text: The ingredients company, which sources stevia in China and processes the leaves at two plants in the south of the country, already had a five-year agreement with Cargill. Under the new deal, the agreement will run for 10 years and is automatically renewable until at least 2030. The two companies have worked closely for several years to develop a sophisticated supply chain for the ingredient, including leaf supply and extract manufacturing. The new agreement further cements the relationship and will allow for long-term development of Cargill's rebiana product. Sweeteners are seeing strong growth as consumers increasingly look to cut out sugar and manufacturers seek replacements. The new agreement also boosts GLG's position as a leading Chinese supplier. GLG will be Cargill's exclusive Chinese supplier of RA stevia extract for the duration of the agreement and will also be Cargill's agent in China for any additional sourcing. "Cargill's long-term commitment to our business provides a solid foundation for future growth, capital investment and secures a leading market position for our company," said Dr Luke Zhang, chairman and president of GLG, in a statement. Stevia, derived from the South American plant stevia rebaudiana, is said to have up to 300 times the sweetness of sugar. As a sweetener, its taste has a slower onset and longer duration than that of sugar, although some of its extracts may have a bitter or liquorice-like aftertaste at high concentrations. However, Cargill and end-user Coca-Cola claim they have achieved the "right sweet" with their product. Currently, the largest markets for stevia are Japan and Korea. In Japan the ingredient has been used to sweeten diet drinks for around 20 years. It is also approved for use in China and Brazil but has not yet got the regulatory go-ahead from the EU. Nevetheless, GLG estimates the new supply agreement with Cargill to be worth $US200 m (€129.4m) in the first three years, based on annual minimum purchase and supply quantities for both parties. It expects to earn an average EBITDA margin of 30 per cent during the first five years of the contract. In return, Cargill has the right to purchase up to 93 per cent of GLG's production of stevia extract. New product opportunities from GLG are to be offered to Cargill on a right of first refusal basis. Cargill also has the right to terminate the agreement early on three years notice. "This is part of the journey to introduce and develop this new, natural, zero calorie sweetener for use in foods and beverages around the world," said Marcelo Montero, president of Cargill Health and Nutrition.


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As dawn breaks, 28-year-old Javeed Ahmed Bhat paddles his wooden canoe (shikara), to the interiors of the Dal Lake in Srinagar. Soon, two other vendors join him. Bhat and the others — vegetable farmers and vendors — go past the lake’s touristy house boats and picturesque water lily and lotus farms to reach the floating vegetable market in the midst of the lake.
With no signboards and no shelter, the floating market is just a designated place where about 40-50 vendors on small boats sell vegetables and flowers to wholesale traders, who then then sell them to hoteliers and residents in Srinagar. The century-old market comes alive for two hours and ends by the time the sun rises.
Despite the unrest in the region, the market never shuts. It acts as a lifeline for the tourists and residents of Srinagar. “I am a third-generation trader who is into this business. The market thrives because the vegetables are fresh. We pick the produce just hours before selling it at the market,” Bhat says. He cultivates vegetables like spinach, carrot, cauliflower, bottle gourd and ridge gourd on three-fourth of an acre and earns Rs 12,000- Rs 15,000 a month through the morning trade.
The traders shift vegetables from one boat to another even as they bargain over the price. A few tourists visit the daily market and a few vendors who sell flowers and confectionery profit by selling it to them at a fairly higher price in the morning.
According to unofficial estimate, about 1,250 acres of land, one-fourth of Dal Lake’s area, are under vegetable cultivation. But all is not well. A few vendors say the demand for the vegetable and flowers are directly proportional to the tourist inflow in Kashmir, and that they see a sharp fall with the rising tensions and militancy in the region.
“About two years ago, I used to sell flowers worth Rs 4,000, both to tourists and house boats. But today, I make only about half of it as there are fewer tourists visiting Dal Lake,” says 22-year-old Dilawar Hussain. Hussain goes around the lake thoughout the day looking for potential customers to buy his lilies, snapdragons and California poppies among others.
Another vendor, Mushtaq Hussain, says the market is losing its sheen as the government relocated some of the farmers to the outskirts of the city owing the pollution in the lake. “The lake authorities asked a few farmers to move out of the lake so that they could clean the lake. It led to fall in the number of vendors,” said Hussain.
While the farmers say there were about 160-200 vendors who assembled at the market five years ago, it has now reduced by a third.
“Thankfully, neither the political instability, nor the changing weather affected the functioning of the market,” he says.

domain: news


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Rapid Mobile Media chief executive Jeremy Copp believes no company is too small to have to worry about strong corporate governance.
What words can do justice to such a night…
Jonathan Whittle has turned his back on university, instead deciding to launch Maggleit.com – a website that aims to change the way people buy and sell products.
Energy management and usage has been marginalised by the board room despite the obvious benefits to the bottom line. Sitting either with procurement or CSR (or sometimes both) the approach by most businesses to energy consumption and usage is tactical at best.
VirtualGym founder Richard Davis weighs up how best to snare wannabe fitness freaks outside the UK.
David Kingsnorth has been appointed finance director of Transdermal Cosmetics.
Wolseley, the world’s largest plumbing supplies firm, yesterday announced a 30 per cent drop in pre-tax profits and is expected to cull hundreds of jobs, as the housing slump hits demand for repairs. So has come entrepreneur plumber Charlie Mullins is announcing bumper sales?
Fru Hazlitt, one of the most entertaining speakers at our recent Women of the Future Economic Empowerment Summit, is to leave radio group GCap.


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Key Ring, creator of a digital wallet app used by 14 million people across North America, has exposed 44 million IDs, charge cards, loyalty cards, gift cards and membership cards to the open internet, researchers say.
The Key Ring app allows users to upload scans and photos of various physical cards into a digital folder on a user’s phone. While Key Ring is primarily designed for storing membership cards for loyalty programs, users also store more sensitive cards on the app. According to the research team at vpnMentor, it found 44 million scans exposed in a misconfigured cloud database that included: Government IDs, retail club membership and loyalty cards, NRA membership cards, gift cards, credit cards with all details exposed (including CVV numbers), medical insurance cards and medical marijuana ID cards, among others.
vpnMentor said that it found a total of five misconfigured Amazon Web Services (AWS) S3 cloud databases owned by the company. These could have revealed millions of these uploads to anyone with a web browser, thanks to a lack of password-protection on the buckets, the company said. Also, every file could also be downloaded and stored offline.
Threatpost reached out to Key Ring’s media team multiple times over the last few days for a comment or reaction to the findings, with no response — and will update this post with any additional information should the company eventually respond.
Five Databases of Information
According to the research, launched Thursday and shared with Threatpost ahead of publication, vpnMentor came across indicators of an initial exposed bucket in January, which contained the scanned card information. However, that wasn’t the extent of the exposed data.
The researchers also said that they found older, brand-specific loyalty-card lists sorted by retail company, including CSV databases detailing various reports on customers of Walmart, Footlocker and other big brands. vpnMentor said that the lists contained personally identifiable information (PII) data for millions, including full names, emails, membership ID numbers, dates of birth, physical addresses and ZIP codes. The firm also said that the data set stretched back in some cases to 2014.
Examples of the number of people exposed in these lists include 16 million for Walmart, 64,000 for the Kids Eat Free Campaign, 6,600 for La Madeleine and 2,000 for Mattel, among others, it said.
Also, as the firm was looking into the situation, it said that it found four additional unsecured S3 buckets belonging to Key Ring, which the company said contained even more sensitive data.
vpnMentor said that these additional four storage units each contained a different snapshot of Key Ring’s internal database of users, containing emails, home addresses, device and IP address info, encrypted passwords and the “salt” randomized data used to encrypt them and more.
Disclosure and Exposure
Once the details of the leak were confirmed, the vpnMentor team said that it contacted Key Ring and AWS to disclose the discovery on February 18 – and the buckets were secured two days later.
However, Key Ring itself never responded to the firm’s findings.
“We reached out to them but didn’t get any reply,” Noam Rotem, lead of vpnMentor’s research team, told Threatpost. “At the same time, we reached out to Amazon, who (we believe) reached out to them too in order to secure the data. As we haven’t been in touch with them, we don’t know if they’re going to notify their users.”
The research team is unsure of how long the data was exposed prior to the discovery.
“In fact, we can’t say for certain that nobody else found these S3 buckets and downloaded the content before we notified Key Ring,” according to the analysis shared with Threatpost. “If this happened, simply deleting the exposed data and securing the S3 buckets might not be enough. Hackers would still have access to all the data, stored locally, offline and completely untraceable.”
vpnMentor said that the team did not reach out to the third parties (Walmart, et al) about the data exposure: “It doesn’t seem related to data sharing, as data sharing is supposed to be related to the PII provided by their customers, and not the cards [that individuals] scan and save in their wallet,” Rotem said.
Key Ring’s databases, if they’ve been stolen, could facilitate massive fraud and identity theft schemes targeting millions of people in America and Canada, according to the analysis.
Any cybercriminal that accessed the databases could sell the information on the criminal underground, or use it themselves, vpnMentor pointed out. Potential attacks include identity theft; the ability to file fraudulent tax returns and claim refunds in victims’ names; credit-card fraud and online shopping fraud; account takeovers; stealing and using accrued loyalty points; and even “loan stacking” where criminals take out multiple loans in a person’s name, from automated lenders, with numerous payouts made before the victim becomes aware. Plus, the wealth of information opens victims up to phishing and convincing email scams.
“What’s most notable about this incident is that people would trust companies to secure their data, and hence share with them everything, including their credit cards (both sides), without fearing that this could be exploited,” Rotem told Threatpost. “Needless to list the risks related to a clear credit-card picture leaking.”
vpnMentor pointed out that the company itself could also be in danger if the database has been downloaded by criminal hackers.
“Aside from losing users and partners, Key Ring would have been vulnerable to legal action, fines and intense scrutiny from government data privacy groups,” the research noted. “Key Ring is already no longer operating in the EU due to the inability to comply with GDPR. With California enacting its data privacy law in January 2020 – the CCPA – Key Ring could still have faced investigation and fines from the state’s legislative bodies. Given the scale and seriousness of this leak, the impact on the company’s finances, reputation and market share would be unmeasurable.”
It adds: “However, no data transmission can be guaranteed to be 100 percent secure. As a result, while we employ commercially reasonable security measures to protect data and seek to partner with companies that do the same, we cannot guarantee the security of any information transmitted to or from the Website or via the Key Ring Service, and are not responsible for the actions of any third parties that may receive any such information.”
Cloud misconfigurations are all too common, with businesses both large and small inadvertently exposing users’ personal data. In fact, a recent Unit 42 report found that more than half (60 percent) of breaches occur in the public cloud due to misconfiguration.
Rotem told Threatpost that “we’re not here to judge how these companies are managing their customers’ data.” However, he added that “too many companies are failing at protecting their data…the way they react to such leaks, fix and respond is what would distinguish a company that cares about its security and customers, from a company that doesn’t.”
Threatpost also reached out to Key Ring for more details on its disclosure policies and how it has handled this incident.
Do you suffer from Password Fatigue? On Wednesday April 8 at 2 p.m. ET join Duo Security and Threatpost as we explore a passwordless future. This FREE webinar maps out a future where modern authentication standards like WebAuthn significantly reduce a dependency on passwords. We’ll also explore how teaming with Microsoft can reduced reliance on passwords. Please register here and dare to ask, “Are passwords overrated?” in this sponsored webinar.


