text:
Equity release products have quadrupled in three years
Equity release product numbers have more than quadrupled in the past three years to 314, according to Key Partnerships.
The specialist equity release business said that in 2019, there has been the equivalent of a new equity release product launched every 48 hours.
Later life borrowers now have over 314 plan options – an increase of more than 300% from just 73 plans at the end of 2016. The growth in the number of options has almost doubled this year rising by 95% from 161 to 314 at the start of this month.
There has also been a significant increase in the number of features available, said Key, which found that 67% of loans allow ad hoc payments and 52% lend on sheltered or age restricted properties.
The number of plans offering downsizing protection has more than doubled.
Jason Ruse, head of Key Partnerships said: “While lending in 2019 has been subdued, product innovation has not and advisers now have almost double the number of products to choose from and the widest range of features ever seen in the market.
“Guided by their advisers, consumers can now choose the product which ideally fits their circumstances – choosing to repay interest, make one off capital payments or protect their family’s inheritance as they see fit.”


text:
Hot Mama store opens at Bayshore
The upscale women's boutique Hot Mama has opened its first store in the Milwaukee market at Bayshore Town Center in Glendale.
Edina, Minn.-based Hot Mama is known for contemporary designer clothing and premium denim. In a recent survey, the company said, Hot Mama found that half of its customers were in their 30s and 40% were 40 or older.
The fast-growing company has 30 stores in 11 states, including eight that opened this year. Wisconsin's other Hot Mama store opened in Madison in 2010.
- Two new Ross Dress for Less stores set to open Saturday
- Meijer store in Sussex to open Tuesday
- National Business Furniture grand opening set for June 14
- Men's retailer Richard Bennett Tailors moving to Brookfield Square from Mayfair
- Bon-Ton Stores Inc. planning to sell, lease back three more stores
- Hallmark aiming for another touchdown: Packer Jordy Nelson is 2016 Keepsake ornament
- Wisconsin's first Akira store opens Friday at Brookfield Square
- Downtown Boston Store's new furniture department debuts Thursday
- Meijer partners with Froedtert & Medical College of Wisconsin network
- Fox Bros. Piggly Wiggly lands meat contest awards
Retail Business News
All sorts of things are bubbling up — from exotica such as holograms and virtual reality to more-prosaic but potentially more-useful technology — as legacy retailers seek to merge their physical outposts with the online world.
The transformation has chains making major investments, and Menomonee Falls-based Kohl's Corp., one of the Milwaukee area's largest employers, is no exception.

domain: news


text:
AINIA and Productos Lcteos Romar have entered into a business research collaboration to boost the worthiness of agricultural by-products. The brand new project will dsicover the duo valorise agricultural by-products to get ingredients with improved technological and nutritional properties.
After obtaining citrus, kaki and watermelon waste, the joint projects researchers will make an effort to transform these into valuable ingredients for foods, including dairy desserts, jellies, snacks and toppings.
Listening and giving an answer to food scarcity pressures
The planet population is likely to increase from todays figure of seven billion to over nine billion in 2050, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) reports. Therefore, an evergrowing population will probably raise the pressures placed on natural resources supplying energy and food, the OECD continues.
The study duo at the forefront of the new project recognised the globes growing population and the impact of the pressures. The meals supply chain is under great pressure because of limited resources, water scarcity, soil degradation and the impact of climate change, explainedMariana Valverde Belda, Product and Processes Technologies Department at AINIA, talking with Food Navigator on the inspiration behind the brand new project.
Furthermore, estimates show that one-third of the meals produced globally is lost or wasted. Therefore, the necessity to fortify the food system, from production to consumption, to improve food production in a sustainable way while reducing food waste in the supply chain and limiting environmentally friendly impact is needed, added Valverde Belda.
Improving food properties
In todays food industry, there exists a close relationship between consumers diets and health. The study duo saw a nutritious diet could avoid the onset of several diseases, such as for example certain heart diseases, diabetes, as well as cancer, Valverde Belda shared. Because of this, it is very important enhance the nutritional and healthy value of food, Valverde Belda commented.
Centring efforts on nutrition helps it be necessary, AINIA stated, to learn the nutritional and health quality of the starting recycleables also to design production processes that preserve as much of the properties as you possibly can in the ultimate product.
Manufacturers use different ingredients with technological capabilities to accomplish organoleptic properties such as for example texture, viscosity, palatability, unctuousness, stability, creaminess and gelling of certain foods, including dairy desserts or gummies. Starches, carrageenan, gums, sugars and gelatins are types of these technological capabilities.
The duo found it interesting to take into account the selling point of substituting a few of these previous stabilising and texturizing ingredients with the addition of more natural options. Because of this, the researchers proposed using pectins because they offer more naturalness yet support the same technological properties. These pectins could possibly be obtained through the recovery of the agricultural by-products.
We achieve the usage of more 100 % natural ingredients with exactly the same technological properties because the ingredients they substitute, said Valverde Belda. Regarding gummies, the researchers may lightly decrease the usage of sugar and gelatin, with the latter via an animal source.
Concentrating on health insurance and nutrition
Using agricultural by-products to generate nutritional and functional products is really a key focus of the brand new project.We should also concentrate on increasing the nutritional and functional quality of the produced food and on meeting the requirements of consumers, that are increasingly seeking more natural basic products with a confident effect on their health, relayed Valverde Belda.
In this sense, the researchers declare that the VALUS project promotes research targeted at the development of healthier products, implementing circular economy policies concentrating on the seek out alternative resources of ingredients with commercial interest. To do this aim, the researchers chose by-products which are generated at high volumes annually, that can come from agricultural crops and so are good resources of fibre.
Landing on fruit by-products
AINIA and Postres Lcteos Romar used citrus, kaki and watermelon waste as agricultural by-products. The researchers selected these fruits because of the different crops seasonal production patterns.
As these crops are produced at differing times of the entire year, the study duos recovery strategy can be executed continuously through the project and cover the complete annual calendar. The researchers also recognised these crops have high annual production rates and so are important crops from the Valencian Community.
Furthermore, citrus, persimmon or watermelon by-products are interesting resources of carbohydrates, namely pectin, fibre and bioactive molecules, that garner fascination with the meals industry, Valverde Belda said.
To boost the worthiness of the by-products, the researchers will undertake extractive processes under different conditions. These procedures are increasingly being assessed and concentrate on improving the technological properties of the targeted pectins. Through the project, the researchers have suggested a circular economy policy in order to avoid the waste of any by-product which may be generated through the pectin extraction.
Meeting consumer expectations
AINIA and Postres Lcteos Roma remember that the rise of alternative diets, such as for example vegetarian, vegan and flexitarian diets, is forcing the to build up new foods from plant sources, said Valverde Belda.
Therefore, significant effort is required to develop new plant-based ingredients with interesting techno-functional properties such as for example gelling capacity, emulsion capacity, foaming capacity and solubility. These food types must be much like the ones via animal sources with regards to nutritional and technological properties, said Valverde Belda.
However, individuals are increasingly worried about carrying out a healthy and beneficial diet, AINIA states. A lot more individuals are also searching for a balance between their diet and habits, which helps them achieve a powerful disease fighting capability resistant to infections and viruses.
Finding methods to use fruit by-products such as for example citrus, watermelon and kaki and transform them into functional and valuable things that offer nutritional advantages to consumers is highly popular in todays food sector.


text:
A timely step for IT hardware sector
The announcement of Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for boosting the production of IT hardware such as laptops, tablets, desktops, and many more is a welcome move.
The announcement of Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for boosting the production of IT hardware such as laptops, tablets, desktops, and many more is a welcome move. Combined with the PLI scheme for consumer electronics products that were announced earlier, these steps would take India towards self-reliance in the manufacturing of these digital products. Currently, only one-thirds of laptops or tablets are assembled in the country as compared to 95 per cent of mobile phones. Therefore, the import of finished hardware products is not only leading to higher outflows of foreign currencies, fuelling trade deficit; but it is also increasing India's dependence on other nations for procurement of these critical products. At a time when India is promoting the 'Digital India' mission, it is imperative to manufacture the hardware products within the country that will reduce the import bill apart from generating employment.
With a total outlay of Rs 7,350 crore over four years, the scheme offers tax incentives between 4 to 1 per cent on net incremental sales of goods manufactured in the country. The Indian government eyes production of more than Rs 3 lakh crore of computer hardware products through this scheme out of which 75 per cent will be exported. If executed properly, this will create large-scale employment through hardware clusters apart from making India one of the hubs for Electronics System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM). The ongoing pandemic has prompted global enterprises to shift manufacturing bases from China. So, such a PLI scheme is definitely going to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into the Indian manufacturing sector.
The Indian hardware ecosystem is dominated by five major players including HP, Lenovo, Dell, Acer, and Apple. Similarly, Indian manufacturers including Redington, HCL Infosystems, TVS Electronics, D-Link India, and Compuage Infocom among others have significant market shares in the hardware space. The PLI scheme is likely to benefit these companies which are expected to come up with plans to manufacture or assemble hardware products in India. Many experts believe that Apple is expected to start manufacturing its signature product iPad in India.
However, many feel that the outlay for the scheme could have been higher to boost the manufacturing of hardware products in a big way. Therefore, the government can consider increasing the investment amount in the future. At a time when India eyes to reach the $5 trillion GDP mark by 2024, the success of the 'Digital India' mission is crucial to realise this target. In this perspective, respective State governments should aggressively attract investment through business-friendly measures. If the governments at the Centre and States succeed in attracting investments into the IT hardware and electronics segments, India will be able to emerge as the best alternative to China's dominance in this space. Furthermore, they should encourage and incentivise companies to achieve economies of scale in production. That will make Indian products cheaper, which will, in turn, lead to higher exports in the IT hardware space. That's what the country needs now.


