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The Federal Government of Nigeria through the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development has lauded farmers for playing a major role in the country’s exit from recession.
Chief Audu Ogbeh, at a news briefing in Abuja, expressed his gratitude to Nigerians and to both small and large-scale farmers for yielding the president’s call and returning to the farm.
He has appealed to farmers, middlemen and traders not to increase the prices of goods on their own part while the government would play its own part by not imposing price control.
To him, the recession exit of the country is still weak and they would need to work harder by increasing investment in agriculture, export and value addition because another danger could be ahead.
In reaction to FG’s plans to stem the prices of local paddy which had increased from N65,000 in 2015 to N150,000 in 2016.
Chief Audu said the government was making arrangements with rice farmers to bring down the price from N150,000 per tonne to N120,000 and that the drop would make a bag to be sold for N13,000.
However, the rice farmers have argued that a bag of rice cannot be sold less than N17,000 in as much a metric tonne was sold to them for N150,000.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics in Nigeria, Nigeria’s non-oil sector grew with N261.92 billion earnings in the second quarter of the year from agric exports, 3.01 % in Q2 of 2017 as against 3.39% in Q1 and 4.53% in Q2 that was recorded in 2016.


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Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell has announced a review of digital radio, looking at the past four years and lessons for the future.
Sean Hughes presents on BBC 6 Music
The review will be carried out by the BBC and the new super-regulator Ofcom.
Ms Jowell said the review should "take stock, measure performance to date, and consider what more needs to be done in the
The minister said it was an "exciting time" for digital radio, with more than 75,000 digital sets sold in the recent Christmas period.
The first commercial digital radio service launched in 1999 but take up of digital radios was initially slow.
However, the recent introduction of a £99 radio has helped double listeners in the last three months to about 150,000.
"It's important to keep the momentum going," said Ms Jowell, adding that manufacturers and retailers had to meet demand.
"More choice, lower prices, and the fast-growing programme range are giving digital radio, at last, the chance of really taking off," she added.
There are currently about 30 regional and local digital licences, offering 300 digital radio stations, with five digital-only radio channels from the BBC.
Of the BBC services, Ms Jowell said: "Some may still feel
that they invade competitive space, but I believe that they are genuinely distinctive."
The minister said she would be asking the BBC and Ofcom to canvass the views of the holders of all multiplex or
digital radio service licences.
"I am confident that digital radio
will prove a winner," she said.

domain: news


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Pokemon Series developer, Game Freak is working on a new RPG that will be heading to the Nintendo Switch next year, 2019. Taking a tentative name, Town, the game takes place in a single village where players have to fight invading monsters and protect it from destruction.
- TOWN (working title): GAME FREAK, the developer of the Pokémon series, has created a new RPG for Nintendo Switch. In TOWN, players must take up arms against invading monsters, all within the walls of a single village. TOWNlaunches for Nintendo Switch in 2019.


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There will be delays
Digital environments are extremely busy, with shopping and socializing pushed online to a greater degree. The Bay Area received heavy rain, joining much of the rest of the country in going through a prime shopping weekend with shops much quieter than a year ago.
Digital commerce is surging by all accounts and metrics. Products are sold out and nearly all sites are warning of shopping delays. Shipping carriers have warned of delays, recognizing this will be an onslaught of volume unlike the residential delivery industry has ever seen. With many working at home and work environments limited, there are few shipments conveniently going to commercial address, putting further strain on residential delivery.
Delivery van are everywhere in residential neighborhoods. Marked with Amazon, Fedex, Thrifty, and various third party delivery and rental company names, the vans show a sign of the future of ecommerce. Despite all the advancements in ecommerce, delivery still relies upon real people driving around with packages and attempting to make the delivery as quickly as possible.
It's an inelegant final step, or 'last-mile', and shows the limits. There will be delays because the supply chain systems are being tested like never before, and because it's not an instantly scalable system. The last mile needs a better solution to deal with these surges in the future.


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Iino’s small-batch Japanese preserves company won two Good Food Awards this year.
Northbrae Bottle Shop
Alchemy Bottle Shop, kosher sushi, and more
There’s a new high-end liquor store on Grand Avenue and a new French bistro coming to Lakeshore, as well as kosher sushi to Afikomen Judaica.
What’s new in East Bay food, XVIII
A hot restaurant opening, a new bakery on the way, and lots more hearty food news and delicious happenings.
What’s new, what’s hot, what’s happening, X
Bites is Nosh’s round-up of restaurant and bar news in the East Bay. Got a tip or a scoop? Send it our way at firstname.lastname@example.org.
Shop Talk: The ins and outs of Berkeley businesses
A furniture company will move into 2001 San Pablo Ave. SAN PABLO & UNIVERSITY The area around San Pablo and University Avenues is buzzing with new tenants moving in to vacant retail spaces. As previously noted, eco-friendly mattresses and sleep products store Keetsa is moving into the building at 2117 San Pablo, having relocated from the 811 University. […]


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The FDA released a report yesterday stating that the agency and its former commissioner, Dr. Andew C. von Eschenbach, succumbed to pressure by four New Jersey congressmen in approving a collagen implant patch for injured knees last year. That approval is now being re-visited and re-analyzed.
Apparently FDA scientific reviewers had declined approval for the Menaflex device manufactured by ReGen Biologics, Inc. for years citing its high failure rate. The decisions against approval had been unanimous – that is until four New Jersey congressmen – Senators Robert Menendez and Frank Lautenberg and Representatives Frank Pallone Jr and Steve Rothman – stepped in to assert their influence on behalf of the New Jersey-based manufacturer. Not surprising, all four legislators received significant campaign contributions from ReGen.
It is sad and scary to think that manufacturers can literally buy approval of their product and an agency as important as the FDA can give it to pressure by politicians and ignore their own scientists. This is yet another example of the FDA failing the American public. We think that if a pharmaceutical drug or medical device has FDA approval, then the product and drug has passed all types of stringent safety testing. It just isn’t so. And the manufacturers want to hide behind this veil of "FDA approval" and take your right to seek compensation from them should you be the unfortunate one injured by their product? The public simply shouldn’t stand for it.
Call your Congressman today and tell them to listen to you and not the manufacturers. Tell them to support the passage of the Medical Device Safety Act to protect the public from defective devices and hold manufacturers accountable.


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Thieves have struck again in the virtual world Habbo Hotel.
Finnish police are investigating up to 400 cases of theft, with some members reporting the loss of up to €1000 (£840) worth of virtual furniture and other items, according to Detective Sergeant Marko Levonen.
"We have done five home searches in five cities in Finland," he said.
This is not the first time Habbo Hotel, which allows users to meet friends and buy virtual goods, has been targeted.
In 2007, a Dutch teenager was arrested for allegedly stealing virtual furniture worth thousands of euros on the site, which is believed to have more than 100 million registered "avatars".
DS Levonen explained that several Habbo Hotel members contacted the police earlier this year, saying their virtual belongings had been stolen, and seeking help from the police.
The Finnish company Sulake, which owns Habbo Hotel subsequently identified several hundred more users who appeared to have been targeted, according to DS Levonen.
The online thieves allegedly targeted users with fake web pages to capture usernames and passwords, in what is commonly known as an online "phishing" scam.
"Habbo as a virtual world is targeted by thieves from all over the world," said Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer at Finnish internet security firm F-Secure.
"We've seen Dutch hackers, Italians, Russians and others, and have investigated some of these cases previously with the company that runs Habbo."
Mr Hypponen pointed out that Habbo is just one of many online games and virtual worlds being targeted by cyber-criminals: "We see malicious attacks and trojans stealing accounts for all the games you can imagine, including World of Warcraft, Farmville and so on.
"Poker games for example are susceptible to trojans which share your cards with other players around the table.
"When the TV stars play poker online, we're talking potential losses of hundreds of thousands of euros," he said.
In the past, the theft of virtual goods has even given rise to serious physical harm in the real world. In 2005 a Chinese gamer was stabbed to death in a row over a sword in a game.
Shanghai gamer Qiu Chengwei killed player Zhu Caoyuan when he discovered he had sold a "dragon sabre" he had been loaned.
According to Finnish police, the Habbo Hotel investigation continues. A representative from Sulake was not immediately available for comment.