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The Nintendo 2DS XL Sports Large Screens and a Stylish Design
The new handheld gaming device is outfitted with dual screens that are expansive and clear to ensure that users are immersed as possible when taking time out to game wherever they are. Coming in a black and turquoise color scheme, the device packs NFC technology that makes it functional with amiibo figures and cards.
The Nintendo 2DS XL is set to be available for sale starting on July 28 at a retail price of $149. 99. This makes it a competitive option for gamers of all kinds to take advantage of.


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Ford brings electrification plans to the public
14 February 2020
14 February 2020
Ford has unveiled its first battery-electric vehicle (BEV), the Mustang Mach-E, at an event in Europe as it highlights the efforts it is making to become a leader in the market.
Ford’s ′Go Electric’ roadshow is an immersive and interactive experience designed to help consumers make an informed choice on electrified vehicles. The carmaker launched its first event at Marble Arch in London and plans to take it to 50 other locations around the country, with separate events across Europe.
A recent Ford-commissioned survey revealed that the three in four people aspire to own an electrified vehicle one day, with almost half (45%) claiming not stopping for fuel is a key benefit of owning one. However, 40% of people claim to have little or no knowledge of electric vehicles (EVs) which means they are unlikely to make the switch from pump to plug soon. Almost half (49%) of consumers rank a lack of charging stations among their main concerns.
′We committed to make electrification relevant and attainable for more drivers than ever before. By the end of 2020, we’ll have delivered on that commitment, with no fewer than 14 electrified vehicles in Europe, and 18 coming by the end of 2021,’ said Stuart Rowley, president, Ford of Europe. ′Our ′Go Electric’ roadshow will help consumers understand that electrified vehicles are ready and waiting to slip seamlessly into their lives.’
Ford has said it is committed to offering an electrified version of every passenger vehicle it brings to market in Europe. The carmaker expects electrified powertrains to account for more than half of the company’s passenger vehicle sales by the end of 2022. By this time, the company also expects to have sold 1 million electrified passenger vehicles.
The carmaker will also install 1,000 charging points at facilities across Europe during the next three years to make charging simple and convenient for employees. Rowley called on governments, industries and institutions to support the push for electrification with the faster expansion of public charging infrastructures.
′Ford is at the forefront of real change, and we’re committed to providing all of our customers with the broadest choice of electrification options,’ Rowley said. ′Infrastructure is critical to helping consumers have the confidence to go electric, but we can’t do it on our own. Accelerated investment by all the key stakeholders across the U.K. and Europe is more important than ever.’
Equipped with an extended-range battery and rear-wheel drive, the Mustang Mach-E’s pure-electric driving range of more than 370 miles, according to the World Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP), will help ensure customers can undertake longer journeys confidently. Around 85% of Mustang Mach-E customers placing pre-orders have opted for the extended-range battery.
Charging with up to 150 kW at an IONITY charging station, the Mustang Mach-E will reach a driving range of up to 57 miles within 10 minutes of charge time. The standard-range Mustang Mach″‘E is estimated to charge from 10% to 80% in approximately 38 minutes while charging on a DC fast-charging station.
Ford also believes it will make big enough reductions to CO2 levels across the models it sells in Europe to avoid paying fines under tough new European Union emissions targets that started this year, the company has said.
′Our plan is definitely product-driven. We do not expect to incur any fines, [or] have to pool with anybody else, or purchase credits,’ global automotive head, Joe Hinrichs, told media on a recent earnings call.
Ford had been seen as lagging in EV development but a recent collaboration agreement with Volkswagen to use its MEB electric-vehicle platform appears to have reinvigorated the manufacturer.


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Leave it to Rihanna to reveal a brand-new beauty product on Super Bowl Sunday. That's right, folks: Ahead of the famed sport's event, the 32-year-old business mogul took to — you guessed it — Instagram to tease her latest launch for Fenty Skin: the #FlashNap Instant Revival Eye Gel-Cream.
Launching on February 12, the #FlashNap Instant Revival Eye Gel-Cream works to brighten, firm, and minimize puffiness with ingredients like horse chestnut, hyaluronic acid, and green tea — the latter of which is rich in antioxidants that help fight free radicals and protect the skin from environmental stressors. In Riri's teaser post, she writes: "#FLASHNAP Instant Revival Eye Gel-Cream, the only way to get that well-rested look, and y'all already know I NEVER sleep!!!"
We appreciate the honesty, Rih.
A press release sent to Allure describes the upcoming launch as a "2-in-1 eye cream and concealer primer that instantly brightens, soothes, and reduces visible puffiness," and while we've yet to try out the product for ourselves yet, we have to say, it sure does sound enticing (especially given the fact that it's coming from Rihanna).
"I wanted to create the perfect starter eye cream with easy-to-use packaging, a formula that would tackle puffiness and dark circles, and work really well with makeup to look fresh all day," reads a quote from Rihanna via the same press release. "It had to feel lightweight, soothe the skin, and revitalize – and let me tell you, IT DOES."


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Oppo released A at
50 with Snapdragon 435 SoC and launched the new A50 This year’s lineup, consisting of A57 4G, A50 5G, A58s and A57e. Now, Oppo is preparing to launch A50 , whose images and specifications have surfaced online.
It is reported that OPPO A 90 will be powered by Dimensity 256 SoC package a 6.50″ HD+ with 50Hz LCD refresh rate. The smartphone will run ColorOS 10.1 out of the box and has three memory options – 6GB/90GB, 8GB/213GB and 8GB/213 GB.
OPPO A22 will have an 8MP selfie camera and the back will be a 004MP primary camera using Samsung sensor, supplemented by 50MP secondary camera .This is probably the first smartphone to use a 50 MP sensor as a secondary camera instead of the primary Camera.
Leaked Oppo A90 Picture
Rest of Oppo A 90 Leaked specs include a side-mounted fingerprint scanner, 3.5mm headphone jack and 3,880 mAh battery, support 33W charging. The smartphone will be available in three colors – Serenity Ocean Blue, Breeze Purple and Starry Black.
No any on Oppo Price and Availability of Message A 90.


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There’s been a lot of hype and a lot of leaks, but tonight is finally the moment we get to see what Samsung has up its sleeve with its new flagship Android smartphone — the Galaxy S IV.
We're only a few hours away from the second-biggest phone launch of the year.
Google could bring its war against Android ad-blocking apps to Chrome, according to AdBlock Plus co-founder Till Faida.
Whatever surprises Samsung had in store for the launch of the Galaxy S IV later today have likely been spoiled by this latest round of leaked pictures and videos.
Apple marketing exec Phil Schiller isn't afraid to say how he feels about Android anymore. He criticized the platform today, ahead of Samsung's Galaxy S IV event in New York tomorrow.
Along with his bombshell news that Andy Rubin would be stepping down as head of Android, Google CEO Larry Page also used today to talk about Android’s progress.
Sundar Pichai is taking over Android -- the first new leader for the product since it was founded and since it joined Google. So, who is Sundar Pichai?
Andy Rubin will no longer be leading the charge for Android at Google, the company announced today.
The device plugs into your smartphone and measures your blood alcohol concentration when you breathe into it.
"We're seeing a billion pageviews per month," CEO Gil Dudkiewicz told me on the phone this afternoon.
The global app economy will reach $25 billion this year, according to new data from ABI Research. Thirty-five percent of that, or $8.8 billion, will be tablet apps, and 65 percent -- 16.4 billion -- will be smartphone apps.
Yesterday, we saw some alleged photos from Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S IV smartphone, and now it looks like that same sly gadget hound has created a video showing off the new phone.
"Yeah, but the Contacts page still looks like it was developed by Fred Flintstone."
Brands, how would you like to know exactly where and when your competitors advertise? Publishers, how would you like to know exactly which brands are advertising at competing publications -- and who sold them those ads?
With Samsung's Galaxy S IV scheduled to debut later this week in New York City, the leaks are coming full force.
Asia’s mobile apps market can teach us a lot.
At the close of last year, the Pew Research Center found that 87 percent of U.S. adults (roughly 239 million) owned at least one mobile phone, and among those, 45 percent …
Google already has five of the six most popular apps in America, with Google Maps, Search, Gmail, YouTube, and Google Play. But that is apparently not enough for the search-and-mobile-and-everything giant.
Android malware has reached a new, dangerous high -- at least if you believe F-Secure.
Path has always taken a different ... trail. So it's no surprise that the private social network is laying down new tracks in an attempt to make digital communication more human.
HTC sales have reached their lowest point since 2010, erasing the company's Android rise entirely.


