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A recent Consumer Reports survey of its subscribers found physical therapy to be one of the top treatment choices for back pain, according to the survey results in the May 2009 issue of the magazine.
Physical therapy and other hands-on treatments were among the top five in the results. The survey of 14,000 Consumer Reports subscribers, who had reported back pain in the last year but had not had surgery, rated consumer satisfaction of treatments they had used to alleviate their back pain. Most of the participants, according to the article, had tried more than five different treatments to ease the pain.
“Physical therapy focuses not on just easing the pain, but also correcting the cause as much as possible, and also teaches the patient how to prevent future pain and injuries, ” says Jayne Fleck Pool, Vice President of Clinical Services and Compliance at Physiotherapy Associates.
A March 23 segment on back pain on NBC’s Today Show highlighted the story of Linda Michel, 39, a woman with severe back pain who is using physical therapy to treat her back problems. According to Michel, after six weeks of physical therapy, the pain is almost gone.
“What I am learning are different things I can take home with me. Things I can continue to do to ensure the health of my back,” said Michel.
Michel’s intention, according to the segment, was to avoid surgery through physical therapy. Others with back pain should consider non-invasive alternatives before having surgery as well. While medications are an option, they can often have unwanted side effects, in addition to the long-term cost. The Consumer Reports article urged consumers to take into consideration those possible side effects before use.
Click here to learn more about physical therapy as an alternative to long term medications.
“Clinical trials have shown that about half of the people who take (opioid pain relievers) suffer adverse effects such as drowsiness, respiratory depression and gastrointestinal symptoms such as constipation, reflux, heartburn, cramping, nausea and vomiting,” said Dr. Orly Avitzur, M.D., in the May 2009 issue.
When surgery is an option, it is important to also consider the recovery time after, and the possibility that the surgery may not work. In a 2008 survey from Consumer Reports, only 34 percent of those surveyed were “very satisfied” with the results of their surgery.
Another telling result of the 2009 Consumer Reports back pain survey is that 58 percent of participants wished they had done more exercising to strengthen their backs. A physical therapist can provide safe and effective exercises to help strengthen those supporting muscles to prevent pain and possible injury. More than 40 percent of the survey respondents who had tried exercise found it helped “a lot.”


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Free IPods, IPhones for grabs in La Casera Birthday Wheel Radio Programme
The La Casera Company says it is a season of gifts and giveaway for all its consumers, even as winners have begun to emerge in the La Casera Birthday Wheel radio programme.
The La Casera Company says it is a season of gifts and giveaway for all its consumers, even as winners have begun to emerge in the La Casera Birthday Wheel radio programme. The La Casera Birthday Wheel is a way of getting consumers to appreciate one another by wishing a loved one “Happy Birthday” and stand a chance to win fantastic prizes for their thoughtfulness.
In a world where everybody seems to be too busy to remember loved ones, La Casera deems it necessary to promote togetherness and friendliness through the radio programme as this will create excitement and make everyone feel good.
Every caller stands the chance to win a prize by picking a lucky number on the programme when they call in to wish someone a happy birthday as there are lots of Iphones, Ipods and cases of La Casera Apple drink to be won while the programme last.
Speaking on the initiative the Managing Director, The La Casera Company, Mr. Roland Elbert, states that the La Casera Birthday Wheel is just one of our consumer reward platforms running on radio, while we have a full-scale activation team moving around the cities across the country and thrilling consumers with free bottles of La Casera Apple Drink.
“Like you all know, La Casera is all about fun and excitement and our ultimate goal is to ensure that our consumers are constantly engaged and rewarded with loads of fun and excitement.
The La Casera Birthday Wheel is airing on OGBC2 in Ogun state, Splash and Fresh FM in Ibadan, Wazobia FM, Cool FM, Top Radio, Beat FM and Inspiration FM in Lagos. Consumers are therefore encouraged to tune into these stations and stand a chance to be part of the lucky winners that will emerge.
“We are excited about these different avenues through which we can engage and also reward our consumers whose loyalty over the years cannot be questioned.” Stated Elbert.
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NEW DELHI: SpringHouse, a Delhi-based co-working firm, is looking to open 8-10 centres by December 2019, said
Mukul Pasricha, founder & CEO of the company.
Most of these new centres will be located in the National Capital Region. It currently has 15 operational centres across NCR.
“Apart from NCR, we are also looking at Bengaluru. We plan to open a centre their by September 2019. In Bengaluru we would be looking to open 20,000-25,000 sq ft space,” said Pasricha.
The company is also looking to raise Rs 15-16 crore post September 2019. “As of now we are bootstrap but as and when we start scaling up further, we would be looking to raise funds,” he added.
In the financial year 2019, SpringHouse generated a revenue of Rs 6 crore and is now targeting a revenue of Rs 12 crore by December 2019.
By June, the company plans to open two new centres in Gurugram; one of them is in MG-Road spread across 30,000 sq ft with a seating capacity of 500 while the other is situated in sector 44, Gurugram. It is spread across 10,000 sq ft and will have 135 seats.
It also opened a centre in Noida Sector 16 with 350 seats. The 23,500 sq ft space is taken up from Pioneer House.


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January 5, 2024 | 4 min read
Comprised of media practitioners, retail strategists, and senior business leaders, the PMG Insights Team creates compelling thought leadership, spearheads proprietary consumer research, and drafts editorial content on the current and future state of the advertising, media, and technology industries.
This week marked the beginning of the end for third-party cookies on Google Chrome as the web browser began the gradual process of phasing out cookies, finalizing the transformation of digital advertising from cookie-based to cookieless. It's the first step towards enabling and broadly testing Google’s Privacy Sandbox, which aims to create technologies that both protect people's privacy online and give companies and developers tools to build thriving digital businesses.
The initial phase-out applies to just one percent of Google Chrome users to facilitate testing, with the broader phase-out slated for Q3 2024, which will affect all of Chrome’s more than three billion global users.
Catch-up Quick: Google Privacy Sandbox aims to reduce cross-site tracking while still enabling the functionality that keeps online content and services freely accessible to everyone on the internet. Deprecating and removing third-party cookies encapsulates a unique challenge for the industry, as cookies enable critical functionality across sign-in, fraud protection, advertising, and generally, the ability to embed rich, third-party content on websites—but at the same time, they're also the key enablers of cross-site tracking.
With the initial phase-out affecting only 1% of cookies disabled in Google Chrome as of January 4, we don't expect to see an immediate impact on programs. For context, Chrome owns about half of the U.S. browser market share.
Similar to the effects of Apple’s implementation of App Tracking Transparency controls within iOS 14, with continued industry-wide cookie deprecation, we expect to see a potential impact on addressable audience sizes over time, and continued challenges with media attribution. However, this is a great signal forward to ensure privacy-first strategies are in place, audited, and actioned upon.
As an organization, PMG continues to conduct thorough audits of all programs that are reliant on third-party cookies, developing a risk assessment framework as well as a testing framework to ensure our programs are future-proofed. We’ve been working closely with our partners to prepare for these changes as recent months have seen more brands supercharge their testing roadmaps and adopt durable measurement capabilities.
Our team will continue to provide the latest insights, guidance, and strategic recommendations for navigating cookie deprecation and privacy-related industry changes as more information becomes available.
The rollout and timeline for many privacy-related changes are dependent on a variety of advisory, compliance, and regulatory factors and are subject to change. Our work will continue to build upon future-proofing strategies while charting a clear path forward to the end of the year when we'll see even more significant deprecation.
“Industry-wide cookie deprecation requires advertisers to prioritize first-party data, privacy-first approaches, and diversified marketing strategies.”
While the news of this change made headlines this week, the march towards a more privacy-focused future has been years in the making. Countless industry consortiums, privacy advocacy groups, and alternative identity methods have cropped up to aid advertisers in navigating these changes.
Industry-wide cookie deprecation requires advertisers to strategically shift approaches and strengthen their direct engagement with consumers. This involves continuing to prioritize the collection of first-party data, adopting a stance that’s privacy-first, and diversifying marketing efforts across various channels.
Advanced technologies, such as Customer Data Platforms, can aid in data management and strengthen existing programs by analyzing trends and patterns from first-party data, ultimately helping to deliver a more targeted and personalized experience for each user. Scalable identity-based solutions such as LiveRamp’s Ramp ID or The Trade Desk’s Unified ID 2.0 can also be used as alternatives to cookies to reach first-party audiences.
This moment represents a new era in advertising and can’t be circumvented by a temporary adjustment in tactics or activating cross-platform features. Instead, advertisers must recalibrate now, if they haven’t already, to adopt a more comprehensive and sustainable, privacy-first approach, investing in durable media targeting and attribution solutions that combat signal loss, maintain regulatory compliance, and meet your brand’s unique measurement needs.
For more insight into how brands can best navigate these changes and prepare for the privacy-first future of advertising, check out our latest thought leadership on consumer privacy and measurement strategies:
PMG in The Drum on The Last Bite Of The Cookie: Preparing For Holiday 2024


