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*There are now more than 3 billion Android apps installed, according to Google, up a billion in just two months.
Apple hit its 10 billionth in January.
*Let the desert pilgrimmage begin! Roughly 50,000 are treking or already pitching tents at Coachella. The lineup is getting complemented by a massive artistic, architectural, and lighting collaboration dubbed the Creators Project. The effort involves Vice and Intel, and includes a massive ‘electro-cube,’ among many other dazzling presentations.
*MySpace is now getting sued for illegally selling user data, according to Bloomberg. That could affect a sluggish sales process by owner News Corp., though Vevo still appears to be interested. Elsewhere, MySpace Music CTO Dmitry Shapiro has left the building, according to a Twitter update.
*Producer, engineer, and digital pioneer Roger Nichols has passed at the age of 66. Nichols scored a handful of Grammys over his career, mostly with Steely Dan.
*Rebecca Black’s “Friday” could soon get the Glee treatment, according to rumors floating around.
*New Zealand has finally passed ‘three-strikes’ legislation that would temporarily disconnect the accounts of illegal file-traders. The disconnects could last up to six months; heavy fines are also a possibility and onlookers are raising due process issues.
*81 percent of those polled by TuneCore feel that streaming will overtake downloading as the predominant music consumption format. But they disagree on exactly when the takeover will occur.


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The US-based cryptocurrency alternate – Coinbase – reportedly doubled down on its settlement with one of the vital profitable German soccer groups – Borussia Dortmund (BVB).
The deal, which turned the platform right into a Premium Companion of the Bundesliga membership, will final till the top of June.
Making the Collaboration Public
Coinbase began its partnership with Borussia Dortmund in July final yr by working adverts on the video screens within the membership’s stadium. In accordance with latest coverage, the 2 have expanded their collaboration.
Following the brand new phrases, Coinbase will function BVB’s Premium Companion, promote its services and products on Sign-Iduna-Park (the membership’s dwelling floor and Germany’s largest stadium), and supply crypto education schemes for the staff’s staff.
It stays unknown how a lot Coinbase spent to strike the deal. Borussia Dortmund’s Managing Director – Carsten Cramer – stated it’ll final till the top of June however may get prolonged relying on the long run situation of the cryptocurrency sector:
“The business could be very thrilling however nonetheless new. That’s why we need to maintain our flexibility open.”
Cramer added that Coinbase’s BaFin license was a “primary requirement” for hanging the partnership. The corporate is among the many few cryptocurrency entities registered with the German monetary watchdog.
Regardless of its latest growth, the alternate has been dealing with extreme issues through the bear market. It dismissed round 18% of its complete workforce final summer season and laid off further 950 individuals earlier this month.
It additionally announced it’ll cease working on the Japanese market, citing antagonistic financial circumstances. Native customers have till mid-February to withdraw their holdings from the platform, whereas deposits have been halted at this time (January 20).
The Rivals Have Already Dived Into the Soccer Area
Main cryptocurrency buying and selling venues, together with Binance, Crypto.com, and Bitget, have collaborated with soccer giants or well-known gamers over the previous few years.
Binance serves as the primary jersey associate of the Italian Lazio and is the primary international sponsor of Argentina’s nationwide staff (the reigning world champion). It additionally teamed up with the winner of 5 Ballon d’Or awards – Cristiano Ronaldo – to drop an NFT assortment.
Crypto.com was the official sponsor of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, and its emblem was seen throughout every of the 64 matches performed within the event.
Bitget is the sleeve associate of Italy’s most profitable soccer membership – Juventus. It additionally partnered with arguably the best participant of our instances – Lionel (Leo) Messi – to permit followers to discover Web3 and the potential of crypto buying and selling on the platform.

