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Industry innovators experience continued client growth and set new standards for the self-directed IRA industry.
January 22, 2014 -- The Entrust Group, Inc., a pioneer and acknowledged authority in self-direction, today announced its top stories for fiscal year 2013 and set a new standard for the self-directed IRA industry. Amid various media reports of increased investor interest in self-direction, The Entrust Group saw 14.62 percent net growth in new accounts in 2013. In addition to this growth, The Entrust Group launched innovative tools that provide individuals the ability to educate themselves and conduct alternative investment transactions at their convenience, from anywhere in the world.
"2013 brought about many great advances for The Entrust Group," states Entrust founder and CEO, Hubert Bromma. "Among them is the release of The Entrust Group myDirection Cards with our debit card-issuing partner, Citicorp. The first in the IRA industry, these Visa® prepaid cards allow for instant transactions, and can be used everywhere Visa debit cards are accepted. They perfectly exemplify our continued mission to help IRA holders take control of their retirement savings."
The Entrust Group myDirection Visa® Prepaid Cards
In an effort to meet the needs of today's tech-savvy and modern investors, The Entrust Group launched two Visa prepaid cards, The Entrust Group myDirection Cards. One card allows self-directed IRA investors to manage their accounts and purchase investments in real-time. The other provides retired IRA holders the ability to take distributions from their account, without fees, just by swiping the card.
Precious Metals IRA Trading Platform
Entrust helped launch the first fully automated, online physical precious metals IRA platform. "The introduction of a precious metals IRA trading platform has given investors the ability to open precious metals account online, but more importantly, buy, sell, and store physical precious metals via their computers," said Bromma.
Entrust Learning Center
An online hub of educational self-directed IRA resources, the Entrust Learning Center is accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for investors and financial, tax, and real estate professionals. From articles to reports to on-demand webinars to self-paced courses, the center is where individuals can look for help during their journey to retirement.
Online Approved Continuing Education Courses for CFPs and CA Real Estate Professionals
Through the Entrust Learning Center, The Entrust Group released the first-ever web-based self-directed IRA CE courses. The first two courses were launched to cater specifically to CFPs and California Real Estate Professionals, with an expanded library to come. Busy professionals no longer have to travel to complete CE courses on self-directed IRAs. They can gain the most up-to-date self-directed IRA education from anywhere in the world, at a time that fits their schedules.
"Our growth continues positively as a result of our advancements, specifically in the technology arena. But as we continue to move our products and services online, we are still able to keep our initial company model of providing direct, one-on-one client service. Our nationwide offices, staffed with professionals who know the industry, help sustain the support every self-directed IRA holder needs, " added Bromma.
For more information on The Entrust Group and to keep up to date on its latest news, visit www.theentrustgroup.com.


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MANA enters Canadian market with 14 pesticides
Growers can now look for a new look to old insecticide, herbicide and fungicide products.
May 4, 2009 By Bruce Barker
Off-patent products have equivalent active ingredients as original pesticides.
Growers can now look for a new look to old insecticide, herbicide and fungicide products. Makhteshim Agan of North America, Canada, Ltd. (MANA) has registered 14 off-patent products in Canada, and has several more waiting in the wings. Their products will offer an alternative to old standbys like Lorsban, Buctril M, and Tilt. “For growers, we will be offering an additional choice that will provide them with a competitive price. It might not always be the best price, but the products will be unbundled, so growers don’t have to purchase multiple products from one company and then wait for eight months for a rebate cheque,” explains Dale Kushner, commercial business manager for Canada, with MANA Canada in Calgary, Alberta. “They will also be able to pick the product with the best agronomic fit, without worrying about bundles.”
|MANA is bringing additional choices to the Canadian pesticide marketplace.
