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One of Europe’s largest postal service, Posten Norge, is testing the future of the logistics delivery with Ottobots in Oslo
OSLO, Norway and BROOKLYN, N.Y., Nov. 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Continuing to pave the way for autonomous delivery, Ottonomy announced its collaboration with Posten Norge AS and Holo for trials for automating first-mile delivery.
This partnership with one of Europe’s largest logistics companies is oriented towards testing how autonomous robots can improve intra logistics, especially in city centers. Posten Norge will be leveraging Ottobots for first-mile pick-ups, receiving and delivering goods for the digital marketplace AMOI from the busy Aker Brygge metropolitan area in Oslo.
“Autonomous robots have previously been tested by other companies with the focus entirely on final delivery to the customer. We want to evaluate how robots can become part of Posten’s future logistics solutions. This project, which utilizes both humans and robots, offers many new opportunities for increasing efficiency and productivity for our organization,” says Sven Richard Tønnessen from Posten’s Department of Emerging Technology. “We will continue to utilize our existing pool of human couriers for delivering goods to the customers – while the robot takes care of the intra-logistics part of the supply chain.”
The first mile has been a pain point for organizations in metropolitan areas. First mile delivery involves moving products from the manufacturer or retailer’s warehouse to a central holding center. From this location, a carrier, shipping company, or logistics partners pick up the products and take it to the next leg in the destination.
“The logistics with delivery vans at Aker Brygge is extremely demanding in terms of parking and time consuming,” says Kenneth Tjønndal Pettersen from Posten Norge AS. “Together with our partners, we want to test the various applications for autonomous technology, which can enable simpler logistics and reduced noise in the cityscape.”
A recipient of the 2021 Sustainability Product of the Year award by Business Intelligent Awards, Ottobot will be used to determine how Posten Norge AS can increase sustainability and efficiency for the logistics supply chain in the future.
To learn more about the Ottonomy.IO, Posten Norge AS, and Holo partnership, visit our project page here: https://www.postennorge.no/en/ottobot
Founded in Santa Monica, California, the team at Ottonomy has introduced a best-in-class indoor/outdoor and friendly service robot. We firmly believe in building a workplace that inspires. You’ll discover a creative, collaborative atmosphere at Ottonomy, where brilliant ideas flourish and everyone is motivated by the same goals. For more company information visit www.Ottonomy.io.
The Posten Group is a post and logistics group that develops and provides post, communications and logistics services in Norway and the Nordic region. The services are marketed through the brands Posten (the private market in Norway) and Bring (the corporate market in the Nordic countries).
Holo is the leading implementer, integrator and operator of autonomous vehicles in the Nordics. Holo has been operating autonomous vehicles on the streets and in the skies across the Nordics since 2018. Holo works to cover all activities needed to implement and deploy autonomous vehicles on the ground and in the air. For more company information visit https://www.letsholo.com/.


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Brainstorming the future of Industry
Real personalised beauty: ‘Technology is the only way to be able to help customers at scale’
Technology is required to provide beauty consumers true personalised offerings at scale, and brands and retailers need to be smart about tailoring the shopper experience because consumer demands are certainly there, says Nidhima Kohli, founder of Beauty Matching Engine.
High-res imaging for diverse skin tones can propel NPD and build efficacy claims: Avon
High-resolution 2D facial imaging is a powerful tool when integrated into clinical trials or product development projects, particularly when working to cater to diverse skin types and tones, says Lisa DiNatale, senior manager for clinical efficacy and claims at Avon.
Mobile momentum? Beauty apps that ‘fail to create value’ will fail to succeed
Beauty apps have fast become the go-to tool for mass consumers looking to better understand products and routines, but industry has made some obvious design mistakes and needs to re-shift thinking to grow long-term engagement, says Maria Semykoz, co-founder and CEO What’s In My Jar.
The future of beauty design? Think 3D printing, lab-grown ingredients, and real-time devices
Beauty 4.0 will see smart, sustainable and ultra-personalised devices and formulations come to the fore, as industry shifts thinking and priorities towards improved user experience and planetary good, says Mike Webster, director of 3D structure and experience at 1HQ.
Retail expert: COVID-19 has ‘turbo-charged’ the digital beauty experience
The future of beauty retail will see a unified commerce approach connecting online and offline that relies on data to provide highly tailored shopper journeys, experiences and products, says Simon Hathaway, EMEA MD of retail strategy agency Outform.
Reflecting on beauty in 2020: CTPA chief talks COVID-19, Brexit and The European Green Deal
The beauty industry has faced a challenging year, shaped by the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, regulatory changes under Brexit and incoming sustainability legislation at EU level. But industry has learned so much and remains innovative and driven in its approach to gain ground and grow in 2021, says CTPA chief Dr Emma Meredith.

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Dev TinyBuild Launches £340M IPO
TinyBuild, an indie label behind games like Hello Neighbor, Graveyard Keeper, and Pathologic 2, has listed its shares on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange at a market capitalization of £340.6 million.
The IPO, led by Zeus Capital, was focused on creating “long-lasting IP” as the key to its growth. “We were delighted by the level of investor appetite we have experienced during the IPO process and we welcome our new shareholders to TinyBuild,” the company said. “We believe that our AIM listing provides the ideal platform for our growth, whilst helping to increase TinyBuild’s profile even further.”
TinyBuild, founded in 2011, owns over 40 titles, with 23 games scheduled to launch between 2021 and 2022. Hello Neighbor, a stealth horror game about creeping into your neighbor’s house to find out what secrets he’s hiding in the basement, was released on Steam on August 26, 2013 into Steam Early Access, and as a full game on 19 April 2016.
It was later released on Xbox One in June 2017 as a Games with Gold title. A Nintendo Switch version was released on 23 January 2020. It was recognized as an eSport by the Electronic Sports League in July 2015. However, the SpeedRunners section ended on August 28, 2016 when the final community cup was held.
SpeedRunners won the Gamer’s Voice Award at the 2015 SXSW Gaming Awards, the 2014 Best Multiplayer Game Award at Indie DB, and was nominated for Best PC/Console Game at the 2012 Dutch Game Awards.
The game was criticized by Brett Posner-Ferdman, who reviewed the game on Nintendo Switch for Nintendo World report, saying the game lacked story mode, had little content outside multiplayer and locked content behind DLC.
NEXT: TinyBuild’s Next Game Is A Tech-Business Management Sim (And It’s Available Right Now)
- Game News
Mark Lugris is a Contributing Writer at TheGamer. After graduating from the University of Connecticut, he’s worked as a lifestyle and technology writer and editor for the past twenty years in Boston, Madrid and Zurich. Now, he’s chosen the less stressful life of freelance writing at home with his dog, where he can focus on his pop culture passions like film, television, games and sports.
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Editor’s note: There is a lot going on in the world of IT, from emerging technologies to digital transformation and new cybersecurity threats. However, we can’t possibly cover it all, so we’ll bring you This Week in IT, a curated summary of IT and enterprise technology news stories each week.
AWS re:Invent Announcements
Amazon Web Services held its annual re:Invent conference this week in Las Vegas, and the cloud services provider made dozens of announcements of new products and services in data, security, AI, machine learning, cloud services and more.
These new offerings include, among others:
- Eight new Amazon SageMaker capabilities for better governance and visibility into machine-learning model performance.
- Five new database and analytics capabilities designed for faster and easier management and analysis of data at petabyte scale.
- AWS Supply Chain, a new cloud application designed to improve supply chain visibility and help mitigate risks, lower costs and improve customer experiences.
- AWS Clean Rooms, a new analytics service designed to help organizations easily and security analyze and collaborate on combined datasets without revealing underlying data.
- Three new EC2 instances powered by new AWS chips for better performance at lower costs.
- Amazon Security Lake, a new service that automatically centralizes an organization’s security data from cloud and om-premises sources into a purpose-built data lake.
- AWS SimSpace Weaver, a fully managed computer service designed to help customers build, operate and run large-scale spatial simulations.
- Amazon DataZone, a new data management service designed to make it easier to catalog, discover, share and govern data stroes across AWS< on-premises and third-party sources.
- Amazon Aurora zero-ETL integration with Amazon Redshift and Ramazon Redshift integration with Apache Spark.
- Five new Amazon QuickSight capabilities to help organizations streamline business intelligence operations.
Learn more about AWS’ announcements from re:Invent 2022.
CISA warns of Cuba ransomware
Nearly a year after first issuing an advisory, the U.S. Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency has issued a joint advisory with the FBI to educate organizations about the Cuba ransomware group and their known tactics.
The ransomware group, which CISA says does not appear to be affiliated with the country of the same name, first surfaced in December 2021. The number of U.S. organizations compromised by the group has doubled and the group has demanded over $145 million in ransom and has received over $60 million. Like other ransomware actors, they leverage bugs in commercial software, phishing attacks, compromised credentials and legitimate remote desktop protocol tools.
Read the advisory for more information.
LastPass notifies customers of new security incident
Password management company LastPass has notified all customers of a security incident within a third-party cloud storage service shared with affiliate GoTo. The malicious actor used information obtained from an August 2022 incident to gain access to some customer information, but the company maintains that password remain “safely encrypted due to LastPass’s Zero Knowledge architecture. .”
In the notice, CEO Karin Toubba did not say what information has been accessed, but LastPass said it has engaged cybersecurity firm Mandiant to determine the scope of the incident and is deploying enhanced security and monitoring capabilities across its infrastructure to help detect and prevent further activity.
Read the notice for more information.
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Silicon Valley Hair Institute Announces Post on Hair Grafts in the Bay Area and Hair Specialists
Silicon Valley Hair Institute supports Bay Area residents who suffer from hair loss, both male and female. The company is announcing a new post on hair restoration options and evaluating hair graft costs in the Bay Area.
PALO ALTO, Calif., May 29, 2020 (Newswire.com) - Silicon Valley Hair Institute (SVHI), a team of highly trained professionals for hair restoration in the Bay Area at https://siliconvalleyhairinstitute.com/, is proud to announce a new post on hair restoration and options, including so-called hair grafts. The reality is that many consumers get confused because there are so many terms and options, including "hair grafts" and misleading cost comparisons. The post explains the need to consult a hair loss specialist and get a 360-degree view of one's hair restoration needs.
"Unfortunately, both men and women who suffer from hair loss can fixate on micro-issues, such as the alleged cost of hair grafts or whether they should use a hair transplant or other technique," explained Dr. Miguel Canales, hair loss surgeon for SVHI. "The best course of action is to reach out to a medical doctor and get a 360-degree evaluation of one's hair restoration options, plus an explanation of terms such as FUE (Follicular Unit Extraction), ARTAS, hair grafts, and even PRP for hair loss."
The post can be read at https://siliconvalleyhairinstitute.com/you-have-only-one-head-and-only-your-hair-a-hair-transplant-specialist-might-help/. The post explains many common questions and recommends that a person consult a physician. Those who want to dig deeper can also consult the PRP for hair loss microsite at https://svhi-prp.com/, and those who have skincare issues can consult the aesthetic dermatology site at https://svaestheticderm.com/.
ABOUT SILICON VALLEY HAIR INSTITUTE
The Silicon Valley Hair Institute (http://siliconvalleyhairinstitute.com/), under the leadership of top-rated California hair transplant surgeon Miguel Canales MD, is one of the best facilities offering San Francisco Bay Area hair restoration. It is a professional team of San Francisco hair specialists led by Dr. Canales. Dr. Canales provides the full range of advanced hair transplant and hair restoration procedures for Bay Area residents, from San Francisco to Palo Alto to San Jose. Treatments include robotic hair transplants, FUE/FUT surgery, and micro-pigmentation. If one needs a hair transplant specialist, look no further than this Bay Area hair transplant center. The clinic provides both San Jose FUE transplant and San Francisco FUE transplant services. Dr. Canales also performs female hair transplants for women and eyebrow restoration, thus, offering the best hair transplant and robotic hair replacement options. Call 650-551-1100 today for a no-cost consultation.
Source: Silicon Valley Hair Institute
Categories: Cosmetic and Reconstructive Surgery