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By: Moksha Grover
As the whole world is suffering against the covid-19 pandemic, pharmaceutical industries all over the world are trying their level best to fight against these unprecedented times. The covid pandemic has actually benefitted the pharmaceutical industry and helped in the growth and development of this industry. The Indian pharmaceutical industry is the world’s third largest drug producer by volume and the country’s market manufactures 60 percent of vaccines globally. This constitutes 40 to 70 percent of the supply to satisfy the World Health Organization’s (WHO) demand for Diphtheria, Tetanus, and Pertussis (DPT) and Bacillus Calmette Guerin (BCG) vaccines and 90 percent of the global demand for the measles vaccine. In this covid pandemic, the Indian pharmaceutical industry has played a vital role in distributing affordable and low-cost generic drugs to millions of people around the globe.
GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF INDIAN PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRIES
The covid-19 pandemic presented several opportunities for the pharmaceutical companies and helped them to think differently. It helped them to act in a sense of urgency for all the patients who were looking for cheap and affordable medicines. In this pandemic, Indian companies have risen and developed in the field of therapeutics by re-purposing the dugs.
This pandemic also gave the pharmaceutical companies opportunities to work in collaborations with some major global companies for the purpose of developing the covid vaccine in turn enhancing the global connections. Serum Institute of India partnered with Oxford University, Zydus Cadila partnered with Gamaleya Institute of Russia, Panacea Biotec collaborated with US-based Refana Inc and there are many other companies who collaborated for the purpose of producing good and effective vaccines against the deadly virus. These collaborations and partnerships helped the companies to make effective vaccines, develop a stand in therapeutics, and also reach the global market.
Indian pharma industry took a proactive approach during the pandemic and also became successful in proving its mettle in complex and specialty generics. These companies also ensured regular manufacturing by not hindering manufacturing even for a single day. With the development in the pharma industry, eCommerce platforms and industries also developed. In the current pandemic, a great deal of motivation was given to E-pharmacy which helped in ensuring that patients received their medication despite lockdown. The domestic pharma market turnover in India has reached Rs. 1.4 lakh crores (equivalent to $ 20.03 billion) in 2019 as per the government data. This is actually an increase from Rs. 1.29 lakh crores in 2018.
CHALLENGES FACED BY INDIAN PHARMACY INDUSTRIES DUE TO PANDEMIC
The source of APIs plays a very crucial role in the strategic plan of the Indian pharmaceutical industry to combat covid-19. A major challenge faced by this industry is the supply of APIs. Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) are defined as the active ingredients contained in a medicine. This pandemic has highlighted the dependence of the Indian pharma industry on imported APIs. Today, 60 percent of India’s API requirement is imported. In commonly used APIs, such as cephalosporins, azithromycin, and penicillin, the dependence is as high as 90 percent . Of the total imports of APIs and intermediates into India, China accounts for 65–70 percent . This is a problem faced by almost the whole west depends upon china for their API supplies. This pandemic has also highlighted low healthcare coverage in India. n terms of healthcare spending, India has one of the lowest healthcare budgets with just 1.26 percent of GDP being spent on healthcare. India ranks 155th out of the 167 countries in terms of hospital bed availability (as per the Human Development Report 2020) with just five beds available for every 10,000 Indians. Such a sudden rise in covid cases in India highlighted the shortage of hospital beds, medicines, and availability of laboratory tests. As pandemics have always shifted the way people react. A similar change has been seen in the consumption pattern of various consumers. There has been an increase in the case of online ordering and e-consultations, especially in the case of chronic diseases. These challenges can result in long-term impacts on this industry.
STRATEGIES FOR PROMOTING INDIAN PHARMA PRODUCTION
Initiatives like Production Linked Incentives (PLI) schemes for bulk drugs and medical devices introduced by the government for the industry’s self-reliance have given a major boost to this industry. These incentives are to the tune of INR6,940 crore and INR3,420 crore, respectively, and encompass greenfield projects for bulk drugs and intermediates, and the establishment of three bulk drug parks. In addition to this, the government should take some steps in removing the financial and technical barriers prevailing within this industry. This will in turn help in reducing the dependency of the Indian pharma industry on china for APIs.
The pharmaceutical companies have now identified the importance of backward integration which is expected to bring greater reliability, improve the quality of production, reduce dependence on external sources of supply, and help in increasing the efficacy of manufacturing. Several key representatives from the pharmaceutical industry and NITI Aayog have suggested fostering the approvals of pharmaceutical infrastructure developments, clearance from the environment ministry, and providing tax exemptions and subsidies for the development and promotion of the pharmaceutical industry hubs could benefit the market.
Over the last few years, many tourists have been visiting India for their medical treatment. The government has also relaxed rules for the tourists by issuing rapid airport clearances and fast-track medical visas, thus helping in the promotion of this industry.
This covid pandemic has been a boon to the Indian pharmaceutical industry. Medicine spending in India is expected to grow between 9-12 percent over the next five years, leading India to become one of the top 10 countries in terms of medical spending. It is now important for all pharmaceutical companies to shift their product portfolio toward chronic diseases like covid drugs, antidepressants, anti-diabetes, cancers, etc. which are on the hike nowadays. Many initiatives have been taken up by the government to reduce healthcare expenses and make it affordable for the whole population of the country. The introduction of generic drugs has also paved the way for the benefit of pharma companies. It is now important to focus on the rural healthcare system and provide the rural areas with the necessary drugs and preventive vaccines. Doing so will help a lot in the development of pharma companies in India and will also lead to the development of the country as a whole.
 Dr Abhishek Dadhich, ‘The COVID-19 pandemic and the Indian pharmaceutical industry’, EPR (22 April,2020) < https://www.europeanpharmaceuticalreview.com/article/117413/the-covid-19-pandemic-and-the-indian-pharmaceutical-industry/> accessed 19th September 2021.
 Dr Sujith Varma K, ‘Covid-19 impact on Indian pharmaceutical industry’, PHARMABIZ.COM (10th February, 2021) < http://www.pharmabiz.com/ArticleDetails.aspx?aid=135427&sid=9#:~:text=The%20domestic%20pharma%20market%20turnover,actually%20an%20increase%20from%20Rs.> accessed 19th September,2021.
 Sanjay Singh, ‘Pharmaceuticals: emerging not just stronger, but better and smarter’, KPMG https://home.kpmg/in/en/home/insights/2021/04/indian-pharma-industry-boom-mantra.html accessed 19th September,2021.
 Dr Sujith Varma K (n 3)
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Apple Inc.'s warning Monday about the dangers of downloading software to unlock the iPhone had a strange ring to it. Kinda like parents warning coming-of-age kids that if they spend too much time enjoying a certain 'pastime,' they risk going blind.
Of course that isn't true and many kids kept doing it until they really did need glasses. And then they got scared and might have stopped. Seems like Apple is employing the same strategy. Download unlocking software and you risk turning your $400 iPhone into a non-working piece of art for the coffee table. A worthless brick that no longer does anything.
Except for the fact that several tech experts I've talked to doubt Apple's claim, at least right now, and say if you read between the lines of the warning, Apple is essentially confirming the effectiveness of the software downloads. That's not to say Apple isn't busily developing software updates that in fact will disable your phone if you download them and also have unlocking software already loaded.


text: HPBA's Wintercue campaign kept the winter from putting a chill on barbecuing. Launched to the public early January, winterbarbecuing.com featured everything consumers needed to bring out their winter warrior. From winter grilling tips to recipes best for colder temps, Wintercue made it easy for consumers to avoid cabin fever and score points with friends and neighbors who admired their devotion to searing steaks all-year round. HPBA also partnered with a few acclaimed pitmasters to broadcast their winterbarbecuing via Facebook live. Leading up to the Super Bowl, HPBA held a photo sweepstakes where football fanatics had a chance to win some prizes by snapping their best shots huddling around the warmth of a flame. In December, HPBA members received a toolkit to engage potential customers, which included a video to share that featured a pitmaster sporting some fingerless gloves and cozy clothing while enjoying wintercuing.


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Ranked as the third largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world according to its trading volume, OKEx launched an announcement indicating that it had listed four new crypto derivative pairs on its platform.
Asides from NEO, the other three include; Bitcoin SV (BSV), QTUM, and DASH. The four crypto coins are paired against Bitcoin (BTC) or Tether (USDT) on margin with a three times leverage option as listed below;
By adding more options for its users, the OKEx platform has taken quite a bold and innovative step towards expanding and maintaining their market space in the industry. Just a month ago, the platform listed seven other pairs on its margin which included; Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Bitcoin SV (BSV), EOS, Ethereum Classic (ETC), Ripple (XRP) Ethereum (ETH), and Litecoin (LTC).
More Innovations –The OK PiggyBank
The platform has also invented a new tool that allows its users to earn daily interest on their spare crypto. According to the platform, the so called OK PiggyBank will also be able to support the added pairs. Users of the OK PiggyBank are able to instantly transfer assets to and from the PiggyBank without any minimum limit.
Other Exchanges Supporting NEO
NEO is not just a crypto currency but is also a blockchain platform that was designed with an aim to build a scalable network of decentralized applications. Famously known as “China’s Ethereum’’, the NEO platform has quite a dedicated team that has come up with various technological improvements.
NEO brands itself as the ‘Smart Economy’ and for that reason, the platform is set out and determined to create a way for businesses to manage smart contracts safely, effectively and legally. Other top rated exchanges that support NEO include;


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Pinterest 2012 is YouTube 2006.
Adam Rifkin stashed this in Pinterest
Owen Thomas of BI returns to pounding the table for why Google should buy Pinterest. (They did this in April, too.)
The heart of the issue resides in whether Pinterest has the right to show you images like the one above, that violates someone's copyright, in all likelihood:
Pinterest today is just like YouTube in 2006.
By that, do we mean a fast-growing social-sharing property without a proven revenue model?
No. We mean Pinterest is a massive lawsuit waiting to happen.
Now that Pinterest has raised $100 million and is worth a notional $1.5 billion, it's painted a big, fat, juicy target on itself for photographers and other copyright holders to come after it for allowing users to upload lots of gorgeous, high-resolution images.
Pinterest claims fair use, but their logic may not be defensible:
Unfortunately, the fair-use rules which grant some exceptions to copyright were written long before the idea of a hyperlink existed, and make no allowances for links or credit. (Fair use, for example, clearly lets publications like Business Insider show you screenshots of Pinterest pages featuring images that could get Pinterest in legal trouble when discussing that same topic.)
So here's why BI believes Google HAS to buy Pinterest:
Google can't afford a small startup without a solid business model or a sophisticated legal team to take on that battle and not win.
So to protect the $36.5 billion a year it does in advertising -- largely on material created by others that it helps users discover through search -- Google will have to buy Pinterest. And probably Tumblr, too.
It's cheaper than letting them lose a lawsuit.
It's actually very important to The Web that fair use allow websites to use images if they credit the source and link back.


