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New CEO and CDO in double appointment for Ribble Cycles
Thursday 25 February, 2016
Ribble Cycles (www.ribblecycles.co.uk), one of the longest established bicycle manufacturers and retailers, has appointed Jon Owen as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Matthew Lawson as Chief Digital Officer (CDO).
The new hires will help significantly strengthen the presence of the brand, which is owned by retail and consumer sector specialist private equity firm True Capital, in both digital and traditional marketing channels.
Owen joins from a four-year stint at Shop Direct, where he drove a 20% p.a. increase in sales as Director of Very.co.uk, and subsequently sat on the group board as Group Retail Director. Prior to this, he spent seven years at Asda and Walmart in a variety of core and online roles in the UK and internationally, culminating in a role as Asda Marketing Director.
Lawson joins Ribble Cycles with an extensive background in online marketing and a proven track record of driving SEM and web conversions.
Lawson’s past roles include eCommerce Director at loveholidays.com, where he helped in increasing revenue by 130 percent in 18 months, and Head of Conversion at ao.com, where he contributed to developing the brand from £10m to £300m over a period of eight years.
The current Managing Director James Dove will work alongside Owen and Lawson as Brand Director. James joined the Preston based company in 1990 and is the son of Terry Dove, who acquired the brand in 1980.
Owen commented: “I’m delighted to be joining Ribble. It’s a strong, wellrun business making a great range of road bikes. With the investment and support of True Capital, and the energy and commitment of the management team, we’ve got ambitious plans to grow the business over the next few years.”
Lawson added: “It’s a very exciting time to be joining Ribble and I’m looking forward to implementing my knowledge of how to get customers to convert online, which will be pivotal during the launch of our new website. The brand has an exceptional heritage and we have a number of new ideas to put in motion as the brand reaches its 120th birthday.”
Ribble Cycles was established in 1897 and the range has received numerous awards and positive reviews from core media channels over the years. Ribble’s Sportive Bianco was awarded 10/10 in Cycling Weekly and 98% in Cycling Active’s £1,000 bike test, and leading female British triathlete Stephanie Forrester competed on a Ribble bicycle at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Commenting on the appointments Paul Cocker, cofounder of True Capital, said: “I am delighted that we have been able to attract people with the kind of talent and experience that Jon and Matthew will bring to the business. It is indicative of the huge opportunity that Ribble has to grow as a brand and I am confident that, together with James, we now have a worldclass management team that can execute on our ambitious plans for the company.”
Notes to Editors
For further information or press images, please contact:
Paul Cocker, Co-Founder
About Ribble Cycles
Established in 1897, Ribble Cycles (www.ribblecycles.co.uk) has been supplying high quality road bikes and parts to customers in the UK and around the world. As well as manufacturing their own custom made road bikes, Ribble also supplies high performance bicycle parts from the world’s top cycling brands, including Shimano and Campagnolo.
Ribble Cycles offer free UK delivery on most items. From parts and accessories to specialist cycling clothing, Ribble will deliver it straight to your door.
About True Capital
True Capital (www.truecapital.co.uk) is a retail and consumer sector specialist investment firm, focused on the small to midmarket. Founded in 2013, True Capital invests in both growth and buyout situations. As a result of its sector specialist approach and its proprietarily owned retail and consumer startup accelerator, TrueStart (www.truestart.co.uk), True Capital has developed a unique ecosystem which positions the firm to add value to portfolio companies throughout the capitalisation spectrum. True Capital is led by CEO Matt Truman, former head of retail at JP Morgan, and cofounder Paul Cocker.


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The broadcast will use a record number of cameras to capture angles that put viewers in the middle of the action.
The error message means your iPhone has been disabled because the home button is broken or replaced by a non-Apple technician. Customers are not happy about that.
Did you take a pee break and miss one of the Super Bowl trailers? Reclaim your nerd cred and watch them all here.
Nike's new Vaporwing sunglasses for runners may not have any electronics, but according to Nike Vision a lot of technology went into building them.
The famed tech investor Marc Andreessen put his foot in his mouth after India rejected a program backed by the social network. Now he's saying sorry.
Though it's popular with an in crowd of entertainers, politicos and hipsters, the microblogging service is having a hard time getting regular people to join. That's a problem, a big problem.
The latest Surface tablet is on sale for $100 off the regular price, while Microsoft's second-generation Band fitness tracker is now $50 less.
The latest beta version of Apple TV's upcoming software also includes support for Bluetooth keyboards and the ability to organize your apps into individual folders.

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A Knoxville company has set its sights on accomplishing what the federal government, foreign market pressure and mad cow disease have not — establishment of an identification and tracking program for America's livestock.
BioPet Vet Lab, which got its start in dog breed verification and has gained recent media attention for its entree into the canine excrement identification business, has introduced a DNA-based system to connect what's for dinner back to the farm it came from.
"We've always looked at food safety and how DNA applies to food safety," said Jim Simpson, BioPet president and chief operations officer. "What we recognized was the need for a program that would encourage more integrity in the food supply."
Using a small blood sample from a prick in the cow's ear before it leaves the farm, BioPet catalogs the unique identification supplied by the animal's DNA along with information about how the animal was raised and the farm it came from. The meat can then be tracked all the way to the end customers, who will be able to scan the bar code associated with the meat — either on a package at the grocery store, at a display at the butcher shop or on a restaurant menu — using their smartphones.
With increasing attention on undesirable practices in the meat processing business — think, pink slime or meat glue — and growing interest in all things local, BioPet executives believe the DNA-tracking system is a product whose time has come.
"Presently, consumers have no absolute accurate way to determine the source and quality of their meat," said BioPet founder Tom Boyd. "Claims, such as hormone-free, grass-fed, corn-fed, antibiotic-free are all made from claims from the providers. The present method of tracking a particular cow is by the use of a cattle tag, which can be moved or altered. DNA is a part of the animal and cannot be altered."
Boyd cites statistics showing that 74 percent of people in the U.S. believe traceability in the meat market increases its quality and that 91 percent would pay more for beef that can be source verified, according to Corona Research in Denver.
But the market for DNA-traceable, source-verified meat is untested. So BioPet is starting from scratch and starting local.
The company is recruiting farmers across the state to supply beef through Southern Natural Foods, a separate business Simpson has launched. Southern Natural Foods is setting up a joint venture with a meat processing plant in Lexington, Tenn. It is investing in trucks to transport the cows to the slaughterhouse and the meat to its customers. And Simpson is now working to recruit groceries, restaurants and shops needed for distribution of the final product.
Southern Natural Foods will derive its revenue by selling the processed meat from the beef cows it buys from local farmers. Producers will supply all-natural Angus, all-natural lean and all-natural beef, which the company defines as being raised on grass and all-vegetarian feed without antibiotics or growth hormones. The farms will be spot checked annually, on average, to verify their claims.
BioPet will make its money from the farmers who will pay approximately $16 per cow for the service. Beef producers should realize a premium for their meat that will make up for the added expense and effort of DNA testing, although it's difficult to determine a precise amount, company officials said. Current all-natural beef products command 5-10 cents more per pound than market value, said Simpson, a cattle farmer himself who will be selling his DNA-registered animals through Southern Natural Foods.
In addition to addressing the demand for accountability from consumers, the new model for selling beef provides a potential opportunity for local farmers and the Tennessee beef industry as a whole, said Boyd. With more than 1 million cattle in Tennessee, the state ranks ninth in the nation for beef production. However, many of those cattle are exported out of state for final raising and processing.
"There's a large economic advantage to our state," he said. "What we're trying to do is keep more cattle in Tennessee."
Local agriculture officials are watching the companies' development closely.
Products: Breed verification, PooPrints, livestock management and traceability
Products: All natural Angus, lean and regular beef
Participating farmers: 13
"It's something new that we really haven't had a lot of options for in the past," said Wendy Sneed, livestock marketing specialist for the Tennessee Department of Agriculture. "We'll see how the public takes to it."
For Richard and Debbie Way, owners of The Barn Event Center of the Smokies in Townsend, offering DNA-traceable meat will allow them to answer a question increasingly being asked by the customers who cater events there: Where does your meat come from?
"Up until now, we really didn't have an answer," said Richard Way.
The event center is one of three retail venues currently signed on as a Southern Natural Foods customer. The others are Boyd's Jig and Reel (no relation to Tom Boyd) in the Old City and Porter Road Butcher in Nashville. Southern Natural Foods also is working with local chef, Shawn Banks, to set up a butcher shop in Knoxville that would purvey the local, DNA-tagged meat as well.
While Southern Natural Foods is working out the kinks of its delivery and database system, Porter Road Butcher owner James Peisker said he couldn't comment specifically on its benefits to his business. However, the concept, he said, could "revolutionize" the way meat is bought and sold here.
The shop specializes in locally produced meat from farms that Peisker and co-owner Chris Carter personally select and visit. The BioPet product could allow the shop to branch out into packaged goods, providing the same kind of in-depth information about farms the animals come from that the owners now dispense to customers face to face.
"Twenty years down the road, if you go to a meat section or a grocer and you don't see the bar code, you're going to think twice about buying it," Peisker predicted.
At the other end of the process, Loudon County cattleman Jason Parkerson has been selling freezer beef directly to local customers for six years.
"They like knowing where the cow comes from," he said. "Southern Natural Foods was for me the legitimate next step."
The relationship will also help provide valuable information about the genetics of Parkerson's herd that he can use to improve its quality, he said. Southern Natural Foods will provide information about the cattle sold back to the farmer after slaughter. Because the tracking process involves DNA testing, "I can tell which bull has sired that calf, I can tell how that calf performs off that bull, which in turn allows me to make changes with my herd," he said.
Despite strong movement in the international markets toward meat traceability and past efforts of the U.S. government to launch such programs, BioPet executives realized they were going to have to set up their own supply chain after a visit to the Washington, D.C., headquarters of the U.S. Department of Agriculture last fall.
"More or less what they told us is that, 'This is something that will work, it is very much needed, but we are at a point at which we are pushing responsibility from a federal level down to the state level,' " Simpson said. So they decided to "start from the bottom up," he said.
Southern Natural Foods, in which Simpson is principle owner, CEO and president, was launched shortly thereafter with help from a few minority shareholders. BioPet does not have an ownership stake in the company. The LLC has since recruited 13 cattle producers in Tennessee and has entered a joint venture agreement with 412 Meat Processing in Lexington to provide slaughtering services.
"We researched the idea of building our own processing plant in Tennessee, and the investment for that was pretty substantial," Simpson said.
The Middle Tennessee plant has enough capacity for the foreseeable future except for refrigeration space, which can be added relatively inexpensively, he said.
Recently, Simpson attended the Pick Tennessee Products Trade Show in Nashville to rev up interest among potential customers for the products and a dinner last week at the The Barn Event Center served to demonstrate the BioPet product and drum up more awareness. So far, the concept has been well-received, Simpson said.
"We have a lot of interest, from large retailers to small retailers and various restaurants," he said. For example, he said, Whole Foods has a special category of locally sourced products that would fit Southern Natural Foods' offerings. Simpson said the company has seen "strong interest" from several major chains but could not mention names.
The ebb and flow of food-safety scares and international market demand have spawned intermittent interest in traceability programs, said Sneed of the Tennessee Department of Agriculture. Several years ago, the federal government began pushing farm identification, and more recently age and source verification have been important in international markets, with the state offering incentives to help farmers get up to speed.
But many of the state's more than 45,000 beef cattle farms are informal operations in which producers simply devote a backyard pasture to a few cattle that they load up and take to market every year to sell at the going rate.
"Part of the issue is it's more work and more effort on the part of the producers," Sneed said. "A lot of them are part-time producers."
The local company also is challenged with building a market from scratch, said Tom Womack, spokesman for the Tennessee Department of Agriculture.
"What Southern Natural Foods is doing is kind of unique," he said. "I think it will take education of the consumer."
Simpson doesn't disagree.
"We see it as a gradual process of educating both the grower and consumers as we go through the process," he said, adding that "there's enough interest out there and participants to take care of our needed supply chain for the foreseeable future."
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GTA 5 “Finally, two weeks ago has been released for the PC, and now, the players and the fans are producing rumors about” the development phase, which is already being considered GTA 6 “.
Developer Rockstar Games franchise rumor still no announcement has been issued for the next game, but the Master Herald that the company has no plans to release did not mean that.According to Ecumenical News, “GTA 6” to its current franchise “too big” than expected, but still Rockstar Games is mapping the United States and about five years to develop can take.But back to London in 2013 in an interview with The Guardian, “GTA” is requested to change the setting, Rockstar Dan Houser explained:”I think for us, my instinct, GTA London was quiet for a while, but the game was much more limited. I believe we have created in London, UK, to establish a game I love to think that these days, whatever but I do not know if this is a GTA game ‘UK to know that I can be folded we can tell great stories about the UK, to demonstrate Great atmosphere, great gameplay are a lot of – I guess I simply do not think it would necessarily be a GTA ..
“We just do not have the bandwidth for the moment that you want to make as many games but we are always well the future is long and varied, sounds, and for that matter what the future is speaking for myself -.. And usually certainly not just me at all, because, “we say as much as possible to be militant’ll thank God – but my own personal feeling GTA with this game, I think it is the US .. we are very pleased with the location. Is our distinguished do something. “Ecumenical News Sports character is a trailer made by will fight the terrorists in the Middle East fans it will be determined in the cases that have been added there. He also said that you can install in the US state of Texas and Oregon said that possibility.
As for the expectations of the players, the share International Business Times (IBT) for the next game in the gaming world is crying out for a central female character said.”Rockstar GTA June to introduce a central female character seems like a good position. The next GTA, actually his adventures (and misadventures) of the story keep ticking, a female protagonist would like to see” IBT reports promoted.Change of mentality, according to IBT, which will make the next installment of the game for players hooked the “epic” can force.
Besides these improvements, fans are still waiting for better police AI in the game you are waiting for the police sometimes do not function.Sometimes a ladder to climb and can not fall crashing to his death are lost. They brazenly made to take the punishment of all kinds. But most of the time, are killed by their own stupid mistakes like “is the second time they have (even out of the way) are run over by cars,” IBT observed.With all this considered, it is expected that the game world that the game will include the development of rosters Wish Rockstar as GTA franchise is for some interesting changes.