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Its a shortened few days in the UK and US because of public breaks, but theres still sufficient going on maintain united states ticking over.
Europe together with United States will continue to carry restrictions put to avoid the spread of coronavirus.
In the business world carmaker Nissan would be in the spotlight when it is anticipated to unveil its technique for the post-Carlos Ghosn era.
Any revisions from the recommended 500bn EU recovery investment can also be closely viewed.
The European Commission is it few days getting ready to table detail by detail programs for a 500bn data recovery investment and upcoming multiannual economic framework (MFF), which works from 2021-27. All 27 EU user says will have to be on board before any data recovery investment program sees the light of day.
The data recovery fund debate became much more fractious over the week-end after the alleged frugal four, Austria, Denmark, holland and Sweden, opposed the landmark Franco-German plan to provide grants to hard-pressed nations.
as soon as commission president Ursula von der Leyen gift suggestions her very own plans Charles Michel, European Council president, is anticipated to oversee the negotiations, while he looks for a way to hold an EU frontrunners summit aimed at settling the spending plan discussions.
Among the key concerns that should be resolved will be the level of the MFF, the fate of budget rebates gotten by economical states, plus the stability between funds and loans inside recovery fund in addition to its dimensions. Besides north states will likely make harder demands for financial reforms as an ailment for money.
Michael Gove, the Cabinet workplace minister, and David Frost, the UKs chief negotiator, face concerns from MPs in the total progress made during three rounds of talks aided by the EU on the future commitment in front of a 4th round and then months choice from the future regarding the negotiations.
Nissan features a hectic few days. On Wednesday the carmaker will unveil its plans to restore its commitment with alliance partners Renault and Mitsubishi Motors.
On Thursday Nissan reports full-year results whenever an important strategy overview is expected is launched by leader Makoto Uchida as he tries to draw a line under a tumultuous period that is beset by boardroom infighting and a collapse of profits.
A restructuring of Nissans struggling European company is the modifications predicted.
a quiet week for US profits but merchants Dollar General, Dollar Tree and Costco are typical likely to report goes up in first-quarter sales on Thursday from the back of consumers stockpiling in front of lockdowns.
On the Covid flip part people will look out for any damage shop closures have actually brought to Ralph Lauren on Wednesday and Nordstrom on Thursday.
Software manufacturer Salesforce.com, United States printer maker HP and Texas-based PC and software group Dell Technologies additionally report recently.
In the UK Britvic will announce whether or not it will probably pay away an interim dividend while an additional hit to profit is anticipated. The soft-drink maker features sent applications for federal government help to ride out of the Covid crisis.
Newspaper team frequent Mail and General Trust has actually half-year figures on Thursday. Full-year assistance was terminated as a result of the pandemic.
Nationwide posts preliminary yearly results, with attention focused on the tentative reopening of this UK housing marketplace.
The building societys residence cost index is also out this week. An important autumn is expected as aftereffects of Covid-19 filter in and index captures with the lag between mortgage applications and approvals.
Insurer Provident Financial and commercial home group British Land also report recently.
the lender of Korea is expected to reduce its base rate to a historical reasonable of 0.50 % on Thursday.
Kenya and Poland are forecast maintain rates on hold once they satisfy on Wednesday and Thursday respectively, while Colombia is likely to cut its benchmark price again on Friday.
Mexicos main bank publishes its quarterly report on Wednesday, when it's additionally expected to revise its 2020 inflation and economic development forecasts. It releases the mins of their last meeting here day.
A raft of inflation information is out this week, with releases because of from South Africa on Wednesday, Germany on Thursday in addition to eurozone, France, Poland and Kenya on Friday.
There are worries of costs rising after a revolution of stimulus actions had been introduced to try to improve economies hit hard by the pandemic, however for today it seems as though we will have another round of falls, and thus for the short term at the very least the chance usually rising prices find yourself becoming also reasonable. This months Market Questions features more.
the UK supermarkets Kantar and Nielsen have actually food sales numbers for May out this week. Stockpiling distorted March and April data but this months should consume the shift to folks cooking their particular meals home during lockdown.


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HRMS platform provider greytHR unveils a new brand identity
Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India] February 21: greytHR, a full-suite HRMS platform provider, announced the launch of its new brand identity. Unveiled at an exclusive meet on February 15 in Bengaluru, the new avatar reinforces the company’s mission of being relevant, helpful, and youthful in the modern HR tech market.
“Our deep-rooted belief is that the growth of a business is tied to the growth of its people. We are on a mission to help organizations leverage best-in-class people solutions for faster business growth and a better employee experience. Our new brand transformation is aimed at reinforcing this message to our customers, partners, and other well-wishers,” said Girish Rowjee, Co-founder and CEO of greytHR (greytHR) .
Showcasing greytHR as a provider of people solutions for business growth, the new brand identity has multiple elements, including a new-age logo, a refreshed website, and a vibrant color palette. The overall graphic language signifies human potential and growth. greytHR realized this transformation in association with Landor, a global brand consulting firm.
“The times have changed. AI and automation are powering almost everything in the HR function. At greytHR, we have innovated relentlessly to change with the times and meet the demands of a dynamic market. The transformed identity of greytHR reflects our passion to help entrepreneurs grow their businesses by giving them the tech and support they need to bring the best out of their people,” added Sayeed Anjum, Co-founder and CTO of greytHR (greytHR) .
The new wordmark symbolizes that people are at the heart of everything the company does. The Growth Arc, consisting of three rising circles, signifies their customers’ ambition to rise to their full potential and greytHR’s promise to support them.
In line with its vision of technological innovation, the company announced the launch of two Generative AI-powered product lines, a platform (Unite Marketplace) with complementary solutions offered by its partners, and a client management solution for payroll service providers.
About greytHR (https://www.greythr.com/ ):
greytHR (greytHR) is a comprehensive, full-suite HRMS platform for enhanced people management, used by 23,000+ customers, 2.3 million+ users and 25+ countries. The platform offers 40+ tools in the areas of core HR, payroll, leave and attendance, statutory compliances, expense claims, and employee self-service, among others.
If you have any objection to this press release content, kindly contact email@example.com to notify us. We will respond and rectify the situation in the next 24 hours.