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By Deborah Lockridge, Editor in Chief
Don’t expect trailer-on-flatcar to go away anytime soon, but expect it to increasingly be via 53-foot trailers.
In FTR’s “State of Freight” webinar Thursday, senior consultant Larry Gross noted that 48-footers, once the backbone of the intermodal system, are disappearing, down 20% year over year. 53-foot volume, however, is still running a double-digit improvement year over year.
“53-foot trailers are a major conduit by which new trucklines get into using rail intermodal. They don’t have the containers; they like to put their trailers on the flatcar.”
And while a few innovative programs have started putting temperature-controlled containers on the rails, Gross said reefer trailers on flatcars are still the far more common choice for perishable intermodal loads.
For intermodal overall, Gross predicts we’ll end up at 4.8% growth for 2011, will see roughly the same in 2012 at 4.9%, then increase in 2013 to 5.6% growth. Domestic moves are growing at a higher rate, around 7%, than international containers, which are pulling down overall intermodal growth with 2.7% growth forecast for this year and next.
Intermodal: Related News
12/9/2011 – TOFC still going strong
Don’t expect trailer-on-flatcar to go away anytime soon, but expect it to increasingly be via 53-foot trailers….
12/5/2011 – Georgia DOT Awards Contract for Port of Savannah Connector
The Port of Savannah’s long-anticipated Jimmy Deloach Parkway Connector, linking the Port directly to Interstate 95, got a big boost last week with the awarding of a $73 million contract for its construction….
11/29/2011 – Occupy Movement Targets West Coast Ports
The Occupy movement says it will sponsor demonstrations at several coastal port facilities, with the intention being to shut down all of the major gateways….
11/18/2011 – U.S. Containerized Exports Climb for 8th Consecutive Quarter
Strong demand for agricultural products in Asia drove U.S. containerized exports up by 6.7% in the third quarter. Total U.S. containerized export volume is up 8.3% through the first nine months of 2011….
11/10/2011 – ABF Launches Global Expedited LCL/LTL
ABF has expanded its global offerings to include Ocean LTL, a single-contact, expedited less-than-container-load/less-than-truckload supply chain solution for customers who import from manufacturing centers in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan….
11/9/2011 – Intermodal Volume Posts Year-over-Year Gains for Seventh-Straight Quarter
Domestic container volume posted its strongest growth of the year in Q3 2011, according to IANA’sIntermodal Market Trends Statistics report released today….
11/9/2011 – Retail Container Traffic Expected to Decline in November
With most holiday season merchandise already on its way to store shelves, import cargo volume at the nation’s major retail container ports has started to decline for the fall….
11/8/2011 – Ports of L.A. and L. B. to Ban 2006 and Older Trucks, Discontinue Clean Truck Fee
Beginning January 1, 2012 trucks with an engine year of 2006 and older will be banned from both the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach….
11/1/2011 – September U.S. Containerized Imports Fall 6% from August
U.S. containerized import volume fell 6 percent in September from the month before as retailers restrain inventories. Even a surge in auto parts shipments was not enough to offset growing retailer pessimism about consumer demand….
10/31/2011 – ATA Moving Forward on Appeal on LA Port Concessions
While the American Trucking Associations won a court victory striking down the controversial owner-operator ban portion of the Port of Los Angeles’ Clean Truck Program, the association has decided to move forward on an appeal to the Supreme Court on other provisions which an appeals court upheld….


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8 Aug 2011
Brazil Market Outlook Strong for Hong Kong Companies
HKTDC Study Sees Benefits of Blossoming Sino-Brazilian Investment
8 August 2011 – Brazil, the largest economy in Latin America and the nation with the highest per-capita GDP among so-called BRIC countries, has plenty to offer Hong Kong companies, according to new research conducted by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC).
The HKTDC research report, Brazil: A Latin American star player, said Hong Kong companies will find a strong market in Brazil because of the country’s broad-based industrial sector and increasing consumer demand for a wide variety of electronic products.
“Brazil’s continued prosperity and optimism provide excellent opportunities for electronics firms, while timepieces, gifts, toys and fashion goods are among Hong Kong’s major exports to Brazil, bucking up the important electronics sector,” the report said.
With more than 50 per cent of the country’s 190-million-strong population considered middle class, Brazil’s purchasing power is rising as domestic demand for quality products grows. That paints an auspicious picture for Hong Kong companies planning to make a debut in the Brazil market, according to HKTDC economist Louis Chan.
“Given the rapid growth of the middle class population, their increasing brand awareness and receptiveness to trendy items, Brazil is becoming a promising market for Hong Kong products,” he said.
Brazil has emerged as a star player in Latin America. In 2010, the country posted its highest annual economic growth since 1986 and provided 40 per cent of the region’s GDP and one-third of its total population. Brazil’s per-capita GDP of around US$10,800 in 2010 was also higher than Russia, India and China – the other nations in the BRIC grouping of economies.
“Companies targeting the high-end segment may also ride on the growing number of high net worth individuals in Brazil, who are searching for products that are special and unique, despite their higher prices,” said Mr Chan.
The business opportunities presented by Brazil’s expanding customer base are further enhanced by the fact that the country will soon host two of the world’s premier sporting events. The FIFA World Cup will be conducted in 12 Brazilian cities in 2014, followed by the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. The HKTDC research predicted the World Cup football events would generate US$2-2.5 billion in sales of licensed products – more than half coming from outside Brazil.
This trend should favour Asian suppliers with experience handling big projects such as the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, according to the study. Gifts and premiums – the sector ranked third among Hong Kong’s exports to Brazil – is seen to hold the most promise.
Another encouraging sign for Hong Kong companies is blossoming Sino-Brazilian economic ties. The HKTDC research said this trend is reflected in the fact that since 2009 the Chinese mainland has become Brazil’s biggest trading partner. Bilateral trade has soared from about US$2 billion to more than US$56 billion over the past decade.
Hong Kong’s re-exports of China origin to Brazil and vice versa are also set to soar. Hong Kong’s long-established role as a trade and business platform for the sizable mainland market has drawn a number of Brazilian companies to make their inroads into China by making themselves more recognisable in Hong Kong. From banks to logistics, trading to business consulting, Hong Kong companies are finding new opportunities in the surging bilateral collaboration and partnership between Brazilian and mainland companies.
Looking ahead, however, the HKTDC research advises Hong Kong companies eager to develop the Brazilian market that they must prepare for challenges such as trade formalities and language barriers. The report says that to start successfully and stay clear of problems related to bureaucracy and distance, Hong Kong companies should ride on the growing number of Brazilian companies in Hong Kong and local trade fairs which are attracting a growing number of Brazilian buyers each year.
Please contact the HKTDC's Corporate Communication Department:
Tel: (852) 2584 4216
About the HKTDC
A statutory body established in 1966, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) is the international marketing arm for Hong Kong-based traders, manufacturers and service providers. With more than 40 global offices, including 11 on the Chinese mainland, the HKTDC promotes Hong Kong as a platform for doing business with China and throughout Asia. The HKTDC also organises trade fairs and business missions to connect companies with opportunities in Hong Kong and on the mainland, while providing information via trade publications, research reports and online. For more information, please visit: www.hktdc.com