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The Tegra 3 Android handset that Fujitsu had showed behind glass at CES is now out and ready for demonstration here at Mobile World Congress this week. It doesn't have a name yet — the company is simply calling it a "quad-core prototype" — but it's an early look at what it expects to launch across North America, Europe, and China sometime around Q4 of this year, part of a global expansion in mobile beyond its traditional Japanese roots.
The hardware felt somewhat loosely put together, but it's hard to fault the device for that — it's still the better part of a year away from production, and Fujitsu was clear to us that we're not looking at a final design. Though it has physical buttons below the display, we're told those are specific to the Japanese market; it's a nod to the fact that Japan is still transitioning away from numeric keypad devices. Other markets should probably expect to see some other design here (either capacitive hard buttons or Galaxy Nexus-style soft buttons). All will be waterproof enough to survive a drop in a puddle.
Though Tegra 3 feels extremely fast as always, Fujitsu's value proposition here seems to lie elsewhere: company representatives spent a lot of time talking to us about what the company calls its "human-centric engine," a set of features and sensors that help personalize the device to the user. Specific examples that were given to us (which we can expect to see on the production versions of this phone) include realtime speech slow-down, which takes advantage of the natural gaps that occur in a phone conversation, and the ability to intelligently change the pitch of incoming voice based on the user's age. Fujitsu notes that a human's ability to perceive sound changes as they age; with this phone, you'll just input your age and it'll modify the sound of callers automatically.
In addition to a biometric sensor and NFC support, the prototype has an unusual feature that we've never personally seen before: a dedicated proximity sensor on the back of the phone, which the company says will automatically turn off the display when you set the phone down in order to save battery. It seems that battery life is a big concern for Fujitsu here — owed in no small part to the processor and 4.6-inch LCD, we imagine — and it's taking steps to mitigate that. It's also looking into whether it'll be able to provide some sort of "fast charge" option that can completely charge the phone in under an hour. Wireless charging is off the table for this particular model, but the company says that it's got the technology under its belt, and there's no reason to think we won't see it in other devices.
Though the prototypes are rough at this point, we're excited to see a seasoned heavyweight like Fujitsu take its experience beyond the Japanese domestic market (it also notes that these devices will all be built in Japan, a rarity for handsets launched in Europe and North America). It's still negotiating with carriers and doesn't have any launch partners to announce at this point — regardless of continent — but they'd be wise to keep an eye on these guys going forward.


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Inside Party City in Wilkes-Barre Twp., employees display popular Halloween costumes this year including Batman, Barack Obama masks and alien morphsuits.
Six-year-old Kiersten Burrows of Lake Sheridan, who recently shopped at the store with her mom and younger brother, said she plans to dress as a cowgirl for Halloween.
"She wants to wear pink cowgirl boots," said her mom, Laura Burrows, adding her 4-year-old son Keaghan wants to be a bee.
Pumpkin, princess, witch and vampire costumes top consumers' favorites this Halloween, according to the National Retail Federation's 2012 top costumers survey conducted by BIGinsight.
Americans are expected to spend $2.87 billion on Halloween costumes this year, according to a recent National Retail Federation survey. That includes more than $1.1 billion on children's costumes, $1.4 billion on adult costumes and $370 million on pet costumes. The average person will spend $79.82 on Halloween candy, costumes and decor, bringing total spending to $8 billion, the most in the survey's 10-year history.
According to the survey, many consumers will look to recent and forthcoming events for their 2012 costume ideas. More than one million adults and kids will dress as some type of athlete this year. And with the election looming in early November, more than 767,000 Halloween party-goers will don some type of political costume.
"With nearly one in ten celebrants taking their costume cues from current events, we'll see plenty of Barack Obama and Mitt Romney look-alikes out-and-about for Halloween," said BIGinsight Consumer Insights Director Pam Goodfellow.
According to the survey, nearly 6 million adults plan to dress as a witch this year and 3.2 million will dress as vampires. For kids, princess costumes take the number one spot with Batman and Spider-Man taking number two and three. When it comes to those planning a costume for their pets, 12.7 percent of people will dress them as pumpkins.
Julia Darrenkamp, spokeswoman for Party City and Halloween City, said superhero costumes are huge this year, mostly due to blockbuster hits like "The Dark Knight Rises" and "The Amazing Spider-Man."
"President masks are doing really well and (are) pretty affordable," Ms. Darrenkamp said. "A big one for young girls is Disney princesses, especially Cinderella."
Jim O'Hora, owner of Taney's Costume Shop in Scranton, rents costumes and sells less expensive costumers. The most popular costumes he has been getting calls about also are Batman costumes, he said.
In addition to witches, vampires and Batman costumes, other popular adult costumes on the National Retail Federation survey include pirates, zombies, princesses, ghosts, nurses, cats and Superman.
Tristan Decker of Towanda, who shopped at Party City with his parents, plans to dress as a zombie for Halloween. Parents Mike and Janelle Decker are planning a haunted house and always buy decorations for Halloween, they said. Mr. Decker said he plans to dress as a "ringleader clown." Mrs. Decker said she will dress as the Mad Hatter.
Robin Beam, director of education for A.C. Moore stores, said Halloween budgets can be stretched with a little imagination and creativity. She offered suggestions for kid-friendly options for costumes and decorations that anyone can put together with craft basics.
Many costumes can be put together in under two hours and for less than $20. Some costumes can be made with T-shirts, such as a gum-ball costume and a pile of leaves costume, Ms. Beam said. Other costumes can be made with duct tape, such as a monster or witch, she said.
"When the kids help out with their costumes, they take pride in them because they helped make them," Ms. Beam said.
Contact the writer: email@example.comApp keeps track of trick-or-treaters
Snap Secure, a Princeton, N.J.-based company that sells security for smartphone data, launched new features including one that allows parents to set up a "geofence" for setting trick-or-treat boundaries on Halloween night.
According to company spokeswoman Jennifer Wolk, the app tracks the location of a child's mobile device, and a new feature lets a parent see where the device has been that day, week or month.
"That means when Halloween rolls around, you'll know what houses your child stopped at and when," Ms. Wolk said.
The features are currently available for BlackBerry and Android. The cost is $5.99 a month or $57.99 for up to five family members and unlimited devices. For more information, go to www.mysnapsecure.com.