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Sharp Electronics this week introduced a netbook-like mobile device with a 5-inch touch screen that is designed to run Internet-based applications.
Apple has approved the Spotify music streaming application for the iPhone and iPod touch.
If you're traveling to Paris, France anytime soon, consider taking Metro Paris Subway 3.0 along for the trip. This 99-cent iPhone app integrates an augmented reality feature (called Your New Eye) that will show you where the closest Paris subway stat...
Facebook updated its popular iPhone app delivering lots of improved features for the official iPhone Facebook 3.0 rev. But sadly, Facebook fails to deliver everything a mobile Facebook warrior could want.
Apple will sell somewhere between five and seven million iPhones in China in 2010 as a result of its deal with the country's second-largest mobile carrier, a Wall Street analyst said today.
Apple says it's not to blame for a series of exploding iPods and iPhones, according to a report published on Friday. The company has been under fire, so to speak, for devices overheating and shattering across Europe and the U.K.
Swedish outfit BlockMaster has launched what it claims to be the world's fastest secure USB stick, curing, it says, the problematic trade-off between security and performance.
More than half of all Australian households have completed the switch to digital television, according to Senator Stephen Conroy, the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy.
The 267,000 Windows 7 based netbooks that the NSW Government has started rolling out to high schools will come pre-installed with open source software. The initial roll out that began today will see the 70,000 Year 9 students in NSW schools have a Wi...
Today, Xbox Australia announced a $100 price drop for its flagship Xbox 360 video game console, the Xbox 360 Elite. The top-of-the-range system will now carry an RRP of $449 -- $50 less than the redesigned Sony PlayStation 3, which will be available ...
Apple has approved a streaming music application from Spotify for use on the iPhone, even though the program will compete with Apple's own iTunes service.
Computer scientists in Japan say they've developed a way to break the WPA encryption system used in wireless routers in about one minute.
After users fumed over news that Adobe Systems Inc. wouldn't support its Creative Suite 3 (CS3) applications on Apple Inc.'s new Snow Leopard operating system, the company backtracked a step yesterday.
Microsoft is offering an open source software development kit linking the company's Bing search engine to Apple's iPhone and Mac systems, according to a Bing community blog post on Thursday.
EMC Corp.'s Iomega Corp. unit yesterday introduced its next-generation quad-drive desktop NAS server, which offers a storage capacity of up to 8TB, iSCSI connectivity for block-level data transfer, multiple RAID configurations and remote access and m...
Learn how to protect your digital lifestyle. A must read for all those who are active online.
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Bloodhound Books on surviving and thriving as an indie publisher
telegraph.co.uk – Monday January 8, 2018
Indie crime fiction house, Bloodhound Books, is killing it right
now – and to such a degree that its doors have had to be temporarily shut for submissions.
"Our schedule is full up; we're set to release seven or eight books a month until June," says Betsy Reavley, who co-founded the company with her husband, Fred Freeman.
To read the full article on telegraph.co.uk, click here


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Retail same-store sales held steady with a 4.9% gain in August as retailers reported mostly solid back-to-school results at the same time sales at department stores were hurt by the impact of Hurricane Irene and weaker spending plans by shoppers, Kantar Retail reported on Thursday.
Economic troubles and an interest in saving money are just two of the growing number of reasons why it behooves nontraditional retailers to start thinking about offering fresh food in their stores, especially pharmacy retailers.
Despite the absence of top line growth at Walmart’s U.S. stores division, second-quarter earnings grew 12.4% to $1.09 and came in a penny ahead of analysts’ estimates, which was enough for the company to narrow and increase the range of its full-year profit forecast.
Senior leadership within Walmart’s merchandising organization continues to undergo a transformation as the retailer’s chief merchandising officer Duncan Mac Naughton on Friday announced another round of personnel moves.
Two years after publishing its initial Urban Grocery Study, Mid-America Real Estate Corp.'s Urban Team has accumulated comprehensive and comparative data rendering new statistical findings and trends that may prove invaluable to grocers and other retailers planning to penetrate the urban Chicago marketplace.
It is no secret that consumers have changed their mindset and shopping behavior in the wake of the weakened economy. Today’s shoppers continue to have a greater focus on more cost-effective at-home beauty solutions, and hair coloring is no exception.
Just days after announcing a cooperation agreement with Nielsen, Walmart has entered a new relationship with SymphonyIRI Group, through which the two will develop a solution that supports the retailer's customer-centric initiatives.
Sales in the digestives aisle going forward look positive, especially as an aging population begins paying closer attention to healthy diets, including the right amount of dietary fiber to keep things “regular” and supplementation with probiotics for overall digestive health.
If the rumors that surfaced last week about Walmart eyeing Rite Aid for a possible buyout turn out to be true, it would be one of the biggest stories of the year: Walmart would acquire the country’s third-largest drug store chain and more than double its U.S. store count.
Walgreens has signed on to convert or open at least 1,000 stores across the country using its food oasis concept over the next five years as part of First Lady Michelle Obama's and the Partnership for a Healthier America's recent announcement to bring healthy, affordable food to nearly 10 million people during that time period.


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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 2, 2023
Kathleen R. McMorrow
The Communications Optic, LLC.
Email: [email protected]
Cynthia Hetherington Named 2023 Executive of the Year by NJBIA
(Wanaque, New Jersey) October 2023 – Hetherington Group™ (Hg), a consulting, publishing, and training firm that leads in due diligence, corporate intelligence, and cyber investigations by keeping pace with the latest security threats and assessments, is proud to announce that founder and CEO Cynthia Hetherington has been awarded Executive of the Year by the New Jersey Business Magazine 2023 Awards for Excellence, presented by the New Jersey Business & Industry Association (NJBIA).
The Executive of the Year Award is presented to an individual who has demonstrated excellence in their position as an NJBIA member company executive. Hetherington is one of only four executives to be presented with the 2023 honor from a very competitive field of companies statewide. Hetherington is widely acknowledged for exemplary leadership, leading her organization with passion and overcoming challenges to continue to advance her company. Hetherington’s contributions to the state’s economic growth are underscored by the success of her business. Hetherington was nominated for the award as a local trailblazer who built her own success, pioneered the elevation of her industry and leads a supportive, team-focused culture that has fostered business growth in New Jersey and far beyond.
“It is an honor to be recognized as Executive of the Year by the NJBIA,” stated Hetherington. “I appreciate this honor and the support I have received over many years from the New Jersey business community as I grew my global company that serves prominent public companies and governmental agencies, as well as private sector enterprises transforming their industries right from my Passaic County hometown.” Hetherington will be profiled in the October issue of New Jersey Business Magazine and spotlighted on daily E-news service, New Jersey Business Today for her accomplishment.
With over two decades of expertise, Hg is a leader in investigative due diligence, corporate intelligence, and cyber investigations. The company identifies and exposes vital data across national and international investigations and trains thousands of investigators in the public and private sectors annually. The company shares expertise in an increasingly data-intensive, cyber-focused world through the publication of industry newsletters, white papers and recognized investigative reference books. The firm’s client roster includes prominent private sector enterprises across a broad array of industries as well as federal, state and municipal public agencies.


