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The other day, Phil Fleming was loading up a car in the parking lot of the Costco in Juneau. He said a salty version of something you may have heard before.
“Just now on the phone, actually, a woman was saying, ‘Yeah, that’s the smallest damn Costco I’ve ever seen,’” he said. “She’s comparing it to the Seattle and Anchorage ones. … It’s one of the smallest, from what I’ve heard.”
But is it the smallest Costco in the world?
“As far as I can tell, that is true, yes,” said Costco Wholesale Assistant Vice President Kevin Green.
He oversees the warehouse club chain’s northwest regional operations. He said that’s out of 770 Costco locations on four continents.
There was some wiggle room in his initial answer, so I pressed him.
“Are there other ones that are close that leave you some doubt?” I asked.
“No. Absolutely not,” Green said.
Green said the Juneau Costco, built in 1993, was a prototype, one of only a few that small. There was also one in Sequim, Washington. A full-sized Costco eventually replaced that one.
“And yeah, at the time, it was a test to see if that kind of smaller-market format would work. We’ve since decided that it probably doesn’t,” Green said. “But it does work in Juneau.”
Juneau’s Costco is about half the size of a typical store, which is around 160,000 square feet. Like the one that opened in Fairbanks in November.
And it’s only a third the size of the world’s biggest in Salt Lake City, Utah, which was also a test build, Green said. It opened in 2015.
In Juneau, Green said the geography limits growth and makes shipping challenging. But it is a profitable store, with 2-to-3 percent growth per year and 100-plus employees.
Back in the parking lot, customer Steve Houlihan ventured a guess about why Juneau’s store can cut it.
“I think, ’cause of the villages and all the stuff that comes remotely here, this seems like this gets a lot of use,” Houlihan said. “But it doesn’t seem like the parking lots are as full as down south. You can’t get in and out of them down south.”
There is one patron, about 70 miles away by boat, who’s about as transparent as can be about his dependence on Costco: Toshua Parker, founder of ToshCo.
He said the hardware and grocery store in Gustavus is about eight years old now. When he started it, it was named Icy Strait Wholesale. But the community promptly rebranded it.
“Everyone calls it ToshCo,” Parker said. “Before the doors opened, people started calling it that because my name’s Tosh and most of the products in the beginning all came from Costco in Juneau.”
Parker said Costco’s store-brand products are pretty ubiquitous in Gustavus, which has a year-round population of about 450.
But Caroline Malseed in Juneau thinks she’s missing out.
“We would like it to be bigger,” she said. “More stuff.”
Juneau’s not actually missing out on that much. Green said there are about 3,200 products in Juneau’s warehouse. A typical Costco warehouse has about 3,800 products at a time. That’s a small fraction of the selection at a typical big-box everything store — and part of Costco’s strategy for controlling costs.
The company did explore a 12,000-square-foot expansion in 2006, though it never happened. Green said it’s still a possibility, but there are no current plans.
Fleming is OK with that.
“I can’t say — maybe if I saw a bigger one, then I’d be, ‘Oh yeah! We gotta have a bigger one!’ Right now I’m pretty, pretty gruntled with it,” Fleming said.
I asked Green to weigh in on one more Costco controversy: Within the store, do you shop clockwise, or counterclockwise?
“Um, I always go counterclockwise, yeah,” Green said. “Although, there’s some — like where we work in Issaquah, if you go into that building, you do go clockwise, because that’s the way it’s laid out. So there are some. Yeah.”
Have your own Curious Juneau question? Submit it, subscribe to the Curious Juneau podcast, and catch up on past curiosities at ktoo.org/curious.


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Steam is the largest online gaming shop on the planet, and bitcoin is no longer welcome there.
In a major setback for the mainstream adoption of cryptocurrency, Steam, owned by Valve Corp, has announced it is no longer dealing with bitcoin as a payment method on the site.
Describing the issue of allowing the payments as “untenable”, the company cited mounting fees and unpredictable price fluctuations as the two main reasons for its decision.
Steam had first started accepting the cryptocurrency last April. Originally envisioned as a decentralised payment system, bitcoin is now viewed by detractors as a bubble that is close to popping.
Steam has a near-monopoly on the PC gaming industry, and its revoking of bitcoin as a payment system could see the cryptocurrency take a knock.
In a blogpost, Steam explained: “In the past few months, we’ve seen an increase in the volatility in the value of bitcoin and a significant increase in the fees to process transactions on the bitcoin network.”
Steam said that transaction fees have leapt from 20 cents to approximately $20 in just one year.
The company explained that the fluctuations can cause major issues when it comes to rapidly changing fee amounts: “When checking out on Steam, a customer will transfer x amount of bitcoin for the cost of the game, plus y amount of bitcoin to cover the transaction fee charged by the bitcoin network.
“The value of bitcoin is only guaranteed for a certain period of time, so, if the transaction doesn’t complete within that window of time, then the amount of bitcoin needed to cover the transaction can change. The amount it can change has been increasing recently to a point where it can be significantly different.”
Steam could reconsider
Steam said it could reconsider its position on the cryptocurrency in future, but the issue at present is too difficult to resolve. In recent days, valuations have rocketed past $14,000, and there is talk of the introduction of bitcoin futures.
The Verge reported that the cryptocurrency phenomenon has seen a 933pc increase in value since January of this year.
Bitcoin is trying to ease the congestion using something called the Lightning Network, according to Bloomberg. This would move some transactions out of the blockchain so buyers and sellers can carry out their transactions privately, and later give details of the transaction to the public network. It is said that this could ease traffic on the blockchain, and cut down on the long processing times and hefty fees.
Opponents of the cryptocurrency as an investment include Stephen Roach, a Yale University senior fellow and former chief economist at Morgan Stanley. In an interview with CNBC, he described bitcoin as a “dangerous speculative bubble” and a “toxic concept for investors”.

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The president of DSM Food Specialties, Ilona Haaijer, has told FoodBev that she’s ‘really excited’ to be able to offer laboratory and scale-up facilities alongside its new biotechnology centre in the Netherlands.
The company unveiled the Rosalind Franklin Biotechnology Center on its Delft campus earlier, where more than 400 scientists will advance the company’s research into food enzymes, cultures, bio-preservatives and taste ingredients for the global food industry.
Alongside significant investments in robotics and automation, the centre and the surrounding campus includes space for start-ups to explore and scale up their concepts in partnership with DSM Food Specialties.
At the opening: Alex Clere
There was a general buzz, a sense of excitement at the unveiling of DSM’s imposing glass biotechnology centre this morning. DSM’s scientists had already moved in, keen to give visitors an impression of the new equipment – some the result of millions of euros’ worth of investment – and collaborative spaces in action.
Ahead of the unveiling ceremony, DSM Food Specialties president Ilona Haaijer told me which of the company’s products she thought were particularly pertinent, given the state of the food industry at the moment.
Its MaxiLact product, which removes lactose from a product while delivering additional sugar reductions, was ‘flying’, she said. And the Preventase proprietary enzyme allows brands to limit the amount of acrylamide in bakery items amid widespread concern across Europe.
This new centre, a major achievement for DSM, will help the Food Specialties business continue to meet the industry’s biggest trends and satisfy changes to consumer preference.
The Rosalind Franklin Biotechnology Center is part of DSM’s network of more than 30 laboratories in ten countries. According to Gerhard Wagner, the director of DSM’s Biotechnology Center, the company has sought to align itself with local technology hubs like Boston, Massachusetts and put down roots close to its markets.
Haaijer also noted that the world was becoming an increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) place, which made the prediction of future trends difficult.
The process was no longer as linear as it had once been, becoming ‘an art, not a science’.
But in that challenge was the opportunity for DSM to increase its participation with external stakeholders, like Delft University of Technology and Corbion.
The biotechnology centre in Delft has also been designed with the help of DSM’s scientists, and includes features and open spaces deliberately intended to encourage cooperation and collaboration between employees.
Haaijer claimed that it was ‘more and more important to open up’ with chief operating officer Cindy Gerhardt adding that this was the only way companies can be early to market with a product.
The Rosalind Franklin Biotechnology Center will play a crucial role in that strategy.
© FoodBev Media Ltd 2024


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MEXICAN TAKEOVER: Soriana Sultana SA, a retailer based in Monterrey, Mexico, has acquired Soriana del Nazas SA, a 15-unit hypermarket chain.
The acquisition includes Soriana del Nazas’s American subsidiary, Gemso Corp., which handles credit, receiving, warehousing and shipping for the Mexican operation.
Soriana Sultana owns the U.S. firm MB International Corp., which handles the credit, shipping and warehousing for its parent. In six months, the operations of Gemso will be integrated into MB.
Soriana Sultana operates hypermarkets in northern and central Mexico. Sales last year topped $1.7 billion, and the company projects a 22 percent increase this year. The combined company has 42 stores and plans to open five more hypermarkets this year.
Summit Buying Co., a firm based in New York that specializes in buying American products for Mexico, the Caribbean and Latin America, will continue to service MB and Soriana Sultana.
NEW STORES FOR ROSS: The economy continues to be difficult in California, but Ross Stores still believes in its home turf. The off-price chain, based in Newark, Calif., on Saturday added eight locations in the state, where it now operates 125 units. Ross stores are called Ross Dress for Less. The new California stores are in Burbank, Cerritos, Costa Mesa, Venice, La Jolla, San Francisco, Palo Alto and Auburn.
Two other stores, in Oahu, Hawaii, and West Plano, Tex., also opened Saturday.
Ross now has 260 shops in 18 states. It reported sales of $1.1 billion in 1993.
PRICE CUT HURTS FAMILY’S MARGINS: Family Dollar Stores, Matthews, N.C., said a price reduction program implemented in 400 stores boosted sales, but lowered gross profit margins in the quarter ended May 31.
Third-quarter earnings were virtually flat at $17.6 million, or 31 cents a share, against $17.5 million a year ago.
Sales rose 12.6 percent to $349.2 million from $310.1 million.
Chairman Leon Levine said margins were also hurt by slower sales in higher-priced apparel compared with last year. Results were further depressed by startup costs for opening a second distribution center.
The company expects to add 165 stores in the current fiscal year, for a total of 2,200.
IMRA SLATES SEMINAR: The International Mass Retail Association will host its 13th Annual Financial, MIS & Auditing Conference Sept. 21 to 23 at the Westin Galleria Hotel in Dallas. The conference will cover integrating merchandising, finance, systems and store operations; micro-marketing; trends in supply-chain management, and health-care reform. Suppliers of financial and management information systems, inventory services, retail consultants and auditing firms will be among the exhibitors.
ONE PRICE JUMPS: One Price Clothing, an off-price retailer of women’s and children’s apparel, reported earnings for the second quarter ended July 2 rose 15 percent to $6 million, or 57 cents a share, from $5.2 million, or 50 cents, a year ago.
Sales jumped 23 percent to $82.6 million from $67.1 million, but same-store sales were flat.
The company, based in Duncan, S.C., opened 46 stores in the past six months, bringing its total to 586 units in 28 states and Puerto Rico. One Price, which tags every item at $7, plans to open 46 more stores by yearend.