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This was a great year for Facebook (META -0.47%) stock. During 2015, shares soared 35% as the S&P 500 failed to make any progress.
Trading at $105 at the time of this writing, shares are only about $5 off an all-time high set late in 2015.
Facebook's rise during the year is particularly impressive when put in context with previous years. The stock's gain in 2015 adds to a huge rise throughout 2013 and 2014. Overall, shares are now up an impressive 230% since the company went public in 2012.
What drove the stock's impressive gain in 2015? Here are three factors likely behind the big year.
1. Continued user growth
Going into 2015, Facebook's user base was already huge. But -- whether investors knew it or not -- it was about to get much, much bigger. By the end of 2014, Facebook had 1.39 billion monthly active users. As of the social network's most recent quarter, Q3, Facebook boasted 1.55 billion monthly active users -- or about 21% of the world's population.
And the growth achieved more recently remains robust. Facebook added about 60 and 50 million monthly and daily active users, respectively, between Q2 and Q3 alone.
User growth keeps investors happy, as it is a good indicator of the strength of the platform and the platform's ability to continue to appeal to larger audiences. Presumably, larger audiences will eventually lead to greater revenue.
For a comparison in contrast, Twitter (TWTR) has added just 28 million monthly active users between the fourth quarter of 2014 and the third quarter of 2015. Even more, Twitter's year-over-year growth in monthly active users of 11% in its most recent quarter is below Facebook's year-over-year growth of 14%, despite the fact that Twitter is a much smaller social platform. This paltry user growth is arguably the number one reason for the stock's 37% decline year to date.
2. Growing profits
Rapid revenue growth of 42.3% during the trailing 12 months paired with the social network's lucrative business model has driven net income higher.
During the company's most recent quarter, for instance, Facebook's non-GAAP net income reached $1.6 billion -- up from $1.1 billion in the year-ago quarter.
Analysts expect Facebook's profitability to continue to rise. The consensus analyst estimate for the social network's compound average annual growth rate for EPS during the next five years is 29%.
3. Success beyond the Facebook app
The tech company is morphing into a successful holding company, home to some of the world's most substantial social platforms beyond its native Facebook platform.
WhatsApp and Instagram -- two brands Facebook acquired -- now boast 900 million and 400 million monthly active users, respectively. Both of these platforms are even bigger than Twitter's user base of 320 million monthly active users.
And Facebook is even building out Groups and Messenger into their own platforms. Indeed, Messenger and Groups are now two of the company's most prominent platforms, with 700 million and 925 million monthly active users, respectively.
Importantly, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg appears to be building trust from investors in regard to his ability to turn these other platforms into businesses. The CEO is proving how adept the social network is at monetizing platforms as he rolls out the first stages of the business-to-consumer interactions that will eventually turn Messenger into a business in its own right. And the company's deployment of ad products on Instagram continues to look like a success.
Of course, a soaring stock price often means a pricier valuation. And in Facebook's case this does appear to be so. So, investors interested in buying the stock may want to think twice. But on the other hand, the company's excellent execution doesn't make the stock look like a sell either.


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Is the new 'Mann der Tats' changing Indian society?
Indian enterpreneurs are creating new jobs, seducing global investors and high-net worth individuals, transforming business models, and scripting new ways of making products and services reach the end consumer despite institutional voids in an emerging economy like India.Updated: Sep 03, 2015 21:16 IST
What is common between a 50-something middle-aged grey-haired person in Bangalore, once the owner of a printing press, "making a mistake" and shifting jobs - with a 30-something young Indian fella armed with a US degree, married and divorced, dating afresh furiously while pursuing his professional aspirations in Chennai – with a 30-something single young woman in the National Capital Region owning an apartment and disregarding the pressure of social norms to marry – with a mid-30s Indian couple, well-educated, experimenting in life and delaying having children - with a 30-something Gujarati man passionate about trekking and adventure sports?
Well if you haven’t guessed it already, these are all some profiles of entrepreneurs in India’s new wave of starting-up economy.
While globally there is much attention on the potential for the Indian start-up economy with Prime Minister Modi now also exhorting Start-up India in his 2015 Independence Day speech, the new Indian entrepreneurs are also ushering in quiet but potentially fundamental societal changes and the implications of all this might go beyond business.
Sure, they are creating new jobs, seducing global investors and high-net worth individuals, transforming business models, and scripting new ways of making products and services reach the end consumer despite institutional voids in an emerging economy like India. But these Mann Der Tats, or ‘men of action’ as Joseph Schumpeter once called entrepreneurs, are also changing societal norms about risk-taking and failure in today’s India.
To be sure, it is unclear whether these sociological changes actually started when India liberalised in the early 1990s or are a product of a start-up wave that began five years ago, ushering in a more experimental Indian society. But the association is clear. Not every day will you find (as this author recently noted), the father of a 26-something start-up founder, maintaining his personal intelligence with a database on investors (from VC/PE to HNIs) for his son’s venture – and doing his own analysis of the policy environment – all this while doing his day job in a public sector unit.
It is worth noting here that start-ups and their potential to usher in societal change was indirectly hinted at by Schumpeter himself in his work on creative destruction both in his 1911 and 1934 tomes when he stated that the entrepreneur is the innovator who implements change within markets through the carrying out of new combinations. It is left to the more nuanced to grasp that to make new combinations work, and to usher in changes in markets, consumers, producers, policy makers and related stakeholders have to join hands – which will automatically imply changes in the smallest unit of societal organisation in modern economies (like that in households).
Also, this is not the first time India is witnessing a wave of entrepreneurship and associated sociological changes. The same may have been true when the Swadeshi entrepreneurs got bitten by the bug around and after World War 1 or when Indian pharmaceutical entrepreneurs created clusters of medicine-making in places like Hyderabad or Ahmedabad. One can even conjecture this to be partially true in the context of new Indian entrepreneurs in India’s now-established software industry when they came into being few decades back. And we are also not talking here of the rich history of social entrepreneurs in India over many decades ushering in societal change.
Purely conventional for-profit entrepreneurs in the 2015 starting-up India seem to be playing an important role much like sociologists have documented in the erstwhile Mittelstand in Germany or in the Silicon Valley in the United States. These changes now are intimately evolving in your backyard: Take notice, adapt to it or feel uncomfortable in falling behind. After all today, even school kids are part of India’s new breed of Mann Der Tats and these changes have started percolating deeper than you might have contemplated.
Chirantan Chatterjee is a Faculty Member in Corporate Strategy & Policy at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore
First Published: Sep 01, 2015 01:13 IST


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If you’re just getting into cryptocurrency trading, or even if you’re highly experienced, there’s no doubt you could be overwhelmed by the over 1,600 digital currencies and more than 200 exchanges you can trade them on. And while there are similarities, each exchange is different. The one similarity that does distinguish the exchanges though is whether they are centralized exchanges or decentralized exchanges.
By far the most popular way to date to fund new blockchain projects has been the initial coin offering (ICO). It’s so popular that in 2017 nearly $4 billion was raised through ICOs, but so far in the first half of 2018 (through June 30, 2018) over $12 billion has been raised through ICOs. The problem with the ICO process is that it is fraught with hackers, frauds and mediocre projects.
Cryptocurrency regulation in the European Union is still in its early stages. While the EU is working on the general guidelines regarding crypto regulation, individual member states have undertaken different regulatory approaches according to their specific legal traditions and practices. This article is focused on the legal documents directly regulating, or otherwise affecting cryptocurrencies in the European Union at the “federal” level – without examining the different approaches undertaken by all 28 member states.
With billions of investments being pumped in the blockchain industry, it seems to be growing rapidly day-by-day and is expanding on to new horizons.
Those horizons include humanitarian causes, such as combating child trafficking or introducing cheaper electricity. Others focus solely on the creation of cryptocurrencies, while some deal with copyright protection. The innovation seems to be never-ending.
One of these innovations comes to you from Decentraland, the company that shocked us all when in 2017 it attracted investments in the amount of $26 million in just 30 seconds, The New York Times writes.
Cryptocurrency has hit a big goal – wide-spread media attention. Mass awareness, which most investors are hoping is just the precursor to mass adoption. Convincing people to ditch their traditional banks for a digital wallet however is a whole new hurdle. One of the biggest topics that most potential newcomers raise is ‘anonymity’. Here, I am going to give a beginner’s introduction to the anonymous nature of cryptocurrency.
The age of cryptocurrencies brought to light some of the most bright minded individuals-usually traders, programmers, hedge fund managers, and designers worth following.
While most of us rush to follow the likes of Satoshi Nakamoto (whoever that is), Don and Lex Tapscott, Andreas Antonopoulos, Charlee Lee and other key members, there are small-time but effective crypto enthusiasts that could be worth following.
One of the benefits of following under the radar cryptocurrency enthusiasts is a faster response to queries. These individuals have fewer followers and can get back to you within a day or less.
Just 5 short years ago it was fairly difficult to find cryptocurrency and blockchain resources. Oh, they existed, but only a handful, and some of the sites were very primitive and not user friendly. Jump forward to 2018 and we are spoiled for choice, with literally hundreds of blogs, vlogs, podcasts, tools and resources in the cryptocurrency space, with even more being added every week.
The advent of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies has opened the world to a number of interesting possibilities and questions. The possibilities seem endless (much like the seemingly infinite list of cryptocurrencies). Yet, with these possibilities, a number of questions arise.
These questions primarily focus on the value that blockchain bribings to society, the intrinsic value of cryptocurrencies (especially, leading cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin) in contrast with fiat currencies.
2Already 80% of all Bitcoins have been mined (as of January 15, 2018) so let’s see how many Bitcoins are left. The Bitcoin blockchain was designed to only ever produce 21 million Bitcoins. Once all of these are produced and mined there won’t ever be another Bitcoin produced. This is known as controlled supply and is in direct contrast with the way national currencies are handled by central banks.
National, or fiat, currencies have an ever expanding supply. This has several reasons, one of which is that it creates inflation, which global governments encourage as a way to grow the economy. Unfortunately it also leads to the devaluation of the currencies, and in many cases this also leads to a reduction of wealth for citizens.
Responsibility is the price of freedom
Let’s be honest – cryptocurrencies aren’t user-friendly just yet. Securing crypto assets isn’t as easy as we’d like it to be; it takes some skill, dedication and a bit of patience to secure your bitcoins properly.
Every now and then we hear a newsworthy story of some guy who lost a considerable amount of money because he lost the private keys to his wallet, got hacked, or the third-party service provider that had custody over his private keys got hacked.


