text:
For the past several years, the trade war between China and the U.S. has been at the center of inter..
Every Friday, Law Decoded delivers analysis on the week’s critical stories in the realms of policy, ..
Jack Ma, the founder of Chinese e-commerce group Alibaba, has made his first public appearance since..
Chinese fintech Ant Group — which is now poised to launch what could be the world’s largest initial ..
Ant Group, the parent company of Chinese payments giant Alipay, unveiled its new Antchain-based glob..
The People’s Bank of China is purportedly planning to use its digital currency electronic system (DC..
ByteDance, the Beijing-based multinational tech group behind TikTok, is looking into adding banking ..
On May 26, Tommaso Mancini-Griffoli, a representative from the International Monetary Fund, stated t..
Ant Financial — the Chinese fintech company formerly known as Alipay— has launched a new consortium ..
Billionaire Jack Ma, owner of payment app Alipay, seeks to lure 44 million merchants to expan..


text:
Transforming Korea into a “creative economy” through the development of an ecosystem that promotes innovative start-ups would take considerable time and patience as it would first have to make a major cultural shift in societal attitudes toward entrepreneurship.
In a society such as Korea where people generally long for stable, long-term jobs and where one who fails in starting a business is perceived to be a lifelong loser, it would take extra efforts for a change to embed the notion that risk and failure can lead to other opportunities.
Thomas D. Nastas, a global entrepreneur and venture capitalist, said Korea can find the “spark” that drives and nurtures innovative DNA through effective mentorship and communication.
The first wave or generation of entrepreneurs should take the lead in communicating with society of their successes and mistakes, and teach the next generation ways to be divergent thinkers, who can come up with “wild and crazy ideas.”
|Thomas D. Nastas|
This cyclic learning process through trial and error common in the U.S.’ Silicon Valley and Israel can help Korea change its social perception that failure can, too, be a “badge which entrepreneurs (can) proudly display to investors as experience,” Nastas said in an email interview.
Nastas stressed the importance on encouraging “clonentrepreneurship” to create the ecosystem in a country seeking to “start up or scale up” a start-up community.
Entrepreneurs in such a country like Korea can adopt the spirit of clonentrepreneurship by cloning, copying and bringing business models that have worked in another market into their homeland.
These clones drive them to further innovate in areas such as logistics, product sourcing and e-payments as they would have to take risks and localize those business models to work well in accordance with domestic regulations, infrastructure and consumer behavior.
As such clones become successful at home, entrepreneurs would seek to become more innovative or disruptive, while investors would gain more confidence to finance riskier ventures.
This would further “unlock and mobilize capital for investment in game-changing and disruptive technologies,” and thus, establish an innovative economy.
“Clonentrepreneurs sensitize local investors to the rewards of investing in technology since clones match the behavior of local investors to risk,” Nastas said.
“As results are achieved and money is made by all, investors open up to new investment opportunities that would be more adventuresome, innovative and disruptive.”
Developing creative business models that enable entrepreneurs to “sell risk then opportunity” for execution is a crucial part of changing Korea’s venture culture, he added.
“Too often I see entrepreneurs attempt to shape investor risk behavior when raising money. Instead entrepreneurs should look to shape their business models to match the needs of not just customers but investors too,” Nastas said.
|Illustration By Park Gee-young|
When the combination of these factors ― cultural shift, clonentrepreneurship, executable business models and capital mobilization ― come together, Korea will be able to “shine,” developing itself as a start-up nation, boosting job creation and generating new wealth to the likes of Silicon Valley and Israel.
VC-invested U.S. companies, for example, created 10 million jobs, accounting for 9 percent of total employment in the private sector in 2005. Their revenue of $2.1 trillion accounted for 16.6 percent of gross domestic product, according to Nastas’ “The GoForward Plan to Scaling Up Innovation” on Harvard Business Review.
Following are excerpts of the email interview with Thomas D. Nastas on clonentrepreneurship and innovative economy.
Q: What is clonentrepreneurship?
A: Clonentrepreneurship refers to entrepreneurs who clone or copy a business model from one country/market to another. Cloning is now spoken routinely in the digital market space since it is a “virus” of clones being deployed from one market to another. But recognize that “cloning” has been around for a long, long time.
Many criticize clones as being “unimaginative.” Yet in most countries clonentrepreneurs must innovate in logistics and payment systems to make cloning work in their country. In the U.S., I can purchase shoes for $40 and pay nothing for delivery. In Russia, it costs $150 to deliver shoes from Moscow to Vladivostok, an unacceptable cost since no one will pay a $150 delivery charge for a $40 pair of shoes. So cloners had to innovate in logistics, which meant innovations in warehousing, end of point distribution, couriers, etc.
Q: What made Israel so successful as a start-up nation?
A: Several reasons are cited, especially the Yozma investment scheme, but this was only successful because of the infrastructure (or ecosystem) building activities to increase the quality and quantity of investment opportunities for investors.
Much of the early Israeli tech came from the military, released to the private sector. Other success factors include an Israeli industrial policy that funded R&D to create deal flow and the unplanned creation of entrepreneurs.
The citizens of Israel live with risk. Israel lies in a region where it is threatened each and every day, with bombs, death and destruction, a cloud of risk hangs over the country. Dealing with such risk every day, every year, builds a culture that accepts risk as a condition of life ... to deal with the consequences of risk ― experiences useful in entrepreneurship too.
Q: How about U.S. Silicon Valley?
A: In the U.S., failure equals entrepreneurship, which gives the entrepreneur the freedom, second and third chances to raise funds. Investors willingly financing trial and error until the entrepreneur achieves success is the second characteristic which distinguishes investors in the U.S. from investors in most other countries, including in Europe.
Trial and error in developing a business model equals learning, and learning is accepted, especially when it results in a business unintended from the start. Google, Facebook and Groupon all emerged from first-generation business models which failed to generate customer traction with founders “pivoting” to other business models which achieved success.
Q: How can a country form a thriving ecosystem?
A: Cloning Western business models is only one direction for entrepreneurs and investors to pursue for profit. Government policymakers and their sovereign wealth funds can catalyze the start-up communities in other ways.
Riches earned from oil and other natural resources funded Russian initiatives like the $10 billion Russian Corporation of Nanotechnology, the $1 billion dollar fund-of-funds called the Russian Venture Company and the Russian Government’s multibillion dollar Skolkovo program ― to seed development of game-changing tech, investment and the creation of a new set of entrepreneurs.
Croatia is another small country with ambitions for more start-up communities. Its location on the Mediterranean is an ideal spot to transform selected areas of coastline into logistics, transportation and warehousing tech start-up centers to serve Central and Eastern Europe.
Thomas D. Nastas
Thomas D. Nastas, the founder and president of Innovative Ventures Inc., has been an entrepreneur, venture capital investor and mentor in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Africa, Kazakhstan and Russia over the last 20 years.
He advises the World Bank and the governments of Kenya, Uganda, Kazakhstan, Russia, Latvia, Slovakia and Croatia on VC investment and entrepreneurship.
By Park Hyong-ki (email@example.com)
Kim Joo-hyun contributed to this article.

domain: news


text:
Instagram has released its newest update, allowing the use of three right-to-left languages, Arabic, Hebrew and Farsi on its platform. Through this update, the company hopes that “more people around the world will be able to connect with the people and interests that matter to them”.
This makes a total of 36 languages that are now available on the social media platform, with a select few only available on Android devices. These languages are Bulgarian, Canadian French, Hungarian, Serbian as well as the three languages that have just been added.
Instagram has always been iOS-friendly and the platform was in fact first released on iOS in October 2010. It was only made available on the Android platform approximately two years later on April 2012 and on the Windows 10 Mobile platform just last year in April 2016.
So why has Instagram chosen to release these languages on Android first? Perhaps the answer is as simple as Android devices having a greater market share than iOS devices, especially in countries that use Farsi, like Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan. It seems like the large presence of Android devices in the global market has prompted Instagram to shift from an iOS-first to Android-first platform and this is only natural.
It appears that users of Arabic, Hebrew, Farsi and all the other Android-only languages who are also running iOS on their smartphones will have to wait for awhile before their languages are supported on their devices.


text:
In July, the 2012 Hallmark Star Trek ornaments can be seen at the San Diego Comic-Con, and they will also go on sale to the general public.
Three Trek ornaments will be released this year; D. Leonard “Bones” McCoy, An Extraordinary Meeting, and the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D.
The San Diego Comic-Con Hallmark booth will be located this year at the Lucasfilm Pavilion where fans can see the new ornaments, visit with Keepsake Ornament artist Robert Chad, who is one of the artists that created one of the limited edition ornaments to be sold at Comic-con, and see a sneak-peek of Hallmark 2013 ornaments.
Limited quantities of Keepsake ornaments will be sold at Comic-Con, including: 4-LOM and Zuckuss (Star Wars), A Human Hero (The Dark Knight), and Cylon Centurion (Battlestar Galactica).
“A series of collectible buttons featuring five Keepsake Ornaments also will be available for fan pick-up. The series features five designs, with a limited quantity of one design given away each day of Comic-Con.”
“We’re excited to return to Comic-Con and to reward our passionate fans with exclusive Keepsake Ornaments and first-looks at new products,” said Beth Dorr, associate merchandise manager for Keepsake Ornaments. “This year, we’re bringing back fan-favorite activities, such as daily pin giveaways, and offering new activities, including autograph sessions with a Hallmark Keepsake Ornament artist.”
“Also making a return appearance are fan favorites hoops&yoyo. Creator Bob Holt will be in the booth with the hoops&yoyo characters, Thursday, July 12 (4-6 p.m.); Friday, July 13 (1-3 p.m.); and Saturday, July 14 (1-3 p.m.).”
For fans who cannot attend the San Diego Comic-Con, “Hallmark will give away one set of Comic-Con-exclusive Keepsake Ornaments on Twitter before the convention begins. Additional product giveaways will be hosted before and during the convention. Follow Hallmark on Twitter here, using hashtags #ComicCon and #SDCC for more information.”
The San Diego Comic-Con takes place July 12-July 15.
To see the entire Hallmark 2012 Keepsake Ornament line, head to their site, located here.
Source: Hallmark Press Release