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It’s often said that “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”. While that may be true, it’s still important to give credit to whomever you imitated. Otherwise, it’s just known as plain cheating.
Singapore-born Michelin-Star Chef Elizabeth Haigh is in hot water for allegedly stealing recipes from various sources. Not only did she freely lift years of hard work, she also apparently had the gall to publish them in her new cookbook “Makan”.
You may know Elizabeth Haigh from Uncle Roger’s YouTube videos as “Auntie Liz”. She once competed on “MasterChef” in 2011. Although she didn’t win, she continued her career in cooking and now runs Mei Mei, a kopitiam (coffeeshop) in London’s Borough Market. In May 2021, Elizabeth published her recipe book “Makan” which boasted “recipes from the heart of Singapore”.
Sharon Wee was the first to notice something was up when she was reading “Makan”. Sharon, a New York-based Singaporean chef, had also published her own cookbook in 2012, “Growing Up in a Nyonya Kitchen”. Her book contained recipes that belonged to her mother, personal anecdotes and interviews with her older relatives. However, as she read “Makan”, she realised the stories and recipes were actually hers.
The New-York based chef quickly wrote to Bloomsbury, “Makan’s” publisher to explain her concerns. According to Sharon, “certain recipes and other content from (her) book had been copied and paraphrased without (her) consent”. Singaporean poet Daryl Lim painstakingly combed through the books and put together examples he’d found. It was hard to deny her claims in the face of such proof. Thankfully, Bloomsbury responded to Sharon’s concerns and has since withdrawn “Makan” from circulation.
Sharon wasn’t the only one who’s work got plagiarised, however. Malaysian food blogger Low Bee Yinn also claimed she had recipes copied by the “Makan” author. The “Rasa Malaysia” blogger was only made aware of the matter when she received a curious comment on her ngo hiang (Penang lobak) recipe. “This is the exact same recipe from Elizabeth Haigh’s “Makan” cookbook,” the comment from Alice Lin read. “Even the steps are the same. Credits?”
Needless to say, Low was confused. After all, the recipe had been posted in 2010 after a Singaporean food blogger Danielle contributed to it. “Rasa Malaysia” had credited it to her and included the fact it belonged to Danielle’s mother. However, Elizabeth’s book had only been published this year. Low responded with a simple explanation of where the recipe had originated from but had mostly ignored the comment.
It wasn’t until Sharon Wee contacted Low that she realised what had happened. Two others made similar claims to Low’s story. One was from another Singaporean cookbook author, Christopher Tan. He stated that three recipes from his father’s “Terry Tan’s Straits Chinese Cookbook” (1981) appeared in Elizabeth’s “Makan”. Spice company Anthony The Spice Maker also alleged Elizabeth had taken recipes from two of their spice blends.
Although the book is only available on Amazon now, Bloomsbury has openly stated that it was withdrawn due to “rights’ issues”. Elizabeth herself has yet to issue a statement regarding the serious allegations. However, it should be noted she has deactivated Mei Mei (her restaurant)’s Instagram and made her Twitter private.
Many Singaporeans have expressed their disappointment and disgust. Like many others, we hope the Michelin-chef will address the allegations and clear the air soon.


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There are signs of consumer hesitation among the Chinese - a trend which is evident in Japan. There, the Lunar New Year holiday attracted the usual invasion of Chinese tourists - but they weren't splashing out as much as last year.
Gross domestic product of the world's third-largest economy has grown in yet another quarter, making it the longest period of economic expansion in more than 16 years. But private consumption is losing steam.
A shrinking population and tighter household budgets mean that operators of short-stay hotels for amorous couples need to provide new experiences and seek out a new generation of clients. Julian Ryall reports.
Consultancy firm PwC has published its latest Global Innovation 1000 survey showing that corporate spending on Research & Development has never been higher, but also warning of the effects of economic nationalism.
Donald Trump has called on Russia and China to help crack down on North Korea. At the same time, he has reassured South Korea that everything will work out fine with North Korea "because it always works out."
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Düsseldorf, 23. May 2016 - North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) continues to impress with new record figures as the leading location for foreign investors in Germany. In 2015, there were 434 new settlements and expansion investments by international companies in the state – an increase of approximately 32 percent compared to the previous year. These are the figures issued by the state-owned economic development agency NRW.INVEST. Investments made by foreign companies in NRW in 2015 will create a total of around 8,000 potential jobs.
"North Rhine-Westphalia has now held its leading position in foreign investment in Germany for many years. This is proof of our location quality and our service in the target markets," says Petra Wassner, CEO of NRW.INVEST.
The increase in investments from Greater China, the USA, Western Europe and Turkey play a key role in this development. By far the largest number of investment projects came from Greater China with 91 projects. In second place was the USA with 47 and in third place the Netherlands with 43, followed by Turkey with 40 investment projects. The Düsseldorf region was especially popular with international companies last year, followed by the Lower Rhine, the Cologne/Bonn region and the Ruhr Metropolis. On the Lower Rhine and in the Aachen region, settlement figures doubled in 2015 compared to the previous year.
North Rhine-Westphalia is still considered a desirable location for investments in logistics projects as well as new and expansion investments of manufacturing companies such as Havi Logistics, 3M or Norsk Hydro. But also in the field of digitization, NRW is steadily closing in on its European competitors. Settlements such as the European headquarters and logistics center of the British online retailer AO in Bergheim show that digital companies also see the potential of North Rhine-Westphalia.
NRW is Germany's No. 1 investment location. More than 18,000 foreign companies control their German or European operations from here. International companies employ a total of over 850,000 people in NRW.