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The fallout from regulators’ takeover of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank has rippled through to payments companies, forcing them to minimize disruption to their businesses.
Marqeta, Modern Treasury and Bill Holdings were among the companies impacted by the bank industry crisis tipped off when SVB succumbed to federal regulators’ control on Friday. On Sunday, the Biden administration announced that depositors would be protected. The State of New York closed Signature Bank on Sunday.
Some payments players had deposits with SVB, while others received financing from the bank, or used SVB to handle payments. Card networks also had credit card connections with one bank or the other. They all had to pivot when operations at the banks declined.
Top executives from Fiserv and Jack Henry as well as Visa and Mastercard have weighed in on how the bank contagion affected their operations and customers, offering comments during a Wolfe Research fintech investor conference this week. But smaller market participants were impacted too, and executives at those companies this week shed light on how they’ve fared in the tumult.
Earlier this month, financial services platform Modern Treasury announced the launch of its global ACH capability, highlighting Silicon Valley Bank as as partner. The service, designed to be lower cost than other options, enables their mutual customers to make cross-border payments, according to a March 2 release.
Venture-backed Modern Treasury says SVB is just one of many bank partners connected to the service.
The service is “a feature that we support across a number of banks,” a Modern Treasury spokesperson said in a statement Tuesday. “SVB was the first partner we announced the capability with, although our integration is live with other large U.S. banks we have yet to announce.”
The San Francisco-based company continues to monitor the status of payment systems such as the global ACH service and post updates on its website, but “we can’t speculate on future product support or operations of SVB Bridge Bank,” the spokesperson said in an email, referring to the new moniker for the federally-controlled bank.
When asked if SVB handled any services for Affirm, an Affirm spokesperson said the vast majority of Affirm’s operating accounts are held at large, well-capitalized money center banks, and reiterated a Friday statement from the company that SVB is not a funding partner or an originating bank partner to Affirm.
The company’s chief financial officer, Michael Linford, explained at the conference how the company tried to protect itself from any impact. “We spent most of our time making sure that payroll wasn’t going to go to Silicon Valley Bank, and that when we were paying our vendors, that they were going to be able to receive the payments,” Linford said Wednesday during the Wolfe conference.
While Affirm initially paused disbursements to merchants who had accounts at SVB, the BNPL provider resumed those disbursements on March 14, the spokesperson said by email.
SVB “had been through (an economic) cycle, and yet they hadn’t managed something that I think was as basic as asset liability management,” Linford said.
Marqeta, which offers digital card issuing services to businesses, used SVB as a “primary account,” tapping it to pay customers their share of interchange fees and to make other payments, CEO Simon Khalaf said during an investor conference on Wednesday.
Nonetheless, he downplayed the overall impact on the company, saying there was “no risk” for Oakland, California-based Marqeta.
“We did have exposure to Silicon Valley Bank, but it’s not like half of our cash was there,” he said at the Wolfe Research conference. “Even if the bank went into long receivership, we would not have missed a beat.”
In any case, Marqeta was in the process of moving its banking business from SVB to a larger financial institution, he said. “We are pleased with what the government has done,” he added.
As far as the impact on the broader ecosystem, he predicted there will be a flight to quality companies, not just in the banking system, but also in fintech. He argued Marqeta will ultimately benefit from that trend by offering new products that will help customers “achieve stability among multiple banking networks.”
Bill Holdings announced Friday it had funds with SVB but a “significant majority” of its corporate cash and processed payments are with other banks. The company also used SVB to process payments for its customers.
As SVB’s decline began to unfold, Bill Chief Financial Officer John Rettig said the company moved payments capabilities to another of its bank processors and assured customers with payments in process that those would be honored, regardless of what happened with SVB.
San Jose-based Bill was able to quickly pivot due to the redundancy the company has built into its system, including relationships with multiple global banks, Rettig said during a Tuesday appearance at the Wolfe Fintech Forum.
The federal government’s announcement that deposits would be insured eliminated one of the risks the company had identified with regard to its balance sheet, but work continues on the payment front, he said. Payments were flowing as of Tuesday and although there are some delays for all businesses working with SVB, “it seems like that is now starting to move forward,” Rettig said.
At Payoneer, which provides small businesses with cross-border payment services, the impact of SVB’s takeover by federal regulators was “de minimis,” said CEO John Caplan.
The company revealed in a regulatory filing Friday that it had an unidentified amount of less than $20 million held at the bank. That was equal to a fraction of the $6.4 billion in total cash balances it had as of the end of last year, the filing noted.
It’s “completely business as usual at Payoneer,” Caplan said at the Wolfe conference on Tuesday.
Asked by a Wolfe conference moderator whether Payoneer executives had seen any change in behavior among customers, Caplan said they hadn’t. “Our customers need their funds accessible, available, all the time around the globe, and they are, they will be and they have been,” Caplan said.
Caplan had been a Payoneer co-CEO with Scott Galit, but shifted to take that title exclusively this month.
The New York-based company also noted in the regulatory filing that most of its cash deposits are spread across ten larger global banks.
Boston-based Flywire had received some financing from SVB, and had operating accounts at the bank. Still, Flywire didn’t experience any disruption in its business or its clients’ funds, Chief Financial Officer Mike Ellis said Tuesday during the conference.
Flywire, which handles payments for specific industries, including education and healthcare, previously had a debt instrument provided by SVB that was terminated when Flywire went public in 2021, and the bank was a participant in a revolving credit facility extended to the company, he said.
“We did have operating accounts with SVB, and it was really the function of, we invoice our clients and those payments were getting sent directly to SVB,” Ellis said at the conference. At this point, Flywire has asked clients not to send payments directly to SVB, and it has told them that it will follow up with them regarding a new operating account they can use, he said.
Allentown, Pennsylvania-based payments company Shift4 had about $45,000 in deposits at SVB, which was “one small account related to an acquisition,” said Taylor Lauber, the company’s chief strategy officer and president, during the conference Wednesday.
Afterward, Lauber declined to identify that acquisition in response to an email.


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While we all bask in the warm glow of Obama's victory, Newsweek has a fresh report on that Sarah Palin wardrobegate business, which they say was "more extensive than previously reported." The entire article is worth a read, but here's a little taste: "According to two knowledgeable sources, a vast majority of the clothes were bought by a wealthy donor, who was shocked when he got the bill. Palin also used low-level staffers to buy some of the clothes on their credit cards. The McCain campaign found out last week when the aides sought reimbursement. One aide estimated that she spent 'tens of thousands' more than the reported $150,000, and that $20,000 to $40,000 went to buy clothes for her husband." Let the finger-pointing begin. [Newsweek]
For more stories from Racked, go to racked.com.


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Psst... Wanna Buy a Book?
To the dismay of Hoosier booksellers, Gov. Mitch Daniels has signed into law a bill to fine businesses that sell sexually explicit material. Their concern ...
To the dismay of Hoosier booksellers, Gov. Mitch Daniels has signed into law a bill to fine businesses that sell sexually explicit material. Their concern is that the law is so broadly written that it lumps in bookstores that carry those racy old James Joyce and D.H. Lawrence titles with porn peddlers.
"The way we read this bill, if you stock a single book with sexual content -- even a novel or a book about sex education -- you will have to register as a business that sells sexually explicit material," said Chris Finan, president of American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression.
"This is just outrageous from our standpoint, and we believe it is a violation of the First Amendment."
Supporters of the new bill say the booksellers are getting worked up over nothing, because the $250 fine and requirement to register with the secretary of state only applies to new businesses -- and we know people aren't foolish enough to open new bookstores nowadays.