text:
(San Francisco) Meta (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp) saw its annual revenue decline to $116.61 billion in 2022, down 1% from 2021, the first decline in annual revenue since that the social media giant went public in 2012.
But its title jumped 18% during electronic trading after the close of trading on Wednesday, as the market expected a more brutal fall for the Californian group which has been sailing on sight for a year, facing competition from TikTok and economic crisis.
Another positive sign, Facebook has reached two billion daily active users, against 1.98 billion at the end of September, according to its results release. In all, some 3.74 billion people use at least one of the company’s services (social networks and messaging) every month.
But these good surprises do not hide the reality of a company that has seen better days.
In the fourth quarter of 2022, Meta achieved a turnover of 32.17 billion dollars (- 4% over one year), and saw its net profit halved, to 4.65 billion, instead of 6 billion. expected by analysts.
The company has been worrying the markets for a year, when the group first lost users on Facebook. It was shortly after its name change and the announcement of its pivot to the metaverse, this parallel universe, accessible in particular via augmented and virtual realities, presented as the future of the internet.
Reality Labs, the branch responsible for developing the metaverse, widened its losses to 4.3 billion dollars during the past quarter, after having already lost 3.7 billion in the third quarter, and 2.6 in the second.
Mark Zuckerberg, the group’s boss, “will have to accept the sad reality: companies and consumers have no appetite for virtual worlds at the moment”, commented Debra Aho Williamson, of Insider Intelligence.
Like its neighbors Google or Snap, Meta is suffering both from the success of TikTok, from shrinking advertiser budgets due to the economic crisis, and from Apple’s regulatory changes, which are limiting the ability of social networks to collect data. users to sell ultra-targeted ads.
Many large companies rolled out sweeping social plans in the fall, but the tech industry, and especially the big platforms, hadn’t often had to take these kinds of measures until now.
In November, boss Mark Zuckerberg announced that Meta would cut 11,000 positions, or about 13% of its workforce, chosen from all divisions, from networks to couriers to Reality Labs. And hiring is frozen until the end of March 2023.
“2022 has been a disastrous year for Meta with layoffs, poor economic conditions, fierce competition from other platforms like TikTok and criticism of its ambitions for the metaverse,” summarized Debra Aho Williamson.
A return to growth in advertising revenue in 2023 requires, according to the analyst, that the group focus on its core business, the social networks Facebook and Instagram. But that means Meta is forsaking her beloved metaverse a bit — “a bitter pill for Mark Zuckerberg,” she notes.
She predicts that even if the world’s number two in digital advertising (behind Google) raises the bar in 2023, its market share will decline this year, after reaching 22% in 2021.


text:
In a major breakthrough in the US-China trade dispute, the US has agreed to suspend its next tariff hike (planned for October 15th) on USD 250 billion worth of Chinese imports. In return, Beijing has committed to buy up to USD 50 billion of goods from American farmers who have suffered from the long-running trade war.
US-China Enters into Partial Deal
The US President, Mr Donald Trump, called it a substantial phase-one deal, which is likely to be wrapped up and signed by mid-November. The deal also involved China?s commitments related to intellectual property, its currency and permission to the U.S. financial services industry for accessing Chinese markets.
?The partial deal was announced following the trade talks between Mr Trump and China?s Vice Premier Liu He in Washington. After about 15 months of a prolonged tit-for-tat tariff war between the US and China, the two sides have made some progress on the harder issues.
Both the US and China sides had imposed duties on billion dollars? worth of goods during the dispute, and the US President had warned to increase tariffs from 25 per cent to 30 per cent on about USD 250 billion of Chinese goods on October 15 if there had been no progress on a deal.
As per Mr Trump, with this deal, the US farmers would have to search for a new land for achieving the Chinese purchases that have fallen drastically due to the trade war. Mr Trump has hinted of a bigger trade deal over the next several months with China.
Market experts have different opinions over this partial deal between the two largest economies of the world. Some believe that the deal has eased trade tensions and has revived hopes of a trade truce with a final agreement between the two countries. However, some are of the opinion that the partial deal will upset nearly everyone, including consumers and the U.S. businesses, that will be compelled to pay billions extra for imported goods.
Australia?s PM, Mr Scott Morrison, has congratulated both China and the US over their partial deal. The benchmark index of Australian share market, S&P/ASX 200 index jumped 0.5 per cent on 14th October 2019, closing at 6642.6 points, over optimistic investor sentiment after trade deal announcement.
With the signs of progress in the US-China trade talks, the Asian stocks gained on 14th October 2019. At the time of writing the article, the following indices were up:
- Hong Kong?s Hang Seng Index, 0.89 per cent up at 26,542.19
- Shanghai Composite Index, 1.17 per cent up at 3,008.32
- Shenzhen Composite Index, 1.43 per cent up at 1,660.33
- South Korea?s KOSPI Composite Index, 1.11 per cent up at 2,067.40
- Taiwan TAIEX, 1.63 per cent up at 11,066.95
- Singapore?s FTSE Straits Times Index, 0.44 per cent up at 3,127.70
- Indonesia?s JSX Composite Index, 0.19 per cent up at 6,117.29
Let us now take a look at the other trending macro-economic events related to international trade that are impacting equity markets across the world:
US-Japan Trade Deal
Though the impact of the US-China one phase deal is yet to be seen by the two counties, US and Japan have emphasised?over the positive outcome from their recent trade agreement.
Recently, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Mr Trump entered into the US?Japan trade agreement that involved the reduction of Japan?s tariffs on USD 7 billion worth of American agricultural products. Japan agreed to suspend tariffs on blueberries, corn, wine, almonds, broccoli, cranberries, cheese, prunes and wheat with an import value of USD 1.3 billion annually.
Under the deal, the U.S. pork and beef producers were also provided with a reduced tariff rate of 9 per cent. Both the US and Japan have applauded the positive results from the deal; however, the result of the trade agreement on Japanese cars and car parts was not so favourable. Under the agreement, the US did not abolish the existing 2.5 per cent tariffs on Japanese automobiles, which is the most critical issue for Japan.
As per few market experts, the US-Japan deal intends to rebuild the share of market lost by American farmers in Japan to rivals in Canada, New Zealand and Australia, since the US President withdrew the US from Trans-Pacific Partnership. However, some experts believe that Japan has overlooked multilateral trade negotiation standards, while giving preference to cooperation with the US President?s re-election goals.
China?s Trade Surplus Declines
Amidst the prolonged trade dispute, China's trade with the US has contracted again in September, with the exports to the US falling by 17.8 per cent to USD 36.5 billion. The September figure indicated a deterioration from 16 per cent fall in August. China reported worse than expected import and export data over the year to September 2019, with its exports falling 3.2 per cent and imports declining 8.5 per cent during the same period.
The weak September data underlined the need for a more stimulus in the Chinese economy. Although Mr Trump has suspended the tariff hike planned for October, both China and the US feel that much more work is needed ahead.
Australia?s August Trade Surplus Down
In early October, the Australian Bureau of Statistics or ABS also reported a significant decline in Australia?s monthly trade surplus in August. The country recorded a trade surplus of $5.9 billion in August, substantially less than the record high level of $8 billion trade surplus experienced in June 2019.
The massive fall in the trade surplus was majorly due to a reduction in the iron ore and coal prices. ABS announced a fall of $1,464 million in exports of goods and services, while a fall of $137 million in imports of goods and services.
Although Australia and China?s latest trade surplus figures are not so promising, investors have become optimistic following high-level trade negotiation between the US and China that has driven equity markets up.?
This website is a service of Kalkine Media Pty. Ltd. A.C.N. 629 651 672. The website has been prepared for informational purposes only and is not intended to be used as a complete source of information on any particular company. Kalkine Media does not in any way endorse or recommend individuals, products or services that may be discussed on this site. Our publications are NOT a solicitation or recommendation to buy, sell or hold. We are neither licensed nor qualified to provide investment advice.


text:
Pop-up ads have long been the bane of Internet users everywhere, and thankfully they have become less and less common over the years. But that doesn’t mean the principal has been completely abandoned – more repackaged. But starting early next year, Google is going to be doing something about it.
As announced this week on Google’s Webmaster Central Blog, starting on January 10, 2017 Google will be penalizing sites that use interstitials on mobile sites. (You know when you get to a site and have to click a hard-to-find “x” to close an ad before you get to the main content? Those are interstitials.)
Pages that show intrusive interstitials provide a poorer experience to users than other pages where content is immediately accessible. This can be problematic on mobile devices where screens are often smaller. To improve the mobile search experience, after January 10, 2017, pages where content is not easily accessible to a user on the transition from the mobile search results may not rank as highly.
Luckily for some webmasters, Google will be making a distinction between interstitials that it considers problematic and those that are genuinely useful. Interstitials that block main content or dominate the portion of the page above-the-fold? Not good. Interstitials that inform users of cookie policies, those that are used for age verification, and those that take up a “a reasonable amount of screen space” will be unaffected by the new penalty.
Examples of bad interstitials:
Example of good interstitial:
So, what will this mean for most businesses? Probably not much. Interstitials are mostly used by larger companies and media sites, and won’t affect desktop sites (yet, anyway).
The biggest takeaway from the news for most will be a reminder that Google takes its commitment to user experience seriously. Whatever new changes Google makes to its algorithms or policies in the future, sites that focus first and foremost on delivering the best possible experience to users will be unlikely to have anything to worry about. All things considered, we feel that’s a good thing.


text:
E3 is just one week away and already we are receiving news from the convention grounds.
Taking advantage of the available space, Namco Bandai has slapped a massive banner over the convention, confirming the release month of Dark Souls 2.
Image courtesy of AllGamesBeta.
That’s a long time before the release and with the PS4 and Xbox One slated to release this year, perhaps Namco and From Software are planning to release a next-gen version alongside the PS3, Xbox 360, and PC versions.
If you missed the 12-minute gameplay premier, make sure to watch it below.