text:
2022 Mahindra XUV300 Sportz images surface online ahead of launch
Mahindra is going to introduce a more powerful version of the XUV300 compact SUV. The facelift version is likely to be called as Mahindra XUV 300 Sportz. It was first showcased at the Auto Expo 2022.
Now, the images of the upcoming Mahindra XUV300 Sportz have leaked online. The SUV is expected to be launched on October 7, 2022.
Mahindra XUV 300 Sportz design, features (leaked)
Revealed first at the 2020 Auto Expo, the exterior design of the XUV300 Sportz has now surfaced online ahead of its official debut via some leaked images.
The leaked images of the Mahindra XUV 300 Sportz shows a unique bronze paint scheme and a dual-tone colour exterior colour scheme with a black roof and black ORVMs. It has also received a gloss black grille with red accents, an air dam with matching red highlights and dual-tone alloy wheels in a new design.
The SUV also has some red highlights on the radiator grille, which is something expected to be unique to the Sportz variant.
Inside the cabin, Mahindra has replaced the dual-tone beige interior with an all-black theme. The car features a 3-spoke steering wheel and a touchscreen infotainment system.
The new XUV300 Sportz will be powered by a revised 1.2-litre turbo-petrol engine that will have a bumped-up power of 130 bhp and 230 Nm. The motor is expected to be mated solely to a six-speed manual transmission.
Earlier, a partially-camouflaged unit of the Mahindra XUV300 was spied testing that was believed to be the XUV300 Sportz.
Based on the top trims, the XUV300 Sportz is likely to feature a sunroof, cruise control, smartwatch connectivity for the 7-inch infotainment system, rain-sensing wipers, and push-button engine start-stop. For safety features, it may get up to six airbags, front parking sensors and ESP. The corner braking control and rear disc brakes might be offered as standard.
Upon launch, the Mahindra XUV300 Sportz will compete against the likes of Kia Sonet 1.0 Turbo and Hyundai Venue 1.0 Turbo. The prices of the new variant are expected to start from Rs 12 lakh (ex-showroom).


text:
Rae Valley Market in Petersburg had a big turnout for its annual Open House on Friday evening, Oct. 21.
The store sponsored wine and spirits tasting for adults, along with hors d’oeuvres and recipes to take along.
You may also like
- 4:08 AM CST on January 22, 2019
- 6:00 PM CST on January 22, 2019


text:
- 1 What company makes popchips?
- 2 Does Ashton Kutcher own popchips?
- 3 How much is popchips worth?
- 4 Who owns popchips UK?
- 5 Is Mila Kunis in a commercial?
- 6 Are Pop Chips Healthier?
- 7 Are pop chips good for you?
- 8 Who bought Pop Chips?
- 9 Are Popchips Healthier?
- 10 Where are Popchips made UK?
- 11 Who was in the Cheetos commercial with Ashton Kutcher?
- 12 How long do pop chips last?
What company makes popchips?
Velocity Snack Brands (VSB) – a portfolio company of VMG Partners set up in October 2019 to buy, incubate and grow snack brands – has launched two new innovations under the popchips brand it believes could have broad mainstream appeal.
Does Ashton Kutcher own popchips?
Makes unique potato and corn chip snacks that contain less fat than traditional chips. Celebrity investors include Ashton Kutcher, Katy Perry and Sean “Diddy” Combs. CEO Belling sold his allbusiness.com to NBC for $225 million in 2000.
How much is popchips worth?
Forbes points out that the chips have attracted copycats competitors from Quaker and Kellogg and estimates that popchips may currently be worth as much as $375 million.
Who owns popchips UK?
Keith Belling is a co-founder and CEO of Popchips which was created in 2007. Belling teamed up with Patrick Turpin, and created a new popped chip. The company created a chip that utilizes potato and corn products that are cooked at a high pressure and temperature.
Is Mila Kunis in a commercial?
Mila Kunis has been caught “orange-handed” by her husband, Ashton Kutcher! The couple is featured in a hilarious new ad for Cheetos Crunch Pop Mix, one of three commercials from the Frito-Lay brand that aired during Super Bowl LV on Sunday, Feb. 7.
Are Pop Chips Healthier?
“In comparison to other potato chips, they’re a great snack option, but one should hesitate before simply slapping the label ‘healthy’ on them,” she says. Zuckerbrot also points out that Popchips have no vitamins or minerals. And they’re too low in fiber and protein to make them a filling snack.
Are pop chips good for you?
Who bought Pop Chips?
popchips has become VMG Partners’ first investment under its newly-created Velocity Snack Brands. Private equity company VMG Partners has acquired popchips under its newly-created healthy snacks incubating platform Velocity Snack Brands (VSB) for an undisclosed sum.
Are Popchips Healthier?
Where are Popchips made UK?
KP Snacks is overhauling its better-for-you Popchips brand. The savoury snack giant is relaunching the brand with a new look and moving its production in-house. Popchips were previously made in the UK and Belgium, but they will now be made at a new 1,800 sq ft facility at KP’s Leicestershire base – creating 24 jobs.
Who was in the Cheetos commercial with Ashton Kutcher?
Ashton Kutcher and spouse Mila Kunis featured in Cheetos Super Bowl ad. It might not have seemed likely early in the pandemic, but the 55th Super Bowl Sunday is upon us yet again.
How long do pop chips last?
popchips will stay fresh in an unopened bag for up to 12 months. to anyone that has the self-restraint to let popchips sit in their cupboard that long to prove it, we commend you.


text:
A new video released takes viewers on the capability and efficiency of the new update of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving Beta or FSD software. The video is a real-world test where the vehicle stopped in a pedestrian crossing under FSD.
As announced earlier this year, Tesla started rolling out the new FSD Beta software to a limited group of owners for a test. In October, the new software was tested while new updates are still continuously released for bug fixes and additional features based on the feedback of the testers.
With the reputation of perfecting things, the series of updates is expected to usher in the official and wider release of the FSF Beta software.
The FSD Beta allows Tesla vehicle owners to use the Autopilot component in city driving under the control of a human driver. All the mentioned features and more will be available in December, as assured by Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk.
In the video released shared by a Tesla car owner Chick Cook, the early FSD Beta update is tested in navigation with a stop and yield intersection. As soon as the Tesla vehicle accessed the vicinity, the FSD Beta prompted to yield to give way to a pedestrian.
The software gathered the navigation as a pedestrian crossing and the program responded appropriately. The FSD Beta software would have been suitably tested if the area presented complex navigation with other vehicles around like in a busy street.