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Paramount Global's fiscal performance disappointed Wall Street expectations this Wednesday, reflecting the weight of fierce competition from streaming rivals and a sluggish advertising market. Post-bell trading witnessed a nearly 2% dip in the company's shares. The media landscape has been undergoing a seismic shift, with streaming overtaking traditional television, compounded by the repercussions of last year's Hollywood strikes. Economic uncertainties and a soft advertising market have only added to the challenges faced by the media conglomerate.
In the fourth quarter, Paramount reported total revenue of $7.64 billion, falling short of analysts' projections of $7.85 billion, as per LSEG data. CEO Bob Bakish noted, "We now expect to achieve domestic Paramount+ profitability by 2025." Paramount+, the flagship streaming platform, saw a surge with 4.1 million new subscribers in the quarter, surpassing the previous quarter's 2.7 million. This figure slightly exceeded the estimated 4.03 million new subscribers, according to data from Visible Alpha. Despite the growth, the streaming unit remains in the red, with Paramount indicating that investments peaked ahead of schedule in November.
The announcement comes amid a flurry of consolidation talks in the US entertainment industry. In January, Reuters reported David Ellison, CEO of Skydance Media, exploring an all-cash bid to acquire Paramount Global's parent, National Amusements. However, CNBC reported on Tuesday that Warner Bros Discovery had ceased discussions regarding a potential merger with Paramount Global after several months of deliberations.
Paramount surprisingly reported earnings of 4 cents per share, contrary to analysts' expectations of a 1 cent loss. Revenue from the direct-to-consumer unit, encompassing Paramount+ and PlutoTV, saw a robust 34% increase, while the filmed entertainment segment experienced a 31% decline. Notably, the studio hosts blockbuster franchises like "Top Gun" and "Mission: Impossible," alongside the popular TV show "Yellowstone." However, revenue from the TV media segment dropped by 12% year-over-year, with advertising revenue down 15%, impacted by reduced political advertising and the Hollywood strikes.
In conclusion, Paramount Global's quarterly results reflect the ongoing challenges facing the media industry amidst the rise of streaming platforms and a subdued advertising market. While the company saw growth in its streaming unit, Paramount+, efforts to achieve profitability by 2025 indicate continued investment in this segment. The unexpected profit per share offers a silver lining, but declines in revenue from filmed entertainment and TV media segments underscore the need for strategic adaptation in a rapidly evolving landscape. With consolidation talks swirling and uncertainties persisting, Paramount Global faces a complex road ahead as it navigates the shifting dynamics of the entertainment market.


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Posted on June 13, 2011 at 4:47pm
“Tequila Terroir” is the go to guide for learning what to drink this summer and for Cinco de Mayo. Tequila Avión, grown in the Jalisco Highlands, gathers more minerals than most agave plants resulting in a richer product high in natural sugar which gives in its fruit notes of pear and peach.
Posted on June 14, 2011 at 11:44am
Editor Rebecca Rothbaum named Tequila Avión the best “All-Around
Bottle.” The writer prefers the Añejo which is a favorite of many due to
“mellow, peppery taste” after being aged in oak barrels for 2 years.
Posted on April 27, 2011 at 11:07am
In an in-depth review on Avión Silver, the writer notes "Distilled from high-elevation, 100% Blue Weber agave, Tequila Avión utilizes an “ultra-slow filtration” process that takes ten times longer than traditional methods. The proprietary techniques result in tequilas of exceptional smoothness, complexity and character.
Posted on April 27, 2011 at 12:06pm
Posted on April 27, 2011 at 12:13pm
announced the beginning of the Texas summer season by sharing the recipe for the Tequila Avión Sunshine. The editors write, “So let’s turn the table and have our way with sunshine. Let’s drink it. Tequila Avión has created the Avión Sunshine, made with Tequila Avión Añejo. It’s a drink that not only looks like sunshine, it’s a powerful ray of sunny goodness.”
Posted on April 27, 2011 at 11:44am
"Marquis Jet tycoon Kenny Dichter, who just launched Avion in New York and California, grew up with Doug Ellin, the creator of the HBO hit about movie star Vince Chase (Adrian Grenier) and his posse.
"I met Doug 35 years ago at Lakeside Elementary School in Merrick, LI," Dichter told Page Six. "And we've been friends ever since." Read the entire article here.
Posted on April 27, 2011 at 11:49am
Avión is featured on thestreet.com
in an article about how tequila is "the new vodka" because it is being found in some high-end tequila bars popping up around the country.
Posted on April 27, 2011 at 11:47am
"For all you regular Entourage watchers, you must be familiar with Tequila Avion, Turtle's new business after his bimbo-limo business failed. Yesterday for Fashion's Night Out, a stretch limo decked out with Avion arrived at my doorstep to take me from party to party. I picked up a few friends from all over Manhattan and we hit up all the fun parties including Jessica Alba's FNO celebration at Ralph Lauren." Read the entire article here.
Posted on April 27, 2011 at 2:23pm
"Boston represents an important market for Tequila Avión as this start up has hit promotional platinum with the HBO show Entourage featuring a continued story line with the brand. The brand has no say in how the product is portrayed as HBO does not accept product placements. In just ten months they have become operational in 22 states and Eastern Canada with distributors lined up for future growth." Read the entire article here
Posted on April 27, 2011 at 12:09pm
Avión Anejo featured in LA Confidential's holiday gift guide
, known for guiding readers toward celebrity-worthy gifts.


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Big news in Tinseltown as Warner Brothers announces that all 17 of its upcoming films will be released in Theaters and to stream free on HBO max simultaneously. This is putting heat on the HBO subscription sign-ups and at the same time scaring the bejeezus out of theater chains. Huge tentpole films such as Dune, Matrix 4, Suicide Squad and Mortal Kombat are involved! We've also provided ideas for streaming for the holidays and some recent hilarious clips to enjoy right now. Swipe up for more..
This hilarious Match ad attempts to sum-up the crazy, horrendous year we've had and is likely to elicit a chuckle or guffaw. Juno star Elliot Page's coming out as transgender stormed the internet this week with many showing support for his courage. Bryan Cranston's new Showtime series strikes critics as a kind of "Breaking Bad lite" but perhaps you want to see the trailer yourself before condemning it outright and finally both Hulu and Discovery + have big streaming news. Swipe up for more...
After the release of her new single "Therefore I am" just three weeks ago, who'd have expected Billie Eilish to announce so many tracks more on the way so soon... Diaper Don is on the loose in an insanely funny TikTok. The sad anniversary of Paul Walker's untimely death has come and gone, but the method to see into the future of digital news is here today, find out more. Finally, who doesn't want to know what's really going on with Rihanna & her new... Swipe up for more


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Here is your weekly round-up of ingredients news, next week’s round-up will focus on packaging news. To submit an item for inclusion, please contact Carly Wood at email@example.com.
- A clear carrot juice range has been launched by fruit and vegetable ingredient supplier SVZ.
- In an attempt to tackle the problem of watery cottage cheese, Arla Foods Ingredients has developed a new clean label protein solution, which is simply added to the dressing (cream) that is combined with the curds to make cottage cheese.
- Synergy Flavours has added a new variant of its core Madagascan vanilla extract to its range of vanilla flavours.
- APSS Plus is Sensient Flavors’ new flavouring to compensate for the sensory drawbacks that occur when sugar is reduced in beverages.
- Wild Flavors and Specialty Ingredients has introduced beer mix concepts inspired by popular long drinks and cocktails.
- Just over a third of consumers in the US, China, Brazil, Spain and Germany have increased their consumption of sugared dairy products over the last three years, reports DSM.
- Protein content is fast becoming one of the key areas of activity in new product development in the food and drinks industry.


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The Swiss-based food-tech company founded in 2017 uses artificial intelligence to reduce food waste and help companies save money. Its devices, designed to fit any trash bin, consist of a weighing scale and cameras, using artificial intelligence to identify, track and monitor disposed food. With 80 devices already deployed in Switzerland, Germany, Brussels and Australia, the startup has run over 200 measurements to this day, enabling customers to minimise food waste by up to 60% and save up to 8% of their food profit margins. Thanks to the customer’s continued support, KITRO has recorded over 1 million in revenue.
“We see a massive shift in awareness and actions since covid. People are starting to prioritise long term sustainable development, especially in the hospitality industry that was crumbled through this pandemic and has to rebuild itself”, comments Naomi MacKenzie, Cofounder of KITRO.
The startup and its 14 employees have now obtained financial support of CHF 1.7 million to continue fighting against food waste. More than CHF 0.6 million comes from existing investors, new supporters including Quadia, a Geneva-based impact Fund and Miteinander, a renowned Gastro and Event company in Zürich. The Technology Fund, a political instrument from the Swiss government supporting innovative Swiss companies with a sustainable focus, also participated in the round.
KITRO’s contribution in mitigating food waste and altering the process in which the problem is tackled in commercial kitchens is what inspired the financial support, as revealed by MacKenzie. The proceeds will enable the startup to increase the product offering and grow the team to address its product’s growing demand. In addition to strengthening its position in the German market, the startup plans to accelerate its market entry in France and Austria.
Moving forward, KITRO has set an ambitious goal of becoming the front runner in measuring and mitigating food waste in the hospitality industry. The recently announced Series A of CHF 3.5 million, closing in Q2 of 2022, will allow it to pursue its plans. “Our goal at KITRO is to bring back the value of all food so that it is appreciated and not wasted. The recent response on the market to take action and responsibility to tackle food waste is driving KITRO’s growth. We are excited to maximise the impact we can have when it comes to food waste reduction and to capture numbers supporting and ensuring the SDG 12.3 goal to half food waste by 2030 is met”, says MacKenzie.
(Ritah Ayebare Nyakato)


