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Ministry of Supply, a Boston-based high-tech menswear company, is seeking feedback from customers on a new product, pictured above. Courtesy
The UpTake: Boston-based e-commerce menswear startup Ministry of Supply is asking customers for feedback on two new polo shirt products for the spring/summer 2015 clothing line. CEO Gihan Amarasiriwardena says its an opportunity for customers to exercise their love of design and technology.
M inistry of Supply, the Boston-based e-commerce professional menswear startup, is seeking input from customers on the design and fit of two new polo shirt products.
The polo shirts are set to debut to the public as part of the spring/summer 2015 clothing line, but first, the startup is seeking feedback from customers as part of its new "Labs" program.
As part of Labs, customers get to be involved in the process of designing and developing the product, which makes Ministry of Supply unique compared to other clothing companies, said co-founder and CEO Gihan Amarasiriwardena in an interview.
"Our customers love the technology and design, and many of them are early adopters and excited about being in that development and design process," Amarasiriwardena said in an interview.
About 350 Apollo Polo shirts and about 1,000 Atmos Polo shirts were made as part of the Labs program. The Apollo shirt features NASA-inspired heat-regulating technology and is wrinkle-free and moisture-wicking. The Atmos shirt features robotic knitting and ventilation, and is ultrasoft and breathable, according to the company.
About three weeks after customers purchase the shirts, Ministry of Supply will solicit feedback on colors, fit and stitching.
"It's not really often that customers get to be involved in the development of their product," Amarasiriwardena said. "We want them to feel like they're a part of the process."
In early June, the startup launched a pop-up store at 299 Newbury St. in Boston.
The 1,300-square-foot store will be open seven days a week through the end of August and is the first to launch in Boston, following a test pop-up store in New York.
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Aldar has unveiled a new brand to signal its evolving consumer focus and reinforce its position contributing to the development of Abu Dhabi. Aldar has been instrumental in developing celebrated projects such as the F1 Grand Prix circuit and Yas Hotel. Next year a significant proportion of assets will be completed across an increasingly diverse portfolio of residential, commercial, retail, leisure, health and education. Aldar will be more involved in operating and managing assets, as well are building property and infrastructure. This calls for a much more customer centric approach.
The work is grounded in detailed research across a wide ranging audience of Emiratis and expatriates who live or work in Abu Dhabi as well as a cross-section of potential tourists in the GCC, Europe and the Indian sub-continent.
Charles Wright, Managing Director, Wolff Olins said, “Aldar has been bold and innovative in its projects, in line with the vision set out in Abu Dhabi’s 2030 development plan. Aldar is evolving as its development portfolio matures and its brand needs to change too. The work which has just been launched reflects a welcome break with the rather stale convention of property branding in this region. The brand is brave for Aldar, unseen in the region and a first for the real estate industry internationally.”
Mohammed al Mubarak, Chief Commercial Officer of Aldar said, “We are evolving our business model from pure development company to put customers at the heart of everything that we do. In the past we have talked about building the nation. Our business is now maturing. We are thinking long term, caring about people, whilst preserving the heritage of the Emirate.”
When asked to comment on the impact of the brand, Marie Clark, Account Director, Wolff Olins said, “Creating a platform for sustainable future growth is not an overnight change. The brand strategy will influence everything that Aldar does. It goes beyond Aldar’s image and communications; it will be embedded in the culture, capabilities, master planning of new developments, and the creation of new experiences and services. We have conducted a brand measurement study that will be repeated in about six months’ time. Then we will be able to quantify the impact of the brand on Aldar’s business. This has been a fantastic project for Wolff Olins. We share Aldar’s commitment to thinking for the long term, improving quality of life in Abu Dhabi, whilst respecting the culture of the Emirate.”
Wednesday, October 27- 2010 @ 10:43 UAE local time (GMT+4) Replication or redistribution in whole or in part is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Mediaquest FZ LLC.

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FOURTH ANNUAL SARATOGA MOTORCAR AUCTIONS
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. (Aug. 25, 2020) – The Fourth Annual Saratoga Motorcar Auction will be held Saturday, Sept. 19, 2020 in Saratoga Springs, New York. Over 200 collectible vehicles plus Automobilia will be awarded to the highest bidder. The live auction benefits the Saratoga Automobile Museum.
"We are excited to have Christine among our consignments," said Bill Windham, Saratoga Motorcar Auctions Director. Ask anyone to name a movie car, and most will immediately think of Christine, the famous 1958 Plymouth Fury from the 1983 movie by the same name. "Cars that have been featured in popular movies have traditionally brought strong dollars and been a favorite among serious car collectors." said Windham. (For more information on the real Christine check out this article at https://barnfinds.com/the-real-christine-1958-plymouth-fury/)
Other interesting consignments include an IMSA Thompson-Yenko Corvette with extensive vintage racing history, a 1970 "Boss 429" Mustang in Grabber Blue, and an exceptional 1931 Pierce-Arrow Model 42 Dual Cowl Phaeton with built-in bar for rear seat passengers, offered at no reserve.
Many auction houses have converted to online-only events in 2020, but the Saratoga Motorcar Auction is moving ahead with a live event. "Our live auction will include bidders and consignors only and all participants, including the auction team, will be expected to wear masks and observe social distancing whenever possible," shared Carly Connors, Executive Director of Saratoga Automobile Museum. "Our live auction is meant to be a fun and engaging way to support the Museum through a passion for collector cars."
"This Auction is an excellent place for people to get their feet wet buying or selling a car at an auction. Our friendly team is more than happy to walk people through the process from start to finish," said Windham. "There's still time to consign that family heirloom one may be contemplating selling and it's a terrific way to help the Museum at the same time."
To consign one or more vehicles, contact Bill Windham at (518) 401-5180
To register to bid visit http://www.saratogamotorcarauction.org/register-to-bid


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NEW ALBANY, Ohio (AP) _ Commercial Vehicle Group Inc. (CVGI) on Monday reported a first-quarter loss of $24.6 million, after reporting a profit in the same period a year earlier.
The New Albany, Ohio-based company said it had a loss of 80 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, came to 2 cents per share.
The supplier of products for heavy duty trucks posted revenue of $187.1 million in the period.
In the final minutes of trading on Monday, the company's shares hit $1.70. A year ago, they were trading at $7.58.


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Bitcoin ATM Installations See Record Drop in May: Is Cryptocurrency Demand Diminishing?
Since their inception, Bitcoin ATMs have proven to be an important tool in the countries where they are implemented. Merchants can instantly deposit or withdraw crypto assets from their wallets by linking them to these ATMs.
As we approach the middle of 2022, the year is not looking to be the best for Bitcoin ATM installations around the world. During the month of May, only 202 new cryptocurrency ATMs were installed worldwide, a number not seen in three years.
During the months of January and February 2022, a global total of 1,817 cryptocurrency ATMs were installed. In contrast, 2,435 crypto ATMs were installed, down 25% from the same period a year earlier.
Suggested Reading | CBDCs Will ‘Kill’ Crypto, Says Reserve Bank of India Governor
Bitcoin is still the most used cryptocurrency for transactions (Asia Times).
Are people losing interest in Bitcoin ATMs?
This may be a clue that the demand for cryptocurrency ATMs has decreased and people are looking for alternative methods of transacting with bitcoins. It’s too early to tell for sure.
The historical month was August of last year, when around 2,037 Bitcoin ATMs were installed around the world. However, January was a difficult month for the industry, with only 1,687 ATMs deployed.
Although a little closer to the figures set in December, it did not have a significant impact on the 1970 total since January.
Bitcoin ATMs are attractive to cryptocurrency investors who want to take advantage of the product without going through the time-consuming Know Your Customer (KYC) processes required by most Bitcoin trading platforms.
Total BTC Market Cap at $564.75 Billion on Weekend Chart | Source: TradingView.com
Factors Driving the Decline in Bitcoin ATM Installations
Global geopolitical tensions, ambiguous or anti-cryptocurrency policies, market saturation, and the business impact of the current global health crisis are some of the main causes for the decline of crypto ATM installations.
Many international bodies, including the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO), have declared measures to strengthen the laws on cryptocurrency ATMs, despite the fact that these machines are used for illegal activities.
Suggested Reading | ‘Crypto Winter’ Forces Exchanges in Latin America to Lay Off Employees
According to a report by Coin ATM Radar, the United States is home to 88% of the world’s 37,826 crypto ATMs, while Europe has 1,420 ATMs, accounting for 3.8% of global ATMs.
Despite the economic crisis, around 36,069 crypto ATMs have been built around the world, and Bitcoin remains the most widely used cryptocurrency for transactions.
Growth BTM featured image, chart from TradingView.com
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Posted: 2017-11-14 14:05
8775 We are tired of this endless campaign by dishonest salesmen to push a single use of Kodi that nobody on the team actually recommends, 8776 wrote Kodi product manager Nathan Betzen in a blog post in February. 8775 We are tired of these salesmen lying to users, claiming that pirate streams and pirate boxes are 8766 legal 8767 when they are absolutely not at some level or other. We are tired of being told by companies that they don 8767 t want to work with us, because we are selling pirate boxes. 8776
It 8767 s a strong move by the development team to defend its brand, but it 8767 s tough to say how much it will change the product 8767 s image. BitTorrent, another software company whose products have contributed to widespread piracy, has also put serious effort into trying to change its public perception. Still, the platform 8767 s most prominent headlines recently have come from HBO 8767 s fight to curtail leaks of new 8775 Game of Thrones 8776 episodes. It is likely Kodi will face a similar uphill battle.
Although school officials had previously declined to characterize the alleged misconduct, Ole Miss athletic director Ross Bjork said in response to questions from the Journal about Freeze’s travel that the university’s investigation uncovered “calls of a similar nature” over the course of several years, often matching up with travel logs showing the coach’s use of the school plane. The school said it examined his travel logs from peak recruiting times—often November, December and January—when Freeze would travel out of state, using the school plane and other public resources.
Though the specific bad takes aren’t named, WEEI’s leading programming dedicates time to going after women, people of color, and other groups. It’s not like these groups are exempt from criticism, but saying Erin Andrews is bad at her job is different than calling her a “gutless bitch.” For a more recent example, take how Kirk and Callahan handled de la Cretaz’s criticism: Host Kirk Minihane was mad that the author blocked him on Twitter, so he put her on blast.
That app is Kodi, a downloadable media player originally designed for Microsoft 8767 s Xbox back in 7559. At the time, it was known as the Xbox Media Center (XBMC) and has since become popular in tech circles thanks to open-source compatibility with TVs, computers, smartphones and video game systems. Instead of having your movies, music and shows in a bunch of different places, Kodi allows you to access it from local or networked storage and stream it to your TV.