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Sunset magazine, a California icon, struggles amid declining ad sales and management missteps
For 120 years, Sunset magazine has been synonymous with California living.
Created by Southern Pacific Railroad to promote westward travel, Sunset has long been a tastemaker for the masses, popularizing backyard barbecues, hot tubs, midcentury architecture, weekend getaways, California wines and food culture, including a boom in avocados. The pioneering publication survived the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, the Great Depression and ownership changes.
But there are dark clouds on Sunset’s horizon.
More than a dozen current and former employees and contributors interviewed by The Times describe an organization in disarray. Five top editors, including the editor in chief, have quit in recent weeks. Some freelance writers haven’t been paid for months. Sunset’s holiday issue, which typically lands in mailboxes in late November, has been delayed until nearly Christmas, in part because of a lack of advertising.
In September, Sunset’s staff was abruptly moved from its upscale waterfront offices to a WeWork communal workspace several blocks away in downtown Oakland. Without a test kitchen to fine-tune recipes or prepare dishes for photo shoots, editors schlepped food and supplies to a basement kitchen in Mountain View, which they shared with food truck vendors. Feral cats congregated near the door.
As staffers were settling into the WeWork space, the parking manager from the previous offices showed up unannounced, demanding that Sunset pay its past-due parking fees.
Problems have mounted since the magazine was sold a year ago to Regent, a small Beverly Hills private equity firm, for about $12 million (including liabilities) — a sliver of its value three decades ago.
Regent founder Michael A. Reinstein, in an interview, acknowledged a rocky transition from the previous owner, Time Inc. Editors left voluntarily, he said, because they decided they weren’t a good fit with the new cost-conscious approach. He added that he also wanted his own team, and had hired a new editor in chief from New York.
“This was a complete reboot,” said Reinstein, who specializes in buying distressed assets. “We’ve taken a start-up mentality.”
Reinstein said Sunset was not experiencing a cash crunch. He said his firm was simply working through a backlog of bills, and that he was invested in the magazine’s future.
“I view Sunset as my life’s work; making it live another 120 years is core to me,” he said. “I treasure this brand.”
Sunset’s struggles are emblematic of the challenges facing print media. Publications are suffering from a defection of advertisers to the internet. Magazines have been particularly hard hit; publisher Condé Nast last week announced it was ending the print edition of Glamour. Hearst is no longer printing Seventeen. Some billionaires have come to the rescue. This week, the philanthropic firm led by Laurene Powell Jobs, widow of the Apple Inc. co-founder, acquired the publisher of Pop-Up magazine and the California Sunday magazine. But such instances are rare.
“What makes this so sad is that it’s Sunset,” said Matt Villano, a travel writer and contributor since 2003. “This is a magazine that has existed almost as long as California.”
Sunset’s growth parallels that of California in the 20th century.
The magazine was born to coax travelers aboard Southern Pacific’s Sunset Limited line, which cut through the Southwest from New Orleans to Los Angeles. The inaugural issue in May 1898, which sold for a nickel, depicted the sun setting over San Francisco’s Golden Gate strait, decades before the famed bridge was built.
“Sunset was about the next great stage of American development,” the late Kevin Starr, California’s former librarian, wrote in a history of the magazine.
For its first half-century, Sunset was located in San Francisco. The 1906 fire destroyed its early offices but workers salvaged the mailing list. Presses that normally spit out train tickets and schedules were drafted into service, printing an “emergency edition” sent to 65,000 subscribers.
Essays by famous authors, including Jack London and John Muir, appeared in its pages, along with ads for Coca-Cola, Columbia Records and Colt pistols. In 1914, Southern Pacific severed ties. Autos were supplanting trains as the mode of travel among the middle class, and the railroad unloaded the magazine to an employee group that fashioned it into a literary outlet known for progressive politics.
Sunset’s tone changed in 1928 when Kansas native Laurence W. Lane bought it for $60,000. Lane was advertising director for Des Moines-based Meredith Publications, owner of Better Homes and Gardens. To increase Sunset’s commercial appeal, he mandated that editorial content focus on four lifestyle themes: home, gardening, travel and cooking.
After World War II, Sunset soared, along with California’s population. It also moved to the suburbs. Famed architect Cliff May, whose ranch-style homes were closely associated with the magazine, in 1951 designed its Mission-style adobe headquarters in Menlo Park. Lush gardens featured plants native to the various climate zones in the West, including Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and Washington, which made up Sunset’s circulation area.
So popular was Sunset that its seven-acre Menlo Park complex became a tourist attraction, drawing more than 50,000 visitors a year.
Sunset took on a role as environmental steward. It also was among the first to recognize the threat posed by urban wildfires, publishing “Lessons from the Bel Air Burn,” following that 1961 blaze. In 1969, it sounded an alarm about the toxicity of pesticide DDT, warning readers not to buy it. In 1973, the magazine asked readers: “Can the West Grow Wisely and Well?”
The Lane family owned Sunset for 62 years, but with no heirs who wanted to run it, it was sold to media giant Time Warner Inc. The 1990 deal was valued at $225 million. At the time, Sunset boasted 1.4 million subscribers and its monthly issues were bulging with more than 100 pages of ads.
In Western states, Sunset’s circulation topped that of sister publications People, Time and Sports Illustrated. Unlike most lifestyle magazines, whose audiences are overwhelmingly female, about 40% of Sunset’s readers are men.
Steve Seabolt, publisher from 1994 to 2000, once boasted that Sunset was “the Nordstrom of magazines.” Editors focused on the smallest of details to ensure that articles, recipes and recommendations on soil types or a little-known camping spot were accurate.
“Our goal was always to be that favorite, super-knowledgeable and unintimidating neighbor, whose advice was always spot-on,” Seabolt said last week. “It was all about trust.”
Recipes were rigorously tested. Homemakers would volunteer to work in Sunset’s test kitchen. “If they had questions or if the dish didn’t turn out, the recipe would be sent back for refinement,” Seabolt said.
The magazine posted a $28-million profit on revenue of $78 million in 2000, Seabolt said.
Sunset operated as an island because it was nearly 3,000 miles from the company’s New York headquarters. The distance came with downsides.
“Sunset was always a poor stepchild to Time Inc.,” another former senior executive said. “They saw it as a puzzle piece in a national strategy and not the regional powerhouse that it was.”
Sunset has maintained its base of 1.2 million subscribers for more than a decade, according to the Alliance for Audited Media, which tracks magazine circulation. But like other magazines it has faced a bruising migration of advertisers and corporate turbulence. Time Inc. was spun off from its parent company in 2014, leaving little money for improving Sunset’s website and other investments. Sunset staff members launched their own search for a buyer, but Time refused to part with the title.
Time instead sold the magazine’s Menlo Park campus to a San Francisco real estate firm in 2014 for more than $75 million. The company secured a lease for new offices, complete with a gleaming white test kitchen, at Oakland’s waterfront Jack London Square.
A more devastating blow came two years later when Time cut its sales force and asked the remaining sales staff to sell ads across the company’s entire portfolio.
“Centralizing the ad sales was a major traumatic event. Individual magazines no longer had a brand evangelist,” said a former senior executive who was not authorized to comment.
Throngs of senior staff members left Sunset and Time Inc., which eventually sold itself. Sunset’s moneymakers, such as the wine club and sponsored weekend getaways, went away too.
Sunset lost about $4 million on revenue of nearly $28 million in 2017, according to two people familiar with the magazine’s financials. It was believed to be the first time since 1938 that the magazine was not profitable.
Last year’s auction for Sunset attracted several bidders, but Regent stood out because Reinstein “had a track record for successful turnarounds,” according to a person familiar with the process who was not authorized to speak publicly. Sunset changed hands last December.
Several of Sunset’s workers said they were relieved and optimistic because Reinstein was a native of Los Angeles who had grown up reading Sunset.
Reinstein, 47, a USC graduate with a law degree from Pepperdine University, served as an intern to former President Reagan in 1992. He worked at ICM talent agency and briefly ran the commemorative coin company Franklin Mint, before joining private equity firm Archtype Capital and then launching Regent.
Regent promises “value creation through relentless innovation,” according to its website. In the last four years, it has made at least six acquisitions and now owns such titles as America’s Civil War, MilitaryTimes and the Lillian Vernon merchandise outlet.
In October 2017, Reinstein’s firm acquired more than 1,000 mall-based hair salons from Regis Corp., a publicly traded company that also owns Supercuts. Relations between Regis and Regent quickly soured.
Minneapolis-based Regis, in regulatory filings, said Regent’s subsidiary, the Beautiful Group, has “been delinquent on its payments to [Regis] and to third parties” and will “continue to have cash flow and working capital issues.” Reinstein declined to comment on dealings with Regis.
After his firm bought Sunset, the magazine laid off more workers, leaving it with fewer than 20 employees, down from nearly 100 five years ago.
Several freelance writers said paychecks stopped coming this summer. They said they left voicemail messages with Regent — but their calls were not returned.
Reinstein, in the interview, said freelancers would “absolutely be getting paid.”
Five days after he spoke with The Times, one travel writer said his check finally arrived. Villano, who lives in Sonoma County and had been particularly vocal about the situation, said he received his $3,950 check more than four months after submitting invoices.
But others, including Robin Rinaldi, who now lives in New York, said she is still owed thousands of dollars for stories that she wrote last summer.
Ron Escobar of Oakland said he was owed $3,600 for his design work that appeared in the August issue.
“I don’t know how this magazine is going to survive,’’ Escobar said, “but it shouldn’t be up to the freelancers to subsidize it.”
Sunset’s Idea House program, one of the magazine’s most popular projects, ran into problems too.
Every year, the magazine renovates at least one house to showcase the latest trends. Tickets are sold to the public to tour the redesigned home. Advertisers and designers provide services and products, such as new doors, windows, cabinets, tubs and other design elements for free or at a steep discount because the finished house is prominently featured in the magazine.
When plans to build a house in Palm Springs fell through, Reinstein volunteered his own house in Beverly Hills. He said sponsors had already been lined up, he wanted to keep the program going, and that he incurred some of the construction costs himself. The house was featured in the November issue under the heading: Project Refresh.
“My No. 1 goal was to keep the advertisers happy,” Reinstein said.
He said intends to increase Sunset’s sales force and has hired Matt Bean, who briefly ran Men’s Health and Entertainment Weekly, as editor-in-chief. Bean is moving to California, and one of his first tasks was calling freelancers this week to assure them that they would get paid. It will be up to Bean to restaff and reshape Sunset.
“We’ve right-sized the organization,” Reinstein said. “It was losing a lot of money but it’s losing a lot less than it was before.”
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Cisco is aiming to address the issue of Internet of Everything (IoE) skills with a new curriculum designed to, in the company's words, "empower the next generation of innovators to embrace the IoE's full possibilities".
Launched as part of the Cisco Networking Academy Partner Summit in Barcelona, the "Introduction to the Internet of Everything" is the first in a series of planned courses designed to get folks up to speed with the IoE. It's an entry-level course, as the name suggests, with no in-depth IT knowledge needed, aiming to help students understand what sort of opportunities the IoE will bring.
The course will be available to Cisco Networking Academy students globally, and it will be a free self-learning course. Academies, however, will be able to put on instructor led classes to teach it, too.
Note that the course is English-only at the moment, but will be available in five more languages – Chinese, French, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish – down the line.
Cisco (and many others) believe the impact of the IoE can't be underestimated, with the company forecasting that it will have an economic value of no less than $19 trillion (£12 trillion) when it comes to private and public sectors by 2022. By 2020, it's thought there will be some 50 billion connected devices online.
Laura Quintana, Senior Director, Corporate Affairs at Cisco, commented: "This connected network presents a huge opportunity for the technology industry and could transform how we do business, consume goods and go about our daily lives. However, realising this potential depends on individuals having the skills and knowledge to harness the opportunities provided by IoE. Our new IoE curriculum offers a fantastic springboard for anyone wanting to seize this opportunity."


