customers complained that they had been too strict. In recent months, China has launched into a significant clampdown on private enterprise, which has engulfed a few of the nation’s high gamers.
On this week's Nintendo Noise we respond to your Nintendo Direct related questions, the news that the Mario Kart DLC will be playable online for free, and check in on how we're getting on with Ring Fit February!
👇 Links below 👇 pic.twitter.com/vN3BxfR0mJ
— FlipScreen (@FlipScreenGames) February 17, 2022
Nintendo held another Direct video presentation on 9 February 2022. Here’s what happened and how one can nonetheless watch it on-line. One of the most-loved but underrepresented games of all time could possibly be lastly getting a second probability to shine. Bang & Olufsen has launched a second-generation model of its premium gaming headset, the Beoplay Portal. The announcement followed the end of Capcom’s Pro Tour Street Fighter 5 tournament, hinting that esports shall be a spotlight space for the new recreation. If you are getting a Steam Deck and want to see which games will work with the handheld then there are several ways to verify.
Pubg Cell Royale Move M6 C1s3 Tier 1
Other researchers discovered no proof that extra energetic video video games would lead to a helpful consequence though the examine did show a rise within the amount of bodily activity within the kids receiving the energetic video games . Xbox Game Pass represents a real worth for anybody who plays a lot of video video games. For $15 per month, you get access to more than one hundred downloadable titles, lots of which could be performed on Xbox game consoles and Windows PCs. A $10-per-month tier can additionally be available should you plan to play on solely an Xbox or PC . The games can be played on Android and iOS cell gadgets through cloud streaming.
Mario Kart sixty four was the primary 3D Mario racing sport, and a number of the most iconic tracks that have made their way again to trendy Mario Kart games came from the N64 model. A vast sector that usually overlaps with the online game industry. Take-Two Interactive’s valuation has grown rapidly as a end result of stellar performances by its core franchises. Grand Theft Auto is the company’s largest and most essential property, and, as a series, one of the most profitable in all of gaming entertainment.
A draft of the law has been prepared and we’ll soon finalise it,” Mishra informed reporters on Thursday. Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra mentioned the federal government was bringing in laws to regulate online gaming. PWI Perfect World International, the visually gorgeous free-to-play on-line sport with unparalleled character customization and amazing gameplay.


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London, United Kingdom
New York, New York
Masdar City, Abu Dhabi
Auckland, New Zealand
Woods Bagot’s AI Plaza, Shanghai won first place in the 2022 Global Retail & Leisure International (RLI) Awards in the International Shopping Centre – New Build category. The team celebrated at the prestigious Global RLI ceremony held in Saudi Arabia amongst fierce competition. Woods Bagot Principal and regional Retail sector leader, Billy Ip, and Dubai Principal, Samer Charara, accepted the award sponsored by MK Illumination.
The award recognises the contribution made by the shopping centre that has reimagined the retail experience by utilising innovation and creativity to stand out from the crowd. As the first commercial plaza in Shanghai’s emerging art and media precinct, West Bund, the project is located alongside the Shanghai AI Tower. The design is also surrounded by a large swathe of art galleries and museums, offering an interactive “tech-galarie” experience from the inside out.
See the full list of winners here.
(left to right) Thomas Mark, President of MK Illumination Global, Billy Ip, Woods Bagot Principal & Regional Retail Sector Leader, Samer Charara, Woods Bagot Dubai Principal, and Jayne Rafter, RLI Publisher.
The “Art and Intelligence Hub” for the West Bund district of Shanghai
“[The ceremony] honour[s] the most visionary and innovative retail and leisure concepts from across the globe. The retail and leisure industry is exciting, dynamic and innovative and the Awards pay tribute to those companies that continue to push the boundaries; who are not afraid of the challenges that they are presented with; and who refuse to settle for anything but the very best.”
27 Feb 24
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text: Post author: Jamie Press Report You are here: / Gaming / News / Flappy Bird creator unveils screenshot of brand new game Dong Nguyen, creator the the popular mobile title Flappy Bird, has revealed his brand new project. May 19, 2014 roob.la/31448 ShareAll sharing options for:Flappy Bird creator unveils screenshot of brand new gameTwitter (opens in new window)Facebook (opens in new window)Linkedin (opens in new window)Reddit (opens in new window)Pocket (opens in new window)Flipboard (opens in new window)Email (opens in new window)Copy this URLThese are external links and will open in a new windowAdd to collection(s) The creator of Flappy Bird has unveiled a new game he is working on. Dong Nguyen revealed on his Twitter account over the weekend that he is currently working on a new game, which he hopes will make people “forget about Flappy Bird for a while”. Other than a screenshot of the game, shown above, nothing else was revealed. On Friday it was confirmed that Flappy Bird is to return this August as a multiplayer game after being removed months before. Back in February, Nguyen decided to pull the game from App Stores, as he wasn’t able to “take this anymore” after the title had gained worldwide attention from fans and the media. He later explained the decision to pull the game, saying it had become far too addictive to people. At the time, he said the game was “gone forever” but a few weeks later had a change of heart and said that the game would return “but not soon”.