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‘KYC compliance needed only for reloading e-wallets’
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said that customers can use their electronic wallets, which are not compliant with know your customer (KYC) guidelines, for payments to merchants after February 28, even as it clarified that reloading the wallet with more funds would need a fully KYC-compliant account.
In October, RBI had directed all prepaid payments instrument (PPIs) issuers, including mobile-wallet operators, to make all accounts fully KYC-compliant by December 31, 2017. The deadline was later extended to February 28. “Sufficient time has already been given to meet the prescribed guidelines,” RBI deputy governor B.P. Kanungo said while addressing the media.
“In the event of PPI issuers not obtaining KYC related inputs from customers within the timeline, customers will not lose their money. They can continue to undertake transactions for purchase of goods and services as hitherto to the extent of available balance in the PPI,” he said. Mr. Kanungo further said reloading of the PPI and remittances can resume after completing the KYC requirement.
Licences to 55 wallets
RBI has issued licences to 55 non-bank mobile wallets while another 50 banks have their own wallets.
According to RBI, requirement of full KYC for PPIs is a step towards interoperability. “The (PPI) guidelines are designed to strengthen safety and security of transactions and customer protection… a necessary step to pave the way for interoperability between PPIs, bank accounts and cards in a phased manner,” he said.
The regulator is expected to issue guidelines on interoperability shortly. In the first phase, wallets will be made interoperable; in the second, wallets and bank accounts would be interoperable; in the final stage, wallets and cards will become interoperable. “In the first phase, PPI issuers shall make all KYC-compliant PPIs issued in the form of wallets interoperable amongst themselves through Unified Payments Interface (UPI) within six months from the date of issue of this direction,” RBI said in its circular on Oct 11, 2017.
Since many wallet accounts are not fully KYC complaint, banks often do not allow users to transfer funds from their accounts to wallets.
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Amazon revels in its reputation for taking bold, unexpected action, for being visionary in industries such as cloud computing and online retail sales. Its venerated Leadership Principles celebrate ambition, big ideas, and contrary thinking.
But when it comes to the climate crisis — one of the biggest threats ever faced by humanity, according to some global leaders — Amazon has been a member of the supporting cast, not star of the show. Now its own employees are calling Amazon out of the wings, trying to draw the 25-year-old tech behemoth to center stage for the fight against global warming. Thousands of workers signed an open letter to Amazon’s leaders asking for climate action and employees called for a climate-focused resolution at the company’s annual shareholding meeting in May.
Amazon seems to be responding.
In February, the company promised to share information on its carbon footprint by the end of this year, though it’s employing its own methodology in lieu of widely used tools for greenhouse gas calculations. It has pledged to power its infrastructure with 100 percent clean energy, and ensure that half of its retail deliveries are carbon neutral by 2030.
However, essential details on these initiatives are still TBD, and Amazon’s own ambitions aren’t making the challenge any easier. The company recently announced plans to cut shipping times in half from two- to one-day delivery for Prime members, making cuts to fossil fuel use likely more difficult.
“Playing a significant role in helping to reduce the sources of human-induced climate change is an important commitment for Amazon,” an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement to GeekWire — citing progress such as eliminating 244,000 tons of packaging materials, avoiding 500 million shipping boxes, in addition to work on electric vehicles, aviation biofuels and renewable energy.
“We are on a path to becoming the most sustainable retailer and cloud provider in the world,” the spokesperson said.
Amazon has some catching up to do, with Microsoft and Google further ahead in meeting clean energy goals and transparency in their eco-efforts. Delivery companies UPS and FedEx, which Amazon partners with and competes against, have also been working to reduce emissions for years. Microsoft, Google and UPS last year all received “A” grades from the CDP, an international organization helping corporations and governments track and report their environmental impacts. Amazon got an “F” for not disclosing its environmental information.
Climate experts say it’s about time that Amazon stepped up on the issue, as scientists issue a steady beat of dire warnings about floods, wildfires, extreme storms, droughts and other climate-caused catastrophes. Many are eager to see how aggressively the Seattle-based corporation will pursue its emissions goals.
“It doesn’t surprise me it’s taken this long because they have a very complicated business. What is surprising is that they had to be pressed by their employees,” said Paula DiPerna, special advisor to the CDP.
“Most visionary companies that aspire to be leaders in the world would be doing this already automatically,” she said.
Amazon has taken some earlier steps toward eco-friendly practices:
- In 2008, Amazon announced Frustration-Free Packaging to reduce packaging and use recyclable materials in deliveries.
- In 2014, it pledged to one day achieve 100 percent renewable power for its global infrastructure, and the following year said its AWS data centers were at 25 percent green.
- In 2016, its first wind farm was up and running; AWS now has 12 wind and solar-power farms internationally operating or in the works.
- Last year, AWS reported it had reached 50 percent renewable energy.
There are many ways to make the business case for tackling carbon issues. Investing in renewable energy locks in power prices. Carbon emissions pose potential financial risks if and when emitters are held accountable. And it’s good PR for customers, investors and employees.
Cloud and e-commerce are about the future — and so is climate change, said Aseem Prakash, a University of Washington professor and founding director the UW’s Center for Environmental Politics. “You need to be consistent in your messaging that you’re futuristic. If you are viewed as a company ahead of the curve, people are willing to gamble on you.”
But Amazon’s sustainability image has hit some snags.
An April feature in Gizmodo quoted Amazon leadership publicly promoting its partnerships with oil-and-gas giants who can use AWS to boost fossil fuel exploration and other projects (Microsoft and Google are also pushing cloud and AI to support fossil fuel extraction). A Greenpeace investigation in February alleged that Amazon’s major AWS operations in Virginia use only 12 percent clean power. Waste reduction experts have criticized Amazon’s adoption of bubble envelopes that are difficult to recycle.
And now thousands of Amazon’s own workers, apparently underwhelmed by the company’s eco-actions, are holding their employer to account in a manner that has impressed climate advocates.
“The employees at Amazon are saying they’re doing the work, producing the products and services, and they want to use their talents to help solve the climate crisis and not worsen it,” said Rebecca Deutsch, a volunteer with the climate-focused nonprofit Seattle 350. “They have an important role to play in pressuring the leadership.
“I’ve been really inspired by their bravery and courage and conviction,” she said.
Thousands of Amazonians take a stand
When Emily Claire Palmer received an email from fellow Amazon employees about a movement to publicly lobby her employer to fight climate change, she didn’t hesitate.
“It really resonated with me on a deep level,” said Palmer, a senior product manager at Amazon. “Like many other Amazonians, I had been searching for a way to take action on climate change in my own life and in my work.”
So she signed an open letter in April addressed to Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos and the Amazon board of directors. The missive calls out the shortcomings of the company’s climate-related measures and asks for specific steps to reduce emissions.
Nearly 8,000 employees have signed on.
“They took extraordinary risk to put themselves out there,” said Sue Reid, vice president of climate and energy for Boston-based Ceres, a nonprofit that promotes corporate environmental sustainability. “It’s super striking. I haven’t seen that elsewhere in a visible way on climate.”
For Palmer, the move seemed perfectly aligned with Amazon’s culture and professed values. “It’s very much about speaking the truth, looking at the data and dissenting,” she said. “One of our principals is to disagree, and speaking the truth and doing the right thing. I felt very much in the right on this.”
In addition to the letter, a group of current and former employees also co-filed a shareholder resolution at the end of 2018 calling on Amazon to create a climate plan.
Amazon officials have responded to their employees’ actions.
- Amazon leadership met twice with the co-filers of the shareholder resolution.
- Days after the letter began taking off among employees in mid February, Amazon announced its Shipment Zero initiative, setting goals for no net emissions for retail sales and pledging to disclose its carbon footprint.
- Amazon’s investor relations team asked co-filers to withdraw their resolution following Shipment Zero; when they declined, the board, which Bezos leads, recommended that shareholders reject the resolution.
Despite the opposition, at May’s shareholder meeting the climate resolution managed to garner 31 percent of the vote (if Bezos’ share of the vote is pulled out, it was 41 percent approval). During the meeting’s QA portion, one of the employees asked Bezos if he would support initiatives to address climate change.
“That’s a very important issue,” Bezos responded. “It’s hard to find an issue that is more important than climate change. … It’s also, as everyone knows, a very difficult problem.”
He cited his company’s wind, solar and other projects as examples of their response. “There are a lot of initiatives here underway, and we’re not done,” Bezos said. “We’ll think of more, we’re very inventive.”
Small steps or major actions
While Amazon has committed to taking steps on climate, huge questions remain.
- How quickly does the company plan to get to 100 renewable power for AWS and its other operations — there’s no set goal.
- When it vows to reach net zero emissions for 50 percent of its retail operations, how much of that will be achieved using clean power such as electric vehicles, and how much will be covered by paying for carbon offsets that can include investments in projects including forest conservation and support for renewable energy? Experts say the offsets are less effective than actual carbon reductions.
- What can Amazon do about the fact that its retail business is built on what many see as unsustainable consumption habits?
“They can do small steps, symbolic steps, or they can do major actions,” said the UW’s Prakash.
With so little detail, it’s anyone’s guess which way the company will go.
Experts agree that Amazon’s easiest moves are the ones it’s already taking: constructing wind and solar farms to power its energy-hungry cloud computing centers. The company reports that six solar farms and six wind farms are operating or under development for fueling AWS, producing enough energy to power the equivalent of 262,000 American homes.
Since 2017, Amazon has also been installing solar panels on fulfillment centers that pack and ship retail orders; the company set a goal of outfitting 50 fulfillment centers by next year, but it’s unclear how close it is to reaching that mark. It operates hundreds of fulfillment centers and delivery stations worldwide.
The bigger hurdle will be curbing the planet-warming pollution from Amazon’s e-commerce side.
The company relies on ships, planes, trains, trucks and cars that chug fossil fuels to transport goods from suppliers to its warehouses to customers. The company works with carriers such as UPS and FedEx, but in recent years has been building its own delivery infrastructure. It’s investing in cargo planes, and is on track for amassing a fleet of 70 planes by 2021. Nearly two years ago, Amazon announced it had ordered 20,000 vans for people who want to start their own businesses delivering for Amazon.
When it comes to ships and planes in particular, “there’s some real technological challenges for decarbonization,” said Reid, of Ceres. But if Amazon started demanding electric trucks and vans for its deliveries, that could move the market, experts said. Amazon has shown a sudden interest in autonomous and electric vehicles, given its recent investments in Rivian and Aurora.
Bezos and Amazon repeatedly promote online shopping as more efficient than purchases made in person, but experts say the data to back those claims are lacking. Certainly people sometimes take wasteful drives to far-flung stores to buy single items. But a steady stream of one-day deliveries of small orders would be less efficient than shoppers who makes infrequent trips to fully stock cupboards and closets.
“The idea that we can continue ordering things and having them delivered over night… is unsustainable and incompatible with addressing climate change,” said DiPerna of the CDP. “In the end, we all have to look at the lifestyle model that is represented by Amazon.”
‘I’ve never been more encouraged’
While the public waits for Amazon to share its footprint and perhaps reveal some details about its climate initiatives, Palmer remains hopeful.
“I’ve never been more encouraged or more excited about where things are headed,” said the Amazon manager. Even though the shareholder resolution this spring didn’t pass, it and the letter made clear what she and her colleagues want to see.
“We really feel like we won because we’ve really started a big movement within Amazon,” she said. “It’s really up to the employees and customers to continue to put pressure on Amazon to make sure it’s as comprehensive and far reaching as we want it to be.”


