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Berkshire Hathaway’s cash hoard keeps growing, topping $128 billion according to the company’s latest SEC filing. Now, we finally have an idea of what Warren Buffett has been thinking of doing with some of that money.
In a little-noticed announcement late Wednesday, Tech Data said it has agreed to be bought by private-equity firm Apollo Global Management for $145 a share, which values the tech company at about $5.14 billion, excluding debt. The deal was sweetened from Apollo’s previous bid of $130 a share, or just over $4.77 billion, after an unnamed suitor topped Apollo’s original offer.
The undisclosed competing suitor was none other than Berkshire Hathaway, CNBC has learned exclusively. Berkshire Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett said a week ago he bid $140 a share, or just over $5 billion excluding debt, for Tech Data.
Apollo’s latest offer topped Buffett’s bid, and was accepted by Tech Data as the better offer. Buffett said he does not intend to make a higher offer.
Tech Data is a global distributor of technology products and services. It supplies small companies with technology software and hardware made by large technology companies. It had $37 billion in revenue last year. About 16% of its sales come from Apple products, while products from Cisco and Hewlett Packard Enterprise make up about 11% each.
Tech Data currently has a market cap of $4.5 billion, and is trading at an all-time high. Its shares rose after the first bid from Apollo was made public. As part of the original deal with Apollo, Tech Data had a go-shop provision until Dec. 9, meaning another bidder could still come in with a higher offer before that date.
Warren Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Inc
The India Today Group | Getty Images
Buffett is not known for paying hefty premiums for his deals. In fact, some might even call him cheap. He’s also commented in recent years that the premium for buying companies outright has gotten too rich, because there is so much liquidity in the markets, and competition from private-equity companies and other players has pushed prices to extremes.
Buffett moved quickly on bid
But when Bank of America brought the go-shop provision from Apollo’s deal with Tech Data deal to his attention, he quickly swung into action.
Bank of America called Todd Combs, one of Berkshire investment managers, on Nov. 19.
By the next day, Buffett had decided he would be willing to offer up to $140 a share for the company, besting Apollo’s offer of $130 a share.
Two days after that, Berkshire Vice Chairman Greg Abel traveled to Clearwater, Florida, to meet with Tech Data management. The next day, Saturday, Berkshire formally made the offer of $140 a share for the company, streamlining the process by simply borrowing Apollo’s existing contract for Tech Data in large part, amending it only in a few areas, and on terms that would benefit Tech Data.
On Sunday evening, the Tech Data board approved Berkshire’s offer as a superior deal to Apollo’s original deal.
But by Wednesday, Apollo sweetened its offer to $145 a share, and Buffett bowed out of the bidding war.


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Samsung has put a unique spin on the trend of reaction videos for its Christmas campaign by taking its Gear VR technology to two remote tribes on opposite sides of the globe.
The technology giant met with members of a Maasai village in Kenya and a remote nomadic family in Mongolia to show them 360 content from stunning areas of the world that they have never seen.
The indigenous people were filmed trying the Gear VR headsets which showed them footage from around the world including surfing in Hawaii, paragliding across the Brazilian coast, skydiving in Dubai and swimming in the Great Barrier Reef.
A camera crew captured reactions as they watched the content and documented their emotional responses as well filming a Traditional Maasai warrior welcome dance using the Samsung Gear 360 camera.
Conor Pierce, vice president of IT and mobile for Samsung UK and Ireland, said: “Gear VR opens up a world of possibilities and has the potential to instantly transport you to new worlds and environments. We wanted to bring that transformative experience to two of the most remote communities in the world.
“The reactions from the nomadic herders of Mongolia and the Maasai people of East Africa have been amazing to watch and it is incredible to hear their feedback.”

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Had you put in $27 on Bitcoin when it was initially produced simply by Satoshi Nakamoto in last year your investment would likely presently be worth over $37, 000, 000.
Broadly regarded as the very best investment motor vehicle of all time, Bitcoin has noticed a out of this world rise throughout 2017 proceeding from $777 all this way to $17, 500.
Building wealthy out involving opportunistic traders and causing financial companies open-mouthed, Bitcoin has clarified its authorities at every milestone this specific year and some think this is just this beginning.
The kick off involving Bitcoin futures about December 10th, which initially may allow investors to enter the particular Bitcoin market by means of a significant regulated YOU exchange, implies that we will be just getting started.
Why is Bitcoin so valuable is there is a limited amount around. There is going to only ever be considered a top of 21 million Bitcoins and in contrast to normal volvo currencies you can’t simply print more of all of them whenever you seem like. This is because Bitcoin runs on a proof of work protocol: so that you can create the idea, you have to acquire it using computer cu power to solve complex codes within the Bitcoin blockchain. As soon as this is certainly achieved, you can be rewarded along with Bitcoin as payment for the “work” an individual have done. However this reward you get for mining has decreased significantly almost each year considering that Bitcoin’s creation, which means that for many individuals the just viable way to acquire Bitcoin is buying this on an exchange. With the present price levels is that a threat worthy of taking?
Many believe Bitcoin is simply a real estate. I spoke to cryptocurrency expert and long name individual Duke Randal that considers the asset is usually overvalued, “I would evaluate this particular to many give and demand bubbles around historical past such as Dutch Tulip Extravagancia and the particular dot com real estate involving the late 90s. Price ranges are purely supposition structured, and when you appear at Bitcoin’s usefulness like an actual foreign money its almost embarrassing. ” For all who don’t know, this scrap com bubble was the period between 1997-2001 exactly where many internet businesses have been founded and presented outrageously optimistic valuations centered solely on speculation the fact that after plummeted 80-90% because the bubble began to help collapse in the first 2000s. Some companies for example eBay and Amazon, saved and now sit way preceding those valuations but for others it was this end of the line.
Bitcoin was initially designed in order to get power away from our financial systems make people within control of their very own funds, cutting out the particular middle man plus allowing peer to peer transactions. On the other hand, it is right now one of the slowest cryptocurrencies on the market place, it has the purchase speed is definitely four occasions slower as compared to the fifth largest cryptocurrency and its nearest rival for payment solutions Litecoin. Untraceable privacy coin Monero makes transactions even faster, boasting an average mass moments of just two minutes, some sort of fifth of the time Bitcoin will go through successfully within, and that’s without anonymity. The world’s second most significant cryptocurrency, Ethereum, already possesses a higher transaction volume in comparison with Bitcoin despite being appreciated from only $676 us dollars per Ether compared to Bitcoin’s $16, 726 for every Bitcoin.
So why is Bitcoin’s value excessive? My spouse and i asked Duke Randal the same question. “It all of goes back to the same offer and requirement economics, somewhat there will be not very much Bitcoin available and its recent surge in cost has fascinated a lot of advertising attention, this combined having the kick off of Bitcoin futures which many see as the primary sign Bitcoin is being approved by the mass marketplace, offers resulted in a lot of people getting within the bandwagon for economical gain. Like any asset, when there is a bigger request to buy as compared to to sell, the purchase price will go up. This is poor because new shareholders can be getting into the market without having understanding blockchain and the underlying principles of such values meaning they are prone to get burnt”.
Another reason is always that Bitcoin is incredibly volatile, it has already been known to swing up or down thousands in less than a min which or even used for you to nor expecting it, reasons less experienced shareholders to be able to panic sell, producing around a loss. This can be one more reason Bitcoin is going to find it difficult to be adopted because a good form of repayment. The Bitcoin price can certainly move drastically between this time vendors take Bitcoin from customers and then sell this on to exchanges for local currency. This unpredictable movement can wipe out and about their entire productivity. Can this kind of instability go apart any time before long? Definitely not likely: Bitcoin is some sort of relatively new asset class in addition to despite the fact that awareness is raising, solely some sort of very smaller percentage in the world’s inhabitants hold Bitcoin. Until this gets to be more widely sent out and its liquidity enhances appreciably, the volatility is going to carry on.
So if Bitcoin is pretty unproductive simply because a good actual foreign money, just what are its applications? Quite a few consider Bitcoin has advanced from being a practical form of payment to becoming a retail outlet of worth. https://ccminer.cc/ is like “digital gold” and will just be applied as a good benchmark for other cryptocurrencies and blockchain tasks to be able to be measured against in addition to traded for. Not too long ago there are testimonies of people around large inflation countries such as Mvuma, zimbabwe buying Bitcoin in order to keep hold of what wealth they have rather then see its benefit fall under the recklessness of their central savings system.
Could it be too delayed to get involved around Bitcoin? If you believe in what these kinds of cryptocurrencies will do for typically the planet then it will be in no way already happened to obtain involved, but with the expense of Bitcoin being so excessive is definitely it a vessel for some who has already sailed. You might end up being best having a glance at Litecoin, up 6908% for the year or even Ethereum which is upward a wonderful 7521% for the particular year. These kind of newer, speedier currencies hope to achieve what exactly Bitcoin first set out to do back in its inception in 2009 in addition to substitute government run fusca currencies.


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Minister McConalogue announces issuing of Areas of Natural Constraint Scheme balancing payments
The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, T.D., today announced the commencement of balancing payments for the 2022 Areas of Natural Constraints (ANC) scheme.
The Minister stated that:
“The ANC Scheme is an important support for farmers in many regions of the country and the issue of these balancing payments on time reflects the recognition by the Government of this. The total paid to-date under the 2022 ANC Scheme amounts to some €239 million paid to 95,000 farmers. In the region of €42 million will issue to farmers as part of this balancing run of payments.
The Minister concluded,
“The timely processing of scheme payments remains a key priority for me and my Department. I know how crucial payments are, especially at this time of the year. I urge any farmer with outstanding queries to respond to the Department as soon as possible to facilitate payment”.
Regular payment runs will continue to be made under the 2022 ANC scheme as further cases are cleared for payment.
Farmers wishing to contact the Department regarding their ANC payment, can ring the Direct Payments Helpline at 057-8674422. Farmers can also submit any queries they may have online via agfood.ie, where a detailed breakdown of payments can also be accessed.