MANA Canada is an Israel-based company with headquarters in Calgary, Alberta. MANA is ranked seventh in global crop protection sales in 2007, behind Bayer CropScience, Syngenta, BASF, Dow AgroSciences, Monsanto and DuPont. Kushner points out that while MANA may be new to Canadians, it is a long-established company and has a well-known reputation as the fourth largest chemical manufacturer in Europe. “We have been doing registration work in Canada for the last seven years. Starting in 2007, we had enough products registered that we felt it was time to start marketing our products as a brand,” explains Kushner. He points out that United Agri-Products (UAP), which remains the exclusive distributor for MANA products, previously marketed several products.
Registration process requires major investment.
While registering an off-patent pesticide does not take the same investment as a new product, the process is rigorous nonetheless. The products must be reviewed and registered by the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) in Canada, a branch of Health Canada. The PMRA is currently switching over to a new process called Proprietary Product Information Protection (PPIP). Previously, Kushner says that registration of an off-patent product took two to three years. Under the new system, the hope is that new registrations will take 12 to 14 months, after the initial field trial work is completed.
To bring an off-patent product to market, MANA Canada, like all companies, must first prove that the active ingredient in their product is chemically equivalent to the patented product. Two years of efficacy data must also be submitted and the product must show equal or better performance as the existing product. A label must also be approved.
Finally, the applicant may have to compensate the original registrant for the basic data package, as determined by the PMRA. The total cost can easily exceed the million dollar mark. As a result, companies bringing off-patent products to market need to be serious players in the chemical industry.
Kushner says that MANA Canada is working on several more generic products, which may be registered in time for the 2009 application season.
MANA Canada joins several other generic manufacturers operating in Canada, including NuFarm Agriculture, Gowan Canada and Cheminova.

domain: news


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According to the OECD, Australian exports rose from 18 per cent of GDP to 21 per cent from 2004 to 2010, with a 23 per cent peak in 2008. Now, these numbers are not bad at all but compared to other nations in the OECD, there is definitely room for improvement.
Canada exports accounted for a third of its GDP over the same period, France’s exports are over a quarter of its economy, and even New Zealand exports more than Australia compared to its GDP. The only OECD countries to whom exports are lower are the US and Japan.
But with our gloomy economic environment, who can blame us? And yet it turns out that somehow, despite this, Australian SMEs are actually prolific exporters – particularly when they leverage the Internet and online marketplaces such as eBay.
Australian entrepreneurs that are looking for customers beyond the borders, are using the Internet to tear the barriers of geographical remoteness and the high Australian dollar. You know what they say; when the going gets tough, the tough get going.
Take, David O’Connor, the owner of Boots4all, for example. He sells 100 per cent Australian made boots. He has seen the market blossom beyond his local retail stores in Melbourne and Sydney, to an international level by listing on online marketplaces such as eBay.
In fact, a recent report commissioned by eBay revealed that 78 per cent of Australian businesses on eBay export, compared to only 3 percent of their traditional peers who have no online presence.
On top of that, on average, Australian commercial eBay sellers with export sales of $10,000 or more export to 28 destinations. That’s more export destinations than those in Germany and France, who closely border many more countries!
The report also found that eBay represents almost one in five of Australian retailers (with annual sales of $50,000-$200,000) so Australian SMEs clearly have quite a presence on eBay.
PayPal too recently released report into ‘modern spice routes’ which predicts that cross-border online shopping will contribute $5 billion to the Australian economy this year, and will increase to $16 billion by 2018.
The study found shoppers in China, the United States and the United Kingdom are most interested in buying our products. And in terms of year-on-year growth in Australian online retail exports, Thailand is the fastest growing market at a rate of 105 per cent, followed by Russia at 67 per cent and Israel at 55 per cent.
Furthermore, we have come to notice that as the companies that sell on the Internet grow, their product ranges tend to decline. They often find a niche where they have a competitive advantage and specialise.
Sassoon Grigorian is the Head of Policy, Asia Pacific at eBay.


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Chairman Hochberg will meet with government and business leaders in Cameroon, to discuss EXIM Bank financing opportunities for Sub-Sahara African businesses.