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Despite the recent slowdown, the International Monetary Fund said Wednesday it still sees Canada will be the leader in economic growth among major industrialized countries this year and next.
- Explore 5 of the world’s most romantic ski vacations
- Tim Hortons Roll Up the Rim to win is back March 11 with paper, digital and sustainable ways to play!
- Recipe: Chocolate & Brie Grilled Cheese with M&M’s new Dark Tablet
- Win amazing Super Bowl LIV prizes with Frank’s RedHot Spin The Bottle
- 2021 Kia Seltos unveiled at the Montreal International Auto Show


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Producer price growth slows despite supply snarls
Prices charged by producers rose at a slightly slower rate in September despite supply chain snarls and shortages that have driven up manufacturing and shipping costs.
The producer price index (PPI) for final demand, which tracks prices charged for goods and services that are not components of other products, rose 0.5 percent last month, according to data released Thursday by the Labor Department. The PPI for final demand without food, energy or trade services prices, known as core PPI, was up 0.1 percent.
Economists expected the PPI for final demand to rise by 0.6 percent after increases of 0.7 percent in August and 1 percent in July and for core PPI to rise by 0.5 percent.
Almost 80 percent of the total increase in producer prices came from a 1.3 percent monthly jump in the cost of final demand goods — products purchased by retailers or wholesalers to be sold to consumers and businesses. Half of the jump came from energy prices alone, which rose sharply in September.
“The report offers signs that producer price increases are moderating despite worsening supply-chain challenges and broad shortages ranging from commodity inputs to labor,” wrote Mahir Rasheed of Oxford Economics.
While the rate of producer price growth declined in last month, prices for final demand goods and services increased 8.6 percent in the 12 months leading into September on an unadjusted basis, the highest annual increase since the Labor Department began calculating annual PPI growth in November 2010.
President Biden and administration officials are scrambling to clear up overloaded supply lines, unclog backlogged ports and draw in thousands of workers needed to overcome shortages and high costs driven by the coronavirus pandemic. While inflation had increased earlier this year, mainly in goods and services once shut down by the pandemic, price increases for food, shelter and other staples have accelerated after the delta variant upended the global economy.
Even though the U.S. is one of several wealthy nations struggling through supply shortages and high inflation, Republican lawmakers have blamed the snarls on Biden’s $1.9 trillion March stimulus bill and the carry-over impact of federal jobless aid that lapsed Sept. 6.
Economists largely agree that robust stimulus helped fuel some of the challenges but blame the persistence of shortages and inflation on pandemic-related factors seen across the world.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.


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25 Percent Of Black Friday Shoppers Starting Before 3 AM [Infographic]
In 2012, Walmart hopes to lure in shoppers with deals starting at 8 pm on Thanksgiving day (Black Thursday?), and other retailers are following in Walmart’s footsteps. While we recently reported on a study that showed only 6 percent of shoppers will head out on Thanksgiving day, a new study has found that nearly 25 percent of shoppers will be at stores before 3 am on Black Friday.
Market researcher firm Lab42 surveyed 500 shoppers and found that the average customer plans to visit major retailers including Walmart, Target, Macy’s, and Kohl’s among others. The firm also found that nearly 25 percent of those shoppers would be in stores by 3 am.
In fact, many shoppers say they will be waiting outside of store doors by midnight to ensure they receive a great place in line and the best deals possible for their holiday shopping goals.
The study also revealed that 42 percent of shoppers believe the same type of deals will be available in the days leading up to Christmas, which means they are in no rush to buy presents among the company of millions of other crazed shoppers.
The infographic shown below also shows that many buyers plan to spend part of their Christmas buying budget online via Cyber Monday shopping deals that are often better then in-store sales.
A Google survey also revealed that shoppers plan to spend $900 on presents in 2012, up from $854 in 2011.
Want to learn more about the 2012 Black Friday shopping habits of Americans as they head out this coming Friday? Here is the full Lab42 infographic:


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Apple could be looking intensively at sales through online platforms in India, seemingly deriving benefits from the Indian government’s new rules concerning Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). Now, the Indian government recently announced new rules that relaxes the earlier limits for foreign brands like Apple to have at least 30% of production, requirements locally sourced. The government has also announced easing of FDI norms for sectors like single-brand retail. This means that companies can now sell through their exclusive stores and not depend on partner outlets.
As far as Apple is concerned, a Bloomberg report states that Apple could begin selling iPhones through its own eStores in India. At this point in time, it is worth remembering that the earlier FDI rule was viewed as an issue by consumer electronics brands to sell their products directly in Indi as most of the components were earlier manufactured in China and were merely sourced and assembled in India. Hence, it should not be an exaggeration to expect Appel offering its devices through its own online channels in the country. Here, Apple’s latest iPhones are assembled by Wistron Corporation in its facility in Bengaluru.
The Bloomberg report also adds that the first Apple-owned retail store in the country would be opened in Mumbai, soon. With online booming in India, it should naturally do a world of good for Apple to sell its products to directly reach consumers through the digital platform. Also, India is viewed as a potentially important market by almost all major smartphone makers; Apple’s market share in India are nothing to cheer about. Apple has also offered a statement wherein it stated to the Press Trust of India (PTI) that it was looking at offering online sales as well as enhanced physical store sales whilst looking at having its first exclusive retail store in India inaugurated.
Hence, online shares are projected to help the Cupertino-based company to rev-up sales to an extent at least. In related developments, Apple’s CEO Tim Cook has pledged another $5 million worth 23700 shares to an unnamed charity. This development comes almost exactly an year after Cook’s pledge of an identical $5 million towards societal causes. The Cupertino-based company has also pledged to fight the devastating effects of the recent Amazon forest fire.


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- Nike says its online sales came in 82% higher in the fiscal first quarter.
- The U.S. company tops analysts' estimates for earnings and revenue in Q1.
- For the fiscal 2021, Nike forecasts a close to 10% growth in its sales.
Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) published its earnings report for the fiscal first quarter on Tuesday, after the bell, that highlighted a massive 82% annualised growth in digital sales. The company said that online sales made up roughly 30% of its total sales in Q1. Nike also expressed confidence that sales in fiscal 2021 will come in close to 10% higher on a year over year basis.
Shares of the company were reported trading about 12% up in after-hours trading on Tuesday. Including the price action, Nike is now trading at £103.70 per share that represents an over 100% increase since March when COVID-19 pushed it into temporarily closing its stores for the public.
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Nike’s Q1 financial results versus analysts’ estimates
According to Refinitiv, experts had forecast the company to print £7.18 billion in revenue in the fiscal first quarter. In terms of earnings per share, they had estimated 36.89 pence per share. In its report on Tuesday, Nike topped both estimates posting a higher £8.31 billion in revenue and 74.56 pence of earnings per share in Q1.
For the quarter that ended on 31st August, Nike said that its net income came in at £1.19 billion as compared to £1.08 billion in the same quarter last year. On a year over year basis, its revenue noted a 0.6% decline in Q1. In separate news from the U.S., Stitch Fix also said on Tuesday that it concluded the fiscal fourth quarter in loss.
The American multinational corporation also highlighted to have seen a 6% annualised growth in sales in China where the Coronavirus originated late last year. In North America, it said, its sales were still about 2% down. North America marks the largest market for Nike.
Nike reported a 38% decline in revenue in the prior quarter
In the prior quarter (Q4), Nike swung to a loss on the back of a 38% decline in revenue, attributed to a hit to sales due to the ongoing health crisis. Nike valued inventories at £5.26 billion in Q1 that was up 15% versus the comparable quarter of last year but was 9% down as compared to the fourth quarter.
Nike performed fairly upbeat in the stock market last year with an annual gain of more than 35%. At the time of writing, the Beaverton-based company has a market capitalisation of £114 billion and a price to earnings ratio of 69.71.


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Soak.com has said up to 15 staff could be made redundant, blaming the “current economic uncertainty” around the country.
The Nuneaton-based internet bathroom retailer said it was a “difficult decision”.
A spokesman said: “It is a possibility that some people affected by this news may be redeployed in other areas and a consultation process is under way.
“Our employees remain our priority throughout this period.”
The firm, which sports a green elephant as its logo, has a retail showroom at its Midlands HQ that opened last year.


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Okay – now I’ve heard everything – or have I?
3D printing is all the rage. But the latest fear in the industry is that confidential printed designs can be duplicated by merely listening to the 3D printer as it’s running.
3D printers have opened up all kinds of possibilities when it comes to turning digital blueprints into real word objects, but might they also enable new ways to pilfer intellectual property? Amid all that mechanical whirring, these machines emit acoustic signals that give away the motion of the nozzle, new research has found. And by discreetly recording these sounds, scientists say it is possible for sneaky characters to deduce design details and reverse engineer printed objects at a later date.
While the source code for 3D printed designs can be guarded through encryption and regular means, once the machine is swung into action that sensitive information may be compromised, researchers at the University of California Irvine (UCI) have discovered.