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The Bank of Thailand stated that, in August 2020, the Thai economy improved slightly, held up by lighter contractions in merchandise exports value, manufacturing production, and private investment indicators.
According to the release on economic and monetary conditions for August 2020, issued by the Bank of Thailand on 30 September, the value of merchandise exports contracted by 8.2 percent from the same period last year.
Manufacturing production had a softer contraction in almost all categories, aligning with the gradual recovery in the merchandise exports and domestic spending. Private investment indicators marked lighter contraction as compared to the previous month, mainly from investment in machinery and equipment.
Public spending, excluding transfers, had greater expansion. However, private consumption indicators contracted further after the positive effects of a special extended holiday in the previous month terminated. They were still on a recovery path in line with factors supporting consumer purchasing power.
Meanwhile, the tourism sector persistently experienced severe contraction. Thailand received no foreign tourist arrivals for the fifth consecutive months as international travel restrictions remained in place.
On the economic stability front, headline inflation recorded a softer negative on the back of the increase in fresh food and energy prices.
Labor market improved but remained vulnerable. The current account was a surplus largely contributed by gold exports. The capital and financial accounts posted a deficit owing to the liability position.
Source : The Government Public Relations Department
Pakorn Peetathawatchai, President, The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET)
What measures has SET taken to support listed companies’ compliance with ESG standards?
PAKORN: When we first began promoting ESG-compliant investments, we were met with little interest. We attributed this to a lack of clear data to showcase the economic benefits of ESG investment, and perhaps limited clarity as to what constitutes a sustainable or ESG-compliant investment. The launch of the THSI list and, subsequently, the SETTHSI Index, was designed to address this. Our most recent data, comparing returns for the SETTHSI Index with the broader SET and SET100 indices from April 2020 to April 2021, underscores the economic benefits of these investments: the group compliant with ESG standards outperformed the other two indices on every data point.
As of May 2021 Thailand was home to CG and ESG assets under management totalling BT54.8bn ($1.7bn) across 50 funds – up from 23 funds in 2019. Meanwhile, of the BT187.1bn ($5.9bn) raised in green, social and sustainability bonds since 2018, BT136.4bn ($4.3bn) was raised in 2020 – 83% from the government and the remainder from development banks and private players. This rising demand, in a move to manage risk and generate returns, has been complemented by growing supply and promotion: supply from ESG-compliant businesses aiming for resiliency and sustainable growth, as well as promotion from regulators highlighting investment opportunities with good CG and SD practices. Indeed, the pandemic has been a catalyst in shifting the view of ESG compliance from a luxury to a requirement in the new normal.
In what ways can enhanced standard-setting and regulatory mechanisms overcome the remaining barriers to improved ESG performance?
PAKORN: A multi-stakeholder approach is crucial for enhanced ESG performance – not only in Thailand, but around much of the globe. This can also help to address the standout incumbent challenge: access to reliable, wide-ranging ESG data. For example, the 2020 update to the 56-1 One Report established clear ESG standards and triggered online and offline capacity-building programmes to support listed firms’ compliance. SET is developing an ESG data platform with a structured template to promote the availability of comparable data, maximise value added from corporate sustainability disclosures, and foster collaboration between the business value chain and stakeholders. This is expected to support Thai companies along their ESG journey in an economically sustainable way, result in a greater number of sustainability-focused products and services, drive sustainable investing in the Thai investment community and ultimately “make the capital market work for everyone”, as outlined in the SET’s vision.
Youth unemployment hits new highs in Thailand due to COVID-19 restrictions
BANGKOK, Thailand (ILO news) – Joblessness among young men and women in Thailand has reached a level unseen in recent years due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new brief from the International Labour Organization (ILO).
The Bachelor Japan Season 4 showcases Thailand
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ASEAN commemorates Youth in Climate Action and Disaster Resilience Day 2021
An intergenerational dialogue titled ‘Teaming up with You(th) for a Disaster-Resilient and Climate-Friendly ASEAN’, was moderated by the ASEAN Youth...
Thai Cabinet reverses CCSA relaxation of on-arrival Covid testing protocol
The Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration’s approval of the relaxed testing requirement has been overturned by the Cabinet in light...
Insights into the impact of COVID-19 on Thailand’s households
In April 2020, the Thai government passed a 1 trillion baht borrowing decree to address health needs, provide relief, and...
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International travellers, including returning Thais and foreign residents, who are above 18 years of age should get fully vaccinated for...


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Itâ€™s a good week for Sega – despite mixed reviews Alien Vs Predator has managed to shove Bioshock 2 off the top of the chart after just one week. Rebellion also claim that itâ€™s the fastest selling game of the year so far, beating even Bioshock 2. Segaâ€™s Vancouver 2010 tie-in is in at #11 this week too, which likewise, has been getting some negative reviews.
There canâ€™t be many Van Halen fans in the UK – Guitar Hero: Van Halen has failed to enter the top 40. The best it can do is #17 in the Xbox 360 chart.
Danteâ€™s Inferno has fallen like a sinner dropping into hell this week, going from #9 to #22. The very similar Darksiders is back on the rise though, up from #32 to #19. And after appearing at #14 last week due to “super bowl fever”, Madden NFL 10 has fallen from #14 to #39.


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MicroCare Corp. is pleased to announce that Mr. Rick Hoffman has joined the MicroCare team as the Eastern Regional Sales Manager. With over 30 years of industrial sales experience, he is very familiar with the cleaning needs of many industries, including wafer fab, aerospace, electronics assembly, telecommunications and medical device makers. Rick also brings detailed knowledge of chemical processes, vapor degreasing, coating/dispensing and water purification. He’s going to use this expertise to help customers with their critical cleaning applications across the eastern portion of the USA.
At MicroCare, Mr. Hoffman said, “I am truly excited to be a part of the MicroCare team and its wide market reach. It’s a perfect fit with my experience, and it’ll be great to help customers learn about today’s best cleaning practices. I’m eager to step in and happy to be part of a great organization.”
Mr. Hoffman graduated from Bentley University (near Boston) in 1985.


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The 2019 Toyota TRD Pro Series Debuts in Chicago
The Toyota brand’s long history in off-road racing gave way to Toyota Racing Development (TRD), a division of Toyota Motor Corporation since 2014 that has designed and engineered some of the auto industry’s finest off-road equipment. The latest example of the TRD Pro Series debuts at the Chicago Auto Show, with the 2019 Toyota 4Runner, 2019 Toyota Tacoma, and 2019 Toyota Tundra all featuring special TRD Pro trims.
From now through Feb. 18, Toyota lovers worldwide can get up-close with these three vehicles and learn how the TRD Pro series integrates with each one. All three models will share certain features, including Fox 2.5-inch internal bypass shocks and three different color choices: Super White, Midnight Blue Metallic, and Voodoo Blue (exclusive to TRD Pro vehicles). Each vehicle gets its own unique enhancements too. For example, the 2019 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro gets new all-weather LED fog lights, new 18-inch BBS forged-aluminum, five-spoke black wheels, and a new Toyota grille and hood scoop on the outside, complemented by interior upgrades like red stitching accents, a TRD shift knob, and TRD Pro logos on the front seats.
The 2019 Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro will make a big splash with its available, all-new TRD Desert Air Intake. This innovation ensures that this truck’s engine breathes clean air in dirty/silty/sandy terrain, resulting in better performance and increased engine longevity. And for Toyota of Newnan customers considering a Toyota 4Runner, this legendary SUV’s 2019 TRD Pro variation comes with a new roof rack, a front skid plate, 17-inch matte-black alloy wheels, and a newly-standard Entune™ Premium JBL sound system with navigation and streaming apps.
As one of the most respected car dealerships in Newnan, GA, you can bet we’ll have these special models in our showroom when they arrive this fall!