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*Merpay, Inc., a fully-owned subsidiary of Mercari, Inc., issued the following press release.
Merpay, Inc. (“Merpay”), LINE Pay Corporation (“LINE Pay”), NTT DOCOMO, INC. (“DOCOMO”), and KDDI Corporation (“KDDI”) have signed a letter of intent for a business alliance to make cashless transactions more widely available. In addition, KDDI has joined the Mobile Payment Alliance (“MoPA”), an alliance of merchant stores. Going forward, the four companies will strive to further popularize cashless payments in Japan.
About the business alliance
Through this business alliance, the four companies will promote the introduction of their mobile payment services, Merpay, LINE Pay, d Barai™, and au PAY to stores and businesses.
Each company plans to make their own app capable of handling QR code scanning and payments for the other partners’ merchant-presented mode (MPM) code payment*1 services. Businesses only need to set up a QR code from any one of the services to begin accepting payments from users of all four, reducing both the burden of implementing a new system and enabling acquisition of many potential new customers. Users will also benefit from being able to use their chosen payment method at more stores*2.
*1 Payment method in which users scan a QR code at the store with their smartphone to pay for their purchase. (scan payment)
*2 Merpay and LINE Pay users will be able to make payments by scanning QR codes issued by any of the other three companies. d Barai™ and au PAY users will be able to read/pay using QR codes from each company.
By bringing the four companies and their large userbases together, the companies expect the alliance to create an even more convenient experience for both consumers and merchants, and also anticipate that this will help accelerate the spread of cashless payment services in Japan.
About the Mobile Payment Alliance (MoPA)
The government is promoting cashless transactions through point rewards programs and more, especially with the upcoming consumption tax rate increase planned for October 2019. On the other hand, the increasing number of businesses entering the mobile payment market has resulted in an overwhelming flood of services. The countless options have resulted in a larger burden and more complexity for merchants, and confused users about which service they should use.
Given this situation, Merpay and LINE Pay formed a business alliance and established the merchant alliance “MoPA” in March 2019, with the objective of providing a more convenient mobile payment experience for both merchants and users. DOCOMO also agreed with the goals and purpose of the alliance and joined in June 2019, further strengthening the organization.
MoPA will continue to expand its partnerships by encouraging other payment service providers supportive of the alliance’s goals and purpose to join.


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And loans that are payday out online can also be much more expensive compared to those lent from storefronts.
for instance, borrowers taking right out the typical cash advance of $375 would spend a $95 charge online compared with $55 at a shop, relating to Pew Charitable Trust.
Even though the amount that is total of loans applied for every year has declined somewhat in the last few years, online payday loan providers are creating a more impressive share associated with the market. About 40 per cent regarding the approximately $40 billion released in payday advances in 2015 had been removed online, in accordance with quotes from Jefferies.
The move will make it more challenging, though maybe maybe perhaps not impossible, for online payday lenders to find clients, stated John Hecht, an analyst at Jefferies.
вЂњCertainly when Bing modifies or limits marketing or serp’s it may have impact that is definite an industry straight away,вЂќ Hecht stated. But customers whom want an online payday loan would nevertheless be in a position to move to other the search engines or they are able to search well for a storefront, he included.
The CFPB is taking care of a proposed guideline focusing on the industry which it expects to reveal later on this springtime. The agency is considering guidelines that would restrict the amount of times customers could rollover financing, capping them at 2 or 3 loans total. The guidelines may additionally require loan providers to validate consumersвЂ™ income and borrowing history installment loans Texas to evaluate their capability to cover the loan back.
Bing itself had formerly taken some actions to limit loan that is payday.
the choice to ban them outright arrived to some extent after stress from the coalition of civil liberties, customer security, and privacy teams that reached away to the search giant in regards to the problem year that is late last.
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights was some of those teams. вЂњThis brand new policy addresses most of the longstanding issues provided because of the whole civil legal rights community about predatory payday lending,” Wade Henderson, the group’s president and leader, stated in a declaration. “Low-income individuals and folks of color have long been targeted by slick marketing aggressive advertising promotions to trap consumers into outrageously high interest loans.вЂќ
Those seeking to market financial products through Google’s sprawling advertising network will be required to disclose the length of the loan and the annual interest rate before they will be allowed to place ads to enforce the policy. Besides the payday that is broad ad ban, Bing will perhaps not display advertisements from loan providers whom charge yearly rates of interest of 36 per cent or even more in the us. The exact same requirements will connect with web web internet sites that serve as middlemen whom link distressed borrowers to those lenders.
That is essential because banning advertisements for pay day loans on their own may never be sufficient, in accordance with some advocates.
“then auction them off to the lenders,” said Aaron Rieke, one of the authors of a report on online payday lending advertisements released by consulting firm Upturn last year if you type in a search term that indicates financial distress, most of the ads you’ll see will be for websites that are not the payday lenders themselves, but marketing companies who collect leads.
Bing, needless to say, has additionally profited from those adverts. While they probably constitute just a part of the business’s staggering web marketing profits — that have been a lot more than $18 billion in the 1st quarter of the 12 months — banning them will mean the business is making dollars up for grabs.
To advocates like Bedoya, which is a a valuable thing.
“Bing is having a principled stance here,” he stated. “Hopefully, it is one which may help set a standard that is new the search engines.”