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The content is accurate at the time of publication and is subject to change.
Rellevate is designing a digital bank for people who live from paycheck to paycheck.
They are not the first startup that is focused on this underserved market aiming to help hourly workers cope with ever-changing incomes and cash flow problems that often cause problems with bank accounts. Such fintech startups like Even, Digit, Tally, and Earnin also have solutions in this area.
Rellevate has a team of financial services specialists, partnerships with Visa, a bank, and international payment capability. It will use core processing software from Technisys. All this will allow Rellevate to offer a debit card payday advances, bill pay and international payments - all sold as a package through employers.
Rellevate will offer people more affordable alternatives to payday loans and cheaper banking services. "I've worked with payday lenders, check cashers and money transmitters, and the common denominator for those three are onerous fees," says Stewart Stockdale, the chairman and CEO of Rellevate.
Rellevate's digital framework will allow to move and access money, including money yet to be paid. There will be a real-time bill payment service and international money transfers. Customer service will be provided through an outsourced call center.
Rellevate services are offered to employers as to help them reduce turnover, improve job satisfaction and save them from having to provide payday advances as many do today.
Employers will give Rellevate access to data that will be used to let people borrow small amounts like $50 or $100 against their next paycheck. These pay advances would be offered four times a month without charge. The overall service will cost $9.99 for a monthly subscription if not subsidized by employers.
Rellevate plans to launch its new digital banking services platform at the end of the first quarter.


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GES EMEA Collaborates for ESG Strategy
Global Experience Specialists (GES) EMEA has partnered with specialist sustainability, social change, and BCorp advisory business Seismic to address its societal and environmental impact.
In recent years, GES has seen the continued development of its Show Ready modular product, which is entirely recycled or re-used, as well as an investment in its graphics and fabrics to ensure they are PVC and solvent-free and 100% recyclable, avoiding landfills.
GES has also established new office bases at ExCeL London and the NEC, helping to reduce vehicle emissions by 50% and, in many cases, eliminate transportation needs entirely for its clients attending shows at these venues.
Most recently, GES partnered with Rewind carpet, another innovation in production technology that reduces emissions at creation. The brand also agreed to another partnership with Reconomy last month.
“We are working with Seismic to help take us to the next level. We’re already doing so much to ensure our business is as sustainable as possible, but we want to do more; we want to lead in this area. Our work with Seismic will challenge us to be even better and provide our clients with even greater confidence in our commitment,” said Dean Linehan, vice president client relations at GES.
“GES is paving the way towards a more sustainability-focused events industry, and we are delighted to be their partner in this journey. They have already made considerable progress to reduce the environmental impact of their services, and our work with them will help them realise their ambitions and amplify their impact,” said Amy Bourbeau, co-founder and chief impact officer of Seismic.
There are more than 7,000 B Corp globally, with more than 1,000 of them in the UK.


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In January 2014, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, responding to the introduction of the latest “Fast Track” legislation, said, “It is past time for the United States to get off the corporate hamster wheel on trade.”
On the issue of trade, investment and global economic rules, America’s workers—and our brothers and sisters overseas—certainly are on a hamster wheel.
Every few years or so, whoever’s sitting in the White House decides that the thing a very smart president (VSP) would do is to pursue Fast Track and trade deals.
And so, that VSP starts negotiating, for instance, with Mexico and Canada (the North American Free Trade Agreement [NAFTA]), or with Central America (Central America Free Trade Agreement), or a random group of 11 other Pacific Rim countries (Trans-Pacific Partnership). The VSP tells the American people that the new trade deal will create jobs. That it will be “cost-free stimulus.” That it will “open foreign markets to U.S. exports.”
The VSP also tells America’s small businesses not to worry about most of the benefits going to giant conglomerates. And America’s patients not to worry that drug prices will increase. And America’s parents that food and product safety won’t be diminished.
Then the VSP asks Congress for Fast Track trade negotiating authority and mocks efforts to label Fast Track as undemocratic or to fix its numerous flaws.
Finally, the VSP says to America’s pundits, “See how business-friendly I am?”
The problem with all of this is that, in terms of trade policy, we really are on a hamster wheel. Don’t they define insanity as “doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result”?
Well, that’s what we have been dealing with for 20 years—very similar trade agreements, with very similar provisions—in many cases, copied word for word from the prior deal. Negotiated under very similar Fast Track rules. And each one fails to live up to its promises—to working families, to small businesses, to family farms, to communities.
Workers were promised new jobs under NAFTA but saw nearly 700,000 disappear. We were promised new jobs under the Korea Free Trade Agreement but saw 60,000 disappear. We were promised jobs when the United States gave China permanent normal trade relations (so that China could enjoy the full benefits of World Trade Organization membership), but we have lost 2.7 million jobs to China since then. Workers simply do not trust such promises anymore.
But these failures are not really due to flaws in the deals—these deals are largely doing what they are designed to do: to strengthen corporate influence, to deregulate the economy, to undermine union bargaining power and to push down wages.
Wait, what? NAFTA was designed to push down wages? Absolutely.


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The company laid off 18 employees in April and reduced pay for those that remained as business travel ground to a halt during the pandemic.
Blinker’s digital technology helps used-car shoppers buy their vehicles from a distance, a practice that’s gaining popularity during the pandemic.
“To this day, it’s still a mystery how she discovered me. But knowing that she’s worn a pair of my leggings is pretty life changing,” said the founder.
Halfdays just started selling products this season, but it has already landed in the Wall Street Journal and Vogue and has a pop-up shop in Aspen.
Olympians have struck deals through Denver-based Icon Source, which raised $500K from professional athletes as it launched last year.
Sunday has seen eight times revenue growth year-over-year and a 25 percent increase in subscriptions amidst the pandemic.
Startups around the state raised a total of $211 million last month, close to the $212 million the previous year.
Denver Startup Week founders Erik Mitisek and Jay Zeschin started Highwing within IMA Financial Group in 2018.
A Denver couple and the owner of a Sunnyside brewery teamed up to create Atost, which sells three flavors of aperitifs in 750 ml bottles for $35.
The Centennial residents launched their campaign on Oct. 23. As of Monday, they had raised $18,451 from 95 backers with three days to go.


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New Delhi: LALA World, a Singapore based fintech company aims to facilitate a large set of iPhone users for utility and financial transactions and has launched its iOS app in India and UAE. The company has built a global digital decentralized financial ecosystem powered by AI and blockchain.
Through this app, users in these two countries can carry out a wide range of utility bill payments and recharges with a wide range of service providers. Capitalizing on the blockchain revolution and using technology for a purpose, LALA World’s vision is to support financial inclusion of the micro-entrepreneurs, unbanked, migrants and refugees around the world.
Listed on the Apple iStore, iPhone users in India and UAE can download the iOS version of the LALA World App and avail financial services post the creation of a universally accepted blockchain based LALA ID, which functions as a fulcrum for the app.
The app will allow Indian users to avail services like prepaid, DTH, and data card top-ups and online recharges offered by 29 different services providers. Apart from recharges, users can use the App to make utility bill payments such as telephone, gas, broadband, electricity and post-paid mobile bills of more than 25 different utility service providers in India. These payments are secure, fast and enabled with swift support from the LALA World App.
“The LALA World App was launched to facilitate financial ease and flexibility. Through the App, we offer dedicated financial support and realize our vision of empowering diverse user categories by bringing them on Blockchain. We launched the iOS version of the LALA World app to ensure that iPhone users in India and UAE get hassle-free access to financial services across multiple geographies. The app’s interface is extremely easy to understand and use while offering high levels of security and efficiency being based on blockchain,” said Sankalp Shangari, CEO, LALA World.
In addition to allowing Indian users to avail a host of financial products and services, the LALA World App offers both domestic and international mobile recharges/top-ups for iOS users in UAE.
Additionally, LALA World’s partnership with ManGo Point Payment Services L.L.C enables users to top-up their LALA World app account through ManGo’s offline self-service kiosks situated in 450 locations across UAE. Post the top-up, users from UAE can use the app for mobile recharges/top-ups across 10 different countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Philippines, Bangladesh, China, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
The LaLa Word app is available as an android built at the Play Store.