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Bahrain big 3 shows 'a huge success'
Manama, June 11, 2013
The largest combined business to business (B2B) and business to consumer (B2C) showpiece ever staged in Bahrain, held last month, has generated positive feedback from participants, as well as being an indicator of ongoing recovery in the Kingdom’s business sector.
Bahrain-based Hilal Conferences and Exhibitions (HCE) hosted the landmark gulfBID, GulfInteriors and inaugural Gulf Property Show exhibitions from May 7 to 9 and the distinct, yet complementary, shows proved their worth to the participating companies in the construction, interiors and property sectors.
In comments during the high profile opening ceremony, Prime Minister, HRH Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa praised the quality of products showcased, and stated that construction went hand in hand with economic growth.
He hailed Saudi participation in the show, welcomed all Arab and foreign exhibitors and stressed Bahrain’s keenness on economic complementarity as a cornerstone of a projected Gulf union.
A total of 187 companies took part in the three shows, covering more than 7,500 sq m of space at the Bahrain International Exhibition and Convention Centre (BIECC).
The “unique visitor tally” for the three days, meanwhile, exceeded 9,300 – the highest figure ever achieved for a single HCE show.
HCE managing director Jubran Abdulrahman said: "Based on the feedback we have received in the weeks following the exhibitions from exhibitors and visitors, the three-show formula has been an unqualified success."
"The rationale behind adding the Gulf Property Show to the portfolio was to create a broad showcase across the entire product and service chain for these vital economic sectors. In practice, the three shows did indeed feed off each other, even if they each had their own unique feel and atmosphere," he stated.
HCE Exhibitions Director Ahmed Suleiman commented: “Feedback has been extremely positive across the board. Visitors have told us it was an even more user-friendly and accessible event than in the previous years of gulfBID and GulfInteriors, due simply to the increased scope of exhibitors and the enhanced visitor experience.”
Exhibitors have also expressed their satisfaction, with fresh deals signed, new products and services launched, and valuable contacts made.
“The first Gulf Property Show is the culmination of a number of significant initiatives and steps taken by the government to revitalise the economy, and what we see here is an effective showcase and platform,” said Aaref Hejres, Bahrain Property Developers Association (BaPDA) chairman.
AMA Motors, part of the Ahmed Mansoor Al A’ali Group, chose gulfBID Exhibition to launch its new MAN CLA truck range; while Kobaisi Building Systems introduced its latest technology in the prefabrication of block wall and concrete elements.
Also at the show, Bahrain-based Falcon Trading announced plans to set up a trading arm in Saudi Arabia.
Manoj Bhatia, chairman of Naraina Holding Company, of which Falcon is part, said gulfBID had provided a good platform for the company to meet buyers and sellers.
Modern Glass Technology, meanwhile, announced it had secured sufficient deals at the exhibition to keep it busy for at least the next six months, while debutant Saria signed deals for the supply of parquet flooring imported from Europe.
Sanitaryware specialist Suha Galleria completed 20 deals on the very first day of GulfInteriors. Business development manager Khalid Nasser said: "We have been talking to individual customers and contractors and some developers from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait and things have been much stronger this year."
"That is a reflection of a turn up in the industry both locally and across the region," he added.
Yousif Salahuddin of Serendipity sold 10 jacuzzis on opening day of GulfInteriors. London-based Lighting specialist Sylvania, with 17 factories across six countries, made its debut at the show which regional manager Fakhruddin Golwala said was “a positive move.”
A recurring theme at the BIECC was the ingenious designs of many exhibition booths. Making its first appearance at GulfInteriors, German Kitchens and Furnishings - a subsidiary of Sunday International - converted parts of its booth into model kitchens.
Rockweed, a specialist in fit-outs for restaurants and shops launched from its stall its Darna brand of products including LED lamps, sensor trash bins and fancy clocks.
Lumineux Interiors’ design director Manal Bukamal described the show as a great experience.
Also at the expo, Apoli highlighted new products including carpets and fabrics, and Bahrain Artistic Frames showed off its amazing repertoire of frames that has won it deals from major hotels over the past 25 years.
“We will repeat this format next year but we will clearly have to study and manage the exhibition space options available to us to keep pace with the increasing demand for all three shows,“ stated Abdulrahman.-TradeArabia News Service


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Apple Keynote: Presentan nuevos modelos de iPad y MacBook Air
La apuesta de Apple: precios altos y mayor diversidad
Android Pie: conocé los primeros detalles del nuevo sistema operativo de Google
Filtran las primeras imágenes de Fortnite para Android con todo y gameplay
Windows 10 adds 'Do Not Disturb' feature
14 Enero 2018, 03:58 | Verda Sainz
Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. This version is expected to launch in April this year and it will basically be rolled out in a similar fashion as the Fall Creators Update where Microsoft will be targeting a smaller release circle first.
Now that 1709 has been tested and updated for the consumer/early adopter base that's already deployed it, Microsoft is telling IT pros it's safe for them to do so, as well.
Build 17074 also marks the start of international language pack distribution through the Microsoft Store app marketplace and using artificial intelligence to improve on how the operating system is delivered to international users. Those running Windows 10 with the older Anniversary Update or Creators Update and who use automatic updates will be sent a reminder that the Fall Creators Update is ready to install and asked to pick a time, with an option to defer the reminder until tomorrow. That device will be able to make calls and texts, and as such will use the Microsoft Messaging and Phone apps. Users of assistive technology will also find several improvements to viewing PDFs or Books with a screen reader, including more explicit narration when opening, loading, and navigating books.
You earn money while you drive and can spend it on buying upgrades in the garage.
Highlighting the need to protect devices and the information in them, Microsoft took note of the recent "Meltdown" and "Spectre" CPU vulnerabilities. A direct link to customization settings has also been added to the Start Menu. It's now possible to enjoy ebooks or Reading View pages in full-screen, too.
TCPcloud Presents supports remote updating, and other useful features for kiosk mode operations. The tools are designed to give IT departments greater visibility into ready-to-upgrade systems so that administrators can pull the refresh trigger faster. Which is probably part of the reason why the threat actors behind VenusLocker decided to switch targets.
It will be interesting to see if enterprise customers and consumers pay heed to Microsoft's warnings of keeping updated software such as Windows 10, which will offer a stronger, multi-layered defense against cyberattacks.
The presentation app combines images, video, text and PDF document content to make presentations.
Microsoft Edge now supports auto-filling of saved passwords when browsing InPrivate.
The Microsoft Edge DevTools can now be docked vertically, fulfilling a a top web developer feature request. Many Insiders reported that OneDrive is nowhere to be seen. Some may hate the browser, but it really has come a long way since it first launched, and it only can get better from here.
There's Likely No Way Back for Bannon — White House
Michael Wolff appeared Monday on MSNBC's " Morning Joe " to discuss " Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House ". Steve Bannon has stepped down from Breitbart News , where he served as Executive Chairman since 2012.
Critical book on Donald Trump released
Even the Moravian Book Shop's secondary warehouses are out of stock, said Janelle Lockett, who runs the book department. The acrimony suggests a permanent split between the president and the strategist who helped him win the White House.
Trump tweets: I'm a 'very stable genius'
In an interview to National Public Radio, Bannon stood by the content of his book and his criticism of the president. Trump seemed to swat away the possibility of legal action, though, decrying the country's "weak" libel laws.
Nintendo Direct Mini to Launch Lots of Games for Switch
Wave 1, releasing on January 31 will introduce the new battle character Aegislash with the support set Mega Rayquaza and Mimikyu. While the lack of online infrastructure is frustrating, the focus on filling up the eShop has paid off.
Argentina redujo la tasa de interés a 28%
Y al mismo tiempo, provocaba una importante suba del tipo de cambio (devaluación). Y en ese sentido, el BCRA está cómodo con una tasa real de 5 a 6 puntos anuales.
Mourinho admits Conte ´contempt´ but wants end to feud
The Everton forward has been a popular budget signing this season but has now failed to deliver in six of his last seven outings. Jose Mourinho called an end to the war of words between himself and Antonio Conte after saying he "hurt" the Chelsea manager.


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Our consumer products report takes a data-driven look at VC investment trends and highlights areas of rising interest across consumer products categories amid Covid-19, including gaming, fitness tech, and more.
The State of Consumer Products Q1’20 Report: Investment & Sector Trends To Watch provides an update on VC funding and emerging startups across consumer products categories ranging from food & beverage to gaming to household essentials.
Using data and features from the CB Insights platform, we report on key insights and emerging trends, including how the Covid-19 crisis has impacted VC investment. We also highlight what to watch for in the consumer products space moving forward.
- Dollar funding increased 36% from Q4’19 to Q1’20 across major consumer products categories, with mega-deals in March 2020 helping drive this increase amid Covid-19.
- Funding to food and beverage startups surpassed $1.3B in Q1’20, as alternative protein companies continued to gain attention from investors.
- Within beauty & personal care, early-stage deals represented the majority of VC investment activity in Q1’20.
- Fitness tech funding surged in Q1’20 as investors piled into later-stage startups.
- Gaming & e-sports gained more traction in light of Covid-19, with VC deals and dollars increasing in February and March 2020.
This report was created with data from CB Insights’ emerging technology insights platform, which offers clarity into emerging tech and new business strategies through tools like:
- Earnings Transcripts Search Engine & Analytics to get an information edge on competitors’ and incumbents’ strategies
- Patent Analytics to see where innovation is happening next
- Company Mosaic Scores to evaluate startup health, based on our National Science Foundation-backed algorithm
- Business Relationships to quickly see a company’s competitors, partners, and more
- Market Sizing Tools to visualize market growth and spot the next big opportunity


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Delphine Diallo's 'Human Evolution'
Photographer Delphine Diallo responds to Vogue Italia's racist editorial with through her triptych"Human Evolution."
Delphine Diallos' 'Human Evolution.' Model: Mengly Hernandez.
French/Senegalese photographer Delphine Diallo reached out to us after learning about Vogue Italia's recent controversial editorial with a response to the fashion magazine's racist spread through her own images. Human Evolution, a triptych the photographer shot just last week, is a reaction to what Diallo calls "a bad vision spread all around the world."
The three panels of the piece feature model MenglyHernandez in shifting patterns of face paint — "Yoruba 'body painting,' Chinese 'yin-yang,' and Japanese 'geisha.'" Diallo explained to us,
"The concept behind the tryptic was to show the conscious history of a human being through ritual experience (body painting). The relationship between the different cultures & traditions, and their fusion, projects an idea and vision for a new millennium. It's time for us to be more reactive and engage ourselves to propose an alternative beauty in fashion. We won't just fight for having more black people in the fashion industry but fight for opening our culture to others and realize they all need each other."