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Media Release - New Zealand Post Group
9 Apr 2015, 12:15 PM
New Zealand Post has reached an agreement with Te Kuiti Paper Plus to operate postal and over-the-counter banking services on its behalf from 17 August 2015.
Terry and Davina Davey from the Te Kuiti Paper Plus will offer full postal, courier, bill payment and photo ID services as well as over-the-counter banking from their existing premises at 157 Rora Street.
New Zealand Post Manager for Retail Distribution Tracey Berry says the arrangement with Te Kuiti Paper Plus, located just down the road from the existing PostShop, is a good outcome for the community.
“In June 2014, New Zealand Post announced that we would begin looking for a local business to operate postal and banking services in Te Kuiti on our behalf. This decision was made in response to the way New Zealanders are using our services and our need to remain a viable business.
“Under our arrangement customers will be able to access all the postal, courier and bill payment services they did before. Kiwibank customers will also be able to make over-the-counter banking transactions in the new store.
“For more complex transactions, such as applying for a loan or opening a new account, customers can visit our Otorohanga or Te Awamutu PostShops, or use internet or phone banking,” Tracey Berry said.
New Zealand Post will be working with customers in the lead up to the change to help them understand and sign up for these services.
Paper Plus Owners Terry and Davina Davey said they were looking forward to offering New Zealand Post and Kiwibank services.
“We’ve sold stationery in Te Kuiti for close to seven years, first as Take Note and then as Paper Plus. We are both born and bred in Te Kuiti, we brought up our own family here and we are passionate about the town and want to see it succeed.
“We think postal services are a good fit for our business,” Davina Davey said.
The existing PostShop will close at 5pm on Friday 14 August, with services, including PO Boxes available at the Paper Plus from Monday 17 August.
“Until then it is business as usual at the Te Kuiti PostShop,” Tracey Berry said.
“New Zealand Post will be writing to its PO Box customers about the relocation of the mailboxes. We are also working closely with our staff as we explore their options.”
Media contact: Sarah Austen-Smith 022 425 6815


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UK waste in USA
Plastic waste from the UK is washing up on the shores in Maine, USA
Home » UK waste in USA
Published: 15 December 2020
This Article was Written by: Katie Hill - My Green Pod
Plastic waste that was shipped from Northern Ireland to be burned at an incinerator in Maine, USA has started washing up on the state’s shores.
Two weeks ago, over 20 million pounds of plastic waste arrived in Maine, USA from Re-Gen Waste Ltd in Northern Ireland.
Some of the plastic bales fell into Maine’s Penobscot Bay (main image) during the transfer, and local residents have since noticed ‘alarming levels of plastic pollution’ on the shores of Sears Island.
The remaining plastic waste was sent to the Penobscot Energy Recovery Company (PERC) incinerator in Orrington, Maine.
‘Last year the UK exported 0.5 million tonnes of plastic waste, most of which was discarded in the Global South. This last ditch dumping of waste in Maine, before international restrictions make it illegal, could have far-reaching consequences. The shredded plastic from Northern Ireland could choke and entangle marine wildlife, and could cause even more damage once it degrades into tiny microplastics.
‘We have to stop moving our plastic scrap around the globe and turn off the tap at the source. The industry is churning out single-use plastic at an alarming rate, with global production set to quadruple by 2050. We need the companies making and selling single-use plastic to urgently cut the amount of plastic packaging they’re putting in circulation and move to reuse systems.
‘The UK government needs to take control of our waste, within our own shores, and stop exporting an environmental and human health crisis. We also need the government to set legally binding targets for plastic reduction.’
Greenpeace UK senior plastics campaigner
The Basel Convention
According to Material Research and the Basel Action Network, shipments of plastic waste from the UK to Maine, similar to the one currently polluting the state’s shores, will soon be illegal under the Basel Convention.
‘For far too long, the United States has produced endless quantities of single-use plastics that are used for a few minutes and then shipped off to other countries to deal with as waste. A recent study revealed that the United States has generated more plastic waste than any other country globally, and that a large amount of it ends up polluting our environment.
‘We have used the rest of the world as our dumping grounds, hurting low income communities and people of colour the most. Fossil fuel giants, working side by side with consumer goods and retail companies, continue to produce unnecessary plastic that no one in the world can possibly clean up.
‘Now we are seeing firsthand the dangers of exporting plastic waste as it hits the US coast. The US is experiencing what it is like to be another country’s rubbish bin. Not only are Maine’s shores covered with plastic pollution, the communities near the incinerator face increased health risks from the burning of plastics.
‘Offloading plastic waste onto some other country to deal with is cowardly and irresponsible, and it must cease in line with the new Basel Convention rules that take effect in 2021. It is clear that countries all over the world cannot manage the plastic waste that companies continue to produce. Recycling is not going to solve our plastic problem. It is time to end our reliance on single-use plastic and shift toward systems of reuse.’
Greenpeace USA executive director
The Basel Convention prohibits the export of hazardous waste from member states to other countries to be landfilled or incinerated.
The United States is the only country in the Global North that is a non-party to the Basel Convention; the UK is, which means that as of 01 January 2021, waste trade between the two countries will be illegal.


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Cadillac Converj concept car
Chrysler 200 EV concept car
At recent auto shows, General Motors and Chrysler have unveiled luxury concept cars with ecofriendly powertrains that set them apart from traditional V-8-powered, gas-fueled domestic luxury vehicles.
General Motors showed its Cadillac Converj concept car. It will use the same lithium ion battery technology as the 2010 Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid, which will be available in November of 2010 for somewhere around $40,000. The battery pack drives the vehicle electrically for up to 40 miles and then switches to an engine-generator that creates electricity.
The Chrysler 200 EV concept car can travel 40 miles on battery power. After that a small gas engine and generator produce electricity that extends the range to 400 miles on 8 gallons of gas, making it a 50-mpg vehicle.
Are these the type of vehicles that can take GM and Chrysler into a profitable future?
We failed to run the request for Heidi’s Pics photo submissions in Thursday’s InMotion section. So, if you have photos of a special classic or custom ride to send Heidi, here’s the info:


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Home Tags Aldi
This December, the budget grocer is going all out with vodka-infused cheese and holiday ornaments that are filled with blocks of cheddar.
Throughout December the budget retailer has tons of amazing deals on cheese, kitchenwares, cookie-flavored hummus, and more.
Germany has the 3rd-highest number of billionaires in the world. Here are the 11 richest Germans, ranked.
Germany is home to an estimated 114 billionaires. Some of the richest Germans have ties to companies such as BMW, Aldi, and Lidl.
Salad recall hits products sold at Walmart, Target, Aldi, and more after lettuce tests positive for E. coli
More than 75,000 pounds of product were affected by the recall, which included 35 types of prepared salads.
Some of them cost as little as $1.39 and are loaded with special books, snacks, and alcoholic beverages.
Kroger is rebranding with the tagline "fresh for everyone" and launching a new marketing campaign featuring animated characters.
From flavored cold-brew coffees to seasonal pecan pies, here are some of the most affordable items to get at the retailer this November.
"We're trying to be everything to everyone — saying too many things in a fragmented way. And it shows," a Kroger memo states.
A chicken recall that hit Kroger, Walmart, and Giant has expanded to at least 83 retailers after products tested positive for listeria contamination. ...
The recalled products include sandwiches, chicken salad, and frozen meals with chicken as an ingredient, among other items.
From pumpkin-spice cheese and caramel hummus to dairy-free cold brew and candles, the retailer has a lot of affordable products for October.


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PSP back on top in Japan
Sony's PSP handheld is back on top in Japan - but only just.
The latest hardware figures for last week show that overall hardware sales are still sluggish in Japan, the nation seemingly holding its breath in anticipation of several major upcoming releases.
Still, the PSP was tops with just under 30,000 units sold, followed by the PS3 with about 800 fewer sales.
Then there's the Wii console, third with 25,000, followed by the DSi with just under 14,000. The DS Lite is next with just over 3,000.
A couple of hundred units behind we find the Xbox 360 console, which is chased by whipping-boy the PSP Go with less than 2,000 units sold.
Last is the aging PS2, with 1,400 units shifted.
- Resident Evil HD remake gets its first trailer
- Capcom working with Dimps on a what is probably Street Fighter V
- New Titanfall update adds Titan-free combat gameplay mode
- OnLive coming to Philips' new range fo Android-powered smart TVs
- Explore the rest of the solar system with Google's Destiny Planet View
- Dead Or Alive 5: Last Round coming to next-gen consoles
- Voting opens up for GamesAid's charity of 2014
- Nintendo promising a good 2015 with Zelda, Star Fox and Splatoon coming to Wii U
- Warframe comes to Xbox One today


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Following the news that international sandwich shop chain Pret has bought rivals EAT and plans to turn stores into “Veggie Prets”,
Jenny Questier, Senior Consumer Analyst at GlobalData offers her view:
“Currently, only four of Prets 400 stores are vegan as they have been developing the concept in London and Manchester since their first vegetarian store opened as a pop-up in 2016.
“With growing consumer awareness of sustainability issues and their own environmental impact, dietary trends are being influenced.
“Despite the number of consumers reporting to be strictly vegan or vegetarian are still relatively low, Pret’s acquisition of Eat is a seemingly strategic move as according to GlobalData’s Q3 2018 consumer survey, the number of global consumers now reporting to be following a ‘vegan’/‘vegetarian’/‘low meat diet’ is 30%.
“Alongside this, consumer demand for on-the-go food products remains high because people lack the time to eat full meals at traditional times and in conventional environments, like the home. As such, consumers are looking for prepared options, or food that they can easily consume during their commute to and from work or in the time the get between tasks in their busy schedules.
“Consumers are looking to maintain the quality of the products they purchase but for faster and easier solutions. Many are frequently looking for products and services that are local to them and cater for their individual needs including their increasing awareness of health and sustainability issues.
“The acquisition of EAT by Pret and its continuing plans to cater more for the growing number of consumers looking for ‘veggie’ options demonstrates how dietary trends are changing and how brands and manufacturers are committing to this.”


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Ryan Howard, Commercial Manager at GreenHas Chile, explained, “This opens up a huge portfolio of technical information and new products that are changing Europe. It is our customers who are demanding changes in terms of sustainability, more organic work, and greater environmental friendliness. In that sense, having communication with Italy, Spain, Jordan, and Brazil gives us a more global vision of what a purely national company can achieve.”
“GreenHas is present in more than 60 countries; however, Italy sees us as a reference and entrusts us with carrying out research on our crops, and that is very important,” said Eduardo Parra, Technical Manager at GreenHas Chile.
Finally, the Executive director at GreenHas Group Italia, Claudio Franco, who was present at the launch of GreenHas Chile, stated, “I love this project and being here after a year of working with the new partners. I believe this company has a lot to offer and I think it can grow a lot in a few years because Chile has an interesting market, and we, from Italy, have the products that can make a difference and provide new alternatives with value for farmers. Additionally, Chile exports and, above all, produces quality fruit.”
In this way, GreenHas Chile aims to continue leading the way towards a more sustainable and efficient agricultural future for Chile and the world, through resilient practices that increase productivity and production, thus achieving food security.