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Doctor Answers Questions About Growing Industry
Increasingly, older Americans are looking in the mirror and unhappy with what they see: Scars, skin laxity, wrinkles, moles, liver spots, excess fat, cellulite, unwanted hair, skin discoloration, and spider veins top the list of complaints. As skin worries grow, so have new ways to treat them (think Botox) and new places to seek help. Once mainly the purview of dermatologists and plastic surgeons, only a few hours of television will bombard you with ads for clinics, fat farms, body contouring and even vaginal rejuvenation. There is a parade of new skin care products, new businesses such as medispas and doctors changing their specialties.
Nowadays, these medical procedures — surgical and less invasive — are lumped under the term “medical aesthetics,” and an estimated 20 million procedures were performed worldwide in 2014–15.
As a physician who has now shifted her attention to skin and medical aesthetics in recent years, Bellingham’s Dr. Tianna Tsitsis has had a close-up look at this trend and what it means for aging Americans. In her introductory column for the magazine, Dr. Tsitsis answers some fundamental questions about this emerging field:
WHAT IS MEDICAL AESTHETICS?
Medical aesthetics is a term for specialties that focus on improving the appearance of aging skin through the treatment of conditions such as scars, skin laxity, wrinkles, moles, liver spots, excess fat, cellulite, unwanted hair, skin discoloration, and spider ve ins. Recently, body contouring, platelet-rich plasma treatments and vaginal rejuvenation have been added to the plethora of procedures included under this heading.
HISTORY OF MEDICAL AESTHETICS
Medical spas, also known as medispas, started in the early 2000s and have increased dramatically in the past 10 years. The industry’s popularity has been driven by numerous factors: an aging population’s demand for appearance-enhancing procedures, an increasing number of physicians performing them, increased use of antiaging skin care products by younger generations, and the failure of over-the-counter cosmetic products producing results. Instead of surgical facelifts, less-invasive procedures to smooth wrinkles and tighten skin have come from technological improvements in laser and light procedures. Older people in the workforce want to look younger, but don’t want to take time off from their jobs.
WHO IS DOING THIS?
For some, having work done lost its shame years ago. According to the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery, in 2014 more than 52 percent of people surveyed were considering some kind of aesthetic procedure, up 30 percent from just two years prior. In the U.S. alone, more than 15.5 million cosmetic, minimally invasive procedures were done in 2016, a 3 percent increase from the year before, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons survey. Not limited to women, there was a 25 percent increase in male aesthetic procedures performed between 2014–15, according to the ASPS.
The ASPS estimates that $13.5 billion was spent on cosmetic procedures in the U.S. alone in 2015. With numerous websites like RealSelf.com, magazines like New Beauty and TV shows (Botched and Extreme Makeover), the industry has become part of the media culture.
Not long ago, only plastic surgeons and dermatologists were trained appropriately. Now, doctors in other specialties such as internal medicine and family practice have been getting certified.
WHAT ARE THE POPULAR PROCEDURES BEING DONE TODAY?
Per the American Society of Plastic Surgeons in 2016, the most popular surgical procedures remain breast augmentation, liposuction, nose reshaping, eyelid surgery, and facelifts. Among non-surgical (hence noninvasive) procedures, Botox is the number one aesthetic procedure done in the world. This is followed closely by fillers, laser hair removal, chemical peels, microdermabrasion, photo facials and skin resurfacing. As stated above, platelet rich plasma treatments are becoming popular, especially since Kim Kardashian had a video done while she was having a facial using her own platelets. Laser vaginal rejuvenation is one of the fastest growing procedures now available because it offers a non-invasive option to those many women who are unhappy with their sexual function. In future articles, we will examine details regarding these and other popular treatments. Stay tuned.
Dr. Tianna Tsitsis is a triple-board-certified physician with a special interest in skin aesthetics. She opened RejuvenationMD in 2014.


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The grocery list on your refrigerator door may become a thing of the past for some shoppers in Charlottetown.
On Wednesday, the Atlantic Superstore in West Royalty became Loblaw’s first store on the Island to offer an online grocery ordering and pick-up service.
“This is the wave of the future, right? Some people like the option,” said Mark Boudreau, director of corporate affairs for Loblaw Atlantic.
“I will say that one of the important things is this isn’t really meant to replace going in to get your groceries. A lot of people actually like going into the stores. Maybe they want to talk to our dietician or they want to use our community room or they like the sampling. This is sort of another option for them,” he said.
On the first day, the store already had online orders to fill and customers coming to pick them up.
People register for the online service for free at www.atlanticsuperstore.ca. Once there, they select a time slot to pick up their order and then start selecting items for their virtual grocery cart. They can search for items or browse an aisle. Nutrition facts on items are displayed for the customer.
When it is time to pick up the order, drivers pull up to two designated areas marked with orange signs by the store’s entrance. An employee brings out the order, and then the customer pays with visa, debit, cash or another method. Customers are charged a $3 or $5 pick up fee on each order for the service depending on the day and time slot, according to the website.
Boudreau notes that people can be personal about some of their groceries, such as a preference for green bananas or steak with marbling. Boudreau said those preference can be included in an order to help the personal shoppers who select the items get the order right.
“Each order can be very intricate,” he said.
The online service requires between five to eight staff at each store. About half of that staff will be filled from existing employees, he said.
“It’s like the best job ever,” he said.
If a customer isn’t satisfied with an item, Boudreau said they can return it. As well, if they are unable to pick up their order at a specified time, they can either cancel the order or the store will hold on to it for a few days. Prior to delivery, the orders are kept in a holding area that has refrigeration compartments to keep some of the items fresh.
On April 18, the online service is launching in Montague and Summerside. Charlottetown’s 465 University Ave. location is scheduled to begin the service on May 9.
By the end of May, Boudreau said all of the Superstores in Atlantic Canada will be ready to offer the online service.


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Drinks welfare charities have raised concerns that the death of Queen Elizabeth II could lead to a huge surge in unwanted bottles of her favourite drink.
‘Millions of people went out at the weekend and bought a bottle of Dubonnet so they could make the Queen’s signature gin and Dubonnet cocktail,’ said Aravinder Playtex of the Bottle Rehoming Association (BRA).
‘But not all of those bottles will be wanted or needed in the future.
‘In fact, given the taste of Dubonnet, we’d expect none of them will be.’
BRA fears says that many impulse buyers will fall out of love with their new purchase once they realise the scale of commitment required.
‘A lot of these people will never have owned a fortified wine before,’ said Playtex. ‘So they’ll have no idea how to look after it.
‘You have to remember, the Queen was an experienced Dubonnet owner. She knew what she was doing. But if you’ve never drunk this stuff before it can be a real shock to realise that bottles need taking out on a regular basis if you’re ever going to finish them.’
BRA says that its inspectors regularly come across bottles of Dubonnet that are just a few weeks old, but are already stuffed at the back of the drinks cupboard with the pisco.
‘Some of the lucky ones might end up being given to a bar for rehoming,’ said Playtex, but quite a few could just end up being dumped down the sink. It’s such a senseless waste.’
BRA says that members of the public with unwanted bottles should hold onto them until Christmas, then give them to a trained professional who will humanely destroy them by turning them into mulled wine.
Low intervention… high hopes
However, while Dubonnet is struggling with the loss of its biggest customer, low-intervention wine producers are eyeing the future with optimism.
‘Charles has a long track record of supporting things that are incredibly traditional – even old-fashioned,’ said Royal watcher Deferentia Flunkey. ‘Whether that’s architecture, food production or, indeed, the monarchy itself.
‘So I’m sure he’ll be open to giving natural wines a Royal Warrant for the first time.’
The late Queen never awarded a Royal Warrant to natural wines on the grounds that ‘most of them are as hard to swallow as having to host Donald Trump for the evening.’
But producers are optimistic that her son’s famed eco-activism could work in their favour.
‘I’ve been making fizzy brown Bacchus for ten years,’ said Manny Foltz of Bandwagon winery. ‘When we presented it for the late Queen’s approval they threatened to lock us in the Tower of London, but we think Charles could be more open to what we do.
‘Just like his Duchy Originals products my wines are organic, small-scale – and unaffordably expensive for no apparent reason.’
Click here to remember the late Queen’s platinum jubilee – recorded in drinks milestones


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A group of bikers riding ofo bicycles pass by Chang’an Avenue, Beijing, on March 10. [Photo/China Daily]
China’s sharing economy will maintain a high 40 percent annual growth rate in the coming years, according to estimates in a report released by the State Information Center.
The report, released by the center’s sharing economy research branch, predicted the sharing economy’s transaction volume will account for over 10 percent of the country’s GDP by 2020, and that the ratio will continue to grow to roughly 20 percent by 2025.
China’s fast-growing sharing economy will likely generate five to ten business giants in different sectors over the next decade, according to the report.
More individuals as well as more small and medium-sized enterprises will get involved in the sharing economy and benefit from it.
The report said the new mode of operation brought about by the sharing economy will penetrate various fields, including products, services, capital, knowledge and skills, as well as production capacity. Among them, the sharing of manufacturing capability will be a crucial area amid China’s industrial upgrading boom.
“The first aspect is urbanization, which will boost demand for services as more people live in urban areas. The second aspect is an aging population, as elderly people could have more idle resources, skills and experience to share. The third aspect is the popularization of the sharing economy,” said Yao Yudong, head of the People’s Bank of China’s Research Institute of Finance.
The State Council issued guidelines that by 2025 the government should promote manufacturing resources and internet platform docking for SMEs. The guidelines encouraged the government to establish a sharing economy platform to further optimize and integrate market information and production capacity.
At present, sharing within the manufacturing industry is still in its infancy, but is expected to witness explosive growth in the next few years, according to the report.
By 2020, service providers in the sharing economy are projected to exceed 100 million, with up to 20 million participating full time. The development of the sharing economy will be an effective measure to neutralize the job squeeze effect resulting from slowing economic growth and technological advancement.
Statistics from the report show that the transaction volume of China’s sharing economy in 2016 reached 3.45 trillion yuan ($503 billion), up 103 percent on a year-on-year basis.
During the past year, 600 million people were involved in China’s sharing economy, surging by 100 million from 2015. Among them, the number of service providers reached 60 million, 10 million more than the previous year. Sharing economy platforms created 5.85 million jobs, up 850,000 on a year-on-year basis.
“Despite the significant progress made in the sharing economy, the problems coming out should not be neglected,” said Zhao Ying, a researcher at the Beijing-based Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Zhao said excessive administrative intervention, such as restrictions on use of users’ residences and the vehicle access period for car-sharing services, could affect the growth of the sharing economy.
Some existing laws and regulations are no longer suitable for the new business model and therefore new rules should be enacted, he said.