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Billabong in takeover talks with consortium
Surfwear firm Billabong is to enter takeover talks with a consortium led by its former US boss Paul Naude and private equity firm Sycamore Partners.
The group has offered $300m (£196m), a 45% cut on the offer it made for Billabong in December last year.
In February 2012, Billabong rejected a $883m bid from rival private equity firm TPG Capital.
The Australian firm has struggled to restructure and last August it revealed a full-year loss of $287m (£181m).
Billabong has sold assets, closed stores and replaced its chief executive in an attempt to revive the business.
"I think it [the takeover] probably does progress. I don't think they have too many options left," said Jason Beddow, managing director of Argo Investments, which has a small stake in Billabong.
"It's such a small company now, such a small investment for anyone."
Trading in Billabong shares was suspended last week, and the stock has lost about two-thirds of its value in the past year
Billabong said the 10-day exclusivity period of takeover talks would allow Sycamore to engage an "internationally recognised accounting firm to complete a confirmatory quality of earnings analysis, typical of an acquisition debt financing".
"There is no guarantee that the proposed transaction will proceed, and neither the Sycamore consortium nor Billabong is under any obligation to proceed," it added.


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Defense Metals Corp. joins Canadian Critical Minerals and Materials Alliance (C2M2A)
by CM Staff
Recent announcements by Ford and GM and their plans to establish EV manufacturing confirm Canada's commitment to a low-carbon future.
VANCOUVER — Defense Metals Corp. announced its support as a Founding Member of the recently launched Canadian Critical Minerals and Materials Alliance (C2M2A). Defense Metals and nine other C2M2A founders reflect a knowledge base across the suite of critical material supply chains; including current & prospective producers and processors, commercial & national laboratories, academia and innovation hubs, and engineering & business experts.
Defense Metals support of the C2M2A initiative, representing an industry voice to guide Government of Canada policy towards establishing Canadian-based critical material supply chains, will benefit the advancement of its 1,708 hectare (4,220 acre) Wicheeda Rare Earth Element (REE) Property located near Prince George, British Columbia (BC).
Launched on January 14, 2021 the Canadian Critical Minerals and Materials Alliance is an industry association aimed at advancing resilient critical materials supply chains for Canada’s cleantech economy. The launch of C2M2A builds on the earlier establishment of the Canadian Rare Earth Elements Network (CREEN) in 2013 and its success in building awareness on the growing importance of rare earth elements.
Recent geopolitical developments have underscored the importance of the critical materials supply chains necessary for clean energy, electric vehicles, communications, medical and aerospace applications. A coordinated supply chain consortium, which represents both upstream and downstream critical materials producers (e.g., rare earth elements, lithium, cobalt, graphite and others) will help support policymakers and industry players implement strategies that will enable full Canadian participation in the sector.
Recent announcements by the federal government with Ford Motors and General Motors on their plans to establish more electric vehicle manufacturing capacity in Canada confirm Canada’s commitment to a low-carbon future. C2M2A will help support further investments in this rapidly advancing sector of the economy, particularly in outlining the effort and costs to build value-creating materials chains in Canada.


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Apple on Tuesday pushed out the second pre-release beta builds for iOS 10, macOS Sierra, watchOS 3, and tvOS 10, arriving more than three weeks after the platforms were announced at the annual Worldwide Developers Conference.
Convenience and brand recognition should help Apple Pay on the web pose a serious threat to PayPal right out of the gate, a new analysis predicts, forecasting that Apple's new browser-based payment service will see a major overlap with PayPal acceptance when it launches this fall.
One of the most anticipated features of macOS Sierra may actually be one of the simplest: Auto Unlock, which stands to save some Mac and Apple Watch owners trouble if they regularly log in and out of their system.
A useful addition to Continuity in both macOS Sierra and iOS 10 is the Universal Clipboard, making it easier to shuttle content back and forth between Macs and iOS devices without AirDrop or other workarounds.
Continuing Apple's deprication of third-party plugins, Safari 10 — bundled with macOS Sierra — will by default require users to manually activate Flash, Java, Silverlight, or QuickTime to use one of them on a website.
macOS Sierra, revealed during Apple's WWDC keynote on Monday, will be the first Mac operating system to include Siri. Although many people are familiar with how the virtual assistant works in iOS, there will be quite a few differences on desktops and laptops.
Following Worldwide Developers Conference keynote on Monday, Apple posted details about the upcoming macOS Sierra release to its official webpage, noting hardware support going back to the 2009 model year.
Before they launch for free this fall, Apple's next-generation platforms will be available in beta form starting today for registered developers. Members of Apple's public beta program will also be able to test the future of iOS and macOS starting in July.
Apple has announced it will rebrand its OS X platform as macOS with an update coming later this year, dubbed Sierra, with an emphasis on syncing data and settings through the cloud, and the debut of Siri on the Mac.