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Brainy and ambitious, Jack Ma built one of China’s largest business empires from scratch, creating billions of dollars in wealth and introducing digital innovations to hundreds of millions of people. He wasn’t China’s Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk or Bill Gates. He was their peer.
Now he has disappeared almost entirely from public view, in part because of the same go-for-broke drive he shared with the other 21st century tech titans.
Technological disruption, once seen as a useful prod for China to catch up with the West, has been recast as a threat to the ruling Communist Party. As a result, Xi Jinping, China’s most powerful leader in decades, is rewriting the rules of business for the world’s second-largest economy.
Mr. Ma failed to keep pace with Beijing’s shifting views and lost an appreciation for the risks of falling out of step, according to people who know him. He tuned out warnings for years, they said. He behaved too much like an American entrepreneur.
Mr. Ma’s exit from the world stage followed a typically frank speech in October, when he criticized Chinese regulators for stifling financial innovation. Mr. Xi personally intervened days later to block the record $34 billion-plus initial public offering of Ant Group, Mr. Ma’s financial-tech company. Since then, Ant has been forced to restructure its business, leaving the company’s employees and investors in limbo.
Beijing has cracked down on China’s private sector, issuing fines and initiating probes meant to force Mr. Ma’s companies, as well as such firms as ride-hailing giant Didi Global Inc. and TikTok owner ByteDance Ltd., to adhere more closely to the state’s interests. The companies, holding troves of capital and user data, had grown too expansive for the government to control.Alibaba revenueSource: the company.
Mr. Ma, 56 years old, has exchanged a wall-to-wall schedule of business travel and meetings with world leaders for golf and the reading of Taoist texts, people familiar with his activities said. He hired a teacher to learn oil painting, starting out with images of birds and flowers and then shifting to an abstract style, according to these people and photos of his artwork viewed by The Wall Street Journal.
He also has traveled to Beijing to try to smooth things over, the people familiar with his activities said. It was too little, too late, officials said. Mr. Ma strayed too far out of his lane. His ambition and outspoken nature, traits that drew a strong following among many in China, would no longer be tolerated in the tightened grip of Mr. Xi and the ruling party.
Chinese government agencies involved in regulating Mr. Ma’s companies, including the People’s Bank of China, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission and the State Administration for Market Regulation, didn’t respond to requests for comment. The information office of the State Council, China’s cabinet, didn’t respond to written questions.
Mr. Ma should have focused on “giving back to the Party instead of just focusing on his own interests,” said a Beijing official in the regulatory push. That meant keeping a lower profile, doing more to support government enterprises and sharing more company profits with society.
His defenders said Mr. Ma was being punished for acting in ways that reward tech moguls in Western economies—pushing innovation, seeking market domination, creating new products, lobbying for looser regulation and making money. They credit his dynamism, charisma and work ethic for the success of Ant and his e-commerce giant, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.
Mr. Ma “wants to be a constructive voice in the public discourse of complex issues such as regulation over digital finance,” said Fred Hu, a former chairman of Goldman Sachs in Greater China and founder of Primavera Capital Group, a private-equity firm that has invested in Ant.
“I would characterize Jack’s relationship with the regulators as generally positive and healthy,” said Mr. Hu, an independent director on Ant’s board.
Mr. Ma’s spokesperson said details about Mr. Ma’s activities reported by the Journal weren’t “based on facts but rather on unsubstantiated opinions and/or third-hand observations,” and didn’t comment further.
This account of Mr. Ma’s souring relationship with China’s leadership is based on interviews with government officials and policy advisers in Beijing, current and former business associates of Mr. Ma’s, and investors and employees in his companies.
Follow his heart
When Mr. Ma started out in the 1990s, he was captivated by the internet’s potential to lift Chinese society at a time when the nation was entering a new global economy. He sometimes showed up unannounced at government offices seeking meetings to explain his vision.
After Mr. Ma launched Alibaba as a business-to-business platform in 1999, many senior officials embraced his enthusiasm. Former Chinese premier Wen Jiabao called himself a “serious student” of Mr. Ma’s.
Alibaba boomed in the late 2000s, and Mr. Ma appeared on posters and TV screens hung in convenience stores and at airport and railway waiting areas across China. Millions watched him issue his prescriptions for success. “The success or failure of a company often depends on if the founder could follow his heart,” he said in one early speech.
Government officials hailed his work. One was Mr. Xi, who by the early 2000s had become the top leader of Zhejiang province, where Alibaba is based. Mr. Xi promoted startups, in line with Chinese policy at the time.
“He encouraged companies like Alibaba to expand because they’re good for the country,” a former Zhejiang official recalled. After Mr. Xi left Zhejiang in 2007 to be Shanghai’s top official, he visited Alibaba and asked, “Can you come to Shanghai and help us develop?” state media reported.
Early on, Mr. Ma sometimes felt it wiser to keep elements of his business plans under wraps, especially ideas that pushed regulatory boundaries.
Porter Erisman, an Alibaba vice president from 2000 to 2008, said that during a meeting at company headquarters in 2003, government officials signaled concerns over Mr. Ma’s newest venture, a platform called Taobao that let people sell goods directly to each other online.
“There was this kind of shock that, ‘Wait, what is this? He’s talking about just people, unregulated, selling things to each other?’ ” recalled Mr. Erisman, author of “Alibaba’s World.”
Sensing the discomfort of officials, Mr. Ma quickly changed the subject and ushered his guests to a company tour, Mr. Erisman said.
Backed by success, Mr. Ma grew more bold and had few people to hold him back. He touted Alipay, the online payment service he created for transactions on Alibaba’s e-commerce platforms, even though it threatened the dominance of China’s state-owned banks.
Chinese banks weren’t doing enough to support small businesses, Mr. Ma said, because they focused too much on state-owned enterprises. “If the banks don’t change, we’ll change the banks,” Mr. Ma said at a 2008 conference.
After Mr. Xi became president in 2013, the freewheeling atmosphere in the private sector that had prevailed under China’s previous leaders, Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao, began to thin. Mr. Xi announced that “state-owned enterprises cannot be weakened, but must be strengthened.”
The shift in Beijing coincided with Mr. Ma’s global ascent—and he didn’t appear to notice the change. In 2014, Alibaba raised $25 billion in its initial stock sale on the New York Stock Exchange, one of the biggest stock sales on record, surpassingFacebook’s offering. ”What we get today is not money,” Mr. Ma said in a speech that day. “What we get is trust. It is everyone’s trust in us.”
Mr. Ma proclaimed it felt good to create discomfort for China’s state-owned enterprises. “If someone needs to go to jail for Alipay, let it be me,” he said during a 2015 TV interview in the U.S.
Chinese officials grew concerned about the expanding market power of Alibaba and Ant, which grew out of Alipay, a payment app used by more than a billion consumers. Regulators believed Ant used data gathered from Alipay users to gain an unfair advantage over banks and made it difficult for the state to monitor credit risk.
In 2015, China’s market regulator issued a report saying many products sold on Alibaba’s Taobao were fake, substandard or banned. Some infringed on trademarks, the report said.
Alibaba threatened to file a formal complaint. Mr. Ma flew to Beijing and met with the then-head of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, the agency that issued the report. Later that day, the regulator removed the report from its website and described it as an internal memo, not an official document. “We feel vindicated,” Alibaba said in response.
It wasn’t clear what caused the about-face. “I’ve repeatedly emphasized to Jack Ma that, ‘You are not outside the law,’ ” Zhang Mao, then-head of the industry and commerce agency, said in a 2016 TV interview.
Yet the retreat gave the impression to many in China that Alibaba was strong enough to challenge the government.
Chinese officials also took a close look at Yu’e Bao, an investment product created by Ant in 2013. It enabled the hundreds of millions of people who used Alipay to transfer cash into accounts that earned returns exceeding those offered by China’s state-owned banks.
Yu’e Bao’s main fund became the world’s largest money-market fund in 2018, with the equivalent of $244 billion in assets under management.
Regulators ordered Ant to shrink the fund over concerns it was taking on too much risk.
By then, the divide between Mr. Xi and Mr. Ma had broken into the open.
A September 2015 meeting in Seattle brought together Mr. Xi and high-profile U.S. and Chinese executives, including Mr. Ma and IBM’s then-chief executive Ginni Rometty. Each person was given three minutes to speak in front of the Chinese leader, who was in the U.S. for a state visit.
All stuck to their allotted time except Mr. Ma. He talked for 10 minutes about how China views the world and what Chinese companies could do to improve U.S.-China relations, according to people present.
Mr. Xi was “certainly not happy,” said a person familiar with Mr. Xi’s views. It was the last time Mr. Ma was invited to speak in front of China’s leader in a group setting. A spokesperson for Mr. Ma said there was no truth to the account but didn’t elaborate.
Mr. Ma was invited by President Barack Obama to a private White House lunch in Washington. He talked about e-commerce with then-French President François Hollande at the Élysée Palace in Paris.
Early in 2017, Mr. Ma met with then-U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. With cameras rolling, the two men walked into the Trump Tower lobby in Manhattan, where Mr. Trump praised his guest as “a great, great entrepreneur.”
For Alibaba’s 18th birthday that year, Mr. Ma dressed as Michael Jackson and danced to the song, “Billie Jean,” in front of roughly 40,000 employees, a performance viewed by millions on YouTube.
While Mr. Ma’s profile abroad flourished, his stock at home sank. His personal office at times sent suggestions to China’s leadership through an office in the Communist Party’s Central Committee that reported to Mr. Xi. Mr. Ma only occasionally got a reply.
It was “like writing love letters to a loved one, but not getting many responses,” said a person familiar with the correspondence.
Mr. Ma’s spokesperson said Mr. Ma’s personal office doesn’t submit regular reports to the committee.
The People’s Bank of China in 2017 demanded that banks cut direct links to Alipay and other nonbank payment firms and instead route online payments through a central bank-designed platform.
The central bank in internal documents criticized Ant for interfering with money in circulation by promoting a “cashless society.” There also were concerns at the central bank that Ant could become too big to rescue in a financial meltdown, according to people familiar with the matter.
When Beijing cracked down on other entrepreneurs, Mr. Ma flaunted his skill at managing political risk. “We always stay a step ahead of the regulators—we have to,” Mr. Ma said in a 2017 interview.
The next year, Mr. Xi summoned some 50 entrepreneurs to China’s Great Hall of the People. Mr. Ma wasn’t invited.
Regulators raised concerns about other Ant products, including Huabei, a virtual credit card-like service that helped fuel consumer spending. It became popular among young Chinese buyers after its 2015 launch.
Ant initially used mostly asset-backed securities to fund Huabei loans, rather than using deposits as banks do. In late 2017, the central bank limited the ability of Ant and other lenders to issue such debt instruments to fund loans, wary of too much leverage in the financial system.
Ant tried teaming up with banks to supply funding. It handed off most of the risk but didn’t fully share the methodology it used to evaluate borrowers’ creditworthiness. That created new headaches for regulators.
By June 2020, Huabei’s credit outstanding accounted for nearly a fifth of China’s short-term household debt.
During a visit last summer to Hefei, a Chinese city northeast of the epicenter of the Covid-19 outbreak, Mr. Ma invited medical workers for a hot pot banquet to show his appreciation. A local media report referred to him as “Teacher Ma” and said he sang opera for the guests.
Senior leaders were annoyed, according to a person familiar with the matter. Beijing took credit for China’s Covid-19 response, and some officials thought it wasn’t Mr. Ma’s place to thank front-line workers.
When Ant filed its IPO prospectus in August last year, it disclosed detailed financial data for the first time. Some regulators were caught off guard to see how big Ant’s lending business had become. Officials reiterated the need to manage potential financial risks. They also sought to prevent billionaires and other power figures who invested in Ant from getting even richer, according to people involved in the regulatory effort.
Some Chinese investors grumbled that Ant acted arrogantly during its IPO roadshow, requiring people to make presentations if they wanted to invest and limiting attendance for meetings with company management.
Even though Ant was supposed to be in a silent period before the IPO, Mr. Ma live-streamed a singalong last September with Faye Wong, a Chinese pop superstar.
The company was lambasted by social media users when it announced in October that Ant would trade on the Shanghai Stock Exchange under the ticker 688688, an especially auspicious set of numbers in Chinese culture. That Ant landed such a highly coveted set of numbers was seen as a sign of its power.
The night before Mr. Ma’s October speech that criticized regulators, he alerted employees that he planned to lay into authorities.
Within hours of the speech, state regulators began compiling reports on Mr. Ma’s companies, including how Ant had used digital financial products to encourage excessive borrowing and spending, threatening China’s economy.


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Amazon records massive surge in Chinese merchants
Visitors gather at the booth of Amazon Global Selling during a cross-border e-commerce expo held in Fuzhou, Fujian province, in June. [Photo/China Daily]
The number of Chinese merchants that have registered on Amazon has grown by 40 times over the past four years, with more companies viewing brand value as the basis for long-term development when selling overseas, according to Amazon Global Selling.
Jin Jin, head of Seller Management, Global Selling China, said the company has helped Chinese sellers build self-owned brands on the global stage, and bolster the digital transformation of traditional foreign trade companies.
Jin said an increasing number of Chinese enterprises have attached greater importance to building their own brands when expanding their presence in overseas markets.
Chinese enterprises should further improve their capacities in the aspects of supply chain management, warehousing and logistics, as well as step up efforts in localized operations to satisfy the needs of local consumers, Jin said, adding that compliance is becoming increasingly important as Chinese enterprises have accelerated steps to expand their overseas footprint.
"We have found that 70 percent consumers tend to learn about the feature, quality and brand stories of products via video format," said Verona Huang, head of Brand Marketing, Amazon Ads China, while calling for efforts to speed up localization push and produce advertisements that cater to the tastes of local consumers.
The import and export volume of China's cross-border e-commerce totaled 1.98 trillion yuan ($287.3 billion) in 2021, up 15 percent year-on-year, according to the General Administration of Customs. E-commerce exports stood at 1.44 trillion yuan, an annual increase of 24.5 percent.


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Tom Brady and Gisele are wearing more-or-less what you’d expect the couple to wear for Halloween: a relatively healthy food item.
“I think we’re some type of avocado and toast,” Brady said Monday on WEEI’s Kirk and Callahan. “I don’t know which one. My wife bought the costume.”
That’s right, Brady and Gisele will be the bane of millennials’ savings.
“Avocado and the toast,” Brady said. “I don’t know. My wife bought it.”
So will Brady be the avocado or the toast?
“I don’t know what I am going to be,” Brady said. “Whatever costume fits.”