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Business & Finance
US Airways said it would seek $950 million in wage and benefit concessions from employees and $1 billion in federally backed loans, in a last-ditch bid to avoid bankruptcy. The loan guarantees were approved by Congress to aid airlines in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. US Airways, which reportedly has the highest-paid workers in the industry, posted a $2 billion loss in 2001.
Schering-Plough Corp. agreed to a record fine of $500 million by the Food and Drug Administration after its four main production plants repeatedly failed quality-control inspections. Under a settlement subject to approval by a federal judge, Kenilworth, N.J.-based Schering-Plough also agreed to more rigorous monitoring at the facilities in New Jersey and Puerto Rico. Schering-Plough makes drugs such as Claritin and Clarinex as well as Coppertone and Bain de Soleil skin-tanning products.
A takeover of Napster, the online music-swapping service, by German multimedia giant Bertelsmann will take place after all, the latter announced. The deal appeared dead last Thursday, but by Friday the two sides OK'd an agreement that will pay Napster's creditors $8 million in exchange for the California-based website becoming a wholly owned subsidiary. Bertelsmann also will forgive an $85 million loan, and Napster's founder and chief executive will rejoin the company after quitting when the buyout appeared to collapse. Napster, which has been offline since last July, will file for bankruptcy protection as soon as this week but may yet have to compensate recording labels and publishers suing it for copyright infringement.
BellSouth Corp. said it would cut 5,000 more jobs as it seeks to remain competitive. The US's third-largest local phone-service provider laid off 4,200 workers at the end of last year.
Home Shopping Network said it will pull the plug on its Spanish-language service because of a too-low sales volume. A senior executive said the company discovered that Spanish-speaking viewers largely preferred to place orders through the network's English-language channel. The closure will affect 75 employees at Home Shopping Español in St. Petersburg, Fla., although a third of them will be offered transfers elsewhere in the company.


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The Bureau of Economic Analysis updated last quarter’s economic growth number, and it looks like the economy is expanding faster than the agency initially estimated:
And if you strip out all the goods sitting around in warehouses and stock rooms to just look at goods sold, the situation looks even better:
It also looks like non-housing investment is getting back to normal:
The numbers are better than many anticipated—the consensus held that GDP was actually going to be revised downward. If this pattern continues, the Federal Reserve might face even more pressure to raise interest rates in the earlier part of next year than economists are already expecting.


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Last week, IBM announced an agreement to acquire NoSQL database as a service vendor Cloudant for an undisclosed sum. An active contributor to the Apache CouchDB project, Cloudant delivers a JSON document database-based platform that claims high availability, scalability and elasticity amongst its attributes. Cloudant customers can take advantage of its JSON-based database as a service to store and mine structured and unstructured data from a variety of sources. Because the JSON database format is so widely used by developers of mobile and web applications, IBM’s acquisition of Cloudant stands to strengthen its positioning with respect to the development of applications for mobile devices in conjunction with the build out of its OpenStack-based cloud solution for the enterprise. The acquisition of Cloudant will be central to IBM’s MobileFirst solutions as well as its Worklight application for developing mobile applications. From an industry perspective, the acquisition represents a huge coup for the NoSQL space in general. CouchDB has historically not had the traction of MongoDB, Cassandra and Couchbase, so we should expect brand name tech companies to make similar offerings for the likes of MongoDB in the ensuing few months. Moreover, IBM’s acquisition of Cloudant testifies to the increasing emergence of cloud and big data behemoths with solutions for both hosting infrastructure, as well as database solutions that accommodate enterprise needs for scalability and the ability to store unstructured data. Cloudant CEO Derek Schoettle surmised the significance of Cloudant’s contribution to IBM’s SoftLayer cloud platform as follows:
Cloudant’s decision to join IBM highlights that the next wave of enterprise technology innovation has moved beyond infrastructure and is now happening at the data layer. Our relationship with IBM and SoftLayer has evolved significantly in recent years, with more connected devices generating data at an unprecedented rate. Cloudant’s NoSQL expertise, combined with IBM’s enterprise reliability and resources, adds data layer services to the IBM portfolio that others can’t match.
Schoettle notes that IBM is extending its infrastructure innovations to the “data layer” and as such, follows in the footsteps of Amazon Web Services and EMC/VMware spin-off Pivotal, which similarly deliver a combination of cloud and big data solutions in their platform and product offerings. The notable consequence of this convergence of cloud and big data product offerings is that only large enterprises with the requisite capital and resources can afford to cobble together combined cloud-big data product offerings. As a result, cloud startups and smaller data vendors will need to continue to compete by way of their agility, responsiveness, consultative support and superior technology. In effect, the IBM acquisition of Cloudant signals a Walmart effect in technology, of sorts, whereby large, well capitalized vendors have the ability to create marts of diverse data and analytics products that threaten the viability of cloud, big data and analytics startups in the same way that massive retailers such as Walmart threaten the viability of independent stores or small chains. Oracle’s recent acquisition of Blue Kai, a big data management platform geared toward marketing, constitutes another example of the way in which tech giants are continuing to integrate diverse data products into increasingly heterogeneous product portfolios. The question that remains unanswered, however, is whether the emerging Walmart technology maze is sufficiently easy to navigate that enterprises opt to partner either with one vendor for all of their technology needs, or whether they feel more comfortable shopping from a diverse range of technology vendors in order to avoid vendor lock-in and locate products that richly respond to the specificities of their industry-vertical and customer needs.


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It’s back-to-school shopping season, and not simply for moms and dads. A tremendous 98 percent of instructors are accountable for buying their own class products without being repaid, the New york city Times reported And it’s no little amount: Educators who needed to purchase their own products invested approximately $479 of their own cash to equip their class, according to the very same short article.
Crowdfunding websites like Donors Pick have actually offered instructors with an option for raising the cash they require for products, and this year, Courtney Jones, a primary school instructor in Texas, is making it even easier for individuals to support teachers.
Last month, Smith introduced a social networks project by means of the hashtag #clearthelists, offering the general public the chance to contribute cash and products to instructors throughout the nation. “What it is is a lot of instructors who initially got together to support other instructors by gifting each other things off of our Amazon desire lists,” she states in a video launched on YouTube about the task.
How to contribute
If instructors are not sure about how to produce an Amazon desire list, Jones has an explainer video for that also. When instructors have actually developed their list, they can share it on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter utilizing the #clearthelists hashtag.
If you have an interest in assisting, simply look for #clearthelists on social networks, discover an instructor’s project, and contribute away. You do not always need to clear an instructor’s whole list yourself: Getting even one product can make a huge distinction.


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I am touring the San Antonio Food Bank, a giant warehouse that collects donated provisions and distributes them to homeless shelters and soup kitchens, when something catches my eye – an entire aisle stacked with pet foods. Is a can of Whiskas all that stands between survival and starvation for some?
The explanation is slightly different. Soon after the recession set in the volunteers here noticed that growing numbers of people in need, particularly the elderly, were deciding to go hungry before their pooches. If giving them free pet food meant they’d stop skimping on their own groceries, that made sense.
America is turning to mush when it comes to its animal companions. We all know about the pet spas of Manhattan and Malibu. But that this country has gone pet gaga was brought home when I spotted some numbers shared by the American Pet Products Association (Appa) at this month’s World Pet Expo in Orlando. Last year, it claimed, Americans spent $55.7bn (£33.5bn) on their friends finned, furry and feathered, 4.5 per cent up on 2012. That includes buying them in the first place, feeding them, spoiling them with toys and grooming and paying for their medical well-being.
As Time magazine noted under the headline “Holy Shih Tzu”, that is more than Germany’s entire defence budget and equivalent to the entire gross domestic product of Croatia.
“People are pampering their pets more than ever,” said Bob Vetere, the president and CEO of the Appa, which is based in Greenwich, Connecticut. Owners, he explained, are spending their scant dollars on everything “from interactive and innovative toys to dog walking, doggy day-care and pet-friendly hotels, restaurants and airlines” .Yes, Mr Romney, next time you run out of car space [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitt_Romney_dog_incident] you might want to look up Pet Airways, a Florida-based carrier for cats and canines.
As the San Antonio Food Bank knows, this is a category of spending that seems to be recession-proof. A separate report from the US Labour Department last year pegged annual national expenditure on pets at a yet more shocking $61bn.
Theories abound as to why reason is going the way of used kitty-litter. One is the demographic bulge of baby-boomers, whose children have fled the nest and who are craving company. Another is research suggesting that owning a pet is good for our own health. It also appears that as more of us attempt to adopt more healthy diets, so we conclude that our pets deserve the same, hence the ever-expanding and ever more expensive array of choices in the pet section of supermarkets. When I recently deposited our pug with a dog kennel in Manhattan for a night, I was scolded for what I had been buying him. “It’s as if you are feeding him McDonald’s every day,” the owner exclaimed. Humiliated, I switched to a fancier brand.
Even at 10, our little chap shows terrific health and we have never considered health insurance for him (monthly premiums would start at $120). He is likewise calm of demeanour verging on comatose so we aren’t among the 2.8 million Americans who are giving their dogs anxiety pills such as Prozac every day. Seriously. However, guilt is setting in so I am wondering about giving him a weekend at one of those doggy spas. I like the sound of a place called the Fetch Club in Manhattan which describes itself as a doggy hotel complete with doggy restaurant and doggy gym with special doggy treadmills. The treadmills, the website says, “come with individual LCD televisions”. I wonder what channel he’d watch. Human Planet?
I don’t see rates on the site but I’m sure that buying him a 48-hour spa and exercise package at Fetch would put us firmly in the mainstream of American pet-spending quotients – extravagant verging on barking.
- The article first appeared in The Independent on 19 March 2014 and is republished here with permission.
Society Matters' editor Dick Skellington adds:
UK pet expenditure is at least £14.9bn a year. It seems pets remain a priority despite austerity and cutsand the UK pet industry appears relatively recession proof.
This blog post is part of Society Matters. The blog seeks to inform, stimulate and challenge our understanding of this changing world and of our humbling role within it.
Want to know more about studying social sciences at The Open University? Visit the Social Sciences faculty site.
Please note: The opinions expressed in Society Matters posts are those of the individual authors, and do not represent the views of The Open University.