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Tröegs Limited Release – The Flying Mouflan
We are happy to announce the release of our newest beer – The Flying Mouflan. The Flying Mouflan will be available in 22 ounce bottles only and should start shipping throughout our eight-state distribution network the week of March 16.
Originally brewed as part of the Scratch Beer Series, the Flying Mouflan is the first beer to come out of the one-off series to become part of the brewery’s roster of production brews. It will be unveiled at numerous events during Philly Beer Week, March 6-15.
“The Scratch Series has given us a chance to incubate new beers that might one day be part of our production line-up,” said Chris Trogner. “The Flying Mouflan was originally brewed as Scratch #4 in 2007.
After it won a bronze medal at the 2008 Great American Beer Festival John and I felt it was important to release this beer. The Flying Mouflan is the first release in what will become a line of 22-ounce seasonal brews.”
Dubbed the Flying Mouflan (for reasons that become clearer toward the bottom of the glass) this strong alluring ale is two beers in one. Cracking open a fresh bottle unleashes hops and heat with more than 100 IBUs emanating from three hop varieties and sweet burn of 9.3% ABV. Cellaring the Flying Mouflan in a cool dark place at 50 degrees for a minimum of four months will mellow out the hops and wash away the heat. If you can resist temptation you will be rewarded with two memorable beers in a single bottle.
“We classify this beer as pushing Nugget Nectar off the side of a cliff,” said John Trogner. “It is bold and intense–think hops dipped in candied sugar and rolled in dark chocolate nibs. Over time, the Flying Mouflan transforms into lush raisin and chocolate overtones as the hops subside and the rich barley flavors come out in the beer.”
Flying Mouflan will be available in the Tröegs Giftshop Friday, March 13th.


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The Biden Administration will modify the U.S. Environmental Protective Agency’s stringent new vehicle emission standards less than a year after they were proposed, disrupting plans to “transition” the domestic auto market to electric vehicles by 2030. The policy change has been reported by multiple sources but is unconfirmed by either the administration or the EPA.
Reportedly, EPA will release new tailpipe emission standards in March, reducing the yearly emission target and decreasing the projected overall share of EV sales that automakers must achieve. A parallel effect would be to extend the period during which automakers will offer new internal combustion engines.
Any revisions would be an apparent recognition of consumers’ indifference to new EV options, leaving Ford Motor Co., General Motors Corp., and Stellantis to rework their upcoming production programs to provide more ICE options during the planned transition period.
In April 2023 the EPA outlined regulations to achieve substantial emission reductions for new vehicles and trucks through 2032, targeting 13% average annual pollution reductions, and projected 56% average emissions reductions by 2026. Those regulations also set aggressive emissions reduction targets for medium- and heavy-duty commercial vehicles through 2032.
Last April, EPA claimed those standards would lead to EVs comprising two-thirds of all new cars sold, as Ford, GM, and Stellantis were expected to shift their product portfolios so that they would comprise 60% EVs by 2030, and 67% by 2032.
In addition to the EPA’s emissions targets, the domestic auto industry is arguing against the U.S. Dept. of Energy’s proposed revision to the Corporate Average Fuel Economy program, to establish a petroleum-equivalent fuel economy rating for EVs.
The Big Three automakers as well as the United Autoworkers union have lobbied the administration to extend the EPA’s target dates for the transition, arguing that the industry needs more time to develop lower-priced EV models in order to reach the sales volumes that would match the EPA targets. Although automakers have scheduled dozens of EV models for introduction in 2025 and onward, EV sales indicate that demand is mainly based among buyers of luxury models.
Affordability is only one of the market obstacles for EVs. Car buyers also have hesitancy about EVs’ range and charging requirements, among other factors, and generally do not share the urgency to achieve the transition according to EPA’s schedule.
EPA maintains that the last year’s proposed emissions regulations remain under interagency review, and that it expects to implement a rule that is achievable, reduces air and climate pollution, and brings economic benefits.


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“What you are describing relies on the honor system for unvaccinated individuals to wear masks…it’s a free-for-all,” Dana Bash says.
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky faced tough questioning from CNN’s Dana Bash on Sunday over the agency’s decision to relax mask rules for vaccinated individuals.
During an interview on “State of the Union”, Bash lamented how businesses are beginning to relax their own mask rules in light of the CDC’s changes, and asked if the CDC meant to allow businesses to decide their own rules.
“You and Dr. Fauci and President Biden told them that they didn’t need to wear masks anymore. Almost 20 states plus companies like Walmart and Starbucks, they are lifting or relaxing their mask mandates. So did you mean for this guidance to result in stores and local governments lifting those mask mandates?” Bash asked Walensky.
In an artful non-answer worthy of bureaucratic government, Walensky simply said removing mask rules was “a first step” that’s “based on the science.”
“This was a first step. It was foundational guidance,” Walensky said. “We needed to sort of set this foundation based on the science to make sure people understood as they make their recommendations moving forward. And we are doing the hard work with them to make those recommendations.”
Unsatisfied with Walensky’s response, Bash then asked if the government was sending a “mixed message” by relaxing mask rules for individuals but encouraging businesses to keep their own in place.
“Yeah, and I understand what you mean about a first step, but can you see since this is big news for every American, can you see how your guidance that vaccinated people can take their masks off but requirements from businesses, local governments to keep the masks on are sending a mixed message?” Bash further inquired.
Bash then suggested that vaccine passports be implemented to identify the vaccinated from the unvaccinated in public spaces.
“What you are describing relies on the honor system for unvaccinated individuals to wear masks,” Bash said. “What is the remedy for this in your view? Should businesses try to tell who is vaccinated and who is not? Otherwise, it’s a free for all.”
Walensky then contradicted the CDC’s own guidance and even Joe Biden, claiming the CDC never said to take off your mask if you’ve been vaccinated.
“We are not saying that everybody has to take off their masks if they are vaccinated,” Walensky said in response.
“What we are saying to those essential workers is that if those workers are vaccinated, they are safe. So we are really asking the businesses to work with their workers to make sure that they have the paid time off to get themselves vaccinated so they can be safe,” she concluded.
Wow, Walensky really cleared that up!


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HODGENVILLE, Ky. (WKRC) - A new Army service uniform will be rolled out over the next five years, and it's design and manufacturing are being sourced in the Tri-State.
The new uniforms will pay homage to the World War II era.
Nationwide Uniform estimates it will make two pairs of trousers for each of the 150,000 service members.
Every fiber and piece of fabric will be made in America and the plant that will sew the uniforms is in Hodgenville, Kentucky.
The designers are based in Cincinnati.
Some of the army's top brass wore the new uniforms in Normandy back in June to commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day,


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Natural Health News — Your brain power is significantly reduced when your smartphone is within reach – even if it’s turned off.
That’s the takeaway finding from a new study from the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin.
The researchers conducted experiments with nearly 800 smartphone users in an attempt to measure, for the first time, how well people can complete tasks when they have their smartphones nearby, even when they’re not using them.
In one experiment, the researchers asked participants to sit at a computer and take a series of tests that required full concentration in order to score well. The tests were geared to measure participants’ available cognitive capacity – that is, the brain’s ability to hold and process data at any given time. Before beginning, participants were randomly instructed to place their smartphones either on the desk face down, in their pocket or personal bag, or in another room. All participants were instructed to turn their phones to silent.
» New research has shown that just having a mobile phone in the same room is an unconscious distraction that can interfere with your ability to think and retain data.
» In a series of tests, those who left their phones in a separate room significantly outperformed those with their phones on the desk.
» For those with a high self-reported dependence on their phones the cognitive cost of having a phone within reach or sight was much higher.
The researchers found that those whose phones were in another room significantly outperformed those with their phones on the desk, and they also slightly outperformed those participants who had kept their phones in a pocket or bag.
The findings suggest that the mere presence of one’s smartphone reduces available brain power and impairs cognitive functioning, even though people feel they’re giving their full attention and focus to the task at hand.
“We see a linear trend that suggests that as the smartphone becomes more noticeable, participants’ available cognitive capacity decreases,” said co-author and McCombs Assistant Professor Adrian Ward. “Your conscious mind isn’t thinking about your smartphone, but that process – the process of requiring yourself to not think about something – uses up some of your limited cognitive resources. It’s a brain drain.”
In another experiment, researchers looked at how a person’s self-reported smartphone dependence – or how strongly a person feels he or she needs to have a smartphone in order to get through a typical day – affected cognitive capacity.
Participants performed the same series of computer-based tests under the same conditions as the first group. Those who reported being the most dependent on their smartphones performed significantly worse compared with their less-dependent peers, especially when they kept their smartphones on the desk or in their pocket or bag.
The researchers write “Ironically, the more consumers depend on their smartphones, the more they seem to suffer from their presence or, more optimistically, the more they may stand to benefit from their absence.”
An unconscious distraction
Ward and his colleagues also found that it didn’t matter whether a person’s smartphone was turned on or off, or whether it was lying face up or face down on a desk. Having a smartphone within sight or within easy reach was an unconscious distraction that reduced a person’s ability to focus and perform tasks because part of their brain is actively working to not pick up or use the phone.
“It’s not that participants were distracted because they were getting notifications on their phones,” said Ward. “The mere presence of their smartphone was enough to reduce their cognitive capacity.”
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Tink, the Swedish company that enables FinTechs to access customers’ financial data, has received an $11.2 million investment from PayPal Holdings.
Reuters, citing the companies, reported proceeds from the investment will be used for Tink to expand its team, develop new products and connect more banks. In February Tink raised $62.7 million in a round that included Insight Venture Partners and the venture capital arms of banks Nordea and ABN Amro Group NV. Tink was founded back in 2012. It has a platform that collects data from thousands of European banks, enabling FinTechs to use the data to build products and services. It has arrangements with banks such as BNP Paribas and FinTechs including Klarna.
Tink is part of a crop of FinTech players that are capitalizing on the Payments Services Directive 2, otherwise known as PSD2, which enables consumers to authorize third parties to access their banking data and make payments for them. The ability for FinTechs to more easily access the financial data of customers is expected to bring more competition in banking and thus better products and services for consumers.
“This is where the market is heading,” Tink’s chief executive and co-founder, Daniel Kjellén, told Reuters in an interview. “You see two mega trends in banking: a move from analog to digital and from closed to open.”
Tink isn’t the only one eyeing the European market. In late May Plaid, the U.S.-based FinTech that enables apps to access consumers’ financial information, announced it is entering the European market, starting with the U.K. In a blog post, Plaid said it chose the U.K. as its first foray in Europe because it has a thriving FinTech market and is among the fastest-growing sectors. According to Plaid, more than 1,600 FinTech companies came out of the U.K., which is expected to double by 2030. “As we’ve done in the U.S., Plaid will become the foundation for that growth by providing access to a financial network that allows developers to deliver the experience users expect from their financial apps,” wrote Keith Grose, international lead at Plaid.