text:
MOSCOW, Aug 30 (Reuters) - Russia has introduced
restrictions on imports of hogs and pork products from Belarus
as of Friday, citing concerns about African swine fever, its
veterinary regulator Rosselkhoznadzor said on Friday.
Moscow and Minsk have launched tit-for-tat trade
restrictions in an escalating dispute over the arrest by Belarus
this week of the head of Russian potash company company Uralkali


text:
The Christmas holiday shopping season is always a big boost for retailers. This year, it could be more important than ever, given the problems related to the COVID-19 pandemic of the last eight months.
Rome Downtown Development Director Aundi Lesley told members of the Rome Floyd Chamber Small Business Action Council that she is willing to think outside of the box to bring in shoppers over the next two months and beyond.
“The sky is the limit,” Lesley said Tuesday. “If you think you have the wildest craziest idea, I am here to discuss those ideas.”
The annual holiday open house sponsored by the Downtown Development Authority is scheduled for Saturday. New Christmas banners went up on light poles in the district Monday.
While some of the traditional events geared toward children will not happen this year because of COVID-19, Santa and Mrs. Claus will be downtown Saturday from noon until 2 p.m., riding in the Roman Chariot golf carts for pictures.
About 20 businesses will be partnering with local vendors to bring additional shopping opportunities to the downtown district.
The Rome for the Holidays program will have downtown merchants open late each Thursday night between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Businesses that choose to participate will stay open until 8 p.m. to give folks a chance to get some shopping done.
On Friday, the DDA will partner with Keep Rome Floyd Beautiful on a cleanup, to get the business district looking good for the upcoming holidays.
The DDA board will conduct its annual planning session Thursday.
Lesley said a lot of attention will be given to the River District on the west side of the Oostanaula River. The $2 million streetscape project funded through the special purpose, local option sales tax is expected to get underway in the coming year.
“We are confident that once that public investment happens and continues to happen, private investment will follow,” Lesley said.
Another of her goals is to get a small grocery store downtown. Lesley said that’s one of the needs she continues to hear that would benefit residents and business owners alike.


text:
The West Coast gets ‘two thumbs up’
Cruise ship passengers are spending more on lodging, food, attractions, tours and shopping while in Vancouver and other parts of B.C., according to a study conducted during the most recent cruise season. Compared with 1997 figures, cruise ship passengers reporting time in the city spent approximately 25% more, or an average of $300 during their entire stay in Vancouver.
Eighty-two percent of the cruise passengers were from the United States, with most arriving by air and almost 90 % taking their first Alaskan cruise. Vancouver proved to be the most popular pre/post destination among all cruise passengers, while other popular choices included Victoria, Whistler and the Interior.
Not surprisingly, Vancouver received top marks for its attractions, parks, culture, accommodations, restaurants and outdoor activities, with eight out of 10 visitors expressing an interest in returning to the city. Cruise passengers passing through Vancouver are now a vital part of the city’s tourism industry, generating almost $100 million in direct tourism revenue for Greater Vancouver.


text:
Casper The Old Ghost
Sixty years ago next year, the remnants of the Fleischer Studio teamed up with the folks at St. John Comics (Tor, Three Stooges, and the original 3-D comics) to create Casper The Friendly Ghost #1. It lasted five issues. Paramount, owners of the Fleischer operation, took the license over to Harvey Comics and a legend floated off the ground.
While children’s comics have been largely ignored in the American marketplace for the past decade or two, Casper stayed alive in movies and on DVD. His present owner, Classics Media, has big plans for the ghost’s 60th.
They’ve got a major Halloween push coming this fall, including clothing and music and games and toys and greeting cards and tattoos.
They’ve also got a new teevee show which already has been sold in 60 markets, including France, Britain, and Japan.
As for comics, well, Dark Horse recently released a nifty reprint anthology, mostly in black-and-white but still a great value.
Not bad for a small child who’s been dead for 60 years.


text:
MILAN (Reuters) - Italian fashion group OTB increased its stake in fashion house Viktor&Rolf to 70% with the remaining 30% equally split between the founders of the Dutch brand, the company said on Thursday.
OTB - which stands for Only The Brave - owns a string of street and upmarket European brands including Diesel, Maison Margiela, Marni and Paula Cademartori.
It recently said it was planning to invest 200 million euros ($223 million) over the next three years in mergers and acquisitions.
The group, founded by Italian entrepreneur and designer Renzo Rosso, bought an initial 51% stake in Viktor&Rolf - founded by Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren - in 2008.
The increase announced on Thursday “is part of the group’s plan to accelerate the growth of the brands already in its portfolio”, the company said.
Reporting by Claudia Cristoferi, editing by Deepa Babington


text:
Investors in Spain in the tourism sector can expect no long-lasting effect of the Barcelona attack on their business, experts believe. The estimate is based on the city’s size and the fact that it is a top tourist destination. Moreover, other cities that have seen similar events, like London, have experienced a rapid bounce back in their number of tourists.
Travel rebound after Barcelona attack
However alarming the terror attack in Barcelona
may have been, there are signs that the tourism industry will not suffer greatly for the remainder of the year. Experts believe that it is unlikely for this event to agitate people away from Spain and that, like in the case of other large cities that have seen such events, the effects in hotel occupancy will diminish quickly.
Moreover, experts believe that tour companies will not change their preference towards Spain not that they will deliberately raise prices for this EU area. If the latter does happen, experts say that it is a natural occurrence of the rising average prices as tourism companies adjust their offers.
Investors who want to open a company in Spain
that operates in the tourism sector can talk to one of our lawyers in Spain. We can walk you through the process of starting your business in the country.
Tourism in Spain
Tourism is an important contributor to Spain’s economy. The country is a popular destination for summer vacations and, in 2016, the country was the third most visited one in the world.
The opportunities on the tourism market exist both in large cities but also in smaller, picturesque locations. Most visitors who choose Spain come from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy or the Netherlands.
Entrepreneurs who are interested in opening a company in tourism can talk to our local team of lawyers in Spain


text:
HSBC has launched a business desk in Poland to facilitate trade and investment flows between China and countries in Central and Eastern Europe as two-way business increases dramatically under the Belt and Road Initiative.
The bank's new China Desk will focus, in particular, on Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania, which together have attracted the bulk of China's investment in the region.
According to research consultancy Rhodium Group, Chinese investment in these five countries increased to 4.5 billion euros (.4 billion) between 2000 and 2016.
The new service in Warsaw brings the number of HSBC's China Desks to 24 globally.
Officially launched in 2012, HSBC's China Desks now cover six continents, including 11 markets in the Asia-Pacific region, five in Europe, four in the Middle East and Africa, and four in the Americas.
These operations, covering major destinations for China's outbound direct investments, support domestic companies and their foreign counterparts in identifying new business opportunities and accessing financial products in a range of currencies, including yuan, along the Belt and Road Initiative region.


text:
12 Signs Wine is excited to be featured on KUSI San Diego news in honor of Women's History Month and to help promote the upcoming Business Women's Mega Mixer event this Thursday, March 22 at UTC.
We are especially pleased that anchor woman, Alexis DelChiaro, is a Leo and took a strong liking to her bottle of wine!
On KUSI morning news, Felena Hansen, President of Hera Hub, and Michelle Bergquist, CEO of Connected Women of Influence spoke with Alexis DelChairo about the Business Women's Mega Mixer, which will bring together over 25 women based organizations and feature several companies owned by San Diego women, including 12 Signs Wine.
The event is quickly selling out and expected to draw a crowd of over 500 local business women together for a night of networking and fundraising. To find out more about the Women's Mega Mixer and purchase your ticket click here.


text:
Week commencing Monday 18th March 2024 roadworks are scheduled to take place at the following locations in Buckinghamshire.
The Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity (FNHC) is proudly celebrating 30 years in brick-and-mortar retail.
Week commencing Monday 18th September 2023 roadworks are scheduled to take place at the following locations in Buckinghamshire.
Week commencing Monday 10th July 2023 roadworks are scheduled to take place at the following locations in Buckinghamshire.
Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity are seeking short-term temporary volunteers to help in their shops across Buckinghamshire over the busy summer holiday period.
Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity has officially opened the doors to its brand new shop in Hazlemere.
Buckinghamshire Council has introduced a new ‘food waste tool kit‘ to help local households get the best value for money out of their food shopping.
Families looking for low-cost ideas to entertain their children during the upcoming February half term need look no further than the local area for inspiration.
Buckinghamshire Council has welcomed a ruling by the Planning Inspector to dismiss an appeal and refuse planning permission for a development of 101 homes at the Tralee Farm site in Hazlemere.