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By Hillel Aron
By Joseph Tsidulko
By Patrick Range McDonald
By David Futch
By Hillel Aron
By Dennis Romero
By Jill Stewart
By Dennis Romero
UFCW has been in the forefront of the Stop Wal-Mart movement for more than a decade, attempting to organize workers, or “associates,” as they are called, at Wal-Marts across the country. There was a brief moment of success, when meat-cutters at a Texas Supercenter voted to organize. But the moment was short-lived. Wal-Mart almost immediately decided customers preferred only prepackaged meats, and reassigned the meat-cutting associates.
The union pushed through a California law in 1999 that would have forbid grocery sales at big-box stores statewide, but Gray Davis vetoed it. The next year, Jackie Goldberg, still on the Los Angeles City Council, introduced a city version of the restriction. Similar to municipal measures being tried around the state, Goldberg’s proposal did not mention Wal-Mart by name but instead barred any retail seller of more than 150,000 square feet that devotes more than 10 percent of its space to the sale of nontaxable items — in other words, prescription drugs and groceries.
The longtime chairman of the City Council’s Planning and Land Use Committee was Hal Bernson, the council’s most conservative member and the leading backer of his district’s massive Porter Ranch development — where, at that moment, Wal-Mart was constructing its second Los Angeles store. Bernson didn’t like the proposal, nor did the city’s Planning Commission, and when Goldberg left to take a seat on the state Assembly, the ordinance was pared down into a set of parking and design guidelines for big-box developments.
The new Land Use committee chair, Ed Reyes, used to be a planning deputy for Councilman Mike Hernandez — Goldberg’s co-sponsor on the original L.A. proposal. The council also has picked up a handful of younger members who got where they are with the support of organized labor.
“You have a different kind of leadership now,” says Hernandez, who now works as a council staffer, “and the city is looking at a whole different set of issues.”
With Reyes enthusiastically supporting a big-box restriction, Eric Garcetti reintroduced the proposal. City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo’s office hasn’t finalized the language, and Wal-Mart and city officials are officially awaiting studies from the Community Development Department and two contractors: Rodino and Associates, hired by the city, and the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC), hired by Wal-Mart.
But everyone knows there will be a traditional attempt to ban grocery sales in big-box stores, with two new twists. The law will apply only to four types of city economic development zones, plus a one-mile buffer, and it will permit big-box grocers if they agree to pay a prevailing wage — meaning something close to what union grocery workers get. City lawyers contend that both innovations make the law more likely to hold up in court, since there is no outright ban. As it turns out, though, the four zones plus the one-mile buffer cover pretty much the entire city, except for a few areas on the Westside and in the West Valley where large developable lots are scarce and the cost of land for a new Wal-Mart is prohibitive. And Wal-Mart has never agreed to any kind of wage mandate anywhere, other than federal and state minimum-wage laws.
Attorney Madeline Janis-Aparicio, who led the successful LAANE campaign to require all city contractors to pay their workers a “living wage,” has embraced the movement to restrict Wal-Mart grocery sales as part of her organization’s fight for “Growth With Justice.” Janis-Aparicio notes that the current campaign is not about sprawl or protecting mom-and-pop stores — although there may be merit to such battles at another time or perhaps in another place.
Garcetti agrees. “I would even want the Super Wal-Marts here,” Garcetti says. “But we want a Superstore to come to L.A. on our terms, not on theirs. Why would we spend all this money investing in redevelopment areas and empowerment zones with community development dollars to try to revitalize a certain area, and then invite folks in on their own terms in ways that affect the public money that we’re spending here?”
At a July hearing, Garcetti told a raucous auditorium filled with chanting UFCW members on one side and blue-vested Wal-Mart workers on the other that the ordinance was part of his “bond and commitment” to his father’s parents, who both were UFCW workers.
“This is an attempt to stand up here and draw the line in Los Angeles,” Garcetti announced.
Greg Freeman was at the same hearing and is conducting the L.A. County Economic Development Corporation study for Wal-Mart. Freeman insisted that his study would be even-handed and that he had reached no conclusions. But he proceeded to warn against the “traditional anti-Wal-Mart spin.”
“Nobody is talking about the fact that a Supercenter is lowering the cost of food for a lot of people,” Freeman said. He also noted that Wal-Mart has tremendous buying power in a city that still manufactures apparel and other goods. “We should look at whether it makes sense to be alienating one of the city’s best customers,” he said.
Freeman also noted that if Wal-Mart Supercenters are kept out of Los Angeles they will just draw away customers and sales tax revenues by locating in nearby communities — like Inglewood.


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“A few reports earlier this year said that Apple is developing a 16-inch MacBook Pro design that might be introduced in a couple of years,” Chris Smith writes for BGR. “An insider accurate with his previous Apple prediction also said at the time that Apple was working on new iPad models as well, hardly a surprising revelation considering that Apple launches new tablets every year. A new report from Korea now says that Samsung has been in talks with Apple about supplying OLED screens for both these products.”
“According to The Elec, Samsung might supply OLED screens for both a future 16-inch MacBook Pro computer as well as future 11-inch iPad Pro models,” Smith writes. “it’s likely that a 16-inch OLED MacBook Pro would likely be about the same size as the current 15.6-inch model, so we’re likely looking at an updated all-screen design.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Prepare your bank accounts and investment portfolios accordingly.
Samsung in talks with Apple to supply OLED screens for forthcoming 16-inch MacBook Pro, iPad Pro units – May 23, 2019
Ming-Chi Kuo: Apple to unveil all-new Mac Pro, 16-inch MacBook Pro, 31-inch 6K monitor, and more this year – February 18, 2019


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The drug company
Bristol Myers Squibb
beat Wall Street earnings and sales expectations in the last quarter of 2020.
The company reported non-GAAP earnings of $1.46 per share for the quarter on Thursday, just above the FactSet consensus estimate of $1.42 per share. It reported sales of $11.1 billion for the quarter, beating the FactSet consensus estimate of $10.7 billion.
(ticker: BMY) also increased its non-GAAP earnings guidance for 2021 to between $7.35 and $7.55 per share, up from a previous estimate of between $7.15 and $7.45 per share. The new guidance is in line with Wall Street expectations; which put earnings at $7.46 per share in 2021.
“In our first full year as a new company we delivered solid operational and financial results, and laid a strong foundation for the future,” said the company’s CEO, Dr. Giovanni Caforio, referring to the completion of the mega-acquisition of Celgene in late 2019. “The growth opportunities from our in-line and launch portfolios combined with a robust product pipeline and disciplined business development strategy strongly position the company to accelerate the renewal of our portfolio and achieve long-term sustainable growth.”
Shares of Bristol Myers were down 0.2%, at $61.93, in recent trading. The stock closed at $62.03 on Wednesday. Shares are down 0.5% so far this year, and down 5.4% over the past 12 months. The stock trades at 8.3 times expected earnings over the next 12 months. Of the 19 analysts tracked by FactSet who cover Bristol Myers stock, 13 rate it Overweight or a Buy, while six rate it a Hold.
The company reported $3.3 billion in sales of its cancer drug Revlimid in the fourth quarter of 2020, up 18% from the same quarter last year on a pro forma basis. It reported $2.3 billion in sales of Eliquis, which helps prevent blood clots, up 12%. And it reported $1.8 billion in sales of cancer treatment Opdivo, up 2%.
Bristol Myers also announced on Thursday a debt tender offer for a total purchase price of up to $4 billion.
Write to Josh Nathan-Kazis at [email protected]
This article is auto-generated by Algorithm Source: www.barrons.com


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Durham University has chosen Manchester’s CTI Digital as strategic digital partner and creative agency to re-design its external website.
CTI will lead extended user-research and UX design as part of the partnership, before designing a website to support the University in recruiting prospective students and academics, showcasing world-leading research, engaging external stakeholders and business partners and influencing policymakers.
Matt Smith, Head of Strategy and Experience at CTI Digital, said: “We are delighted that the team at Durham University have embraced our research-intensive approach to digital strategy.
“Our approach to user experience design will align closely with the research-led principles of Russell Group universities, as we translate usability insights into intuitive, tangible digital features.
“As we continue to invest in our digital strategy team and open our brand new User Testing Lab, we are perfectly positioned to design a digital experience tailored to Durham’s diverse audience.”
Professor Claire O’Malley, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Global) at Durham University, added: “As a world-leading research-intensive institution, it is important that our new website will meet the complex needs of our global users – both now and in the future.
“For many of our students, their journey at Durham starts on our website, so we need to get this right from the very outset and provide an engaging and interactive user experience which is reflective of the vibrant sense of community here at Durham.
“We are looking forward to working with CTI Digital, who have demonstrated their innovative, research-led approach to digital strategy.”


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Dollar Tree buying Family Dollar for $8.5 billion
Dollar Tree is buying competitor Family Dollar in a cash-and-stock deal worth about $8.5 billion.
The boards of both companies unanimously approved the merger, announced Monday. The transaction is valued at $74.50 a share, a nearly 23% premium over Family Dollar's closing price Friday. Family Dollar shareholders will receive $59.60 in cash and $14.90 in equivalent Dollar Tree shares.
In a press release, Dollar Tree CEO Bob Sasser called the deal a "transformational opportunity."
"This acquisition will extend our reach to lower-income customers and strengthen and diversify our store footprint," he said.
Family Dollar CEO Howard Levine will report to Sasser. Levine's company will continue to operate under the Family Dollar name. The combined company will have more than 13,000 stores and more than $18 billion in sales.
Family Dollar has been struggling in recent months to attract customers. After announcing an expansion plan last year that included tripling its store footprint, Family Dollar backed off in April. It announced it would actually close about 370 stores after a disappointing second quarter.
In June, billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who has a 9.4% stake in Family Dollar, wrote a letter to Levine encouraging him to sell the company and replace some board members.
Levine, in a statement, said the acquisition "represents the successful culmination of a comprehensive strategic review process," his board began this past winter. "This combination will enable Family Dollar to accelerate efforts to improve the business..."
Sterne Agee analyst Chuck Grom said in a note about the acquisition that Dollar Tree's overall lower prices and better real estate locations should help improve Family Dollar's performance. Grom also raises concerns about Dollar General, which will face more intense competition now that Dollar Tree and Family Dollar are one company.
"Dollar General has clearly benefited from Family Dollar's struggles over the past decade," he said. Dollar General was considered a contender in an acquisition of Family Dollar.
Belus Capital Advisors CEO Brian Sozzi says the deal also means more competition for discount king Walmart, which has been expanding into rural and urban markets with smaller format stores. Walmart shares are down 0.62% to $75.50 in Monday morning trading.
Shares of Family Dollar, based in Charlotte, N.C., spiked more than 22% to $74.15 in early trading. Shares of Dollar Tree, based in Chesapeake, Va., are up more than 5% to $57.46.