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Written by: Roshan Dwivedi
360 video created by multiple cameras provide an immersive experience like the user is viewing from inside a sphere. This lets viewers pan into it by dragging the mouse or swiping the finger across or tilting the screen and watch the video from all angles. 360-degree video promises the ‘front row’ seat experience from any viewing device.
Recently, YouTube has announced its entry into the 360 video with live 360 video streaming. BGR describes it as ‘the moment Virtual Reality had been waiting for’. Music mega event Coachella will be the 1st place where this will be used. Facebook too has released its live streaming of 360 videos on the news feed. It is now strengthening its platform to accommodate for live videos by adding a dedicated live tab on the app and also there are reports of Facebook developing its own camera app. With the two big players pushing towards immersive content, it is expected that the industry will take a more definitive shape. Also, YouTube’s platform is the start of a simpler user-friendly platform that isn’t complicated as using the Oculus Rift which needs dedicated hardware, though the latter’s quality is unmatched.
Cameras costing as low as $350 can be used for YouTube Live, and a lot of these were showcased and launched at NAB 2016. Both YouTube and Facebook are having their API available for developers to work on, and hence create a market. Talking of creating a market and affordability, Google’s VR cardboard is the cheapest and highest sold VR device till now. Google clearly wants everyone to see the potential of the technology, and then hence create a market for the same. With affordable models coming in, 360 is expected to enhance user experience on social media platforms like Periscope, Instagram and Pinterest. Advertising, a space that is on the constant lookout for something innovative, will grossly benefit from a new type of video playback. In sports, audience can choose or slide along a view to witness every nook and corner of the game.
To burn skeptics, who are doubting whether 360 and VR will be a mainstream thing or just something technology can produce, Mark Zuckerburg struck an emotional cord with the audience at F8 pointing that when his sister’s children grew up, they took photos and videos, but his daughter would grow up, he would record the video using 360 cameras and share it with people who would view in VR and feel like they are actually in the room with them. According to Digi Capital, the VR market will reach $30 billion by 2020. The real feel of 360 is when it is accompanied by great sound like the spatial audio launched by YouTube, 3D immersive views and other tech which will present VR as a completely different experience package.
There are challenges like video size is bigger (YouTube Live has 1440p resolution and 60 frames per second), data speeds required are much higher and it is safer to say that 360 would be more like a stepping stone for VR to be popular in the near future till devices for virtual reality are standardized. Questioning challenges is one thing, but we have to remind ourselves – was the world ready for HD back then?


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Samsung Electronics America Inc., a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Corporation, has launched the NC190 and NC240 monitors to allow secure access to remote servers and data centers.
Vizioncore Inc., the market leader in virtualization data protection and management solutions, today announced that Australia-based Dr. D Studios has deployed Vizioncore vFoglight to monitor the performance of the company's VMware vSphere virtual server environment.
Systems Alliance, a software development firm and systems integrator providing high-value IT and business consulting services, today announced it was expanding its relationship with Hitachi Data Systems to provide clients with more effective solutions for reducing storage cost and complexity.
Today at Citrix Synergy, the event where virtualization, networking and cloud computing meet, Citrix Systems, Inc. announced the availability of the latest Citrix XenServer release, which delivers additional features across the product line, enhancing the enterprise-ready, cloud-proven virtualization platform with all the capabilities needed to create and manage a virtual infrastructure at a fraction of the cost of competing products.
New Tools called Project Kensho to Showcase Open Virtual Machine Format (OVF) for Multi-Hypervisor Management


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LONDON (CBS.MW) -- British Sky Broadcasting said Wednesday it will offer a free Internet service provider called Skynow from June 1. Sky said it will fight back against growing competition from cable TV companies by giving away digital decoder boxes.
The announcements came as the satellite TV company said its profit before tax for the nine months to March 31 slumped to $112 million (69.2 million pounds) from $329 million (203.3 million pounds) in the same period of the previous year. Sky said its profits, at the low end of expectations, fell as it fought to win new subscribers.
Even so, BSkyB shares in London shot up 56.5 pence, or 10.4 percent, to 598 after the announcement.
Skynow will be available to the general public. From July 1 BSkyB BSY, -10.00% will offer its customers 40 percent reductions on British Telecom BTY, +15.71% standard phone calls, including Internet access.
"This is a very exciting day for Sky. Our new consumer proposition will transform the company and the entire industry," said Mark Booth, BSkyB's chief executive.
From the start of June Sky -- which is 40 percent owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. NWS, +0.08% -- will offer digital decoder boxes required to receive its service for free. This is a big break for new customers who until now have paid 200 pounds a pop for the boxes. Customers will now only be required to pay the 40 pound installation charge.
BSkyB's operating profit for the nine months to March 31 1999 fell to $248 million (153.1 million pounds) from $414.2 million (255.7 million pounds) in the same period of last year. Earnings per share were 2.9 pence versus 10.8 pence for the same period of the previous financial year.
Sky said it has suspended dividend payments to shareholders in order to invest in digital technology. The company said excess capital will be returned to shareholders through dividends and/or share buybacks at the "appropriate" time. The company also said it will take an exceptional charge after tax of about $510.3 million (315 million pounds) to balance off an increase in costs of about 20 pounds per new digital customer.
Sky's digital TV service, launched last October, signed up 428,000 customers by the end of March. The company has set its sights on obtaining 1 million customers by October 1999. Despite new customers signing up to the digital service, the company's overall satellite subscribers fell to 3,445 million at the end of March, from 3,458 million at the end of 1998.
The satellite TV provider said Mort Topfer, vice chairman of Dell Computer Corp. dell has been appointed a non-executive director of the company.


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EA Games, publisher of Battlefield, The Sims and FIFA, has admitted to a "recent incident of intrusion into our network" in which attackers reportedly stole game source code and software development kits.
The company acknowledged the breach while downplaying its impact, saying no personal data of players had been taken and claiming the amount of game source data and tools taken was "limited".
The breach was first reported by Vice's Motherboard offshoot, which said it had been shown screenshots of posts on cybercriminal forums by the apparent thieves, boasting about what they had helped themselves to.
"You have full capability of exploiting on all EA services," said one message quoted by the news website. Source code for football game FIFA 21, as well as EA's cross-platform Frostbite game engine and various software development kits for other titles are said to have been stolen, with around 780GB having been ...
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Staying on top of breaking news in the retail industry is a commitment Retail TouchPoints editors take seriously. Each day, we publish the latest information in this News Briefs section. Up-to-the-minute stories cover retail implementations, new product announcements, financial updates, executive appointments and overall global updates affecting every aspect of the retail industry.
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Woman who put pins in food at Calgary Co-op to stay in jail
Court of Appeal rules against Tatyana Granada's bid to overturn mischief conviction
The woman who stuck pins, needles and nails in food at a Calgary Co-op has lost her appeal.
In early 2010, the sharp objects were found in food for sale on four occasions at the Oakridge Co-op.
The Calgary mother was originally arrested for shoplifting from the same store a few months earlier.
Granada appealed the mischief charges, arguing the trial judge had erred when considering expert testimony.
A three-member appeal panel of judges dismissed that argument.
Granada will remain in custody until she finishes serving her three-year sentence.


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Tech proposals: The German government will temporarily take stakes in high-tech companies to stop them being sold to investors in non-EU countries, amid worries that China is scooping up Germany’s ‘technology jewels’. The “national fallback option”, proposed by the Economy Ministry, is a climbdown from an earlier idea for a state investment fund that would step in to pre-empt foreign takeovers of German companies. Elsewhere: German politician Ursula von der Leyen officially takes up her role as the President of the European Commission on 1st December (yes, that’s today), succeeding Jean-Claude Juncker. More here (German) and here (English) Audi are axing 9,500 jobs in order to save for a massive £3bn investment in electric cars. Mercedes Benz are also cutting 10,000 jobs worldwide. Gideon Rachman wrote on Franco-German tensions, which he says are caused in large part due to Brexit. The FT recently featured a podcast on Germany’s foreign policy. The BBC World Business Report, similarly, released a podcast focussed on Germany’s economic future. Christopher Schuetze wrote a highly interesting piece in the New York Times about Konnopke’s, a currywurst business that opened in east Berlin in 1930. Workers at six Amazon distribution centres in Germany staged a Black Friday walkout in a dispute over pay and conditions.
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November 9, 2018
Alltech has officially opened its state-of-the-art organic trace mineral manufacturing plant in Pune, India. With a production capacity of 25,000 tons/year, it is the largest organic trace mineral plant in Asia. Alltech India opened its office in 2001, with production operations in Bengaluru, in 2004. Over the years, the company has grown twenty-fold, serving poultry, dairy and aqua feed millers and farmers to improve their efficiency and profitability. “When we outgrew our plant capacity in 2016 and decided to expand our business and invest in a bigger plant, Pune was the first choice,” said Mark Lyons, President and CEO of Alltech. The Pune facility was designed to cater not only to the local market but to South Asia and Southeast Asia, Australia and Europe as well. The plant spans a total area of 132,000 sqft and employs 50 full-time team members. The plant features modern scientific technology and utilizes advanced quality systems.


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So as we all know “iphone” is a very popular phone company who recently just released their Latest brand which it’s called the iPhone 12. A lot of people liked the phone mainly because of his design and his great features, but the only thing stopping People from rushing into a phone shop and getting their own copies of the phone is the price of the phone.
Well the new iPhone 12 is said to cost a lot of money and Because of this a lot of Nigerian still consider the phone to be very expensive so they can’t afford it. Maybe the prize of the phone could be very expensive but it can’t stop celebrities like bobrisky from getting their own copy of the phone.
It seems like the famous cross dresser bobrisky snapped a picture of his brand new iPhone 12 which his purchase with the Amount of 710,000 naira and he then posted telling his fans that buying of the phone was an achievement.
Well a lot of people claim that Bobrisky didn’t actually bought the iPhone by himself and his fans even dragged him saying that one of his boyfriend could have bought the phone for him but he is claiming to have bought it with his own money. So I guess that after most of you have seen the phone you will probably think that he didn’t buy it with his money too.
Here are pictures of the phone he bought.
See some people’s reaction to the news.
Well if you ask me I think that what bobrisky did about Posting photos of his new phone and claiming that it’s a achievement is really bad. Maybe he really bought the phone with his money, but that doesn’t give me the right to claim his phone is an achievement making others who can’t afford feel bad.
Thank you for reading.