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The Future Group has gone to court against Amazon after the e-commerce giant challenged Reliance Retail’s acquisition of much of the Kishore Biyani-headed conglomerate. The development came to light in a stock exchange filing by the Future Group on Sunday. “The Company has filed necessary suit in the Hon’ble Delhi High Court on 7th November, 2020 in relation to seeking necessary reliefs against Amazon.com NV Investment Holdings LLC (“Amazon”) from interfering with the Transaction by misusing an Interim Order dated 25th October, 2020 issued by an Emergency Arbitrator, appointed by the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC),” the Future Group said in a filing.
In August, Reliance Retail had announced that it would be acquiring the Future Group’s retail businesses, like Big Bazaar, for ₹24,713 crore. Amazon protested the deal, saying it had a right of “first refusal” to veto the deal because of an investment it made in 2019 in Future Coupons, the promoter entity of the Future Group. Amazon then got an order from an arbitration centre in Singapore to stop the deal. The Future Group, which said the only alternative to the Reliance acquisition would be financial ruin, has resolutely resisted the order, and said it will not comply, telling stock exchanges to ignore the order.
The Future Group has argued that since Amazon’s contract — which gave it a right of first refusal — was with FRL’s promoters, and not with FRL itself, it had no legal standing. We have reached out to the Future Group and Amazon for comment.
- Future Group urges stock exchanges to ignore Amazon-obtained stay on Reliance deal
- Reliance Retail, Future Retail say deal will proceed ‘without any delay’ despite Amazon obtaining injunction order


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With the end of the month approaching, the pseudonymous bitcoin (BTC) analyst PlanB’s November Bitcoin price prediction of USD 98,000 is officially out of the question. As a result, analysts are once again debating the validity of PlanB’s well-known bitcoin stock-to-flow (S2F) model.
The USD 98,000 closing price for November, which PlanB famously stated is his „worst-case scenario“ for bitcoin, has kept some BTC holders optimistic that the number one cryptocurrency will end the year with a price well above USD 100,000.
Accurate predictions from the same model for bitcoin in August, September, and October kept the hopes alive. However, with the November miss, the model’s predictive power appears to be facing its first major test.
The weekend discussion on the model came after PlanB admitted on Thursday last week that the USD 98,000 November closing price „will probably be a first miss“ for his so-called Floor model. However, he added that the S2F model is unaffected and „on track to USD 100k.“
The Floor model is the name given to PlanB’s monthly „worst-case“ bitcoin price. It differs from the standard S2F model in that it only requires „an average price over this halving cycle“ of at least USD 100,000 to remain valid, according to PlanB.
In theory, the Bitcoin price prediction model works by examining the decrease in supply of new coins to the market, employing a similar logic to that used by some analysts to study price movements in commodities and precious metals markets.
PlanB’s admission was followed by an explanation from the pseudonymous analyst that he sees the missed November target as „an outlier“ and „a black swan that has not occurred in the data in the last 10 years.“
Not surprisingly, PlanB’s explanation for his model’s failure to predict the November closing price was quickly criticized, with Cory Klippsten, founder of bitcoin brokerage Swan Bitcoin, going so far as to suggest PlanB is „trying to fool“ his followers.
“If you claim anything about bitcoin price action is a ‘black swan,’ either: (1) you don’t understand basic statistics, probability, and the work of [Nassim Taleb], or (2) you’re still trying to fool your followers,” Klippsten wrote.
Despite the fact that the model’s November price prediction appears to be failing and many bitcoin holders have lost faith in it, some prominent members of the community defended it over the weekend.
Among them was Adam Back, an early Bitcoin contributor and the CEO of blockchain development firm Blockstream, who responded to accusations that Bitcoin price prediction S2F is a „bad model“ on Twitter by saying „a model is a model“ and that „all a model has to do is hold within some reasonable error bars, and inform some thinking for bonus points.“
Others on Twitter expressed a similar sentiment, with popular bitcoin technical analyst TechDev stating that the failed November prediction „will only be by weeks“ and „a rounding error in the grand scheme.“
And, as the debate over the model resurfaces, old arguments from last year about the model are becoming more relevant.
Last year, popular crypto trader and economist Alex Krüger was among the harshest critics of the model, claiming that it is „nonsensical“ to believe that bitcoin’s stock-to-flow ratio can be used to predict price. According to Krüger, bitcoin’s stock-to-flow ratio „goes down programmatically“ with block reward halvings, and „everybody knows what it will be at any point in time.“
“An increasing stock to flow ratio leads to lower volatility. That is all it does. Nothing else,” Krüger said at the time.
In addition to Krüger, another vocal opponent of the model is Eric Wall, Chief Investment Officer at crypto hedge fund Arcane Assets, who published a list of „the greatest blows to the S2F model“ last year.
„With cointegration thrown out the window and other equally correlated variables discovered, it’s clear that the correlation is simply an effect of both S2F and price increasing over time,“ Wall wrote in a summary of the published resources at the time about Bitcoin price prediction.
Meanwhile, Reddit users debated the model over the weekend, with one asking, „So now that planB has failed and it’s confirmed, who do we turn to?“
and another suggesting that a „plan C“ be sought.
“Don’t listen to anyone that tells you what will happen, because nobody knows,” a Reddit user concluded.
Update: At 16:23 UTC, BTC traded at USD 57,082 and was up by almost 6% in a day, trimming its weekly losses to almost 3%. The price is down by 8% in a month and still up by 223% in a year.


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Jana Partners in October said that Macy’s could double its valuation with a spinoff. But Macy’s, which also owns Bloomingdale’s, said Tuesday the costs of separating its online arm from its brick-and-mortar division would be too high.
Macy’s said its plan to remain one company and expand its digital business, private brands and small, off-mall stores is a stronger path forward than a split.
“In every alternative scenario we considered, the execution risk for the business and our customers was too high,” Macy’s CEO Jeffrey Gennette said on a call with analysts. “Macy’s has a stronger future as a fully integrated business.”
The announcement came as Macy’s reported strong quarterly earnings.
Macy’s said sales at stores open for at least a year increased 28.3% during the quarter compared to the same stretch last year, when Covid-19 vaccines had not yet rolled out and many shoppers were avoiding stores.
Wall Street has targeted Macy’s and Kohl’s because the chains have lagged behind other retailers in recent years.
But Macy’s and Kohl’s are betting that their own strategies, not activists on Wall Street, give them the best chance to fend off retail competitors and avoid the same fate as vanished department stores.


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When Tasty, Buzzfeed’s food vertical known for its ubiquitous viral cooking videos, launched a customizable, print-on-demand cookbook in November 2016, the brand sold more than 100,000 copies in the first month alone. The success of the custom cookbook signaled to Tasty that its immense audience (which includes 92 million Facebook followers, and nearly 16 million Instagram followers) was clamoring for more print content. So, in December, Clarkson Potter published Tasty Latest and Greatest: Everything You Want to Cook Right Now. The book sold more than 25,000 copies in its first week on sale, according to NPD BookScan.
Born from Buzzfeed’s experimental video unit’s efforts two years ago to crack Facebook video, Tasty, now synonymous with its fast-paced recipe tutorial videos, has achieved more than 67 billion lifetime views across its Facebook network. Tasty expanded, later launching series like Tasty 101, which covers cooking basics, Mom vs Chef, and Homemade vs Store Bought. A platform that built its brand on its unmistakeable videos is moving into print, which begs the question: How do you bring a definitionally digital brand to the page?
“Translating the Tasty brand and inherently social nature of our videos was key to creating [the cookbook],” said Claire King, head of culinary for Tasty. The book reflects what King called Tasty’s “successful formats,” such as its compilation recipes (a recipe done four ways, like Deviled Eggs Classic, Guacamole, Loaded, and Cajun), which are not available in the custom cookbook. “Each page features easy to execute recipes that are accessible,” added King. Other layouts include step-by-step photos, which mimic the rapid-fire videos.
The recipes, dishes from the most-viewed videos over the last year, also reflect Tasty’s intrinsic virality. With this in mind, King said, the book's recipes touch on “viral food and video themes that resonated with our audience in 2017.” This meant, she went on, that "obviously, fidget spinner cookers and rainbow cakes made the list.” Other recipes in the book’s “On Trend” section include Unicorn Cheesecake, Emoji Fries, and Zucchini-Noodle Alfredo.
Though mum about the details, Clarkson Potter did confirm that the publisher has four more books in the works with Tasty.
Reprinted from Tasty Latest and Greatest: Everything You Want to Cook Right Now (An Official Tasty Cookbook). Copyright © 2017 by BuzzFeed, Inc. Photographs copyright © 2017 by Lauren Volo. Published by Clarkson Potter/Publishers, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC.
Correction: A previous version of this article indicated Tasty Latest and Greatest was in the top ten bestselling cookbooks of 2017. That was incorrect.


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An increase in armed robberies has police in Goldsboro and Wayne County warning the public to stay vigilant around convenience stores or small family owned stores of any kind.
Lawmen say those robberies have skyrocketed in the last 45 days and released a photo of the suspect in the recent robbery of the Hasty Mart on highway 70 west. Police say the robberies have occurred between the hours of 2pm and 2am.
There has been a single gunman in some cases and also two person teams using a small handgun. The suspects have worn gray hoodies, jackets with "H K" in block letters on the back, or a white hoodie. The suspects have been known to have on red or white shoes.


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This year, $307,000 was awarded to 106 individuals, including scholarships for current students and loan-forgiveness awards to employees of SEMA-member companies.
The competition makes its 2020 debut at the Heat Wave Spring Break Jam, March 7-8, in South Padre Island, Texas.
Six new schools join the 2019-2020 SEMA High School Vehicle Build Program.
It’s the pinnacle of many automotive professionals’ careers to have a build at the SEMA Show. With the help of SEMA Education, C.D. Hylton High School’s auto students will have a build at SEMA before graduation.
The program aims to engage students in the customization lifestyle and introduce them to a career path within the automotive aftermarket industry by connecting high school automotive shop classes with specialty-equipment manufacturers products to build one-of-a-kind customized vehicles.
Five Jeep Wranglers customized by students as part of this year’s SEMA High School Build Program grossed more than $130,000 at auction.
Five unique Jeep Wranglers from the SEMA High School Vehicle Build Program are going to auction on BringaTrailer.com beginning July 15, as part of the “SEMA Week of Customs.”
The customized ’15 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited built through a collaboration between SEMA Education and students of the Santa Fe Early College Opportunities Auto Tech School (Santa Fe ECO) in Santa Fe, New Mexico, was auctioned off for $53,500—with all the proceeds going back to the school.
Students in the Santa Fe Early College Opportunities (ECO) Auto Shop Program in Santa Fe, New Mexico, have completed the custom jeep build they started in late 2017 with SEMA Education. Next stop, the auction block.
SEMA partners with students from Santa Fe ECO in Santa Fe, New Mexico, to complete a 2015 4 WD Jeep Wrangler Unlimited build through its pilot program.