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According to the latest news from the Economic Daily, Alipay released the latest version 9.0 today. It took Alipay nearly 8 years to turn a tool into an application. It took another 2 years to transform into a payment platform. In the next few years, Alipay will penetrate into many areas of life, such as shopping, financial planning, and communication, and become a one-stop platform centered on individuals.
Yesterday, Alipay disclosed for the first time its coverage of offline payments in the supermarket, catering, transportation, medical and other industries. Statistics show that as of the end of June this year, more than 130,000 offline stores have connected to Alipay wallet payment, and more than 900,000 taxis and special cars can use Alipay wallet to pay.
According to data from iResearch, more than 80% of the domestic mobile payment market share is occupied by Alipay wallet. The data released by Alipay also reflects that mobile payment has entered a period of rapid popularization in China in the past two years.
With the development of O2O business model and mobile payment technology, offline merchants began to access Alipay in 2013. After more than two years of penetration, Alipay wallet has gradually become one of the mainstream payment methods for consumers and merchants in offline transactions. Today, more than 130,000 shops and 900,000 taxis and special cars across the country have accepted Alipay payment. Whether in shopping malls, supermarkets, convenience stores, restaurants, coffee shops or traveling by car, users only need to open the Alipay wallet to scan the payment code for the merchant, and the payment can be completed in one second, no need to prepare change, and colleagues also save a lot of money time.
Barcode payment is an on-site payment solution provided by Alipay for offline merchants. It solves the two major problems of scanning QR code payment before: First, it solves the potential safety hazard of easy information leakage when using mobile phone QR code scanning. The use of a one-dimensional red light scanner to scan barcodes avoids this potential risk problem. The second is to solve the problem that the current market price of QR code scanning guns is too high, which is difficult for merchants to accept, and it is difficult for Alipay to promote offline. And WeChat Pay also launched the function of one-dimensional barcode payment before.
HEROJE (0755-33141696) launched the new H220 series Alipay scanner (WeChat payment scanner), based on the H119 red light scanner, it has further improved the Alipay (WeChat) payment code (on the mobile phone screen) One-dimensional barcode) decoding performance, and at the same time have good sensitivity to common commodity barcodes, express delivery bills, and self-printing barcodes. At the same time, ODM and OEM services are provided for customers to choose to develop and customize. It is a high-quality choice for Alipay offline promotion service providers and merchants Alipay (WeChat) collection.


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Aakash tablet: Students to get it for free
India Today Online New Delhi, February 8, 2012 | UPDATED 11:55 IST
So far, the much talked about tablet was being marketed to students at a discounted price.
The minister explained that the tablet would get a 50% government subsidy and the remaining cost will be covered by the educational institution where a students is enrolled. Now it all depends on the educational institutions as to how much cost they can cover.
"We want to give Akash tablets in the hands of every student, then this will be useful," Sibal said.
The minister added that the attempt was to manufacture all components of Akash indigenously.
"We had a meeting with Bharat Electronics, we are looking for manufacturing all components of the Akash tablet indigenously. Otherwise, it will not be possible to distribute it as widely as planned," Sibal said.
- With inputs from IANS
For more news from India Today, follow us on Twitter @indiatoday and on Facebook at facebook.com/IndiaToday
For news and videos in Hindi, go to AajTak.in. ताज़ातरीन ख़बरों और वीडियो के लिए आजतक.इन पर आएं.


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SMOK - Protect minors. We are always taking actions
IVPS to Invest in Wotofo, Signing Ceremony Successfully Held
On September 18, 2019, the signing ceremony of IVPS(Shenzhen IVPS Technology Co., Ltd.)’s strategic investment in Wotofo(Shenzhen Wotofo Technology Co., Ltd.) was successfully held in the exhibition hall of IVPS headquarters. Mr. Ouyang Junwei, CEO of IVPS, and Mr. Zhang Tianfu, CEO of Wotofo, both signed the strategic investment agreement and took a group photo together. Shareholders, executives and employees of the both parties attended and witnessed the great ceremony.
Zero Tolerance for Fake Products！
SMOK is Always Ready to Crack Down on the Counterfeits
On August 28, 2019, SMOK's latest anti-counterfeiting action took place in Dongguan. SMOK’s anti-counterfeiting taskforce, together with market supervision authority and the police, seized almost 20000 pieces of bogus products branded “SMOK”, totaling 4.2 million RMB. The case has already been handed over to the law enforcement department of Dongguan Public Security.
Lucky Draw !
Scratch your lucky card!
Taste SMOK New Product with Malaysian Fan Family
On July 19th, 2019, a unique Malaysian fan event & SMOK NOVO 2 new product tasting party were successfully held in Malaysia's e-cigarette physical store SALT & POD MALAYSIA. This SMOK-sponsored event not only attracted numerous enthusiastic vape fans and vape lovers, but also invited several well-known Malaysian Internet celebrities, creating a light-hearted vape world full of music, vapor and SMOK trendy products.


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Melbourne International Wine Competition winners announced
The winners of the fourth annual Melbourne International Wine Competition (MIWC) have been revealed. This year’s competition was the most competitive in the event’s short history, with more than 1100 wines judged.
With a judging panel consisting of top trade buyers, including distributors, top retail stores and sommeliers the MIWC is a trade only blind tasting competition, with wines judged according to price and category.
This year’s Australian judges included a number of high-profile retail store buyers, sommeliers, restaurant beverage directors, hoteliers, distributors and importers. Among the judges were: Bob Paulinski, MW (Head of Sourcing –Wine, Coles Liquor), Bert Wyden (Buyer and Director at WineStar) and Andrew Roper (Founder & Chief Selector – Wines to the Stars).
MIWC founder, Adam Levy said: “The judges were extremely impressed with the range and quality of entries they receive.”
The real standouts of this year’s competition were the Double Gold medal winners. This year’s list of Double Gold winners included the following wines:
- Sidewood Estate 2013 Isabella Rose
- Idyll Wine Co St. Andrews 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon
- Reillys Wine Dry Land 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon
- Trifon Estate 2013 Family Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon
- Champagne Lanson NB Extra Age Brut
- Sum of the Few Wines 2016 Chardonnay
- Sieber Road Wines 2015 Shiraz/Grenache
- McGuigan 2014 Shortlist GSM
- James Busby Fine Wines The Fabulist 2016 Pinot Noir
- Soumah of Yarra Valley 2016 Soumah Pinot Noir Hexham
- Wild Earth Wines 2014 Pinot Noir
- Wild Earth Wines 2014 Special Edition Pinot Noir
- One Road 2015 Shiraz
- Bird in Hand 2013 MAC Shiraz
- Old Plains Wine Co. Longhop 2015 Shiraz
- Norfolk Rise Vineyard 2016 Shiraz
- Pondalowie Vineyards 2015 Shiraz
- Harcourt Valley Vineyards 2016 Mt Camel Range Shiraz
- Cantine San Marzano 2016 Edda Chardonnay, Moscatello Selvatico, Fiano Minutolo, Passulara
The MIWC has already announced that the 2018 competition will go ahead on June 24 2018, with the founders planning additional wine competitions across Asia.


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The Galaxy A5 2017 series was announced in January, so we're not going to be surprised if the Galaxy A5 (2018) will be officially unveiled in the first month of next year, likely alongside the Galaxy A7 (2018), and maybe a new Galaxy A3, too.
And also, in a related development, Samsung has opened a dedicated support webpage with the same model number (SM-A530N) in its home country South Korea, further giving credence to the Galaxy A5 (2018) existence.
Stay tuned to GizBot for more updates! This included a hint that the screen could be near edge-to-edge similar to the iPhone X. Apart from the display being like the Galaxy S8-like, FCC also reveals the details of the hardware as well as the software. The device will be powered by the Exynos 7885 processor, together with 4GB RAM. The display on the handset will have an 18:5:9 aspect ratio, the exact size and resolution is not known as yet.
Samsung will not only be coming out with A5, but also be working on releasing the Galaxy S9 ad S9+. The cover case shows a large cut out at the back indicating the inclusion of a fingerprint sensor below the camera or dual rear cameras. It could also come with IP68 certification for water, dust resistance, and will feature a Type-C USB port for charging. So, it did not come as a surprise to see the Exynos 9 Series 8895 making its official debut ahead of the Galaxy S8.
Samsung's A series of smartphones usually launch around the turn of the year, and 2018 editions are expected to follow the steps. In them, we can clearly see a vertical camera and fingerprint sensor arrangement positioned on the back of the phones.


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CRE confident of future Tesco profit
China Resources Enterprise (CRE), a retail-focused mainland conglomerate, said net profit sank 51.6 per cent to HK$1.91 billion last year, but the management expects a promising future due to its new joint venture with British supermarket giant Tesco.
The partnership was formed last October, with Tesco injecting all of its mainland stores into the joint venture and taking a 20 per cent stake. Tesco's most recent annual pre-tax losses in China amounted to HK$3 billion.
"When we bought Home World, they were also losing 600 million [yuan]. It took us two-and-a-half years to turn it into break even. Then in the fourth year, we made a profit. So you can see the synergy definitely will come," said Frank Lai Ni-hium, CRE's chief financial officer, who added that the joint venture has put aside HK$4.3 billion to cushion Tesco's losses.
Tesco has not made any profits in China, but CRE wants to turn the situation around in three years. Net income in the retail division, CRE's biggest business, slumped 65.2 per cent to HK$1 billion owing to the mainland's economic restructuring, the company said in a report to the Hong Kong stock exchange.
"We would venture to predict that the deal will be a drag on CRE's earnings first before synergies are exploited," Vineet Sharma and James Anstead wrote in a Barclays note.
Last year, the state-backed company's revenue climbed 16 per cent year on year to HK$146 billion, marginally higher than market estimates of about HK$145 billion. Total costs increased more than 18 per cent, mainly due to acquisitions during the year.
CRE completed the acquisition of Kingway's seven breweries in September. Thanks to increasing sales volumes, net profit grew in the beer division by 17.6 per cent to HK$943 million and in the beverage division by 23.3 per cent to HK$106 million.
It said it would expand its chain of hypermarkets and e-commerce business, with help from Tesco. The joint venture aims to become greater China's leading multiformat retailer.
At the end of last year, CRE owned 4,600 stores across China. It plans to open 200 to 240 new stores in 2014, 135 of which are Tescos.
The Hong Kong-listed company said it has no plans for another acquisition this year.