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Following the sale of Beats to Apple Wednesday (May 28), Jimmy Iovine announced shortly after that he has stepped down as Chairman and CEO of Interscope Records, reports Billboard. John Janick has been tapped to replace Iovine, and has been named chairman and CEO of Interscope Geffen A&M, while Iovine leaves to become an Apple executive.
“John Janick has exactly what it takes to lead Interscope Geffen A&M,” Iovine said in a statement.. “He started his own label. He understands the art of making records and the unique dynamic between a record label and artist, as well as the enormous responsibility that comes with representing one of the greatest artist rosters ever assembled.”
Janick launched his Fueled By Ramen imprint in 1996 and has worked in the Universal Music Group system, which includes Interscope Geffen A&M, since 2012. He has also been groomed by Iovine for the role. Beats Music and Beats Electronics was acquired by Apple this week for $3 billion.
Both Iovine and co-founder Dr. Dre join the tech giant as executives.


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17 Oct 2022
Congratulations to ENS Germany on their new HQ!
The ENS Group is proud to annouce the opening of the first phase for German expansion project in Hennigsdorf, Germany!
'The first phase has now been completed and we are excited to start phase 2/3 which will include futher techinal and logistics facilities' (Saeed Corangi, CEO).
Due to our vast increase in activity over the past few years, we are excited to be further expanding in the UK, France and Germany.
This is the beginning of a very exciting journey and the ENS Group would like to thank each and every one of its customers for their on going support!
For further information please contact:
Tel: +44 (0) 1189 7070 70
Online shop: www.inverterhub.eu


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Manufacturer Musings: Edel Garcia, Glookast
IBC 2015 is going to be all about 4K for post and IP for production and signal processing, suggests Edel Garcia, who also warns Amsterdam first-timers to keep an eye out for cyclists when crossing the road
Name: Edel Garcia
Job title: EVP of sales and operations
Company worked for: Glookast
Number of IBCs attended? 11
What will be the technology trends at IBC this year?
Due to the growth in adoption of UHD/4K capture in production and post-production workflows since last year, and the challenges this brings to media companies, this year there will be a focus on providing solutions intended to help media companies use 4K acquisition within HD post environments.
As well, many manufacturers will be showcasing IP-based solutions for production and signal processing.
What is new from your company at IBC?
We will showcase 4K ingest into HD post environments as well as parking workflows that allow 4K media to be parked for conforming purposes while allowing users to edit using HD proxies.
We will also present new workflows that allow media companies to integrate proxies being sent wirelessly from field camera crews into their news or sports post production systems.
Which overused word or phrase would you like to see banned from IBC/trade shows and why?
‘ROI’ - some companies use it to market their solutions but rarely is there a mechanism to properly measure it.
What is your favourite bar/pub/restaurant in Amsterdam?
Ristorante Savini - great service and environment along with great Italian food.
Do you have any trade show survival tips?
Take an umbrella: it will rain. If it will be your first time in Amsterdam, be aware that what you think is a sidewalk (pavement) is actually a bike lane, and cyclists will run you over if you are not paying attention.


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News Manufacturing General Sustainability
July 12, 2019
Victoria should have sought BC approval before plastic bag ban: court
Businesses were prohibited from offering or selling plastic bags to consumers and must charge for paper bags and reusable bags.
News Chemicals Food & Beverage Manufacturing Business Operations General Sustainability
February 12, 2016
Plastic industry wants Brossard to halt proposed bag ban
Canadian Plastic Bag Association says ban is based on faulty information and doesn’t consider negative impacts.