text: The pre-paid wireless market is shaping up as a key battleground in the coming months and years for new net subscriber additions as emerging players try to establish themselves as the brand of choice for the youth market. With the emergence of MuchMusic on the scene, and a scheduled first quarter 2005 launch of Virgin Mobile Canada, the two new players will likely go head-to-head on several fronts in trying to lure the country’s young people to their respective brands.  Two telecom analysts agree that there is upside in the pre-paid market segment as an untapped source of revenue. With Canada at only about 50% penetration, there is still tremendous greenfield opportunity, says Mark Quigley, the Yankee Group’s Canadian Market Strategies research director.  Says Quigley: "The primary market for pre-paid in Canada seems to be people that want to control their spending. It hasn’t been pushed towards people, for example, that are credit challenged, whereas in the U.S. that has been a definite thrust behind it. I certainly think that probably is a marketplace that, if more attention was paid to it, they may see more success from it."  Brian Sharwood, principal at the SeaBoard Group, says young Canadians will be the primary target of pre-paid offerings. "There will be sort of a renewed interest in the youth market. I think they’ll be things like different data applications for kids, pictures, text messaging contests, different ways of using the phone to keep the market segmented," he explains.  Despite the appearance of an untapped pre-paid market, winning it isn’t without its challenges, says Quigley, adding that it can be a double-edged sword. "You get those subscribers on board and you can’t guarantee that they are going to stay that active for that long or that they are going to spend that much on a monthly basis. The challenge in the pre-paid business is that you don’t spend a lot of time with your customers because you don’t send them bills, so it’s not without its challenges," he explains.  MuchMusic surprised many industry observers with the launch of its MuchPhone pre-paid offering in conjunction with Rogers Wireless Inc. this month (RoW, Nov. 4/04). Sharwood says Rob Bruce, Rogers Wireless’ executive VP, chief marketing office and president of wireless data services, is a "smart marketing fellow" and is keenly aware of the power of the Virgin brand, having experienced it firsthand in the cola business.  Roma Khanna, VP of CHUM Television Interactive, tells Report on Wireless that the company was looking for ways to better connect to its existing youth audience, more and more of whom are carrying cell phones. "We’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about content for the cell phone, community-based things that we can do with the cell phone, interactivity with our television shows with wireless.  We have short codes and voting and text-to-screen and all that great stuff. So for us it became a natural extension. It’s not about putting our brand on a physical device, it’s about what doors that device opens. It becomes a key to all sorts of interesting and exciting content that connects you closer and closer to MuchMusic and I think it’s the kind of key into MuchMusic our audience understands and wants," Khanna explains.  The real battle in the pre-paid segment won’t begin until the first quarter of next year when Virgin Mobile launches service. It will be interesting to see how both companies, with considerable marketing experience, brand awareness and ties to the youth segment, fare. The two analysts are divided as to which company has the upper hand but say that MuchMusic may have a slight advantage in the short term.  "It certainly puts Virgin at a disadvantage," Quigley says of Virgin’s decision to not launch until early next year, adding that not all is lost for the upstart operator because of its previous experience. "You know missing the Christmas season if you’re focused on the youth and young adult market is obviously not desirable. I guess there will be Christmas next year. The other thing when compared to MuchMusic, Virgin has done this three or four times already and very successfully. They know what they’re doing, so the fact that MuchMusic may have a bit of a head start I don’t think is necessarily going to mean a lot. Virgin has certainly proven themselves to be a very formidable competitor south of the border."  Sharwood agrees that the marketing prowess of Virgin Mobile shouldn’t be underestimated. "Virgin is going to be using a whole number of tactics, including (more than just) pushing out the Virgin brand. There’s a reason why we’ve got Rebel Billionaire going on in North America right now. It’s not random. It’s not like ‘this was a cool thing to do.’ Richard Branson has a plan and the plan is to be the cool brand in North America and to attack the North American market. His Rebel Billionaire is one piece of that. Opening up record stores and becoming a brand presence is part of and there will be a lot of other products," he says. (The Rebel Billionaire: Branson’s Quest for the Best is a reality television program, in which Branson puts a group of 16 Americans through a series of extreme activities. Contestants are made to relive some of Branson’s adventures and if they make decisions that impress him, they continue to participate in the adventures. If not, they are eliminated from the competition. The winner takes home US$1 million.) Executives from Virgin Mobile Canada tell Report on Wireless in a conference call that it is still too early to talk about how the company plans to proceed when it launches next year and how MuchMusic’s entry might affect the pre-paid market’s dynamics.  Nathan Rosenberg, chief marketing officer for Virgin Canada, explains that the company is staying focused on getting its offering right for its target market.  Says Virgin Canada’s president and CEO Andrew Black: "We’re spending our time just focusing on all the things we need to do to launch a business and we are keeping our heads down." Khanna recognizes the strength of Virgin Canada, but says there is room to grow the pre-paid market and MuchMusic will certainly play a role. "The thing about MuchMusic is we have such a strong connection with this particular market already. We don’t have to find them. They are already here. And one of the things we try to do is keep them excited about their relationship with us and make sure that our relationship evolves as their lifestyle evolves and the communications devices they use evolve. So it’s an important and natural evolution for us to be in this space," she says.  Being first in the market with a youth-oriented brand gives MuchMusic first mover advantage, Khanna adds. "We were the first with ringtones across carriers. We were first to put text-to-screen. We were first to integrate wireless on a regular basis with our television programming, and we’re going to be first with other stuff in the next couple of months."


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The pandemic forced brands to innovate at lightning speed. Consumer trends expected to manifest in years, were compressed into months or even weeks, as shoppers dramatically shifted preference to convenience and online options. Everything from grocery shopping to fitness to entertainment moved online and disruptive direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands reaped the rewards. The big question is, "How did that affect customer loyalty?"
As the country gears up for its grand re-opening, we’re seeing a sizeable, and we believe permanent, change in how people shop.
Consumers are taking their money elsewhere.
The pandemic dramatically affected businesses of all types, but its impact felt very different depending on the business model. Cardlytics’ data shows, before lockdowns began in 2020, 8% of consumer spend could be attributed to DTC brands. That share has jumped to 14% from March 2020 to March 2021.
Rural shoppers are spending as much as their urban counterparts.
The rural in-store shopping experience isn’t known to be rich with options. The added layer of lockdowns during the pandemic further limited entry to traditional brick and mortar retailers and gave rise to DTC brands in rural areas. While the option to buy online isn’t necessarily new, the habits of these shoppers have changed far more rapidly than expected.
There is an urgent call to action for both traditional business as well as DTC. For the traditional business, hoping things revert to “normal” is no longer a viable strategy.
The Bottom Line:
Meet the customer’s needs on their terms, it’s more important than ever. Keep an eye out for changes in purchase behavior and consider the following questions:
- Are the number of retailers in a given category that have a share of the wallet increasing or decreasing?
- How are baskets changing value, frequency, timing of purchase, and channel of purchase, especially online vs. in-store?
- What are the changes in the channels of influence when looking at incremental return channel by channel?
- Re-assess customer loyalty and look at share of wallet for the category rather than simply frequency or amount of spend with their store alone.
- Focus on retention. Considering all the new customer growth, DTC brands must know if they’ve kept pace with competitor growth rather than benchmarking against their own revenue.
- Understand the point of true loyalty. A customer with only one purchase is more likely to be a trialist at risk of churn.
Thanks to the pandemic-led focus on health, safety and social distancing it was easy to bring customers in, but it’s vital that they don’t fall off and revert to old spending habits.


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While Apple is known for its unhackable systems and devices, a sixteen-year-old schoolboy has shaken the company by hacking Apple’s secure computer network. It’s unbelievable that most of the worldwide hackers might be unable to hack Apple, but this teen boy broke into the most secure mainframe of Apple. The teen hacker stole 90GB of secure files and stored the data in the folder named as “Hacky Hack Hack”.
Apple found the hacking activity and contacted the FBI. After that Australian Federal Police raided the teen hacker’s home and seized two Apple laptops that were used in the data breach. Moreover, the analysis found that the Australian hacker accessed extremely secure “authorized keys” that grant log-in access to the users.
After hacking, the boy used WhatsApp to boast about his achievement. The name of hacker boy cannot be revealed as he’s a minor as well as a well-known individual in the international hacking community.
The defense lawyer of the hacker stated that the boy was a big fan of Apple and wanted to work with Apple. No doubt, the boy has a mastermind and Apple needs such kind of brainy workers to cope up with security threats.
The boy is pleaded guilty in the court and awaiting sentencing. Apple must think more about the security of the systems as users would not compromise with the security threats. Probably Apple will offer the job to this teen hacker boy.


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On Tuesday, April 26, the Memphis Chapter and the P&E Wing will present another Grammy Pro Studio Summit at Esplanade Studios in New Orleans. The Summit will feature a keynote conversation with legendary Grammy Award–winning recording engineer Geoff Emerick (The Beatles, America, Cheap Trick, Elvis Costello), panel discussions on industry topics, and product demonstrations from a variety of gear manufacturers.
Grammy Award–winning recording engineer Elliot Scheiner will also serve as Event Chair and a featured speaker, including demonstrations of the ELS Studio Premium Audio system developed by Scheiner himself.
The daylong program will culminate with a reception featuring traditional New Orleans fare.
Location: Esplanade Studios, 2540 Esplanade Ave., New Orleans, Louisiana 70119. For more information, contact Reid Wick at 310.998.2644 or [email protected].
On April 30, Emerick will appear at The Grammy Museum Mississippi. Location: 800 W Sunflower Rd., Cleveland, Mississippi 38732. Emerick will be interviewed by Memphis Chapter Senior Executive Director Jon Hornyak.
For more information on upcoming events, go to www.grammypro.com/pro/events.


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COVID-19 Update: We are now up and running trips! The Florida Keys re-open to tourism on June 1, 2020. Hotels and resorts will be open with 50% occupancy. Vacation rentals will be allowed. Restaurants and most businesses are already open.
Hunter’s Shark In Marathon
Here’s Hunter posing next to one of his Sharks he caught while fishing near Marathon up on the flats. He caught several fish up to 8 feet long during his 6 hour fishing trip.


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The next Civic Type R could be a hybrid
Two years ago, Honda’s European unit said it would electrify two thirds of its vehicle lineup by the year 2025. That goal has now been expanded to make every Honda vehicle sold on the continent to have at least some of their motive power provided by electrons by that date. That means that the next iteration of the Civic Type R, due in 2021, will likely be some kind of hybrid, according to Pistonheads.
Part of the hastened move towards electrification was prompted by an industry shift away from diesel power, as European concerns about particulate emissions from diesel engines have grown. Dave Hodgetts, head of Honda’s UK operations, told Autocar that the success of the recently launched hybrid version of the CR-V has likely sped up electrification plans. Two thirds of CR-V sold in the UK used to be diesels, but now 60 percent are hybrids.
Another factor in Honda’s accelerated plans is the positive reaction to the fully electric E Prototype and earlier Urban EV concepts. A full battery-electric Civic Type R, however, doesn’t exactly fit the brand image of that car, established at least in part by high-revving VTEC combustion engines.
Kohei Hitomi, who led the development of the close-to-production E Prototype, told Pistonheads, “We think it’d be quite easy to achieve Type R performance with a full EV right now, but Type R isn’t just about performance. It’s also about handling, operation and driveability. We don’t think it’s as simple as replacing that with electric power. That’s not the right direction for Type R.”
Hitomi said Honda sees electricity as an enhancement of the Type R recipe, not a replacement, as with the use of forced induction on the current model. “People complained when we said the Type R would use a turbocharger, but now they appreciate the new possibilities this has provided. I believe it would be the same for electrified vehicles as well; people who love Type R will come to realise what it can add to the driving experience. We just need to find the best attributes that are relevant for the Type R, so as to enhance the experience without losing what makes a Type R.”
Depending on what kind of hybrid system they use, the next Civic Type R could have torque vectoring or other performance features that electric motors make easier. The performance level of the current Acura NSX, a hybrid, should reassure fans of Honda hot hatches that the company knows how to combine electrification with excitement.