Chairman Hochberg will also attend World Economic Forum on Africa in Kigali, Rwanda, where he will participate in conference activities and engage strategic dialogues with African leaders in the public and private sectors.
ABOUT EX-IM BANK:
EXIM Bank is an independent federal agency that supports and maintains U.S. jobs by filling gaps in private export financing at no cost to American taxpayers. The Bank provides a variety of financing mechanisms, including working capital guarantees and export credit insurance, to promote the sale of U.S. goods and services abroad. Almost ninety percent of its transactions directly serve American small businesses.
In fiscal year 2015, EXIM Bank approved $12.4 billion in total authorizations. These authorizations supported an estimated $17 billion in U.S. export sales, as well as approximately 109,000 American jobs in communities across the country.


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(Bloomberg) — WIN: “Want Inflation Now”.
During her almost two years as head of the world’s most influential central bank, Janet Yellen has had a difficult time driving up one thing she directly controls: inflation.
Today’s lack of pricing power stands in stark contrast to the 1970s, when a soaring consumer prices prompted the Ford administration to launch a program known as WIN — “Whip Inflation Now”.
During Yellen’s tenure, the annual rate of change on prices has averaged 0.8 percent — far short of the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent target. Oil has fallen 69 percent since the end of January 2014, wages have been slow to accelerate and the dollar’s 22 percent rise has made imports cheaper.
Additionally, a host of technological disruptions — from Amazon to Uber — have helped curb pricing power. By giving consumers information on what they’ll have to pay for goods and services, these innovations are spurring competition to keep costs low.
While these forces are beyond the Fed’s control, the risk of inflation taking too long to return to target is starting to worry central bankers. Some officials called the decision to raise rates last month “a close call,” particularly given the uncertainty about inflation dynamics, according to minutes released Jan. 6.
Right now, the Fed’s strategy is to wait and hope the effects of cheap oil and import prices wash out. By the end of 2018, inflation will be back on target, their forecasts say.
But the waiting game has risks. A new, lower level of inflation expectations could become entrenched in the economy. What’s a central banker to do?
Fed officials could forgo another rate increase in March, a possibility reflected in futures markets where the probability of no change at that time is around 58 percent.
A pause would fuel expectations of a much slower series of rate hikes than the four that policy makers projected for 2016. Short- and long-term interest rates would drop, resulting in cheaper financing costs that could further stimulate demand in an economy where the jobless rate is already at a seven-year low of 5 percent.
Still, the strategy is riskier than it sounds. The Fed estimates the jobless rate that is consistent with steady price pressures is around 4.9 percent. Foot-dragging on interest rates while labor-market slack continues to diminish could mean Fed officials fall too far behind on their policy setting.
If inflation climbs faster than expected due to the pickup in demand, central bankers will have to raise rates at a quicker pace, “and that increases the risk of a recession,” said Laurence Meyer, a former Fed governor and president of LH Meyer Inc. in Washington.
Fed chairs typically steer clear of advising the legislative branch on spending. Yet if the monetary policy lever is less effective, fiscal expansion is an obvious choice, said Laurence Ball, an economics professor at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
“In the short run, to boost output, we need more demand, which means we need somebody to be spending more money,” Ball said. “The surefire way to have somebody spend money is to have the government spend it.”


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Microsoft continues its startup shopping spree with news it acquired Italian Internet of Things (IoT) firm Solair for an undisclosed amount.
Solair provides software for companies to connect all internet devices to a hub and a hardware gateway to interface with the cloud. Microsoft Azure IoT partner director, Sam George, said that Solair’s services will be integrated with the Azure IoT suite.
“Solair’s IoT customization and deployment solutions, built on Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform, are engineered to help businesses in any industry utilize IoT to run more efficiently and profitably,” said George. “For example, Solair has brought the power of IoT to Rancilio’s full line of espresso machines, allowing the Italian manufacturer to remotely monitor machines resulting in greater efficiency across the supply chain. Using the power of cloud-based data and analytics, Solair has helped Rancilio reduce costs and increase revenue.”