text:
The correlation between the rise of internet-based piracy and drops in revenue from media sales has made online copyright infringement a hotly debated topic in the unlike this work, we focus specifically on evaluating the effectiveness of a number of strategies rightsholders can use to respond to piracy, including making. Proposed laws such as the stop online piracy act broaden the definition of willful infringement, and introduce felony charges for unauthorized media streaming these bills are aimed towards defeating websites that carry or contain links to infringing content, but have raised concerns about domestic abuse and internet. Anti-piracy measures: futile, unsuccessful, and counter-productive by unfortunately, this innovation has brought with it problems, the most prominent of which is piracy it being a rights holders are making a push to prevent piracy, especially since, thanks to the internet, it is easy to pirate any form of digital media. It's a tremendous problem, said analyst russ crupnick of musicwatch the good news is some of the very traditional ways of stealing are down pretty dramatically the rise of convenient, licensed streaming has helped cut us file- sharing rates in half in the last decade anti-piracy efforts of the recording. The tv and movie piracy issue seems to be causing many to take sides, but according to jonathan d rose, intellectual property litigator with bradley arant player' of getting caught or ending up as a defendant in lawsuit is low enough that internet file sharing persists as a major problem for the industry.
Online video piracy: serious threat or seriously overblown video piracy is widespread, but there's no consensus on how big the problem is or the best response to it are the biggest media companies in hollywood throwing their money away trying to fight it by troy dreier for the rest of the june 2016 issue of streaming. Piracy problem a thesis submitted to auckland university of technology in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of master of 122 the 90s – rise of the internet to overcome the issues that resulted in the napster litigation, re-activating the p2p piracy. Piracy accounts for 95 percent of global music downloads piracy problems overshadow rising digital music sales piracy accounts internet service providers (isps) have little or no interest in curbing this illegal activity as they wish to comfort and entice customers with a promise of safety and freedom.
India deal with certain facets of piracy, they do not conclusively deal with this menace it is the need of the hour for india to draft and enforce laws which will address the current problem and also take into consideration the technological advancements that are likely to give rise to more of such complex issues formulating. Economic, social and environmental issues, as well as the conventions, guidelines and standards agreed by its members this work is does it include non-tangible pirated digital products being distributed via the internet if these items the report presents and applies a framework for assessing the effects of counter. Intellectual property theft/piracy it is a growing threat—especially with the rise of digital technologies and internet file sharing networks broadening awareness of the crime problem, obtaining information about crime trends, getting investigative leads that will help identify criminals, and collecting evidence of criminal.
Piracy accounts for 95 percent of global music downloads piracy problems overshadow rising digital music sales “people are changing their habits but instead of going from buying a cd on the high street to buying a cd from a legal online store like amazon or itunes, they're actually going to the. Its content has been pirated since netflix began producing its own shows, but it's never left a mark it has the resources for legal fights when they're called for, but really, who wants to go through the trouble of using torrents -- and risk problems with one's internet provider, or, especially in europe, with the law.
Music piracy happens because of a collusion between two parties – providers of illegal content and providers of file-sharing technologies the industry can tackle both of them by developing new watermarking methods that can trace the source of illegal distribution, and by working with online stores to remove infringing. This software is sometimes a double-edged sword and can encourage potential customers to turn to piracy this is particularly apparent with video games games running with drm can experience extreme technical issues or can be completely unplayable, while a pirated copy will have the drm removed. The kremlin admits that russia has a serious problem with online piracy it says that it is taking steps to combat it but the official anti-piracy policy is stalling the government seems undecided on how to tackle the issue many russians think online content should be free while chairing a meeting on. And online piracy, like anything else, can be overcome with the right amount of resources the question is do companies really want to spend what it will take to solve this problem is the return on investment worth it or do publishers, like so many other industries, just take a reserve for these losses and.
So it has increased since 2007, and there is a definite problem on the rise as people gain access to broadband and peer-to-peer sites, the problem will only increase if nothing is done what can be done to minimize piracy it is something that will probably never be eradicated however, from a microsoft.
Or legislative proposal will completely solve such a complex issue—but there are many “lead bullets” that can help reduce piracy just as preventing theft at a particular moment in time if the internet has a central principle, it is one of continual improvement as problems emerge in the use and management of the internet. About one in ten american internet users downloaded music through a peer-to- peer network in 2012 — think bittorrent or the now-defunct limewire — compared to the issue, at least one of the main issues, is that even with the rule of law, all they have to show that someone pirated something is the ip. A predicted boom in 3d printing could create a tangled web of intellectual property (ip) issues as it becomes cheaper and easier to copy designs and make knockoffs, according to some ip experts 3d printing opens a cheap new way to quickly make copies of ip with the ability to post 3d print files online for others to.
Sporting event when you can watch it on line for free”2 this piracy issue is not unique to the united states (us) it is a problem for sports organizations world- wide this article will examine how the us has attempted to deal with the growing problem of internet piracy of sports broadcasts, in comparison. Online video piracy, once thought on the wane thanks to inexpensive svod services like hulu and netflix, is showing that it's still a resilient foe, according to recent it's the problem that won't go away: illegal content proliferates across the web, with files available for download through torrent sites or searchable--and. Internet piracy is a global problem, but few countries have become as associated with the practice as sweden mr stromback said that while a number of factors contributed to the rise of piracy in sweden — including a big investment in broadband internet in the late 1990s that gave would-be pirates the.


text:
Web site helps daters find real love in a virtual world
Paula Weisz’s favorite place to take her dates is the Millennium bar, where she can sip a glass of red wine and have a good conversation. She typically goes on one date per week with men she meets online at OmniDate.com.
For her dates, the 42-year-old single mother of two doesn’t get dressed up, doesn’t put on makeup, and doesn’t even need to leave the comfort of her living room sofa. And the Millennium won’t be found in any local phonebook.
“As a mom, I don’t have time to fix myself up to go out on dates,” said Weisz, a marketing manager from Toronto. “I can just get online from home and feel like I’m on a real date--without wasting time or spending any money.”
Weisz is among the growing number of people who are exploring a virtual world more familiar to online video gamers than to online daters, trying “virtual” dating as a way to meet people online in the hopes of finding love. Using three-dimensional avatars, users can go on “dates” in the virtual world, weeding out other daters until they find someone with the potential for a real-world rendezvous.
Advocates say virtual dating is the next step in the $800 million online dating industry, filling the gap between the static world of online dating--e-mailing, chatting or just viewing profiles--and face-to-face real world interaction.
“The gap can be filled by this simulated world that’s safe, virtual and fun,” said Ravit Abelman, who, with her husband Igor Kotlyar, founded both the OmniDate.com beta site and the OmniDate program. “People can move from the online world into the real world and not be strangers.”
Abelman and Kotlyar launched the free Toronto-based site in December, and it is the largest site created specifically for virtual dating with about 4,400 members. Social networking sites like Cyworld.com, and Second Life, which is not a web site but an online virtual dating program that claims 13 million members, have grown in popularity as ways to meet friends, and, more recently, to meet dates.
Through OmniDate, users choose avatars, or animated images, that will represent them on their dates. They are given the option to choose from six male or six female avatars, with each wearing a different outfit and hairstyle. For both genders, the avatars have one option each that clearly represents a person of color.
Virtual dates can include touring a museum gallery, going to a bar, listening to the user's choice of music in a lounge or even going to the beach. The avatars can interact with each other to express emotion. Type in “LOL,” for example, and users can make their avatars giggle. They can also direct them to blow kisses, hold hands, yawn and even roll their eyes to let the person on the other side of the screen know exactly how much they are or aren’t enjoying the date.
“When you think about starting a relationship, you think about flirting, which is the communication of attraction,” said Dr. Julie Albright, a lecturer in the University of Southern California's sociology department and an expert on online dating. “These nonverbal cues are absent in traditional dating sites, and this is where sites like OmniDate are different.”
Weisz agreed. She has gone on about fifteen virtual dates, which resulted in real-world dates with two men, one of whom she is still dating.
“It was like I already had the first date online and got the awkwardness out of the way,” said Weisz, who had for years used other online dating sites, including Plentyoffish.com and Yahoo personals. “It helped me feel really comfortable when we actually met, in a way that I wasn’t with other dating sites.”
In order to facilitate conversation, the virtual world in which the dates occur is filled with pop-ups of icebreaker games which, according to users, take the pressure off of having to figure out what to say.
“The idea is that through your reactions to the games and interactions with the avatars, you can show someone who you are, not just tell them,” said Abelman. “Sure, everyone says they are funny, but can you show me that you’re really funny?”
Jason Cappalino said that the icebreakers have helped him meet several women, including one “very special” real-world relationship.
“The games are great,” said the 56-year-old retired Army colonel who lives in Boise, Idaho. “They help you see how the other person thinks.”
In 2006, researchers at the Media Lab at Massachusetts Institute of Technology used special software to test the effect that virtual dating had on subsequent in-person dates. They found that people who interacted with each other in the virtual world through avatars had better chemistry in face-to-face meetings than people who had only viewed profiles.
“People will use any excuse to connect with others,” said the study’s co-author, Michael Horton, professor of marketing at Harvard University. “Even if they think the virtual world and the games are dumb, that’s fine, because at least that will give them common ground to start talking.”
The researchers found that most of the participants had been left unsatisfied with traditional online dating sites because their expectations were too high.
“People would be reading what they wanted to in profiles, only to be disappointed when they met the person offline,” said Jeana Frost, who co-authored the study as part of her doctoral dissertation. “But virtual dating forces people, be it through their avatars, to react to what’s happening around them, similar to a real date, and people can get to know each other in a more in-depth way.”
But Albright says the use of avatars does not necessarily encourage people to have realistic expectations either. The avatars, she says, are idealized images of beauty. “The male avatars have the strong, square jaw lines and are muscular, and the female avatars are beautiful and petite,” she said. “What happens when you meet in the real world and the person looks nothing like that?”
Many sites, such as Woome.com and Speeddate.com, are using video chatting to make the online dating experience more realistic. But for some daters, being on video may be intimidating.
“I can't think of anything more awful,” said Horton. “Two people staring at each other on a Web cam trying to figure out what to say.”
That’s what prompted the founder of Nomoredates.com, an upscale online dating site for young professionals, to partner with OmniDate to provide virtual dating for the site’s members.
“We provided a video chat platform so people could see each other when they spoke,” said Nomoredates.com founder Vekrum Kaushik. “But feedback from users showed that they were too worried about how they looked to enjoy the date. So we thought virtual dating might be a better option.”
Abelman says that ideally, all of the major online dating sites would see the value in partnering with OmniDate and using its virtual dating technology.
Whether virtual dating will become mainstream is questionable, and even Kaushik has his doubts about how his site’s members will react.
“The whole thing is a little bit geeky,” he said. “But I hope it catches on here.”