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If you don’t want to wear a turnover chain, you can now eat one across South Florida.
Sushi Maki, a sushi chain with locations across the Sunshine State, is now selling a special “Turnover Chain Roll.” Yes, really.
— Sushi Maki (@gosushimaki) November 18, 2017
Here are the ingredients, via the Miami Herald:
A shrimp tempura roll with avocado and cream cheese, half topped with orange masago (capelin roe) and the other with green tobiko (flying fish roe). Eel sauce with spicy mayo and crispy shallots make up the dipping sauce “chain.”
The roll, of course, is inspired by the necklace the University of Miami football team gives out to a player who forces a turnover. It’s become a huge thing as the undefeated Hurricanes continue their quest for a national championship.
Per the Herald, the Turnover Chain Roll will be available through the remainder of Miami’s season.
The Hurricanes, ranked No. 3 in last week’s College Football Playoff rankings, improved to 10-0 with a come-from-behind win over Virginia over the weekend. Miami fell behind early, but scored 30 straight points to win the game, turning a 28-14 deficit into a 44-28 victory.
Virginia turned it over three times in the game, meaning we got three glimpses of the turnover chain. We’ll likely get a few more when the Canes finish out the regular season at Pittsburgh on Friday.
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Throughout March, Jersey Mike's Subs is joining forces with 86 local charities for the company's third annual "Month of Giving" fundraising campaign. Last year's Month of Giving raised nearly $858,000 for 74 different charities nationwide.
During the month, customers are invited to make a donation to their location's designated charity partner. Charities include hospitals, youth organizations, food banks and more.
The campaign will culminate in the nationwide event, Jersey Mike's "Day of Giving" on March 27 when 100 percent of the day's sales are donated to the local partner charity. A list of participating restaurants and charity partners is available online at jerseymikes.com/mog.
"I would like to extend a personal invitation to come in and enjoy a Jersey Mike's sub during our Month of Giving in support of one of your local charities," said Peter Cancro, Jersey Mike's founder and CEO. "The opportunities to give are all around us so we hope this March you will join us to make a difference in someone's life."
Since 2010, Jersey Mike's locations throughout the country have raised more than $5 million for local charities and distributed more than 500,000 free sub sandwiches to help numerous causes.
Read more about cause marketing.


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Per mesi non è stato possibile usare Google Stadia su Android TV e Google TV, ma a brevissimo sarà possibile farlo: che sia la volta buona per il servizio di gaming di Big G?
Giuseppe Croce Giornalista
Peppe Croce, giornalista dal 2008, si occupa di device elettronici e nuove tecnologie applicate al mondo automotive. È entrato in Libero Tecnologia nel 2018.
Anche Android TV avrà Google Stadia. Dopo 8 mesi di attesa, sarà a breve disponibile per il download per alcuni device appartenenti alla categoria, tra cui Chromecast con Google TV. This is welcome news for users of Big G's gaming service who, in the coming weeks, will be able to experience new gaming opportunities first-hand.
Despite its launch back in November 2018 and with many of the technical issues now resolved, Google Stadia seemed to be unable to find an effective solution exclusively to one major impediment: TV support. With the demise of Chromecast Ultra and the lack of presence on Mountain View's then-new device, the platform then risked suffering another abrupt setback. Eight months after the debut on the market of the last dongle in order of time, it seems then returned the serene in the sky of Big G with a final move able to satisfy at least part of its users.
Google Stadia, when it arrives on Android TV
The date to mark on the calendar for the arrival of Google Stadia is June 23, when it will finally be released for installation on Android TV compatible devices. It's better not to sing victory immediately: in fact, as anticipated, at first there will be only a handful of officially supported ones that will have the opportunity to take advantage of the online gaming system that does not require the use of a computer or a console, but only the internet connection.
Those who do not have at home one of the systems included in the list, will unfortunately have to wait for the second phase of dissemination that will embrace a wider number of smart TVs and not only. In the meantime, it's worth making an attempt by proceeding even on smart TVs and boxes that are not among the models declared by Google itself. In this case, however, once the setup is complete, you might receive a notification about any performance issues encountered while playing games.
Google Stadia, where you'll be able to install it
In addition to Chromecast with Google TV, Hisense Android smart TVs (U7G, U8G, U9G), Nvidia Shield TV and Nvidia Shield TV Pro, Onn's FHD streaming stick and UHD streaming device, Philips' Android smart TVs of the 8215, 8505, and OLED 935/805 series, and, finally, Xiaomi Mi Box 3 and Mi Box 4 appear on the list.
To play with the service you will be able to use the official controller or compatible gamepads with Bluetooth connectivity, to be connected directly to the TV.


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ROY’S RULE: Rachel Roy hosted an informal kickoff to New York Fashion Week on Tuesday with a small luncheon celebrating the launch of “Self Rule,” a women’s empowerment platform. The new endeavor runs in conjunction with Roy’s pre-existing philanthropic program “Kindness is Always Fashionable,” and focuses on women’s empowerment through employment. “Self Rule is celebrating individuality and self-empowerment for women of all ages,” Roy said.
The lunch, held at Isola in the Mondrian SoHo, attracted a number of philanthropic fashion types, including Lauren Bush Lauren, Jamie Tisch, Lauren Remington Platt and Tali Lennox. Roy herself held court at the head of the table, chatting up seatmates Iman and stylist Jay Manuel, while Lennox discussed notable moments from this past weekend’s Grammy Awards, where her mother Annie performed with Hozier. Also in attendance were members of Step Up Women’s Network, a not-for profit organization which works with girls in under-resourced communities to meet their full professional potential. As Self Rule’s first initiative, Roy designed a graphic T-shirt, which aptly reads “Self Rule” in bold letters, which will be available exclusively at Macy’s in April, with all the net proceeds going to Step Up.
Roy has also tapped directing duo the Mundo Sisters to make a short film about the campaign, which will launch next month on rachelroy.com. Additionally, the designer will host a quote campaign, compiling quotes from influential women, which will then be shared on social media beginning March 8, International Women’s Day.


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BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - Goodbye "Blaze." Hello "knowledge."
The UAB National Alumni Society is promoting a newly designed automobile license plate, according to an announcement today from UAB spokesperson James Bakken.
The new car tag drops UAB mascot Blaze the Dragon in favor of the "UAB: Knowledge that will change your world" tagline used by the school since its new branding campaign began in April 2013.
State regulations require universities to periodically redesign tags in a significant way, meaning that Blaze had to be removed from the plate, Bakken said in a news release today.
Proceeds from the sale of UAB license plates support License to Learn Scholarships given each year by the UAB National Alumni Society. Each year, an average of more than 40 $3,000 scholarships are awarded through the program, according to Bakken.
To learn how to order a UAB license plate, visit the National Alumni Society website at www.uab.edu/alumni.
For more news from Birmingham, go to www.al.com/birmingham.