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July 23, 2018: Honolulu Beerworks
In July, HSBP members were treated to a fabulous tour about how beer is made. Geoffrey Seideman of Honolulu Beerworks took members around his Kaka’ako headquarters and explained how the ancient art of beer making had not changed that much. Starting with specially sourced grains, hops and yeast, he carefully blends, heats, ferments, cools, then taps his recipes into delicious beverages that we all enjoy.
Launched in a 3,000 square feet area, Honolulu Beerworks has grown to use over 5,000 sq. ft. and is now fully tapping its 7-barrel brewing system, growing into space from the next door neighbor and leasing off-site refrigerated storage space. In the last six months, the company has started canning and you can now find many of their varieties in Whole Foods, Down to Earth, Tamura’s, Village Bottle Shop, and soon many more. The most recent development has been hiring a distributor (as opposed to self-distribution) – so hopefully we’ll be able to buy their beer in our local grocery stores in the near future!


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Phishing AI Discovers New Mobile-First Phishing Campaign
Lookout Phishing AI reports a new, sophisticated phishing kit designed for mobile users targeting Verizon customers.
Lookout Discovers Phishing Site Targeting DNC
As reported in the media, Lookout has discovered a customer phishing kit targeted at the Democratic National Committee (DNC) via a third-party technology provider NGP VAN.
Mobile Persistent Threat Actor Running Global Espionage Campaign
Lookout and Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) have discovered Dark Caracal, a persistent and prolific actor running a global espionage campaign.
Spectre & Meltdown: How 2 of the Largest Vulns Impact Mobile
Spectre & Meltdown are arguably two of the biggest vulnerabilities in computing and certainly mobile history.
WannaCry: A Throwback to the Past and a Vision of the Future
When WannaCry started disrupting business operations, mobile devices enabled some work to continue. However, the majority of business are unprepared for an attack on mobile.
Security Alert: Apple Just Patched Trident in Macs, Too
Lookout and our partners discovered another detail: three software holes were present in Apple’s Mac computers.
3 Things CISOs Need To Know About the Trident iOS Vulnerabilities
Trident allows an adversary to silently jailbreak an iOS device and stealthily spy on victims, collecting information from apps. Here’s what CISOs should know.
Texts and Their Impact on Election Campaign Security
Lookout recognized that mobile devices could influence the elections, so that is why we held a special briefing on Capitol Hill in early October.
The mAPT Has Arrived
Mobile has emerged as a key component of the Advanced Persistent Threat arsenal and is the ideal weapon for cyber espionage.
Lookout in Vanity Fair: The Real Story Behind Pegasus and Trident
Vanity Fair interviewed the Lookout Security Intelligence team to understand the story behind the discovery of Trident.


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Survey Reveals Permanent Changes in Behavior and Expectations Beyond COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout
Curbside Pickup Shines as the “Most Helpful New Thing,” While Over 64% Of People Planning on getting the Vaccine Will Eliminate Travel Through the End of the Year
CONWAY, Ark. Feb. 26, 2021 – Metova, a leading provider of custom software solutions for mobile, web, connected home and car, and Internet of Things (IoT) for the private and public sector today announced the results of their latest blind survey of over 1000 people in the United States regarding behavior, trends and expectations beyond the COVID-19 vaccine rollout.
Notably, “curbside pickup” led the way as the “most helpful thing” during COVID-19, outpacing video calling, online video streaming, telemedicine and mobile food and grocery services. In addition, of those who plan on getting the COVID-19 vaccine, 64% will avoid staying in a hotel, casino or resort for the remainder of 2021 if given the option.
A notable, positive finding of the survey: “Quality Family Time” leads by nearly 2 to 1 in “positive life events that came out of the pandemic” – outpacing new hobbies, skills, personal fitness and home improvements.
For a freely reusable infographic summarizing Metova’s Winter 2021 Post-Vaccine COVID-19 Survey, visit: https://metova.com/infographic-expectations-beyond-covid-19/
“At Metova in our work with telehealth, mobile tech, smart home and connected technologies for the hotel and hospitality industry, it’s essential we understand the quickly evolving sentiment and preferences of our clients’ customers,” said Jonathan Sasse, chief strategy officer at Metova. “COVID-19 has accelerated and in many cases truly disrupted consumer preferences and behavior, and it’s essential for industries to understand these changes in order to best serve their customers.”
Metova’s Winter 2021 Post-Vaccine COVID-19 Survey:
- “Curbside Pickup” lead the way as the “most helpful thing” during COVID-19, outpacing video calling, online video streaming, telemedicine and mobile food and grocery services
- “Quality Family Time” leads the way by nearly 2 to 1 in positive life events that came out of the pandemic, outpacing new hobbies, skills, personal fitness and home improvements
- 86% of people working from home due to COVID-19 want to continue working from home after getting the vaccine
- 64% after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, if given the option, will avoid staying in a hotel, casino or resort for the remainder of 2021
- 1 in 4 say they won’t get the COVID-19 vaccine because they don’t think it is safe
Additional Metova technology and culture sentiment surveys include: Telehealth, Contact Tracing and COVID-19, Working From Home Due to COVID-19, Internet of Things, Mobile First, the Connected Car and Smartphones and Healthcare. For a a summary of Metova 2020 survey findings, please visit: https://metova.com/metova-industry-intelligence-survey-findings-of-2020/


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Local 360 opens its mercantile on Tuesday, June 21. On offer are local meats, custom condiments, produce, dry goods, and wine and beer from Washington. Hours are 11–8 daily.
Hanna Raskin of Seattle Weekly chats with the owners of Huarachitos after a fire last week shut down the taqueria. They tell Raskin the eatery will probably stay closed through the summer.
Doggy Style Gourmet Franks is steaming weiners in City Hall Park on Third Avenue.
Little Water Cantina is sans sous chef Cameo McRoberts, Eater reports. She helped the bustling Eastlake Avenue eatery to open in early May.
The Marriott Redmond Town Center is touting a new steakhouse: SEAR fire.inspired.american.
SOUTH LAKE UNION
Popular Portland chain Mio Sushi announced it will open its first Seattle location on Westlake and Denny Way this fall, according to press materials.
Keep tabs on more food and restaurant news. Like Nosh Pit on Facebook.


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The hashtag is being used by the British Fashion Council, dame Vivienne Westwood and others involved in the capital’s bi-annual celebration of style to raise awareness about how fashion can play an important role towards a more sustainable future and how it can celebrate diversity and promote model health.
In a video message shared on Instagram, Westwood emphasised the importance of switching to a green energy supplier, demonstrating it’s the little steps that collectively have the biggest impact.
Others are on board to spread the message, reinforcing that you don’t have to be ‘out there’ to lend support to the cause of sustainability.
Young designers are following in Westwood’s footsteps and making sustainability a big part of their creative process.
Erdem Moralioglu has long been a champion of creating practical, resourceful and sustainable garments.
Another young designer who cares about how the clothes he creates affects the environment is Irish womenswear creator Richard Malone.
For his SS18 collection, Malone substituted polyester for a fabric that uses the bark of the eucalyptus tree, but mimics the look of silk.
Speaking to Vogue, he said: “You really need to consider where it’s coming from – and I think the customers really want to know about that side of things.”
A brand also known for their beautiful creations, as well as for the positive spin they give to their collections, is Teatum Jones.
The duo demonstrated this with their latest show, in which they used (role) models with visible disabilities to walk the runway.
They, too, are championing the hashtag #PositiveFashion.
Let’s see what else comes of the positive message.


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Within two weeks of launch, Cyberpunk has already received three hotfixes, with the latest one, Hotfix 1.06 bringing optimisations for Xbox, PlayStation consoles as well as PCs. Hotfix 1.06 removes the 8MB save file limit that was not letting people save their game. Cyberpunk 2077 launched on December 10 with a lot of glitches and bugs that in many instances, made the game unplayable.
According to the information available on the Cyberpunk 2077 website, the Hotfix 1.06 is now available for all PC and gaming consoles. The changelog says “Dum Dum will no longer go missin from Totentanz enterance during the Second Conflict." Dum Dum is a Maelstrom gang member in the Second Conflict quest whom they will meet at Totentanz - an abandoned factory and gangers’ hideout as well as party place. Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt Red had earlier said that it was working on a potential workaround to the problem of the missing NPC. The second most important change is for consoles. The latest hotfix brings improved memory management and stability, that will result in fewer crashes. Further, the hotfix removed the 8MB save file size limit for PC gamers who were having troubles saving their progress.
As mentioned above, this is the third hotfix for Cyberpunk 2077 since its December 10 launch. The game launched to a bunch of negative reviews, especially from those playing on previous generation consoles. Cyberpunk 2077 was also removed from the Sony PlayStation Store earlier this month, and Microsoft has also said that it is offering refunds to those who are not happy with the game.


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Don’t trust these supplements to prevent cancer or heart disease
If you’re relying on a couple of supplements to prevent cancer and heart disease, it’s time to stop, according to a key health care agency.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has found that there is insufficient evidence that beta-carotene and vitamin E supplements help prevent cardiovascular disease and cancer. And in fact, the key advisory group says that the harms of beta-carotene supplements likely outweigh the benefits.
Advocate Aurora Health Population Health Vice President Dr. John Brill says the two supplements have become popular in some circles, but the task force found they aren’t effective. In fact, too much beta-carotene supplements can increase lung cancer risk, according to the USPSTF, the same group that makes key recommendations about cancer screenings and other procedures.
Vitamin E and beta-carotene are still helpful nutrients for people, but they’re best consumed via healthy foods, not supplements that can provide too much of a good thing.
Dr. Brill says the best ways to prevent cardiovascular disease and cancer are by sticking to the basics: A healthy diet and regular exercise. Trying to use supplements – especially without consulting a doctor – can be a waste of money and leave you without the health benefits you think you’re getting.
“The best advice for most people is to eat a healthy diet with 5 or more servings of fruits and vegetables daily,” Dr. Brill says. “The only exception is women of child-bearing age, who are advised to supplement folic acid either with a specific tablet or a multivitamin. Save the money that you are spending on other supplements or use it to buy more nutritious foods.”
Beta-carotene can be found naturally in many foods, often yellow and orange vegetables like sweet potatoes and carrots. Vitamin E can be found in plant-based oils, nuts, seeds, fruits and vegetables such as almonds and peanut butter.
About the Author
Mike Riopell, health enews contributor, is a media relations coordinator with Advocate Aurora Health. He previously worked as a reporter and editor covering politics and government for the Chicago Tribune, Daily Herald and Bloomington Pantagraph, among others. He enjoys bicycles, home repair, flannel shirts and being outside.