Microsoft on a buying spree
The acquisition is one of many for Microsoft under Satya Nadella, who has put a keen focus on the cloud. Earlier this year, Microsoft announced 140 percent growth in its Azure business, with 88 percent growth in cloud computing revenue.
“The integration of Solair’s technology into the Microsoft Azure IoT Suite will continue to enhance our complete IoT offering for the enterprise,” said George. “We’ll have more specifics to share about how Solair is helping us build the intelligent cloud in the future. In the meantime, I’d like to reiterate my welcome to the Solair team.”
Microsoft is competing with Amazon, Salesforce.com, Google, IBM, and a few other big names in the cloud computing business. Amazon is way ahead, at $10 billion in sales to Microsoft’s $6.3 billion, but the future of integrated systems and IoT makes it an open field where anyone with a smart idea and enough talent can take the lead.


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WASHINGTON—Tire manufacturers still are assessing the possible effects of 25 percent tariffs on tire-quality steel wire rod imports to the U.S., but all indications are that the impact could be sweeping.
Intensifying the effect on tire manufacturers and their steel cord suppliers are the antidumping and countervailing duties issued March 26 by the U.S. Department of Commerce.
The Commerce decision levied substantial antidumping and countervailing duties on 10 countries that export carbon and alloy steel wire rod to the U.S., including three that are major exporters of tire-grade steel rod.
Of these three, the duties are as follows:
- Spain: antidumping duties of 32.64 percent against ArcelorMittal Espana S.A., 11.08 percent against Global Steel Wire S.A./CELSA Atlantic S.A./Compania Espanola de Laminacion, and 11.08 against all others;
- South Korea: antidumping duties of 41.1 percent against POSCO and 41.1 percent against all others;
- The United Kingdom: antidumping duties of 147.63 percent against Long Steel U.K. Ltd., 147.63 percent against British Steel Ltd., and 147.63 percent against all others.
Commerce has directed Customs and Border Protection to begin collecting cash deposits from those steel rod importers. This is on top of President Trump's March 8 order establishing the steel tariffs, as well as 10 percent tariffs against most imported aluminum, after a year-long investigation under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962.
This means a massively skewed situation as to the barriers faced by tire-grade steel-importing countries, according to Kimberly Korbel, executive director of the American Wire Producers Association.
"Of the seven major countries that import tire-grade steel, Canada, Brazil and Germany are exempt from Section 232 and do not have antidumping or countervailing duties," Korbel said. "Japan is not exempt from Section 232, but it does not face duties. Spain, (South) Korea and the U.K. are facing both, unless the industry files for exemptions."
Brazil is the biggest exporter of tire-grade steel to the U.S., accounting for 56 percent of the total, the USTMA said.
This is followed by Japan (27 percent), South Korea (8 percent), Spain (4 percent), Germany (2 percent), the U.K. (2 percent) and Canada (0.03 percent), the U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association said.
Tire manufacturers asked about the duties all deferred to the USTMA for comment.
While the USTMA does not have specific information on how the new duties might affect steel wire rod imports, it is closely following the latest announcements from both the Commerce Department and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative regarding steel tariffs, it said.
"As the country exemption and product exclusion processes are ongoing, USTMA is unable to estimate the magnitude of the effects of these tariffs on domestic tire manufacturing," the association said.
Regarding the tariffs, the USTMA added that the administration granted South Korea an exclusion, but with quotas attached. Canada and Mexico received exclusions very soon after the tariffs were announced, while South Korea was included on a later exclusion list that also included Brazil, the European Union, Australia and Argentina.
"USTMA is cautiously optimistic that these countries will eventually gain permanent exemptions, and USTMA hopes the USTR will determine to also permanently exempt Japan," it said. "However, USTMA remains concerned these countries will have quotas placed on their imports similar to South Korea."
The Section 232 investigation coincided almost exactly with the antidumping and countervailing duty investigations before Commerce and the International Trade Commission. Four U.S. steel manufacturers filed petitions with the ITC March 28, 2017, alleging that they were suffering material injury because of carbon and alloy steel wire rod imports from Belarus, Italy, South Korea, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.