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Paramount Global reported second-quarter sales that beat analysts’ projections, thanks in part to a 40% jump in its streaming TV business.
The parent of CBS, MTV and other TV networks reported revenue of $7.62 billion, beating analysts’ estimates of $7.43 billion. Earnings came to 10 cents a share, the company said Monday, beating Wall Street projections for a break-even quarter.
The shares rose as much as 7.8% to $17.35 in after-hours trading before giving up much of their gain. They were down 4.7% this year through the close of regular trading on Monday.
Paramount managed to beat estimates despite weakness in the TV ad market. Ad sales at traditional networks fell 10% to $1.95 billion.
The company reported 61 million subscribers for its Paramount+ streaming service, slightly below forecasts for 61.2 million. The direct-to-consumer unit lost $424 million, compared with analysts’ projections for a loss of $527 million. Its portfolio also includes the ad-supported, free-to-watch Pluto service. Ad revenue for its direct-to-consumer streaming platforms increased 21% over the quarter, the company reported.
“The combination of rapid inventory expansion and broad integration with leading buy-side ad-tech platforms, means we are now growing DTC advertising, not just as a replacement for linear, but as a compelling video alternative for the long tail of advertisers who have historically relied on social media and short-form video advertising,” said Paramount Chief Financial Officer Naveen Chopra.
Profit at Paramount’s film studio tumbled to $5 million. Last year’s second quarter included results from the hit “Top Gun: Maverick.”
The company also announced the sale of its Simon & Schuster publishing business to KKR & Co. for $1.62 billion and plans to use the proceeds to reduce debt.


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1) Lower East Side: Above, some new shots of the space Kampuchea, the popular LES Cambodian restaurant, will be expanding into early next year. It will be called The Norry at Kampuchea. [PLYWOOD]
2) West Village: Martin Brudnizki, the designer behind Le Caprice, the schmancy and "exclusive" London import that opened in Midtown last month, has a new project up his sleeves. He's designing Betel, a restaurant opening on Grove between Bleecker and 7th in the old Wild Ginger space. By the looks of their construction blog, it's going to be a major project, one whose plans must be approved again and again by the Landmarks Committee because of its location. The chef/owner is Adam Woodfield. [PLYWOOD]
3) Chelsea: A reader has some new pics of the former Ate Ave spot, adding this commentary: "Dearly departed Manray begat nobody's favorite Ate Ave, replacing that gorgeous Paris-inspired entrance with that angular eyesore. Can't tell what's going in but every trace of Ate Ave is being appropriately pulled out. First to go, that hideous entrance.." [PLYWOOD]
4) Prospect Heights: The Brooklyn Paper reports that Jesse Levitt, a bar owner and apparent mystic, is opening a new bar on Washington Ave. in Prospect Heights even though his tarot card reading told him not to. However, Minor Arcana, called Flying Monkey before the reading, will have a freak show/occult angle in its decor. It opens on Friday. [PLYWOOD]
5) Ditmas Park: Brownstoner notes that progress is being made on an adjoining wine bar and market on Cortelyou Road. It is owned by the team behind neighborhood fave Mimi's Hummus. [PLYWOOD]
6) Harlem: Uptown Flavor reports that Harlem neighborhood spot music and sushi spot, The Den, will open in a new location, on Lenox between 119th and 120th, next spring.
7) Fort Greene: A press release announces that a new wine bar called Mauzac will be taking over a portion of the space currently occupied by Carol's Daughter, a Fort Greene store that has now expanded to other neighborhoods. It sits at 136 DeKalb at Elliott Place. [PLYWOOD]
8) Flatiron: Grub Street hears that two restaurants are going into the old Limelight space, the club that is will be reopened as a retail center called Limelight Marketplace. One of the restaurants is said to be coming from a well known Hamptons restaurateur (please, please, please Jean-Luc Kleefield). [PRE-PLYWOOD]


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The United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) has identified the capacity of agriculture to bolster sustainable growth and development in other sectors of the economy as its reason for focusing on the sector.
Speaking at the just concluded 19th Nigeria Economic Summit in Abuja, Group Managing Director, UBA, Phillips Oduoza explained that businesses in agriculture have the potency to generate employment and reduce poverty on a significant scale, which he said, informed the increase in lending level to the sector.
Speaking during a panel discussion on financing agribusiness to guarantee successful industry transformation, Oduoza said: “UBA currently has a minimum of seven per cent of its gross loan portfolio in the agribusiness sector. Our total intervention in the sector is over N41 billion, making UBA one of the largest financiers of agricultural projects in the country.”
Citing the bank’s experience, he revealed that the risks in financing agribusinesses were low. According to him, UBA’s Non-Performing Loans (NPL) in its agricultural lending portfolio was as low as 0.06 per cent.
However, to further boost productivity in the agribusiness value chain, Oduoza advocated for necessary interventions across all value chains in the sector, in order for Nigeria ’s potential in the sector to materialise.
“In UBA, our financing of activities in the agribusiness sector cut across the value chain, from production, to storage, processing, distribution and even transportation”.
“We strongly believe that for Nigeria to see growth in the agricultural sector, interventions must be total across all the value chain,” Oduoza said.
“The value chain financing approach adopted by the UBA Group is to ensure that maximum benefits are derived from all participants in the agribusiness line. The strength of the value chain is as good as its weakest link.
So, everyone must be considered from the farmer in the village to the process that will transfer the goods to the consumer in town in whatever form and put money back in the hands of the farmer, he explained.
“Once the entire value chain is looked at, agriculture becomes very profitable and a very good business for financial institutions to key into,” he noted.
Adesina Akinwumi, the minister of Agriculture, used the opportunity of the panel discussion to appreciate the role being played by UBA in its finance of key projects in the agribusiness sector. He was particularly impressed by the low rate of defaults by farmers who accessed the agribusiness loans through UBA. He advised other financial institutions to emulate the strategies put in place by UBA.


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Telenor ASA, the largest phone company in Nordic region, is in talks with the government on possibility of raising its stake in DiGi.Com Bhd.
Telenor owned 61 percent of DiGi a few years ago, but forced to sell a 10.2 percent of the stake to Time dot-Com Bhd in 2007 to comply with new foreign shareholding rule.
Time bought the shares for a whooping RM1.61 billion.
“We urged government to reconsider the ceiling for foreign ownership,” Telenor Asia chief executive officer Sigve Brekke told Business time in a recent interview.
Saying the company is still interested in raising its stake in the country third largest telecommunications company if the rule will be relaxed again.
Brekke, who is also chairman of DiGi said opening foreign ownership in the telecommunication industry will ultimately benefit the consumers.
He said it will encourage more investments into the country, create more competition in the telecommunication industry – which would lead to cheaper, better services to consumer.
Telenor entered Malaysia telecommunication industry in late 1999, when its bought a 30 percent stake at DiGi for RM788 million or about RM5.25 per share.
In June 25, 2001 Telenor increased its ownership of DiGi to 61 percent for RM1.4 billion.


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Johnson and Johnson, whose foundation is the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation the leader of anti-smoking legislation and smoking bans, has had over 50 products removed from the shelves in the past 15 months.
Recalls on a partial lists of items are: DePuy’s ASR XL Acetabular System (knee replacement), Tylenol, Ortho Evra birth-control patch, Rolaids, Motrin, Benadryl, and St. Joseph Aspirin, Topamax, Zyrtec, 1-Day Acuvue and TruEye.
Thousands of lawsuits have been initiated for defective drugs. “During the last decade, the company has been repeatedly confronted with claims that it sold a product that was defective, or that carried risks J&J downplayed in its marketing. It has been accused of paying kickbacks and using other financial incentives to promote off-label use of drugs and devices. It has been cited by federal authorities for trying to avoid the publicity of a recall by quietly buying up tainted products”.
“Parsing the problems at J&J leads many analysts to identify three likely causes, none of them mutually exclusive: decentralization, fat margins, and lapses in leadership.”Each division has its own culture, and they fell off the tracks at the same time," says Loss of Washington Analysis.”
J&J will survive the lawsuits since they have a reserve of 28 billion dollars but will they be able to regain their good name? That remains to be seen.
With all their quality control issues, recalls and pending lawsuits it is time for them to stop lobbying for smoking bans and
clean up their own house.


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Grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food continues to drive top line sales and bottom line profits in every sector of retail foodservice according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.
Regular readers of this blog know our Grocerant Guru® was the first visit and blog about it Amazon Go. We also were first to say that they would have to evolve and sell ‘Fresh Hot Coffee’ if the wanted to drive the AM daypart consistently. Well, guess what?
Now according to the San Francisco Chronicle, there is an Amazon Go store in San Francisco’s Financial District is planning to add hot food, espresso and fountain drinks in the next few months. The paper noted that “an email to customers noted that the store is closed for renovations and will open back up in the spring with "new features and flavors." "
In San Francisco by adding hot foods, soda fountain and espresso requires additional permits from the city and the paper noted that Amazon filed for review by the city's department of health on Jan. 21.
Adding grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food and beverages combined with the ‘just walk out’ technology will be a big hit. Simply put it will provide a One Stop shop for consumer. So, not only will it save consumer time, it will edify that by fulfilling the consumers expectations for the AM daypart.
Interested in learning how Foodservice Solutions 5P’s of Food Marketing can edify your retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation and individualization? Email us at: firstname.lastname@example.org or visit: www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more information.