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The 61st annual New England Angus Breeders sale is predicted to attract some keen interest on at the Tamworth Regional Livestock Exchange on Wednesday July 26.
In total, 52 bulls and 21 females and one embryo package will be offered by 10 vendors from the New England area and further afield in NSW.
Selling agent Chris Patterson said it was excellent to see a few new vendors at this year’s sale, even though vendor numbers were slightly down.
“Lachie Ware, Wongalea stud, Tamworth, is one new vendor, offering two bulls and John Smith, Pondora Angus, Bendemeer, who has returned after a notable absence, is offering four bulls,” Mr Patterson said.
“Jake Walkom, Jarowa Angus, Blayney, is another new vendor who will offer four bulls for the first time and Brian Abbott of Abbott Angus, Armidale, will put eight females into the ring. Mr Abbot hasn’t been involved in the sale for a number of years.”
Mr Patterson said two of the larger return vendors are Yamba stud, Narrandera, who are offering13 bulls and XL Beef, Dungowan, will offer 11 bulls and three females.
“The return of vendors and introduction of new ones is a reflection of the strong market,” Mr Patterson said.
“The sale has been strong the last couple of years, and it presents itself as an excellent selling opportunity for the smaller studs in the area.
“In saying that, there are a few studs not involved this year as they are holding their own on-property sales.”
Mr Patterson said the numbers have altered slightly due to the shift in focus of some of the studs, so numbers are up in female offerings, from 10 to 21, but bull numbers have dropped.
“The draft of bulls are impressive and the Angus sales have continued to be strong, so we are expecting a good result,” Mr Patterson said.
“This is an excellent value for money sale, presenting a fantastic opportunity for commercial breeders to access some top genetics at affordable prices.”
Last year, a top-price of $13,500 and average of $6669 was recorded.
Seventy-six bulls were offered, with 62 selling for a clearance of 81 per cent.
Heart Lorenzo L8 topped the sale, selling to Jack Callinan, “Poitrel”, Ellerston.


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In Japan, sex-drives have plunged so low that young, libido-challenged men are sometimes referred to as soshokukei danshi, or herbivore men.
Think that’s harsh, then consider local condom maker Sagami Rubber Industries Co., battling a shrinking, aging and now increasingly frigid Japanese clientele. It’s no wonder then that the company is getting some relief from the popularity its prophylactics are enjoying across the sea.
Demand for foreign-brand rubbers has surged in China, and its tourists visiting Japan in record numbers are loading up, so much so that Sagami’s thinnest product has sold out. Now the Kanagawa Prefecture-based company is limiting the volumes it’s dispatching from its remaining product inventory to avoid some shops missing out before the Feb. 8 Lunar New Year, President Ichiro Ohato said.
“Thanks to this inbound business, we’re suddenly facing shortages,” said Ohato, 67, whose grandmother founded the business in 1934. “Retailers have been bombarding us with calls every day, telling us they want more and more.”
Chinese consumers are attracted to the “high quality” of Japanese condoms, especially following safety concerns about China-made ones, said Masashi Mori, an equities analyst at Credit Suisse Group AG in Tokyo, in a telephone interview.
Shanghai police seized 3 million fake condoms made locally from inferior, foul-smelling materials, the People’s Daily reported in April. Two years earlier, Ghanaian authorities said 1 million imported condoms made by a Chinese company burst during sex and contained holes, The Guardian newspaper reported.
About 5 million people from mainland China visited Japan last year, twice as many as 2014, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization. That’s bolstered sales of Japanese-made goods from diapers and feminine-care products to rice cookers and toilet seats.
“Japan has become a shopping mecca for Chinese tourists due to the desire for ‘Made in Japan’ goods, the unique shopping experience the country provides for Chinese tourists and in addition the recent duty-free status now granted to tourists,” said Jared Conway, research manager for Japan with Euromonitor International, in an email.
Sagami, Japan’s second-largest condom supplier, is also a beneficiary. Its shares surged 137 percent to ¥1,071 in Tokyo in the first 10 months of last year, while bigger rival Okamoto Industries Inc. climbed 156 percent to ¥1,099. Both stocks have since dropped — Sagami to ¥532 and Okamoto to ¥851, as of last Friday — following turmoil in Chinese financial markets and a weakening in the yuan.
Still, Mori said he is optimistic about the long-term prospects for Japanese condom makers. “If China really does make the transition from investments to consumer spending, people are going to want to trade up and use better products,” he said. “So there’s still lots of room for growth.”
To ramp up production, Sagami is expanding one of its two factories in Ipoh, Malaysia. It’s also planning to build a third factory there to boost output, Ohato said. By spring, he wants to double the volume of extra-thin condoms it produces for the Japanese market to 80 million a year.
These products, made out of 0.02 millimeter-thick polyurethane, sell at retail for twice as much as Sagami’s standard latex offering, going for ¥1,000 ($8.50) for a six-pack. It’s Chinese demand for these more-expensive condoms that have caused the most frequent shortages, Ohato said. It’s also what prompted him to begin distributing them directly in China earlier this month.
China may help Japan-focused Sagami counter a dwindling population and a stagnant domestic economy, not to mention lackluster demand for condoms. While sales of high-end polyurethane condoms have helped buoy profit, demand for Sagami’s rubbers peaked in the mid-1980s, Ohato said.
“Things were on the decline from there, and it’s been terrible since 2000,” he said. “There’s no question that Japanese people are using condoms less and less.”
He continued, “their sex-drive has waned. It’s not like this overseas. It’s really bad in Japan.”
Lovers in Japan are the least amorous, having sex 45 times a year on average, according to the 2005 Durex Global Sex Survey, which polled more than 317,000 people from 41 countries. Greeks, on the other hand, have sex an average of 138 times a year, compared with 96 in China, the survey found.
A 2014 survey by the Japan Family Planning Association found that 47 percent of 16- to 24-year-old women weren’t interested in or despised sexual contact — a sentiment shared by 18 percent of men. It also found married couples were copulating less, with 45 percent reporting no sex in the prior month, from 41 percent in 2012 and 32 percent in 2004.
Sagami’s own survey in 2013 found 41 percent of men in their 20s identified as virgins. “I think there’s a real problem with men: they are shy,” Ohato said.
Sagami is trying to help. It hosts sabishinbo, or lonely people’s nights in Tokyo nightclubs to bring singles together. Its last event on Christmas drew about 5,000 people, the company said. Samples of its products were given away and women were admitted free.
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Gov. Wolf has vetoed SB 613 which would have used a Federal Standard to define essential/non-essential businesses vs the list established by the Governor and waiver process. The Governor did sign legislation for on-line notary and other similar services that will open up on-line sales of automobiles. Additionally, he announced limited construction we be allowed to re-open on May 8th, along with curbside liquor sales by PA State Stores that started today. We believe these decisions were largely based on plateauing new cases and COVID 19 hospitalization numbers. The Chamber & CREDC has been advocating for construction and other industries for many weeks.
Vehicle Sales May Be Conducted Online
The governor signed Senate Bill 841 that approves qualified Pennsylvania notaries public to perform remote online notarizations, which will allow auto dealerships to conducted limited car sales and leasing operations through online sales, as a notary is required to complete the transaction. Auto dealerships may continue to remain open for certain activities, such as repairs to passenger and commercial vehicles and sales of auto parts, but in-person car sales or leases are still considered non-life sustaining and remain prohibited at this time.
Construction With Strict Guidelines Resumes Friday, May 8
Public and private residential and non-residential construction may resume statewide starting Friday, May 8, in accordance with safety guidance that will be issued by the administration shortly. Construction projects already deemed life-sustaining may continue while adhering to social distancing, personnel limits and other guidance as announced by the administration.
PLCB Begins Limited Curbside Pickup
The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) today began accepting orders by phone for curbside pickup at 176 locations. Phone orders can be placed between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m., or until reaching a store’s maximum order capacity each day. Curbside pickups will be scheduled from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. within a few days of order placement. Callers will be guided through each store’s unique inventory. There is a limit of six bottles per order, and credit cards are the only accepted form of payment. At pickup, customers will be required to present identification before the order is delivered.
We continue to monitor our state government for legislature that will impact our business community.