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The country is currently facing a health crisis because of the inception of the new Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) which is now a pandemic. The demand for different medical and pharmaceutical supplies has increased significantly.
Because of the threat that this new virus had created, the whole medical world is on high alert. The government is also continuously working on how to keep everything under control by creating protocols and preventive measures to prevent the spread of the virus.
Because of this turn of events, there is a great need for efficient and effective ways of delivering pharmaceutical supplies and medical samples to different hospitals and medical institutes around the country. This is because not all of our medical facilities have the capability to make the proper laboratory tests needed to address this issue.
This is mostly true for different regions that are lacking with the proper facilities needed in order to confirm the presence of such virus. That is why there is a necessity for proper handling and delivery of the pharmaceutical and test samples.
Techni Ice reusable ice pack is responsible for keeping the medical goods at its optimum temperature. For tools and samples that are needed to stay cold for a long period of time, Techni Ice can remain frozen for a long period of time enough to keep each lab samples or pharmaceutical products cold during transportation. Techni Ice can also be used in transporting items that need warm temperatures.
To get your own Techni Ice Reusable Ice Packs click here!
With the current crisis that we are in, let us all help each other overcome this challenging time. As much as possible, keep yourself safe and healthy not just for your own but also for your family.
Avoid crowded places in the meantime; follow the rules and regulations that the government had implemented. Do not forget to wash your hands with soap and water or use alcohol-based products as a disinfectant.
Remain calm and take positive outlook. Make sure that you are updated with the latest news and updated in regards with the current situation.
Be safe all the time!


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Tracey Sameyah, a dynamic innovator in the sphere of professional skin care branding, has joined Dermalogica as new General Manager for the U.S. Bringing more than 25 years of expertise to her new post, she will serve as part of the core team operating from the company’s headquarters in Carson, California.
Sameyah’s 2013 strategy for the brand builds upon two pillars: ongoing education and support for the Professional Skin Therapist, and the expansion of Dermalogica into new professional segments. This year, Dermalogica’s innovative approach to professional training will include more digital elements with a state-of-the-art website (dermalinstitute.com), webisodes and other advanced online technologies.
She will spearhead Dermalogica’s most unique branding initiative for 2013: the company’s new hybrid-concept immersive learning spaces. These dynamic branded environments bring together the pillars that have defined the brand for more than 25 years: hands-on skin care education, professional consultation, and brand-accessibility. The spaces will feature “transparent” classrooms, where shoppers may view skin therapists as they practice new skills, and retail areas that integrate Dermalogica’s exclusive Skin Bar and MicroZone treatment features. The first, 2,600-square foot immersive learning concept space opened recently in Scottsdale, AZ, with several more U.S. locations planned for 2013.
“Dermalogica continues to lead the industry forward with this new concept,” Sameyah remarks. “Our new immersive learning spaces will empower our accounts more than ever, and will be environments where our accounts may learn more about merchandising, marketing and business strategies, retailing, event-planning and more. This passionate dedication to the success of the skin care professional is why I am so honored to join the Dermalogica team.”
[Photo courtesy of DERMALOGICA]


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Did you know that General Motors has “a minivan that costs only $5,000 and gets more than 40 miles per gallon” (according to NPR)? It does! There’s a catch, though. You have to be in China or some other developing nation.
Reading the article, the comments about it are dismissive. Quotes like “There are frankly some lawn tractors that have more horsepower than that”, even though it has a top speed of 80 miles an hour. Or it doesn’t have “entertainment and navigation systems”. Well, yeah, and it also cost 5Gs! For that price, alot of people would be happy to buy the whole family some iPods and a map!
I think the one valid criticism of the van is the dearth of safety features. But like they say, “In Shanghai, a little van is a lot safer than fighting traffic on a bicycle”. And that brings up a question of whether or not we need to have all our cars equipped to be so big and fast. I think alot of people would like low cost motor vehicles that would be prohibited from highway driving but allowed to go on basic roads.
I think the future is in much lower cost motor vehicles, as much as it is about electric or hybrid cars. Let’s see if GM can prove me right.


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Biometrics stocks news: Next update, NXP down, Unisys up, new Ipsidy board member
Revenues from third quarter sales of Next Biometrics’ fingerprint technology are expected to drop by roughly NOK 17 million (US$1.86 milllion), according to an update from the company, down from NOK 30.2 million ($3.3 million) in Q3 2018, for a five percent decrease in overall revenue for the first nine months of the year.
Next is dealing with the fallout of a reduction in sensor module shipments to a tier 1 notebook customer in the U.S., as it warned of in its Q2 earnings report, which contributed to the revenue decline and will continue to do so through Q4 and into 2020. The decrease in Q3 revenue was partially offset by increased shipments of sensors and readers to other customers, and Next says it is continuing to diversify its customer and revenue base.
An inventory write-down during Q3 is expected to wipe out nearly NOK 3 million ($330,000) in older-generation sensors held in stock which are no longer considered suitable for commercial use, though the write-down does not affect the company’s cash holdings, which was approximately NOK 132 million ($14.5 million).
The company says it will continue to take a disciplined approach to new investments and cost levels, and plans to release its interim report for Q3, 2019 on November 12.
Next did secure an order for fingerprint sensor modules for biometric smart card readers for an access control application, which is expected to generate revenue in Q4.
NXP affected by market uncertainty
Amid geopolitical uncertainty which has affected demand, NXP Semiconductors has announced revenue of $2.3 billion for the third quarter of 2019, down 7 percent on a year-over-year basis.
The company’s GAAP gross margin was 52.4 percent, up 1 percent from a year earlier, and GAAP operating margin was 10.3 percent in the quarter. NXP also payed an interim dividend for Q3 of $0.375 per ordinary share, 50 percent higher than the previous quarterly dividend.
“With sales near the high-end of our guidance and good expense control, we successfully delivered improved operating profitability above the high-end of our guidance range,” comments NXP Chief Executive Officer Richard Clemmer. “Additionally, during the quarter we returned $79 million to our shareholders, for a total of $6.6 billion returned to shareholders since July 2018. Looking forward, we continue to believe that our product portfolio investments are addressing our customers’ long-term requirements, while in the short-term the global demand environment appears to have stabilized, but the intermediate demand environment continues to be uncertain, and has not markedly improved.”
NXP’s results from mobile where actually up slightly, while its industrial and IoT segment recorded a 14 percent revenue decline from Q3 2018.
Biometric contract boosts Unisys results
Unisys has announced revenue growth of 10.1 percent on a year-over-year basis to $757.6 million, and even higher growth on a constant currency basis, supported by its expanded facial recognition contract with the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) in Australia.
Other highlights in the quarter include a new contract with DISA, a cargo booking contract with Malaysia Airlines cargo division, and a contract to supply its InteliServe to Bancolumbia.
The company recorded a net loss in the quarter of $13.2 million, compared with a net income of $6.1 million in the prior year period. Unisys’ services segment revenues grew by 8 percent, while technology revenues increased by over 25 percent.
Ipsidy adds payments expert to board
Security and identity authentication specialist Phillip Kumnick has been appointed to Ipsidy’s board.
Kumnick brings experience in payments with both Mastercard and Visa. While at Visa, he led the development of the company’s encryption and tokenization products and services for partner’s point of sale transactions, and he also played a critical role in in the design of the Secure Remote Commerce (SRC) standard for e-commerce checkouts.
“We are delighted that Phil Kumnick has agreed to join Ipsidy as a director,” says Ipsidy CEO Philip Beck. “At this critical stage of the company’s development, which we believe is at an inflection point, we welcome Phil’s extensive experience and depth of knowledge in particular in the fields of security, platform operations and international markets.”


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Someone has managed to solve one of The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of the Wild‘s final challenges which was thought to be impossible.
- READ MORE: What’s going on in ‘Breath Of The Wild 2’? Here’s what you need to know about that trailer
The player, who goes by MrOrdun on Twitter, shared a video yesterday showing the moment they solved one of Breath Of The Wild‘s final challenges.
As spotted by Kotaku, the video shows how they were able to uncover the “impossible” chest found 80 meters below the ground at Aris Beach in the game. According to the player, “it has never been opened prior to this moment”.
This is the impossible chest, found 80 meters below the ground at Aris Beach, and will despawn after 7 seconds of sinking after loading in.
— Kleric (@MrOrdun) June 30, 2021
As the player mentioned in the tweet, the chest despawns after seven seconds of sinking from loading into the game, so they had to intercept the chest along the way.
The player takes multiple steps in order to collect the chest, including using a game bug that lets you fall through the ground as well as utilising Breath Of The Wild‘s multiple Sheikah Slate abilities to reach it.
The full YouTube video, which goes through the entire process, reveals that the prize within the impossible chest was, after all this time, just a piece of amber.
During E3 2021, Nintendo revealed that Breath Of The Wild 2 will launch on the Nintendo Switch in 2022, along with a brand new teaser trailer. According to Nintendo, the official name of the sequel is being kept secret to avoid spoilers.
Elsewhere, Nintendo also announced Metroid Dread, the first new 2D Metroid game in 19 years.
The post A ‘Breath Of The Wild’ player finally opens the game’s unattainable chest appeared first on Askhiphop.