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Alcoholic Beverage Control suspended the Safeway store’s license after it sold alcohol to minors three times within two weeks.
The West Oakland-based brewery aims to open the Laurel District taproom for takeout sales in February.
For $50, the Berkeley-based sake brewery gives attendees five different sakes and a one-hour live Zoom lesson on drinking and pairing sakes.
Buck Wild Brewing Taproom is a partnership between California’s first gluten-free brewery and Kitava, a San Francisco-based ‘clean food’ restaurant.
Chef Leilani Baugh returns to her childhood neighborhood with her signature Southern-Asian comfort food, a diversity of wines and a strong Oakland spirit and hustle.
Wildfire smoke and pandemic closures of tasting rooms have challenged Berkeley’s urban wineries, but many are finding ways to cope.
High-end coffee companies that prioritize equity on a global level are looking closer to home to resolve racial bias in the coffee world.
Malaya Tea Room in Alameda offers a spot of tea to go, with eats like rendang chickpea sandwiches, pandan chiffon cake and scones with katsuri lime curd.
Before COVID-19, Blindwood depended on keg sales, but since selling directly to customers online, it’s found a new local community of fans.
We spoke with four nightclub and bar owners about their strategies for safely serving up drinks and food and fun.
We checked in with 7 watering holes to see how they’ve been faring during the crisis.
These easy-drinking East Bay-made craft brews make a no-brainer gift for beer-loving dads.


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Samsung has admitted that the Galaxy S10 model has a defect that allows all fingerprints to unlock the devices when a gel film on the screen is applied to them and does not have to be "special" – it costs £ 2.7 on websites. such as eBay (equivalent to 3.13 euros). The error was discovered by a British user when her husband was able to unlock the smartphone with an unregistered fingerprint.
According to BBC the brand has already promised an update to solve the problem, although At the launch of the model in March this year, the on-screen fingerprint authentication system was a highlight of the presentation.
KaKao Bank, a South Korean online bank, suggested that all users turn off this option until the technology releases the software update that solves the problem. The English channel also reports that there had previously been situations where some screensavers were not compatible with Samsung models, leaving a small air gap that disturbed the sensor reading the user's commands.


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While most rumors point to the iPhone 13 range being a small upgrade on the iPhone 12 series, there could be big changes planned for the iPhone 14 range, including a new 48MP camera.
That’s according to Ming-Chi Kuo (an analyst with a great track record on Apple information) in a research note seen by iMore. The note says that this camera (which is up from just 12MP on the iPhone 12 range) will also be capable of recording 8K video, up from just 4K currently.
According to Kuo, this camera upgrade is destined for the “high-end” models, suggesting that only the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max will get it.
- The Sony Xperia 1 III has landed
- Read our full iPhone 12 Pro review
- These are the best iPhones
No more minis
That’s not the only big change that might be coming though, as Kuo also says that there won’t be an iPhone 14 mini. Instead, there will apparently be an extra 6.7-inch model.
So if this is correct you’ll be able to buy a 6.1-inch iPhone 14, a 6.1-inch iPhone 14 Pro, a 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Max (or whatever Apple decides to call this new model), and a 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Pro Max.
It’s expected that there will be an iPhone 13 mini, but it sounds like that might be the final mini model. This isn’t totally surprising though, as reports have long suggested the iPhone 12 mini hasn’t met Apple’s sales expectations, and there’s always potentially new iPhone SE models for those who want a compact handset.
Looking further ahead, Kuo reiterates claims that the iPhone 15 range in 2023 might have a periscope camera, offering a more long-distance optical zoom. He also states that these phones might have under-display Face ID, presumably a bit like the under-display selfie camera we’ve seen on the ZTE Axon 20 5G. That in turn suggests the iPhone 15 might not have a notch.
If this all pans out then the iPhone models launching in 2022 and 2023 could be very exciting, it’s just a shame the ones landing this year might only be small upgrades.
- Grab some of the best iPhone apps


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Aston Martin and Bentley will not participate in Geneva in 2021March 30, 2020
The Geneva motor show in 2020 was canceled due to the spread of the coronavirus, but some brands are going to miss it in 2021.
The new virus caused the cancellation of the Geneva motor show this year, but this could change the attitude of car makers to auto shows in the future. According to the agency Autocar, Aston Martin and Bentley will not participate in the Geneva auto show in 2021. According to Adrian Hallmark, head of Bentley, the corporation is not required to attend such events, and Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer has expressed support for his colleague.
It should be emphasized that in 2020 both Aston Martin and Bentley were going to organize a presentation of new roadsters at the Geneva auto show, but as a result, their shows took place online.
Apparently, automakers plan to extend this practice to the upcoming new model. Nevertheless, almost 20 years remained until Geneva 2021, so British brands may well change their plans.
- Peugeot entered the top 50 most beloved French companies
- Nissan Note 2021 showed from all sides before the premiere
- Almost nothing left: Tesla Model 3 after collision with a tree crumbled to pieces
- Hyundai will help British billionaire revive Defender
- Rivian has already sold out the first series of its electric vehicles


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Six alleged cyber fraudsters have been charged in New York over their their roles in a global scheme that saw eBay-owned auction site StubHub defrauded out of at least US$1 million.
The six men have been indicted in connection with an international scheme that involved hacking into more than 1600 StubHub accounts and using the pre-existing payment card information tied to each account to purchase thousands of tickets to popular events, which were later resold.
As a result of the scheme, StubHub was defrauded out of more than US$1 million, Cyrus Vance, district attorney (DA) for Manhattan, announced today.
He said defendants in the United States, United Kingdom, Russia and Canada have been charged in New York State Supreme Court.
Vadim Polyakov and Nikolay Mateychuk, both from Russia, used payment card data and other information from StubHub accounts to purchase more than 3500 e-tickets to popular events.
Polyakov and Mateychuk then sent the tickets to Daniel Petryszyn, Laurence Brinkmeyer and Bryan Caputo in New York and New Jersey, who resold the tickets just hours before each respective event and divided the proceeds into PayPal accounts controlled by Polyakov, as well as other bank accounts in the UK and Germany.
Sergei Kirin, from Russia, controlled one of those bank accounts, and laundered the money for a pro-rata fee, according to the DA.
StubHub learned and reported in March 2013 that more than a thousand accounts had been compromised and the associated payment card data was used to purchase tickets.
Despite an attempt to implement security measures, the gang was able to “circumvent security protocols within the accounts by using new credit card information stolen from additional victims,” Vance's office said.
Analysts in the DA's office traced the exchanges to IP addresses, PayPal accounts and other financial accounts used by the indicted individuals following an investigation of receipts and transaction records of the compromised accounts.
Polyakov was arrested in Spain on July 3 by Spanish law enforcement working with the United States Secret Service. Warrants were issued this week to search the residences of Petryszyn, Brinkmeyer and Caputo. Further arrests were made in England and Toronto under suspicion of money laundering tied to the case.
“It is important to note, there have been no intrusions into StubHub technical or financial systems,” StubHub said in a statement.
“Legitimate customer accounts were accessed by cyber criminals who had obtained the customers' valid login and password either through data breaches of other businesses, or through the use of keyloggers and/or other malware on the customers' PC.”