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Posted by Lisa Stephenson on November 05, 2018 in
Black Friday is projected to be the busiest shopping day of the year, despite 'Christmas creep'.
Even though retailers are offering deals earlier and earlier each holiday season, resulting in a "Christmas creep," Black Friday is still expected to be the busiest shopping day of 2018, by far, according to one retail tracking firm.
In addition, the top 10 shopping days of the holiday season are expected to account for almost 45 percent of this year's holiday visits, according to an annual survey by ShopperTrak. With... read more
On October 13, 2018 Coldwell Banker Distinctive Angels participated in the Homes for Dogs Project and helped connect loving pets with loving homes over the national pet adoption weekend.
This year, Coldwell Banker Distinctive Properties (CBDP) proudly participated in the project with 7 of their offices, in three states, hosting events and/or donating to their local shelters! In Colorado, CBDP Steamboat Springs teamed up with local shelter, Routt County Humane Society, and local pet supply store, Paws ‘N Cla... read more


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The Thom Europe Group, the European market leader for retail jewellery in shopping centres, has chosen the Aures Group's sango EPOS terminals to renew its in-store IT equipment.
The retailer, which incorporates the Histoire d’Or, Marc Orian and Trésor brands, will roll out the EPOS terminals over the next three years in its outlets in France, Belgium, Portugal and Italy.
“We chose sango terminals for their high performance, reliability, powerful processors and memory capacity,” said Philippe Le Berre, head of IT Systems at Thom Europe.
He added: “Our heavy and multiple IT processes require very reliable till management and EPOS systems: Aures equipment rarely breaks down.
“We really appreciate the fact that these EPOS can be upgraded, as this guarantees uniform, long-lasting IT equipment.”
Other reasons the company gives for choosing the sango EPOS terminals include the ability to style them in its corporate branding, their ergonomic design and multiple connectivity to peripherals.
“The sango's lightweight, offset stand frees up space beneath the system's touchscreen,” said Thierry Gallois, the Group's infrastructure and networks manager. “As there is no heavy base, certain peripherals can be accommodated and grouped together more easily. It's very practical.”
The Thom Europe Group started working with Aures in 2003 and implemented Odyssé EPOS terminals in 2005.
The group has 540 sales outlets in France, Belgium, Italy and Portugal, employs 2,700 people and has opened more than 60 stores in the past three years.
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South Korea's homegrown streaming service operators, like Tving and Wavve, can compete with global media giant Netflix in the local market as long as they have effective plans to deal with rising production costs and viewers' changing preferences, a senior expert of a U.S. market analyst firm has said.
"South Korean local companies have been very strong in producing local content, led by CJ ENM and Studio Dragon," Jessica Fuk, a researcher at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency on Tuesday. "So there is still room to catch up (with Netflix) and I think it is not too far, given the right strategy."
Netflix has dominated South Korea's streaming market since its entry in the Asian country in 2016 thanks to a string of global hit titles, including "Kingdom" (2019), "Squid Game" (2021) and "The Glory" (2022).
The number of daily active users reached an average of 2.91 million in August, followed by Tving, run by Korean media and entertainment giant CJ ENM, with 1.26 million, Wavve with 1.11 million and Coupang Play with 710,000, according to latest data by Mobile Index.
The S&P expert said Netflix has opened up the over-the-top market in South Korea, where local broadcasters and content providers had operated video-on-demand services supplementary to their TV-based content until 2019, and cemented its leading position with deep pockets.
The COVID-19 pandemic, however, has changed the industry landscape to some extent, and production costs have been rising sharply, she noted.
"There was a comment (at a Seoul conference) that it would be hard for local players to survive because of the heavy content cost and no one would have that much money as Netflix," she said. "Instead of cutting costs of very expensive titles or premium titles, (local operators in mainland China) are cutting the expenses for not so popular titles."
At this point, Fuk stressed that South Korean players can show their capacity and potential to compete against Netflix.
Recently, Korean streaming companies led by CJ ENM have been moving big to break the yearslong Netflix dominance through strategic partnerships and mergers.
Tving absorbed Seezn, run by KT Studio Genie, the media production unit of telecom operator KT Corp., last year to become the second-biggest player in the market in terms of subscribers and revenue share.
As of end-2022, Tving had been estimated to have 4.3 million paid subscriptions, accounting for 21.2 percent of the country's total, compared with Netflix's 33.9 percent, according to a report provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence.
It also joined hands with Paramount+, a U.S. streaming service run by Paramount Global, offering the Hollywood studio's franchise content to Tving users without extra charge.
And there have been rumors that Tving and Wavve, the homegrown streaming platform run by major TV broadcasters KBS, MBC and SBS, are in talks to merge in a bid to survive the uneven playing field of the South Korean streaming market.
"Netflix is strong, but there are still other advantages that local players can take, I mean like better access to local production resources, for example," she said, referring to attempts to livestream sports games by an Australian operator and focus on animated films in Japan.
"In the long run, if local players can find ways in a certain content category or genre that they want to pursue, I think they still deserve a chance to succeed even though the subscriber base may not be as big as Netflix's."
Source: Yonhap News Agency


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Sunday, November 24, 2013 - Sunday, November 24, 2013
Nike's newest factory retail location will open at Tanger Outlets National Harbor on Thursday, November 21 at 9 a.m. with grand opening events taking place through Sunday, November 24. As part of the celebration, Nike will host early bird specials, shopper incentives and an enter-to-win gift card giveaway at the new store.
Nike Factory Store
6800 Oxon Hill Road
National Harbor, MD 20745


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The cure for cancer comes down to this: video games.
Climate change spells trouble for many tropical birds especially those living in mountains, coastal forests and relatively small areas and the damage will be compounded by other threats like ...
(AP) -- Authorities have seized iPads from more Chinese retailers in an escalating trademark dispute between Apple Inc. and a struggling local company that could disrupt global sales of the popular tablet ...
Researchers on Wednesday revealed a flaw in the way data is scrambled to protect the privacy of online banking, shopping and other kinds of sensitive exchanges.
A privately built rocket has made its first free-flight in the California desert as part of a NASA program exploring vertical landing systems for solar system exploration.
(AP) -- Microsoft is hooking up MSN.com with a hipper sidekick to broaden its appeal and stay on top of the Internet's hottest topics.
(AP) -- They won't be there in person, but singer Whitney Houston's millions of fans worldwide will be able to share in her homecoming service Saturday as they watch her private funeral on the Internet.


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“CASQA acknowledged the evidence against tires is circumstantial,” he said.
Zinc is used in so many applications, including detergents and cosmetics, that it is difficult to identify any single source of zinc pollution, according to Mr. Van Genderen. “In Germany, 80 percent of the zinc problem comes from legacy mining,” he said. “But it's difficult to find deep pockets to go after in that case.”
The search for alternatives to zinc oxide in tires has been going on for many years, for various reasons, Mr. Van Genderen said.
One alternative is lead oxide, which obviously is unacceptable, he said. Calcium oxide and magnesium oxide are also alternatives, but are more effective for rubbers such as latex.
Mr. Van Genderen said the IZA has had a meeting with Mr. Allen's office and coordinated activities with the Rubber Manufacturers Association. An RMA spokesman said the association has relayed its concerns about the bill to Mr. Allen.
“We'll be working to educate other California legislators on this issue and believe that the bill will attract opposition from other groups,” the RMA spokesman said.
The California Senate Committee on Environmental Quality has scheduled an April 6 hearing on SB 1260, said the spokeswoman for Mr. Allen. If it passes, the bill will advance to the Judiciary Committee, which has until April 22 to consider it.
Tire and rubber product manufacturing is the single largest market for zinc oxide. Stefan Schlag of IHS Chemicals said at the recent Zinc Oxide Conference that global demand for zinc oxide in 2015 was 1.5 million metric tons, of which 830,000 tons came from the rubber industry.


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Despite the opening of almost 200 new hotels in the UK during the rest of 2013 and 2014, the market is set to achieve stronger room rates and occupancies in next year as the country climbs further out of recession and shakes off its tough comparisons this year with the 2012 Olympic Games.
In its UK hotels forecast for 2014, PwC said that it expects to see record revenue per available room (revpar) in London, alongside the best average daily rate (ADR) growth in the regions since 2008.
Following a disappointing start to 2013, the capital has bounced back with occupancy and ADR in June both achieving growth for the first time since October 2012. Occupancy currently stands at around 81% and is predicted to grow to 82% in 2014, while ADR is expected to increase next year by 1.5% to £138.19 (£1 below 2012's record level in nominal terms and £6 behind in real terms).
PwC anticipates revpar growing by 2.4% to £112.80, a record in nominal terms.
Liz Hall, head of hospitality and leisure research at PwC, and author of forecast, said: "A return to some kind of ‘normal' in 2014 will be welcomed after 2013's post-Olympic correction. London has struggled this year but stronger pricing in 2014 and record revpar are expected.
"It looks like occupancy, ADR and revpar are heading in one direction, with the right kind growth to put London back on its upward trajectory."
Meanwhile, business in the regions show signs of stabilising with ADR reaching almost £60, which would be the best result since 2009, and revpar growing 1.8% to £42.44 - the highest since 2008.
Hall said improvements in business are likely to be slow, with particular pressure on room rates.
"This is unlikely to change as consumers push back, book late in the hope of a bargain and use the pricing transparency of the internet to help them make a choice," she said. "Short lead times, a push for added value and the attitude that a better deal is to be had through booking late looks likely to continue."
The 200 hotels which are set to open comprise nearly 20,000 bedrooms, according to data from AM:PM Hotels Database. This follows on from the 18,000 new rooms that opened across the country last year.
Over half of the new hotels will be in the budget sector, a quarter will be four-star and most will be branded.
"While limited service and budget hotels are helping consumers who don't want to pay the price of full service hotels, hoteliers in the mid-market especially are finding a more crowded and competitive environment," said the report. "New, modern, strongly branded properties, often technology friendly, are giving consumers what they value and will make the going harder for more ‘tired' products, clearly in need of investment."
Hot spots for hotel openings in the regions include Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow and then Edinburgh, while the trend in London is for more launches in the east of the capital with the City of London, Tower Hamlets and Hackney seeing an additional 2,000 rooms. A total of 1,500 rooms are set to open this year in the capital and a further 5,540 in 2014.