From the beginning of both investigations, organizations such as the USTMA and the American Wire Producers Association warned that tariffs and duties on imported steel wire rod could have dire consequences for U.S. industry.
Grade 1080 and higher steel wire rod, the quality needed for tire cord, is simply not manufactured in the U.S., the USTMA said multiple times during both investigations.
"Antidumping or countervailing duties on these products would have no impact on the petitioners' performance and sales, while significantly disrupting the production of tires in the U.S.," the USTMA said in a brief to the ITC dated Nov. 27, 2017. The association submitted the brief after an ITC hearing on steel wire rod tariffs.
The domestic tire industry's need for steel is massive and growing, according to the USTMA. In 2016 alone, the industry consumed 429,262 metric tons of tire cord and bead wire, according to a May 31, 2017, submission to Commerce on the Section 232 investigation.
"Tire cord made from high-quality, high-carbon steel is vital to maintaining tire safety and performance," the association said in that document.
Bridgestone Metalpha U.S.A. Inc., the Clarksville, Tenn.-based steel cord manufacturing arm of Bridgestone Americas, expressed the same concerns as the USTMA.
"We are concerned about the breadth of the investigation, as there are no boundaries as to the types of steel that are included in this investigation or in any remedy that may be imposed," Bridgestone Metalpha said in a May 22, 2017, comment to the Commerce Department in response to the Section 232 investigation.
Bridgestone Metalpha is dependent on a few steel wire rod manufacturers in Japan and other countries, of which only one is in the U.S., the company said.
"An action that is taken to prevent harm to the U.S. national security in the steel sector will likely have a significant negative impact on U.S. national security overall," it said.
Representing 87 member companies, the AWPA strongly advocated across the board for an exemption for imported steel wire rod in both the Section 232 and antidumping-countervailing investigations.
AWPA members employ 20,000 workers in more than 200 plants in 35 states and have annual sales of more than $11 billion, the association said in its May 30, 2017, comments on the Section 232 investigation.
Although AWPA members are heavily reliant on domestic steel manufacturers, it also needs access to global sources of steel wire rod, the association said.
"American manufacturers of steel wire and wire products have found that maintaining multiple sources of their key raw material is an indispensable part of their business plans and operations," the association said.
The AWPA devoted a large amount of its May 30 comments to the effects of steel tariffs on the domestic tire cord industry, using Bekaert Corp. as an example.
Bekaert recently spent several million dollars to upgrade its Rome, Ga., plant, and also planned a major expansion to its facility in Rogers, Ark., that supplies steel wire to the tire and reinforced hose markets, according to the AWPA. The Rogers expansion would have increased capacity by 50 percent and added more than 100 jobs, it said.
"But concerns over availability of tire cord wire rod have put those plans on hold," the AWPA said. "Bekaert must obtain this particular wire rod input for its operations from offshore sources because Bekaert has been unable to qualify any U.S. rod mill."
According to the AWPA, tire cord-quality steel rod imports increased notably from Brazil, Japan and Spain between 2014 and 2016, but decreased from the U.K. and Germany.
Brazilian tire-quality steel rod imports rose from 93.9 million kilograms in 2014 to 116.8 million in 2015 and 130.4 million in 2016, the association said.
Japanese imports in the same years went from 77.2 million kilograms in 2014 to 85.5 million in 2015 and 93.4 million in 2016, it said. Spanish imports grew from 7.2 million kilograms in 2014 to 9.7 million in 2015 and 20.9 million in 2016.
Conversely, British imports fell from 24.1 million kilograms in 2014 to 8.3 million in 2015 and 7.2 million in 2016, the AWPA said. German imports went from 3 million kilograms in 2014 to 927,000 in 2015, then rose slightly to 968,000 in 2016, it said.
The Commerce Department published requirements in the Federal Register March 19 for submission for requests from domestic manufacturers for exclusions from steel and aluminum tariffs.