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‘Tablet’ hip flask project seeks Kickstarter funding
The creators of a new “hidden flask” device designed to look like a computer tablet are seeking US$10,000 funding through a Kickstarter campaign.
The team behind StashPad have raised more than half of their US$10,000 goal on the crowd-funding site so far, and describe the project as “the trailblazer of all flasks”.
The hip flask is designed to look like a tablet computer with the screen turned off, and is equipped with a switch on the top which opens and closes a secret filling port.
The device comes with three disposable funnels for decanting up to 355ml of liquid, and features a hidden compartment which will carry up to four cigarettes.
A statement on the Kickstarter page from creators Ethan Hou and Dan Novaes, reads: “Inventing something comes with a lot of teamwork and communication. Once we thought up the initial designs, we had to work side by side with a 3D engineer to create the files needed to 3D print our first prototype.
“Once that was done, we worked with Hatcher Associates, a 3D prototyping company based in Chicago, to get our design printed and painted. After several iterations of the prototype and going back and forth with our designer, we have today a product that we absolutely love.”
Early bird pledges are still available for US$15, and the standard RRP of the product will be US$25.
The team behind StashPad also launched a smartphone-shaped flask called iFlask earlier this year – one of the flasks featured in our run-down of the top 10 coolest hip flasks.


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A Day Without Starbucks
Changing an entire system to make it fair for people of all races is hard. I should know as this is the work I've been doing for decades. Three years ago when I was the president of Race Forward, Starbucks threw their hat into the ring launching the "Race Together" collaborative campaign with USA Today. Their idea was that baristas writing "Race Together" on customer's cups would spark meaningful conversations on US race relations.
I appreciated their effort but had a feeling it might not go as they imagined. The day they announced the Race Together campaign was the first I'd heard of it, and none of our sister organizations had been involved either. It's challenging to create meaningful dialogues about racial justice that can engage everyday people, but there's a fair amount of expertise across the country about what works and what doesn't.
Unsurprisingly, Starbucks was hit with a tsunami of backlash. Representing Race Forward, I wrote an open letter to them, encouraging them to dig deeper and extending an offer to help. The cup-writing part of the campaign ended early although CEO Howard Schultz pledged to do more, including hire 10,000 employees from distressed neighborhoods. In the aftermath, I said this to the Washington Post:
“We have learned that healthy conversation about race takes courage and time,” Sen said in an interview Sunday. “I don’t know if writing on cups would have generated that good discussion.”
“After many years of being told we should all be colorblind, as if that was possible, a lot of people don’t know how to enter” a conversation about race, she added.`
In the last week, Starbucks stores have made headlines and social media trends again, this time for mistreating their Black customers. In Philadelphia, two Black men waiting for a friend to arrive were arrested and later released for trying to use the bathroom without making a purchase.
After the arrest went viral, Brandon Ward's video of being denied access to a Starbucks bathroom even after making a purchase also made the rounds.
In a surprising positive twist, rather than just issue an apology, Starbucks announced that it will close all its US stores for racial bias training on May 29. That is a significant investment, in my view. Dropping an entire day's profit from 8,000 stores, that's no small matter. It signals some sincerity about addressing the racial bias that impacts Black customers on a daily basis.
Glenn Harris, the new President of Race Forward, agrees that Starbucks is taking a good first step to combat racism within the company but warns that a single action isn't enough.
Tackling implicit bias is a critical step for any institution working to combat racism. To root out bias, Starbucks must be explicit about race. They must also explore and address how racism plays out across the company--from the customer experience to who gets promoted to the demographics of their executive leadership.
There is a growing movement of institutions in this country that are committed over the long-term to advance solutions that combat racism. Starbucks, hand-in-hand with their employees and customers, has the opportunity to join this movement.
I agree that this training, if it is done well, will be a good move in the direction. And no one who has done this work for any amount of time thinks one day of training will be enough. I imagine Starbucks already knows that and is currently plotting out the next phase. I've had excellent results in other situations starting with a thorough, participatory racial-equity impact assessment of the whole system. But there are multiple entry points and paths forward, and a lot of help, if Starbucks is willing to put in the time, money and humanity.
Changing an entire system to make it fair to people of all races is hard. But it is also possible. The rewards when we succeed are transformative, as we can see here, here and here. I'll be following this story to see how this evolves, hoping Starbucks will provide a constructive model for corporate America on how to treat all of their customers well, for real.


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Video gaming remains to be one of the world’s most popular hobbies; in 2021, there are an estimated 3.24 billion gamers across the world. With PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo releasing new game titles for their latest consoles over the next few months, it’s safe to say that we’re currently in a golden age for gaming.
According to market research company IPSOS, 56% of YouTube gamers say YouTube is where they connect with their gaming community. It’s a platform where hype is cultivated around both new and old gaming titles, whether that’s from game trailers or walkthrough videos.
At AV Installations, we wanted to know which game titles are the most popular with gamers around the world. To find this out, we have conducted a study where we analysed YouTube data to find which games are the most viewed on the platform. From old classics like Mario Kart to new releases on the PlayStation 5, these are officially the most popular video game titles according to YouTube views. The results are below!
PlayStation and Nintendo titles dominate the top 25 most viewed games on YouTube, with 52% of titles being for PlayStation consoles. Interestingly, the most viewed game trailer of all time is a PlayStation title that hasn’t even been released yet. Hogwarts Legacy is due for release in 2022, and the data suggests that it could very quickly become one of the most popular games ever. Action-adventure games are also by far the most popular genre, with 32% of titles in the top 25 falling into this category.
Our study shows that PlayStation has the most popular game title of all time according to YouTube views, with 22,743,604 views on the Hogwarts Legacy trailer. Our data suggests that PlayStation is the most popular gaming console, with 52% of the top 25 most viewed gaming titles being PlayStation games. Action role-playing is also the most popular gaming genre on PlayStation, with half of their top 10 titles falling into this category, and they are also the only gaming platform with a Sim Racing title in their top 10.
Xbox received the fewest amount of YouTube views on their titles overall compared to PlayStation and Nintendo, with only two of their titles appearing in the top 25 most viewed games. Their most popular genre is First-Person Shooter and the most popular Xbox game according to YouTube views falls into this genre too. Xbox is also the only gaming platform with a Sci-Fi Adventure title in their top 10. Similarly to PlayStation, the most popular Xbox title is a game that has not yet been released. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is due for release this year, and looking at the amount of hype it’s already received, this isn’t one to miss!
The most popular Nintendo game title is a new release that came out just this year. Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury is a game bundle of action-adventure and platform games. Interestingly, four of the titles in Nintendo’s top 10 are set in the Super Mario universe, a game series unique to Nintendo. Nintendo is also the only platform with the genres Party, Puzzle video game, and Dungeon Crawl in their top 10.
To find which game titles are the most viewed on YouTube, we gathered data on the number of views of popular gaming trailers on YouTube. To ensure that the results were fair, we only took data from the official PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo YouTube channels instead of general gaming channels. We gathered data on the top 120 games across all three channels and then ranked them from the highest number of views to the lowest to reveal which is the most popular on the platform.


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German automaker BMW is recalling an estimated 1.6 million models of 3 Series vehicles due to potentially dangerous airbags supplied by Takata Corporation.
During BMW’s investigation into the issue, they found that when the airbags are deployed, the airbag inflator in the affected vehicles may malfunction and cause metal shards to fly out to the passenger or the vehicle’s windshield.
BMW is not aware of any injuries involving the affected 2000-2006 3 Series. The same Takata manufactured airbags have affected other automakers, leading to further recalls for companies like Honda and GM. This issue has, unfortunately, proven deadly after two drivers were killed by shrapnel released when their airbags burst in their Honda.
Suffering injuries or losing a loved one in a vehicular accident caused by a defective vehicle can result in immense financial losses. If the same has happened to you in the Columbia area, the lawyers at the Goings Law Firm, LLC may help you recover your loss by pursuing the negligent party in civil court. Find out how we may advocate for you today by calling (803) 350-9230.
Automaker Nissan recently issued a recall of its new Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) models due to a potential steering problem that could endanger occupants, The Car Connection reported on July 1.
Reports said the recall affects some 2014 Nissan Rogue SUVs that may have had the wrong bolt installed on the upper steering column while in the manufacturing stage. Steering problems may arise in these vehicles if the bolt loosens. Owners of the affected vehicles are advised to contact Nissan for more information or visit a dealership to have the vehicles’ steering column checked.
Steering problems caused by an auto defect can endanger the lives of everyone on the road. If you or a loved one has been injured by a faulty vehicle in Columbia, the legal team at Goings Law Firm, LLC, may advocate for you. Our lawyers may work for you to get the remunerations you need to recover from costs incurred. Speak with us today by calling (803) 350-9230.