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Microsoft, Novell sign more than 200 customers in second year of alliance
- Todd Bishop
Microsoft and Linux vendor Novell are marking the second anniversary of their controversial alliance today with a series of announcements. The companies say they signed up more than 200 joint customers under their partnership, up from around 70 in the first year.
In the first year, the companies touted big customers such as Wal-Mart, BMW and Siemens. In the past year, the customer base has diversified into areas such as China, Spain, Portugal, Singapore and Japan, said Susan Heystee, Novell's general manager of global alliances.
"It's really across the globe and cross-industry," Heystee said earlier this week. "Not just global companies, but a number of very strong local governments, as well."
The alliance has long been a bone of contention in the open-source software community primarily because of the legal indemnification each company has granted the other's customers under the agreement. The provision protecting Novell's customers from patent-infringement claims is seen as implicit support for Microsoft's allegation that Linux and other open-source programs violate its intellectual property.
The pact also includes commitments to make Linux and Windows work more smoothly together.
Under the five-year agreement, signed in November 2006, Microsoft bought a large supply of support certificates for Novell Suse Enterprise Linux, which it has been reselling to customers. As part of the latest announcement, Novell says it has invoiced more than 70 percent of the certificates purchased by Microsoft, ahead of the expected pace.
Today's announcements include plans for an upcoming beta release of Moonlight, a Linux-based implementation of Microsoft's Silverlight interactive technology.
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‘Failure to thrive’ -- Michigan health experts warn parents the dangers of homemade baby formula
LANSING, Mich. (WILX) - The baby formula shortage is becoming a major issue for parents trying to feed their children.
- Parents hunting for baby formula as shortage spans US
- Nationwide baby formula shortage getting worse
- FDA allowing Michigan facility to release baby formula supply
With zero-to-very little selection at most grocery stores, some parents have taken the advice of people online and have attempted to make their own. Doctors said that’s not the right choice and can be dangerous.
People may not realize the long-term ramifications of trying to feed a homemade formula to their child.
Kaye Jackson is a new mother who is concerned she won’t be able to feed her baby if the formula shortage doesn’t go away. She said her doctor suggested her one-month-old baby to use Enfamil NeuroPro. Unfortunately, that’s becoming more and more difficult to find.
“I am extremely scared,” Jackson said. “I have looked at Walmart and they did have some at one time and unfortunately, now we can’t find it at all. I’ve even had people going out of state to find it.”
At one point, Jackson saw posts on social media showing how people could make their own formula at home. Luckily, she consulted her physician first, who told her to steer clear. It’s a sentiment shared by Dr. Farhan Bhatti.
“That can be very very dangerous. The nutritional requirements for infants can be very precise,” Bhatti said.
Without the right about of calories, protein and vitamins they need to grow, Bhatti said babies can end up hospitalized.
“In the hospital, we have babies that are admitted for something called ‘failure to thrive,’ which is where in most cases they’re just not getting the calories and nutrition they need to grow effectively. That’s a huge risk if you start trying to mix things on your own,” Bhatti said. “When a baby’s physical growth is delayed, their mental growth can also be delayed. You can see a global developmental delay in kids who aren’t getting the nutrition that they need.”
Bhatti said it’s OK to use a different brand of formula if the one you prefer isn’t on the shelf, just make sure the type of formula remains the same.
Copyright 2022 WILX. All rights reserved.
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Posted: May 10th,2010 | By: doug.herman
In an attempt by US-based eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) to make more successful inroads into Asian e-commerce markets, the company announced last week that it had entered into a joint venture (JV) with Young Bae Ku, the CEO of Gmarket, South Korea’s leading e-commerce company.
The JV is an interesting development since it was only a little over a year ago that eBay acquired all the outstanding common shares in Gmarket for US$ 1.2 billion, a deal that intended to lift up eBay’s existing Korean marketplace business, Internet Auction Company, by merging it with the market leader. Apparently the venture has been a big enough success for eBay that it has decided to “double down” on Gmarket’s laeder and partner with him again to help expand eBay’s footprint into Japan, Singapore, and elsewhere in Asia.
According to eBay’s announcement the new JV “will strengthen eBay’s presence in Japan and Singapore – where the e-commerce markets are expected to grow by 30% and 13% respectively between 2009 and 2012—and provide a foundation for longer term expansion of Gmarket into other Asian markets.”
- Mr. Ku will be CEO for the new entity,
- the new JV will have no impact on Gmarket’s Korean operations but will leverage the company’s existing presence in Japan and Singapore,
- eBay will own 49% of the JV and Mr. Ku will own 51% through a yet-to-be-named entity he will control,
- Each party in the JV will contribute approximately US$ 10 million to the new entity,
- eBay will also contribute local Japanese and Singaporean business assets as well as contribute the cost of licensing Gmarket’s technology to the new venture,
- Mr. Ku will contribute his local management expertise to running the operations.
“We are excited to join with eBay, one of the world’s most recognized e-commerce brands, in combination with our management team’s proven track record of establishing successful online marketplaces. The joint venture will allow us to provide an enhanced e-commerce experience tailored for the Japanese and Singaporean markets, and to capitalize on our companies’ experience in the Asian e-commerce industry.”
– Young Bae Ku, CEO, Gmarket and new JV to enter Japan and Singapore
Upon reading this announcement I must say that I was surprised that eBay had to enter into such Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: May 8th,2010 | By: Nan Duan
Back in March we reported on the series of deaths at major OEM Foxconn Technology Group (PINK: FXCNY | (part of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Ltd.) TPE: 2317). Well, the deaths just keep coming. On May 6 at 4:30am, Lu Xin, who joined Foxconn in August 2009, jumped from the 6th floor of the VIP hotel in Foxconn’s Long Hua site.
Chinese media are reporting (link in Chinese) that Mr. Lu had been exhibiting abnormal behavior prior to his death. On April 30th he had told his friend, Mr. Zeng Hongling that he was being followed and there were people trying to kill him. Mr. Zeng reported the situation to his supervisor; the supervisor asked Mr. Zeng and another close friend of Mr. Lu to accompany Mr. Lu. In the following days, Mr. Lu had stated he wanted to go back home to Hunan province, but when his friends offered to buy him a train ticket he changed his mind.
At the suggestion of a counsel, Foxconn contacted Mr. Lu’s parents and asked them to travel to Shenzhen to visit him. However, due to the May 1st National holiday, his parents could only get tickets for May 5. They were scheduled to arrive in Shenzhen at 9am on the 6th.
Mr. Lu knew his parents were coming. Foxconn arranged to have him and his two friends stay at the hotel. They went to sleep at around 1:30am. At around 4:30am, Mr. Lu got up and claimed Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under: China
, Hon Hai
Posted: May 7th,2010 | By: doug.herman
In a press release from UC Mobile (link in English | link in Chinese), China’s number one mobile Internet browser developer, the company announced that it has raised its fourth round of financing from new investors such as Nokia Growth Partners — the VC arm of handset maker Nokia Corporation ((ADR) NYSE: NOK) — and GGV Capital. Although the size of the round or each investors share of it was not disclosed, we can look at the company’s first three rounds for guidance:
- Round 1: In December 2006 a group of angel investors, including serial entrepreneur Lei Jun, invested RMB 4 million (US$ 585,000) in UC Mobile (formerly UCWeb),
- Round 2: In 2007 the company received RMB 68.3 million (US$ 10 million) from professional VCs such as Ceyuan Ventures and the Morningstar Group,
- Round 3: In May 2009, Alibaba Group joined with previous investors, Ceyuan and Morningstar, to inject approximately RMB 81.9 million (US$ 12 million) into the company,
So it is very possible that this latest round is in the neighborhood of RMB 100 million or more. The company’s CEO claims it’s the largest round for a mobile Internet company in China. The new funds are expected to be used to continue aggressive product R&D and increased staffing.
According to news sources such as China Venture, the valuation for UC Mobile is likely to have jumped to several hundred million US dollars as a result of this latest round.
“It’s so glad that NGP become as UC’s strategic investor, which is another milestone of UC Mobile. We believe, NGP will enhance UC’s growth through its abundant experience in global mobile telecom industry. Meanwhile, as the leading mobile internet enterprise holds core technology competency and independent knowledge right in China, UC has China’s biggest mobile application software R&D team, tens of patents.”
– Mr. Yu Yongfu (link to bio in Chinese), CEO, UC Mobile
By the end of March 2010, UC Browser recorded 300 million downloads globally, with more than 90 Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under: China
tags: Ceyuan Ventures
, GGV Capital
, Lei Jun
, Morningstar Group
, Nokia Growth Partners
, Paul Asel
, strategic investment
, UC Mobile
, venture capital
, Yu Yongfu
Posted: May 7th,2010 | By: doug.herman
China’s Internet industry is generally compared to the US in terms of its greater size rather than its greater revenues. The idea you get from these comparisons is that China’s Internet businesses (eg – advertising, e-commerce, etc.) have lots of room to grow as more Chinese get online access (via broadband or mobile) BUT that spending habits by both consumers and subsequently businesses still signficantly trail the Western markets which have been under development for much longer. Of course, if you’re looking ahead it’s only a function of time before the Chinese markets mature, shopping and advertising behaviors evolve and Chinese online spending begins to challenge and eventually pull ahead of the US.
With that in mind, the Beijing Times (via China Media Monitor Intelligence) reported that consumer-to-consumer (C2C) shopping website Taobao (owned by privately held Alibaba Group) currently accounts for over 40 million page views per day. According to online traffic research company, Alexa, the Chinese e-commerce company ranks as the #14 most visited website in the world compared to #20 for Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) and #25 for eBay Inc. (NADAQ: EBAY).
Close to 50% (190 million users) of the total online Chinese population are registered on Taobao and the company’s CFO has said that it plans to double its page visits by the end of 2010.
Posted: May 5th,2010 | By: doug.herman
Leading Chinese search engine, Baidu, Inc. ((ADR) NASDAQ: BIDU), announced last week its unaudited financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2010. The big news that is making the rounds is how substantial the company’s revenue gains have been as a result of the departure of Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) from the mainland Chinese market. Baidu has really been successful at managing through a bunch of potential crises including the initial lukewarm expectations of its new Phoenix Nest advertising platform which has turned out be very successful and the departure of several senior executives at the start of the year. While the Google imbroglio has certainly given the company a lot of cover, nothing should be taken away from its success in handling a very fluid environment in China.
Key financial highlights for Q1 2010 include:
- Total revenues in the first quarter of 2010 grew 59.6% Year-over-Year (YoY) to RMB1.294 billion ($189.6 million),
- Operating profit in the first quarter of 2010 grew an astounding 167.4% YoY to RMB530.8 million ($77.8 million), and
- Net income in the first quarter of 2010 grew 165.3% YoY to RMB480.5 million ($70.4 million).
“We delivered a quarter of record revenue and strong profitability despite the usual seasonality associated with the Chinese New Year holiday. In particular, Phoenix Nest’s performance continued to exceed our expectations as customers increasingly appreciate the new platform’s advanced tools and superior return on investment. Looking ahead, we will continue to innovate and educate Chinese companies about the benefits of search engine marketing with Baidu.”
– Robin Li, CEO, Baidu.
Key operating highlights for Q1 2010 include:
- The company surprisingly lost active online marketing customers in Q1, dropping .9% QoQ from 223,000 to 221,000 but increasing 19.5% YoY,
- Despite the small contraction in its customer base the company succeeded in driving higher revenues with a higher average revenue per user (ARPU). Baidu’s ARPU grew 34.1% YoY and 3.5% QoQ to RMB5,900 ($864),
- Traffic acquisition costs (TAC) of RMB171.3 million ($25.1 million) accounted for 13.2% of total revenues compared to 15.3% in the year earlier period and 16.0% in the previous quarter.
Some highlights from the company’s April 28 conference call (transcribed on SeekingAlpha.com) include:
- Advertising: The company completed its migration from its old advertising platform to its new Phoenix Nest on December 1 of last year and have been using the new system to acquire new customers and increase average revenue per user. According to Robin Li, “customers appreciate Phoenix Nest’s higher quality, more relevant paid links and wider Read the rest of this entry »