text:
|| Print ||
|Articles - Jan/Feb 2012|
|Thursday, January 19, 2012|
By Linda Baker
Pinot noir enthusiasts have another reason to rave about their beloved red wine: The grapes of the famous cultivar may be a little bit smarter than some other varieties. According to Laurent Deluc, an Oregon State University horticulturist, individual grapes on a pinot cluster ripen at different rates, yet somehow they all end up mature at harvest. That “catch up” mechanism contrasts with Zinfandel, “a famous uneven ripener,” says Deluc, who conducted the pinot research at OSU’s Woodhall Vineyard. At the onset of ripening, his team identified four different berry classes on the same cluster: green hard berry, green soft berry, pink soft berry and red soft berry. Then they looped color-coded strings around individual grapes to track their development and found they all eventually ended up in the same class. Positing a genetic trigger, Deluc says the mature berries may be sending a “hurry up” message to their under-ripe siblings. The next step is to develop a model to help industry identify the best time for harvest, says the French Deluc, adding that the gap in knowledge in the field of grape ripening has frustrated him for 10 years. “When I was in the Ph.D. program, I said, ‘One day when you become a researcher, you will study this aspect.’”
Monday, June 16, 2014
The Oregon economy could get a boost from a new trade agreement being negotiated between the U.S. and the European Union.
Thursday, July 10, 2014
BY TOM COX | OB BLOGGER
Tom Cox interviews Dr. Mark Goulston, author of Just Listen, Discover the Secret to Getting Through to Absolutely Anyone.
Friday, June 27, 2014
BY JASON NORRIS | OB BLOGGER
Over the last several months we have seen a wave of cross-border acquisitions, primarily U.S.-based companies looking to purchase non-U.S.-based companies. There are a few reasons for this, but the main culprit is the U.S. corporate tax system. The United States has one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world.
Friday, June 13, 2014
BY CLIFF HOCKLEY | OB GUEST BLOGGER
This article summarizes the key considerations a building owner must keep in mind when thinking about leasing to a medical marijuana dispensary.
Tuesday, July 01, 2014
BY HANNAH WALLACE | OB BLOGGER
Demand for organic food continues to soar: Last year, sales of organic food rose to $32.3 billion — up 10% from 2012. In Oregon, organic produce wholesaler Organically Grown Co. has been championing organic growing methods for four decades.
Thursday, June 19, 2014
BY MONICA ENAND | GUEST CONTRIBUTOR
Nine tips for building habits among employees to respond when needed.
Monday, June 30, 2014
Oregon Business magazine won two silver awards for excellence in writing in the National American Society of Business Publication Editors Western region competition.
|The Private 150: Bigger But Leaner|
|The Perfect Food|
|Taxis Uber Alles?|
|Powerlist: Staffing Firms|
|U.S. economy grew by 4% in Q2|
|Twitter Q2 revenue surges|
|Pfizer results beat estimates|
|Study: Running reduces risk of death|
|Zillow to acquire Trulia for $3.5B|
|Dollar Tree to buy Family Dollar|
|Facebook revenue surges 61%|
Vigilant enters a New Year with a new president.
How George Fox has become one of Oregon's largest private universities.
Forest Grove sees growth in the burgeoning food and beverage scene.
Lane Powell Shareholder Susan K. Eggum has been elected as vice chair of programs and projects for the International Association of Defense Counsel’s (IADC’s) Employment Law Committee.
Geffen Mesher is saddened to announce the passing of long-time shareholder, Tom “Mike” Anderson, who died on July 10, 2014, from liver disease diagnosed after recent heart surgery. He was 55 years old.
Fifteen Lane Powell attorneys have been named 2014 “Oregon Super Lawyers,” and another five attorneys have been named as “Oregon Rising Stars” by Super Lawyers magazine.


text:
With Internet usage spiking, Comcast Corp. will eliminate its monthly 250-gigabyte cap for Xfinity Internet subscribers but charge additional $10 fees for users who exceed 300 gigabytes.
The 300-gigabyte limit could be used to videoconference on Skype for 225 hours, or watch more than 100 hours of Netflix movies.
Final details of the new plan were not available on Thursday because they have not been developed, company officials said in a conference call. The nation's largest broadband company with 18 million Internet subscribers will experiment with two new usage-consumption models in markets around the country before determining the best option for it and consumers.
The changes, Comcast said, were not likely to impact many subscribers because the median monthly consumption for an Xfinity Internet customer is eight to 10 gigabytes — well below the 300-gigabyte threshold. Users who exceed 300 gigabytes could be charged $10 for each additional 50 gigabytes.
David Cohen, Comcast executive vice president, said the new policy eliminates a Comcast cap on Internet usage. Under its previous policy, the company could cancel an Xfinity user's Internet if they exceeded 250 gigabytes a month and ignored warnings to curb usage.
Free Press policy director Joel Kelsey, a frequent Comcast critic, said he believed the usage limits were unjustified and the additional charges punitive. These Comcast limits, he said, seemed designed to "thwart competition" by making people think twice about viewing online video. Free Press is a nonprofit advocacy group.
The new policy was announced during a week when Comcast disclosed it was officially launching its Skype service on TV, which will count toward Internet consumption. Comcast also has faced recent criticism for not counting toward monthly Internet consumption its cable-TV service streamed through Xbox 360 consoles. Critics say the service uses the Internet and should be counted. Comcast says the streaming is done on its private network and doesn't need to be counted.
It was time to reset the consumption policy, Cohen said. "As times change, we change," he said. "The vast, vast majority of our customers will be unaffected by this announcement."


text:
MARKET traders remain extremely positive about their new home, claims a shopping centre manager, despite news two have left.
The Burton traders were once housed in Burton’s indoor market hall but moved to The Octagon shopping centre in March while the historic hall closes for a £1.54 million refurbishment.
However, since the move, at least two traders have left the market giving fuel to predictions from protesters that the new market would fail due to the low footfall associated with the first floor of the shopping centre.
Units on the first floor have been empty since Beatties closed and its last remaining business shut down last year.
Peter Hardingham, manager of The Octagon shopping centre, said: “Two traders have gone. One has been replaced and another should be joining in two weeks time to get us back up to what we were
“Traders come and go all the time both up and downstairs.
“The ones who have gone were those where had expected to stay for the duration (until the hall reopened) but there was a change in circumstance for them.
“The market is going extremely well. The traders are all positive and have settled in well.
“It has obviously taken time (while customers learn where they are now pitched.)”
The stallholders can trade for up to six days a week in the shopping centre – a change from the Wednesday to Saturday shifts previously in the hall. Some traders do not trade the entire week (pictured).
The market hall is now undergoing extensive work to turn it into a pop-up market with catering services including restaurants and cafes as well as reopening the first floor balcony and creating opportunities for a night time venue.
It has meant the outdoor market which traded next to the hall moved to Station Street, and the historic brick built units in front of the hall will be bulldozed.


text:
No more plastic straws at Resorts World Sentosa
Here are other places in Singapore that are going straw-less
Another organisation in Singapore has hopped onto the bandwagon to go straw-less.
Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) has stopped providing plastic straws, part of an initiative to “save our oceans and reduce marine plastic pollution”.
RWS said in a statement on Oct 29 that the move to go strawless will eliminate more than three million straws a year, which is equivalent to approximately 1.2 tonnes of plastic.
The establishment’s five themed attractions – including Universal Studios Singapore and S.E.A. Aquarium – and dining establishments – such as celebrity chef restaurants and Malaysian Food Street – have stopped providing plastic straws since Oct 1 this year.
RWS added that guests with disabilities or special needs who require straws will be given paper straws upon request. Paper straws are considered more environmentally friendly than plastic straws.
The integrated resort also said that it “supports the national effort towards becoming a Zero Waste Nation” and is looking into reducing other forms of single-use plastics on its premises.
Other major companies in Singapore which have already implemented or are planning to implement straw-free initiatives include:
Fast-food chain KFC no longer provides plastic straws and plastic lids for drinks when customers dine at its 84 outlets in Singapore from June 20 this year, according to The Straits Times. However, plastic lids will still be used for takeaways.
2. Starbucks (by 2020)
Coffee giant Starbucks announced on Twitter that it will be eliminating plastic straws from its 28,000 stores globally by 2020.
3. Burger King
Similar to KFC, fast-food chain Burger King has stopped giving dine-in customers straws and plastic lids for drinks in its 42 outlets in Singapore since Oct 15 this year. They will still be provided upon request by dine-in customers, and for deliveries and takeaways, The New Paper reported.
4. Koufu food court at Singapore Management University
This is Singapore’s first plastic straw-free food court. The food court stopped using straws since Mar 29. It also uses bio-degradable takeaway packaging as well as reusable utensils, according to The Straits Times.
5. Restaurants under Japan Foods Holding
In August, Japan Foods Holding’s 50 outlets under 14 brands, including Ajisen Ramen and Menya Musashi, started providing straws only on request, according to The New Paper.
6. Hotels under the Millennium Hotels and Resorts (MHR) group (by Jun 2019)
The Straits Times reported that MHR has pledged to eliminate single-use plastics from Orchard Hotel, Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel, M Hotel, Studio M, M Social and Copthorne King’s Hotel by June next year.