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TDK Ships Blu-ray Media
April 10, 2006 6:35 PM
comment(s) - last by
TDK beats all others to the finish line in shipping Blu-ray media
TDK Corporation announced today that it has begun shipping Blu-ray recordable media to retailers across the United States. The first wave of media will include 25GB BD-R (recordable) and BD-RE (rewritable) media.
This media is single-layered 25GB capacity. TDK plans to ship dual layer media at 25GB per layer later this year as Blu-ray drives and set top recorders start becoming available. According to
the press release
, TDK's Blu-ray discs are manufactured at its Chikumagawa Techno Factory in Japan. The manufacturing process is much very different compared to that of CDs and DVDs. TDK claims:
The high-sensitivity inorganic recording material utilized by TDK for the write-once type BD-R is completely different than the recording materials used for CD or DVD. TDK Blu-ray Discs’ inorganic material is impervious to light, making the discs exceptionally well suited for archiving data. Composed of copper and silicon, TDK’s exclusive CuSi recording material delivers remarkable, long-lasting performance. The recording material enables fast recording and playback speeds and also makes it possible to realize massive capacities through multi-layering.
Additionally, TDK has included its hard coating formulation called DURABIS for added protection to the media. Pricing on the media has also been released for the BD-R and BD-RE at $19.99 and $24.99 respectively. Later this year, TDK will ship the 50GB media at $47.99 for the BD-R media and $59.99 for the BD-RE media.
This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled
RE: $20 per disc !
4/11/2006 11:48:06 AM
If you want to archive invest the extra bucks in DVD-RAM it's the only one that lasts at the moment (unless you can afford magneto optical type thingies!)A lot of the latest DVD recorders will be able to handle it. I allways advise everybody to use it over other formats especially for precious things like photos etc. Ive not had a RAM disc fail yet.
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text:
Today marks the 40th anniversary of the first public call made from a mobile phone. On April 3, 1973 in midtown Manhattan, Marty Cooper, a Motorola engineer, called his rival, Joel Engel, at Bell Labs.
“Joel, this is Marty,” Cooper said. “I’m calling you from a real handheld portable cellphone.”
It’s amazing to think of how far mobile technology has come in just 40 years. After all, it wasn’t until 1992 that the first commercial text message was sent, and games didn’t make it to mobile phones until Tetris, in 1994. It took another 10 years to develop the first Wi-Fi-enabled phone, and the pace has drastically picked up since then.
Cooper made the first mobile phone call on a Motorola DynaTAC 8000x, a device that was nine inches long, weighed 2.5 pounds, and took 10 hours to recharge a battery that could only handle 35 minutes of talk time. Compare that with the Samsung Galaxy S3, which is just over 5 inches long but only weighs about 0.3 pounds and can hold a charge for several hours while the user talks, texts, surfs the Web, plays games and listens to music.
What does the future hold for cellphones? According to an infographic put together by Cisco to celebrate the anniversary of cellphones, there will be more than 10 billion mobile devices around the world by 2017. It also predicts mobile video alone will account for 66 percent of all mobile data traffic.


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14 September 2017
8am – 9.30am
Free to Attend
Stokes at the Lawn
Suite 1, The Lawn,
With vast amounts of money being invested in the city, Lincoln is driving forward a new era within a historic setting.
The Lincoln Economic Forum will discuss the latest developments in the city, and what they’ll mean for business owners in the region – and those looking to relocate to this fast growing city.
Our expert panel including Thomas Blount, Director of Lincoln Science and Innovation Park and Dave Reid, Operations Manager, Willmott Dixon will discuss the ramifications of the £150m redevelopment of St Marks, how the second phase of the Lincoln Science and Innovation Park will attract high value jobs to the area, how the University and local businesses can work together to ensure that students graduating stay to work and live in the city, and whether and how Lincoln can benefit from devolution.
The panel will also look at the investment being made into tourism, with a new transport interchange on the way and cash being spent on the Cathedral, Castle, new hotels and Lincoln’s myriad visitor attractions.
This is your opportunity to come and question the key people responsible for driving Lincoln’s economy forward and join in the debate as to how the blueprint for the city’s future is drawn up.
Breakfast rolls and light refreshments will be provided.
To book your place(s)


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Food policy expert Professor Tim Lang has co-authored a new book, called Sustainable Diets.
Published (Updated )
People in both developed and developing countries must transform their diets if environmental damage is to be rectified and global nutrition to improve, according to a new book.
Sustainable Diets is the first book to outline the range and scale of the food challenges that face the world.
Its authors, leading food policy expert Professor Tim Lang and nutritionist Dr Pamela Mason, say action must be taken now because poorer nations are following damaging eating patterns set by western countries. They argue western countries are rudderless because governments will not connect human and environmental health.
Sustainable Diets reviews evidence from hundreds of sources to make the case for change. It calls for a new emphasis on changing culture if the food system’s impact on environment and health is to be improved.
Professor Lang, of the Centre for Food Policy at City, University of London, and Dr Mason, an independent nutritionist specialising in local food systems, argue that politicians and the food industry must face the true cost of the world’s food systems on the planet and take a lead in setting out to change consumer habits.
"Humanity is entering a new era for food consumption. The new goal for consumers is to eat low impact diets. Only sustainable diets will give future generations the chance of decent living. It is a fantasy to say we can produce our way out of the coming crunch."
Professor Tim Lang, launching Sustainable Diets
The authors define a sustainable diet as one that provides people with the nutrients they need while protecting environmental infrastructure (e.g. climate, water, soil and biodiversity) and preventing socio-economic divisions (e.g. from inequalities, bad governance, poor wages and education).
They say the way forward for nutrition has long been clear from the evidence: an increased intake of plant-based foods – such as vegetables, fruits and whole-grains – with limited meat and processed foods high in sugar.
It is argued that only a tiny minority of the public knows that diet is a major driver of climate change, water use and biodiversity loss.
"Consumers are largely ignorant of how many ticking time bombs there are within the food system. Many supermarkets and food processors know but are acting below the radar, when it is time for them to come clean with the public and to engage people in the change."
Dr Pamela Mason
According to Sustainable Diets, the situation is not helped by competing messages about diet. In an internet era, there are no fixed cultural norms. The pursuit of cheapness does not sit well with a drive for more local food or for fairness. And consumers worry about the cost of dietary change.
Reviewing where consumers are being helped to make any progressive change, Dr Mason and Professor Lang argue that only Sweden, Germany, Brazil and Qatar have been clear about helping their citizens to alter their diets in significant ways. They explain that some food industry lobbies, particularly for meat and dairy, have actively blocked attempts to introduce sustainable dietary guidelines in Australia and the USA. The result is that a global policy tipping point hasn’t yet been reached.
The authors propose a new “SDG2” strategy for public policy – national and local Sustainable Dietary Guidelines to deliver the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. This approach proposes a 20-to-30-year “Great Transition” for food systems, setting new goals for all sectors and grouping actions under six new major over-arching themes which tackle: food quality, health, environment, culture, economy and governance.
"We propose governments, companies and cities – anyone wanting to lead – now use this six-heading approach to sustainable diets. Good diets for the 21st century will be about delivering good quality food, health, environment, socio-cultural appeal, rounded economics and trusted governance.
Western food consumers have never had it so good and so bad. How they eat is now undermining the future. And developing country consumers are being sucked into a pattern of eating which is bad for health and the environment. Unless there is population-scale change, the necessary reduction in diet’s impact on people and the planet will be too little and too late."
Professor Tim Lang
Among the key facts highlighted in the book are (references in notes to editors):
- Diet is now the biggest source of premature death in the world, with diet associated with 18 million deaths annually (1).
- Over- and mal-consumption in the developed world is now spreading in developing countries (2).
- Good diets require a high amount of horticultural produce yet land use is distorted by feeding ever more animals for meat and dairy (3).
- Animal production is responsible for a third of all of agriculture’s greenhouse gas emissions and 36% of the calories produced by the world’s crops are used for animal feed. Only 12% of those feed calories ultimately contribute to the human diet as meat and other animal products (4).
- Food is a major source of degradation of water, soil and biodiversity, yet urbanised consumers cannot see this. It’s not on a food label (5).
- Consumers are unaware of high water use for food. The average US diet consumes 5,400 litres of virtual water a day and even a vegetarian diet consumes 2,600 litres a day (6).
- 87% of global fish stocks are over-exploited or fully-exploited, but consumers are still advised to eat fish. (7).
- Global food waste, despite rising awareness, continues to be out of control. EU food waste is 89 million tonnes a year, worth about £950 per household (8). UK food waste was dropping but has now stalled (9).
- Food is the biggest employer on the planet (10), (e.g. employs 3.7 million in the UK), (11). Yet is too often characterised by low wages (12). Contracts and traders drive down costs in the name of ‘cheap’ food for urbanised consumers (13).
"Food is more than nutrients. We nutrition scientists cannot sit on the sidelines of the sustainable diet challenge. We need to help produce more ecologically sensitive advice. Researching and writing this book has opened even my eyes to how we nutritionists aren’t helping consumers wise up on sustainability."
Dr Pamela Mason
Sustainable Diets: How ecological nutrition can transform consumption and the food system is published by Earthscan (Routledge).
Facts highlighted in Sustainable Diets
Facts highlighted in Sustainable Diets
(1) Moodie R, Stuckler D, Monteiro C, et al. Profits and pandemics: prevention of harmful effects of tobacco, alcohol, and ultra-processed food and drink industries. The Lancet, 2013; 381(9867): 670–9
(2) WHO World Health Report, Chapter 4
(3) eg 85% land use in the UK is now associated with animals & dairy: de Ruiter H, Macdiarmid JI, Matthews RB, et al. Total global agricultural land footprint associated with UK food supply 1986-2011. Global Environmental Change 2017; 43(March):72-81. doi: 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2017.01.007
(4) Cassidy ES, West PC, Gerber JS, et al. Redefining agricultural yields: from tonnes to people nourished per hectare. Environmental Research Letters, 2013; 8: 034015
(5) Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Ecosystems and human well-being : synthesis. Washington, DC: Island Press 2005.
(6) Hoekstra AY. The water footprint of animal products, in: J D’Silva, J Webster (Eds) The Meat Crisis: Developing More Sustainable Production and Consumption. London: Earthscan, 2010: 22–33
(7) FAO (2012) State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture http://www.fao.org/docrep/016/i2727e/i2727e00.htm
(8) House of Lords EU Committee.(2014) Counting the Cost of Food Waste: EU Food Waste Prevention. 10th Report of Session 2013–14. London: The Stationery Office
(9) WRAP 10 January 2017
(10) International Labour Organization (UN) (2015) Agriculture; Plantations; Other Rural Sectors. Geneva: ILO,
(11) Defra. Agriculture in the UK 2015. London: Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs, 2016.
(12) e.g. http://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/pdf/2013/fast_food_poverty_wages.pdf
(13) Devlin S, Dosch T, Esteban A, et al. Urgent Recall: Our Food System Under Review. London: New Economics Foundation, 2014