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If you think there's no such thing as a fountain of youth, think again.
"It's very normal as your body ages to deteriorate, your bone mass -- everything," said Heather Slater, co-owner of the recently opened Club USA. "But fitness stops that.
"Any time you do any cardio or weight bearing exercises, you stop that. And with weight training you can increase your muscle mass so you can basically go back in time."
And if that isn't incentive enough to get yourself into one of the Rim country's fitness facilities, consider the time of year.
"We're wearing fewer clothes in the spring and summer," Slater said. "So people are a little more cognizant of their bodies and how they look."
Throw in the fact that May is National Fitness Month, and the excuses for not getting in shape sound pretty lame.
Club USA, which is located at the intersection of Main Street and Highway 87 in Sawmill Crossing, just opened three weeks ago.
"All of our weight equipment is really fantastic," Slater said. "It's all Cybex, and they spent a lot of money on research. "Everything is biomechanically set so it puts the least amount of stress on your joints, and it really isolates the muscles."
Club USA's cardiovascular equipment is made by Precor and features 20 programs to select from. It's also equipped with heart rate monitors and has many other features that make it user friendly.
The new health club also features Broadcast Vision, a system that offers 50 music stations. Members simply plug in their own headphones and they can choose anything from bluegrass to Italian music.
Other services offered by Club USA include two tanning options. Regular UV tanning is provided in 10-minute stand-up sessions in a tube-like structure with 48 UV bulbs.
"This is the Cadillac of tanning systems," Slater said. "It has a cooling system and speakers so you can rock out. It's much better than laying down."
The other tanning system offered at Club USA is Sunless Express, an alternative to UV tanning. It works a lot like an automatic, drive-through car wash.
"You go in the booth and it sprays you with a self tanner," Slater said. "It's 99 percent aloe vera, so it's very hydrating for your skin."
Club USA also has a hydro massage bed which gives mechanical massages without the aid of a human being.
"You take off your shoes and lie down," Slater said. "The jets come up from the bottom and you control the pressure.
"It's not as good as a regular massage, but a lot of people are apprehensive about going in and taking off their clothes and having somebody actually touch them."
Finally, an aerobics room with special shock-absorbing flooring will soon be home to yoga, kickboxing, step aerobics and other classes.
When a new member joins, a special certified trainer sets up a program designed to help the individual reach his or her goals.
Membership is $29 per month for unlimited access, but Club USA is currently offering a $25 per month introductory rate if you join with a spouse or a friend.
Slater believes there's plenty of room in the Rim country market for a new health club.
"It all depends on what people are looking for," she said. "Most of our members are new people who didn't go to a club before, and so far the response has been fantastic.
Payson Athletic Club
Over at the Payson Athletic Club in the Rim Country Mall, owner Keven Rush agrees.
"That's the way things work in a free market," Rush said. "It works out for everybody in the long run. You know it's coming and you live with it."
While Rush said PAC offers the "same essential stuff" as Club USA, he has some amenities specifically designed to suit his clientele, which includes a lot of families and seniors.
"We focus more on the size of the facility and a lot of equipment so there's enough for everybody to use and nobody gets bogged down," he said. "We also do the tanning and we have some amenities like child care and a juice bar."
PAC also offers classes in aqua aerobics, walk aerobics, sit fit, yoga, body sculpting, senior stretch, traditional floor and step aerobics, and more. The full-service membership fee is $35 per month, and PAC also offers a limited-times membership for off-hours at $17.50 per month.
The third club in town is Curves, a facility for women located in Payson Village Shopping Center. Owner Martha Hemphill doesn't mind the competition either.
"We're a little different," Hemphill said. "Most of our clientele are women who don't like to go to coed gyms.
"We have a training circuit where you get both your aerobics and your strength training at the same time. It takes 27 minutes to do three rounds and you stretch and you've had your hour-and-a-half workout in 30 minutes."
Curves' members pay $29 per month.
All three health club owners agree that now is the perfect time to get in shape.
"Most people just want to maintain their quality of life," Slater said. "You have to incorporate fitness into your life to maintain your quality of life."


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Fowler Welch saw turnover climb 6% to £178.7m in the year to 31 March, although annual profit was pegged back due to operational inefficiency at certain depots. Topline growth was driven by two “significant contracts” that commenced mid-way through the financial year, as well as organic growth. In its results statement, parent company Dart Group said that while Fowler Welch had performed well in the year, varying chilled volume profiles at certain depots led to some operational inefficiency as customer […]
UK Mail chief executive Guy Buswell has said the company will be investing in its depot network and automated sortation equipment after delivering an18% uplift in pre-tax profit.
Davies Turner & Co has increased turnover and pre-tax profits despite “tough trading conditions” last year, according to its latest annual results.
Fowler Welch MD Nick Hay has strong views on fleet replacement cycles and the switch to Euro-6 as he explains to Steve Hobson Fowler Welch runs a fleet of 400 units and 800 trailers from 10 sites around the UK. Best known as a chilled operator, it dropped the ‘Coolchain’ from its public name in 2011 as it expanded into ambient distribution and today around 30% of its revenues come from the ambient side of the business.


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A new committee of BASIS E-Commerce Alliance was formed on Sunday (February 25), the third day of BASIS SoftExpo-2018.
BASIS Director Mostafizur Rahman Sohel was made convener of the committee.
Bagdoom.com Chief Executive Officer Syeda Quamrun Ahmed, MasterCard Bangladesh Chief Syed Mohammad Kamal, Chaldal.com Chief Executive Officer Zia Ashraf, SSL Wireless CEO Ashish Chakrabarty and Priyoshop.com Chief Executive Officer Ashiqul Alam Khan are among the convening committee members.
The newly formed committee is set to announce full committee within a month.
Post Telecommunication and ICT Minister Mustafa Jabbar and BASIS President Syed Almas Kabir were present in announcing the committee. The minister expressed his hope that the committee will work properly to develop e-commerce sector.
Convener Mostafizur Rahman Sohel said that the members of the e-commerce alliance are committed to achieving progress.
“This committee will work in United manners to conquer various challenges including e-commerce policy and payment options”, he added.
News Source: www.banglanews24.com


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Catherine Holmes, of Beyond The Icing, has taken the step amid widespread cancellations or postponements of the kind of events that would feature a professionally made cake.
Catherine set up the business in 2016 following the death of her father; she was in a stressful job as a finance professional at the time and ‘wanted a change’, she said.
“I have baked cakes for almost 40 years and was increasingly being asked to bake cakes for others, so the business was born,” she said.
Since launching Beyond The Icing, Catherine has made a wide range of cakes, from cupcake bouquets to a three-dimensional motorbike. The business also offered baking parties for children’s birthdays in the client’s own home.
“Then the pandemic arrived and almost overnight all celebrations and weddings were cancelled or postponed,” she said.
After spending the first lockdown enhancing her skills in sugar flowers and modelling, she had now decided to diversify.
“It may only be cake, but a cake can brighten someone’s day and show they are being thought of – I call it a hug in a cake,” she said. “As we are all limited to the number of people we can see and we want to protect those most at risk, I decided to offer a postal cake service – a selection box of cake if you will.”
The cakes created as part of the new service have been tailored with postage in mind and are freezable. They come in gift boxes, each containing a selection of flavours (with one box Christmas-inspired).
Form more information, see www.beyondtheicing.co.uk


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Domino’s Pizza Enterprises has opened a new innovation concept store in Hamilton, Queensland. It is the first of DPE’s global network of 3,700 outlets designed using mathematical modelling to reduce service time.
The Domino’s Hamilton store operations and order flow will save up to 20 seconds per order, said ANZ CEO David Burness.
“Using advanced mathematical modelling and computer simulation software, we were able to build a virtual representation of the Hamilton store to test different layouts and concepts,” he said.
The testing was based on data such as order volumes, staffing levels and projected delivery times as well as the placement of store equipment.
Domino’s time-saving store includes two-way pizza lockers
The new innovation concept store also features new electric ovens, data projectors to display makeline and customer order screens, and a new concept ‘pizza locker’ dispatch station.
Domino’s Hamilton has been built with 12 individual lockers that open two-ways, with a special driver sign out screen.
“Each of these lockers open from inside for team members to load orders into the locker, and also from the outside,” said Burness.
Delivery drivers can collect orders from the locker and sign out for delivery without entering the store.
The inclusion of electric ovens is in line with Domino’s environment, social and governance commitments.
Discovery Centre showcases brand history
“One of our core values is ‘doing the right thing, because it is the right thing to do’ and so we are excited about the concept of trialling new electric ovens in Domino’s stores to monitor its results,” said Burness.
Domino’s Hamilton also boasts the first global Domino’s Discovery Centre which displays memorabilia reflecting the pizza brand’s long history.
The brand began in Ypsilanti, Michigan 60 years ago. In Australia the story started with Silvio’s Dial-a-Pizza in 1993 to the merger and rebrand in 1995.


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Spice Mobile today launched a new mobile phone that sports gaming features in the Indian market. The latest Spice X-1 phone is aimed at gaming enthusiasts and comes preloaded with variety of exciting mobile games. In addition, it also comes along with a gaming controller which further enhances the gaming experience.
The Spice X-1 phone sports a large 2.4 inch display that includes an auto rotation feature. The handset comes with a 2-GB expandable memory card slot, Yamaha-amplified 3-D surround-sound and superb graphics. The phone has a dark handsome look that will appeal to its target audiences.
Other features of the X-1 Spice gaming phone include a 2 MP camera, FM Radio with recording capabilities and Bluetooth, WAP, MMS and GPRS.
Mobile gaming enthusiasts in India can now get their hands on the new Spice X-1 gaming dedicated phone for Rs. 8.899.