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How we can surprise a tourist who comes to the respectable Emirates? Perhaps, one of the most vivid impressions is a lot of expensive cars, as if descended from the catalogs of the world's leading concerns.
30 October 2019
Claim with a limitation: the British has told about adventures
A few days ago the former British politician David Ballantin has told the public in what the attempt of "free" travel by the taxi of Dubai has cost him.
23 October 2019
For illegal resale put in prison
Numerous motorists of the Emirates discuss the high-profile criminal case concerning plunder and illegal implementation of a private property.
22 October 2019
New, Dh1.2b mall rising in Dubai
Construction of Nakheel Mall, the Dh1.2 billion retail and entertainment destination at the heart of Palm Jumeirah, is now 85 per cent complete, with fit out also under way at major outlets at the mall, master developer Nakheel said on Monday


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NEW YORK -- Calvin Klein has a new advertising campaign for his Escape men's and women's fragrances. It will be the driving force behind an introduction of body products in the U.S. this fall and a 12-country rollout in Europe.
Sarah Jessica Parker and Alexander McQueen at the 2006 Met Gala. With the big day just around the corner, we're taking a look back at the most memorable designer and celebs #MetGala moments. See more on WWD.com. (📷: @jimiceleste)


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Netflix to offer 48 hours free access starting December 4
Netflix is now testing another promotional offer to attract Indian users. The company has decided to offer 48 hours of free access under a promotional offer ‘StreamFest.’
Most notable thing is that it won’t ask users to register or enter payment details for this free access. That means there is no way Netflix can charge after this promotional access ends. During the period, the entire catalog of the movies, programs will be available for free. Netflix will see how this goes and will make other plans based on this test.
The company has already revoked the 1-month free trial in India. Now it asks users to buy a subscription to get access to content and avail free month.
“An idea we’re excited about – and we’ll see how it goes, we think that giving everyone in the country access to Netflix for free for a weekend could be a great way to expose a bunch of new people to the amazing stories that we have. Really creating an event, and hopefully get a bunch of those folks to sign up,” Netflix COO Greg Peters said in an interview after the company’s Q3 2020 results
A few weeks back, Netflix also made some movies and shows free for non-subscribers. This new offer is just an extension of the same test. The company wants users to see what they are missing if they don’t have a Netflix subscription.
Netflix reported very poor numbers in India for the September quarter. It didn’t manage to add many new subscribers. So the company is now trying different ways to boost the subscriber base in the country. India is a big country in terms of population. Even a small portion of the Indian population can be a big number for the company.
Netflix boasts 195 million subscribers globally but Indian subscribers are less than 3 million. On the other hand, both Disney +Hotstar and Amazon Prime Video have close to 10 million subscribers.
Pricing is the main reason why Netflix is failing to attract users in India. Disney+Hotstar offers VIP subscription at Rs. 399 and Premium at Rs. 1499. Prime Video subscription is available at Rs 999 for a year. Netflix has three plans costing Rs. 499, Rs. 649 and Rs. 799 per month. That’s the reason people hesitate to pay. There are also several other OTT platforms including ZEE5, SonyLiv & Voot in India offering cheap subscriptions.
Last year, Netflix announced to spend Rs 3,000 crore of Indian content by the end of 2020. The company used this fund in promotional offers and in acquiring rights for exclusive Indian content.
Piracy is another big reason why people avoid paying to Netflix. Netflix plans are not considered affordable by most Indians. When they get access to interesting content via Torrents, they download and watch instead of paying. Several users also share Netflix accounts. Even if paying customers are less than 3 million, the actual number of people watching Netflix content is much higher.
What do you think about this 48 hours of free Netflix access? Do you think this promotional offer can motivate people to be a paid subscriber? Share your thoughts in comments.


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Diageo creates personal video gift service for single malts
Diageo has launched a gift service that allows people to personalise a bottle of single malt Scotch whisky with their own video message, in a link with the Whisky Shop chain.
Gift buyers can use a smartphone to create a video when buying bottles of Talisker, Lagavulin or The Singleton whiskies.
The Message in a Bottle platform creates a 30-second film from photos and a message uploaded by users.
A gift label on the bottle will have a link allowing the recipient to access the message by scanning a QR code.
Benni Lickfett, head of digital innovation at Diageo, said: “People are looking to personalise gifting and find unique opportunities that enable them to connect with family and friends.
“We want to use technology to help create impactful celebrations and Message in a Bottle is a great new way to raise a dram to people’s best memories and experiences."
Message in a Bottle is being launched as a pilot with the Whisky Shop chain ahead of Father’s Day on June 21. There will be no extra charge to use the service.
It is available on: Talisker 10 Year Old, 18 Year Old, 57° North, Bodega 40, Bodega 41 and Port Ruighe; Lagavulin Distillers Edition, 8 Year Old and 16 Year Old; and The Singleton 12 Year Old, 15 Year Old and 18 Year Old.


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Russia increases lumber exports to China
June 14, 2016 - Russian softwood lumber exports to China were 1.55 million m3 in April, up by 81 per cent from March's 853,000 m3. March volumes were already up by 55 per cent from February. In fact, Russia's March export volumes to China had been the largest-ever single month's volume to China by a single country; that makes the April export volumes even more staggering. Russian softwood lumber exports are now 50 per cent higher than the same four-month period in 2015 - or 3.6 million m3 (2.2 billion bf- nominal) versus 2.4 million m3.
June 14, 2016 By International Wood Markets Group
The specific reasons for this massive increase and whether this is a blip on the radar or not still needs to be qualified, but initial reports indicate that it is partly related to shifting exports away from weak markets in Egypt and diverting excess production to China. “Nevertheless,” said Russell Taylor, President, “it should be a wake-up call to exporters to China that Russia can make some big swings in the markets it ships its lumber to, and has a favourable cost structure and supply chain plus increasing capacity to do so.”
The WOOD MARKETS’ Global Softwood Log and Lumber Conference held in Vancouver in early May was designed to have an expanded focus on industry developments in Russia and China. This was a strategic decision that came from WOOD MARKETS’ ongoing global travels and the steady changes we have witnessed in both industries over the course of the last two years. Our analysts have come to believe that these developments will change the dynamics of softwood log and lumber export markets worldwide. “The Russians are coming” was a key theme of the Vancouver conference, and current trade data certainly supports this changing trend.
At the Global Conference, it was quite evident from the various Russian speakers that major reductions in logging costs and transportation costs had occurred from the devaluation of the ruble. This allowed the reach of Russian lumber to expand, where new markets can be explored when existing markets become over-supplied. As well, new sawmill investments had been established in Russia and additional ones, including large-scale export-oriented facilities, are in various stages of planning.
Of course, this does not bode well for lumber (and log) exporters to China. Already, evidence of lower prices has occurred: SPF lumber prices in China were flat to down in early June, with some of the impact likely coming from increased Russian competition. Log prices were affected too: radiata pine and hemlock/Douglas fir log prices also moved lower. China is Russia’s largest and most important export market: in 2015, 90 per cent of Russian log exports and 45 per cent of lumber exports were to China.
We continue to believe that further production or trade developments could emerge with little warning in both China and Russia – changes that could have profound and sometimes immediate effects on supply dynamics/export markets, in turn boomeranging back into domestic/other export markets. That’s one reason we decided, in late 2015, to relaunch our Siberia Forest & Industry & Northern China Tour (September 11-19, 2016) and tie it into our China Supply Chain & Logistics Conference and Industry Tours (September 20-23), as you really need to see and feel the industry pulse for yourself.
Added Russell Taylor, “we could just say we “saw some of these new dynamics coming,” but it really springs from our regular travels throughout global markets, where we visit with major exporters and producers (most exporters speak only to buyers).” This broad international network enables us to see new trends much earlier than most, and it is our current view that many in the industry do not understand the industry scale and low costs in both China and Russia and how this will impact global trade. We suggest that those with an export business need to look closer at these new, visible trends; those who do may just find themselves with a strategic advantage.
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Two million adults in the UK do not have a bank account, writes business and finance consult Nils Elmark. More than 10 million people have such low digital or financial capacity that it excludes them from activities that most of us take for granted.
They don’t have access to the Internet, they don’t shop online and they are unable to manage their own money properly either because they are not given the tools they need or because they don’t know how to operate the financial system. Each year, at least two million families have to take out expensive payday loans to survive one day at a time, and are charged high fees when they pay their bills in cash. Their savings – if they have any – are so low they won’t tide them through the month if their income drops by a quarter.
They are the elderly, the migrants, the unemployed, those with low or unstable incomes, or those who have experienced a significant life shock. They are the casualties of modern banking. They are the two out of the ten who have limited access to the financial system and therefore have to manage on their own. But the biggest problem is not their rejection from financial system itself – the biggest problem is that if we do not include the underbanked in the modern financial system we will exclude 10 million people from the rest of society.
The banks are aware of this. The figures at the start of this column are from a new comprehensive study on financial inclusion commissioned by Lloyds Bank which, together with five other leading banks, has struck an agreement with the treasury to offer fee-free basic bank accounts to those who cannot get an account elsewhere. The government is also aware of the issue and has made it national priority through the UK Financial Inclusion Commission.
Unfortunately, while offering free accounts to the unbanked is a step in the right direction, it won’t solve the problem. We have to take it more seriously than that. There is a reason why the banks have excluded so many people: It’s because they are unprofitable customers. The established banking model relies on rich and middle class customers, preferably middle aged too. If you want a personal service you have to pay for it or you can go online and do it yourself – and pay a little less for it. That doesn’t make much room for the little old lady with her landline or the unemployed with a bad credit rating. Even if the banks wanted to include everyone – and I actually believe most of them do – their business model prevents them from doing it.
London is the global capital of fintech and it is suggested that new financial technologies can support growing financial inclusion. To some extent, I think it will or rather, I can see that it actually does in some ways. We see new fintech startups offer cheaper services to many of those whom the banks have rejected. But these new customers are tech savvy young people with smartphones who can navigate the financial system. At the same time, the fintech community develops highly sophisticated solutions, like payments via smartwatches and mobiles which may challenge the banks, but at the same time pull the financial system further away from the have-nots: “You can now pay for your tube ride with your nfc-enabled visa card or via apple pay!” Not exactly the solution you are looking for when you have just taken out a payday loan to pay the electricity bill. Many new fintech solutions are implemented to cut costs for a company or a bank but not make it easier to the less fortunate.
So how do we go about solving the problem? I don’t think there is any alternative to the creation of a financial infrastructure, which includes everybody regardless of age and social background, and which everybody is able to operate regardless of financial and digital capacity.
Firstly, I believe that banks are responsible for developing and maintaining a national financial infrastructure. It’s not an option, it’s an obligation. This is why financial institutions get protection from the government; they have received a license to operate in Britain, which is the country of the financially excluded as much as the included. Banks as an industry cannot ignore 20 per cent of the population just because they are bad customers.
Secondly, I don’t expect the financial industry to service 10 million financially excluded people out of charity. I expect them to develop new business models that will enable them to do it with a profit. As it is now, the banks want the customers to change: “Get an iPhone, get online and become financially literate so we can help you”. But protecting an obsolete business model instead of developing a new one is a sign of laziness. Banks have a moral obligation to move out of their comfort zone and make new and innovative products and business solutions that enable them to support, and make money from, a growing community of people who are otherwise at a risk of becoming second-rate citizens.
When the banks have developed their new business models they are ready to grow again, because outside the UK there are two billion unbanked people waiting to become their new customers.
Nils Elmark is founder of the business and finance consultancies Incepcion and BankingLab.london. He is a futurist who helps companies create better and braver dreams. Nils has written three books on his old Remington typewriter and is a great motorcycle enthusiast.
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Photo credit: Warren King Photography