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Shareholders in TUI AG, TUI Travel back merger deal
HANOVER, Germany,/LONDON Oct 28 (Reuters) - Shareholders in both German travel and tourism group TUI AG and British travel group TUI Travel on Tuesday approved the pair's plans to merge.
The two reached an agreement in September on the terms of a 6.5 billion euro ($8.3 billion) merger to create the world's largest leisure tourism group.
The tie-up had been expected ever since TUI Travel was created in 2007 from the merger of Britain's First Choice and the travel business of TUI AG, which already owns around 55 percent of the London-listed company.
At TUI AG's extraordinary general meeting in Hanover, shareholders representing 99.85 percent of TUI shares voted in favour of the merger, when at least 75 percent was needed for the deal to go ahead.
In London, shareholders representing 80 percent of TUI Travel shares backed the merger.
"The resolutions contained in the notice of the Court Meeting and Notice of General Meeting were duly passed by the requisite majorities," TUI Travel said in a statement.
Failure to agree the deal would have meant a huge setback for CEOs Friedrich Joussen and Peter Long.
The merger is expected to result in 170 million euros of costs savings and tax benefits and will streamline a cumbersome holding structure that includes headquarters in both Britain and Germany and two separate stock market listings.
"We as shareholders are very happy," Marc Tuengler of retail investor association DSW said earlier on Tuesday, citing the merger's solid industrial logic.
($1 = 0.7877 euro) (Reporting by Peter Maushagen; Writing by Maria Sheahan and Sarah Young; Editing by Georgina Prodhan and William Hardy)
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Stop and sip at Marin's two tasting rooms
Published 4:00 am, Thursday, January 15, 2004
Only two wineries in Marin County operate tasting rooms -- Point Reyes Vineyards and Ross Valley Winery.
The visiting experiences are as different as their locations. Ross Valley Winery feels like a neighborhood wine bar; Point Reyes Vineyards feels like a pit stop on a Pacific Coast bicycle tour.
Ross Valley Winery owner Paul Kreider, a former human resources consultant, says he started making wine in his garage in 1975 and went commercial in 1987. In February 2003, he moved into arenovated building in downtown San Anselmo.
"My entire net worth is invested in this place," Kreider says. "It's a big gamble. But I made that leap from my garage because I had turned 55. I had two children and a house. You find out very quickly when you're over 50 that people are not interested in talking to you in terms of employment."
Kreider's winery is open for tasting from 1 to 7 p.m. every day except Monday. People often drop in, pay the $5 tasting fee, have a glass at the counter and leave.
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"I'd say 75 percent of my customers live within walking distance," Kreider says.
Kreider makes wine from nearby ornamental vineyards, including one batch of just six bottles of Sangiovese grown by a neighbor in Sleepy Hollow who got government approval to have his own label. Kreider has planted Grenache and Pinot Noir around the perimeter of his parking lot, and hopes to get three cases a year from it. He also buys Chardonnay from Stubbs Vineyard and Cabernet Franc from Chileno Valley. The majority of his fruit comes from outside the town of Sonoma.
Point Reyes Vineyards owner Steve Doughty buys grapes from around the state and also grows his own Pinot Noir and Chardonnay on his 800-acre farm.
Doughty and his wife Sharon were running a dairy farm when the National Park Service became interested in buying land around Point Reyes.
"I told Sharon that they're going to pay you marginal prices for it, maybe $2,500 an acre," Doughty says. "I said that if we planted some wine grapes, we could tell the Park Service it was grape land and we could sell it for $25,000 an acre."
The plan failed when the Park Service decided not to buy the property. The couple maintained the grapes for a few years, and then decided -- with no experience -- to make sparkling wine for Sharon's daughter's wedding in 1995. When they decided to start selling wine, the couple added a bed and breakfast to their estate to help pay the mortgage while waiting for a permit to open the tasting room. "The B&B became so successful that we ended up moving the tasting room to the garage," Doughty says. The tasting room is open weekends from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and by appointment. The tasting fee is $3.
Ross Valley Winery, 343 San Anselmo Ave., San Anselmo; (415) 457-5157.
Point Reyes Vineyards, 12700 Highway 1, Point Reyes Station; (415) 663- 1011.


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Retail Banking Systems Insights
22nd January 2020
Small business loans and overdraft facilities provided by big banks are on the decline according to recent figures published by UK Finance. The report, dated January 17, shows that while London lending fell by less than three percent between September 2014 and September 2019, in the North West the decrease neared 16 percent.
According to Rob... read more
13th January 2020
Over the past few years the mortgage market has grown increasingly complex, leading to the growth of broker websites that aim to help consumers make informed choices. One such provider – Habito – has seen exponential growth rates since launch in 2016 and last year announced a move into the lending market itself driven by a £500m... read more
6th January 2020
“The only thing worse than training your employees and having them leave, is not training them and having them stay,” said Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company.
The financial landscape is shifting at a rapid rate, barely recognisable from half a decade to the next, so naturally, many banks are forced to update their systems... read more
23rd December 2019
According to The World Bank, 1.7 billion people globally don’t have access to the most basic financial services. Without access to savings and credit, economic mobility is next to impossible - leaving the unbanked trapped in a cycle of poverty. This is a huge issue not only for developing countries where the proportion of the unbanked is... read more
4th December 2019
While they turn to online banking, and given the rise in digital transformation, the most customers still appreciate the need for financial advice face-to-face, especially for complex transactions or help. Accenture’s recent study of financial service consumers show that on average two-thirds of consumers favour face-to-face interaction with... read more
28th November 2019
Asia Pacific is a vast region, housing a wide range of markets that vary greatly in terms of both size and economic maturity. However, despite the huge differences apparent in the region, there are some trends that have reached all countries. While still a predominantly cash-based region, a younger demographic, an increase in disposable income, and... read more
27th November 2019
Involvement by regulators to create a new API standard for consumers and businesses to access their own financial data could slow down industry initiatives in the space, according to Don Cardinal, managing director of the Financial Data Exchange (FDX).
“The issue is, could the regulators stop [the FDX API standard] inadvertently? All they... read more
26th November 2019
A local independent mortgage broker has run into trouble. A loan payment that was expected to go into a client’s account has not materialised. After contacting the lender to find out what has happened it transpires that it received an email purporting to be from the broker asking for deposit account details to be changed. The broker feels... read more
25th November 2019
The need to innovate and keep up with new market entrants has become the key driver in a bank’s strategic decision to adopt the cloud. Cloud is all about enabling business agility and rapid evolution with on-demand innovation to satisfy growing business needs - yet with no compromise on security and without the investment burden associated... read more


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It’s only mid-July, but eBay is already planning for the Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa season. The online marketplace just announced that it has partnered with designers Billy Reid, Chris Benz, Fallon, Jonathan Adler, Ruffian, Steven Alan and Tibi to form the "eBay Holiday Collective," which will debut a selection of limited-edition gifts on November 12. Each of the seven participants will create at least five items for the collection, priced from $50 to $100, with free shipping on everything.
Included in the range, which will be sold on the site’s "Fashion Vault" section, is a diverse array of present options, including apparel, home goods, jewelry and travel and electronic accessories—making this eBay’s biggest collaboration to date. Although the company has worked with fashion labels such as Derek Lam and Rebecca Minkoff on one-off lines in the past, it has never teamed up with this many brands at once.
“The eBay Holiday Collective marks another milestone for eBay in the fashion category,” Jeff Somers, the general manager of eBay Fashion, told WWD. "As consumers seek seamless, multichannel, anytime-anywhere shopping, creative collaborations point to the future of commerce. Our focus is on enabling commerce, and we’re achieving that by serving as a partner to retailers of all sizes."
Given the announcement of Target and Neiman Marcus’ groundbreaking team-up last week, it’s impossible not to draw comparisons or wonder what other retailers are planning. What originally started a few years ago as a novel idea—small, capsule collections from high-end labels for fast fashion chains, what?!—has turned into the norm. Now that department stores and e-tailers have joined the game, who do you hope will make the next big move? Perhaps Shopbop would be good (they do already have connections with a multitude of designers, after all) or Walmart—we’d love to see the superstore get some style street cred. Let us know what you think in the comments below!
Photo: Chris Benz, one of the participating designers, via WWD
More on Luckymag.com:
- Great Olympic Style Moments
- 14 Tie-Waist Tops Under $50
- Lucky Listens: Erika Spring
- Beauty Session: Emily Giffin
- Comic-Con’s Best Dressed Celebs: Shop Their Looks Now
Keep up with the Lucky team on Twitter: Follow @LuckyMagazine


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Hauppauge, N.Y. – Acoustic Research has begun shipping a portable Bluetooth speaker whose appearance can be customized with a custom cover from SkinIt.
Upper Saddle River, N.J. — Onkyo plans October shipments of its $199-suggested DS-A5 iPod/iPhone/iPad docking station that adds wireless AirPlay capability to
North Reading, Mass. – Bowers & Wilkins will expand its selection of AirPlay-equipped tabletop speakers with the October availability of the $799-
New York – DTS subsidiary Phorus has developed a multizone wireless-audio technology that, for the first time, brings Apple AirPlay-like features to Android
North Reading, Mass. - Bowers & Wilkins is bringing many of its core speaker technologies to architectural speakers for the first time with its new CI 800
Las Vegas – Audiomobile, which targets 12-volt specialists, has begun shipping a trio of car subwoofers that include a model designed for both small-
Mahwah, N.J. — Denon Electronics has launched a microsite that lets consumers “virtually try on” the company’s headphones.
Calabasas, Calif. — DBest has begun selling its third Bluetooth speaker, the shape-shifting $249-suggested
Deerfield, Ill. – Bang & Olufsen plans November availability of a eight-pin connector module that replaces a 30-pin connector module in its BeoPlay A8
William (Bill) Hecht, inventor of the soft dome tweeter (patented in 1967) and founder of United Speaker Systems and Phase Technology, died on September 12, after
San Antonio — The Progressive Retailers Organization was at the Westin La Cantera Hill Coun
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. – Ingram Micro Consumer Electronics (IMCE), a division o
The Home Technology Specialists of America Spring Meeting was held April 3-5 at the Hyatt Regency
If you are having trouble accessing TWICE content or wish to subscribe to TWICE Online please email firstname.lastname@example.org or call 866-71-PRESS (866-717-7377).