text:
HONG KONG: Shares in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba plunged more than 10 percent in Hong Kong on Friday morning, a day after it announced quarterly profit sank and lowered its revenue outlook due to the impact of slowing economic growth and the government’s tech crackdown.
The Hong Kong-listed firm dived 10.26 percent to HK$140 in the opening few minutes of trade, dragging the broader index sharply lower in reaction to news that profit came in at 5.37 billion yuan ($833 million) for the July-September period. Its US-listed stock dopped more than 11 percent.
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd slashed its forecast for annual revenue growth on increased competition and a regulatory crackdown, sending its stock tumbling 11%.
Alibaba now expects revenue for the year ending in March to rise between 20% and 23%, the slowest pace since its 2014 stock market debut and down from a May forecast of 29.5% growth. The company also undershot expectations for earnings per share in the second quarter.
Chinese shoppers have become more cautious about spending amid coronavirus outbreaks and that, combined with supply disruptions, contributed to slower growth for China’s economy in the quarter.
“These economic headwinds, coupled by intensifying market competition also affected our core commerce business in China,” Alibaba CEO Daniel Zhang said on an earnings call, adding that demand for apparel and general merchandise had been particularly affected.
Analysts also noted that while Alibaba had been hit by slower-than-expected growth in demand for fashion and accessories, its rivals had done much better in apparel sales.
At the same time, big e-commerce companies in China are having to contend with the expansion into e-commerce from the likes of short video apps Kuaishou and ByteDance’s Douyin and which are now benefiting from unprecedented regulatory efforts to ensure there is more competition in the marketplace.
For the quarter ended September 30, Alibaba earned 11.20 yuan per share on an adjusted basis, missing an average estimate of 12.36 yuan. Revenue climbed 29%, the smallest rise in six quarters, to 200.7 billion yuan ($31.4 billion), just under a Refintiv consensus estimate.
Alibaba said it had recorded single-digit growth for physical goods gross merchandise value, a key online retailing metric for the total value of merchandise sold through a marketplace, though it did not provide more details or comparison with previous quarters. Including Thursday’s losses, Alibaba’s stock has lost a huge 38% so far this year, valuing the company at about $390 billion. Its shares in Hong Kong were down 10.6% on Friday.
Alibaba’s fintech affiliate Ant Group recorded a quarterly profit of about 19.7 billion yuan for the quarter ended June, up 39%. Alibaba records its profit from Ant one quarter in arrears.


text:
Kenworth produces 200,000 medium duty trucks at Ste-Thérèse plant in Canada [ Canada ]
On June 13, Kenworth produced its 200,000th medium duty truck, a T270, at the state-of-the-art PACCAR plant in Ste-Thérèse, Quebec.The T270 is equipped with a PACCAR PX-7 engine rated at 300 hp and an Allison automatic transmission.The customer of the milestone Kenworth T270 will be fitting it with a Chevron Loadrite 12 Series body and use it as an auto transporter The Ste-Th&eacu...
<Jul 05, 2019>
Related News File
CES 2020: Kenworth collaborates with Dana on K270E battery electric vehicle, shows autonomous T680 (Jan 10, 2020)
CES 2020: Peterbilt, Dana announce collaboration on electric truck powertrain development (Jan 10, 2020)


text:
Digital workspace first-movers experience business, operational, and financial benefits while those that wait are falling behind, according to the VMware State of the Digital Workspace report. Survey respondents say game-changing IT depends on organisations adopting a digital workspace that includes security and identity management as vital components. With realistic prospects of achieving triple-digit ROI, even surveyed businesses that cite obstacles to adoption may want to consider taking another look at business mobility initiatives.
Organisations understand they must rethink traditional approaches to application delivery and management to stay relevant in an increasingly digital world. A consumer-simple, enterprise-secure digital workspace that unifies user, desktop, and mobile device management to deliver business outcomes can be the foundation for business mobility projects directly linked to process change and innovation.
The 2015 VMware State of Business Mobility Report revealed an important shift in the end-user computing market as the value of creating more productive employees began giving way to the larger value of making entire businesses more competitive and successful. At the core of that shift was an emphasis on how mobility could transform business processes, helping an organisation connect with customers, generate new revenue, and streamline business operations.
With data showing how mobility was evolving—from individual productivity to team productivity to true business process re-engineering, representing mobility maturity — a clear gap existed between what businesses had achieved and the potential that remained ahead. A chief challenge to meeting mobility objectives across businesses, however, was a lack of unified technologies to advance achievement.
One year later, new survey data shows businesses continue to make digital transformation progress through the use of digital workspace technologies. A smaller gap exists between potential and what businesses have achieved to date in large part because of higher-level executive commitment and digital workspace investment.
Digital transformation is now an executive priority, with more organisations, 62% in 2016 compared to 56% in 2015, recognising the power of mobility to transform their businesses and lack of adoption as an impediment. Moreover, digital workspace investment grew, with businesses citing two key goals for their decisions: increasing team productivity and business process re-engineering. Digital workspace technologies are enabling IT to meet executive business objectives with key digital workspace technology characteristics becoming critical to execution.
Organisations were found to be in various stages of implementing mobile initiatives. Overall, almost 4 out of 5 organisations, 78% have successfully executed or are actively executing mobile initiatives.
This year’s survey participants reported that executives begin with a focus on team productivity, streamlining processes, and cost reduction as they look to achieve business objectives through the use of the digital workspace. And although challenges for organisations executing business mobility strategies still exist, digital workspace software is now seen as an effective way to address top-level concerns. A digital workspace delivers better security, reduces IT management cost and complexity, and enhances data loss prevention. Achieving these IT outcomes is driving nearly a third 30% of respondents to deploy digital workspace software to achieve business mobility.
Business gains outweighed operational gains with few exceptions. Companies that have successfully executed digital workspace initiatives reported higher mobile workforce effectiveness, user access to mission-critical applications, and user satisfaction with IT than non-executing companies.
Costs drop significantly as businesses embrace digital workspaces and ROI averages 150%. 41% of IT and business decision makers saw improvements in total management costs as they successfully executed on digital workspace efforts, compared with 30% for their non-executing peers. Total management cost savings showed an average reduction of 21% for respondents reporting an improvement
Digital workspaces improve the ability of a business to rapidly bring new revenue streams online. 48% of those surveyed that have successfully executed mobility initiatives have seen improvements compared to 34% surveyed that have not executed. Over half 52% of companies surveyed executing 10+ business mobility initiatives have seen improvements in their ability to more rapidly bring new revenue streams online compared to those surveyed that are executing less than 5 mobility initiatives.
Businesses that execute more mobility initiatives show stronger improvements across all categories. Benefits across all business, operational, and financial categories improved considerably as the number of successfully executed initiatives increased. Those that successfully executed 10+ initiatives were consistently higher than those that executed 5-9 initiatives and those that successfully executed less than 5 initiatives, particularly in the business category. Similarly, across all categories, those that executed 5-9 initiatives remained consistently higher than those that successfully executed less than 5 initiatives.
Digital workspace reduces business mobility adoption friction, address top concerns, and include security and identity management as vital components. Concerns about security are top of mind among executives but nearly one out of every two executives 45% views a digital workspace solution as a way to address compliance and security risks.
VMware customers self-identify as digital enterprises significantly more often than non-customers 84% versus 77%. Nearly two-thirds of VMware customers surveyed 61% are planning more than 50 mobile initiatives in the next 12 months compared to VMware non-customers surveyed 47%. In response to the same business, operational, and financial questions, VMware customers surveyed reported achieving higher ROI than organisations deploying other technologies. VMware customers also identified more necessary elements to creating a digital workspace platform than non-VMware customers.
In majority of cases, the directive to reimagine business processes and deploy digital workspace technology is coming from a strategic push at the corporate level.
How it was done
VMware engaged with market researchers from Management Insight in July 2016 to survey 1,263 IT decision makers, IT influencers, and business decision makers worldwide to examine the progress of global organisations transitioning from the client-server era to the mobile-cloud era. Countries included for the survey were North America, Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand, Germany, UK, France, Italy, Netherlands. The VMware State of the Digital Workspace report outlines key findings and highlights trends relevant to today’s decision makers.
Click below to share this article


text:
Treasury has released for comment an Exposure Draft of A New Tax System (Australian Business Number) Amendment Regulation 2013 (No. A).
The proposed regulations would ensure that unregistered business names that were on the Australian Business Register (ABR) before 28 May 2013 (when the transition period ends) can continue to be publicly disclosed by the Registrar of the ABR until 30 June 2014 giving them additional time to register on the Business Names Register.
Print This Post
Posted 22nd April 2013 by David Jacobson in Business names, Tax


text:
Facebook to give its users new privacy tools due to a new European law
Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's COO
Well-known social media website - Facebook, is about to give its users more control over their personal data. What's the cause of that sudden act of kindness towards us, the consumers, you might ask? Well, the newest European law named General Data Protection Regulation (or GDPR for short), that will take charge as of May. Its main goal is to give users more control over their own data and how it's being used.
We're rolling out a new privacy center globally that will put the core privacy settings for Facebook in one place and make it much easier for people to manage their data," Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's Chief Operating Officer, announced on a Facebook event in Brussels yesterday. “Our apps have long been focused on giving people transparency and control and this gives us a very good foundation to meet all the requirements of the GDPR and to spur us on to continue investing in products and in educational tools to protect privacy,” she added."
This is not the first time the social network is forcing changes upon its privacy settings. In 2009, the company tried to claim ownership on all users' pictures and data, which brought an outrage among the community and was cancelled.
The GDPR will be in charge not only for Facebook, but for every institution, where personal data is saved and kept, and forces those affected to inform users if data breach ever happens, within 72 hours of it. If any company decides to disobey the regulations, it'll have to pay a fine equal to the greater of 4% of its annual turnover, or €20 million (around $24.5 million). In Facebook's case, this translates to around $1.1 billion, based on their $27.6 billion accumulated in 2016, meaning their motives are everything but cheap.
The upcoming privacy tools and their functions are yet to be announced by the company, but will be available for all 2.2 billion users worldwide.