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The tech lord giveth and the tech lord taketh away. Just a day after it was reported that Apple is working on its own mobile phone network the company has moved quickly to quash the rumours. Business Insider reported recently that the most valuable company in the world is secretly trialling a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) that would eventually be rolled out in the United States and Europe, including the UK.
Apple has either been spooked that the news leaked, or the company is genuinely not working on this project. Either way, Cupertino issued a statement denying the report, reaching out to CNBC to say, “We have not discussed nor do we have any plans to launch an MVNO.”
Pretty emphatic then. However, the old adage that there is no smoke without fire is oh so true in the tech world, so Apple’s denial could be meaningless and the company could still indeed be working on its own MVNO. Considering the initial report said the service would not be ready for five years, there’s a long wait ahead to find out. It is worth noting that Apple is not the type to talk about a product that exists, so if the company makes a rare public denial, it usually turns out to be the case that the product is not true.
The original report suggested that the company is trialling the service in the US before moving it to Europe for further tests. An MVNO is a virtual network where a third party company buys network space from an existing carrier to run their own service. For example, Apple would effectively lease network space from a carrier (say AT&T in the States) and then use that leased space to run its own network.
That would mean any new iPhone falling within the MVNO network range would come with Apple’s own network ready to go out of the box. It would stop the company being restricted to a certain carrier or network from region to region and would of course offer a new revenue stream as iPhone users would be contracted to Apple and not a carrier.
At the moment though, this is theoretical considering Apple’s clear denial.


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Did the Surf Industry Kill the Future of Wetsuits?
Surf companies have been ignoring compelling research that could make wetsuits warmer and easier to paddle in. Two scientists are making sure someone listens.
Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! Download the app.
A dozen miles from the Pacific Ocean, at California State University in San Marcos, surfers paddle against a current in a temperature-controlled tank. The flume pool is part of the university’s Surf Research Laboratory, led by surf-obsessed kinesiology professors Sean Newcomer and Jeff Nessler.
Newcomer (blond, bespectacled, and well-built) and Nessler (lean, bald, and hydrodynamic) are driven by the question of how to use scientific research to make surfing equipment better. To do that, they’ve enlisted the help of 40 undergraduates who are part of Cal State San Marcos’s nine-year-old surf studies program. This kind of niche subject is not profitable for universities or easy to get funding for. “It’s not a sustainable model for a large university to do this research,” Newcomer says. “The way we get around it is it’s part of our educational process; it’s incorporated into our curriculum.”
Ten minutes across campus, the indoor surf laboratories double as classrooms. Motion cameras, a swim bench ergometer, and a treadmill on hydraulics are just a few of the gadgets placed around the lab, ready to measure how surfers move. Closets are crammed with foam boards, and plastic bins are stuffed with wetsuits from past experiments. Nessler, a mechanical engineer by trade, has even built a few contraptions that exist nowhere else in the country, like a surfboard simulator on pistons that rages like a mechanical bull to mimic riding a wave.
But their main focus has become how wetsuits, the uniform of cold-water surfers, can be improved. “We’ve become a wetsuit testing laboratory,” Newcomer says. “The surfing industry doesn’t have a tremendous amount of money for R and D.” That’s too bad, because Newcomer and Nessler’s research has delivered a surprise: wetsuits, even those with inflated prices, thanks to what brands claim are “clinically proven” materials, are not as warm and flexible as they could be. “What the surf industry is marketing is not driven by science,” Newcomer told me.
The first wetsuits, developed by physicist Hugh Bradner for the U.S. Navy after World War II, were thick and stiff but transformed a diver’s ability to stay warm. Unlike the wool layers and drysuits previously used by the military, these new wetsuits let in a small amount of water, which was heated by the body and insulated against frigid external temperatures. In the 1950s, the nascent surfing industry borrowed from the Navy’s research to create the first commercial wetsuits specifically for the sport. (Surf brand founder Jack O’Neill and businessman Bob Meistrell both claim to be father of the sport’s modern wetsuit design.) Unlike cold-water diving, surfing takes place in two different mediums—air and water—and surfers require much more flexibility than someone who is fully submerged with a scuba tank. So when neoprene made the leap into the industry, designers started making modifications.
Wetsuits now are a far cry from those first dive-based suits, which made natural movements difficult. Products hanging on racks today allow surfers to perform aquatic acrobatics in some of the coldest water on earth. But Hub Hubbard, product line manager for Patagonia’s wetsuit category (and before that at Billabong), told me that many of the design decisions that have been made within the industry over the decades have not been based on hard science. “It’s all been kind of anecdotal,” he says.
This is in large part because even the most committed wetsuit companies struggle to capture real-world data scientifically. Many of these brands conduct materials testing in their labs and collect data on the insulating properties of myriad neoprenes, but it’s often done without a surfer inside. In-ocean testing typically amounts to giving a dozen or so surfers a few wetsuit prototypes and then listening to their feedback. At O’Neill Wetsuits, a core group of about ten surfers try on five or so suits each season and provide feedback, according to Greg Clarke, the brand’s vice president of product development. “We’ve got close to 70 years of trial and error,” he says, on everything from “where the neoprene is placed to the overall comfort and functionality of how the wetsuit fits on the body.”
While these methods have made wetsuits warmer and more flexible over the years, Newcomer and Nessler had a hunch that they could be better.
The professors first realized how much wetsuits could be improved in 2002. Nike had purchased Hurley, bringing its coffers and commitment to science over to the surf industry. Hurley, under Nike, tried modifying a wetsuit with a new material, theorizing that it would improve its thermodynamics. Then the company took a rare step in the wetsuit industry: it asked scientists to design an experiment and collect the necessary data to prove or disprove its hypothesis.
Enter Nessler and Newcomer. They looked into the material that Hurley had incorporated and found that it improved nothing. Bruce Moore, Hurley’s former vice president of innovation, told me that the company kept bringing other wetsuits and raw materials for Nessler and Newcomer to test. “We wanted to see whether they actually worked in the scientific setting or whether they’re just kind of marketing stories and people just selling snake oil,” Moore says.
One material was similar to the Mylar emergency blankets distributed to runners after a marathon. Hurley wanted to see whether the claim that this material reflected more heat back to the body would also be true in the ocean. The results of the study proved the assumption to be false.
Not only did the research for Hurley unveil bogus claims, but the professors also learned new information about what would actually improve wetsuit design. Most modern wetsuits pad the wetsuit’s core with more millimeters of neoprene and decrease the thickness in the extremities. The professors concluded that was actually bad design.
In multiple peer-reviewed studies—the first one published in 2018 and co-authored with a Nike scientist—Newcomer and Nessler used thermal sensors to collect data on regional skin temperatures in recreational surfers wearing 2-millimeter wetsuits. The data showed that the average surfer didn’t need the extra millimeters around their core (unless perhaps they were riding waves near the Arctic Circle). Instead, they needed the thickest neoprene over the lower half of their body—the calves, thighs, stomach, and lower back. Those were the regions submerged in water for the most amount of time and consequently the areas that lost the most heat. Those regions also received the least exposure to the sun and weren’t utilized as much as the upper body’s paddling muscles. (When researchers have tracked surfers’ activity, they’ve found that surfers spend the majority of time paddling during a session, followed by sitting idle. They only actually surf between 2 percent and 5 percent of the time.)
The data showed a difference of nearly 18 degrees between the warmer upper back and the colder skin of the lower legs after a 40-minute surf session. “When you shunt blood away from the extremities, the underlying skeletal muscle suffers,” Newcomer says. That’s part of why sprinters engage in hour-long warm-ups: to circulate warm blood to the legs and arms. “The last thing you want that sprinter to do is sit in an ice bath for 15 minutes before their sprint.”
“What the surf industry is marketing is not driven by science,” Newcomer told me.
The same is true of surfers, who sit in something akin to ice baths: cold oceans. Typical wetsuits don’t efficiently protect against this sort of heat loss in the legs, which means surfers will have decreased force and power in their legs after just a few waves. This affects how well a surfer can pop to their feet and maneuver their board through sections of a wave.
A few years prior to this regional temperature study, Nessler and Newcomer published another paper on wetsuit design with a somewhat obvious takeaway: neoprene restricted a surfer’s ability to paddle. Using that study on kinesthetics, the Cal State researchers wrote in their thermodynamics paper that “the current findings suggest that upper body wetsuit design should be tailored more toward mobility while thermal insulation should be paramount over the lower body.”
Hurley responded positively and built a never before considered wetsuit: 4 millimeters in the legs, 3 millimeters over the lower belly and back, and 2 millimeters in the chest, upper back, and arms. In short, a suit that kept surfers warmer for longer and let them paddle more efficiently throughout the length of their sessions. It seemed like wetsuits were about to be revolutionized.
But then things went south. According to Newcomer, the company’s marketing department found it tricky to sell the science of the final product. Traditionally, wetsuits are named by their thickness. A 4/3-millimeter suit, for instance, is understood to mean that the thickest neoprene (4 millimeters) is wrapped around the core, while the thinnest neoprene (3 millimeters) covers the extremities. Since the new Hurley suit had the thickest neoprene in the legs, thinned as it reached the torso, then thinned some more in the chest and arms, it was confusing to use those traditional measurements. They ended up calling it the Advantage Max 3/2 Plus. While the suit eventually reached customers and is still available today, Hurley kept the science in the smaller print. (Hurley did not respond to Outside’s request for comment, but the company has since changed the marketing language on its website to say that its “premier wetsuit” is “designed with insight from the world’s top surfers and scientists at California State University at San Marcos” and “add[s] warmth where it’s needed, and eliminat[es] bulk where it’s not.”)
Then, in 2019, Nike sold Hurley. The new owners cleaned house, and nobody from Hurley reached out to Nessler and Newcomer after that. Most wetsuit makers continued to churn out the suits with the same design.
The two San Marcos professors didn’t give up. They continued to look at new designs and create experiments to explore what actually worked. Finally, in 2020, someone picked up their research again. After Hurley’s sale, Bruce Moore followed the company’s founder, Bob Hurley, to his new company, Kandui Holdings. Superstar surfer John John Florence also left Hurley after the sale, walking away from the biggest contract in surfing history. Instead of signing with another big-name brand, Florence partnered with Kandui and formed a new surf gear and apparel line called Florence Marine X.
Moore hadn’t forgotten about Nessler and Newcomer’s research, and Florence Marine X applied the professors’ findings when designing the first Florence Marine X wetsuit, which went on sale last year. The first batch quickly sold out despite its $750 price tag. It’s the first suit to incorporate Nessler and Newcomer’s research on regional temperatures in the body since the Hurley Advantage Max 3/2 Plus, using 3 millimeters of neoprene on the legs and lower torso, while covering the arms, upper chest, and upper back with 2 millimeters of rubber.
“They work really well for me in the water,” Florence says. “They’re durable, warm, and comfortable, which is what I’m looking for.”
But even Florence Marine X’s suit simplifies the science in its literature and focuses more on the Japanese neoprene and craftsmanship. “There’s only so much the consumer can palate,” Moore says.
None of this is slowing down the professors. They’ve discussed future studies with Florence Marine X (the company is looking to use body scanner technology to design wetsuits); they’re completing yet to be published studies on how wetsuit thickness affects factors like short-term sprint paddling and oxygen consumption; and they’re preparing a study for peer-review that disproves the claim that graphene synthetic fleece linings—popular in many suits—result in higher skin temperatures when surfing compared to standard wetsuit synthetic fleece linings. Finally, the San Marcos lab is exploring claims about whether less-toxic materials can be a good substitute for neoprene. Their hope? That future wetsuit design decisions follow science instead of marketing claims.