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When the Commonwealth Bank launched a new business platform last week, we wondered why we didn’t see more banks release digital solutions. Hearing the call out, Westpac has now unveiled a new app for customers with an iPad aimed at making mobile banking friendlier to customers.
Originally launched on July 10 for those who knew and announced this week for everyone else, the new Westpac app has been designed with the customer in mind to bring an experience that not only aims to make mobile banking easier, but also more convenient for Westpac’s 1.4 million customers using the Westpac mobile channels.
“While others have adapted smart phone apps to fit an iPad screen, we have learned from the global game-changers that mobile is an extension of the customer’s personality and behaviours,” said Jason Yetton, Group Executive for Westpac Retail and Business Banking.
Westpac says that apps built for banks have thus far been a series of drop down menus that try to emulate the experience on a full web browser, but for the new app, Westpac wanted something different.
“This dedicated iPad application is a key step forward for us, in our customer-centric design capability,” said Mr. Yetton. “In fact, our customers have been instrumental in helping to design the iPad app, making it easy and intuitive.”
Westpac’s customer-based approach to design has been to make banking more of a drag and drop approach, affording account holders with an iPad the opportunity to drag various accounts into other payment areas as a more graphics means to understand their banking.
As for an Android app, Westpac’s General Manager for Online and Mobile says that it is coming, as will the solution to Westpac’s other brands.
“The thing with Android is it comes down to the proliferation of devices,” said Westpac’s Harry Wendt. “We’re not giving a timeframe yet, but the aim was to get the iPad app out.
“What we’re trying to do is to launch in one brand, test and learn, and then launch in multiple brands,” said Mr. Wendt.
Right now, it’s only Westpac customers that are able to access the new app, which is currently available for free on the Apple AppStore, but look out for the new form of mobile banking soon enough if you’re with banks connected to the giant, as well as an Android tablet app in the near future.


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In a groundbreaking move, Mercari, Japan’s premier e-commerce platform, officially declared acceptance of Bitcoin payments in June. This strategic initiative aims to leverage the widespread adoption of cryptocurrencies in the Japanese market. Melcoin, Mercari’s Tokyo-based subsidiary, will facilitate payment processing for Bitcoin transactions. However, despite this significant shift, the company continues to focus predominantly on dealing in second-hand goods. Moreover, the decision underscores Mercari’s commitment to embracing innovative financial technologies for the benefit of its users. As a result, customers now have an additional payment option, showcasing the platform’s adaptability to evolving market trends.
Expanding Horizons for Japan’s E-commerce Behemoth
Mercari, Japan’s largest e-commerce titan, boasts 22 million active monthly users. Additionally, the company’s monthly transaction volume hits USD 74 million, compelling it to broaden payment options. However, despite displaying prices in Japanese yen on the app, Mercari embraces cryptocurrencies. Users, therefore, gain the flexibility to make payments using Bitcoin on the platform. Moreover, this move aligns with the company’s endeavor to cater to evolving preferences. Mercari ensures it stays relevant in the dynamic e-commerce landscape.
Mercari’s Previous Foray into Cryptocurrency
This isn’t Mercari’s first venture into the realm of cryptocurrencies. In March of the previous year, the e-commerce giant launched its own Bitcoin trading platform. This innovative platform facilitates the buying and selling of Bitcoin and rewards users with points that can be later utilized for various transactions within the Mercari ecosystem.
Japan has been making significant strides in embracing the world of cryptocurrencies, solidifying its position as a forward-thinking nation. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has consistently expressed support for the Web3 sector, emphasizing its role as a new facet of capitalism. This proactive stance by the Japanese government showcases a commitment to fostering technological innovation and financial evolution.
SBI Holdings and Circle’s Partnership Unveiled
In a recent development, SBI Holdings, one of Japan’s top financial institutions, made a groundbreaking announcement. The issuer of the USDC stablecoin, Circle, is the key partner in this strategic collaboration. The goal is to integrate Circle’s Web3 services and USDC into the Japanese financial system. This move illustrates Japan’s commitment to embracing cutting-edge financial technologies. However, challenges may arise during the integration process, requiring careful consideration and planning. Moreover, the collaboration signifies a significant step towards fostering global financial innovation and cooperation.
Government Backing for Technological Advancements
The cumulative effect of these developments suggests Japan’s government actively endorses ongoing technological transformations. However, collaborative efforts between private enterprises and government initiatives underscore a unified vision. Moreover, this vision is for a technologically advanced and inclusive financial landscape. On the other hand, Japan is not merely a passive observer of these changes. As a result, the government plays a proactive role in shaping the future of technology in the country. Furthermore, these developments highlight a strong partnership between the public and private sectors, fostering innovation.
Paving the Way for Cryptocurrency Integration in E-commerce
Mercari’s pioneering step toward Bitcoin acceptance reflects Japan’s dynamic embrace of innovative financial technologies. Moreover, with a vast user base and strategic partnerships, Mercari is poised to shape cryptocurrency integration in e-commerce. Japan’s progressive journey in the cryptocurrency sphere sets a precedent for other nations. Therefore, they can explore and adapt to the evolving financial ecosystem. This reflects a broader trend in Japan’s approach to embracing innovation. Consequently, it plays a pivotal role in shaping the future landscape.


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Major Canadian marijuana producer Hexo Corp. posted a net loss of nearly 690.3 million Canadian dollars ($547 million) for the quarter ended Jan. 31, including write-downs worth CA$616 million.
During a Friday earnings call, CEO Scott Cooper said the company plans to become cash-flow positive in the next four quarters on the heels of Hexo’s recent debt purchase deal with rival Tilray Brands.
The CA$616 million quarterly write-down included:
- Impairment losses on property, plant and equipment worth CA$100 million.
- Intangible asset impairments worth CA$141 million,
- Goodwill impairment charges worth CA375 million related to its 2021 acquisitions of producers 48North, Redecan and Zenabis.
Hexo earned CA$52.8 million in net revenue for the quarter. That compares with CA$50.2 million in the previous quarter, when the company posted a net loss of CA$117 million.
“We are making substantial progress on our plan in only one quarter, and it is yielding results,” Cooper said on Friday.
Hexo’s chief commercial officer, Valerie Malone, said the company retains its leading market share position in Canadian adult-use cannabis and plans organic growth.
She said the company has conducted Canadian market research that will lead to new products hitting the market this spring, including higher-potency, infused pre-rolls under Redecan’s popular Redee brand.
Cooper said Hexo is still considering the U.S. market “with interest around operating within the legal framework.”
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“In the short term, we continue to progress the action plan around extracts of hemp-derived CBD and other minor cannabinoids as an ingredient, and as we get through the balance-sheet transformation (and) free up cash within that framework, we will absolutely be looking to the U.S. in the right sequencing and time frame for growth and expansion.”
Hexo’s adjusted EBITDA, a measure of profitability, was a loss of CA$5.6 million for the second quarter, compared with a CA$11.6 million adjusted EBITDA loss in the previous quarter.
Solomon Israel can be reached at email@example.com.


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Seven rare, identical Ty Cobb baseball cards more than a century old are found inside a torn paper bag on the floor of a house. Joe Orlando, president of Professional Sports Authenticator, talks about the special find. Rough Cut - subtitled (no reporter narration).
ROUGH CUT - SUBTITLED (NO REPORTER NARRATION) Seven rare, identical Ty Cobb baseball cards more than a century old were found weeks ago inside a torn paper bag on the floor a house, marking one of the most remarkable discoveries in the world of sports collectables, a leading expert in California said on Thursday (March 3). What sets apart the newly dubbed "Lucky 7" cards is that in addition to a portrait of the American League great emblazoned on the front, his name is printed with a tobacco ad on the back - matching a design found on just 15 other Cobb cards previously known to exist. "A couple of weeks ago, I was called by a dealer by the name of Rick Snyder from the South Carolina area. He was approached by a family that allegedly found these seven cards bunched up together, face down at the bottom of an old, crumpled paper bag while they were cleaning out their great-grandparents' home. And while they were going through the possessions, they thought 'oh this bag, it looks like trash, we'll just discard it.' But, one of the family members was smart enough to actually sift through the contents and they found these cards at the bottom of the bag," said Joe Orlando, president of Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA), who with other experts has verified and graded the find. The collection as a whole is worth "well into seven figures," said Orlando. Several far more common Ty Cobb designs exist, bearing variations of artwork portraits of the famed Detroit Tigers slugger, nicknamed "the Georgia Peach." The newly found cards belong to an extremely scarce version - now numbering just 22 - that also came printed with his name on the reverse side, above the phrase "King of the Smoking Tobacco World." "There are only 22 known of this particular card and even in PSA1 and we grade cards on a scale of 1 to 10, even at PSA1 in the last couple of years has sold for $150,000. This find produced seven cards ranging from 1.5 to 4.5 and I'm holding the 4.5 right here. This is now the finest known copy of this great rarity," Orlando said. Orlando said the family has asked to remain anonymous, declining even to disclose the location of the house beyond saying it was in the South. The Lucky 7 date from 1909 to 1911, part of a larger set designated the T206 series - affectionately known by collectors as "The Monster" - and originally distributed as tobacco brand promotions with cards of all the era's baseball stars. The group ranks among the most prized by collectors and includes the Holy Grail of baseball card hobbyists, one picturing the Pittsburgh Pirates' "Flying Dutchman," Honus Wagner. "In the collectables field, there are bragging rights. I have something that few people own or no one else owns. And when it comes to scarcity, that's part of the great appeal for collectors. So in this case, because there are so few that exist, collectors are very drawn to them," said Orlando. Rick Snyder, the authorized PSA dealer in South Carolina who was the first to examine the cards, said he sold the first two cards on the family's behalf on Thursday. The price was undisclosed, but each fetched well more than the $154,000 a lesser-quality specimen sold for last year, Snyder said.