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"Palin’s campaign wardrobe is in trash bags at the RNC."
After it was revealed that Gov. Sarah Palin’s (R-AK) infamous campaign wardrobe was worth at least $150,000 dollars, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) remarked, “They’ll be donated at end of this campaign. They’ll be donated to charity.” But the conservative blog New Majority reports that the clothes are actually in trash bags at the RNC:
But for reasons that remain mysterious, the clothes remain stashed at the RNC’s Washington, D.C., headquarters. A source close to the issue told NewMajority that the clothes are “in the process” of being donated, and an RNC spokesman corroborated, saying the clothes have indeed been returned from Palin, “inventoried and will be appropriately dispersed to various charities.”
McCain even told the press that one-third of the clothing was “given back.”


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Like other luxury car manufacturer, BMW India recently launched an entry-level car 1-Series hatchback in India at a starting price of Rs 20.90 lakh for the base petrol variant. This is one of the biggest launch by BMW India this year , in presence of India’s cricket legend, Sachin Tendulkar. Launched across India, it will compete with Mercedes-Benz A Class, B Class and Volvo V40 Cross Country.
The new 1-series compact luxury hatchback in India, is available in petrol and diesel variant, the base petrol model, 116i is the priced at Rs 20.90 lakh. However, only one trim will be on offer in petrol, while in diesel there will be three trims on offer. 118d, 118d Sport, 118d Sport Plus. Price of these variants is at Rs 22.90 lakh, Rs 25.90 lakh, and Rs 29.90 lakh respectively.
The petrol motor equipped 1-Series has 1.6-litre turbocharged offering 136 bhp power and 220 Nm torque mated to an 8-speed automatic transmission driving the rear wheels. The car gets a top speed of 210 Kph while the 0-100 Kph sprint is managed in 8.7 seconds. An ARAI certified fuel efficiency figure of 16.28 Kmpl is what the petrol engine 1-Series brings to the table.
Diesel variant will be powered by 2.0-litre TwinPower turbo engines offering 143 bhp and 320 Nm torque. Like the petrol version, this engine too comes mated to an 8-speed automatic transmission. The 1-Series in the diesel avatar does the 0-100 Kph dash in 8.6 seconds and reaches a top speed of 212 Kph. With an ARAI certified 20.58 Kmpl makes the diesel powered 1-Series one of the most fuel efficient BMW car sold in India.
The 1-Series hatchback is available in a choice of 8 colors, Alpine White (non metallic), Black Sapphire, Crimson red, Deep sea blue, Glacier silver, Midnight Blue, Mineral grey, and Valencia Orange, the new 1 Series will be built at BMW India’s Chennai assembly unit, from imported completely knocked down (CKD) kits.
See more pictures of BMW 1-series compact luxury hatchback –


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Hotel and restaurant operator Maypole Group's chief executive Alastair McEwen is to step down from his role as chief executive to become operations director.
The news came as the company, which runs six countryside hotels with restaurants, announced a rise in like-for-like sales of 4.5% despite the poor weather at the start of the year.
The company also managed to slow its losses for the year to 31 December 2009, making a pre-tax loss of £465,000 for the period, compared with a pre-tax loss of £1.2m the year before.
But annual turnover dropped 9.6% to just under £5.7m for 2009, following Maypole's sale last year of the Wroxton House hotel, which accounted for £848,000 of total sales in 2008.
In his chairman's statement, Simon Bentley said: "Trading conditions remain difficult with the poor weather in the first quarter affecting sales across the country. Decisive actions have been taken to minimuse the impact on our business, to achieve a further sustainable reduction in the operating expenses in 2010."
The company runs the Lifeboat Inn and Old Coach House, both in Thornham on the North Norfolk coast, as well as the Pear Tree Inn in Whitley near Melksham, just outside Bath.
It has yet to name a successor for McEwen in the role of chief executive.
By Neil Gerrard
E-mail your comments to Neil Gerrard here.
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When brands tend to connect with consumers, it clings to a platform that consumers can easily align with, this was the case with Calypso Linqueur drink when it identified music as mechanism to promote its brand image and entrench visibility in the market.
To make the brand resonate to its core target who are constantly on the go and adventurous, the brand organised a Calypso welcome party tagged: ‘Calypso fun night’ at the National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) orientation camp in Lagos where corp members won prizes.
To further leverage on its brand visibility and to connect with the youth segment Wande Coal performed at the camp; tagged NYSC camp blast, the night show according to Grand Oak Nigeria Limited, brand owners of the drink said the show aims at intensifying the brand’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CRS) initiatives through reaching out to the core targets who are youths.
This, accordingly formed the basis of the Calypso welcome party which the owners described as also aiming to meeting the desired needs of the target consumers for entertainment, fun and pleasure.
On the CSR initiative, the brand owners described the platform as a veritable tool to create a sense of unity and oneness in NYSC members who have different socio-cultural backgrounds.
Speaking, the brand, Aaree Fatai Odesile, Marketing Director of the company said the brand is determined to satisfy the yearnings of the youth who are the core target market to remain relevant in the market. The event which is part of the company’s CSR in ensuring that the Corpers enjoyed a wonderful period while in their orientation camp.


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Offers for cheap medicines, illegal software, a myriad of get-rich-quick schemes and promises of enhanced sexual prowess; junk email has become an electronic plague.
According to a report from email security vendor MessageLabs, the global ratio of spam in email traffic for November 2006 was 74% – nearly three out of every four emails is unwanted trash. Some even claim that this figure is too low – UK-based anti-spam vendor SoftScan estimates that nearly 90% of all email is spam.
This should not come as a surprise. Spam has been a problem since the dawn of the Internet. And as both the crime stats and stock markets attest, spam really can work.
To date, the vendors’ promises to ease the problem have appeared empty. Indeed Bill Gates’ prediction, made at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in 2004, that spam would be eradicated in two years’ time, was wrong: in fact the levels have continued to skyrocket.
What is surprising though, is that the number of spammers is relatively small. According to the Spamhaus Register of Known Spam Operations (ROKSO) – a database that collects information on known spammers – up to 80% of all unsolicited email received in North America and Europe is generated by a group of around 200 known professional spam gangs.
This is possible because spamming is effectively a zero-cost business – criminals are simply able to leverage a huge network of hijacked, interconnected computers known as “bot-nets” or “zombie PCs” to initiate attacks, and they are getting more sophisticated by the day.
Yet the consequences for organisations are potentially devastating: network bandwidth can be severely limited while resources such as storage and processing functions are strained. Critically, legitimate email may not reach its intended recipients, potentially costing millions in lost revenues.
Stopping the criminals has proved impossible. In spite of a number of high-profile spammers who have been brought to justice (such as Ryan Pitylak who was fined $1 million for sending up to 25 million emails per day) there is no cohesive international law that covers spammers and the resulting global attacks that they precipitate.
The experts' response…
Daniel Druker, executive vice president of marketing at email security vendor Postini says that spam attacks will continue to get worse, but protection is still vital.
As the criminal gangs continue to hire more computer scientists to help them get around detection techniques the results [of spamming] are becoming more destructive.
Most at risk are companies that do not have state-of-the-art protection or are trying to stop these attacks themselves – the cost of blocking spam escalates with the amount of attacks you receive. We try and block them by looking at the behaviour of computers that are sending out attacks using a heuristic model that has thousands of characteristics of what bad behaviour looks like.
Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at antivirus company Sophos, says it is possible to block all spam, but this stops genuine email getting through.
Stopping spam is an inexact science because one man’s spam is another man’s useful communication. Most anti-spam products don’t stop 100% of spam, but instead aim to get as close to 100% as possible without making any mistakes.
There needs to be much more emphasis given to cleaning up home computers as they are the ones spewing spam into the business inboxes. And we also need the law authorities around the world working together to catch these international gangs and give them serious sentences.


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The Suzuki Kizashi is a very nice mid-size sedan with some sporty pretensions. However, its snail-pace sales numbers make it hard to justify expanding the powertrain lineup. Further complicating the matter is a change in the company's ownership structure. General Motors had previously owned a stake in Suzuki, but disposed it in late 2008. Volkswagen purchased nearly 20 percent of the company a year later.
Suzuki had planned to launch a V6-powered version of the Kizashi in 2011 followed by a hybrid in 2012, but both plans have now been scuttled. The hybrid and V6 hardware was to have been sourced from GM, but after the VW investment, Suzuki announced it would cancel all its future GM cooperation plans.
It's still possible that Suzuki could adopt some VW powertrain offerings for the Kizashi, but the costs would be hard to justify for variants that would be mainly appealing to an American audience. A more likely scenario would be for Suzuki to simply fade away from the U.S. car market.
Photos copyright ©2009 John Neff / Weblogs, Inc.
[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]


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Average pump prices tumbling
The AA Fuel Price Report found the average pump price of petrol fell from 132.16p per litre last month to 130.44p.
%VIRTUAL-SkimlinksPromo%It had risen to a high of 138.38p in the second week of September before the end of the Syrian chemical weapons crisis and the stronger pound sent wholesale prices tumbling, the motoring organisation said.
The cheapest price for supermarket petrol in built-up areas ranges from 126.7p in towns with strong competition to 131.9p in those without, usually small market and coastal towns like Clacton-on-Sea, Trowbridge and Newark.
Last week, however, some non-supermarket fuel stations in London's Streatham and Mortlake areas were able to sell petrol at 124.9p a litre.
The cost of diesel also continued to fall, down from an average of 139.12p a litre in mid October to 137.78p now. It had also hit a late summer high in the second week of September, reaching 142.88p.
At about 7p a litre more expensive than petrol, diesel's differential is largely consistent with the November price gap over the past two years.
Edmund King, the AA's president, said: "On average, 28% of AA members buy a set amount of fuel each time they go to a petrol station.
"This rises to 40% for younger drivers and 44% for lower-income ones. In September, a £30 spend bought them 21.7 litres and now it buys them 23 - a boost equal to a free 10-mile round trip to work.
"A family with two petrol cars was spending the equivalent of £252.54 a month on fuel in September, now it's £238.05. A company with 100 Ford Mondeos was spending typically £10,000 to fill them up with diesel in mid September, now it's around £9,640. Last week, it was officially recognised that lower pump prices helped to bring inflation down to 2.2%.
"You cannot understate the importance of lower pump prices. That is why, when the independent retailers say they would get significant savings from delaying the payment of fuel tax, the AA wholeheartedly supports the move if it helps the remote rural and other small petrol stations to survive."
He added: "But in the many towns where our members and other drivers complain about pump prices being 5p a litre higher than a few miles up the road, extra relief for the retailers should be reciprocated with fairer pump prices."