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Every day, consumers use antibacterial soaps and body washes at home, work, school and in other public settings. Especially because so many consumers use them, FDA believes that there should be clearly demonstrated benefits to balance any potential risks.
In fact, there currently is no evidence that over-the-counter (OTC) antibacterial soap products are any more effective at preventing illness than washing with plain soap and water, says Colleen Rogers, Ph.D., a lead microbiologist at FDA.
Moreover, antibacterial soap products contain chemical ingredients, such as triclosan and triclocarban, which may carry unnecessary risks given that their benefits are unproven.
“New data suggest that the risks associated with long-term, daily use of antibacterial soaps may outweigh the benefits,” Rogers says. There are indications that certain ingredients in these soaps may contribute to bacterial resistance to antibiotics, and may have unanticipated hormonal effects that are of concern to FDA.
In addition, laboratory studies have raised the possibility that triclosan contributes to making bacteria resistant to antibiotics. Such resistance can have a significant impact on the effectiveness of medical treatments.


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Rumours have abounded over recent weeks that famed street artist Banksy could have been at work in Sussex.
Conjecture spread after several Banksy-style graffiti works were spotted in various places around Horsham.
But now people are being given a chance to get their hands on the real thing by the anonymous artist - a genuine Banksy is going on sale next week in Wisborough Green.
The artwork - a screenprint of the Grin Reaper - is signed and numbered and goes under the hammer at an auction at Bellmans antiques and interiors from May 9-11.
It is expected to be sold for up to £15,000.
A spokesman for Bellmans said the Banksy was the first one to come up for auction with them, but that Banksy originals were “relatively frequently seen nationwide.”


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As retail chains abandon Manhattan, New Yorkers can rebuild a city that is more hospitable to its small businesses.
When I founded Michael Angeloâs Wonderland Beauty Parlor in the meatpacking district 15 years ago, I never imagined I would one day have to downsize and relocate to survive rising rents, only to have to then shut down for months. Nor could I conceive of having to choose between paying the rent on my apartment, paying the lease on the salon or putting food on the table.
But at the peak of the summer, my partner and I were presented with a letter from our landlord demanding we pay months of back rent â the four months when my business was closed â or vacate our home in the neighborhood where Iâve lived and worked for two decades.
As Diana Vreeland said, âThereâs only one very good life, and thatâs the life you know you want, and you make it yourself.â My life is in New York. So after months of patience, I finally received enough unemployment to move into a more affordable apartment. The rent, the lease and dinner are finally paid. For now.
Retail chains are abandoning Manhattan. They claim it is âunsustainableâ for them to continue to do business in a city besieged by a pandemic, and that âthereâs no reason to do business in New York.â So off they go, the Pain Quotidiens, the Victoriaâs Secrets, Neiman Marcus, either jettisoning locations, or packing up shop entirely and running for the hills â which, in the case of the proprietor of Bryant Park Grill, means Florida.
I have a heartfelt farewell for them that can be summed up in two words, better left said by a cabdriver with their fist on the horn in what used to be Midtown traffic.
Iâve lived and worked in and around this city my entire life, just like my father, grandfather and great-grandfather before me: four generations dating back to the late 1800s.
Itâs where I learned my trade, developed my artistic aesthetic, fell in love and sustained a career, now for over 25 years. I love New York. That simple declaration is inseparable from the fact that I made my life here. And this is true for so many of the cityâs small-business owners, who invest in the communities where they operate rather than fleeing them.
Big brands were abandoning the Big Apple even before the pandemic. According to a study by the Center for an Urban Future, 2019 had the largest drop in national retail locations in the city since the organization began its tracking over a decade ago. The number of chain stores shrank by 3.7 percent last year, a huge increase from the 0.3 percent decline in 2018, the first year the center clocked negative growth.
Pre-pandemic, retailers â both big and small â were already struggling to compete with the convenience and ubiquity of online shopping. Now here we are, six months into a pandemic that has upended everything we thought we knew about city life, with no clear end in sight.
The Times reports that nearly 3,000 small businesses in New York City have closed for good since March; the coronavirus has sucked the life out of not just Gap and J.C. Penney, but CAP Beauty and Bar Sardine. Even the L.G.B.T.Q.+ landmark the Stonewall Inn is begging for money on GoFundMe.
With the death of small businesses like these, New York risks losing its signature and most enviable quality: being the worldâs melting pot. When you make the choice to be a New Yorker, youâre committing to a level of intimacy with your environment few other metropolises provide.
That intimacy relies on authenticity, quirks and one-of-a-kind points of view. Youâre not going to find that at a Starbucks or Home Depot. But you will at Variety or Garber.
What the departure of the big retailers should finally, definitively illustrate, though, is how genuinely hard it is to do business here. The city needs to make it easier for the small businesses that choose to remain to survive.
Our local government can help entrepreneurs and artists flourish by creating tax incentives for commercial landlords to lease the spaces deemed âunsustainableâ by corporations to local businesses and nonprofits at lower rents. New Yorkers can choose to invest in our communities by getting offline and back into the streets to shop and live and play. Yes, itâs hard, but there are glimmers of hope â and right now, itâs the people of the city who are leading the way.
âI love New Yorkâ is more than a motto; itâs a testament to the true nature of the relationship between this city and its inhabitants. We live everywhere in the city, not just in our apartments. If all New York had to offer were âflagshipâ big-brand retail and the transactional experiences available anywhere else in America â or online â why bother? Why put up with the cityâs grit and tussle?
I canât fault the people whoâve had to make difficult and complex decisions about how and where their businesses or their families can succeed. But I hope that New York shows the courage, commitment and resilience to replace these vacated spaces with the kinds of organizations that reflect the beautiful diversity and creativity of a city thatâs never been about comfort or convenience, but thrives on meeting challenges head-on, and through that painful process of enduring, spins dreams that capture the imagination of the world.
And to those who bailed because being in New York was all about optics, profitability and gross revenues: Please donât let the bridge and tunnel hit you in the â The New York Times wonât let me say it, but you know what I mean.
The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. Weâd like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And hereâs our email: [email protected]
News – Opinion | âI Love New Yorkâ Is More Than a Motto


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The majority of small businesses still haven’t developed a mobile app for their business, despite acknowledging the fact that they believe it could help drive sales and help them engage with customers more effectively.
This infographic released by Endurance International Group sums it up well. Their recent survey carried out in February and March, 2015 Small Business Perspectives on Mobile, included over 900 small businesses. It revealed that nearly 70 percent of those surveyed agreed that a mobile app would be helpful and almost two thirds of them believe having a strong mobile presence is vital to staying competitive.
But almost 80 percent said they still don’t have one. These small business owners truly do see and understand why they need a mobile app, but at the same time they often lack the knowledge or resources required to develop and maintain one. Nearly a quarter of those surveyed said creating an effective mobile app is simply not within their budget, even though the cost would be a fraction of what it used to be and nothing in comparison to the rewards it could provide.
There are a number or DIY services that let you easily create basic apps for a nominal fee (sometimes even free). For example, Como.com lets you create and publish an app with plenty of features available. They even have a guarantee that if you don’t get results, they’ll give you six months of their service for free. For those who want something more in-depth, customized and unique, there are developers who can help create the perfect solution, ensuring it works and is secure. OCSICO is just one that comes to mind (learn more here).
While most of them haven’t developed their app yet, they do say they’ll begin developing a mobile app for their business in the coming year.
- 21 percent will begin within the next six months
- 29 percent will begin within the next 12 months
- 22 percent will begin within two years
- 16 percent don’t believe they’ll ever develop one
The rapid and steady rise of mobile devices means that customers are turning to mobile apps for not just company information or searching nearby business locations, but for comparing prices before even visiting a store. According to data from Deloitte, nearly 40 percent of in-store sales are influenced by digital technology. And they believed that half of all in-store sales would be influenced by digital technology by the start of 2015, though there hasn’t been a new study to confirm this yet, that I’ve found.
So it’s easy to see why even a tiny consignment shop or coffee shop around the corner shouldn’t put off developing a mobile app. A mobile friendly website is a step in the right direction, but it’s not the finish line. Actually, there will never be a finish line with technologies constantly growing and changing. But getting an app out there that helps customers is must-do if they aren’t going to be left behind.
They’ll be in the right place at the right time whenever they want to implement something new. Want to let customers virtually try on an outfit that’s on sale? Good luck with that if you don’t have an app to integrate that feature into.