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China Mobile's net profit grew by 37% to $3.44 billion for the first quarter of 2008. The world's largest mobile phone company added 7.6 million customers, up from 5.68 million new customers sers during the same period in 2007. At the end the March 2008, China Mobile had 392.14 million subscribers, but average revenue per user dropped as many new customers were in poor rural areas. Average revenue per user dropped to $11.7 per month at the end of March 2008, from $13 in December 2007.
Source: China Mobile


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Luxembourg – February 16, 2017 – With the goal of bringing two billion unbanked people into the global economy, Humaniq is a fintech startup that’s been making a name for itself, being one of the top ICOs to watch out for in 2017, according to CoinTelegraph.
They will kick off their ICO on April 6th, and then Humaniq will sponsor a start-up competition at BlockShow Europe 2017 in Munich on April 6th, where six finalists will be competing for a €10000 prize that will be awarded half in bitcoin and half in Humaniq tokens. The finalists will receive valuable mentoring from industry experts to assist them in setting up a solid roadmap for their business. Before they get to Munich though, these ambitious teams must make it through the initial elimination round in an online contest that will be held in early March. The judges for the contest will include several of the speakers at the conference, and participating startups will be selected based on their innovation, viability, and the integration potential of their blockchain service.
Humaniq has already experienced some success as a start-up, putting them in a good position to offer advice to teams that are taking part in the competition. During a short-notice December campaign, they managed to raise over $110,000 in Bitcoin and Ether during their pre-ICO initial crowd-funding, beating their target of $68,000 by a hefty margin.
“We’re really excited to sponsor this start-up competition, and see what kind of ideas these men and women will come up with,” stated Alex Fork, founder and CEO of Humaniq. “We’re also a Blockchain start-up with a well-defined plan, and by sponsoring this kind of contest we’re giving back to the Blockchain community and helping it grow.”
Humaniq was launched in 2016 by founder Alex Fork after a February 2016 interview with Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin where they discussed the challenges of integrating charities with Blockchain technology. At an ICT conference in Moldova in April, Alex met with UN representatives to talk about who to partner with and what’s needed to help emerging economies where millions of people don’t have bank accounts and live on less than €2 euro per day. A few months later in May of 2016 Buterin participated in a conference with Alex that was attended by over 500 representatives of the Russian finance industry.
“These conversations were really productive and led me to create Humaniq,” said Alex Fork, who then added “The key to this project is that we’re leveraging our partnerships with the Blockchain industry as well as creating partnerships on the ground with experts who have roots in the communities our app is going to help. You can’t carry out this kind of mission alone, and we believe we’ve got a great core team and a fantastic range of initial partners.”
Humaniq has built an international team with a great deal of industry experience, professional contacts, and individual skills.
Founder Alex Fork has been deeply involved in the Blockchain and fintech community for over four years. Alex is the director of FutureFinTech in Russia, which incubates and advises Fintech startups in Russia and Eastern Europe. In addition, he’s also one of the leaders of Blockchain.Community, which is a borderless community of entrepreneurs, experts, and enthusiasts whose goal is to connect people in the Blockchain community in order to drive development and adoption of Blockchain technology worldwide.
Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Richard Kastelein is the publisher and editor-in-chief of Blockchain News, has been a repeat invitee to speak at numerous industry conferences and will be representing Humaniq at upcoming events in London, Bucharest, Nairobi, Tel Aviv, Manchester, Brussels, Barcelona, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Dublin and many others in the upcoming few months. Kastelein has served as an advisory member of multiple ICOs and Blockchain companies and sits on the steering committee of the international Blockchain Ecosystem Network (BECON).
“I am tremendously excited to be involved with the Humaniq Project,” said Kastelein. “The idea that we can tap into Blockchain and combine it with mobile banking and biometric technology to help empower people to lift themselves out of a life of poverty in emerging economies, is truly a noble mission and one that I have been seeking in the Blockchain scene for some years now.”
Humaniq’s main goal is to create an Ethereum Blockchain based banking app that will bring mobile banking to an audience of two billion people who currently don’t have access to banking services. In addition to being a banking service, the app will also act as the infrastructure backbone for 3rd party services to plug into, such as insurance providers, p2p lenders, and data security. Starting with an ICO in February that runs through April 5th, Humaniq intends to have a prototype by May, initial test in July, and begin global rollout in September. See more at http://www.humaniq.co
About BlockShow Europe 2017
BlockShow Europe will be held in Munich on April 6th, 2017. The conference will introduce attendees to Blockchain powered solutions in 8 vital industries: payments & remittances, internet of things, content distribution, energy, intellectual property, supply chain, insurance, and digital identity. The conference will feature 19 speakers who are leaders in the Blockchain industry and provide several networking events for attendees to mingle and discuss all things Blockchain. See more at http://events.cointelegraph.com/
For more information contact


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The two divine kweens of Korea ~Narsha & Eunjung~ have emerged as the two standout stars of Seoul Fashion Week according to every single media outlet in Asia.
Natural beauty Narsha played up her image as Korea’s No. 1 cougar by wearing a sheer shirt-dress underneath a vintage girdle and suspenders. It was an outfit that expressed the duality of the Brown Eyed Girls legend, with the white colouring representing her God-like divinity and purity, while the sheer material and suggestive suspenders referenced her lustful, passionate side.
Meanwhile, over at the exclusive A-list Sue Comma Bonnie event, world-renowned singer and actress Eunjung embraced her lesbianism by wearing a chic masculine ensemble of a white shirt and grey trousers. As K-pop’s representative LGBT idol, it was a concept that only she could pull off.
Following their fashion slayage, it’s now rumoured that Anna Wintour is considering the stylish pair for the next American Vogue cover.
An insider from Wintour’s entourage exclusively revealed, “After destroying Vogue’s reputation with the tacky Kimye cover, Anna is now scrambling for a quick-fix solution to turn the magazine back into the prestigious luxury brand that it once was. She’s been desperately scouring the globe for fresh cover stars that can embody the elegance and sophistication that Vogue was once known for, and she feels that there’s no one out there that can do it better than Narsha and Eunjung.”
In other news, 2NE1 was reportedly banned from every single Fashion Week event after they refused to wear anything but Jeremy Scott.
[Pics T-ara World]


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Do you remember Shantae, the dancing half-genie with a peppy attitude that just can’t be put down? If you do, you’ll be pleasantly surprised to hear that developer WayForward Technologies has revealed new promotional art for the upcoming latest entry in the Shantae series, Shantae: Half-Genie Hero, which was successfully funded on Kickstarter back in 2013.
This new art was the result of a collaboration between Half-Genie Hero artist Matt Bozon and KOU, the artist for the last Shantae Game, Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse. It will be used in all future promotional events for Half-Genie Hero.
There’s also a new backer poll on the horizon. Actually, it’s already here! Last year, Half-Genie Hero’s Kickstarter backers helped the game reach its stretch goals; the $800,000 stretch goal reward was a new chapter titled “Fire and Forget.” In this storyline, Shantae gets replaced by an unnamed genie with a stuck-up and generally nasty attitude. WayForward has asked backers of the game to vote for the genie’s appearance from the below three designs:
If you’re a backer and have an account on the WayForward discussion forums, you can view the poll here.
Finally, WayForward has announced that they have plans for physical retail releases of Shantae: Half-Genie Hero. However, they are currently in search of a new publisher for the retail release.
We’ve received a ton of requests for physical versions of Shantae. Thing is, WayForward is a game developer and a digital publisher – but not an authorized retail publisher. In order to make physical copies of our games for stores, or distribute games in certain countries, console manufacturers require us to work with an authorized publishing partner. You’ve seen us do this before; Square Enix published LIT for WiiWare in Japan, Capcom distributed the original Shantae cartridge in the US, and more recently Intergrow released the boxed version of Pirate’s Curse in Japan for Nintendo 3DS.
Due to the success of Half-Genie Hero’s Kickstarter campaign – and the positive support from fans and press – we’ve been able to enter into discussions with top tier publishers to do the same for Half-Genie Hero.
Though any agreement for a physical release will not impact the game’s content in any way, WayForward has stated that they won’t be able to offer physical copies to backers.
Shantae: Half-Genie Hero is the latest installment in the long-running Shantae series, which is known for offering lighthearted, simple platforming and exploratory romps through various locales as the titular Shantae. Half-Genie Hero aims to take the series to a whole new level by offering updated graphics, new storylines, and new playable characters from Shantae’s eccentric, yet lovable, cast of friends.
No release date has yet been announced for Shantae: Half-Genie Hero, which will release on PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. WayForward has stated, though, that they have big announcements for the game at this year’s E3, which is right around the corner. Stay tuned for more updates!


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Yes, DirecTV’s NFL Sunday Ticket is having issues. Again. This time it’s a full-blown outage of the streaming service.
By the time the late afternoon NFL games were about to kick off, DirecTV said the problems were fixed. The DirecTV help desk posted on Twitter:
“Today’s NFL Sunday Ticket games have returned for streaming. We will continue to monitor, apologize for the inconvenience and thank our customers for their patience.”
EARLIER: As most of the early afternoon NFL games were ending, DirecTV acknowledged the issue. The company issued the following statement:
“We’re aware customers are temporarily unable to stream NFL Sunday Ticket through the app and will share more when we restore the programming.”
DirecTV Outage Lasted about 90 Minutes
It’s only week two of the NFL regular season. And DirecTV already is two for two on Sundays with a major glitch. This afternoon, subscribers got to watch games through the first quarter. Then came the system-wide outage. The Sunday Ticket viewers started complaining about issues in the second quarter.
Rather than game footage, fans suddenly started receiving “could not connect to server” error messages. DirecTV said it was working to correct the problem.
Last week, DirecTV issued an apology for the opening Sunday glitches. It said “NFLST fans: We fumbled the ball yesterday. We missed the opportunity to deliver an exciting day of football. If you were affected by the difficulties yesterday, we will reach out to make this right. We thank you for your patience while we work on this!”
NFL fans had a right to be angry with no football. DirecTV users pay $294 for the Sunday NFL Ticket package. By using the service, viewers can watch out-of-market NFL games.
“NFL Sunday Ticket” is a mainstay on DirecTV. It kicked off in 1994. However, the current contract ends at the close of the 2022 season. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell indicated that another provider will get the rights to telecast the out-of-market games. Apple, Amazon and Disney are all options. Amazon now owns the rights to Thursday Night Football. Its first game debuted this past Thursday.
Sunday’s outage lasted about 90 minutes.