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The only positive in an increasingly gloomy air cargo outlook this year is that the price of jet fuel, which can comprise one-third of airline operating costs, has fallen almost 6 percent in the past month and is down more than 10 percent year over year.
The bad news is that the price of oil and its distillates is falling because of concerns over slowing global growth, which means cargo volumes are declining along with fuel prices. This caused global airline share prices to fall sharply in May, which the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said was an indication that forward-looking equity investors were expecting tougher financial conditions ahead.
IATA said Brent crude oil and jet fuel prices lost their strong upward momentum at the end of May, driven by worries over slowing global oil demand reinforced by any escalation in the China-US trade war. According to S&P Global Platts, the jet fuel price on June 24 was $78.97 per barrel, up from $76 per barrel in May, but down from $88 a year ago.
Fuel prices are important to shippers as they determine the size of the surcharges levied by the carriers. Air cargo airlines manage the fluctuating price of their fuel by adding a sliding fee to the base rate that adapts to changes in the price, either up or down. A push by shipper organizations to get carriers to charge all-in rates that include the fuel segment has not taken off, mainly because a fixed rate means airlines also need to carry all the risk.
While the fuel price is trending downwards, so, too, are air cargo rates on the major east-west trades. Freight Investor Services (FIS) said on the trans-Pacific, slack demand and the ongoing US-China trade war is behind an 11.5 percent drop in spot market freight rates from China/Hong Kong to the US in the past six weeks. Year over year, the rate is down 3 percent.
While FIS noted in its weekly update that both basket lanes from China to Europe and the US rebounded slightly, climbing by $0.02 and $0.08, respectively, the analyst said it was a result of short-term e-commerce demand from several major high-tech manufacturers.
The downturn on the China-Europe trade was softened slightly by a delayed Brexit. FIS said spot rates have fallen 3 percent in the last six weeks but are up 12 percent year over year, with demand remaining unpredictable.
“Airlines are attempting to align capacity with demand … the market is now firmly in control of spot-market rates as the benefits of a bumper 2017 and 2018 help buffer airlines for the slack season,” FIS noted.
The global slowdown is being particularly hard on Asian airlines that depend so heavily on demand from the US and Europe. According to the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA), the region’s airlines in May registered a 6.5 percent decline in air cargo demand measured in freight ton kilometers. At the same time, the average international freight load factor fell 4.3 percentage points to 59 percent for the month.
AAPA director general Andrew Herdman said air cargo demand had weakened as manufacturing in Asia slowed amid deteriorating business confidence, undermined by the ongoing trade dispute.
"Airlines are grappling with the effects of weaker air cargo demand, volatile oil prices, and renewed downward pressure on passenger yields,” he said.
The weak Asian cargo market could be seen in Cathay Pacific’s May figures. The Hong Kong-based carrier saw the volume of cargo and mail fall by just under 4 percent compared with the same month last year.
Cathay Pacific and sister carrier Cathay Dragon carried 168,270 tons of cargo and mail last month, a drop of 3.9 percent compared with the same month last year. The cargo and mail load factor fell 4.7 percentage points to 63.9 percent.
Capacity, measured in available freight ton kilometers (AFTKs), was up 4.6% while cargo and mail revenue freight ton kilometers (RFTKs) dropped 2.6%. In the first five months of 2019, tonnage fell 5% against a 1% increase in capacity and a 5.3% decrease in RFTKs.
Ronald Lam, Cathay Pacific director of commercial and cargo, said the cargo business continued to be adversely affected by geopolitical tensions and its dampening of market sentiment.
“Despite positive capacity growth in May, cargo revenue saw negative growth over last year. Both volume and yield incurred decline year over year,” he said.
Citi’s economists are expecting global economic growth to be in the range of 2.9 percent year over year for both 2019 and 2020. However, the investment bank’s global trade war simulations suggest global growth could slow to a rate of 2 percent year over year in just 12 months if trade tensions escalate on a broad scale. Under such a scenario, the bank warned it would “dramatically” lower global growth forecasts.


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A lawsuit filed in New York State alleges that Hershey’s “failed to disclose” that some of its chocolate products “contain unsafe levels of lead and cadmium.” On December 28, a New York man named Christopher Lazzaro filed the suit in federal court on Long Island. The suit seeks a class action lawsuit against the mass-market chocolate maker, which acquired the license to manufacture Cadbury products in the United States in 1988, according to a report in Watchman.
The outlet further states that Hershey sources its ingredients and manufactures its products “with the exclusive knowledge of quality control testing on the products and ingredients contained therein,” and the lawsuit alleges that Hershey “knew and could not have been unaware of the presence of lead and cadmium in the products.”
However, the complaint refers to recent findings by the US magazine Consumer Reports, which examined lead and cadmium levels in 28 dark chocolate bars. According to the magazine, 23 of them, including Lindt, Hershey, and Godiva chocolates, have “relatively higher amounts” of minerals. “For a 23 tablet, eating just 28 grams a day would put an adult above the level that public health authorities and CR experts say may be harmful for at least one of those heavy metals,” the report states.
Lead levels were particularly high in Hershey’s Special Dark and Lily bars at 70 percent, while lead and cadmium levels were especially high in the Lily bar at 85 percent, BBC States.
In his claim, Mr. Lazzaro asserts that he would not have chosen to pay less for chocolate bars of Hershey’s Special Dark Mildly Sweet Chocolate, Lily’s Extra Dark Chocolate with 70 percent cocoa, and Lily’s Extreme Dark Chocolate. Lead poisoning can lead to a number of health problems, including anemia and weakness. Lead poisoning can harm the kidneys and brain. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, children exposed to lead are at risk of developing learning and behavior problems, as well as damage to the brain and nervous system.
Featured video of the day
Delhi gym owner shot dead in his post, killers walk away from CCTV recorder
“Infuriatingly humble alcohol fanatic. Unapologetic beer practitioner. Analyst.”


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The information was submitted by the messaging app as part of ongoing investigations into the spread of fake news.
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But translating that positive attitude into projects is a different story, says report.
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The initiative at Itaú Unibanco aims to improve security and customer experience but raises concerns over customer privacy.


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In celebration of the highly anticipated film, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which officially opens in the U.S. on December 18, Disney Consumer Products and Bloomingdale’s are joining forces with an illustrious group of designers in a new fashion-meets-fundraising initiative, “Force 4 Fashion.” The looks will be revealed at a “Force 4 Fashion” launch event, presented by Kay Jewelers, in New York City on December 2 before going on display in Bloomingdale’s NYC flagship windows the following day.
Taking inspiration from Michael Kaplan, the film’s costume designer, fashion designers Cynthia Rowley, Diane von Furstenberg, Giles Deacon, Halston, Opening Ceremony, Ovadia & Sons, Parker, Rag & Bone, Timo Weiland and Todd Snyder are each creating an outfit for the event.
From December 2-18, these designs will be auctioned off on CharityBuzz.com, with the proceeds benefiting their holiday charity partner, Child Mind Institute, on behalf of Star Wars: Force For Change – a charitable initiative that empowers people to make a positive impact on the world around them.
“This collaboration celebrates the distinctive synergy between film and fashion in the run up to an exceptional moment in the history of pop culture. We’re excited to see how this incredible lineup of designers interpret Star Wars characters in unique ways, as well as to raise money for a great cause,” said Leslie Ferraro, co-chair, Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media.
Additionally, Kaplan has designed three, limited edition “little brown bag” reusable totes, only available for purchase at Bloomingdale’s during the holiday season starting just before Thanksgiving. The Star Wars-themed totes will be merchandised in pop-up shops featuring various Star Wars inspired merchandise.
“Bloomingdale’s is thrilled to join forces with such a historic yet continually ground breaking film,” said Anne Keating, Bloomingdale’s senior vice president of Public Relations, Special Events and Philanthropy. “We are excited to fuse fashion with pop culture to raise awareness and funds for our longstanding partner, Child Mind Institute, which has been a pioneer for children’s mental health.”


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Taiwan's Starlux emphasizes business/cargo routes over leisure destinations
Taiwanese carrier Starlux Airlines, now three years old, said business travel and cargo demand are driving the selection of its next destinations.
The carrier has postponed or suspended leisure routes that Starlux was actively promoting prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A Starlux spokesperson said the company has opted to open routes to “important business destinations rather than popular vacation spots." He added that cargo demand is “quite high” and cargo traffic helped the airline cover its costs during the pandemic.
Starlux routes recently reopened from Taipei (TPE) include Osaka (KIX), Tokyo (NRT), Bangkok (BKK), Kuala Lumpur (KUL), Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) and Manila (MNL). A TPE-Singapore (SIN) route on will launch on Sept. 23. Starlux's flights to leisure destination Da Nang (DAD) in Vietnam have been suspended and the airline has further postponed the opening of routes to Cebu (CEB) and Okinawa (OKA).
The fleet’s expansion plan remains unchanged, with three more Airbus A321neos to be delivered later this year. The airline will start taking delivery of eight A330-900s from the beginning of 2022. Ten A350-900s and eight A350-1000s will commence delivery in the 2022 second quarter.
According to Aviation Week Network fleet data services, Starlux currently has five A321neos in service, all leased.
Photo credit: Starlux Airlines