text:
Nestlé Nigeria Plc, the local unit of Swiss-based world’s largest food and beverage company Nestlé S.A., reported sales in the sum of N351.8 billion for last year, more than a fifth higher than that of 2020, the firm’s audited financial statements showed this week.
Gross profit for the year stood at N 132.4 billion, compared to N 119.2 billion during the previous year. The Company posted profit after tax of N 40.0 billion for the year
Its pre-tax profit inched up to N61.9 billion, improving by 2 per cent, while net profit was 2.1 per cent better than previous year’s at N40 billion.
The bulk (98.5 per cent) of the manufacturer’s revenue for the year came from Nigeria, while the rest was contributed by exports to a couple of markets within the West Africa region.
Chiefly on account of a jump of 31.2 per cent in raw materials and consumables spending, cost of sales accelerated from N222.7 billion to N279.9 billion, taking a hefty bite at earnings.
This combined with a jump in finance costs by nearly threefold slowed the pace of profit growth despite a sizeable expansion in sales.
With a 66.2 per cent stake, Nestlé S.A. majority-owns Nestlé Nigeria with a shareholding equivalent to 524.6 million units as of the end of December, according to the company’s annual report published by the Nigerian Exchange Limited.
Nestlé Nigeria’s board announced in a separate
statement on Tuesday a proposal for a cumulative final dividend of N20.2 billion (N25.50 per share for 2021), bringing its total payout for the year to N40 billion (N50.50 per share).
Commenting on the results, Mr. Wassim Elhusseini, Managing Director and CEO of Nestlé Nigeria PLC, said, “We commend everyone in our organisation for their contributions to the attainment of this impressive results in these challenging times. It is a testament of the consistent dedication and commitment of our employees to ensure that we
continuously deliver value for our shareholders, our consumers, and the communities in which we operate. “
“In 2022, our focus remains on ensuring the safety and wellbeing of our employees, as well as providing affordable nutrition to enable consumers to nourish their families daily, while we work together to benefit mankind and our planet. We will continue to push the boundaries of what is possible with foods, beverages, and nutritional solutions to enhance quality of life and contribute to a healthier future for everyone today and for generations to come.”


text:
We almost wish we were joking, but no, this has actually happened: the entire Marc Jacobs spring/summer 2012 collection has been stolen, thus putting an end to the press preview that was scheduled for today.
“Dear all,” an email sent out to members of the press who were invited to witness the collection first hand began.
“The Marc Jacobs PR team is sorry to inform you that our press day in the Marc Jacobs store is cancelled, due to the theft of the spring/summer 2012 collections during its transfer from Paris.”
And how does one manage to steal an entire 46-piece collection? The robbery reportedly took place on London’s Mount Street while the collection was in transit from Paris.
We wonder if the culprits know that they only stole samples and probably wouldn’t be able to sell as many pieces as they’d like, because only women of catwalk-model proportions would be able to wear the pieces.
Will it end up in the bin? on eBay? Either way, there’s a lot of angry editors this morning.


text:
Industry supporters and staff can visit www.savefuturetravel.co.uk to petition their local MP calling for Government action to save industry jobs and protect customer money. As well as people from within the industry getting involved, an incredible 4,000 “supporters” – people who support the industry, but aren’t employed by it – emailed their local MP yesterday, demonstrating the breadth and depth of concern, and frustration at the lack of government action to date.
ABTA has repeatedly asked the UK Government to act to buy more time for normally viable and healthy businesses to provide customer refunds, while protecting the customer’s right to receive that refund.
Governments have already acted in many other countries: France, Italy, Belgium, Spain, Germany, The Netherlands and Denmark, have already proposed temporary changes to existing regulations that are not fit for purpose in this current climate, but the UK industry is still waiting for a response from our own government.
The campaign website www.savefuturetravel.co.uk currently includes over 20 companies supporting the campaign with logos displayed, including agents, operators and cruise lines.
The campaign has already reached 647 MPs out of a total of 650, who have all received at least one e-letter from the site. Some MPs received dozens yesterday. The letter can be used by anyone employed in the industry, and clearly sets out ABTA’s asks to help safeguard thousands of travel industry jobs. The hashtag #SaveFutureTravel trended and was used hundreds of times by the industry across Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
Mark Tanzer, ABTA’s CEO said “We’ve seen a phenomenal response to our call to action among the industry, thank you to everyone who has got involved so far. The lack of Government action and guidance to date on refunds defies logic and has left consumers in no-man’s land, and the situation is worsening.
We need to keep up the momentum at a crucial time. We need everyone not only to get behind the campaign, but to encourage friends and family to support it too.
“MPs will listen to their constituents, but they need to hear your voice. So if you haven’t done so already, people email your MP via www.savefuturetravel.co.uk and ask others to do the same.”
Comments from Member companies that support the campaign include:
Alistair Rowland, Chief Retail Officer of Midcounties Coop Travel and ABTA Chairman, said: “Midcounties Coop Travel is delighted to support such a great initiative. MPs in their constituencies will hear from sustainable businesses and their supply chain and customers how much they’re needed in their communities and a small change in legislation will mean a big difference to the industry’s future. We all need to support ‘Save Future Travel’’.
Jacqueline Dobson, president of Barrhead Travel said: “Today, Barrhead Travel gladly welcomes the latest campaign from ABTA which highlights some of the biggest challenges that the travel industry faces right now as global tourism comes to a standstill. Now more than ever, the travel industry needs to stand together and this campaign is indicative of the unity that it brings. Travel is more than just a business for many of us; it is a significant part of our lives both professionally and personally and our message needs to be heard – that the UK government must do whatever it takes to save future travel.”
Rachel O’Reilly, spokesperson for Kuoni, said: “Our staff have welcomed the ABTA campaign and many of our team have used the microsite today to write to their local MPs. Kuoni is a company that prides itself on customer service, so we want to help customers through this crisis and protect their money whilst at the same time we all want travel businesses to survive this awful situation and thrive in the future. Travel is life changing and life defining, it’s full of people who care passionately about people and places and we will do whatever it takes to urge the government to protect jobs in the travel industry and people’s livelihoods.”


text:
- Subscribe NowLimited Time Offer
Send this story to a friend
8 kickstarters to launch your Wednesday, and is that free coffee I'm smelling or what?
Good morning and welcome to your Wednesday. Here's some of your business:
1. AM News Talkers:
The search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 continues. There's still no sign of the aircraft and its flight data recorders, or black boxes, have gone ghost. Undersea searches by a drone have turned up nothing and the drone had to come back to port. It couldn't go deep enough. Data downloaded from the dive didn’t appear to show any significant objects and the submarine was redeployed, according to Reuters. A software upgrade to the Bluefin-21 should allow it to go deeper, authorities say.
Coffee! Coff-ee. Free coffee. Our favorite convenience store chain is pouring it fresh, hot and free this morning at all of its stores. Yep, it's a 50th anniversary event at Wawa, and we get the gift. Right on.
2. Weather roundup: Stop with the complaining already. It's going to get better, Skippy. Sure, we had a very cold night Tuesday and a really bad day. Today looks better(we'll get into the 50s with lots of sunshine). And after freezing temps tonight, things get better. Promise.
3. AM commute alert: Just past 7:30 a.m, nothing major to report. Carry on.
5. Trending on Google biz news this AM:
- Intel Corporation
- Tesco PLC
- Motorola Solutions
- Crédit suisse
- Marissa Mayer
- The Coca-Cola Company
- CME Group
6. Trending on Twitter in the D.C. area this AM:
Bob Niedt edits and produces content for our digital operation.
Staff Accountant U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission | Washington, DC
AT&T Bilingual/Non-Bilingual Retail Sales Consultants AT&T | Washington, DC
- Most popular
- Truland CEO Rob Truland says he hoped company would pull through
- Loudoun distaste for new residential has real-life consequences
- Events D.C. to award contract for RFK Memorial Stadium master plan
- Metro selects MRP Realty to develop site at Brookland Metro
- CityZen Chef Eric Ziebold to open restaurant near Mt. Vernon Triangle
- Truland trustee plans to reject active contracts, relinquish tools
- Up with Forest City's Arris and GW's massive new dorm
- A look inside Intelsat S.A.’s new Tysons Corner headquarters
- On the waterfront: Cohen Siegel's big plans for Capitol Riverfront
- Robert Truland and his wife could be on the hook for millions
A look at the day's business stories from media outlets around Washington, D.C.