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Performance materials company
announced Thursday that its organic specialties group will increase the production capacity for epoxidized soybean oil by 20%. The capacity increase is to be effective by the end of 2006 and will take place at its Walton Hills, Ohio, manufacturing facility. The capacity will cater to the vinyl processing industry, the company added.
This story was created through a joint venture between TheStreet.com and IRIS.


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Nokia has revealed a significant software update for its range of Lumia Windows Phone 8 devices, bringing a host of new features into play for owners of handsets like the Lumia 1020.
The Lumia Black update allows users to group like-minded apps into folders within a single Live Tile on the homescreen, making it easier than ever to customise the Windows Phone Start screen.
Also along for the ride is Nokia's neat Refocus camera app (here, go play with it!) which, like the Lytro camera, allows users to take a picture and then choose the image's point of focus.
For keen photographers there's also the introduction of the Nokia Camera interface for WP8 users. So far that software has only appeared on the company's PureView handsets. The Storyteller mode, which arranges photos by date and place, is also included.
The Lumia Black update, which is rolling out worldwide for Lumia 1020 and Lumia 925 today and "in the coming weeks" soon for other Nokia WP8 devices, also includes the Nokia Beamer screen mirroring tech.
Other new features include Nokia Glance, which gives users a quick indication of pending notifications, while 'Black' will also unlock Bluetooth LE connectivity for all applicable devices.
The update can be downloaded over the air and you can check if it's available yet by heading to Settings > Phone Update.


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DENVER (CBS4) – Colorado drivers will soon be able to check into their DMV appointment online and wait somewhere other than the DMV office. The Colorado Division of Motor Vehicles office says it’s launching the new feature on Aug. 9.
When drivers schedule an appointment, they can enter their phone number and/or email address to receive messages about their appointment. That includes when they need to get to the lobby while they wait at a coffee shop or in their vehicle if they choose to.
DMV officials say the feature will “significantly reduce the need to physically stand in line at DMV offices.”
The DMV spent the weekend upgrading the system which made online scheduling unavailable Aug. 6-9.
Those without computer or smartphone access can still schedule an appointment by calling the DMV at 720-295-2965.
The DMV encourages Coloradans to skip the trip and use its online services whenever possible.


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A multi-vendor one day event focused on security and compliance
London, 3rd May 2018 - IT solutions provider Core to Cloud is proud to announce that it will be hosting LONDON S-COM 2018, its inaugural multi-vendor technology conference focusing on security and compliance, at the De Vere Grand Connaught Rooms in Covent Garden, London on 25th October 2018.
The format for LONDON S-COM 2018 is designed to create thought-provoking open discussion, challenging vendor claims and equipping attendees with the practical resources and constructive tools to seamlessly integrate cutting-edge IT security and compliance solutions within their organisations.
The conference will run for 1 day from 08:30 until 17:30 and will be packed full with key decision makers and influencers from the UK and Ireland as well as expert security and compliance speakers.
In 2017 Core to Cloud hosted a series of successful tech events, partnering with vendors such as Nuix, Data Protection People, CrowdStrike, Sophos and others, creating a regular cadence of prospects and customers attending. In total over 300 companies registered for these events throughout the course of the year and as a result Core to Cloud decided that a multi-vendor event would provide a unique opportunity to get all these vendors together in one room in order to deliver even more value to delegates.
With GDPR coming into force, compliance is a big topic in 2018, and this conference will put the spotlight on the threat landscape, data protection and governance, in line with compliance. James Cunningham, Director, Core to Cloud comments: "In recent years, the number of cyber-attacks launched across every industry imaginable have become a commonality, or perhaps even an expectation. The sophistication of these modern cyberattacks and the persistent nature of advanced threats requires organisations to re-evaluate their entire security ecosystem. At the same time with GDPR coming into force in May 2018, never has it been more important for organisations to maintain good governance and their cyber security posture keep up to date. Our conference addresses both these issues head on and will provide really thought-provoking discussions throughout the day."
With more than 10 exhibitors signed up already, including Nuix, Sophos, Radware, BeyondTrust, Vectra, SecurEnvoy, Barracuda, Data Protection People and Silobreaker the conference will gather over 150 key decision makers and influencers from the UK and Ireland as well as recognised cybersecurity leaders who will be discussing the latest trends and what solutions can be implemented.
There will be three panel debates throughout the day which will include 3 to 4 vendors per panel session where the MC will question their technology and how they can defend against such threats or ensure compliance, in relation to the keynote presentations.
Two keynote speakers have been announced so far, including Cyber Management Alliance’s founder Amar Singh, cybersecurity expert Chris Payne with more to follow. Sponsoring vendors are invited to put forward a thought leadership speaker to present on hot topics related to the threat landscape, data protection and governance, and compliance. Short abstracts should be sent before 31st May 2018 to firstname.lastname@example.org. To register for the event please go to www.scom-london.co.uk
- Ends -
About Core to Cloud
Core to Cloud was founded in 2015 and delivers highly disruptive security and compliance technologies to the market. Core to Cloud vendors have been selected because each provides a specific part or solution in the security/compliance journey. They all have great product sets and superior technology. As vendors they are highly responsive, customer centric, and care deeply about ensuring their technology helps customers to win the war against cyber criminals whilst remaining compliant. Core to Cloud prides itself on being able to provide expert advice to its customers from a diverse portfolio of solutions.
To find out more about Core to Cloud please visit: www.coretocloud.co.uk
This press release was distributed by ResponseSource Press Release Wire on behalf of C8 Consulting in the following categories: Computing & Telecoms, for more information visit https://pressreleasewire.responsesource.com/about.


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The Trade Desk Inc. (NASDAQ:TTD) was upgraded by Zacks Investment Research from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, October 17th. The firm currently has a $74.00 price objective on the technology company’s stock. Zacks Investment Research‘s price objective suggests a potential upside of 18.06% from the stock’s previous close.
According to Zacks, “The Trade Desk, Inc. is a provider of technology platform for advertising. The company through self-service, cloud-based platform, ad buyers create, manage and optimize data-driven digital advertising campaigns which includes display, video, audio, native and social, on a multitude of devices, such as computers, mobile devices and connected TV. It operates primarily in the United States, Europe and Asia. The Trade Desk, Inc. is headquartered in Ventura, CA. “
Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on TTD. JMP Securities started coverage on The Trade Desk in a research report on Monday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock. BidaskClub upgraded The Trade Desk from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective on shares of The Trade Desk in a research report on Monday, October 2nd. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $66.00 price objective (up from $62.00) on shares of The Trade Desk in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “buy” rating and issued a $62.00 price objective on shares of The Trade Desk in a research report on Thursday, September 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $66.63.
The Trade Desk (NASDAQ TTD) traded up 0.77% on Tuesday, reaching $63.16. 309,869 shares of the company’s stock traded hands. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $61.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $61.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.58 billion and a PE ratio of 58.32. The Trade Desk has a 52-week low of $22.01 and a 52-week high of $67.30.
The Trade Desk (NASDAQ:TTD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 10th. The technology company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $72.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.02 million. The Trade Desk had a net margin of 13.92% and a return on equity of 26.34%. The Trade Desk’s revenue for the quarter was up 54.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that The Trade Desk will post $1.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.
ILLEGAL ACTIVITY NOTICE: This story was posted by Dispatch Tribunal and is owned by of Dispatch Tribunal. If you are viewing this story on another publication, it was illegally stolen and republished in violation of U.S. & international trademark & copyright law. The correct version of this story can be viewed at https://www.dispatchtribunal.com/2017/10/27/the-trade-desk-inc-ttd-upgraded-to-buy-at-zacks-investment-research.html.
In other news, insider David Randall Pickles sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.91, for a total transaction of $3,743,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 127,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,375,303.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Robert David Perdue sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.34, for a total value of $666,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 89,766 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,788,118.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 245,409 shares of company stock valued at $13,751,102. Insiders own 26.87% of the company’s stock.
A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. First Trust Advisors LP purchased a new position in The Trade Desk during the third quarter valued at $1,945,000. Nationwide Fund Advisors lifted its position in The Trade Desk by 236.2% during the third quarter. Nationwide Fund Advisors now owns 33,229 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,044,000 after buying an additional 23,344 shares during the period. Strs Ohio lifted its position in The Trade Desk by 48.5% during the third quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 10,100 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $621,000 after buying an additional 3,300 shares during the period. Deane Retirement Strategies Inc. purchased a new position in The Trade Desk during the third quarter valued at $2,032,000. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its position in The Trade Desk by 109.6% during the second quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,432,273 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $71,771,000 after buying an additional 748,795 shares during the period. 62.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
The Trade Desk Company Profile
The Trade Desk, Inc is a technology company. The Company provides a self-service platform that enables clients to purchase and manage digital advertising campaigns across various advertising formats, including display, video and social, and on a range of devices, including computers, mobile devices and connected television.
Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on The Trade Desk (TTD)
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CHULA VISTA, Calif. (KGTV) — South Bay police busted an illegal pot dispensary, Cannavista, Friday morning, shutting down the main thoroughfare during the morning commute in the process.
Employees in nearby businesses shocked when SWAT rolled in around 8:30 a.m., shutting down Third Avenue near H Street.
Vasquez said his employees saw SWAT use battering rams to break down locked doors in the business. "What appeared to be the SWAT team here, they had you know semi-automatic weapons, I mean they looked like they were about to go to war," Vasquez said.
Inside Cannavista police saw all kinds of cannabis products, from marijuana infused popcorn to gummy bears.
Police say many of the products are marketed to kids — something extremely disturbing to neighbors knowing St. Rose of Lima School and church are nearby. Police said in a press release the business produced several complaints from the community.
Local business owners called the business a nuisance, saying there was always trash around and the lingering scent of marijuana.
"The risks of that kind of environment is an unknown it’s like I feel relieved to know that we don’t have to worry about that unknown now," Bernardo Vasquez, a local business owner, said.
It was also concerning to neighbors who said the business might have an armed guard. For that reason CVPD Capt. Phil Collum said SWAT is the only group capable of conducting a raid on the business.
"No cannabis locations in the City of Chula Vista today are legal, every single one is illegal," Collum said. CVPD is constantly battling the illegal shops, 10News reported in February, "police believe there's roughly a dozen or more operating illegally in the city."
"Illegal cannabis businesses can be the source of significant building and code violations that put the public at risk," Collum said.
Police want to send the message that they will find any illegal business in the city and shut it down.
Several employees of the business were detained.
The City of Chula Vista will allow eight legal dispensary store fronts, and their doors will open by the end of the year, according to Public Information Officer Anne Steinberger.