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The campaign launched at a concert featuring Imogen Heap and Junge Deutsche Philharmonie in August. Heap — who “uses her knowledge of the web and social networking to communicate and collaborate with her loyal following in pioneering ways,” as her SoundCloud bio puts it — is an imaginative and innovative artist much in the spirit of the campaign.
At the event, which she had promoted on social media, Heap offered the debut of “Tiny Human,” a song “created for Sennheiser” about her infant daughter, Scout. An interpretative video version of the song was released this month on YouTube.
After the performances, the German-based company’s co-CEOs, Daniel and Dr. Andreas Sennheiser, teased the audience — both those within London’s Central Hall Westminster and others watching on a live steam — with a glimpse of the new headphone. Sennheiser has subsequently revealed product details such as handcrafted leather ear cups and a frequency range “only perceivable by the combined hearing abilities of bats and elephants.”
Words don’t really do justice to attributes like these, however, which may be why Uwe Greunke, director of global marketing, says the company wants to build “an atmosphere” rather than focus on the product.
“This is clearly a change in strategy,” he says. “And of course the products are still very important to this concept, but there’s so much more to discover in music” — and to rediscover, as consumers have become accustomed to the compressed tones of MP3s played on their smartphones.
And so, until that product — an “era-defining” one at that, according to the company — it actually unwrapped, it is attempting to build a mythology around a “monument to sound.”
With the idea that “collective storytelling” is vital to the creation of all myths, Sennheiser last month launched a dedicated website where users are asked to build their own “sound sculpture” by clicking on a jagged boulder that has fallen from a primordial sky. Each click generates a resonant note and chips away at the rock. Users can send their completed smoothed “sculpture” to a large monument being shaped by all of the users’ contributions — each with their own “unique timbre, melody and soul.” And, of course, you can share what you’ve done on Facebook.
“We are building the next big thing, in a nutshell,” Greunke says, “with an emotional approach” that he likens to campaigns for luxury brands such as Rolex. There’s also a comparison to be made with GoPro’s content challenges, which put the focus not on “nitty-gritty features” but rather on how its enthusiasts use the camera. So, too, with the participatory Sennheiser campaign.
“The idea is to generate new experiences in audio by using our product,” Greunke says.
The Reshaping Excellence website trended on Reddit a few days after its launch. It also won “site of the day” citations from Awwwards and England’s Favourite Websites Awards.
The next “reveal” is scheduled for Nov. 3 and will apparently build on the monument, which was 63.4% towards its goal of a million individual sound sculptures the morning of Oct. 23.
As someone who heard Miles Davis in ways I had never heard him before after donning a pair of Sennheiser HD 414 headphones about 40 years ago, I admit to being thoroughly beguiled by what, at this point, is pure hype building. Whether or not the myth actually gets created, of course, will depend on whether the product delivers a similar experience for audiophiles more discerning than me when it rolls out.


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© norautron Electronics Production | February 02, 2018
Talkpool & Norautron enters strategic IoT cooperation
TalkPool and Norautron AB has recently made a strategic agreement regarding manufacturing and industrialisation of TalkPool’s new generation of sensors and modems for Internet-of-Things (IoT).
The sensors support the wireless LoRa technique which advances rapidly above all within sensor networks in smart buildings. The first production series has been manufactured and tested, and will be on the market during first half of 2018. ”We are very pleased with the cooperation with Norautron where we have industrialized the products together in a very short time. The manufacturing of the first production series has happened totally painless and with a high quality and outcome.” says Stefan Lindgren, CTO at TalkPool. One of the products is a LoRa modem that can connect to the entire range of industrial analogue measuring probes and break circuits. ”The cooperation with TalkPool and their products for smart networks is both viewed as an important step in the strategic development towards manufacturing of high-tech products and towards a market place with a high potential volume and wide area of applications. Norautron will through our process quality and scalable structure provide TalkPool with the best opportunities to move towards new markets and success,” says Martin Röing, Site Manager at Norautron.


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Cat seen eating $1,100 worth of smoked fish at supermarket (video)By Mason White 11:09 AM December 16, 2014
|Cat eating smoked fish at supermarket|
By: Chan Yuan
(Scroll down for video) Supermarket employees and customers were shocked to find a cat feasting on high quality smoked fish, according to a video uploaded to the Internet.
According to video surveillance footage of the store in Vladivostok, Russia, the cat ate and spoiled seafood worth about 60,000 rubles ($1,100), on Thursday.
The cat ate vacuum packed smoked fish and squid, a spokesperson for the supermarket, which is located at the airport, said.
Airport security officers said that the facility enforced a strict no cat policy, leading them to believe that the animal might have escaped from one of the passengers.
The video of the incident has been uploaded to YouTube, and it went viral. So far, the video was seen about 2 million times.
The owner of the supermarket, Irina Kuzmina, said that the cat not only munched on flounder, sole and flatfish, but also ripped packages with dried octopus and other seafood delicacies.
She said that all the remaining fish was dumped and the showcases were disinfected.


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Yesterday's State of Play presentation confirmed what's been pretty obvious for close to a year now: Control, Remedy's latest game, takes place in the same universe as Alan Wake. The AWE expansion for Control, launching on August 27 (the game's one-year anniversary), will officially be the first link in what's being called the "Remedy Connected Universe," but it won't stop there: Remedy says it's working on a whole new game in the universe.
"For over 10 years, we've had a crazy dream," writes Creative Director Sam Lake over at Remedy's website. "The idea that the tales told in some of our games would be connected to each other, a connected world of stories and events with shared characters and lore." Over at the PlayStation Blog yesterday, Communications Director Thomas Puha introduced the phrase "Remedy Connected Universe," and Lake promises that the AWE expansion is "just a humble beginning" for it.
"We're already hard at work on a future Remedy game that also takes place in this same universe," Lake confirms.
This clears up at least some of what's on Remedy's plate for the next few years. Just last month, Remedy demoed the single-player campaign it's developing for Smilegate's CrossfireX, but it also has more than just one other project in the works beyond that.
In February, Remedy confirmed that it was moving forward with a multiplayer project from its secretive Vanguard initiative as well as a new, unannounced project. A month later, Remedy announced the signing of a new deal with Epic Games Publishing for two titles: the first, a "AAA multi-platform game already in pre-production," is presumably this next title in the Remedy Connected Universe. Why? The second title mentioned in the announcement isn't Remedy's multiplayer game, which will use Unreal, but is instead "a new smaller-scale project set in the same franchise" as the other project (emphasis ours). Both will use Remedy's Northlight engine, just as Control did.
From the sounds of this, it actually seems like two follow-ups to Control and Alan Wake in the Remedy Connected Universe are in the works. One would be Remedy's next big multiplatform game, and the other is the smaller project. Both are being planned for next-gen consoles and PC.
As for just how much connective tissue exists within Remedy's catalogue beyond Alan Wake and Control, that's hard to say. Quantum Break could certainly have ties to both, but working in connections to Max Payne might be tricky considering that Rockstar owns the rights to it. Will Death Rally be revealed as some sort of car smash-'em-up Altered World Event too?
Next week on August 13 at 12 p.m. ET / 9 a.m. PT, Remedy will host a stream showing off the first 15 minutes of the AWE expansion. Remedy says it'll be the only preview of the DLC before it's released for Xbox One, PS4, and PC later this month, so if you want an early look at how this Connected Universe will come together, that'll be your big chance. Control is also coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X in some fashion down the line.


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According to media reports, Research In Motion (RIMM) is looking to sell some of its recent acquisitions, including cloud services provider NewBay that the struggling smart-phone maker bought last year, as part of the company’s broader efforts to restructure its operations.
Faced with an ever increasing competitive landscape, RIM, the Blackberry smartphone manufacturer, acquired NewBay in October 2011 for about $100 million. NewBay reportedly had over 80 million subscribers for its white-label content services when it was acquired. However, the unit, which deals with network operators including Deutsche Telekom, AT&T (T) and Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ), was seen as a relatively small player in the Cloudsphere and a late entry by RIM into cloud computing.
“RIM is coming later to market than competitive offerings” from Apple’s iCloud, Amazon.com’s (AMZN) Cloud Drive and services from Google (GOOG), RBC’s Mike Abramsky wrote at the time in a note to clients.
Earlier this year, RIM, which is amid a restructuring process, sold the email services provider Alt-N Technologies Ltd., acquired in 2009. As part of this restructuring the company hired investment banks RBC Capital Markets and J.P. Morgan (JPM) to explore options, including the sale of the company, as management seems to be unsure about its future prospects.
RIM recently announced unprecedented job cuts totaling 5,000 by fiscal 2013, about a third of the current total staff.
The struggling Canadian smartphone maker, whose nightmare continues ever since Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone hit the market, is making matters worst by continuing to delay the launch of its BlackBerry 10 software based handset, thus further aggravating the stagnancy factor in its product portfolio. Its share of the global smartphone market fell to 4.8% in the 2Q from 12% y/y.
While RIM still has more than $2 billion in cash and is debt-free, it reported in June highly disappointing Q1 2013 financial results. The company said it lost $0.37 a share, more than 5x what the Street had predicted. RIM also failed to provide any specific time frame when the stock’s plunge will ultimately end. (RIMM) is down almost 95% from its mid-2008 high and the shares have fallen more than 60% over the course of the last year alone, putting the co.’s market cap at $4.28bln/$8.29 p/sh.
Meanwhile, according to a report by Bloomberg on Friday, RIM’s enterprise-services unit, seen as the company’s most valuable asset, has attracted the interest of International Business Machines Corp. (IBM). IBM is said to have made an informal approach about possibly acquiring the division, which operates a network of secure servers used to support RIM’s BlackBerry devices.
The business may be valued at $1.5 billion to $2.5 billion depending on the mix of assets included, according to Bberg, citing Berenberg Bank.
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Barkada: n. barkada(s) is Filipino street slang means a group of friends or a gang of youth.
Following up on the BlackBerry Flash Mob dance (see video below) at the SM Mall of Asia Atrium last December 7, 2012, RIM has posted up a video of a Meet & Greet that took place with BlackBerry Barkada during the same day. Fans got a chance at winning some BlackBerry gear, as well as meeting some of the local celebrities.
BlackBerry is huge in the Philippines, and "Barkada" is slang for "a group of friends." In this case, like minded BlackBerry fanatics. So the Barkada have taken the Philippines by storm with their support for BlackBerry.