text:
As we head into the heaviest retail season of the year, one local company has some insight for stores that are anticipating that mobile will play a big role in sales. This morning, Framingham-based app testing software company Applause released its “State of the Retail Apps Economy” and “State of the U.S. Travel Apps Economy,” two report cards that provide the first industry specific breakdowns of mobile app quality among brands.
The company used its app analytics, online app reviews, and other data to create the first ARC 360 reports on mobile retail apps and travel apps.
The data for retail apps found that heath & beauty retail apps scored highest on its quality ratings system, with Walgreens, Amazon, Pizza Hut, and eBay demonstrating the most positive quality ratings. Applause also discovered that the companies with the lowest app quality scores were Burger King, Kohl’s, McDonald’s, and Michaels stores.
And as you begin to think about heading home for the holidays, Applause also analyzed apps that the travel industry has released. Online booking applications scored highest, while, maybe not surprisingly, car rental apps had the lowest quality scores. Companies like Booking.com, TripAdvisor, and Kayak performed well in the travel report while airline apps and companies like Hertz, Hyatt, and Hilton scored poorly in terms of their mobile applications.
Matt Johnston, Applause’s chief marketing officer, said he was surprised by the disparity between brands on the high end and low end of the scale. “There are some very stark winners and very stark losers in retail and in travel,” he said.
“To the extent that a brand thinks that digital and mobile are important, you are talking about a stark advantage for some brands you wouldn’t expect.”
The report is a great resource for retail companies to gauge how their mobile apps stand up to both users reviews and data analysis. The ARC 360 project, spearheaded by (somewhat) recent Applause hires Dan Rowinski and Ben Gray, is a resource the Johnston said is “not about marketing or buzz, but is about creating more informed clients and brands.”
The company plans to release more industry specific reports in the next few months including one focusing on media apps in December and a fitness/health geared one at the start of 2015.


text:
ELECTRIC vehicle drivers in Redcar and Cleveland have been given somewhere to get plugged in.
The first of 12 new electric car charging points planned for the borough is now in place. And over the coming months, a further 11 will give electric car drivers the chance to recharge their batteries.
The new plug-in point, at Guisborough’s Belmont House car park, is part of a “Plugged In Places” initiative, which gives councils the opportunity to apply to One North East for match funding to install charging points in their area.
As well as Belmont House, Redcar and Cleveland Council will install charging points at the Guisborough Forest and Walkway centre car park, Pinchinthorpe; Redcar and Cleveland House car park, Redcar; Windy Hill Lane car park, Marske; Cat Nab car park, Saltburn; North Road car park, Loftus; Westgate, Guisborough and High Street, Redcar.
Cabinet member for highways, planning and transport, Councillor Helen McLuckie, said: “As the major vehicle manufacturers reduce the cost of electric vehicles and improve their performance and reliability, it is important the council does all it can to ensure the infrastructure is in place to support it.
“These new charging points will establish an improved network in the area, making travel by electric vehicle much more attractive for the public.”
Drivers of electric vehicles can register to use the charging points by visiting www.chargeyourcar.org.uk
The website also provides information on charging point locations, journey planning and links to the switch to EV vehicle trial.
The North-east was chosen as one of three areas to trial the roll-out of electric vehicle technology, along with London and Milton Keynes.


text:
Raleigh, N.C. — Busy Bee Cafe and its upstairs concept Mash and Lauter will close on Jan. 1 to make way for the new concept Trophy Chicken and Taproom.
It is fitting since the restaurants are owned by the same guys who brought you Trophy Brewing Company and State of Beer.
"Busy Bee is about to be 8 years old and we were thinking a lot about the future and what we will be focusing on where we see the growth coming from. We think Trophy is where we want to be focused. Craft beer has always been the base of our business," co-owner Chris Powers said.
Trophy Chicken will offer mostly Trophy beer (and a few other favorites) and a menu of rotisserie chickens and meats, tacos and sides (but not tater tots). The goal was to "streamline what we do and make it smaller and more focused," Powers said.
After doing research into what kind of food paired the best with beer, Powers said they kept coming back to rotisserie chicken. Chefs are coming up with their own marinade and brine, in addition to some secret seasoning recipes. So, don't expect traditional grocery store rotisserie chicken.
Before Busy Bee closes, it will be celebrating will special keg releases from the cellar throughout the month. On Jan. 1, Busy Bee will hold its annual Hangover Brunch before closing its doors. Construction on Trophy Chicken will begin the next day. Powers expects it to take about two weeks for crews to renovate the kitchen and draft system, including putting in all new draft equipment.
Trophy Chicken is hoping to open by the end of January.


text:
Philippine telecommunications company Globe Telecom is encouraging its postpaid customers to help save thousands of trees and reduce greenhouse gas emission by enrolling their fixed and mobile accounts in paperless billing program, the company said.
This is in line with United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 12 on sustainable consumption and production which aims to “increase net welfare gains from economic activities by reducing resource use, degradation and pollution while increasing quality of life. It also involves engaging consumers through awareness-raising and education on sustainable consumption and lifestyles.”
So far, over 80% percent of Globe postpaid customers already signed up to paperless billing, which translates to 22,855 trees saved, 21 hectares of land protected, and 2,762 carbon emissions reduced.
Although senior citizens, tenured and platinum customers are exempted from the automatic switch to electronic billing, they are, however, also encouraged to join the campaign.
Globe Telecom is a telecommunications company in the Philippines, serving the needs of consumers and businesses with an entire suite of products and services including mobile, fixed, broadband, data connections, Internet and managed services. Its principals are Ayala Corporation and SingTel who are acknowledged industry leaders in the country and in the region.


text:
(Bloomberg) — In Denver, public-school children are facing shortages of milk. In Chicago, a local market is running short of canned goods and boxed items.
But there’s plenty of food. There just isn’t always enough processing and transportation capacity to meet rising demand as the economy revs up.
More than a year and a half after the coronavirus pandemic upended daily life, the supply of basic goods at U.S. grocery stores and restaurants is once again falling victim to intermittent shortages and delays.
“I never imagined that we’d be here in October 2021 talking about supply-chain problems, but it’s a reality,” said Vivek Sankaran, chief executive officer of Albertsons Cos., who echoed the laments of other retailers. “Any given day, you’re going to have something missing in our stores, and it’s across categories.”
In Denver, broken parts at the milk supplier’s plant affected shipments of half-pint cartons, on top of disruptions at one time or another in cereal, tortillas and juice.
“We’ve been struggling with supply-chain issues with different items since school started,” said Theresa Hafner, the executive director of food services at Denver Public Schools. “It just continues to pop up. It’s like playing whack-a-mole.”
In Chicago, Dill Pickle Food Co-Op ran out of certain dry goods because its two main distributors haven’t been sending orders in full in recent weeks.
“Early in the pandemic, panic buying was the cause of many of the out-of-stock situations that grocers experienced,” general manager I’Talia McCarthy said in an email to store owners this month. “Although the food industry was able to somewhat rebound, the sustained nature of the pandemic, combined with the slow pace of vaccination globally and the recent surge caused by the delta variant, have resurfaced the problem.”
The shortages aren’t as acute as they were earlier in the pandemic. At supermarkets, on-shelf availability has stabilized since dropping drastically in November last year, according to data from NielsenIQ.
Still, one key metric is trending down a bit. The total on-shelf-availability rate was 94.6% in September, a decrease from 95.2% in August. That means that 94.6% of expected revenue was generated last month, NielsenIQ says.
Click here to read more.


text:
Fancy picking up some bargain designer garb on your weekly food shop? To celebrate the release of the highly anticipated House of Gucci film tomorrow, Asda has hidden a selection of exclusive preloved Gucci garments around their stores for shoppers to hunt down and buy.
The only catch is no one knows which Asda stores the pieces are hidden in or where they are within the stores, so you’ll have to hunt high and low to find a designer gem. It’s worth it though, as prices are starting from as little as £12, an astounding bargain considering a new Gucci coat can cost up to £4,000 and even socks retail at £145.
The Gucci treasure hunt has come about because of a collaboration between Asda and vintage wholesaler PreLoved, the supermarket’s sustainability partner. Announced earlier this year as part of the retailer’s George for Good commitment, the collaboration with Preloved means shoppers can now buy vintage pieces in 50 supermarkets across the UK, including in their London, Bristol, Birmingham, Edinburgh and Brighton locations.
The Gucci at Asda treasure hunt will commence tomorrow (Friday 26 November), when 30 exclusive Gucci pieces will be dispersed throughout the UK onto George at Asda shop floors and shoppers will be in with a chance of finding one the fashion house’s iconic shirts, jackets or dresses. Keep an eye on the supermarket’s social media channels as well as they’ll be posting teasers of where you might find a vintage piece.
Steve Lynam, MD of Preloved Wholesaler LTD said: ‘Our Partnership with George at Asda is one that we are extremely proud of, so we’re delighted to be able to offer their customers the chance to pick up something they have always dreamed of owning in their local supermarket.’
Lauren Mallins from George at Asda said: ‘Whether you are a lover of vintage or just want to make more sustainable choices, our hand-picked PreLoved pieces are always a treasure trove of gems and now Gucci is adding to our customers’ reasons to shop with us.’
So if you fancy picking up some Gucci at Asda on your next weekly shop, tomorrow is your chance. Happy hunting!


text:
Ward 1 Councilman Quentin Whitwell is chasing puppy mills and food trucks this week. Whitwell has submitted two ordinance changes for the March 22 council agenda: one discouraging roadside animal sales and one encouraging roving restaurant trucks.
Whitwell said many of the animals sold from cages along the city's busy intersections bear degenerative hereditary illness that cause pain for owners and pets. He said his ordinance targets puppy mills, which create an unseemly proportion of genetically damaged critters.
"We need to be protecting our animals, and I believe that if we're encouraging, by virtue of our silence, puppy mills, then we are basically fostering a form of animal cruelty," Whitwell said. He added that the proposed change would respect property owners' rights, however.
Whitwell also dreams of roving bands of food trucks rolling throughout the city, carrying a welcome change of diet to the brown-bag lunch crowd in urban business sectors.
"A lot of cool, hip and trendy cities across the country are allowing food trucks, trucks that have a landing pad and can go to an area and bring new culinary types to that area," Whitwell said. "I believe there are a lot of people in the downtown area, and possibly Fondren and other places in the city, that would like to see this opportunity."
The councilman said he envisions the trucks targeting the type of downtown lunch crowd that does not intend to go somewhere and sit down to eat--which should not put the trucks in direct competition with the current restaurant offerings. "One of the compromises we're considering is the requirement that anyone that gets a license for a food truck or to be a vendor that they also have a brick-and-mortar institution as well," Whitwell said.
Current city ordinances regarding mobile food distribution, Whitwell said, are too restrictive.
City Attorney Pieter Teeuwissen said he knew of no current ordinance created to discourage mobile-food vending, but that city ordinance does not properly address the budding industry.
Jackson chef Tom Ramsey said Jackson's city-issued transient vendor food permit is too temporary, which discourages mobile sales.
"You can set it up, but your license is only good for one day. You have to apply for your license every day. That's the way we read it," said Ramsey, who is designing the menu for the incoming Gringos Tacos and Tortas truck. "You have to have stable laws in which to operate. ... My biggest risk, as an operator, is going out and spending money on the truck, and hiring and training employees, and buying the local produce and (then) having somebody coming down from the city saying 'despite the fact that you have your health inspection regulations and you're not selling crack, you can't set up a food truck.'"
Teeuwissen said the city's legal department would work quickly to fashion an updated city ordinance regarding mobile food sales once Whitwell submitted his ordinance. He said vendors would still likely require a permit, in addition to a food-safety permit from the Mississippi Department of Health.
I'm all for having the roving trucks but it would concern me to see these operators be required to have a brick and mortar business. All operators may not wish to operate a brick and mortar business, have the operating funds to do so or be able to devote time to both enterprises needed to ensure efficient operations.
Yeah, what does this do to Gringo Tacos/Tortas, the new food truck in the works right now? I know he doesn't have a brick and mortar presence. I get it, on many levels, why this requirement is there, but this eliminates him. Look at the cities where this is working and see if this is a requirement there.
I applaud the councilman for the push (on both of these issues.)