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In recent years there have been concerns about the cost of air travel, partly because of the increasing price of aviation fuel. Even the budget airlines, so beloved of bargain hunters in all parts of the world, have struggled to keep their fares low, and in truth have been coming up with innovative ways of clawing back revenue from items like refreshments and luggage allowances. With no sign of any reduction in prices for the coming year, there is likely to be a rise in the number of people who go without their annual vacation in the next twelve months.
This is perfectly understandable, of course, because the effects of the worldwide recession are still being felt in a great many countries. Even if a consumer is able to find a great deal on the cost of the flights, it may not be so easy to do the same with accommodation options. Either way, an overseas holiday represents a major expense, especially for families with young children, so if it’s possible to forego the experience they can save a small fortune. And in the current fiscal climate that has to be a major incentive for those who are on a budget.
The need to let off steam
Having said that, an annual vacation allows parents and children an opportunity to let off a little steam, and to recharge their batteries after what might well have been a difficult year. Most of us seem to lead such stressful existences nowadays, and are on the go from first thing on a Monday morning to last thing on a Sunday night. If there’s a chance to get away for some rest and relaxation under a warm sun and a blue sky, it needs to be considered.
For some people, the answer lies in taking a holiday in their own countries. Transporting a family of four, for example, in a car to a seaside resort a couple of hundred miles away will be far less expensive than four return flights to a sunnier clime. Although a domestic vacation doesn’t have the wow factor that comes from visiting a strange and exotic country, financial needs sometimes have to come first.
Many people are staying in their own countries now, and are discovering a delightful sense of nostalgia because of it. In a number of cases, adults are returning to the holiday destinations of their childhood, back in a time when foreign travel wasn’t an automatic annual event. Although the domestic vacation may not become a permanent annual occurrence, it represents a sensible option while the after-effects of the recession are still with us.
David Showell is from the UK and is currently weighing up the holiday options for 2013. He works for www.comparecarhire.co.uk/.


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The Gold Coasts largest independent Internet services provider OntheNet is celebrating its 20th year in business.
The Varsity Lakes-headquartered company has come a long way since it was first set up as a part-time business run by a group of Bond University and Digital Equipment Corporation staff using dial up modems and a computer.
The company, which now provides a diverse range of Internet services, touches the lives of many Gold Coasters every day without people even realising.
OntheNet director Tak Woo said OntheNet has invested heavily in the Gold Coast pouring millions of dollars’ worth of infrastructure into local exchanges and built two high end Data Centres at Varsity Lakes.
“The Data Centres host a who’s who of the tourism and medical industry on the Gold Coast,” Mr Woo said.
“Very few locals would know that they are using our infrastructure when they deal online with the local councils in the regions, if they use Wi-Fi at local hotels, libraries or an airport, get a scan at a radiologists, or purchase something at a major chemist chain.”
Mr Woo said “When we set up the company we knew the key to success was providing superior service and support to customers and we still believe this 20 years later.”
“It’s been the cornerstone of our success and we have won numerous awards for our business including the Gold Coast Business Excellence Awards on each occasion we have entered.”
This means the company has committed itself to being at the forefront of new technologies.
Early in the 2000’s the company was the first to bring the high speed ADSL2+ internet service to the Gold Coast and in more recent times OntheNet has added VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) to its product range, saving clients thousands of dollars a month with their phone bills.
“It’s a very different business now to twenty years ago but the offer of trusted local service and support continues to be a priority to many personal and business users alike,’’ said Mr Woo.
“We’d like to thank the many customers over the years for putting their trust in us.”


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Carhartt shifts production, plans to make 2.5 million masks, 50,000 gowns for hospitals
Carhartt says it will shift production to produce masks and gowns for hospitals during the coronavirus pandemic Click on Detroit reports.
Carhartt will begin producing equipment on Monday, April 6. The plans include 50,000 medical gowns and on April 20, the company will begin production on 2.5 million masks.
“Serving and answering the call during times of need has always been an integral part of Carhartt’s history and it’s why consumers have trusted us to have their back for more than 130 years,” said Mark Valade, Chief Executive Officer at Carhartt. “We are humbled and honored to help all the essential workers serving and protecting us right now.”


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Google is offering a free educational program for everyone to use.
The software, called Google Free Basics, lets users access Google services for free.
The program is available for free in over 40 countries and has over 70 million users.
Google has also developed an educational app for Mac users, which is still available in Canada.
The Google Freebies app is available on the Apple App Store for free, and is the second-most popular free educational app in the U.S. according to the App Store.
The Google Freebie app is also available in the UK and U.K. The app is compatible with the iPad and iPhone, and can be downloaded from Google’s website.
Other free educational apps include:Google Education for iPad, Google Learning for Mac, Google Free Online Course and Google Free Classroom.
There are also a handful of free apps available on Apple and Android devices.
The majority of them, though, are for schools.


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Apple chief executive Tim Cook sent out an email to Apple employees Thursday after a New York Times article exposed some alleged abuses at Chinese factories in Apple's supply chain, calling the allegations "offensive."
From the email:
As a company and as individuals, we are defined by our values. Unfortunately some people are questioning Apple’s values today, and I’d like to address this with you directly. We care about every worker in our worldwide supply chain. Any accident is deeply troubling, and any issue with working conditions is cause for concern. Any suggestion that we don’t care is patently false and offensive to us. As you know better than anyone, accusations like these are contrary to our values. It’s not who we are.
U.S. & World
Interestingly, Cook goes on to say that Apple opened its doors to the Fair Labor Association for evaluations -- but it's the first tech company the association has ever monitored because it specializes in clothing and textile manufacturers. He also goes on to place the responsibility of change directly on the shoulders of workers. "We are focused on educating workers about their rights, so they are empowered to speak up when they see unsafe conditions or unfair treatment. As you know, more than a million people have been trained by our program."
Yes, workers who have been oppressed and intimidated into working for pennies, so much so that they want to commit suicide, are somehow going to "speak up?" Brother, please. That's taking a "blame the victim" mentality to a whole new level.
The reality is that Apple has to go into these factories and make changes and if the factories don't change, Apple has to cut them loose. Until Apple takes a hard line on labor abuses, the company is just as much to blame as the Chinese factories in its supply chain.


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This year more retailers than ever offer month long Black Friday sales in November.
Black November is 4 days old. The list of attention grabbing deals is slowing growing. Walmart is still selling the $199 iPad mini 2 that the retailer has started to offer on Sunday. The iPad mini 2 deal is hailed in the press as great deal and Walmart's shoppers agree. The iPad mini 2 Black Friday deal is now the bestselling item in the early Walmart Black Friday sale.
Don't Miss: Sam's Club Black Friday 2016 Details
The iPad mini 2 ranks ahead of a Bounty Paper Towels package and a $9.88 Pelonis Fan-Forced Heater. What a neighborhood.
The Amazon Black Friday sale offers today the first significant consumer electroncis deal. The Lytro Illum 40 is on sale for $399.99. Regular price off this unique camera is $1,299. Amazon offers still the Kindle Paperwhite and Kindle Voyage deal that saves $30 for Prime members.
Right now Amazon offers a Black Friday lightning deal on the 55-inch Sony XBR55X810C 4K Ultra HD TV for $998 on the Amazon Black Friday page. Deals improve by the day in the early Amazon Black Friday sale.
NewEgg, Fry's and hhgregg are among consumer electronics retailers that offer month long Black Friday deals as well. hhgregg offers early Black Friday deals with up to 35% off store-wide and an opportunity to receive up to $500 off appliance purchases of $397 and up.
NewEgg is releasing new computer component and electronics deals each day on newegg.com. Today's NewEgg Black November sale features gaming related items.
Fry's is has for the first time a month long Black Friday sales and offers new deals especially interesting for geeks every day.
The early Black Friday deals are reaching a new level with the upcoming special sales events and promotions. Best Buy is hosting a Holiday sales event on Saturday with Black Friday-like prices. Target will offer the popular Buy two, get one free video game sale starting Sunday.
The big highlight is the Sam's Club Holiday Savings sale on November 14. Read the details of the upcoming sales event ahead of Black Friday.