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Super Bowl Greatest Commercials 2020 is airing on Wednesday, Jan. 29 at 8 p.m. There are several ways to watch with a free live stream.
2020-1-31 · Just find Sunday's game in your Guide (or do a quick search for "Super Bowl"). Click Get This Show and click record (maybe add 30 minutes after it's done, just in case we end up in overtime). Watch the Super Bowl 2015 Commercials – Variety WATCH: Super Bowl 2015 Commercials Kim Kardashian, Mindy Kaling, Pierce Brosnan, Katie Couric, Bryant Gumbel, Robert Stromberg and puppies featured in first crop of ads The best Super Bowl commercials of all time - MSN
Automakers aren't leaving a lot to the imagination when it comes to their Super Bowl LIV car commercials. Most of the spots set to run during the game have already been released online.
Ad Report Card The Most and Least Impressive Super Bowl Commercials Winners: Jason Momoa, the Snickers ditch, and everyone’s Boston accent. Losers: Donald Trump and hummus. Feb 02, 2020 · Super Bowl LIV commercials intended for American audiences will be made available online after airing, and in some cases, they are already available online on YouTube. More: Watch Every Super Bowl 2020 Movie & TV Trailer Feb 11, 2019 · Audi brought terrific commercials to the Super Bowl in 2016 ("Commander") and 2017 ("Daughter"), but sat out last year's game. Now they're back touting their electric vehicles with a very winning
Super Bowl ads 2020: Watch all the commercials released. which kicks off at 6:30pm EST on Sunday 2 February 2020. Some companies have begun to release their Super Bowl ads online, while other
Super Bowl Commercials: The People Have Voted You’ll have no trouble finding collections of Super Bowl XLVII commercials online. Even the National Football League itself understands how much Super Bowl commercials have become a fixture in popular culture. The league set up a site that let viewers watch and rank the Super Bowl commercials. You can also search for commercials by rating Watch 2016 Super Bowl Commercials - iSpot.tv Watch ALL 2016 Super Bowl Commercials from one place! See all pre-releases and teasers as well as all of the ads live as they air during game. Explore the highest rated spots based on real-time measurement of what’s trending across social media and YouTube.


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Unilever appoints Mansfield as new marketing services head
Unilever has appointed former Barclaycard marketer Sarah Mansfield to head its marketing services team as media director for the UK and Ireland.
Sarah Mansfield: new head of marketing services at Unilever
Mansfield replaces Rachel Bristow, who took maternity leave earlier this year. Mansfield’s appointment is permanent, and she will report to Rob Master, vice-president of media for Europe and the US.
Mansfield joins from her position as head of communications and media planning at Barclaycard, which she held for two years. Prior to that, she launched its contactless payment and Freedom loyalty scheme while in the role of innovation marketing director.
At Unilever, Mansfield will focus on digital media and ensuring that upcoming digital technologies are at the centre of its marketing campaigns.
Mansfield joins the company a month after senior vice-president of marketing Marc Mathieu bolstered his ‘more magic, less logic’ strategy with two new hires, Walter Susini and Dennis Furniss.
This article was first published on marketingmagazine.co.uk
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The Huawei Watch Buds smartwatch will launch on December 2, and the company has also shared a teaser for us. This is the first time that Huawei has announced the presence of this innovative product.
Let’s take a look at the teaser.
The teaser opens up to reveal the entire watch dial and display. The design is quite exquisite and looks premium. Soon, it heats up that the watch could open from the bottom.
There are two wireless earbuds sitting inside the smartwatch. However, the teaser didn’t give us more. It makes sense, don’t we have to save some surprises for launch day?
Since we’ve already seen the smartwatch leaks, we care to tell a little more than we currently have.
Huawei Watch Buds teaser, launching on December 2 pic.twitter.com/60kyibwIdX
— Deng Li (@MrDengLi) November 30, 2022
The smartwatch comes with a Watch GT 3-like frame design. However, there is a slight thickness that you can see in the frame. Still, the design is well maintained and you might find it suitable.
Huawei Watch buds will have two wireless headphones but these will be plain and simple. No aesthetics are added to them.
There seems to be a press and release button that would help you open the smartwatch from the bottom. Then the user will have to open it further to reveal the inside.
Hands-on leak with Huawei Watch Buds pic.twitter.com/wLuWRdUmbq
— Deng Li (@MrDengLi) November 26, 2022
Huawei Watch CEO recommends buds:
Yu Chengdong, CEO of Huawei’s Consumer Business Group, praises the innovation of Watch Buds. In a recent interview, it was revealed that he was wearing a new smartwatch, as seen by many people.
Yu confirmed that the smartwatch on his wrist was definitely Huawei Watch Buds. The smartwatch is well liked and will hit the consumer on December 2. In addition, the CBG chief praised how far Huawei has come in the world of smart wearables.
As he noted that Huawei Watch buds are cutting-edge including both design and features.
Huawei Watch Buds is a great smart watch. With the 2-in-1 design, it will win the hearts of consumers. So, the launch of Huawei Watch Buds is on December 2, don’t forget to tune in.
(source – Weibo)


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The government of the People's Republic of China continues reducing its investments in the public debt of the United States of America. In July of this year, Beijing withdrew almost 8 billion dollars from the US, a message posted on the website of the US Treasury said.
Curiously, despite the reduction of its investments, China still remains the largest investor in the US public debt. At the moment, Beijing owns US bonds worth the total of $1.1 trillion. Japan comes second with $1 trillion. Ireland comes third on the list - the country holds US bonds worth $300 billion.
On September 18, US President Donald Trump announced the introduction of new tariffs on Chinese products worth $200 billion from September 24. Until the end of 2018, the tariff rate will be 10%, but it will grow to 25% in 2019. China responded with tariffs on American goods worth $60 billion with a tariff rate of 5% and 10%. USA's previous package of duties that was put in effect in August, embraced Chinese goods worth $16 billion with a tariff rate of 25%. China responded with tariffs on US goods totalling $34 billion.
NATO's Boeing P-8 Poseidon was circling above the easternmost point of Romania at the time of the missile strike on the Black Sea Fleet headquarters in Sevastopol


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Dent Reality: London-Based Startup Raises $3.4 Million to Bring AR Navigation to Retail Stores
The startup Dent Reality is building an Augmented Reality indoor navigation system for grocery stores. The company is partnering with Apple for the product.
The London-based startup is developing a technology that displays the floor plan of the retail store along with its own position on the smartphone and, as a result, knows exactly where a particular product category is situated in the store and will guide the user accordingly to that position. It uses a map or augmented reality view to take you to the right shelf where you will find the product that you are shopping for. The technology uses WLAN data as well as sensor data from smartphones to locate the user in real-time.
This week, Dent Reality announced $3.4 million in funding. The company is planning to use the new funding to ramp up its efforts to launch the phone-based AR navigation to the retail sector.
Some really exciting AR news – we @DentReality have raised $3.4m to build the digital layer for the physical world!
Here's a demo of what we've built so far… pic.twitter.com/abTReqm6aE
— Andrew Hart (@AndrewHartAR) November 23, 2021
Dent Reality’s funding round was led by Pi Labs. Also participating were Europe’s Sugar Capital as well as 7Percent Ventures from Silicone Valley. There were also a number of other angel investors. Data from Crunchbase shows that the AR startup has previously had a pre-seed investment round which closed in March 2020 although the amount raised in that funding round was not announced.
The London-based startup has been developing an AR-driven indoor positioning system for quite some time. In early 2019, the company announced its plan to release a software development kit for iOS that allows retailers to integrate the map into their indoor spaces, determine where the user is and use arrows and virtual paths to guide the shopper to a particular destination within the establishment. The technology back then was a bit like an indoor GPS system.
Cooperation with Apple
Dent Reality has been working on an indoor AR navigation solution since 2017 and the company claims that its indoor navigation technology is capable of handling up to 40,000 items per store as well as thousands of locations for every retailer. Dent Reality is partnering with different retailers to ensure its platform works seamlessly.
One of Dent Reality’s first customers was the British retail chain Marks & Spencer which implemented a test project with the startup in London. The video below shows the results of that test.
Dent Reality has also partnered with Apple for a trial of its technology.
Grocery stores are just the starting point for Dent Reality. Company CEO Andrew hart stated that the company started with grocery stores because they present the toughest challenge that the technology could solve, meaning implementation in other product categories should be relatively smooth.
Google Occasionally Provides AR Navigation Indoors
The company is also planning to expand its navigation solution in other indoor spaces in the future such as office complexes, universities, and hospitals. To realize this goal, the startup’s new financial resources will be invested in hiring new skilled workers and expanding its customer base.
Google is currently testing the first solutions for AR indoor navigation and announced a Google Maps update this year which guides smartphone users inside via AR signposts and can come in handy locales such as shopping centers, airports, and transit stations. At the time of Google’s announcement, only selected U.S. locations were supported although the company’s solution should meanwhile be rolled out outside the U.S., in Tokyo and Zurich.https://virtualrealitytimes.com/2021/11/27/dent-reality-london-based-startup-raises-3-4-million-to-bring-ar-navigation-to-retail-stores/https://virtualrealitytimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Dent-Reality-600x367.pnghttps://virtualrealitytimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Dent-Reality-150x90.pngBusinessStartupsThe startup Dent Reality is building an Augmented Reality indoor navigation system for grocery stores. The company is partnering with Apple for the product. The London-based startup is developing a technology that displays the floor plan of the retail store along with its own position on the smartphone and, as...Sam OchanjiSam Ochanji[email protected]AdministratorVirtual Reality Times


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Competition tsar Rod Sims is up for a reappointment for a second term as Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chief, after Cabinet agreed to put his name forward to the states for consideration late Wednesday.
It's the second win in a matter of days for the ACCC Chairman, who last week learned that the government would introduce the so-called effects test for which he had been passionately lobbying, prohibiting big companies from acting in a way that would have the effect of substantially reducing competition.
Mr Sims was appointed by Labor treasurer Wayne Swan for a five-year term in 2011. The three-year extension, proposed by treasurer Scott Morrison, will allow him to stay in the role until the age of 70. It goes against an edict reportedly in force in the Abbott administration that no Labor appointee would get a second term.
In office he has campaigned for tougher penalties for companies that break the law, accused the supermarket giant Coles unconscionable conduct toward suppliers and brokered a deal which will allow real-time information about petrol prices to be supplied to consumers through mobile phone apps.
His appointment was due to expire in July.