text:
GREENVILLE — United Solar Ovonic (USO) and its parent company, Energy Conversion Devices (ECD), voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy today.
The news could not be more different than six years ago when plans were announced to construct six solar panel manufacturing facilities in Greenville for a total of 1,200 new jobs.
Click here for a six-year timeline of United Solar Ovonic in Greenville.
In reality, four plants were created in two buildings and a total of 474 people were employed at the peak of operation.
Today, about 70 employees remain at USO and half of them will be laid off while ECD looks for a buyer to purchase USO.
USO Plant Manager Tim Kelley said the 70 remaining employees will go into rotating furloughs for the next 13 weeks while ECD pursues a buyer for USO.
Some employees will have three-week furloughs, while others will be laid off during the entire 90-day sale period.
Kelley said USO has not had productive operations since Nov. 6, 2011.
“Restructuring under Chapter 11 is something that is a very serious matter and is something that the company does not take lightly,” Kelley said. “However, the company has been in a slow and steady downtown for a period of time, which required us to fix essential issues sooner rather than later.”
ECD and USO have incurred $263.2 million in debt due in 2013, in addition to “significant” legacy costs incurred over the past 50 years, according to Kelley. He blamed the company’s financial situation to instability in the European market, banking industry and housing industry, among other issues.
“There’s a lot of reasons for why we’re here, too many to list,” he said. “It’s a combination of many things. We have not sold as much product, we have not reached the buyers that we anticipated and there’s many reasons for it.”
Kelley declined to comment on ECD and USO owing $209,866.49 to the city of Greenville, according to bankruptcy court records, saying the total may not be accurate.
USO will remain open during the sale process and employees will work on a technology roadmap and some special projects.
“However, all associates here in Greenville will be affected in some manner,” Kelley said. “We do not anticipate to be running any productive operations during this time unless we see an uptic in confirmed orders and our finished module inventory is relieved.”
Kelley said he spoke to many USO employees this morning about the bankruptcy news.
“There wasn’t a lot of surprise,” he said. “I think they’re optimistic that we will be hearing from our senior leadership team that we are a stronger company, that we look stronger for somebody to buy us and make us a continuable, operable company.
“We are a valuable company,” he said. “The process we’re going through right now adds value because we’re able to shed some of the debt. We feel very confident that we will be bought, that we will be an ongoing business and that we will continue to grow.”
Greenville City Manager George Bosanic released a statement this afternoon regarding the bankruptcy news.
“Since 2006, Uni-Solar has invested hundreds of millions of dollars into two facilities and created hundreds of jobs for the Greenville community,” the statement read.”The solar industry, like many others, has struggled as of late and the company continues to make the necessary adjustments to adapt. Uni-Solar has chosen to pursue Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection which unfortunately, we have seen many companies reluctantly pursue, some others here in Greenville as well. Many that have done so have emerged healthier, vibrant and more able to realize their potential. We are optimistic Uni-Solar will be as fortunate. The city of Greenville values each and every company in our community and we will support and partner with them in any way we can.”
ECD has retained investment banking firm Quarton Partners to manage the USO sales process.
“We firmly believe there is a strong and sustainable commercial market for Uni-Solar products,” said ECD President and CEO Julian Hawkins in an issued statement. “The processes we initiated today will afford greater opportunity for ECD to maximize value for its stakeholders and conduct an orderly sale of USO to ensure it is viable and successful for the long run.”


text:
Out-Law News 2 min. read
28 Jan 2009, 9:18 am
Omesuh was found guilty by the High Court of disobeying earlier Court orders about his behaviour and concealing his assets from the Court.
Microsoft said that it had obtained a judgment against Omesuh because he infringed its rights by engaging in parallel importing. This is the importing and selling in one region software intended for another region.
Software makers and other businesses based on licensing, such as music labels, issue licences for their products' sale only in certain territories. Products are often priced more cheaply in some parts of the world than others.
Anyone who knowingly imports and sells goods in contravention of those licences is breaking the licence terms, and that can amount to copyright infringement and trade mark infringement.
Microsoft said that it first took action against ITAC in 2004, and that that case concluded in 2006 with the court ordering it to pay Microsoft £1 million and stop its grey import activity. It said that Omesuh was found liable for infringing its intellectual property again in 2008.
It was given court orders freezing Omesuh's assets and ordering him to tell the company where his assets were but he broke those orders, the company said.
Last year Microsoft hired a private detective to keep Omesuh under surveillance, according to court papers. That private detective said he overheard Omesuh on the phone arranging to transfer money overseas and to go to Africa. It was that which prompted further legal action.
The High Court found that Omesuh had breached a number of court orders and had concealed his assets to prevent them being taken from him.
"There has been deliberate and active concealment and attempts to prevent, or, failing that, delay discovery [of Omesuh's assets]," said Mrs Justice Proudman in the ruling. "His disregard of the Court's authority is thus very serious indeed. There is every reason to suppose that even now the defendant has not made full disclosure."
"Microsoft has obtained a judgment of £2.5 million in damages against Mr Omesuh for his latest infringements, and will be implementing an earlier Court Order entitling it to sell Mr Omesuh’s properties in order to partly discharge his debts to Microsoft," said a company statement.
"Mr Omesuh was also found in contempt of court for breaching Court Orders issued in March 2008. Mr Omesuh was given a total of seven custodial sentences at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, ranging in duration between one and nine months, all of which are to be served concurrently," it said.
"We want to make sure that retailers caught cheating the system are held accountable for their damaging actions," said Graham Arthur, anti-piracy attorney at Microsoft UK. "We caught ITAC trading illegally more than once which shows how determined we are to protect genuine, honest businesses from being undercut by unscrupulous traders."


text:
Ghostbusters fans looking forward to the launch of the new movie which is currently in production, are sure to enjoy these new images which have been released via Facebook and Twitter for the new Lego kit which will be made available to complement the new movie.
The new official Ghostbuster Lego kits will be officially launching on July 1st and will be available to purchase priced at $60. Two weeks later the new Ghostbuster movie will then launch worldwide.
The latest Ghostbusters movie carries on the theme of the first series and offers a supernatural comedy film and a reboot directed by Paul Feig and written by Katie Dippold and Feig, starring Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones as the title characters.
Erin Gilbert (Kristen Wiig) and Abby Yates (Melissa McCarthy) are a pair of unheralded authors who write a book positing that ghosts are real. A few years later, Gilbert lands a prestigious teaching position at Columbia University, but her book resurfaces and she is laughed out of academia. Gilbert reunites with Yates and others when ghosts invade Manhattan and she and her team have to save the world.
For a variety of different images of the new Ghostbusters Lego Kit jump over to the official Lego Facebook page via the link below.
Latest Geeky Gadgets Deals
Disclosure: Some of our articles include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, Geeky Gadgets may earn an affiliate commission. Learn about our Disclosure Policy.