Meanwhile, the Carlstar Group announced price increases of up to 18 percent on all its steel and aluminum wheels and steel components effective April 9.
In announcing the price increases March 27, Carlstar specifically cited the tariffs on imported steel and aluminum as the reason, along with escalating material costs from 2017.


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Supply Chain Issues Delay Opening of Binghamton Mirabito Store
The grand opening of the newest Mirabito convenience store has been delayed by a few days.
The store at the Number 5 Commons complex at the Vestal Parkway and Mary Street in Binghamton had been expected to start operations Monday.
But company CEO Joe Mirabito said there have been some supply chain challenges and the opening has been pushed back to next week. Plans now call for the store to open on September 27.
Mirabito said the new location features a design that's "more welcoming" than that of a typical convenience store. He said there'll be plenty of "grab-and-go" items to enable customers to pick up some food and be on their way.
The Mirabito store is located next to a Peoples Security Bank & Trust office that opened last week.
Contact WNBF News reporter Bob Joseph: email@example.com or (607) 772-8400 extension 233.
For breaking news and updates on developing stories, follow @BinghamtonNow on Twitter.
LOOK: Here Are 30 Foods That Are Poisonous to Dogs
LOOK: 15 Discontinued McDonald's Menu Items


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On the eve of the Nauryz holiday, a festive event “Az-Nauryz” was organized in Kazakhstan Housing Company JSC.
Employees of the Company represented the cities of Sairam, Syganak, Otyrar, and Turkestan. On this day, theatrical performances, national sports, national traditions and customs were demonstrated. In particular, the traditions of “Kuda tusu”, “Syrga salu”, “Betashar”, “Tusau Keser” were demonstrated, the Nauryz holiday was described in detail.
All employees who attended the celebration of the national holiday were offered nauryz-kozhe, bauyrsaks and other national dishes.
Acting Board Chairman of the Company Altay Kuzdibayev congratulated all employees on the Nauryz holiday and wished well-being to our country.
The word “Nauryz” in Persian means a “New Day”. Kazakhs call this day of the vernal equinox “The Great Day of the Ulus”. Today, the Nauryz holiday is becoming a real holiday of a national character, which is celebrated with great pleasure by an independent country. This holiday is considered one of the main fundamental of our people, our independence.


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Do plants produce oils that provide effective natural sun protection and do sunscreens cause cancer? No, neither is true: "There is no evidence that they afford even close to adequate protection," board-certified dermatologist Julie K. Karen, M.D., told Lead Stories. Sunscreens do not cause cancer and "have been shown to substantially reduce UV-induced damage and skin cancer," she said.
The claim appeared in a Facebook post published on June 6, 2022. It opens:
NATURAL SUN PROTECTIONThrow the cancer causing stuff in the trashThe sun is so healing and beneficial.
This is what the post looked like on Facebook at the time of writing:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Fri Jun 17 19:51:42 2022 UTC)
The post claimed to have conducted a personal experiment on a person's back with five plant oils compared to bare skin, showing that the oils provided sun protection. The post said the photo showed the before-and-after photos "from 1 hour exposure 15:00 to 16:00 on Mallorca, Spain":
Here are the brands and oils tested:
- Carrot oil - Fushi 100ml - 9.65GBP (edited to correct that I in fact used Carrot Oil and not Carrot Seed oil, My apologies for the mistake)
- Organic Wheatgerm Oil - Naissance Convive 500ml - 16.99GBP
- Wheatgerm Oil - Belenos Therapy 100ml 8 GBP
- Raspberry Seed Oil Cold Pressed - Naissance 100ml - 9.99GBP
- Nothing - bare skin
- Coconut Oil Bio - Natursoy 200g - 7 Euros
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Fri Jun 17 20:23:11 2022 UTC)
Dermatologist Ranella Hirsch, M.D., said the claims that natural plant oils provided better sun protection for the skin than sunscreens were false. "They are not better and are demonstrably worse," she told Lead Stories via email on June 9, 2022. She said the oils do not help protect the skin from sunburns.