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Archive for November, 2011
BBC iPlayer has finally been released in Canada and for the rest of the world. This ‘Global’ version of iPlayer debuts December 1st, but is already available in the App Store.
A launch event took place in downtown Toronto earlier today. BBCWW’s president of Global iPlayer, Jana Bennett, had this to say to RealScreen:
“Canada has always been an enthusiastic supporter of BBC programming, and the Global iPlayer lets us share thousands … Read More
According to a report from The Daily, Microsoft Office for the iPad is in the works and is coming soon, alongside an updated version for OS X Lion.
According to sources, the tech giant is actively working on adapting its popular software suite for Apple’s tablet. With the iPad making up over 80 percent of the tablet market and millions of people worldwide using Office, that could mean big bucks … Read More
As reported here several weeks ago, Apple released the Apple Store app here in Canada, and with it, came a number of interesting features for retail store visitors. Apple Store visitors would be able to queue up for personal service and even sign up for workshops or One on One sessions. Sounds great, no?
The benefits for Apple are great too. Not only would Apple be able to offer better retail … Read More
Apple has just seeded iOS 5.1 beta and the developers have already started digging deep. As discovered by 9to5Mac, Apple might have just leaked the next-generation iPad’s reference in the latest beta. The source has posted a screenshot showing an iOS device named iPad 2,4. in iOS 5.1 source code. Even though references of iPad 3,1 and 3,2, the speculated iPad models to be launched in March 2012, have appeared … Read More
If you’ve been waiting to pick up some invisibleSHIELDs for your iPad, now is the time to order. ZAGG has their annual 50% off Cyber Monday sale, and while it doesn’t apply to many iPad accessories, there are some huge savings.
The Wall Street Journal’s latest report confirms sources have identified Japanese-based Sharp to supply the next LCD panels for the iPad 3:
Apple Inc. is adding Sharp Corp. as a maker of screens used in the next-generation iPad, people familiar with the situation said Thursday, as the U.S. consumer electronics company moves to diversify component suppliers for its products.
One of the people familiar with the matter said Apple’s next iPad is … Read More
All you have to do is enter over at their website–good luck!
PS – Don’t forget to checkout the 2011 Black Friday Online Sales Round Up over at iPhoneinCanada.ca
A couple of days back, we reported a rumor suggesting that iPad 3 will be thicker than the current iPad 2, though not as thick as the original iPad. However, a new report by Forbes (via Mac Rumors) from analyst Peter Misek suggests that Apple has invested $500 million to $1 billion in new equipment which will allow Sharp to produce the iPad 3 displays using technology permitting a thinner and lower-power … Read More
If you’re a fan of sharks, and you enjoy Shark Week on the Discovery Channel, you should check out their iPad app, Ultimate Sharks. This interactive app explains details about the 10 deadliest sharks along with 3D renderings to show how each shark attacks and swims, and more. It’s a great app for your children if they love sharks!
I tested this out yesterday on my iPad, and I was … Read More
In a recent report by DigiTimes (via 9to5Mac), Apple is reportedly testing two iPad 3′s which are codenamed “J1″ and “J2″. Though company has not yet finalized which one of the two prototypes should be launched, a new code string found in iOS 5 source code (screenshot below) seems to confirm the earlier report by DigiTimes. The report also claims that the J2 is actually just the 3G model and it is … Read More


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These 25 retailers demonstrate how the industry is leading the way in getting consumers to shop smarter and live better — an SN Whole Health special report in Sourcebook 2009
Channel Champion — National Chain: Kroger With more than a dozen banners operating in 31 states, it's easy to see how Kroger could make it onto anyone's short list of top national chains. The retailer's wellness offerings are as varied as its store formats, but no doubt there's a significant presence of natural, organic and better-for-you products in each banner. The 2,500-store chain, based in Cincinnati, helps ensure this by making health a cornerstone of its private-label portfolio. ...
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Nokian to invest $360 million in new US tyre factory
Nokian Tyres’ board of directors has authorized its management to sign a letter of intent with the respective authorities to build a new tyre manufacturing facility in America. The new greenfield factory will be located in Dayton (Rhea County), Tennessee, USA. It will concentrate on the production of passenger, SUV and light truck tyres that are sold exclusively or primarily in the North American market. The annual capacity of the factory will be 4 million tyres with an expansion potential in the future. About 400 people are expected to be employed.


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Security Firm Reveals iPhone Vulnerability
The NY Times reports that researchers at a security firm Independent Security Evaluators have announced that they have found a vulnerability in the Apple iPhone that allows them to extract personal information and "take control" of the device from a malicious website or WiFi connection:
The researchers, working for Independent Security Evaluators, a company that tests its clients computer security by hacking it, said that they could take control of iPhones through a WiFi connection or by tricking users into going to a Web site that contains malicious code. The hack, the first reported, allowed them to tap the wealth of personal information the phones contain.
The company has setup a website which provides a video demo of the exploit as well as answers to questions, but does not provide would-be hackers any detailed instructions. Apple has reportedly been notified of findings. A full disclosure of the hack will be released at the Black Hat conference on August 2nd, while a preliminary report (PDF) is currently available.
According to the site, in their proof of concept, the exploit can read the log of SMS messages, address book, call history, voicemail data and transmit it to the malicious site.
The principal security analyst admits "It's not the end of the world; it's not the end of the iPhone" and it appears it hasn't changed their enjoyment of the iPhone itself. Even the security firm's founder states that while he may more cautious about using a random public WiFi network, "you'd have to pry it out of my cold, dead hands to get [the iPhone] away from me."


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Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s largest memory chipmaker, is considering expanding outsourced chip production and building a new foundry plant, possibly in Europe, to reduce the risk of supply disruptions to its clients. The South Korean tech giant also plans to strengthen its custom-tailored memory business with its focus on automotive chips and system-on-chips (SoCs) as future growth drivers.
According to Samsung officials on Wednesday, the company is in the middle of hiring experienced workers in the memory, foundry and system LSI divisions to expand its major businesses.
Under the expansion scheme, Samsung plans to widen its contract chipmaking, or foundry, outsourcing to other companies for the production of non-memory chips. This will include system chips such as image sensors, as part of its “just-in-time” supply strategy.
Currently, Samsung’s System LSI business entrusts the production of advanced chips, including the application processor (AP) for smartphones, to the company’s in-house foundry division, while the production of general chips such as display driver integrated circuits (DDIC) and image sensors that can be made with a 14-nanometer process node is outsourced to United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC), a Taiwanese foundry company.
Samsung now hopes to add other Taiwanese chipmakers to the list of its foundry outsourcing companies, and candidates mentioned by industry sources include Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp. (VIS) and Powerchip Technology Corp.
NEW SAMSUNG FOUNDRY PLANT IN EUROPE?
Samsung has pursued a two-track foundry expansion strategy – diversifying its production outsourcing and increasing its own foundry capacity.
Industry watchers said Samsung will likely build its next foundry plant in a country in Europe as the European Union has actively sought to turn the region into the semiconductor manufacturing hub.
Samsung’s bigger foundry rival Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) has also strongly hinted at the possibility of building a foundry plant in Europe.
“For Samsung to strengthen its automotive chip foundry business, it needs to build a factory in Europe, where a number of automakers and parts makers are located,” said Samsung Securities in a recent research note.
Samsung Electronics currently has contract chipmaking facilities in five locations around the world: Giheung, Hwaseong and Pyeongtaek in Korea; and Austin and Taylor, both in the US state of Texas.
While Samsung is the world’s top memory chipmaker, it is a distant second in the contract manufacturing business with a low double-digit market share after TSMC, which controls more than half of the global foundry market.
Samsung officials said on Wednesday the company’s memory business is working on increasing the production of chips tailored for data center operators as well as auto chips for carmakers.
With rapid technological advances in autonomous vehicles, demand for system chips for use in state-of-the-art driver assistance systems (ADAS) and infotainment systems is also rising, they said.
Kyung Kye-hyun, president of Samsung’s device solution division, which is in charge of Samsung’s entire semiconductor business, said the company is actively seeking M&A targets for non-organic growth.
“M&As are a good option for us to quickly grow our business. We’re prioritizing companies for review,” he said at a meeting with reporters last month.


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CPI Records 2.8% Growth in the Third Quarter reports Cayman ESO
"The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the third quarter ending September 2013 rose by 2.8 percent compared to the quarter ending September 2012."
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the third quarter ending September 2013 rose by 2.8 percent compared to the quarter ending September 2012.
⫿This is the highest inflation rate since December 2008,??? stated the Hon. Minister for Finance and Economic Development, Mr. Marco Archer. ⫿A few items showed sharp price increases such as tobacco products and health insurance,??? he further noted.
Average prices for tobacco products rose 49.2 percent resulting largely from the 100 percent increase in duty in effect from September 2012.
The average premium for health insurance was 59.6 percent higher compared to the same period in 2012, in view of higher benefits as well the introduction of payments towards an indigent fund.
⫿We are closely monitoring these price changes. It is expected, however, that the inflation rate for these items will normalize in the future quarters; that is, the annual impact of the factors causing the increases will taper off,??? Minister Archer further explained.
Consumer Price Index update provided by the Cayman ESO http://news.eso.ky.
Tags: Consumer Price Index, Cayman ESO