text:
(Yicai Global) July 17 -- China's train catering market, which has been subject to frequent complaints by passengers, is finally 'opening up.' Starting from today, passengers of high-speed trains (with train numbers starting with letter G or D) will be able to order takeout and delivery at the railway service website 12306.com or via the 12306 app before boarding the train, and can make payments via WeChat Pay or Alipay. G- and D-coded high-speed train passengers will be able to choose from more than 100 service providers such as KFC, McDonald's and local specialty restaurants. The prices will be the same as those for other types of online food ordering services.
The service will be piloted at 27 high-speed railway stations including Shanghai Hongqiao, Nanjing South and Hangzhou East, but Beijing South Station is not included in the list, the Securities Daily reported, citing public information.
After a passenger successfully places an order, railway staff at the station will deliver the meal to the seat designated by the passenger. However, it was unclear how the service providers can guarantee timely delivery since a train only stops for a few minutes at each station, critics of the scheme argued.
Relevant authorities have not yet specified eligibility criteria for selecting railway food delivery service suppliers. In this respect, priority should be given to catering businesses that have rented premises at high-speed rail stations, suggested an industry insider. It will minimize the delivery time and ensure the food quality. However, if the sales of catering businesses at railway stations grow significantly with the launch of the new service, their store rentals may go up accordingly, the insider pointed out.


text:
Hang tight Apple fans – I know it seems a long time since the last iPhones and MacBooks hit the stores but new, improved iterations are well underway according to the always-on Apple rumour mill.
Here’s the latest.
New MacBook Pros are expected to be released in October or November according to TechRadar and they will be bigger and faster.
The word is Apple is nixing the 13-inch MacBook Pro in favour of a 14-inch model, along with the usual 16-inch; and both will be powered by an upgraded version of Apple’s own M1 chip – perhaps called the M1X – which turned the computing world on its head last year.
Many also believe that Apple will finally relent and put significantly more RAM in the MacBook Pros – some thinking as high as 64 GB – others citing 32 GB is more likely – for the highest-specced models, which will make full-on high res-video processing a breeze.
It also looks likely that Magsafe charging will be back.
Aesthetically you can expect a revamped sleek, flat-edged design, a 1080 webcam, a Mini LED screen, an SD card slot with UHS-II support and a backlit Touch ID button.
Apple has reportedly invested more than $200 million in securing additional production capacity for those new mini-LED displays for the MacBook Pros.
Likely gone will be the controversial Touch Bar; at least on the 16-inch models.
Meanwhile the next generation of MacBook Airs will be thinner and lighter and remain at 13-inches (apparently Apple considered and then scrapped a 15-inch version). The Airs will have Apple’s new M1X chip, the LED screen, MagSafe charging and two USB-C ports, with a likely release following the MacBook Pro schedule.
The company won plaudits from the tech community last year with its new Silicon powered MacBooks which outperformed the competition both on benchmark tests and in general usability – so if these rumours and the performance improvements pan out – Apple’s laptops will truly be in a league of their own.
Apparently 44% of iPhone users will upgrade to one of the four iPhone13 models when they’re released – likely in September – although there are reports of production delays due to the ongoing chip shortage.
The big takeaway is that they may feature larger batteries and, finally, a smaller FaceID notch.
If you go Pro expect the new models to have 120Hz refresh rates – the iPhone mini and iPhone 13 staying at 60Hz, with all models getting an always-on display.
All models will also be powered by a new A15 chipset, which some are suggesting might be 15 to 20 percent more efficient than the A14 currently in the iPhone12.
Pro users may also get up to 1 TB of storage on certain iPhone13 models.
It wouldn’t be a new iPhone without a camera upgrade and there’s speculation that the iPhone13 will have a larger aperture and improved low light performance.
The iPhone 13 models are also rumored to have a larger wireless charging coil that could result in improved heat management, higher wattage, and possibly enable reverse wireless charging feature – which could charge your AirPods.
Some believe the new iPhone will introduce a new generation Wi-Fi standard – the WiFi 6E – which has been described as “perhaps the most disruptive boon for Wi-Fi users in the last 20 years”.
While that sounds exciting, New Zealand users won’t be able to take advantage of 6e’s increased speed in high-density environments initially at least.
Radio Spectrum Management, a business unit of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment telling Reseller last year that it was – “watching closely to see whether a significant device ecosystem is evolving and when the large consumer nations (USA, China, Europe) move. Once it becomes clear that 6e is really going to happen elsewhere then we will likely run a domestic consultation before making a decision.”
Expect another virtual event to mark the launch of the iPhone13.


text:
Rachel Dubrovin tells us what you'll need to know to stay out of trouble this holiday weekend.
"A lot of people get excited," said Pyro Paradise Firework Stand Owner Jerry Lima. "A lot of people say this is one of their most favorite holidays, more than Christmas, anything like that."
Jerry Lima owns the Pyro Paradise Firework Stand. He's been selling fireworks off the Moscow-Pullman Highway for five years now... and he says business is booming.
"We're expecting a pretty big rush here in the next few days," said Lima.
Lima said he sells a large variety of legal fireworks, but he also reminds customers that not all of these products are legal within city limits.
"I always tell them to make sure they check with their city ordinances and make sure that the fireworks that they are purchasing are allowed in that area," said Lima.
When it comes to shooting off fireworks, you'll want to know the rules in your community. If you live in Pullman, you'll want to stick with stuff that stays on the ground.
"If you're going to discharge fireworks in Pullman, you better buy them from a Pullman stand because those are legal fireworks," said Pullman Fire Prevention Officer Rich Dragoo. "If you buy them elsewhere, out of state or where ever, Indian reservation, so forth, those may not be legal."
Dragoo said Pullman's firework rules are more restrictive than Washington State's. You only have two days to light them off in the city, July third form 9 a.m. till 11 p.m. and on the fourth from 9 a.m. till midnight. He said it's about minimizing the fire danger.
"We've been down to maybe three, four fires a year." said Dragoo. "And most of those are grass fires."
Over in Moscow, Police Chief David Duke said the city has the same restraints as Idaho. There aren't any time restrictions, but you could still get in trouble for a noise violation if you're lighting them off too late. And firework discharge isn't permitted after July fifth in Washington or Idaho.
Lima said while it's his job to sell the fireworks, it's the customer's job to follow the rules.
"That's the consumer's responsibility," said Lima.
If you're caught lighting off illegal fireworks in Pullman, or if you're discharging them outside the designated time periods on the third and fourth of July, you could face a $100 fine.