Hirsch cited a study published in 2021 titled, "The real UVB photoprotective efficacy of vegetable oils: in vitro and in vivo studies." She said:
In essence, they reviewed some of the older citations which suggested (inaccurately) potential sun protective benefits. Testing with proper standards elucidates otherwise.
Karen told Lead Stories via email on June 17, 2022, that the information in the post was "inflammatory and riddled with false information and if taken at face value will lead to dangerous behavior." Sunscreens do not cause skin cancer, and while imperfect, have been shown "substantially reduced UV-induced damage and skin cancer. Decades of use have proven them safe and effective and to date, they have never once been proven to cause cancer."
She noted that there are benefits to several of the oils and the antioxidants have been "proven to neutralize free radicals that are induced by UV irradiation, thereby reducing UV-induced damage (and preventing the damaging cascade of reactions that lead to skin cancer and photo damage)." However, she warned they do not confer adequate UV protection to obviate the need for sunscreen:
While there are some health benefits to these natural oils, they have not been formally studied and there is no evidence that they afford even close to adequate protection and individuals should be wary of individual and incendiary claims such as those contained in this post.
Rather, they are best utilized as an adjunct, as antioxidants synergize with sunscreen to afford extra protection.
Moreover, some of these oils can lead to irritation or even allergy when applied topically to the skin and should be tested on the skin before being applied to large areas.
Bottom line is sunscreens are safe and effective. They should be applied regularly and liberally and should be one component of sun protective/sun smart behavior, including sun protective clothing, seeking the shade, hats and sunglasses.
Healthline.com published an article that reported carrot seed oil nor carrot oil are effective sunscreens:
Carrot seed oil does have health benefits, but protection from the sun is not one of them. Like carrot oil, carrot seed oil has no known SPF, and should not be used as a sunscreen.
It also published an article titled on red raspberry seed oil:
But while red raspberry seed oil does offer some UV protection, the protection is not enough to protect your skin from sun damage.
It did note red raspberry seed oil could be used with sunscreen:
Even though red raspberry seed oil doesn't offer enough protection from the sun's harmful UV rays and skin cancer, you can use the oil along with sunscreen. Apply red raspberry seed oil underneath your sunscreen for added moisture to your sun protection.


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How is COVID-19 affecting the shipping industry?
The last month has seen a significant shutdown of businesses, events, and travel due to the continuing spread of the corona virus or COVID-19.
Many industries have been affected, with uncertainty growing and a major question on all of our minds.
What will the aftermath of COVID-19 be?
In this article, we take a look at how COVID-19 is affecting the shipping industry, what the outlook and expectations are currently, and what companies, like Southwest Mobile Storage, are doing to help prevent the spread.
How COVID-19 is Affecting the Shipping Industry
The shipping industry has responded by implementing measures to prevent the spread of the virus. Like many businesses, this has caused some disruptions.
Around 80% of world goods are carried overseas, with China being one of the largest and busiest container ports. As the country is heavily affected by the outbreak, this has caused a decrease in the number of ships arriving or leaving those ports.
While that seems to be a major roadblock for the shipping industry, there’s some evidence that this will not be the case.
According to a recent webinar hosted by the Seatrade Maritime News and in partnership with Maritime Strategies International, the projections actually show an eventual rebound. This is based on the quick implementations of the industry in response to the virus.
Highlights from the Trans-Pacific Maritime (TPM) conference that was conducted online, featured several experts that stated the industry is adjusting to a ‘new normal’, which includes the greatest supply side consolidation in history.
Technology adoption is also helping to accelerate shipping processes and payments.
What is the Outlook and Expectations?
As noted above, the outlook for the shipping industry is good, though disruptions have and will occur in order to stop the spread of COVID-19.
China’s ports have been either closed or redirected due to the high infection rate of the virus. While there have been temporary substitutions that have provided relief, it has shown the shipping industry the dangers of just outsourcing to one country or one manufacturer.