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Reconciling a balance sheet or analyzing data for the next great product is not the only metric that drives the success of great companies. Rather the secret sauce has to do with empathy for the world around you.
It is not just business for better, it is better for business, says Dev Patnaik, CEO of Jump Associates and author of Wired to Care who opened up the Business4Better show here in Anaheim.
He implored businesses to reconnect with their humanity and gave examples of companies that are doing this today. “When we are fact-based and living our lives with PowerPoint data, we are only bringing in a part of our brains every day to work, says Patnaik. “You have to have that connection and get out beyond your walls and spend the time in the real world.” Continue reading
This post is by guest blogger Howard Brodwin of Sports and Social Change, a sports marketing firm focused on cause marketing, CSR and social enterprise development.
What is a sports nonprofit organization?
In developing cause marketing and corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs around sports, this is a question my organization runs into quite often. While some people are familiar with a few well-known sports related nonprofits like Special Olympics or the Boys and Girls Clubs, the breadth and depth of what the programs in this space provide is truly unique. Recognizing the differences surrounding how these programs work and what type of impact they strive for are vitally important to anyone who wants to create an effective for-profit/nonprofit relationship in sports.
For those of you who come from the business side of the equation, I hope this provides a clearer picture of the overall sports nonprofit landscape so you can make better-informed decisions when selecting a nonprofit partner for cause marketing campaigns or broader CSR initiatives.
At New York’s 92nd Street Y on Tuesday of Social Media Week NYC 2013, a packed house of ‘giving’ people representing nonprofits and organizations interested in social good gathered to hear about #GivingTuesday, a movement for sharing social good initiatives great and small.
Giving Tuesday is a nascent organization, conceived in July of 2012, launched in November 2012, and becoming a major movement for social good on its very first try.
The virtual social good event was created for the connected community, people who use social media.
It tapped the strength of influencers to spread its message of doing and sharing ‘good’ for twenty-four hours. Participation included everything from organizations that raised a million dollars to an individual mom who took her kids shopping for the needy. Tapping into niche communities was very important. Organizers reached out to mom bloggers and people who share on Pinterest.
IBM knows a few things about giving back. And the company is passing its knowledge on to others to help them do the same.
For 10 years now, IBM has been building what it calls its On Demand Community. This space on its website makes it easy for the company’s employees — and even retirees and non-IBM employees — to apply their professional talents to help schools, local government and not-for-profits of their choosing.
‘Tis the season for giving and a perfect time to reflect on your charity and community engagement initiatives for 2013. Amplifying this point, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook made headlines this week with a $500m stock donation to Silicon Valley Community Foundation, a nonprofit organization focused on education and health initiatives.
I working predominantly in the Tech industry and there are many great examples and stories of giving and philanthropy from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to Salesforce.com and Marc Benioff’s Dream foundation. My colleague Kelley Damore of UBM Tech’s CRN outlines many examples in a recent article and even presents this in a slide presentation worth a look. While many of these are big examples, small and medium businesses and entreprenuers are having their own impact as outlined in Kelley’s “Charitable Endeavors: SMBs Can Think Big”.
Stop The Charity and Start The Impact (a Business4Better white paper)
The way beyond the self-limiting altruistic corporate charity of the 20th century is business integrated community involvement, which brings charity to the core of business operations and makes business interests central to community involvement. This 2.0 version of corporate giving synergistically melds commerce and charity to the point of making them indistinguishable.
A sales representative might educate clients about reducing their carbon footprint while trying to sell a product upgrade or a corporate call center might staff a community help line in addition to taking customer calls. Continue reading


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Leaked from today's 404 episode:
- Bill Gates will grant you $100,000 to invent a next-gen condom.
- "Now That's What I Call Music" documentary coming soon.
- Dongle jokes and a tweet lead to firings, threats, DDoS attacks.
- And of course, a silver lining: http://forkmydongle.com.
Bathroom break video: NHL celebrates 20-year anniversary of NHL '94 in awesome throwback fashion.… Read more
For Limor Fried, a hardware hacker and leader in the booming maker and do-it-yourself movements, there was never a question of waiting for someone else to jump in and do a better job of inspiring girls than Lego has done with its widely-panned Lego Friends set.
The product was featured on the cover of Bloomberg Business Week last year and drew worldwide attention as the global toy company's first major attempt at showcasing girls in a new set. Still, many Lego fans were upset that the company had focused on well-worn stereotypes and had ignored the modern reality that girls can do pretty much anything they want, whether or not there's pink or purple involved.
For Fried, who runs open-source hardware developer Adafruit Industries, it sounded like it was time for a little culture hacking.
If you're in the United States and under 21 years of age, you really need to stop reading right now. In fact, I'm not sure I want anyone under 25 to know about this thing. Seriously, go look at some phone or video game reviews for a few minutes instead.
You're all still here aren't you?
Fine, then -- I tried. No, the headline doesn't lie. A French-American scientist named David Edwards has teamed up with French designer Philippe Starck -- who may or may not be behind some epic Apple product -- to create an aerosol spray that purports to make you "feel drunk" for a few seconds. … Read more
Apple is avoiding paying the full amount of U.K. taxes it owes for the last financial year, alleges a British news report in the Daily Mail today.
The report says that Apple earned 6 billion pounds (roughly $9.5 billion) but paid only 10 million pounds (around $16 million) in taxes -- which is far below the standard in the U.K.
The news source gathered documents from Apple's retail divisions in 2010 that show the company also paid less that year than is typical for a business selling products in the U.K. These documents show that … Read more
General Electric, NRG Energy, and ConocoPhillips, through their joint venture firm, have invested in a new kind of wastewater treatment technology.
They're backing Israel-based Emefcy, developer of the Megawatter System, which uses bacteria to turn a regular wastewater treatment plant into an electricity-producing bioreactor that produces both clean water and electricity.
The electrogenic bioreactor draws on organic matter in the wastewater to supply microbial fuel cells (MFCs). It uses the electrogenic bacteria Shewanella, Geobacter, and Rhodoferax as catalysts to decompose the glutens in the water.
The Megawatter System is not built as a standalone plant, but is actually a … Read more
According to the DOE, the collaborative effort formerly known as FreedomCAR and Fuel Partnership, is now U.S. DRIVE--Driving Research and Innovation for Vehicle efficiency and Energy sustainability. The goal is to beef up research and development of not only new vehicle technologies, but to also work on a broad range of energy infrastructure technologies.
"Government-industry partnerships like U.… Read more
Links from Monday's episode of Loaded:
Phillips scales back its TV business.
The District of Columbia is aiming to legalize and tax online poker.
Google is about to shut down Google Video once and for all.
Google also is funding research to teach computers how to feel regret.
The sequel to Uncharted will have direct integration with Facebook and YouTube.
Samsung may be selling off its hard-drive business.
Amazon.com has yanked an e-book written for pedophiles from its Kindle store following a wave of complaints and boycott threats.
As of this writing, "The Pedophile's Guide to Love and Pleasure: a Child-lover's Code of Conduct" still appears in Amazon's search results for the phrase "pedophile guide." But clicking on the link of the book's title now triggers an Amazon page that states: "We're sorry. The Web address you entered is not a functioning page on our site."
Charles Phillips, who recently left Oracle as co-president to make way for Mark Hurd, will become chief executive of Infor, which makes enterprise planning software for mid-sized companies.
In a statement, Infor said Phillips will be CEO and a member of the board. Current CEO Jim Schaper will remain chairman.
At Oracle, Phillips was on board as the company acquired a bevy of companies ranging from BEA Systems to Siebel Systems.
Read more of "Infor names Charles Phillips CEO" at ZDNet's Between the Lines.


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As the market frets over persistent inflation and looming interest rate rises, it's important to pick ASX shares to buy that can withstand macroeconomic shocks.
One expert is thus putting companies through 2 thematic filters to work out whether they're worthy of stuffing into the Christmas stocking.
"Two themes we like right now are what we call Stable Compounders and Structural Winners," said Montgomery Investment Management chief investment officer Roger Montgomery.
"And we have two preferred stocks – one in each theme – that we think will provide solid long-term returns."
For the record, Montgomery personally believes inflation is not a huge threat to shares, as there will be counter-forces at play.
"The economy is cooling," he said on the Montgomery blog.
"While investors may be more excited about the negative influence this potentially has on consumer demand and therefore consumer prices, a less obvious impact will come from these people gaining employment. An increase in labour supply will also place downward pressure on wages."
Longer-term pre-COVID trends of decreasing unionised labour and automation will also conspire to keep a lid on inflation, added Montgomery.
Regardless, here are the 2 ASX shares Montgomery singled out as flag bearers for the 'stable compounders' and 'structural winners' themes:
Australians still need petrol stations
Stable compounders are businesses that offer "growth with a defensive element".
"They tend to be in stable industries, are market leaders and are under-appreciated by the market."
One example that Montgomery likes at the moment is Waypoint REIT Ltd (ASX: WPR), which is the landlord for many petrol station sites around Australia.
Its tenants include Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL)/Shell, 7-Eleven and Liberty.
"Waypoint properties enjoy 100 per cent occupancy, a 10.5-year weighted average lease expiry (WALE) and 3 per cent weighted average rent reviews."
The stability of its clientele provides for a very reliable income stream.
"Waypoint yields slightly more than 5%, which along with an estimated dividend per share growth equivalent to about 3%, offers a potential total shareholder return of 9%," said Montgomery.
"Management also announced a $150 million capital return buyback on 30 July 2021 which is subject to the settlement from the sale of a portfolio of properties expected to occur this half."
The icing on the cake is that Montgomery believes Waypoint is attractive as an acquisition target.
"Additionally, the potential for further revaluations exists with Waypoint's book of properties appearing to be valued 20% below the prices similar properties are being transacted for in the open market."
Waypoint shares are down 1.45% this year so far, although that's only after losing 4.6% in the past 5 business days.
Australians will need more cloud
Structural winners are those ASX shares taking advantage of a long-term societal or consumer trend that is "agnostic" to economic health.
Montgomery named cloud computing and decarbonisation as two such structural trends, while declaring his fund owns shares in Macquarie Telecom Group Ltd. (ASX: MAQ).
"A data centre operator, it benefits from the trend toward cloud services, which is levelling the playing field for small businesses to compete globally and digitally," he said.
"As the company expands its footprint, the market is also slowly understanding it can sell its last 10% of capacity for 10 times the price of its first 90%. And whether the economy grows or not probably matters little."
Macquarie shares have risen an impressive 49.2% over the past 12 months.
ASX shares that are structural winners have rewarded investors with growth in the past 10 years, according to Montgomery, and "may continue to do likewise over the next decade".
"We currently believe, notwithstanding the ever-present risk of a 10% to 15% setback, financial year 2022 will prove to be as lucrative as FY21."