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TOLEDO, OH (WTOL) - It's an idea that could change the way you buy cars.
A subscription, for a monthly fee you could get several different cars under the same company. Fiat Chrysler is trying it out and that means Jeep vehicles.
It's a big shift in the market, one some believe could create a big business.
Let's say you want to drive a Jeep Renegade for your family, but have always dreamed of having a Jeep Wrangler, soon your dream could be a reality through a Fiat Chrysler Automobiles subscription service or car share.
"It's always interesting," said Tim Bedard, a Toledo resident who loves cars. "You know you got options."
"I think it's a fantastic way to get more product on the road," said Marc Ray, Vice President and partner at Grogan's Towne Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram and Charlie's Dodge. "I think it's going to be more popular in the metro markets than what it might be in some of the rural areas. I think it's a fantastic opportunity for FCA to get more product onto the road and for dealers to be involved with it."
Grogan's Town Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram says their lot has been busy this year, but they believe this new FCA program will increase business. They say already about 70% of their business is lease agreements so the ability to swap a car could interest their customers, but they are still unsure about the details of the program.
"We're expecting to get some more information as dealers on how we're going to be involved in it what the cost is going to be, what vehicles are going to be available," said Ray. "You know it's going to be about convenience, it's going to be about getting the right product on the road that people desire."
Car sharing could be available as early as 2019 that means one day you could be driving a Jeep Cherokee, and then a Jeep Wrangler, or even a Compass.
Some they like not having a monthly payment and owning their car, but this option is interesting and helpful for consumers.
"Me personally, I'd rather have my own car, keep it, store it, take care of it you know," said Tim Bedard. "I know it's mine, but if somebody wants a faster car or a different design that comes out every two years or every year, I think it's a great idea for somebody."
FCA said the program will be offered in good, better, and best model options for customers and also includes insurance and concierge services.
Dealerships say there is still a lot to learn before they can steer customers to the idea, but they're optimistic about what the future holds.


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Andy Rubin, one of the founders of the Android operating system, has a new smartphone company called ‘Essential’. The startup is working on the Essential Phone at the moment and it seems like that fact alone has been enough to drive up value for the company, with Essential being valued at over $1 billion without even shipping a phone to consumers.
According to Bloomberg’s Tim Culpan, FIH Mobile recently filed for a $3 million investment in Essential. That money nabbed them around 0.25 percent of the company, revealing that the company’s official evaluation points to the company worth around $1.2 billion. As The Verge points out, previous estimations put Essential’s worth at around the $997 million mark.
Right now, Essential is gearing up to release its first smartphone. We have seen the phone but unfortunately, so far, there has been no shipping date announced. We should be hearing more news on that front later this week though.
KitGuru Says: Obviously a company value of that size is no small feet, though the smartphone market isn’t particularly easy to break in to these days. With that in mind, it will be interesting to see how well the ‘Essential Phone’ does worldwide.


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On June 15, 2021, the world’s first decentralized payments network connected across the globe started its journey under the name of Six Clovers. It has assimilated the resources of millions of banking institutions, affiliate merchants, and payment gateways so that they can utilize cryptocurrency in the form of regulated stablecoins to facilitate transactions.
Founded by Jim Nguyen and Nas Kavian, who have successfully worked as veterans in the technology and business sector of the international payment provider PayPal, the new organization has received a principal fraction of its funding from Borderless Capital, and the rest of the investors are BCW Group and Grupo Supervielle of Argentina, one of the country’s leading financial institutions.
Furthermore, it has received funding from some seed investors too. The entire fiat and cryptocurrency transfer infrastructure is based on the Algorand, which has been designed to facilitate the seamless merging of digital and fiat finance as per Algorand prediction. Hence, organizations will be able to make transactions instantly.
The company was developed as an essential solution to the problems faced by users of the common SWIFT protocol, where cross-border payments are processed via many intermediary organizations and phases, thus lengthening the time period of transactions to even several days. Nguyen has diagnosed the root cause of the problem as the continued use of outdated technology from the 1970s and 80s for payments. In the Internet generation, he says, the users want an instant transfer of money, just like information; hence, the time for the upgradation of the market is ripe.
Six Clovers is providing a solution to this increasing demand by launching RAPID, a network of decentralized payment systems where businesses can use stablecoins in lieu of traditional currency on-chain and will be able to send and receive payments instantaneously. The capacity of RAPID has been said to be 46000 transactions in a second, and users will get confirmation of a successful transaction in a few seconds.


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There were two main complaints about the iPad mini when it was announced last October. It was priced too high and missing Apple’s most beloved feature, Retina display.
Since the smaller tablet has been on the market for a few months, it has seen record sales. It doesn’t appear that too many people are holding out for a fancier model. Too bad for those early adopters. According to Chinese blog MyDrivers, Apple will be launching a Retina display iPad mini later this year.
According to unnamed sources in the Taiwan industry chain, AU Optronics will begin small-scale producing of a 7.9-inch screen that has a resolution of 2048 x 1536, or 324ppi, which is four times more than the current generation iPad mini. The fourth-generation iPad features that exact pixel density.
The source also revealed that, in order to support the higher display capacity, the second-generation iPad mini will also run an A5X dual-core processor.
If you decided to hold out until the second-generation iPad mini launched, in hopes of getting the Retina display screen that is missing from the premier tablet, you may have not waited in vain.


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Apple fell short of its internal sales and operating profit targets for 2016, triggering an 11 percent cut in the cash incentive packages of its top brass, according to a Schedule 14A regulatory filing submitted...
Find out about everyday life for MSPs across the nation
Daily tech news and analysis channel partners need to know now, including Thales' federal findings, McAfee's investment, Guidance's e-discovery and more
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Vendor points to opportunities in understanding administration's priorities


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Five anchor restaurants will soon set up shop at the Dallas Farmers Market. Rex’s Seafood Market, Stocks & Bondy, Palmieri Cafe, Nammi/Coolhaus and a restaurant concept from Firebird Restaurant Group (El Fenix, Meso Maya, Snuffer’s) are scheduled to move into The Market (previously Shed 2), after it opens in spring 2015. Rex’s Seafood Market, owned by Rex Bellomy, is a definite go-to spot for fresh seafood in Dallas. His new market location serves as a restaurant and a seafood market. Chef Joanne Bondy — previously of Ciudad and Old Hickory Steakhouse at the Gaylord Texan — opens Stocks & Bondy. Palmieri Cafe is a coffee shop, serving a variety of pastries and gelato. Nammi and Coolhaus (food trucks owned by Teena Nguyen and Gary Torres) combine forces to offer Vietnamese food and ice cream sandwiches. As for the mysterious Firebird Restaurant Group concept, nothing has been released yet. Any guesses?
Update: Our food truck expert, George Lewis, reports that in addition to the five restaurants already mentioned, Cajun Tailgators will be setting up shop at the market, too. “You must have the crawfish pistolette.” he said.


text: SAN FRANCISCO - Egypt blocked Facebook Inc's Free Basics Internet service at the end of last year after the US company refused to give the Egyptian government the ability to spy on users, two people familiar with the matter said.Free Basics, launched in Egypt in October, is aimed at low-income customers, allowing anyone with a cheap computer or smartphone to create a Facebook account and access a limited set of Internet services at no charge.The Egyptian government suspended the service on Dec. 30 and said at the time that the mobile carrier Etisalat had only been granted a temporary permit to offer the service for two months. Two sources with direct knowledge of discussions between Facebook and the Egyptian government said Free Basics was blocked because the company would not allow the government to circumvent the service's security to conduct surveillance. They declined to say exactly what type of access the government had demanded or what practices it wanted Facebook to change.A spokesman for Facebook declined to comment. Etisalat did not respond to a request for comment.Mohamed Hanafi, a spokesman for Egypt's Ministry of Communication, declined to comment specifically on the allegation about surveillance demands but cited other reasons for Free Basics to be blocked."The service was offered free of charge to the consumer, and the national telecommunication regulator saw the service as harmful to companies and their competitors," he said. Free Basics, which is available in 37 countries that have large populations without reliable Internet service, is central to Facebook's global strategy. The company does not sell ads on the Free Basics version of its website and app, but it aims to reach a large group of potential users who otherwise would not be able to create Facebook accounts.Facebook said more than 3 million Egyptians used the service before it was suspended, and 1 million of them had never had Internet access. The main Facebook site and app are still available in Egypt, which has a population of about 90 million.The conflict over Free Basics highlights the delicate balancing act that global Internet companies face in responding to the demands of governments while protecting the privacy of their customers, especially at a time of heightened concerns about Internet surveillance and censorship worldwide.It represents one of the few known cases in which a global Internet company has received and rejected a government demand for special access to its network and been forced to shut down a service, Internet privacy experts say.Free Basics has come under fire from Internet activists across the globe, most notably in India, for violating net neutrality by allowing free access to a select group of websites and businesses, thus putting others at a disadvantage.Indian regulators issued new rules in February that effectively barred Free Basics after a two-month public consultation process.Hanafi cited the India example in explaining Egypt's move, but there has been no public debate or regulatory proceeding over net neutrality or the competitive impact of Free Basics in Egypt.