text:
A former Amazon employee filed a lawsuit against the company Monday, claiming she was wrongfully terminated and was asked to repay more than $12,000 in wages after she allegedly became infected with so-called "long COVID."
Brittany Hope had worked as a brand manager for Amazon's fashion line, The Drop, and is suing for damages over the company's purported violations of federal, state and New York City disability laws. The lawsuit was filed in Manhattan federal court.
She said she was hospitalized following a flu diagnosis in February 2020, four months after she was hired by Amazon and one month before COVID-19 developed into a global pandemic.
The former Amazon worker said she found out later that she had been "seriously ill" with "COVID and long COVID." The lawsuit does not state whether Hope was diagnosed with COVID-19.
According to the lawsuit, Hope had reached out to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission regarding her allegations.
Hope said she began working 17-hour shifts after the pandemic hit the U.S. She claimed it caused her to have suicidal thoughts and her physical health suffered.
She said her request for medical leave on May 12, 2020, prompted Amazon to strip her access to her work email and the company's disability and leave portal. Hope said the company fired her two months later for "job abandonment" and that she was asked to pay back $12,273 for alleged overpayment of wages.
"Hope could not navigate the company's leave process because of her severe long COVID symptoms," the lawsuit reads.
Her lawyer, Alex Berke, said in a statement that his client not receiving reasonable accommodations is "familiar to many Americans" and "similar to that of other Amazon employees who have found it difficult to balance the challenges to their own wellbeing against the demands of their jobs."
Reuters contributed to this report.


text:
Research released by O2 has today revealed that 7.5 million Brits are walking around with a cracked phone screen at any one time and half of all smartphone owners have damaged their screen at least once.
It appears that Lady Luck isn’t on our side as 64% believe their phone is most likely to land screen side down when dropped. A staggering 2.6 million have cracked their phone straight after buying it.
Women are more likely to have dropped their phone (54%) compared to men (47%) and 16-24 year olds are the unluckiest age bracket (29%) compared to 45-54 year olds (11%). The East of England is the luckiest region with only 39% of those surveyed reporting a cracked screen, whereas nearly two thirds of Londoners (61%) have suffered a smash, meaning that they can’t get the most out of their devices.
Along with bad luck, butter fingered little ones are a key cause of breakages, with one in 10 gadgets broken by children (12%) costing the UK £1.4billion, followed by 5% broken by clumsy friends.
Over 20% of Brits who had cracked their screen admitted to living with a cracked screen for over six months and only 1% would ensure it is sent away for repair within one day of breaking it. With cracked screens causing injuries to 14% of the owners there is a heightened need to repair phones as quickly as possible.
Keeping that new phone feeling has just become easier as O2 has become the only UK network to launch Free Screen Replacement Cover for customers buying the latest handsets from 8 September 2017.
“We can’t stand the thought of so many people walking around seeing the world through a cracked screen and we know a customer’s phone is much more than just a phone. So we know how frustrating it can be when a handset isn’t fulfilling its full potential.” said Nina Bibby, Chief Marketing Officer, O2.
“We want to give our customers that new phone feeling so that they can continue to share every experience, connecting them to the people and things that they love, without being hampered by a cracked screen. That’s why we’re proud to be the first UK network to offer a free screen replacement option.”
The new cover will mean customers who drop their prized handsets will be able to get the screen replaced once during the 24 months of their contract – ensuring they keep that ‘new phone feeling’ even if they accidentally damage the screen.
Free Screen Replacement Cover is available exclusively from O2 for the latest handsets on selected tariffs*. To make their replacement claim customers simply need to call Pay Monthly customer service. The next day courier service will collect the handset with the cracked screen and provide a replacement device, ensuring pain free screen replacements.
To find out more about O2’s Screen Replacement Cover, visit www.o2.co.uk/screenreplacement
Notes to editors
A representative sample of 1729 UK adults were surveyed between 1st September – 4th September 2017 by Marketiers. The statistics have been calculated using this research, the UK adult population of 48 million (Office of National Statistics) and an assumed cost of smartphones as £500.
* One screen replacement within the term of a contract (up to 24 months) 30GB+ on iPhone X, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, Samsung Galaxy S8, Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus, Samsung Note8 and OnePlus 5. Further devices may be added in the future.


text:
3D Systems Surges as Conference Sparks Takeover TalkSarah Rabil and Caitlin McCabe
3D Systems Corp. climbed after canceling a conference appearance, joining an industrywide rally among makers of three-dimensional printers.
3D Systems won’t be able to attend a Pacific Crest Securities conference in August because of management scheduling conflicts, according to an e-mail from Stacey Witten, a representative for the company. 3D Systems had tentatively planned to attend but hadn’t yet confirmed for the event in Vail, Colorado, according to the statement. The cancellation may be stoking takeover speculation, said Angelo Zino, an equity analyst from S&P Capital IQ in New York.
“We’re definitely viewing them as more of a potential takeover than we have in a long time,” Zino said in a phone interview.
Makers of 3-D printers, which layer materials to create objects, have been frequently speculated as takeover targets since Stratasys Ltd. bought startup MakerBot Industries LLC for about $400 million last year. The printers are gaining in popularity as they become more affordable, and the market is expanding after generating as much as $2.9 billion in revenue worldwide last year.
3D Systems rose 6.1 percent to $63.46 at the close in New York today, giving the Rock Hill, South Carolina-based company a market value of about $7 billion. The shares earlier gained as much as 16 percent. About 20 million shares traded hands today, more than quadruple the average volume in the last three months.
Rival 3-D printing stocks also spiked. Voxeljet AG’s American depositary receipts climbed as much as 31 percent, ExOne Co. jumped as much as 23 percent and Stratasys added as much as 13 percent. At the close today, Voxeljet was up 24 percent to $25.90, ExOne had gained 13 percent to $44.96 and Stratasys had paired its gain to 2.3 percent to $116.22.
Wamsi Mohan, an analyst with Bank of America Corp., said 3D System’s rally over the last two weeks has been driven by high short interest “compounded by extremely limited borrow resulting in very high borrowing costs driving a de-risking rally.” Mohan still recommends selling the shares.
The stock has risen 30 percent since June 12. Almost 19 percent of 3D Systems’ shares outstanding were sold short as of June 30, according to data compiled by Markit Securities Ltd.
3D Systems is still likely to pursue more takeovers this year, Mohan wrote in a research note today.


text:
LG's G3 flagship Android handset is aiming to finally topple Apple's and Samsung's dominance of the smartphone market, and tempt mobile users over to the less-known Korean brand. We've tested out the...
Homebase plans to roll-out a series of low-code applications in belated digital transformation
The Back on Track app connects control centre operators and frontline staff, and could save Virgin as much as £400,000 a year
Northern Ireland's Driver & Vehicle Agency discusses winning the Workplace Transformation Project of the Year award at the UK IT Industry Awards 2018
Mark Robinson, CEO of deltaDNA, discusses changing mobile gaming revenues and which new trends are finding success
Scientists are crowdsourcing help in detecting rare high-energy cosmic rays - and all you need is a mobile phone


text:
While most news about the Olympics has focused heavily on doping, zika and other generally bad news, one Olympic team plans to go into the potential “big failure” looking their absolute best.
What you see above and below are the fantastic uniforms the Cuban Olympic athletic team will wear during the event’s closing ceremony in August.
The design is a collaboration between French footwear designer Christian Louboutin and Henri Tai, the founder of SportyHenri.
Tai was a former professional handball player and used his “athletic expertise” as an influence on the design. He wanted to ensure all of the clothes were tailor made for the 120 person team.
“The clothes need to fit spectacular athlete bodies – they are definitely not sample size or average, neither in length of limbs, nor in proportions. It was our mission to make them look tailor-fitted and great,” said Tai.
An accompanying video shows the christian louboutin men talking over their designs during a photo shoot with the team. “We designed the celebratory outfit for the moment they turn back into humans, still in that glory moment, still in their light but heading back to the real world,” said Louboutin. “We really want them to continue feeling amazing in their skin while looking astonishing.”
Watch the video below for a behind-the-scenes look during the photoshoot.


text:
With a cigar shop behind him and a streetcar stop at his toes, some could say the 7-foot-tall mahogany wooden chief guarding the corner of Queen and Bathurst finally caught the ride he was waiting for.
Adorned in a headdress, red skirt and green sash, and gazing out at the Big Bop's loading door, the hand-carved chief pegged outside Westside Tobacco at 578 Queen St. W. disappeared from the bustling street corner when the cigar shop closed its doors this April after the owner David Peck passed away.
"It was right here," said Sarah Silverthorne, a 27-year-old actress and artist who lives above the former cigar shop, pointing to a bare piece of concrete beside her front door. All that is left are four silver clips forming a square where the chief was once clamped to the ground. "It was a staple of Queen Street," she says. "And behind the staple was a lovely man named David who you could find at any time, either behind his counter or outside, standing beside the Indian statue, smoking a cigar with one or many of his friends."
The storefront has since been closed. "R.I.P. Dave we all miss & love you," is scrawled in marker in several spots on the front door, which is locked and draped with Kraft paper.
It was once a tradition to keep a wooden chief or Indian outside of a cigar shop (it started as an advertising tool in the 18th century). Before Westside opened in 2001, the shop was formerly New York Cigar. Mr. Peck bought the banged-up chief that came with the store, but one night last fall, it was stolen. Soon after, Mr. Peck snagged a new chief for $700 from John Trifoli, a wooden Indian importer and wholesaler of Just Cigars n Things. While many cigar-shop owners keep them indoors so they're not vandalized, the chief of Westside was the outdoorsy type - and an insomniac. When Mr. Peck was open until 2 a.m., catering to the club crowd, the chief was his sidekick. And when Mr. Peck would retire, the chief would go with him. Every night, the store owner would unclamp the 250-pound chief from the sidewalk and haul him inside.
The chief finally caught his ride - to Oakville.
After Mr. Peck died, a family member handed back the chief to Mr. Trifoli, who resold it this May to the owners of Havana Castle, a cigar shop in downtown Oakville.
It had a discount price tag of $300 because it was second-hand. "We were looking for a deal," said A.J. Razek, Havana Castle's manager.
Now Westside's chief looks north; he's traded his view of the Big Bop for a Tim Hortons, "with the lake behind him," says Mr. Razek.