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'Objectionable Conditions' Persist at Drug Compounding Facilities
Problems discovered in federal inspections of compounding facilities include "inappropriate or inadequate, or both, clothing for sterile processing… insufficient microbiological testing, and other practices that create risk of contamination," says the GAO.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, stepping up its scrutiny, is finding multiple, serious sterility problems with compounding pharmacies that distribute to hospitals and doctors, says a report from the Government Accountability Office.
Prepared for Congress, the GAO report says the FDA in February went beyond its typical "for-cause inspections" criteria and targeted 31 compounding pharmacies that met any two of the following criteria:
- Whether a warning letter had been issued to the pharmacy in in the past 10 years
- Whether the pharmacy compounded sterile injectable drugs.
- Whether there were adverse drug events reported.
- Whether there were complaints from the FDA district office or from others.
By April 29, FDA had cited 30 of the 31 pharmacies for "objectionable conditions." In some cases the issues were sufficiently serious to generate warning letters to those companies.
The problems included "inappropriate or inadequate, or both, clothing for sterile processing, lack of appropriate air filtration systems, insufficient microbiological testing, and other practices that create risk of contamination," the GAO investigators wrote.


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Progress Update: Macaw Designs
Today I caught up with Ali Gillum for the fifth in our series of University of Exeter student business updates. Ali is the founder of a fantastic social enterprise called Macaw Designs, which creates beautiful bespoke iPhone, iPad, laptop and glasses cases. I last time wrote about Macaw Designs in March 2013 the foundations of the business were just being set-up; by Easter 2013 Ali had started designing the Macaw Designs website as well as locating a factory in England to produce her designs.
By autumn 2013 Macaw Designs boasted four unique design collections and officially launched the entire brand in October 2013 in association with Her Campus. Since then Ali has been carefully building the brand by undertaking craft events as well as Popup Macaw events in Exeter and Durham. Sales have been building since launch, with Macaw Designs being selected by the University of Exeter to represent it at the SETsquared intra-university business competition held in Spitalfields Market in June. Ali will also take the brand to summer festivals like New Wine and Somersault, capitalising on the release of two new collections that are aimed at the male market. Post graduation Ali is looking to continue to grow her social enterprise, which has receive grant backing from the Innovation Centre and the UnLtd Fund, into a business that not only creates bespoke cases but also impacts local communities through running craft events. No doubt that next twelve months will be really exciting for Macaw Designs and I will keep you updated!
In terms of my week here at MGR Music we successfully managed to launch the Singing Lessons Reading, Piano Lessons Leicester and Guitar Lessons Winchester websites, with our most exciting news being that we are nearly almost there in signing an advertising deal with a London guitar store for the for the Guitar Lessons London website. This would be a massive achievement for us, generating a new stream of income that can be used to create more fantastic content. The week also saw us hire teachers in Aberdeen and Oxford which kept us on track for our two teachers per week expansion!


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After three years in the red, March Networks Corp. is back in the black. The Ottawa-based IP video surveillance company squeezed out net earnings in the first quarter of $108,000 on sales of $26.3 million thanks in part to more layoffs.
By comparison, in the quarter before it lost $27.5 million on revenue of $24 million.
“The first quarter of fiscal 2011 [which ended July 31] was very encouraging for the company as demand returned in the North American market after a tough fiscal 2010 to deliver revenue growth and a return to profitability”, CEO Peter Strom said in a news release. “Recently announced retail and banking deals are expected to help drive continued revenue growth and profitability in the second quarter of fiscal 2011.”
The company didn't outline how many staffers were let go, but did say it took a $909,000 charge in the quarter.
The bottom line was also helped by a 38 per cent increase in revenue from U.S. customers and a 24 per cent increase in revenues from international customers, largely in Latin America and Asia-Pacific.
Of the $26 million in Q1 revenue, $9 million came from the company's biggest customer, WalMart, for installations in new stores and upgrades. Strom told financial analysts that deal in part releated to customized software March developed that WalMart tested for at least six months before approval.
While Strom remains cautious on the overall global economy, he's confident profitability will continue in the second quarter.


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- News tagged "xiaomi"
Saturday, 23 May 2015
DigiTimes reports that Microsoft and Xiaomi are among a group of companies which are considering to acquire BlackBerry.
Monday, 18 May 2015
Xiaomi may be releasing a new Redmi phone with a metallic design, 2 or 3GB RAM, a Full-HD display and MediaTek MT6795 octa-core processor. Read on to find out more.
Wednesday, 13 May 2015
Based on the latest report by International Data Corporation (IDC), Apple has overtaken Xiaomi and Samsung to be the top smartphone vendor in China for Q1 2015. All isn't rosy in the Chinese market though; more details inside.
China's largest smartphone maker Xiaomi has just announced the launch of its own money market fund, signaling the company's intentions to enter finance.
Friday, 8 May 2015
A leaked product roadmap from Chinese site Mobile-Dad reveals that Huawei and Xiaomi are releasing at least another four smartphones in the coming months. Read on to find out what exciting new products the two companies are bringing to the market for the rest of the year!
Thursday, 7 May 2015
Announced earlier this year, Xiaomi has just finalized the specifications of its new Mi Note Pro phablet. It also said that it will go on sale in China next week for just 2999 yuan.
Tuesday, 5 May 2015
Xiaomi has unveiled the pricing and Singapore availability for its latest flagship smartphone, the Mi 4i. Full details inside.
Saturday, 2 May 2015
Fresh from its recent Mi 4i launch, rumors are pointing that Xiaomi would be launching two new flagship smartphones, the Mi 5 and Mi 5 Plus, sometime in July.
Wednesday, 22 Apr 2015
Xiaomi's unannounced Mi 4i smartphone and the Mi Note appeared on IDA's Equipment Search list, which points to an imminent launch in Singapore. Hit the link to find out more.
Xiaomi's global Mi phone premiere in New Delhi on April 23 may see the debut of a cheaper, plastic-clad Mi 4i handset. Read on to find out more!


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Today, Huawei’s subsidiary brand Honor will be rolling out an update for their latest flagship, the Honor View 10. This new software update will enable Face Unlock feature through intelligent face recognition in Honor View 10. Huawei just informed us via a press release that the update has already started rolling out and everyone will be getting the update by 24th January 2018.
Many of the Honor View 10 users will be excited about this feature. To enable face recognition, a user needs to enroll his face by accessing the Face recognition feature, found in phone’s settings menu.
The Face Unlock doesn’t just help you unlock the phone by lifting it to your face, but it also provides better control over privacy. When a new message comes in and the user picks up the phone, Honor View 10 recognizes the face and shows the messages to the user, without unlocking the phone or opening any apps. Another new feature is the intelligent screen, which knows when the user is reading because it can detect the eyes and when the user is not reading, the display will be turned off.
That’s not all, the camera app also gets some improvements and features. Now users can click a photo and change the background. However, it is available only for the front camera. Super-resolution photos can be obtained, as Honor View 10 uses AI super-resolution algorithm that brings detail enhancement and the processor enhances the resolution.
The recently launched Honor View 10 is the most affordable device in the market with AI capabilities, priced at Rs. 29,999. The phone runs Android 8.0 Oreo, has an 18:9 display, and a Kirin 970, which is a flagship SoC from Huawei itself, with its own NPU (Neural Processing Unit) for AI-based tasks. Some of the AI based features include Face Unlock, Payment Authentication and can unlock the phone in 400ms. For 3D face reconstruction, it uses sub-millimeter reconstruction accuracy and can deliver a 300k-point cloud reconstruction in 10 seconds. Other AI based features include an AI-accelerated translator, intelligent scene and object recognition, motion detection, a portrait mode for selfies.


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Whether you like it or not, we’ll all be driving electric cars sooner rather than later. As this article states, it’s estimated that there’ll be one million electric vehicles on the road by 2023. Charging infrastructure needs to be developed… and quickly!
I feel there’s still a lot to be done with educating the public on how our behaviours will ultimately change, for example, how we fuel our vehicles currently - which is something we take for granted right now don’t you think?
Let’s be honest, there’s a lot of opinions out there about how we are going to transition to electric vehicles and what benefits there will be for the general public and businesses including:
- Reducing emissions
- Increasing air quality
- A way for businesses to meet their CO2 commitments
- The cost to individuals on running their vehicle should reduce!
Delivering information clearly will certainly support this growth, as outlined by the industry experts in this article. Let’s look to a greener future!
How long will it be until you’re driving your electric car?
With an estimated one million electric vehicles on UK roads by 2023 the infrastructure for charging these vehicles will need to be developed quickly. We asked key players in the industry to give their views on what is driving the electric vehicle market and how goals for reduced emissions and increased air quality could be achieved.


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Destiny Connect, an original RPG from Nippon Ichi Software, is coming to Nintendo Switch
Posted on November 13, 2018 by Matt(@OnePunchMaz) in News, Switch
Nippon Ichi Software announced today via Famitsu that their new original RPG Destiny Connect is coming to Nintendo Switch. Directed by Yoshihiko Toda and written by Jun Yokota, the story takes place in the nostalgic town “Clocknee”. After a disaster occurs there, it’s up to Sherry, Pegreo and a robot named Isaac to deal with this. The game will be released on February 28th in Japan.