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January 30, 2023
Forefront‘s Monday Market Update
It is easy to get lost in the myriad of data thrown at all of us from the TV, newspapers, blogs, podcasts, and whatever other medium you use to consume content. We even have so-called “financial experts” on TikTok using fear to sell complicated and expensive insurance products. Last week I talked about the critical pieces of data you should follow this year to block out the rest of the noise. This week let’s discuss the most pressing questions for 2023.
Why is Inflation Falling?
Is inflation falling because we are getting back to normal or because we are hurdling toward a recession? I can’t think of a more critical question; the answer will shape the direction of the economy and stock market for 2023.
I know one thing; we are not in a recession today. Last week we got a 4th quarter GDP reading of annualized growth at 2.9%. If we account for inflation, the US Economy grew by 2.1% in 2022. At 3.5% unemployment, that is a pretty good economic year. Tell that to all our portfolios, however.
High rates for an extended period of time might cause some issues down the road, or the Fed could push too hard and too far, but we have been hearing about a recession for over a year now, and the risks are not unknown.
We are only 30 days into January, but for tech employees, this month has felt like an eternity. As each day passes, we get word of another tech company announcing layoffs. Are these layoffs a precursor to massive layoffs across the entire economy or a symptom of tech companies becoming bloated during the economic boom?
The Wall Street Journal wrote an article that described the insane hiring of major tech companies from September 2019 until September 2022. In this time frame, the employee count at Amazon doubled! They went from about 600,000 employees in 2018 to 1.6 Million in 2021. Likewise, Microsoft’s employee count increased by 53%, Alphabet’s by 57%, and Meta’s employee count was up an incredible 97%.
We will hear executives play the blame game with interest rates and the economic environment, blah, blah, blah. They overhired and now must correct the problem.
Get Off My Lawn
We have replaced the age-old “get off my lawn” complaint with “no one wants to work anymore.”
Let’s put this to bed once and for all. If you are 60+ years old, there is a good chance your formidable years overlapped with the groovy 60s, and you remember your parents talking about how your generation would ruin the world. The generation after you thought the next group of young people would destroy the world, so the pattern went. Every generation ends up growing up and becoming high-quality, productive members of society, so the pearl-clutching right now about “quiet quitting” or “side hustles,” etc., can stop.
Data from Bloomberg show that 5.1 million applications to start new businesses were filed last year, compared to just 3.5 Million in 2019. If you do the math, that means every day in 2022 saw 14,000 new businesses were created. This ranges from your neighbor starting a dog walking business to tech workers who have been laid off banding together to build a better product than before. Young people mainly start these businesses; I would hardly call it lazy.
Unemployment is currently lower than it ever reached in the 70s, 80s, 90s, and 00s, and labor force participation is right back where it was before the pandemic.
Please don’t get bogged down by the minutia or buy into the anger-provoking language that everyone is lazy, no one works, and the economy will fall apart because of it. Every generation thinks the young people of the day will ruin the world, and every generation has been wrong. So let’s stop that incorrect rhetoric now!
So how does this impact all of you?
Why inflation is falling will be a key piece of data for 2023
Young people aren’t ruining the world or causing a recession. Don’t buy the fear-mongering.
Stock market calendar this week:
|MONDAY, JAN. 30
|TUESDAY, JAN. 31
|Employment cost index
|S&P Case-Shiller home price index (SAAR)
|FHFA home price index (SAAR)
|Chicago business barometer
|Consumer confidence index
|Rental vacancy rate
|WEDNESDAY, FEB. 1
|ADP employment report
|S&P manufacturing PMI (final)
|ISM manufacturing index
|Federal funds rate
|Federal funds projection
|Fed Chair Jerome Powell news conference
|Motor vehicle sales (SAAR)
|THURSDAY, FEB. 2
|Initial jobless claims
|Continuing jobless claims
|Productivity, first estimate (SAAR)
|Unit labor costs, first estimate (SAAR)
|Core capital goods orders (revision)
|FRIDAY, FEB. 3
|Average hourly earnings
|Labor-force participation rate, 25-54 year-olds
|S&P U.S. services PMI (final)
|ISM services index


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Last week Richard Garriott did the unthinkable- he showed the world a very early build of his current game project, Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues. Speaking at RTX in Austin, Texas, Garriott not only introduced his new game producer, Starr Long, but gave a short presentation on where MMOs were, where they are, and where he hopes to take them, culminating in a rather lengthy demonstration of how far they’ve come with the game in the three months since the Kickstarter campaign. Portalarium is embracing every aspect of the crowdfunding model, and has vowed to remain transparent (warts and all) during the development process. Additionally, backers of the game have already started sending in game assets, and Portalarium has released guidelines for poly counts and such for those interested in contributing. Garriott stated that contributors whose assets appear in the game will be reimbursed for their use. Check out the full presentation after the break:
After the presentation, we got a chance to chat with both Starr and Richard about where the game is and where they plan to take it:
Mike Dunn is the old man of Gaming Trend, having cut his teeth on Atari consoles and First Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons back in the day. His involvement with Gaming Trend dates back to 2003, and he’s done everything from design and code to writing and managing. Now he has come full circle, with a rekindled passion for tabletop gaming and a recent debut as Dungeon Master (nearly forty years after he purchased the original DMG).


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The number of extraordinary songwriters coming to #inbend this summer is crazy. Let's add another. @brandicarlile is coming to the LSA on Saturday, Aug. 25! Online presale Thursday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at http://ow.ly/sczA50h0Owe Password = local Onsale Friday, 10 a.m.
Beyond excited to welcome @WillieNelson & @AlisonKrauss to #inbend on Saturday, Aug. 4! Online presale is Thursday, 10am-5pm. Password = local http://ow.ly/3qhz50h0OmY General sale starts Friday, 10am online and at the Ticket Mill in the @oldmilldistrict. #bendoregon
Tickets now on sale online http://bit.ly/FrantiBend18 and at the Ticket Mill in the Old Mill District for @michaelfranti's June 19 show at the Les Schwab Amphitheater #inbend! #bendoregon #centraloregon


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You might've gone through life without putting too much thought into your bath towels, but that's all about to change. Truth is, the type of towels you buy matters. Sure, it's important that your super plush towels feel soft against your skin
We like the flawed hero, bad behavior, tragedy and drama in our fictional characters. Batman and Deadpool sell far more tickets than Superman does. If we use social media to attract a crowd, we will, at some level, become a...
Ripping down posters is fun, but such innocent acts of vandalism aren't always rewarded with a prize.
However, Marvel is encouraging just that as part of a promotion for the forthcoming Avengers: Infinity War, for which they've hidden tickets
The sun has siblings out there, and astronomers are looking for them.
Astronomers have surveyed and collected the "DNA" of more than 340,000 stars in the Milky Way, which will help them understand how galaxies formed and evolved over time.
Teamwork makes the dream work. That's why NASA and SpaceX teamed up to launch the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, which searches for undiscovered planets close to our Solar system. Read more...More about Tech, Space, Nasa, Science, and Elon
Facebook is quietly looking to limit the number of users that will be protected by Europe's tough new data law, according to Reuters.
Outside of the U.S. and Canada, Facebook's users agree to terms and conditions that are tied with the social media
Quick, what's Snapchat's most important feature?
While you'd be forgiven for answering "Stories," the most important feature to Snapchat's business today might be something else entirely: lenses.
Yes, you read that right. The barfing
General Motors isn't calling it a recall, but Chevy Bolt electric vehicle owners are being notified about a battery problem that is affecting some of its cars on the road in what can only be described as an EV nightmare.
For a "small percentage" of
They may be trying, but that doesn't mean it's enough. The RSA Conference still has a diversity problem.
The lack of gender diversity in the tech industry as a whole has been highly criticized and making headlines for some time, ahem CES. And
Today, ivykoin (IVY) reached a new milestone as it announced the completion of its Token Generating Event (TGE) of the ivykoin token (IVY) and confirmed the allocation of tokens to the wallets of those involved in the sale back in February.
Businessgyan - The destination for Business Knowledge powered by a community of experts, who share and point to useful and inspiring articles for entrepreneurs and business leaders. Find articles, blogs, videos and links that experts value in the areas of Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Marketing, Human Resource, Technology, Operations and Facilities