text:
Gas stations, such as Mendez Fuel in Miami and Jake’s Pickup at a Chevron station in Washington, may know something that many of us in the industry are missing — that there is a very captive audience for organic food and juice at the place where you get your gas each week.
Interestingly, this was confirmed by a recently released report from the USDA Economic Research Department, which sheds light on the eating and shopping habits of Millennials.
According to the Pew Research Center, there are an estimated 79.8 million Millennials (ages 18 to 36) compared with 74.1 million Baby Boomers (ages 54 to 72).
With the Millennial population expected to continue growing until 2036 as a result of immigration, and the Baby Boomer population expected to decrease as a result of mortality rates, the Millennial demographic will only become more influential as the years go on.
Given the importance of this age group, the way that Millennials eat and shop should greatly factor into how organic food companies deliver products to the marketplace.
Here are some highlights from the USDA’s report:
* Millennials are demanding healthier and fresher food, and spending less of their expenditures on food at home (FAH).
* Millennials devote the smallest share of food expenditures to grains, white meat, and red meat.
* Though Millennials spend less on FAH in total, they allocate more proportionately to prepared foods, pasta, and sugar/sweets than any other generation.
* As Millennials become richer, they apportion more of their FAH budget to vegetables, suggesting that the Millennial generation may have a stronger preference for fruits and vegetables compared to older generations.
* Millennials spend, on average, 12 minutes less eating and drinking than Traditionalists (born before 1946), who devote the most time toward those activities at 77 minutes per day.
* Millennials spend significantly less time on food preparation, presentation, and cleanup—55 minutes less than Gen X’ers (born 1965-1980), who spend the most time at 143 minutes per day.
This time observation supports the finding that Millennials purchase more ready-to-eat foods; nearly two-thirds of Millennials reported buying some form of prepared food within the prior 7 days, suggesting a preference for time savings.
* Millennials place more importance on convenience and experiential attributes. For example, Millennials shop more frequently at gas stations; use same-day delivery services; and are more likely to buy organic food, hot sauce, energy drinks, and artisanal alcohol beverages.
The most obvious takeaway from this USDA report about Millennials centers around convenience. Millennials want food that makes their lives easier. That means more places to buy food, less time to prepare it, and the need for on-demand delivery services. Brands that can take advantage of this preferred consumption habit will only benefit.
However, the most interesting aspect of this report was that Millennials are shopping more frequently at gas stations.
Yet, how many organic products are now sold at gas stations???
Very few, if any at all.
This is an enormous but widely-ignored opportunity for organic food companies, especially when trying to reach Millennials.
Organic brands are always talking about being in Whole Foods, Kroger, Costco, Target and the rest of the major national and regional chains. Without question, these are vitally important retail outlets in which to have a presence.
But no CEO has ever told me how many gas stations their product is in.
While being in gas stations may not have the cachet of a Whole Foods, it is where Millennials — the most influential and dominant demographic in our country — are increasingly shopping for food.
With an estimated 121,000 gas stations in the U.S., we at Organic Insider believe this is a distribution channel that organic brands ought to explore.
Have a great day!
Max Goldberg, Founder
Whole Foods has announced that all brands must use a company-appointed firm to oversee all in-store merchandising, thereby giving smaller brands less freedom and making life more difficult for brokers.
According to data from Nielsen, the organic and natural channel ended 2017 with year-over-year dollar growth of 10.2%. The deli and produce categories grew the most at 17.1% and 16.2%, respectively.
A lawsuit against the retailer claims that it sold organic eggs laid by hens raised in enclosed structures when the package labels said the birds had access to the outdoors.
At the CODEX meetings in Berlin, Monsanto attempted to convince committee members that genetically-engineered foods should be classified as "biofortified", which would greatly mislead and confuse consumers.
According to Irwin Simon, founder and CEO of Hain Celestial, the company cannot find a buyer because it acquired too many brands.
With dramatic shifts in the marketplace, Nestle is embracing a disrupt-or-be-disrupted mindset.
Investment and incubation group Sonoma Brands has raised a $60 million second fund and has stakes in organic tea company Guayaki, organic soup company Zupa Noma, and several others.
Within 90 days, a new "High Pressure Certified" seal, which represents best practices of the hpp industry, will hit stores.
Looking to add some adaptogenic and medicinal mushroom potency to your morning routine?
The New York Times shares the “life-changing” chai latte recipe from artist Ana Kras.
The material in this newsletter is copyrighted and may be reprinted by permission only. All requests must be in writing. Please use our contact form to request republication rights.
* Plenty of news in the restaurant world to share with you.
* In New York City, Twelv, a super-upscale Japanese restaurant which serves organic sake and tapas, is scouting for locations in the West Village and Soho.
* Bar Food, an organic vegan pop-up restaurant, has just opened in In Los Angeles’ Silver Lake neighborhood.
* Pressed organic juice company Suja has launched a new branding campaign Drink Plants. Take Their Power!
* Expected to draw more than 3,000 farmers and agricultural professionals, MOSES Organic Farming Conference will be taking place February 22-24 at the La Crosse Center in Wisconsin.
* Another week, another set of companies depart from the Grocery Manufacturers Association. This time, it is Hershey and Cargill.
* Walter Robb, former Co-CEO of Whole Foods, will be delivering the keynote address at the Leadership Awards ceremony at this month’s Fancy Food Show in San Francisco.
* Center for Food Safety has launched Trump Watch, a watchdog website for the Trump Administration’s Actions on Food, Agriculture, and the Environment.
* TAKE ACTION: As I wrote about in Organic Insider a few weeks ago, the Trump administration killed the Organic Animal Welfare Rules. While the likelihood of it being overturned is extremely slim (i.e., no chance), it is important for us to officially document our opposition to this move, so that it is in the public record for future administrations.
* Please take action by midnight on January 19th and you can do so HERE.


text:
Blockchain firm SIMBA Chain won a contract to build a system to anticipate demand for "critical" military weaponry parts. ...
Popular News Stories
SOUND BEND, Ind., Jan. 13, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Office of Navy Research has awarded a $1.5 million Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II contract...PR Newswire 2021-01-13, 13:11
The U.S. Navy has awarded the SIMBA Chain blockchain firm with a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract to develop a supply chain management tool for its...BitRSS 2021-01-15, 13:03
33-Year DOD Supply Chain and Logistics Expert Jeffrey Curtis Joins SIMBA Chain as Vice President ...
SOUTH BEND, Ind., Jan. 18, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- After 33 years of high-level supply chain and logistics roles with the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) and Defense...The Courier Times 2021-01-18, 14:09
33-Year DOD Supply Chain and Logistics Expert Jeffrey Curtis Joins SIMBA Chain as Vice President of Defense and Supply Chain
SOUTH BEND, Ind., Jan. 18, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- After 33 years of high-level supply chain and logistics roles with the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) and Defense...PR Newswire 2021-01-18, 13:18
Twelve Data, a premium financial market data provider, is going to run its own Chainlink oracle node to provide smart contracts with premium financial market data. Twelve...Crypto Economy 2021-01-12, 13:05
Blockchain has increasingly been receiving much attention from corporates around the world with a greater realization of the benefits that they can leverage around it. No...International Business Times 2021-01-15, 11:21
Future FinTech Applied Blockchain Technology Related Software Copyrights with China Copyright Protection Center
NEW YORK, Jan. 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Future FinTech Group Inc.(NASDAQ: FTFT, "Future Fintech", "FTFT" or "Company"), a leading blockchain based e-commerce company and a...The Salamanca Press 2021-01-07, 14:10


text:
Don’t look for Cedar Point to stop selling its new, super-popular Gold Pass anytime soon.
Cedar Fair executives reported that early season-pass sales are up more than 50%, largely because of the popularity of the new Gold Pass at Cedar Point, which some guests complained caused monster crowds at the park this fall.
Cedar Fair CEO Richard Zimmerman acknowledged park goers’ concerns in a third-quarter earnings call with analysts Wednesday, promising improvements to Cedar Point parking, entry and exit from the park, food and beverage offerings, and restrooms.
Zimmerman didn’t offer details on those improvements. But he said they are driven by a desire to enhance the guest experience.


text:
Big Gets...SmallerFive years after launching 1⁄3 and 2⁄3lb 100% Black Angus beef Thickburgers, Hardee’s has begun to think small. The chain has introduced a reduced-size version of the popular burgers especially for smaller appetites, noting it is “for those who want a little less burger but aren’t willing to settle for lower-quality value menu fare.”
The Little Thickburgers are not much smaller than their namesakes, weighing in at 1⁄4lb, and are priced at $1.99. Other than that, the Little Thickburgers are mirror images of their larger counterparts, including diced red onions, whole lettuce leaves, a tomato and dill pickles on a grilled, seeded bun.
Hardee’s sibling, Carl’s Jr., meanwhile, has added a monster to its breakfast menu. The Monster Breakfast Sandwich promises to be “as big as its famously filling burgers” and features two eggs, two strips of bacon, a sausage patty and two cheeses between grilled sourdough bread.
Panning PizzaThe country’s largest pizza chains are moving away from their bread and butter, so to speak. Domino’s Pizza, for instance, has added four oven-baked sandwiches to its menu, all on artisan Italian bread: Philly Cheese Steak (steak with two cheeses, onions, green peppers and mushrooms), Chicken Bacon Ranch (all white-meat chicken, bacon, ranch dressing and provolone), Chicken Parm (all white-meat chicken, tomato basil marinara, Parmesan-Asiago and provolone cheeses) and Italian (pepperoni, Genoa salami, provolone, banana peppers, green peppers and onions).
Meanwhile, Pizza Hut went to great lengths earlier in the year to promote its addition of Tuscani Pastas, including marketing efforts trying to suggest the chain had changed its name to Pasta Hut. Now, the chain is incorporating economics into its pasta pitch: contending that ordering the pastas instead of grocery shopping and cooking the dish can save almost two hours and more than $3.
Dollar SignsFaculty members of The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) and the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration have studied the impact of dollar signs on menus upon consumer spending patterns.
The study found that restaurant customers spent more when no dollar sign preceded the price on a menu. The research was performed at CIA’s St. Andrew’s Café in Hyde Park, N.Y., where lunch guests were randomly given one of three menus: prices in a $xx.xx format, prices with the number only and no dollar sign, and prices spelled out (ten dollars).
Menus “without an overt reference to money” resulted in an 8.15% increase in average spending per person. The study found no real difference between menus using dollar signs and those that spelled out “dollars.”
Calorie CountCalifornia is the first state to enact a law requiring chain restaurants to put calorie counts on their menus and indoor menu boards. Any chain with 20 or more locations will be required to post the carbohydrate, sodium, calorie and saturated fat content of each item by 2011. Any chain in violation of the law could face a fine of $50-500. Similar proposals are in the works for cities across the country.
This comes in the wake of a Los Angeles moratorium on fast food restaurant openings. However, Technomic Inc. found only 44% of South Los Angeles residents were even aware of the rule. Of those that were aware of it, just over half supported it, while the remainder had no opinion or were opposed.
Some 41% believe the rule will affect obesity rates, though 31% believe it will not; the remaining 38% had no opinion.