text: Harare - A South African truck carrying donated foodstuffs and wheelchairs for impoverished Zimbabwe pensioners has been caught up in the authorities' new clampdown on foreign imports, a charity official has told News24.The truck carrying more than R300 000 worth of goods has been stuck in a Zimbabwe tax authority (ZIMRA) container depot at Beitbridge border post since Monday, said Linda Schultz of the Zimbabwe Pensioners' Support Fund.Director Hannes Botha has had to abandon the truck at the border and head to Harare - nearly 600km away - to try and obtain permits to bring in the consignment.Zimbabwe brought in shock new regulations on Friday that require anyone importing a wide range of foreign-made goods, ranging from jam to wheelbarrows, to get a special permit.President Robert Mugabe's government wants to save scarce foreign currency as it battles to pay its civil servants. The move is being widely seen as an attempted ban on foreign goods, though officials do not like that word. Whereas before importers just paid duty, they must now pay for a licence and set out the reasons why the goods are needed in Zimbabwe.The fund packs up generous "apple-boxes" of basic foodstuffs to hand out to more than 1 600 needy pensioners in 28 old age homes across Zimbabwe. Some of the pensioners lost their life-savings in the 2000-2008 crisis. Changes and challenges The group also helps a number of feeding kitchens inside the country. The truck currently stuck at Beitbridge has got four donated wheelchairs in it.Schultz said the organisation was already aware of licences needed for the importation of things like tinned pilchards and corned beef. But the new regulation requiring permits for coffee creamers, baked beans, cereals, camphor creams and peanut butter - all of which regularly feature in their parcels - caught the group unawares.Ironically, if the consignment had gone to Zimbabwe two weeks ago when it was first scheduled to leave, the hold-up would have been avoided since the new rules were only brought in at the weekend. Asked if she was hopeful the goods would eventually be allowed in, Schultz said: "We are hoping so, but time will tell.""Over the years we have managed throughout all the changes and challenges... to keep a good line of communication open in order to be able to keep doing what we do," she added.Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa has defended the new import regulations, according to the state-controlled Herald on Thursday. "The statutory instrument does not ban the importation of commodities," he was quoted as telling parliament. "For you to import those goods, you need to apply for a licence."In a statement published on Thursday, Industry Minister Mike Bimha insisted the regulations were "to promote the revival of our local industries". The regulations will likely hit cross-border traders hard. With formal employment at record lows in Zimbabwe, many have turned to trading to supplement their incomes.


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USDA Plan Pays Farmers $16 Billion Amid China Trade War
WASHINGTON – The Department of Agriculture announces a plan to provide $16 billion to help farmers impacted by the trade war with China.
It gives $14.5 billion in direct payments to producers covering commodities like soybeans, wheat, corn and canola. Nearly $1.5 billion will go toward buying surplus goods like beef, pork and poultry. The plan also gives $100 million toward developing new markets to trade American goods.
Republican North Dakota Senator John Hoeven says payments will be made in three waves, with the first going out in July or August.
“What we want is access to markets, but because the Chinese have delayed the negotiations, and targeted our farmers, we need to provide this assistance.”
Democratic Minnesota Senator and presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar says in a tweet, quote, “Farmers would rather farm and sell what they produce instead of getting a bailout. The President must get back to the negotiating table.”


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MILAN — Following the October launch of Grazia Casa, Grazia UK editor Hattie Brett says the magazine is focused on a “dramatic increase in interiors content online at graziadaily.co.uk,” following the all-new annual interiors special’s October launch. The wave of new content, she told WWD, will be amplified as part of its ongoing collaboration with Pinterest.
“When we surveyed our print readers last year, they told us their spending on interiors had dramatically increased. And we see that online, too. Three out of our top 10 revenue-generating affiliate articles this year have been homeware focused,” Brett pointed out. The British edition of the Italian magazine is currently published under license by Bauer Media UK.
More from WWD
Similarly, Pinterest and Condé Nast Entertainment forged a new content partnership earlier this year.
The Condé Nast Entertainment deal was part of a video and content strategy that Pinterest rolled out more than two years ago, envisaged to channel 160 exclusive videos produced by Vogue and Architectural Digest pegged to feature seasonal and cultural moments, including “Fashion Month,” “Wedding Season,” “Summer” and “Back to School.”
Only available in print, the special is available in newsstands and on Apple News+ until the second half of December. The new annual Grazia Casa issue features former J. Crew president and creative director Jenna Lyons on the cover and aims to bring to the fore how the world’s most fashionable approach homeware. In addition to the feature story on Lyons, the magazine took its readers on a tour of Giorgio Armani’s holiday home on the island of Pantelleria, Italy, and highlighted TV presenter, writer and lifestyle specialist Laura Jackson, who shared her tips on easy entertaining.
Slated to be released on an annual basis, Grazia Casa is packed with fashion insiders’ tips on how to decorate and “deck out” the home.
“The Grazia Casa woman is confident and style-obsessed but time-poor. She looks to Grazia Casa to cut through the noise, delivering news on what’s trending on TikTok (hello, outdoor baths) in our 10 Hot Stories section, and comprehensive edits of the best items to shop now,” Brett reflects.
Research conducted by Grazia found that its audience of AB women are now spending twice as much on interiors a month as beauty, and that its readers are increasingly looking to the publication for recommendations, advice and inspiration for their homes. AB is a classification used by the U.K. census bureau to identify higher and intermediate managerial, administrative and professional occupations. C1 refers to supervisory, clerical, junior managerial, administrative and professional occupations.
The new special offers practical tips for women who are pressed for time, regardless of budget or DIY skills, and includes research into the best products to buy right now as selected by the eye of the Grazia team and interviewees.
The next Grazia Casa will launch in spring 2024.
Best of WWD


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Facebook wants your photos to have another dimension. During the F8 conference, Facebook teased 3D photos that will allow users to capture and share a 3D image using only a smartphone. The 3D Photos, slated for a summer arrival, comes alongside a Facebook prototype that uses artificial intelligence to turn those past photos in Memories into 3D.
3D Photos will allow users to share images with a 3D effect without an actual 3D camera. Facebook says the images can be captured using a smartphone. In the News Feed, the images have a more three-dimensional look when scrolling and moving a smartphone from side to side makes slight adjustments to the perspective of the image. Facebook doesn’t clarify exactly how those images will be captured on a smartphone — traditionally, 3D photos and images requires a camera with off-set lenses in order to gather depth data as well as the pixels.
While details on the 3D Photos are slim, Facebook is also expanding the 3D posts type previously launched. The animated 3D objects will soon be turned into augmented reality objects with a feature that takes the graphic from the News Feed to the Facebook Camera in one tap. The tool allows 3D objects from the News Feed to become augmented reality objects in Facebook Camera.
Users can expect to see the new 3D photos and AR integration for 3D objects “soon” — but Facebook is also working on tech that could help turn images that have already been captured into VR. The tech, which is, for now, just an experiment, uses machine learning to create a VR experience from existing images, no specialized camera required.
The VR Memories uses photogrammetry, using A.I. algorithms to build a dimensional recreation using just 2D photos. The tool creates point clouds, or three-dimensional data points used in 3D design and VR, to giver the flat photos dimension.
Bringing a 2D image into a 3D space isn’t photorealistic, however. In one demo, the tech created a pointillist rendition of a home made up of lots of tiny dots. Using a VR headset, users could look around the space and find thumbnails of the actual snapshots or videos placed against the virtual recreation of the space where those images were captured in real life.
The 3D Photos and the 3D Memories concept were teased during the annual F8 conference alongside announcements for the Oculus Go, new Facebook features, Instagram updates and more. The conference continues through Wednesday, May 2.
- Veteran game designer Tom Hall joins VR firm Resolution Games
- How to photograph fireworks and capture the colors of Independence Day
- The best drawing apps for the iPad Pro
- The best camera phones for 2020
- The best camera apps for Android


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Today, the concept of mobility is being challenged as alternative fuel sources, computerized cars and self-driving technology become reality. These changes are ushering in a return to the early days of the auto industry, where automotive designers are working in tandem with engineering to play a key role in the development process. At this year’s North American International Auto Show (NAIAS), lead designers provide insight into how designers are in a unique position to steer the auto industry i
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More Brand Protection for Napa: Napa Valley Vintners (NVV) have enlisted the help of a group known as the Organization for Geographical Indications Network to protect its brand, according to this report. The organization enlisted by NVV is known to lobby internationally for increased legal protections related to key geographic areas, such as Napa and its association with wine.
Consumers Breaking our Benjamins for Wine: One of the casualties of the U.S. recession has been a dip in the price consumers want to pay for a bottle of wine, but that’s changing, according to this report in the Napa Valley Register. The only issue holding back Napa Valley from selling more wine, for example, is a lack of supply to satiate consumer appetites for its varietals, according to participants at a Napa Valley event.
A Small Step for The Garden State: Due to a bill that New Jersey Governor Christie signed at the beginning of this year, which became effective this week, wineries in the state can take orders from customers and ship directly to their homes, as reported by PhillyBurbs. In addition, NJ wineries that get licensed in other states will soon be able to ship to out-of-state customers and out-of-state wineries that produce less than 250,000 gallons will be able to ship direct to consumers in NJ. Corkzilla has been following this piece of legislation closely since last year. Although this is a positive step towards Freeing the Grapes, it is still limiting about 90% of US wine producers from shipping to NJ due to the 250K capacity cap.
Wine and Toilet Paper: This falls in the 'not necessarily the news' category, but it's somewhat fascinating. Apparently, the most powerful wine buyer in the world is Annette Alverez-Peters. For those that don't know Annette, she is the lead wine buyer for the big-box behemoth, Costco - which does roughly one billon in wine sales per year. In a recent interview with MSNBC, Annette spoke about how she considers wine to be the same as any other lifeless product Costco sells - such as clothes or toilet paper. There's not much soul or passion put into the making of toilet paper. I bet you could buy a lot of it for 1MM. Watch the vid here for a closer look...