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For the first time in history debit cards have overtaken cash to become the number one payment method in the UK. In 2016 it was reported by the British Retail Consortium that debit cards accounted for 42.6% of all transactions, ahead of notes and coins, which declined five percentage points to 42.3%. They have also reported that card payments made up more than half of UK payments in 2016. For many years, cards have accounted for the majority of retail purchasing by value, 2016 was the first year they also accounted for more than 50% of all transactions.
The BRC state there are two main factors that have contributed to the rise in card use. Firstly, the number of people who have adopted contactless as a method of payment, and secondly the retailers who are investing in card payment technology.
The survey also showed that 68 per cent of manned terminals now have the capability to accept contactless cards, up from 47 per cent last year. Retailers are heavily investing in software to accept new payment applications, with many already accepting ApplePay, AndroidPay and, more recently, SamsungPay.
We recently discussed how contactless payments are behind the rise in debit card popularity. Contactless was first introduced in 2007 and following an uncertain acceptance at first, it seems that it has won over both consumers and retailers who are both reaping the benefits of tap and go payments.
If your business could benefit from accepting contactless payments from your customers, get in touch with one of our advisors today.


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June 28, 2012 |
NEW DELHI: Google on Wednesday announced its own tablet at Google I/O, the company's annual event for developers in San Fransisco. TOI had reported on June 26 that Google would enter the tablet market on June 27. Apart from competing with Apple's iPad, which has the highest market share in the tablet market, with its tablet, Google is also aiming to take down Amazon's Kindle Fire, a 7-inch tablet that runs on Android but doesn't use...
June 13, 2010 |
ANKARA: Turkey's president Abdullah Gul has used his Twitter page to condemn his country's ban on YouTube and some Google services. "I know there are lots of complaints about bans on YouTube and Google," Gul said in a tweet posted on June 10. "I am definitely against them being closed down. I have ordered responsible institutions for a solution. I asked for a change in regulations on merit. " In January, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, said Turkey was blocking some 3,700 websites for "arbitrary and political reasons".
July 9, 2011 |
SAN FRANCISCO: Google Inc is readying business-focused features for the Google+ social-networking site, potentially opening up new competition with Facebook Inc's company pages and sites such as LinkedIn Corp . The business tools are expected to be available later this year, said Christian Oestlien, a product manager at Mountain View, California-based Google. "Right now we're very much focused on optimising for the consumer experience, but we have a great team of engineers building a similarly optimised business experience for Google+," Oestlien said on a YouTube video.
April 5, 2013 |
NEW YORK: Facebook Home, the new application that takes over the front screen of a smartphone, is a bit of a corporate home invasion. Facebook is essentially moving into Google's turf, taking advantage of software the search giant and competitor created. Facebook Home will operate on phones running Google's Android software and present Facebook status updates, messages and other content on the home screen, rather than making the user fire up Facebook's app. The software will be available for users to download on April 12 and will come preloaded on a new phone from HTC, sold by AT&T in the US. Google gives away Android, the most popular smartphone software in the world, in the hope that it will steer phone users toward Google services, such as Maps and Gmail, and the ads it sells.
January 26, 2012 |
August 8, 2012 |
LONDON: Google's interactive doodle has lead to thousand of lost working hours as people get busy exploring them during the office hours. The latest doodle being the 110m hurdle race, one of the many Olympic themed doodles to come up on its search engine's homepage after the games started. The addictive mini-game, which offers 1980s-style nostalgia for video game fans, gets people to frantically hit the arrow keys on their keyboard in order to pick up speed, and then timing their jumps across the hurdles with a tap on the space bar. It is the latest in a long line of Olympic-themed doodles, but the first game - and is likely to lead to thousands of lost office-hours as workers compete for their personal best.
January 26, 2012 |
March 7, 2012 |
NEW DELHI: Google on Tuesday brought in a few sweeping changes to the way it distributes content on its Android platform, which powers millions of smartphones in the world. It replaced several Google services, including Android Market, with Google Play, a virtual store that will not only offer apps to smartphone users but also ebooks, videos and music. Introducing the new virtual store, Jamie Rosenberg, director of digital content, at Google wrote that the Play is "entirely cloud-based so all your music, movies, books and apps are stored online, always available to you, and you never have to worry about losing them or moving them again".
May 12, 2011
NEW DELHI: Google took the wraps off its Chrome-OS powered notebooks on the second day of Google I/O event in San Francisco on Wednesday. The company said that the netbook "built and optimized for the web" will go on the sale from June 15 in seven countries. Though India is not among these 7 countries, Chromebook is expected to come to the country later this year. Google has designed Chrome OS keeping the web in mind and most of its functionalities will be available only if the Chromebook is connected to the internet.
March 20, 2012 |


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After a brief hiatus, the Air Jordan Womens OG is back in the spotlight, dropping a brand new colorway that’s unambiguous in its inspiration.
And like its predecessors, the pair avoids falling into the trap of typical feminine tropes. Instead, it leans on sports, dressing its side profile with bright basketball leathers. This material runs the entirety of the side’s overlay, contrasting the Coconut Milk suedes that rest adjacent. What’s more, many of these panels are given a comic-esque look as they arrive outlined by thick, dark black piping. The Jumpman branding, then follows suit, while the sole opts for a complementing white/orange combination.
For a closer look, check the official images below. A release is sure to hit Nike.com and select retailers on May 24th.
In other news, the Jordan 4 University Blue is releasing tomorrow.
Where to Buy
Make sure to follow @kicksfinder for live tweets during the release date.
Air Jordan Womens
Release Date: May 24th, 2021 (Monday)
Color: Coconut Milk/Orange-Black-White
Womens: $140 Style Code: CW0907-108
North AmericaMay 24th, 2021 (Monday)


text: non profit job search engines Currently, varied businesses are developing and booming on their own track. The idea that the priority of making profit precedes everything in businesses, has incited the reproach and criticism from the societies. As for me, I disagreed with this point of view as well, since the obsession on profits does damage to other things that a company request. India's bitcoin exchange has set up a self-regulating organization that sets standards for KYC and AML standards, as local regulators are unclear about the industry's management and guidance. Earlier this month, India's central bank issued a warning against investments or use of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin. In mid-november, India's Supreme Court has urged government authorities to regulate bitcoin, as it sought to clarify the legal status of bitcoin in India.


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Ford to build global tech, business centre in Chennai
New Delhi: Ford Motor Co. on Tuesday said that it will invest $195 million (Rs1,300 crore) in Chennai to build a global technology and business centre that will serve as a hub for product development, mobility solutions and business services for India and other markets around the world.
The centre will also house the company’s largest information technology organization outside of the company’s global headquarters. Mint had in October 2015 first reported about Ford’s plans to set up a global technology and business centre in India.
“India is not only a vibrant market for cars and new mobility ideas, it also is rich with talent, technical expertise and ingenuity,” executive chairman Bill Ford said in a statement. “This new center will help us attract the best and brightest, and make Chennai a true hub of innovation for Ford around the world.”
Once it gets completed in 2019, the centre will become Ford’s third global product development centre in Asia Pacific and part of Ford’s global product development network.
“It also will feature a wide range of laboratories and testing facilities for both full vehicles and components, enabling Ford to conduct extensive testing of future vehicles in India,” the company said in a statement.
However, Tuesday’s announcement is unlikely to help Ford’s India operations immediately and the focus will be more on feeding into the Detroit-based company’s global operations.
Ford in India continues to struggle even after being present in the country for more than 20 years, in which the Indian market has changed drastically.
In the six years between 2010-11 and 2015-16, the American car maker’s annual sales in India have grown only twice.
Sales reached the highest at 98,537 units in 2010-11 because of the success of the Figo but they declined to 92,665 units and 77,225 units in 2011-12 and 2012-13, respectively.
Sales grew in 2013-14 and fell in 2014-15 only to rise again in 2015-16, albeit on a smaller base.
During the same period, the Indian passenger vehicle market expanded from 2.52 million units to 2.78 million.
In recent times, the company’s second generation Figo failed to receive the kind of response that the previous one did. Ford did create a new compact SUV segment with the EcoSport, but it failed to capitalize on the first-mover advantage. The segment is now dominated by market leader Maruti Suzuki India Ltd and Hyundai Motor India Ltd.
Ford, along with Volkswagen India Pvt. Ltd, was the last one to enter the sub-four-metre sedan category but demand in the segment has waned, which meant lukewarm response for the American car maker’s Figo Aspire.
In pursuit of making its business sustainable, the company has changed tack and shifted focus to exports, which grew 41.37% to 55,821 units between April and September.
India’s overall car exports grew 3.89% to 319,579 units.
In the new centre in Chennai, the company will hire 3,000 skilled workers over the next five years.
“Ford also will consolidate 9,000 employees from six existing facilities in Chennai on the 28-acre campus,” the company said in a statement.
Ford has invested over $2 billion in India to set up two plants, one each in Chennai and Sanand in Gujarat. Together, these plants have the capacity to make 610,000 engines and 440,000 passenger vehicles a year.
Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.