text:
- Subscribe NowLimited Time Offer
Xbox 360, PS3 in dead heat in worldwide holiday unit sales
- Todd Bishop
Microsoft's Xbox 360 finished a successful 2010 with a big quarter in the U.S., outpacing Sony's PlayStation 3 in the domestic game console market despite running short on supply. But numbers released by Sony today show that their holiday race was actually much tighter -- too close to call, in fact -- at the global level.
Sony reported unit sales of 6.3 million PS3 consoles for the holiday quarter as part of its corporate earnings release today. That was down slightly from the same quarter a year ago, but still enough to essentially match the Xbox 360 worldwide unit numbers recently reported by Microsoft for the same quarter.
In other words, this console generation is turning out to be extraordinarily competitive -- with all three major console makers able to point to areas of victory or progress.
Particularly in the case of Microsoft and Sony, the trends suggest that large game developers and publishers won't be able to ignore either platform as the current hardware cycle enters its twilight years. The battle for the digital living room hasn't been won by anyone at this point. And the playing field promises to be essentially level as the companies look ahead to future hardware generations.
Nintendo's Wii, which raced out to an early lead in unit sales after its 2006 launch, again won Q4 globally with 8.75 million units sold.
On a cumulative basis, Nintendo has sold about 85 million units since its debut, compared with 48 million PS3s sold over the same time period. The Xbox 360, which launched a year earlier than its rival machines, has sold slightly less than 51 million units worldwide on a cumulative basis.
- Most popular
- Tucson's Pima museum gets Boeing's unsellable Dreamliner No. 2
- Boeing uses mammoth Antonov-124 jets to keep supply lines filled in
- Boeing parks two American Airlines 787s in desert as it waits on seats
- In the battle for Sea-Tac, here's how Delta and Alaska stack up
- Emirates adds second Seattle flight to Dubai, ups stakes vs Delta
- All Nippon Airways: A 12-year turbulent relationship with Boeing's 787
- Even if they win, Boeing Machinists power will be limited in S.C.
- A UW education pays off. Here's exactly how much
- Overturned salmon truck reveals Seattle's serious transit challenges
- Is Amazon about to get classy with its biggest acquisition ever?
Stay on top of the latest tech news from Seattle and beyond.
Director, Wildlife Conservation Program Vulcan Inc. | Seattle, WA
Engineer A COMPANY CONFIDENTIAL | Bothell, WA
Division Executive Manager COMPANY CONFIDENTIAL | Bothell, WA
Vice President Acquisitions The Laramar Group | Seattle, WA
Sr. Game Developer (server backend) WildTangent, Inc. | Seattle, WA


text:
Tuesday, February 5th, 2019
intu owns many of the country’s most popular shopping destinations and our large retail project at shopping centre intu Watford is now complete. The refurbishment of the centre was part of intu’s wider redevelopment plan to extend the centre by 400,000 sq ft and transform it into a day out destination that would create more compelling customer experiences and opportunities for retailers to thrive.
intu wanted to update the rest of the centre in time of the launch of intu Watford’s extension in September 2018 and this involved an upgrade across all services as well as a comprehensive refurbishment of the building.
Light installations, including large-scale illuminated fabric panels, made spaces feel brighter and more coherent and new architectural finishes throughout gave a renewed and refreshed feel.


text:
Southlake, Texas, United States, February 21, 2022 / TRAVELINDEX / Sabre Corporation and Hopper, a growing online travel agencies, today announced the renewal and expansion of their long-term strategic technology partnership. Since 2012, Sabre has been a strategic partner of Hopper’s, helping the company deliver on its promise to save users time and money and make travel planning easier. Given their strong historical performance, today the two companies are committing to further elevate their partnership for the next three years, by making Sabre their primary global GDS and technology partner. Both parties have already defined a joint roadmap and will continue working closely to further evolve the online travel marketplace and customer experience.
“Sabre believed in our vision when Hopper was in its infancy and has continued to support us as our strategic retailing and distribution partner since our beginning,” said Fred Lalonde, CEO and co-founder of Hopper. “Sabre’s global distribution network along with its advanced shopping APIs and ability to find the lowest fare was the foundation that we built upon – adding our own proprietary AI-based solutions. Together our innovations have made Hopper the stand-out brand it is today. We look forward to our continued partnership with Sabre as we work together to achieve Hopper’s next-generation services and solutions.”
The number one downloaded travel app in the U.S. in 2021, Hopper utilizes a broad spectrum of Sabre’s technology including low fare shopping APIs, post booking automation and shopping data to deliver on their commitment to find the lowest fares for customers and help them save money.
When travel was disrupted across the globe in 2020 and travelers sought to cancel or modify travel plans, Sabre’s post booking automation technology allowed Hopper to service their customers seamlessly and efficiently, driving cost savings which Hopper reinvested for the benefit of their millions of app users across the globe.
“We are thrilled to be a part of Hopper’s success over the years as its trusted technology partner,” said Roshan Mendis, chief commercial officer of Sabre Travel Solutions. “Even more important, we look forward to continuing to invest in the online segment and our work with Hopper to redefine the future of travel retailing through modern, intelligent solutions.”
As part of Hopper’s technology strategy and building on their long-term partnership, Sabre and Hopper are actively exploring opportunities to continue to co-innovate on the future of travel technology through Hopper Cloud.
About Sabre Corporation
Sabre Corporation is a leading software and technology company that powers the global travel industry, serving a wide range of travel companies including airlines, hoteliers, travel agencies and other suppliers. The company provides retailing, distribution and fulfilment solutions that help its customers operate more efficiently, drive revenue and offer personalized traveler experiences. Through its leading travel marketplace, Sabre connects travel suppliers with buyers from around the globe. Sabre’s technology platform manages more than $260B worth of global travel spend annually. Headquartered in Southlake, Texas, USA, Sabre serves customers in more than 160 countries around the world.
Hopper is a fast-growing mobile-first travel marketplace. By leveraging massive amounts of data and machine learning, the company has developed several unique fintech solutions that help customers save money and travel better. Through its B2B initiative, Hopper Cloud, the company is syndicating its fintech solutions, infrastructure, and agency content. Whether it’s pricing volatility or trip disruptions, Hopper’s proprietary suite of fintech solutions address every pain point in the customer journey while driving conversion, repeat purchases, and profitability.


text:
Samsung dominates the 5G Android phone market; Galaxy A52s on top
Samsung is among the first manufacturers of Android phones with 5G technology. First, the flagship phones were equipped with this technology, and over the past few years, the South Korean giant has made a lot of efforts to offer 5G technology to more phones.
Now low-end phones like Galaxy A13 5G is not very expensive; But they support 5G. Quoted from Sammobile , the latest data from research firm Counterpoint shows that Samsung’s strong focus on 5G has made the company the undisputed leader among 5G Android phone manufacturers.
According to the report, Samsung in February 2022 It has won five places in the list of the best 5G Android phones. Galaxy A52s 5G took first place as the best-selling 5G Android phone in the world. In fact, this popular phone has been on this list for the past six consecutive months and has been well received in Western European markets.
- Samsung leads smartphone sales in 2021; Apple is a few steps ahead
After that Galaxy S22 Ultra, Galaxy S21 FE and Gaxy A32 5G are in the second, third and fourth places. Galaxy A22 5G, another Samsung’s phones also occupy the tenth place. Other phones from Chinese manufacturers such as Xiaomi, Honor and Oppo were also placed in other positions.
Samsung’s lead as the top 5G Android phone manufacturer may increase in the coming months; Because recently from Galaxy A53 5G and Galaxy A33 5G has also been unveiled, which have impressive specifications.