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Halloween’s popularity shows geek is the new chic
The growing popularity of Halloween in Australia is another sign that sub-cultures based on the supernatural are now embraced by the mainstream, according to an expert from the University of Western Sydney.
Associate Professor Adam Possamai is the author of the book Sociology of Religion for Generation X and Y, and coined the term "hyper-real" religions to describe new faiths that draw on religion, philosophy and popular culture to create their own beliefs.
“Many years ago shows and movies featuring supernatural themes were often relegated to the fringes, but the growing success and mainstream appeal of these shows, and movies like Twilight and Harry Potter before them, have democratised geek culture,” says Associate Professor Possamai.
“Geek is the new chic.”
Associate Professor Possamai says Halloween appeals to people who might eschew traditional religions, but be sympathetic to more alternative spiritualities, where it is common to pick and choose from various religions and philosophies to construct an individual spirituality.
“This à-la-carte aspect of Halloween has allowed it to grow and thrive in the age of individuality, and has spawned a celebration that is now very eclectic, drawing meaning from pop culture, tradition and spirituality,” he says.
“Compared to America, Australia has always seemed less eager to embrace the celebration, but in the last few years merchandise has been sold at more stores, and now everyone from children to adults seem to be marking the occasion with parties or trick-or-treating,” he says.
30 October 2012


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The fund will invest in startups and entrepreneurs focusing on technology innovations in SMB digitisation, agriculture and healthcare
The fund will focus on encouraging the best ideas to digitise SMBs, drive technology-led innovation in agriculture to improve farmer productivity and enable universal healthcare access for all
The company also announced a ‘Local Shops on Amazon’ programme, under which it pledged to bring 1 Mn offline retailers to the Amazon India marketplace by 2025
Amazon India, during its annual ‘Smbhav’ event to celebrate the association with small businesses, announced a $250 Mn Amazon Smbhav Venture Fund to invest in startups and entrepreneurs focusing on technology innovations in SMB digitisation, agriculture and healthcare.
The fund will focus on encouraging the best ideas to digitise SMBs (small and medium businesses), drive technology-led innovation in agriculture to improve farmer productivity, and enable universal and quality healthcare access for all using technology.
The company also announced its ‘Local Shops on Amazon’ program, under which it pledged to bring 1 Mn offline retailers and neighbourhood stores online on the Amazon India marketplace by 2025. Amazon also launched the ‘Spotlight North East’ initiative to bring 50,000 artisans, weavers and small businesses online from the eight states in the North East region of India by 2025 and to boost exports of key commodities like tea, spices and honey from the region.
“In 2020, we pledged to digitize 10 Mn SMBs, enable $10 Bn in exports, and create 1 Mn jobs by 2025,” said Amit Agarwal, global senior VP and country head at Amazon India.
Amazon’s ‘Smbhav’ event this year has been shadowed with protests by Indian sellers associations, who also organised an online event named ‘Asmbhav’ on April 15. The event saw small sellers and retailers air their grievances against the US-based ecommerce giant.
Various sellers alleged that they have witnessed a fall in business as they are unable to compete with the deep discounts offered by large ecommerce operators. Other sellers, registered on Amazon’s marketplace, complained that the company assigns most orders to a few seller entities in which it indirectly owns a stake, thus doing very little for empowering small businesses.
The launch of the fund comes soon after Amazon India’s acquisition of retail tech startup Perpule. In January 2020, Amazon’s founder and former CEO Jeff Bezos had announced that the ecommerce giant will invest $1 Bn in India to support small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). He noted that the company would also help the retailers to export goods valuing over $10 Bn worldwide by 2025.
Last year, tech giant Google also announced an INR 75,000 Cr or $10 Bn fund for Indian startups called Google For India Digitization Fund. The fund will invest in businesses, social impact projects and towards supporting the Indian government’s digitisation efforts. Google has since then invested in Dailyhunt and Glance, both of which entered the unicorn club after the funding round.


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University of Chester staff and students were given a fascinating insight into the work of one of the UK’s newest and most innovative mobile phone networks, during an open lecture at the University of Chester’s Warrington campus.
Entitled Mobile Marketing – Fad or Future?, Marko Ahtisaari, Head of Brand and Design at Blyk, discussed the business, marketing and public relations elements of Blyk Industries’ operations in the UK and beyond.
Blyk is the first completely advertising-funded Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) in the UK market, with users receiving free SMS messages and voice minutes in return for watching adverts. Its services are limited to their target market – 16 to 24-year-olds – and subscribers are recruited through viral invitation.
Blyk will go Pan-European in 2009, with the potential to reach 40 million young customers.
This year, Blyk has set a brief for Design and Art Direction (D&AD), an educational charity representing the global creative, design and advertising communities, to create an integrated campaign demonstrating the marketing power of the mobile phone, especially when marketing to the 16-24 year old audience.
Through the University’s Advertising programme’s connections with D&AD, Lecturer Kate Sillitoe made contact with Marvin Aristotle from Shift6.net, a branch of Blyk UK, who was keen to offer student support and, through working directly with their target market, help Blyk develop the future of mobile marketing. Blyk are also planning to hold several workshops with the students throughout the year.
Kate Sillitoe, Lecturer in Visual Communication and Digital Design, said: “Working with Blyk presents our students with a very exciting opportunity as it puts them in the enviable position of potentially being able to influence the future of marketing through the currently under-developed medium of the mobile phone.”
Born in Helsinki, Finland, Marko Ahtisaari is Blyk’s Head of Branding and Design. He previously worked as Director of Design Strategy at Nokia, and his father, Martti, is a former UN Diplomat, President of Finland, and this year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner.


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Trilogy International and Mercy Corps Partner to Maximize NGO Resources, Expand Access to Financial Services
The Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) announced this morning that the Commitment to Action by Bellevue, Washington-based Trilogy International Partners and international relief and development agency Mercy Corps has been selected as a ‘Feature Commitment’ for its ability to “catalyze financial access and enable economic empowerment for the rural poor in Haiti through the introduction of mobile money services.” The first of its kind mobile money solution was launched on Tuesday. More on Trilogy and Mercy Corps’ mobile money announcement can be found here.
Jack Dorsey, chief executive officer of Square and co-founder and chairman of Twitter recognized John Stanton, Chairman of Trilogy International Partners and Nancy Lindborg, President of Mercy Corps for their Featured Commitment prior to the Mobile Revolution: Transforming Access, Markets and Development panel at CGI in which Trilogy chairman and wireless pioneer John Stanton was a participant. The panel discussed the explosive growth of mobile phones in developing countries and how new mobile applications can be harnessed to stimulate economic development and lift millions out of poverty. In addition to Stanton, other panel members included Cherie Blair, founder of the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, Judith Rodin, president of the Rockefeller Foundation, Mohammad Kilany, co-founder of Souktel Mobile Phone Job Service, and Molly Melching, executive director of Tostan.
“Technology can play a unique role in the rebuilding of Haiti. Mobile Money is a great example of advanced wireless applications serving as a development tool,” said Trilogy Chairman John Stanton after the Mobile Revolution: Transforming Access, Markets, and Development panel discussion. “It’s very exciting to see that, through our partnership with Mercy Corps, mobile money is a reality for thousands of Haitian households today through our subsidiary, Voilá. We look forward to deploying a full commercial offering of mobile wallet services throughout Haiti.”
Trilogy and Mercy Corps’ joint program announced on Tuesday enables Mercy Corps to offer mobile money solutions for Haiti’s unbanked for the first time ever. After piloting and testing the program for the past eight months, cash-for-work, grant and voucher recipients now have the ability to securely ‘store value’ on their mobile phones, withdraw all or part of their money, transfer funds to family members in need directly from their phones, and use phones to pay for goods directly with affiliated merchants. Over the next nine months, approximately 100,000 Haitians will benefit from Mercy Corps’ cash programs.
"Mercy Corps is thrilled to partner with Trilogy International to bring mobile money to Haiti," said Nancy Lindborg, Mercy Corps president. "We know that the combination of mobile phones and financial services is a powerful one that can help people manage, save and strategically spend their money. For impoverished Haitians struggling to recover from January's earthquake, mobile money can open up a world of future financial opportunities. We are committed to helping them realize that future."
For relief and development organizations, wireless applications offer the opportunity to become more efficient and provide aid workers the ability to help build the foundation for economic growth that truly benefits Haiti’s most impoverished families.


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Alfa Romeo is working on a new plan to revive the brand. And, according to a report published by the Automotive News website, one of the key points in this process is the development of a new platform, which, it seems, will be called "Giorgio".
Leaked images, speculations and official images. After a few hectic days in the 4 Series Gran Coupe became one of the main issues of the automotive environment, BMW finally undid the mysteries and confirmed the official information on the model.
Nissan launched the UK Limited Edition Micra hatchback sold in the Brazilian market as March. The model has an initial price of 12,300 GBP and is based on an intermediate version (there treated as Acenta).


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Borrowing an analogy from the world of gymnastics, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos says he “certainly can’t do a handstand” to take full credit for the retail giant’s successes, as he revealed for the first time overnight the true reach of his company’s Amazon Prime shopping option.
In his annual letter to shareholders, Bezos observed that one thing he “loved about customers” was that they are “divinely discontent”, making it critical that retail businesses understand consumers will never be quite satisfied with any new innovation.
The only solution to this problem is to keep “high standards” across everything you do, he said.
This approach has led to success in the retailer’s Amazon Prime membership program, which Bezos says has now passed the 100 million customer milestone worldwide.
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It’s the first time Amazon has delivered these kinds of metrics on the Prime program, with Bezos outlining that, “in 2017, Amazon shipped more than five billion items with Prime worldwide”.
Prime is yet to be rolled out in Australia, but Bezos also highlighted the speedy global expansion of the program over the past year.
“We expanded Prime to Mexico, Singapore, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg, and introduced Business Prime Shipping in the US and Germany,” Bezos wrote.
Meanwhile, Amazon is also looking to make its delivery even faster, with 8000 cities and towns worldwide now getting access to free same-day shipping, he said.
Using the example of learning to do a perfect free-standing handstand, Bezos argued that almost all skills take a long time to master, including growing a retail business.
If you have an unrealistic timeline, you could end up quitting too early, he said.
“While I certainly can’t do a handstand myself, I’m extremely proud to share some of the milestones we hit last year,” Bezos said.
What’s next for Amazon? Apparently there’s still plenty of work to do.
“We continue to aspire to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, and we recognise this to be no small or easy challenge.”