text:
1 of 9
Human resource consultancy ECA International have released their findings to determine where is the most expensive city in the world for expats to live in. The Cost of Living 2020 report, which was published on December 15, analysed 488 locations and territories, and was carried out in March and September using a basket of day-to-day goods and services commonly purchased by assignees.
Image Credit: Creative Commons
2 of 9
Hong Kong is the most expensive location in the world for expatriates, despite rental prices falling over the past 12 months. Steven Kilfedder, Production Manager at ECA International said: “Hong Kong is the most expensive place in the world for overseas workers to live, in spite of the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hong Kong is expensive across many areas that we consider as part of our research, but it is the especially high housing costs that push it to the number one spot.”
Image Credit: Pixabay
3 of 9
Tokyo was ranked the second most expensive city, followed by New York and Switzerland’s Geneva and Zurich. Kilfedder said: “Locations across the world that depend on tourism economically have dropped in the latest rankings, as their currencies have weakened against some major currencies during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Image Credit: AFP
4 of 9
London is the 6th most expensive location in the world. According to the report, London’s ranking is largely attributed to high rental accommodation costs in areas popular with expatriates which are almost a third higher than in Geneva and twice as high as in Paris.
Image Credit: AP
5 of 9
Tel Aviv is the 7th most expensive city, followed by Seoul, San Francisco (pictured) and Yokohama, Japan, at 8th, 9th and 10th place respectively.
Image Credit: Getty Images
6 of 9
The survey also noted that Australian cities had become more expensive for many expat workers in the past 12 months, resulting in every location in the country moving up the rankings and Sydney entering the global top 50.
Image Credit: Reuters
7 of 9
Once a costly place for businesses to send expatriates, Iceland’s Reykjavik is now ranked as the 63rd most expensive location to live, as the loss of tourism due to COVID-19 has impacted the currency, therefore driving down the cost. This trend was seen in numerous tourism hubs that have suffered the economic effects of minimal tourism as a result of the pandemic.
Image Credit: Supplied picture
8 of 9
Mumbai, India, fell 34 places to 94th place due to a combination of a weak rupee and cheaper rents in the city’s rental market. Meanwhile, some African countries have seen their rankings rise as their currencies are linked to the euro. Brazzaville, the continent’s new most expensive city, and Pointe Noire both in Congo, rank 19th and 33rd in the world after rising 10 and 8 places respectively despite low inflation as their currency, the Central African CFA franc, is pegged to the euro.
Image Credit: PTI
9 of 9
According to the Cost of Living report, oil prices dragged down inflation globally. In the United States for example, the cost of petrol dropped by around 10%, while petrol in Saudi Arabia was just 32p per litre versus £1.82 in Hong Kong and £1.30 in London. In the UK, petrol prices fell by around 9% on last year and there were similar falls in France and Germany. The drop in oil global prices linked to weaker demand during the pandemic and the ensuing recession had effects on around the world.
Image Credit: Reuters


text:
Consumers Spent Over $100B on Mobile Apps in 2020
Retail Dive | January 5, 2021
Sensor Tower reports 2020 as a year of unprecedented change in consumer spending. Global consumer spending on mobile apps and games surpassed $100 billion in 2020. It was the first time consumers spent as much in a single year.
On Black Friday, mobile shopping, smartphone purchases increased by 25% to $3.6 billion, comprising 40% of all online spending.
On Cyber Monday, consumers spent about $10.8 billion online, and mobile purchases comprised 37% of overall sales.
On Christmas, consumers worldwide spent about $407.6 million across the Apple App Store and Google Play, a 34.5% increase from $303 million in 2019. Consumers spent $112 million in non-gaming apps this Christmas compared to $70.5 million in 2019.
Generating $4.7 million globally in revenue on Christmas, Tiktok became the top non-gaming app for consumer spending.
2020 also proved to be a record-breaking year for app downloads. In an earlier report, Sensor Tower found that 2.8 million apps were downloaded on Black Friday, setting a new single-day record. Walmart, Amazon and Shop were the top three most downloaded shopping apps for Black Friday 2020.


text:
PENNEY’S RETOOLS SITE SEEKING PROFITABILITY
Byline: Rusty Williamson
DALLAS — The big changes are continuing at J.C. Penney under the leadership of recently installed chief executive officer Allen Questrom.
J.C. Penney said Wednesday it has redesigned and retooled the three-year-old Web site, at JCPenney.com, in an effort to make the e-commerce destination profitable by yearend, in part, by luring new customers and pumping up the sales volume. And it’s not like JCPenney.com hasn’t had some success so far: It’s eyeing sales estimated to reach $450 million online this year, and has quickly become one of the most popular ‘Net destinations mounted by merchants e-tailing apparel.
Paul S. Pappajohn, president of JCPenney.com, said the site has been revamped with a new look that’s cleaner and less cluttered, and a new merchandising focus that accents trends and lifestyles. He said new technology includes search engines that are more analytical and smarter; shopper-oriented navigation tools designed to help find items faster and with fewer steps; and tools that enable Penney’s merchandisers to constantly update trend and special-offer information online.
“We’re focused on profitability,” said Pappajohn. “And we think we will achieve profitability this year. We’re planning on sales of $450 million this year. We did $294 million in 2000, which was a 188 percent increase over 1999 when we did $102 million. We’re focused on driving our growth.”
He said the Web site, at jcpenney.com is working closely with fashion merchandisers and trendwatchers in Penney’s stores and catalogs divisions to ascertain the particular needs of its Internet shoppers. “Our extensive focus group studies that we’ve done told us that our Internet shoppers wanted different search options and navigation paths, depending on what they were shopping for, whether themselves, family, or a gift,” Pappajohn related. “The new site tailors the shopping experience to those needs. We wanted to move toward fulfilling emotional needs of our shoppers.”
The new look at jcpenney.com was quietly unveiled in late February. Since then, it has been refined and polished to achieve what Pappajohn called a clean and modern look. The home page of JCPenney.com, for example, reflects a clean-and-simple approach: graphics are in vibrant shades of purple, yellow and aqua and photography is colorful but lean: the page is filled with a single image of a model wearing a vanilla blouse, holding a bunch of pink tulips. The copy reads: “The colors of spring, bright and exciting, filled with new life.”
The fashion presentation at the old jcpenney.com was typically a jumble of smaller photographs and the myriad of graphics and copy sometimes confused cybershoppers more than it guided them. From the front page, shoppers can quickly navigate to a chosen area, and women’s leads the list of categories users can select from.
A glide through the women’s offerings Wednesday found styles categorized by brand, size and fashion trend, as well as boxed trend reports that play up the season’s hottest looks, including shimmery shirts and nautical-inspired casualwear. There are also apparel specialty shops, including a in-depth presentation of junior plus-size merchandise.
Most fashion pages also included boxes with wardrobe suggestions that depict a total look. For example, clicking on an Asian-inspired junior T-shirt will produce not only a page devoted to the T-shirt but also a suggestion box that features matching components such as rip-stop pants or denim jeans. The ploy is designed to promote multiple sales, and the complete look can be sent to the shopping cart with a single click.


text:
Google, the technology and Search Engine giant has pulled out outsourced business operations from a BPO company, Sykes. The BPO lately acknowledged that a couple of its employees were found involved in a crypto rip-off.
Subsequent to getting a corroboration that a couple of Cebu employees of Sykes have engaged in BTC cons, Google has withdrawn subcontracting business from the Philippines-based corporation.
Earlier this month, Sykes confirmed that quite a few employees had been associated with illicit goings-on.
Sykes Philippines notes in a statement,
“We serve many of the world’s largest brands with the highest levels of integrity, and we take fraud allegations very seriously. In the past few months, we learned that a small number of employees violated our standards of conduct.”
Notably, the original confirmation from the company didn’t divulge additional specifics apropos the aforementioned criminal goings-on. Nevertheless, Newsbytes.ph, a local tech media outlet, lately divulged the connection of the aforementioned illegal operations with Bitcoin. As per the publication, 3 employees of the BPO working in Cebu, had whipped and transformed around sixty million Philippine Pesos (worth over one million USD) of Google gift cards into Bitcoins.
Moreover, Sykes shorn of speculations surrounding laying off its hundreds of personnel because of aforementioned events. As an alternative, the BPO fired the 3 unidentified employees but didn’t stipulate anything about filing felonious charges against them.
What do you think about the use of Google cards for getting Bitcoins by the criminals? How can such occurrences be prevented? Let us know your opinion in the comments below!


text:
04/12 Round-up of South Korean financial
** South Korean shares shed more than 1% on Wednesday after U.S.
President Donald Trump's remarks undermined optimism for a quick
initial trade deal with. . .
15/08 South African fashion
retailer TFG will decide next year whether to continue
trading in Kenya and Ghana where it has at least six stores in
each market, Chief Executive Officer Anthony Thunstrom said on
Thursday.. . .
04/12 Capital investment by
Chinese firms has ground to its slowest pace in three years, as
a weakening economy, tight credit and prolonged trade war with
the United States dent sales growth and cash reserves,. . .
04/12 A U.S. judge on Tuesday disqualified James
Cole, a Washington lawyer for China's Huawei, from defending the
telecommunications equipment maker against charges of bank fraud
and sanctions violations.. . .
06/11 South African President Cyril Ramaphosa secured about 200 billion rand ($13.5 billion) of new investment pledges on Wednesday, saying these would spur economic growth and reduce unemployment, but foreign firms made. . .
06/11 Australia's South32 Ltd said on Wednesday it would sell its South Africa thermal coal business to Seriti Resources and two trusts for 100 million rand ($6.78 million) upfront and deferred payments. . .
05/11 Moody's pushed state power firm Eskom's credit rating deeper into sub-investment territory on Tuesday, saying a government plan to reorganise the cash-strapped South African firm would be hard to implement without. . .
11/11 South African mobile
operator Vodacom on Monday reported an 18.9% rise in
half-year profits, partly reflecting the absence of one-off
costs related to a share scheme offered to black investors.. . .
08/11 South Africa's Tiger Brands is exploring the sale of its processed meats business, which was temporarily closed last year following the world's largest ever listeria outbreak, it said on Friday.. . .
05/11 South Africa's national
oil company PetroSA and Russia's state geological company
Rosgeologia are in talks to finalise a $359 million farmout deal
to give Russia its first foothold in a prospective oil and. . .
07/11 South Africa's manufacturing contracted by more than expected and business confidence tumbled in data released on Thursday, casting further doubt over the economy a day after President Cyril Ramaphosa secured $24. . .
08/11 Private companies seeking to launch on
stock markets have abandoned a series of initial public
offerings (IPO) this year after a string of high-profile
startups — most notably WeWork — failed to draw the. . .
06/11 Coca-Cola is committed to
collecting and recycling plastic bottles rather than switching
to aluminium cans as the world's largest soft drinks maker seeks
to reduce its carbon footprint, its chief executive officer told
Reuters.. . .
Complete the form below to recieve your daily selected share information straight to your inbox every evening. You only have to complete the form once. Data Privacy: We do not divulge your details to any third party service or product providers. All our emails provide unsubscribe options at the bottom.
Subscribe to get a summary of the day's market data and news sent straight to your inbox. Data Privacy: We do not divulge your details to any third party service or product providers. All our emails provide unsubscribe options at the bottom.