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The McDonalds McRib will be available nationwide for the first time in years. The cult favorite sandwich will be returning on December 2!
I had heard about the McRib’s return thanks to reports last month. Check out a post from USA Today here.
I was happy to receive an e-mail from McDonald’s around an hour back with some very big news: Save the date: This one’s kind of a big deal. The Most Important Sandwich of the Year Is Coming.The e-mail didn’t name the McDonald’s McRib, but it didn’t mention some of the ingredients along with a photo. There’s also a Save the Date button in the e-mail which opens up Google Calendar so you can add a reminder for December 2 for the return of the McDonalds McRib!
In previous years, I’ve used the McRib locator to check if the sandwich was available.
While my kids do enjoy McDonald’s, I rarely eat it. However, when we travel internationally, McD’s is a must-visit. I love to see what special and locally-inspired menu items are available.
Check out my International McDonald’s Reviews:
- USA (Mozzarella Sticks)
- Costa Rica
- American Samoa
- The Netherlands
- Sri Lanka
I definitely plan to head over to McDonald’s to grab a McRib when it returns. Will you?


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Used car sales up 11.5 pc in first half in Hungary
The number of used cars sold in Hungary rose by an annual 11.5 percent in the first half of 2017 to 332,562, used car dealer DasWeltAuto told MTI.
Opel was the most popular brand as 45,742 of its cars were resold followed by 34,099 Suzuki cars and 32,347 Volkswagen cars, DasWeltAuto said, citing figures compiled by Datahouse.
Some 76 percent of the used cars were more than 10 years old and only 11.9 percent were less than 5 years old.
As we wrote before, almost three-fourths of Hungarian households have cars that are more than ten years old. Brand manager György Frank noted that the average age of used cars keeps creeping up and is now nearing 14 years.
As in most big cities, traffic in Budapest is unique in its own way and might represent a challenge, if you’re a first timer in the Hungarian capital. Here are 8 practical bits of advice for you to help you with your adventures.
Photo: Daily News Hungary


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Valensa gets 'raw' certification on organic spirulina
The certifications are supplied by a new certifying body named the International Center for Integrative Systems that is based in Cambridge, MA. The group’s board of advisers and its list of cooperating scientists is weighted heavily toward specialists in Ayurveda.
Umasudhan C P, CEO of Parry’s American subsidiary Valensa International, said the new certification on its organic spirulina ingredient has at its core a measurement of the values that are important to consumers in this realm. Organic is an important certification, he said, but it does not tell the whole story.
“We got the information about this certifier from one of our suppliers that was working with them. The certification is about being non-GMO, minimally processed, and low temperature. The idea is you are not using a harsh process that will kill the enzymes present in the food to preserve the bioavailability of the nutrients,” Umasudhan told NutraIngredients-USA.
Watered down organic certifications
Umasudhan said that he believes with the proliferation of organic certifications around the globe the standard itself has become watered down to some extent. An organic ingredient can comply with certain standards and still not be exactly what vegan consumers are looking for. When interviewed in 2016, Mintel food and drink analysts Julia Buech concurred, saying consumers are taking a deeper dive into the ingredient deck in raw food drink powders and other food and beverage products that appeal to this market.
"The process 'behind the finished product' is moving into focus and becoming a premium attribute not only for the health-obsessed, but increasingly also for consumers generally looking for higher quality," she said.
This could be seen as a natural transition from the clean label movement as consumers grow increasingly wary of additives, allergens and chemicals in food but also ken to preserve natural nutrients.
There are no regulations surrounding the actual definition of what constitutes raw processed food, meaning there is some variation in interpretations. According to Teresa Havrlandova, founder of raw food firm Lifefood, any food that is heated above 45°C does not qualify, while Polish company Papagrin sells“42° products made with 42° technology”, such as its bread flavored with onion, garlic flaxseeds and unhulled sesame seeds.
Temperature, bioavailability criteria
The new Certified R.A.W. standard lists 212°F (100°C) as its absolute cutoff, but recommends heating foods or ingredients to no more than 118°F (48°C) for any length of time. Other qualifications for the seals include organic certifications, non GMO status.
Of more import than those criteria is the bioavailability standard, Umasudhan said, because heat kills the enzymes that make raw food more bioactive than highly processed versions. Certifying an ingredient like the organic spirulina involves itemizing the top 3 constituents of by weight and then running those through the center’s proprietary enzymatic test called CytoSolve that gives the molecule an enzymatic activity score ranging between 0 and 20. So, Umasudhan said, the standard drives really at what consumers are concerned about: is the food ‘live’ and will it perform that way in the body?
“Raw hasn’t had a certification. I would say this would be the first. They really want to see how bioavailable the nutrients are in your product. We did this to support our vegan and raw food consumers,” Umasudhan said.


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SA media personality, Somizi Mhlongo-Motaung who was the brand ambassador to G.H. Mumm, will now b working with 5 other celebrities as co-ambassadors to the organization.
G.H. Mumm which only had Somizi as their ambassador, have decided to broaden their horizons by adding five new media personalities.
Those who are joining Somizi in this deal are Sarah Langa, Lerato Sengadi, Tshepi Vundla, actress Jessica Nkosi and event designer Precious the Planner.
Model and influencer Sarah said the partnership was a no-brainer for her, adding that their brands aligned well.
“I am really excited about the Mumm Squad. We are a combination of diverse people who represent different parts of the industry. The chemistry between us is extraordinary and complemented by our calibre of expertise. I can’t wait to experience memorable moments with the squad and experience what G.H. Mumm represents to each member.”
G.H. Mumm SA said they chose the women because they are “aspirational and audacious in their pursuits”.
See photos below;