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SEREMBAN: Restaurant owners here want to do “business as usual” or they will be hurt financially.
GEORGE TOWN: It’s business as usual at Penang coffeeshops and hawker centres, but food and drinks are only available for takeaway.The decision is in line with the government’s declaration of the movement control order that takes effect from today.
GEORGE TOWN: Markets here were crowded with people buying as many essentials as possible due to the movement control order.
WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Trump administration pressed on Tuesday for enactment of a $1 trillion stimulus package, possibly to include $1,000 direct payments to individual Americans, to blunt the economic pain from a coronavirus outbreak that has killed over 100 people in the country.
KLANG: Restaurant owners in Klang are finding various ways to continue making daily sales despite having to deal with the movement control order until March 31.
Contactless delivery allows riders to place food delivery orders at designated spots, such as in front of customers' homes or office premise.
PUTRAJAYA: Eateries, food stalls and restaurants can stay open but only to cater for takeaways and deliveries, says Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Alexander Nanta Linggi.
GEORGE TOWN: Closing is not an option for Jimmy Ooi Cheng Siew, 48, a hawker who specialises in western breakfast meals.
WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - The White House, under pressure to escalate national action to combat the coronavirus, urged Americans on Wednesday to avoid gatherings of more than 10 people and called for closing bars, restaurants and other venues in states where local virus transmission exists.
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN (Borneo Bulletin/ANN): As the nation sees a spike in Covid-19 outbreak, many premises are implementing body temperature checks as a precautionary measure to protect visitors and the public in general.


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Select Disney Guests can enter the parks extra early entry into the theme parks soon! See if you are eligible here. Disney+ Day In 2021, the first Disney+ Day took place on November 12. To celebrate, Disney released several new titles. Not only that, but subscribers received fun perks in the Disney Parks, at home, and on shopDisney! Check […]
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Masternaut launches grey fleet telematics unit
11 August 2017
Author: Daniel Puddicombe
Telematics company Masternaut has launched a new device aimed at companies running short-term hire vehicles as well as those with grey fleet drivers.
Called the M300, the unit can be installed within minutes and allows fleet managers to add short-term hire vehicles and others not currently being tracked to their existing fleet management dashboard.
The unit is mounted to a vehicle's windscreen and powered by a built-in battery. Masternaut says this allows the box to be removed with ease and reinstalled in any vehicle, avoiding downtime and the cost of sending out an engineer.
Data captured from the M300 unit will appear in Masternaut Connect, the firm's fleet management application, alongside the rest of the fleet using permanently-installed telematics units.
Despite making up 20% of the UK's fleet parc, short-term rental vehicles are not normally fitted with telematics due to the high cost of installation and logistical challenges, Masternaut claimed.
According to the firm, which analysed data from 10,000 vehicles in its customer-base, fleets save an average of £660 per vehicle per year by using telematics.
A spokesman for the firm would not disclose the price of the unit when asked by BusinessCar.
"In a few years, it won't matter which telematics device or connected car reports vehicle data ? all data needs to be analysed on one platform," said Dhruv Parekh, Masternaut's CEO. "We've built a secure platform that takes inputs from different hardware and provides actionable insights to our customers through one application."
Parekh added: "The M300 is consistent with our strategy to remove installation hurdles and make collecting vehicle data from various sources on our platform easy, so we can provide better insights to our customers. The M300 will help our customers expand their view to their entire fleet and optimise business impact through telematics."


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Manchester branding agency Glorious Creative has been commissioned to deliver three new projects for companies across the north.
The first is for the ground-breaking, tech start-up social payments app Collctiv, which enables groups to facilitate payments and socialise in a safe and secure environment. Glorious was tasked with creating the brand identity and name for the app, which is due to launch at the end of August.
Commenting on partnering with Glorious, Amy Whitell, CEO and co-founder of Manchester-based Collctiv said: “We’d reached a point in our development where we knew we really needed to think more deeply about our brand, both to meet the demand from investors and our potential users. We’d been looking to collaborate with a brand partner that had the right creative competencies to enhance our core skills in tech.
“The team has been instrumental so far in helping us to articulate exactly the gap that the product fills and in identifying the core benefits of the app both functionally and societally, using consumer trends to underpin this thinking.”
The second new client is online fast-fashion brand Swanky Swans, based in Rochdale. The online handbag and accessories business, which was initially built on Amazon Marketplace, is now looking to grow its global customer base and expand the reach of its own ecommerce site, as well as launching a new venture, an affordable luxury fashion brand.
Abdul Akhtar, director of Swanky Swans said: “The team at Glorious understood what we were trying to achieve with the Swanky Swans brand from day one. It’s really helped to have one main point of contact throughout the process and we definitely feel we’ve made the right choice in selecting Glorious to name, brand and promote our new venture.”
In a third commission Glorious has also been appointed by Bayfields Opticians and Audiologists, an established nationwide business headquartered near Bradford. Glorious will be working alongside Bayfields to create a national campaign which will run in its 18 practices nationwide, as well as on various social channels and is also looking at campaigns into 2020.
Commenting on the new clients Glorious’ managing director Mark Ross said: “We’ve a busy summer ahead with some very interesting new clients having joined us recently. These three companies are all from very different sectors but they share a common goal in understanding the importance of defining the essence of their brand in order to deliver effective marketing.”
The 8-strong agency, which is based in Manchester’s northern quarter was established in 2002 by Mark Ross and Tom Shaughnessy. It has built a reputation for delivering award-winning creative services to established companies and start-ups in retail, property, food and beverage, healthcare, arts and technology sectors.


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The lengths companies go through to build a brand name are truly unfathomable. Some, like Graviky Labs, turned pollution into usable ink for artists. Others, like UberPOOL, utilized drones in Mexico City to entertain commuters stuck in traffic. Some, like Belgian TV channel TNT, orchestrated an entire action scene stunt in the middle of a street to the shock of pedestrians.
Achieving brand recognition is a difficult task. In an ever-changing, quickly advancing business and marketing landscape, brands need to stay on their feet so that they’re not drowned out by the hundreds of doppelgangers in the market.
So why then are we seeing global brands ditching all the money and hard work put into making their brands the giants they are today? Just this week, Dunkin’ Donuts’ announced that it was dropping the ‘Donuts’ from its name by January of next year. When companies like PayPal, Google and Amazon opted to switch to their current names, they were still very young businesses at the start of their life cycle. So, for a company like Dunkin’ Donuts that had been building its name since 1950 to opt for a rebrand now might sound suicidal, but there’s more to it than at first apparent.
In July, the company saw a CEO change, with the position now held by Dave Hoffman. With Hoffman’s entry, the company began taking more active steps at rebranding, even though they had begun the process a few years ago.
It could be that the brand has reached peak maturity, and in an effort to innovate and capture new audiences they have considered rebranding.
The reality of the situation might not be too far from this, actually.
“This isn’t a change for the sake of change,” Dunkin’ Brands CEO David Hoffmann said in a call with reporters on Tuesday, Business Insider reported.
“For two years, we have been focused on evolving Dunkin’ into the premier, beverage-led, on-the go-brand and have been implementing what we call our blueprint for growth.”
It seems that while Dunkin’ Donuts was far from unsuccessful, its audience demand had begun shifting naturally towards beverages.
“Dunkin’ Donuts hasn’t been quiet about its aspirations to build up its drinks business, which currently makes up roughly 60% of the company’s sales,” Business Insider explains. “Doughnuts don’t currently have the best reputation as Americans move away from sugar, and they also have lower profit margins than many beverages.”
Yet, there’s more to the name change than just a focus on coffee and drinks.
Brand diversification and simplicity
Just like Starbucks dropped the “Starbucks” and “Coffee” from its logo, Dunkin’ Donuts seems to be doing the same. In 2011, the American coffeehouse chain simplified its logo to depict the green two-tailed mermaid without any words.
Then-Starbucks-CEO Howard Schultz said, “It’s possible we’ll have other products with our name on it and no coffee in it,” BBC had reported at the time.
This mentality seems to be pervading more than just coffeehouse chains donut shops. This week, Weight Watchers slashed some weight themselves, dropping their name to a mere ‘WW.’ “Wellness that Works” is their new slogan, averting attention from era-sensitive words such as weight and diets. In their new vision statement, the Washington Post noted that “variations of the word ‘health’ appear multiple times,” but there were no signs of the words “diet” or “weight.”
‘Wellness’ according to marketing sweet talk by WW is a “state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being,” In corporate talk, it means that they will be able to sell and market a wider range of products than they previously could under their previous brand.
As major brands such as Dunkin’ Donuts attempt to play a larger role in our lives, they can’t be tied down by a single product or market. This attempt at simplification and obscure branding addresses just that.
What’s the coffee chain market like in the region?
Coffee is a major product in the MENA region. Forbes reports that the UAE has been the fastest evolving coffee market in the GCC.
“Starbucks, Costa Coffee, Tim Hortons, Caribou Coffee, Caffe Nero and other major coffee chains have a presence in . These players have played a significant role in bringing the modern café culture in the UAE,” they continued.
According to a study by Ken Research titled “UAE Coffee Chain Market by Regions (Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and rest of UAE), by Organized and Unorganized, by Food and Beverages – Outlook to 2021”, the market has registered an increase from $359.3 million in 2011 to $549.3 million in 2016 at a CAGR of 8.9% over the specified time period.
According to this data, there are around 1,151 coffee outlets in the country. Starbucks alone operates nearly 600 stores in 12 MENA countries, and employs more than 10,000 employees, according to data on their site.
According to a 2017 Food & Beverages Sector Report by Ardent Advisory, cafes and bakeries represented 34.6% of total F&B outlets in the GCC in 2015, putting them at around 18,288 total.
This major market will prove very lucrative for Dunkin’ Donuts when it does make the full transition to a coffeehouse chain.