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The first phase of the town's Streetscape project is drawing to a close, and for some downtown merchants it can't come soon enough. But others say the improvements are worth the wait.
WAREHAM — The first phase of the town's Streetscape project is drawing to a close, and for some downtown merchants it can't come soon enough. But others say the improvements are worth the wait.
"Some people just don't like changes," said Geoff Yalenezian, owner of Brennan's Smoke Shop. "Sure we've lost some customers because of construction ... but the parking lot adjacent to us will be completely redone."
Yalenezian said he'd have preferred smaller sidewalk "bump-outs" — curb extensions designed to narrow portions of a street — but "in the long run ... it will encourage more pedestrians."
Planning Board Chairman George Barrett said his board wasn't involved in Streetscape planning but "they seem to be cramming a lot into a little space. Main Street isn't all that wide in the first place ... but once all the barrels and cones are gone, it should look a lot better."
Finance Committee member Dominic Cammarano said something had to be done to resuscitate downtown, "which was dying even before Wareham Crossing Mall was built." He said Streetscape provides "a badly needed makeover."
According to Sal Pina, director of the Community & Economic Development Authority, the lengthy list of improvements includes paving, planting of trees and shrubs, new crosswalk bricks, new benches and 14 new lamp posts.
Water drainage has been improved and parking spots lined, and an old-fashioned clock tower has been installed near the post office, Pina said. Pezzoli Square will now have 30 parking spaces, up from 22, along with new shrubs and flowers.
The four-phase project — phases three and four are yet to be funded — is being financed with federal block grant money and no town funds are being used, Pina said.
About $911,000 was allocated for Phase 1, which began in April, with $450,000 marked for Phase 2 scheduled to get under way in the fall. Once Phase 1 is finished, work will cease for the summer so as not to disrupt one of the downtown merchants' busiest seasons, Pina said.
"We listen to the merchants and respect their input."
Along with improving the look of downtown, officials want to make it safer for pedestrians and the handicapped, and attract more businesses. "New business means new jobs, which means housing growth," he said, "and new businesses won't move into a shabby looking downtown."
Pina said the merchants already in place can tap into a $50,000 loan fund available to small businesses for interior renovations. In addition, each can receive a free carved wooden sign for his or her storefront.
Jackie Peckham, owner of Jacks are Wild pet grooming service, said she is happy with what's being done. "I wish people would just stop complaining," Peckham said. "It'll be great when its finished ... lots of free parking."
Rick Maloney, owner of Frankenstein Hot Dogs & More to the rear of Brennan's Smoke Shop, is also pleased with the project.
"I took this place over in April right when the construction began," Maloney said. "Nevertheless, we expanded menu items and also now sell ice cream."


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The fall of American Apparel; is now the time to embrace globalization?
American Apparel closed its doors for the final time this week after years of grappling with its accounts and reputation. The high street giant filed for bankruptcy in 2016 after a string of lawsuits came out in the years preceding against its founder Dov Charney. The American Apparel appeal was built on it’s Terry Richardson inspired, hyper sexualised images and manufacturing its clothes in Downtown LA. American pride and soft porn, what’s not to love? But ultimately these two marketing pillars were in part responsible for the company's collapse. Sexual harassment complaints and fair wages driving up the cost of clothes has left a tarnish on the brand synonymous with vintage wearing hipsters and has left sales dwindling.
Can we afford Made in USA?
The living wage in LA currently stands at $12 an hour, $4 more than the minimum wage of $9, and roughly what a garment worker at American Apparel gets paid. In 2015 The LA Times reported that according to the Institute for Global Labor and Human Rights, this makes a long-sleeved shirt made in the U.S., costs around $13.22 to make, including $7.47 for labour. If you can imagine how labour costs like these could inflate prices across all household goods, it’s hard to imagine how those living on minimum wage could afford anything manufactured in the U.S.
The American Apparel case has been in the press for almost a decade and yet the issue of ‘Made in America’ even made it into newly elected President Trump’s inauguration speech. The economical and ethical strain of keeping manufacturing in the USA gives cause to consider outsourcing to countries like Bangladesh or China. However the incentive needs to be ethical not exploitative. The only way to do that is to embrace globalization - a word not on the top of Trumps list of buzzwords.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership and policing international trade
After years of negotiation under Obama’s presidency, a trade deal between the United States and 11 other Pacific Rim countries collapsed within the first week of Trump’s time in office. Essentially the pact would have addressed a number of issues that are putting strain on an increasingly global market, including e-commerce and financial services. In terms of international trade laws, it worked towards making outsourcing and manufacturing a safer place for workers by imposing rigorous environmental and labour standards and the supervision of intellectual property rights.
However, one of the key reasons to abandon the pact, according to it’s criticizers, was because the TPP aimed to abolish imposed tariffs and quotas between the Pacific Rim countries, leaving them fearing a free-market will rob the United States of jobs and local manufacturing that has otherwise been protected by existing tariffs.
How could globalization benefit you?
As in the case of American Apparel, the idea of ‘made in the USA’ is a nice idea but not something consumers are actually prepared, or have the resources, to pay for. This week, a documentary aired on Channel 4 in the UK, exposing the poor wage of £3 an hour in a factory in Leicester, £4.20 under the national living wage of £7.20. The boss was caught on camera saying “We don’t get paid much for our clothes, and we need to compete with China and Bangladesh.They can get it cheap there. How will they get it made cheaper here? If we pay everyone £10 or £6 then we will make a loss.”
The responsibility of paying a fair wage doesn’t lie solely with the manufacturer, but with the consumer too. Yes we should expect to pay more clothes, but is it realistic to entrust consumers totally to boycott habits that have been instilled in them for the last couple of generations? We are already making the choice to integrate the world’s trade by refusing to pay more for clothes. As consumers we need to acknowledge how our choices are already acting in support of globalization. By embracing building relationships and develop pacts means to better police international policies and thus come face to face with companies who are exploiting workers.


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Oxford University Press has teamed up with three small Israeli firms offering services in education technology in the distinguished publishing house’s “most extensive collaboration yet” with Israeli industry.
The start-ups include a children’s content discovery platform, an e-book service provider, and one offering a free platform for teachers and students to create personalised interactive lessons.
“Ed-tech is a key area of synergy for the UK and Israel,” said Dona Haj Manaa from the UK Israel Tech Hub, a British Embassy project which facilitated the collaboration.
Oxford University Press, one of the world’s oldest publishing houses, has annual sales of 110 million units, and has been looking at Israeli technology start-ups to help it adapt to the challenges of the digital age.
“Ed-tech ventures are increasingly influential as they shape and improve the educational experience,” said OUP director Paul Riley. “Inventive Israeli start-ups provide us with opportunities to combine our high-quality content with ground-breaking technology.”
Source: Jewish News


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Washington, July 14 (ANI): Tech giant Samsung has reportedly suspended business with China as the country face ‘child labor’ accusations.
Earlier this week, watchdog China Labor Watch published a report in which they found evidence of child labor at the Shinyang Electronics factory in Dongguan, China, The Verge reported.
Samsung revealed that instances of illegal hiring may have taken place at the Dongguan factory, despite conducting audits at the location three times since 2013 and most recently on June 25th this year.
The discovery contradicted Samsung’s own self-audit, and now the Korean company has suspended business with the supplier after beginning a follow-up investigation. Samsung says Chinese authorities are also looking into the allegations, report said.
Samsung said that they follow a zero tolerance policy on child labor, and they will permanently close down business with the supplier if the investigations conclude that the supplier indeed hired children illegally. (ANI)


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Niles Martin’s Super Market launches Groceries to Go
Published 9:25 am Friday, March 29, 2019
NILES — After a busy week, sometimes spending time in line at the grocery store can seem like the last thing people want to do. Starting this week, however, Niles Martin’s Super Market customers could have groceries delivered right to their door.
The service, called Groceries to Go, launched Monday and gives customers the option to order their groceries online or with a phone app. For a fee, they can have the groceries delivered to their doorstep or pick them up at the curb of the grocery store.
Krista Wentt, director of marketing, said the service aims to provide a “convenience factor” for an array of customers.
“We decided to offer this service in Niles because customers have been asking for it,” Wentt said during a phone interview from Martin’s corporate office in South Bend. “It’s a way we can ensure that customers’ lives are easier and simpler.”
Martin’s partners with a service called Dine In to deliver the groceries to customers’ homes. The cost of home delivery is $14.99. For curbside pick-up, the price is $4.99 per shop.
To order, customers create an online account at martinsgroceriestogo.com or download Martin’s Groceries To Go phone application. Then, customers select a store location and build their shopping list and choose whether they want delivery or pickup. Orders can be received as early two hours after the request for pickup and as little as three hours for delivery. The orders must be in by 3 p.m. for the same-day pickup or delivery. All major credit cards, EBT, and Martin’s gift cards can be used to purchase the items. Debit only cards are a form of transaction not accepted at this time.
Wentt said the business expects the service to make customers with busy lives’ easier.
“They don’t necessarily have to spend precious time shopping the aisles. We, of course, want customers to come in and shop, but we understand that customers have busy lives,” she said.
Martin’s has offered the service to customers in the Indiana market for about three years. Groceries to Go was initially launched as a click and collect curbside service out of the Heritage Square location in Granger, Indiana.
“Since then, we have grown the service to not only include click and collect services but also to include delivery,” Wentt said.
Though the service is new, Wentt said customers have already expressed excitement about the service launching in Niles. While Wentt said she could not share the number of South Bend customers that use the service, she said the corporation expects it to appeal to a broad demographic.
“Frankly, it appeals to every customer,” Wentt said. “It appeals to the younger mom. It appeals to the working professional with teenagers and a two-parent working household. It appeals to an elderly population that may not be able to get out and about as much as they used to.”
Those interested in learning more can visit martinsgroceriestogo.com.