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Following yet another record breaking year for Spanish tourism, 2016 is likely to see even more tourists hitting the beaches.
In 2015 the wonders of Spain attracted a massive 54.4 million tourists to its shores. In September alone over 7 million visitors arrived, making it Spain’s busiest September on record.
Once again, the UK was the leading source sending over 12.5 million visitors our way between January and September, followed by France (9,183,150) and Germany (8,270,276) tourists.
Of course, with tourists comes spending and in 2015 this was another record figure. The total expenditure by non-resident tourists throughout 2015 stood at a massive 67,385 million Euros, representing a 6.8% increase over 2014. Most of that money came from British tourists. According to INE, those Brits everyone criticises spent a huge 14,057 million Euros in 2015. So I’m sure Spain can forgive a few unruly stag parties, unless they want to give up the largest part of their profits! This is a 10.3% increase over 2014 and this year is expected to host more visitors so who knows what figure I’ll be reporting this time next year.
German and French tourists came in second and third place with spending of 9,837 million from the Germans (a decrease of 1.9%) and 7,074 million Euros from the French (an increase of 7.9%).
This year has started well with 3.5 million international tourists visiting in January, representing an 11.2% increase on the same period in 2015. Following terrorist attacks and changes to Foreign Office travel advice, tourists are ignoring the usual haunts like Turkey, Tunisia and Egypt, instead opting for the “safer” Spain and Portugal. Hoteliers are recording massive increases in bookings for summer holidays and are urging people to book early to avoid disappointment.
Travel group ABTA have also noticed the increase in demand with Mark Tanzer, ABTA Chief Executive saying “The significant increase in summer holiday bookings to western Mediterranean destinations is also being mirrored in other Northern European markets. So it makes it more important than ever that customers book early to obtain the best value and ensure they get the holiday of their choice.”
Travel expert Bob Atkinson said Spain was currently the most searched destination on holiday comparison site TravelSupermarket.com.
Following January’s bomb blast in a busy tourist spot which resulted in ten deaths, Turkey has reported a 50% decrease in reservations.
Mark Warner Travel have cancelled their Turkish holiday programme in its entirety for 2016 stating “We have enjoyed a long and happy history of offering holidays to Turkey and hope to return in the future.”
Meanwhile, Turkish holiday specialists Elixir Holidays have announced they are struggling to compete and are facing administration.
Thomas Cook have also announced that 400,000 seats destined for Turkey have now been allocated to Spain. Thompson Holidays have also increased Spanish options to cope with the massive demand.
Budget airline Monarch, have made changes to their schedule diverting their eight weekly flights to Sharm-el-Sheikh to Spain following the ban on UK airlines flying to the resort which saw 38 people murdered in last year’s terror attack.
Property agency Marbella For Sale have seen an increase in enquiries for holiday rentals in Marbella and the playground to the rich and famous, Puerto Banus, with many of their properties already fully booked for the whole summer.
The increase is surely good news for Spanish businesses but not so great for the tourists as the demand has meant an increase in prices. Room rates are rising due to demand as are flights and car rental costs.
So what to do? If you are planning on spending your summer holidays in Spain, then I suggest you start looking into it now. But shop around, there are plenty of websites offering cheap flights and accommodation so check them all. Don’t book the first one you see and make sure you read the small print!


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Buyers of Hewlett-Packard's and Compaq products and services are against the proposed merger, according to a survey released by Merrill Lynch on Monday.
Merrill Lynch surveyed 100 US and European chief information officers about their planned spending on information technology. The CIOs said they plan, on average, to reduce spending on Compaq products by 10 percent, and those of HP by 4 percent, the study found. CIOs expressed concerns about customer service from a merged company, which could be "paralyzed" for several years.
Of the CIOs surveyed, 76 percent owned Compaq equipment and tended to be against the deal or undecided. Forty-six percent of Compaq customers said they were against the deal, compared with 25 percent for it and 29 percent who said they were neutral.
Of the 43 percent of the CIOs who said they owned HP computers, 42 percent were against the merger, compared with 26 percent indicating they were for it and 32 percent noting they were neutral. Shareholders are expected to vote on the proposed $22bn merger on 19 March. The vote is coming down to the wire; a major pension plan has announced it will vote against the deal, and proxy consulting firm Institutional Shareholder Services recommended to its clients last week that they vote in favor of the merger.
The Merrill Lynch survey countered a survey by Technology Business Research, which showed that customers supported the deal by a narrow margin. Both surveys showed a big block of undecided customers.
Though CIOs were only moderately confident that spending would improve in the second half of this year, a majority now expects to see real pickup next year. But the spending cutbacks at HP and Compaq could benefit IBM.
Thirty-eight percent of respondents said that IBM was gaining a share of their spending. And 46 percent said they would rather deal with IBM for systems, software and services than work with Sun Microsystems or HP, which work closely with systems integrators.
But that doesn't mean Sun will be left out in the cold. While only 25 percent of respondents said Sun was gaining their spending share, among those who were already Sun customers, 44 percent said they would be increasing spending with the company.
However, customers won't be spending in storage: Only 26 percent said they planned to buy storage from the company. Overall, storage spending is expected to increase 9 percent, with a slim majority of 54 percent going toward direct-attached storage.