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Money Trade Coin a new age cryptocurrency has recently acquired a 100% stake in Summit Wealth Management AG - A leading Swiss financial advisory firm. The acquisition will follow a recent uptick in the cryptocurrency market across the world. Based in Zug Switzerland, Summit Wealth Management AG offers a comprehensive set of personalized financial services in an assortment of wealth management areas, such as estate, tax, insurance and retirement planning through its team of experts, industry familiarity and innovative processes. —
Association Romande Des Intermediaries Financiers (ARIF) is a non- profit organization working to intercept activities on money laundering and terrorist financing.
Now that Summit Wealth Management AG is an affiliated member of ARIF, it can avail prominence into professional activities and promise conformity with understanding under MLA and ARIF’s decree of self-regulation rules.
Money Trade Coin will now be the world’s first cryptocurrency to implement the SWIFT code and messaging system the launch of which is expected in March 2018. The SWIFT code system is a system of codes that allow financial institutions to securely transmit information and instructions. SWIFT codes will enable more secure, robust and efficient transactions around the world, further facilitating global transactions. An additional advantage is that it is suited for scalability and such a feature is useful for the rapidly scaling nature of cryptocurrencies.
The company’s new online trading platform will allow users to trade and exchange all cryptocurrencies, with the hope of facilitating digital currency exchange. Their platform will also extend to offering an academy that teaches various aspects of an emerging financial revolution. The platforms wallet is a fully secured wallet with multi-step verifications that ensure all standards of compliance are met.
Mr. Amit Lakhanpal, Founder and Director of Money Trade Coin and the man behind the cryptocurrency, in a recent event at Mumbai, revealed a comprehensive array of products, which include a trading platform, academy and online portal for all matters related to cryptocurrency. Speaking about traditional investment, Mr. Amit Lakhanpal says “Gold is for luxury, cryptocurrency for trade and prosperity.” He believes that by raising awareness of the advantages of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Money Trade Coin, and Litecoin, and by providing a strong trading platform, digital currency can flourish.
The event was graced by H.E. Shaikh Dr. Khalid Mohammed Al Khalifa - a member of the Royal Family of Bahrain, founder, executive chairman, and professor of University College of Bahrain and Mrs. Salma Al Kitbi – A very close associate of The Royal Family of Abu Dhabi and a renowned businesswoman in UAE. Numerous other industry experts were also present at the event.
Release ID: 257121


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Judge orders owner to return keys
Marriott will regain control of the Waikiki Edition today after the hotel’s owners took over management of the property in an overnight raid last Sunday. According to a release issued by Marriott, a New York state judge ordered owner M Waikiki LLC to return the hotel to Marriott’s control by 8:30 p.m. eastern time today, or 2:30 p.m. Honolulu time.
M Waikiki LLC took action despite of a contract that allows Marriott to run the hotel as an Edition for 30 years. The company also claimed in a lawsuit filed in May in New York Supreme Court that Marriott had failed to make the Edition hotel brand a success, resulting in the Waikiki location underperforming relative to its market.
“The past few days have been trying, frustrating and confusing for our guests and employees. We are in the process of resuming operations, quickly returning the hotel and its service to Edition standards,” says Marriott’s chief operating officer Arne Sorenson.
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ASTANA – The second season of the Global Nomads Awards project has been launched on Feb.13, providing young Central Asian creators the chance to craft collaboration collections, encouraging distinctive projects, and promoting cultural heritage globally. Inna Apenko, director and founder of Global Nomads and MIMIORIKI companies, announced this initiative during a press briefing at Kazmedia Center in Astana.
The project aims to identify and support young and promising creators from Central Asia while establishing an educational and informational network to foster growth in creative industries and promote international collaboration in culture, education, science, and sports.
“In our country, we need to sell not just our hands, but our intellect and creativity,” said Apenko. “We perceive significant potential for developing Kazakh brands, firmly believing that those brands and projects infused with their country’s values can achieve global recognition.”
Apenko emphasized that the project’s mission is not solely to create stylish clothes reflecting the identity of nomads but also to promote Kazakhstan and attract global attention to the country.
The project has garnered significant interest from participants worldwide and international universities and creative hubs eager to partner with the awards.
Polimoda Fashion Institute in Italy is among the partners, with a vision that unique interdisciplinary training equips the next generation of fashion professionals for success in today’s job market.
“The mission of the Global Nomads Awards competition closely aligns with Polimoda’s commitment to nurturing a new generation of emerging creators. We are proud to participate as an educational partner, contributing to the growth of young fashion designers in Kazakhstan and the broader Central Asia Region,” said Massimiliano Giornetti, director of Polimoda.
Irina Kharitonova, director of the Creative Innovation Institute of the Central Asia Sustainable Development Fund, highlighted that the project offers to unite efforts and jointly promote the Olympic movement, emphasizing outstanding athletes, the World Nomad Games, and the importance of conserving natural diversity.
“We want to present our rich cultural and spiritual heritage, the cultural code of Central Asian countries, and what unites us all. Our project will also focus on sustainability and inclusion,” she said.
Kharitonova outlined the project’s nominations, including Form of Future Olympic Champions, Nomade Couture, Inspired by Nature, and Digital Nomad.
“The first category involves creating children’s sportswear in the style of Olympic equipment, as Olympic champions inspire everyone to strive for excellence. The second category will explore the vision of Kazakh designers for the future ceremonial attire of Kazakhstan in the 2026 Olympic Games,” she said. “Another crucial nomination focuses on nature-adapted designs, in collaboration with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Lastly, Digital Nomad, in partnership with the Astana Hub, highlights the digital aspect of our project”.
Kharitonova expressed her belief that the project would contribute to discovering new creators and boost their self-confidence.
The first season, held in 2022, engaged 312 designers from five countries, with over 1,600 creative works submitted. The competition included 26 educational training seminars conducted by industry specialists.
Further details about the second season will be disclosed on the awards’ website in March.


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To paraphrase industry veteran Rishad Tobaccowala, agencies are like cockroaches — they never die. Nick Brien, CEO of the Dentsu Aegis Network, certainly thinks so: The former Interpublic group executive is bullish on the agency business. But it does have its challenges. Brien talks about holding the agencies to a higher standard on accountability, the impending consultancy competition and procurement.
Advertising’s role was customer acquisition and building awareness. It had no interest in churn, customer retention, customer loyalty and turning it into advocacy. We’ve come so far from that. What’s been hard for agencies is the complexities in all those areas. Data centricity and being able to pull that together and create analytics and insights out of that has gotten harder to do. CMOs are no longer experts in search, linking user experience to commerce and others. They have to be smart and generalist enough whilst having a holistic view of the business. So the agency world is fragmented into many specialist elements. Our industry isn’t really serving those together. A lot of it is also about the lack of accountability for our sector as a professional services industry to be able to demonstrate the advocacy and be paid accordingly. Now we’re in a battle for talent for people who can contribute on a specialist level and tie it together at a generalist level.
It’s going to get harder to acquire customers. It’s a huge opportunity for agencies that are not just selling services but the ones that design and create solutions. A lot of people talk about digital disruption and transformation but the biggest competitive advantage brands will have today is integration. The more integrated the advertising experience is for consumers, the more cost and time effective it will be.
The agency world needs to lean more into the world of performance, whether the value of creativity, impact of strategy and flawlessness of execution means we’re demonstrating real business results. There’s no reason why the economics of our model and our compensation deals cannot be structured to those kind of outputs. Negotiate with procurement, that tend to be pragmatic. Marketers are looking to drive innovation and growth. If it’s just a cost play and beating the crap out of agencies to get the lowest possible price, you know what the service outcome is going to be. Performance based compensation deals with become much more prevalent in the future.
The agency sector has not done its best when it comes to professional standards around accountability, transparency, simplicity and cost efficiency. The dynamic is changing, not withstanding, the fact that it gives us the responsibility and opportunity to define a value proposition and be paid accordingly.
The world of management consultants has not attracted the most creative and innovative people. They are trying and making acquisitions. What they are doing is bringing a level of rigor around technology, platforms and data centricity to bring marketing closer to business enterprises. We should be doing that too. But their lens of creativity is very different. The power of an idea to break through in an attention-starved world, where so many readers are moving behind paywalls, is a big issue in our industry. It’s an existential threat. The rich kids can afford ad free but others can’t. Management consultants are not the biggest disrupters, platforms are.
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The City of San Francisco is suing Monster Beverage for marketing their caffeinated drinks to kids as young as six. The Food and Drug Administration is currently investigating what stimulants can to young children. Though the Monster labels do warn against children consuming the drinks, marketers have been pushing the drinks on children. High caffeine levels in children can result in high blood pressure, brain seizures and severe cardiac arrest. The lawsuit and investigation are ongoing at the moment.
Source: Los Angeles Times