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The Grocery Manufacturers Association is the leading trade association and voice of food, beverage and consumer product companies including Hormell, PepsiCo, The Coca-Cola Company, Monsanto and Conagra Brands.
On May 8, 2014, Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin signed into law Act 120, legislation that mandated the labeling of foods made with genetically modified organisms (GMOs). America’s food and agriculture community, led by the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA), united in opposition to Vermont’s law, arguing that a patchwork of state-by-state labeling mandates would create chaos in the marketplace, raise food prices and impede interstate commerce. Anti-GMO activists have been attacking GMOs for over a decade and polling showed that nearly 90 percent of Americans support the mandatory labeling of foods made with GMOs.
The Coalition for Safe Affordable Food (CFSAF) was formed in 2014 to advocate for a uniform, national GMO labeling standard that preempted any state mandates and ensured the federal government-maintained control over a nationally integrated food supply. CFSAF’s goal was the enactment of federal legislation that preempted state labeling laws and created a uniform, national labeling framework for foods made with GMOs. We (hired in August 2014) set out to create an echo chamber of support from a robust and diverse coalition of voices across the country in support of a federal legislative solution.
Through grassroots and grasstop activities, earned media, paid advertising and social media engagement, CFSAF aimed to increase pressure on Members of Congress to address this issue and protect America’s farmers, small businesses and consumers from the negative impacts of state labeling laws. Using a comprehensive campaign approach, we created a dynamic and engaged base of support for federal legislation that leveraged the united voice of America’s food producing community to apply pressure on members of Congress through in-person intercepts, letters and phone calls, and targeted earned media placements. In all, our efforts drove over 70,000 emails from supporters into Congressional offices and helped change the terms of the debate.
On July 29, 2016, President Obama signed into law a national bioengineered food disclosure standard that preempts Vermont’s law and creates the consistent, uniform standard that CFSAF fought for since 2014. This followed both chambers of Congress passing the legislation by wide bipartisan margins, 63-30 in the Senate and 306-117 in the House of Representatives. We were publicly recognized for the success of this campaign, taking home an honorable mention from PRWeek’s Best in Public Affairs category in 2017, and named winner of 2017 Public Affairs’ SABRE Award.


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Lululemon has just done an absolutely amazing thing! I’ve not seen any other company do this to date during the Global Coronavirus Pandemic. Lululemon Offers Coronavirus Economic Relief to their brand ambassadors who own fitness studios. Many retailers heavily leverage influencers for marketing and creating affinity for customers, so it’s great to see Lululemon respond this way for their ambassadors. I’m floored by this gesture. No customer would have ever questioned ‘what is lululemon doing for their ambassadors during Coronavirus?’. Lululemon didn’t risk bad PR for not considering this, but they’ve set a precedent for other brands to step up.
What Has Lululemon Done So Far About Coronavirus
This move is in addition to the relief fund Lululemon has offered employees who are unable to work. Lululemon acted quickly and was amongst the first retailers to take action by closing their head office. The call was made to close HQ when a worker tested positive with coronavirus on March 12. Soon after, Lululemon issued a work from home plan for all of their employees worldwide, closing all of their stores.
Lululemon has also been providing digital fitness for customers during the pandemic. They created an accompanying social media fitness group to create a virtual community and engage with customers daily. The group offers its ambassadors a platform to share their content if they choose, marketing themselves to lululemon customers while providing a service. During this very scary global health and economic crisis, this is inspiring!
Educators are being kept ‘on shift’ and working from home by offering customers an online concierge service. When shopping online you can now book a live video chat with one of their educators, should you require shopping assistance. This would have been very useful to me last week when I placed an order last week for an item that looked like it might fit big.
Lululemon Offers Coronavirus Economic Relief
“lululemon ambassadors are the heartbeat of our communities. That’s why we’ve created the lululemon Ambassador Relief Fund—a $2 million global grant program to support our ambassador studio owners.”
Taking care of people is our top priority.
During this unprecedented time, we’ve seen many businesses, including lululemon, close their physical doors for the safety of us all. The relief fund intends to assist Ambassador studio owners impacted financially, by helping with their basic operating costs and supporting them in getting back on their feet as we recover, together.
How do I know if I’m eligible?
If you are a current lululemon ambassador studio owner, you will receive an email by Noon PST on Wednesday, March 25, containing everything you need to know. If you do not receive your email, please reach out to your store manager.Lululemon’s statement to ambassadors


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From today you can buy a Tesla with Bitcoins. Word of Elon Musk
Elon Musk comes out with surprising news: Bitcoins can be used to buy a Tesla. The cryptocurrency will be usable today in the United States to buy an electric car from the Californian company. And later this year, this option will be available in other countries.
And of course, as has already happened after Musk’s other statements in favor of Bitcoin, its value has skyrocketed.
Elon Musk: Tesla cars that can be purchased with Bitcoins
The announcement was made via Twitter on Wednesday, March 24 by the founder and CEO of Tesla. Elon Musk said that with the most famous cryptocurrency in the world it will be possible to buy the electric cars of the company based in Palo Alto.
In a very dry first tweet Musk wrote only: “You can now buy a Tesla with Bitcoin” (You can now buy a Tesla with Bitcoin). To then specify in a second tweet that Tesla uses only internal and open source software to directly manage the nodes in Bitcoin. And that the Bitcoins used to purchase an electric car will remain so. That is, they will not be converted into current currency.
Tesla-Bitcoin: from today in the United States it is possible
In the last few hours, many American users had noticed a change in the Tesla configurator on the official website: the option that allows you to pay through Bitcoins was implemented.
The surprise lasted a few hours, immediately confirmed by Musk on his Twitter account.
The option is currently only visible to US users. But Elon Musk also made it known that the possibility of paying Tesla cars with Bitcoins will also be possible for other markets by the end of the year.
This alternative form of payment had been loudly demanded by the users themselves. Elon Musk, visionary and a lover of challenges, certainly did not hold back. If anything, he had immediately shown himself more than favorable: to the point that this very recent announcement sounds for many like the keeping of a promise.
Tesla and bitcoins
Elon Musk’s move is undoubtedly forward-looking. In this way, Tesla could expand its market to all those people who have managed to accumulate a small fortune in Bitcoin over time.
It is worth mentioning that in February of this year the Californian company invested 1.5 billion dollars in Bitcoin, as reported in our article. Already as a seal of that operation, Elon Musk had declared that in the near future it would be possible to use cryptocurrency to buy Tesla electric cars. And today that moment, at least for US Bitcoin holders, has arrived.
The love story between Musk and Bitcoin
This news seals the Tesla patron’s falling in love with the most famous cryptocurrency. Which has always benefited from sudden increases in value after each benevolent statement by Musk, who did not hesitate to define Bitcoin “the people’s currency”. And on several occasions he has been critical of traditional currencies, often with very explicit statements: “They give negative interest, only a fool would not look elsewhere”.
Musk’s tweets on Wednesday 24 March received more than 120,000 likes in just a few hours, and Bitcoin flew over $ 56,500.
The cryptocurrency will also be extremely fluctuating by its very nature. But every time it is mentioned favorably by Elon Musk, its value soars in a few moments.
It happened for example last January 28th, when Tesla’s CEO used the hashtag #bitcoin on his Twitter profile. Well: in a few hours the price of the cryptocurrency had risen by 15%.
If Musk’s cryptic message on January 28 was not yet clear support for cryptocurrency, the real endorsement did not take longer than a few hours.
In fact, with his innate ability to smell the new, On Monday, February 1, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX made an appearance on Clubhouse, the social audio of the moment. There, invited to the Good Time room, he immediately reached the maximum audience (5000 people). And, after touching on a variety of topics, he said about Bitcoin: “That’s a good thing.” A few words, followed by an admission of guilt: “I was late to the party” and regret for not having bought Bitcoin eight years ago. A short intervention, but more than enough to push cryptocurrency to record levels.
The rest is very recent history.


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Asia-based clothing-makers are among the top creditors with unsecured claims in J. Crew Inc.'s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.
Cosmic Gear Ltd., Sterling Apparel Ltd. and RGM Fashion Ltd. are among the top unsecured creditors, each with claims of more than $10 million, according to the retailer's May 4 filing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. The consulting arm of Deloitte LLP is the creditor with the single largest unsecured claim, worth more than $22.7 million.
Tanger Factory Outlet Centers Inc. is the sole real estate investment trust that reports J. Crew as one of its top tenants. As of Dec. 31, 2019, the outlet-center REIT's 26 storefronts leased to the retailer at its consolidated properties totaled 140,366 square feet and represented 1.4% of Tanger's total annualized base rents. Tanger also leased four locations to the retailer at its unconsolidated properties. J. Crew operates just under 500 stores, including 140 under its Madewell name.
The company has assets of between $1 billion and $10 billion as well as liabilities in the same range, according to its bankruptcy filing.
The filing makes J. Crew the largest retailer to default since department store Neiman Marcus's 2019 distressed debt exchange, Fitch analyst David Silverman said in a note. It is also the first major U.S. retailer to file for bankruptcy since the novel coronavirus forced non-essential retailers, including apparel retailers, to close their physical stores in March.
Both J. C. Penney Co. Inc., which is reportedly seeking up to $1 billion in bankruptcy funding, and Neiman Marcus Group Inc. are considering bankruptcy protection as lockdowns meant to limit the spread of coronavirus continue, according to reports.
J. Crew's debt totaled $2 billion, according to LCD, a division of S&P Global Market Intelligence. The retailer has a restructuring plan and debtor-in-possession financing of $400 million provided by Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP and Anchorage Capital Group LLC, among others, according to its filing.
J. Crew was acquired by private equity firms TPG Capital LP and Leonard Green & Partners LP in 2011 for $3 billion.