This ultimately means that the industry must embrace new avenues of shipping in order to reduce any stagnation. The TPM highlighted that while there would be a dip or a see-saw effect, the current outlook was still positive.
What Companies Are Doing
Many companies are taking the approach to protect both their customers and employees. At Southwest Mobile Storage, we’ve increased our cleaning procedures to ensure that our containers are safe for our clients, our employees, and our staff.
Within our fabrication department, we’ve upgraded our cleaning processes to include using our heated, high pressure power washer to clean our rental units before anyone is allowed to touch it.
We also perform a thorough exterior and interior cleaning, both before any repairs or repainting if necessary.
Here’s a quick video on how we’re also disinfecting and wiping down our mobile offices.
In this article, we took a closer look at how COVID-19 is affecting the shipping industry and what any major impacts there could be.
While it’s still too early to make any definite predictions, the landscape is still navigating through this time, but is also transitioning with alternative avenues of delivery and payment.
Lastly, we looked at some of the cleaning processes we here at Southwest Mobile Storage are doing to keep both our customers and employees safe.
If you have any questions about our cleaning procedures or if you’d like more information about our sanitized shipping containers, gives us at 800.686.9114.


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Home Tags Jaeger-lecoultre
Specialist watchmakers, which includes timepieces from IWC, Cartier, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Piaget and Panerai, notched a 2% increase in sales to €818 million for the quarter.
Produced in a limited series of 800 pieces, it is available exclusively to North American customers online before it arrives in retail in September
The brand has unveiled a new fully gem-set version of its Dazzling Rendez-Vous Moon.
Mega brands like Audemars Piguet and Patek Philippe come together with independents including Cyrus, Urwerk and MB&F to produce one-of-a-kind timepieces that will be sold at auction by Christie’s at the iconic Four Seasons Hôtel des Bergues.
The latest in the Rendez-Vous line, it joins the Night, Day and Moon models which were launched at SIHH earlier in the year.
Richemont brand aims to get a grip on its global customer base through extended service program.
The new pieces were initially unveiled at SIHH, a presentation which the brand said aimed to maintain the Reverso's Art Deco characteristics.
124 diamonds adorn a watch that gives full voice to the maison's watchmaking and jewelry experience.
Dress watch is inspired by the first ultra-slim watch designed by Jaeger-LeCoultre in 1907.
Fellows Auctioneers have put a $9,000 - $13,000 (£7,000-£10,000) estimation on a unique Jaeger-LeCoultre created through a collaboration with Aston Martin. The limited edition gentleman's...


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Wolfram Alpha launched on May 18 to much media attention, and a number of online pundits suggested that it could be a “Google killer.”
Analysts have said that outcome is unlikely, but the search engine Website nonetheless offers a twist on traditional keyword-based search that could make it of particular use to academics and the enterprise.
On the surface, Wolfram Alpha joins other startup search engines looking to eat into the dominance of Google, recently reported to lead the core search market with 64.2 percent of all core searches conducted in April, according to a report by research company ComScore. Yahoo came in second with 20.4 percent of the market, followed by Microsoft sites with 8.2 percent.
But Wolfram Alpha is different from many others; instead of relying on natural language algorithms to search the Web or providing some minor twist on the standard-issue keyword search, the site operates as a computational engine.
For example, type a mathematical equation into the Wolfram Alpha search bar, and the site offers up the input, the result and the “number name,” a spelled-out version. Enter the name of a celebrity or city, and it spits back relevant numerical values: James Dean’s date of death, the population of New York City.
Another feature allows users to input the name of a particular food, such as “cake,” and receive the average nutrition facts for that item, such as total calories, total fat and total carbohydrates-a useful tool for dieters and diabetics.
That’s not to say Wolfram Alpha is Google’s humorless older cousin. If you type in a speed, such as 50 mph, the site will tell you, among more practical conversions, what percentage that speed is of the 88 mph that Marty McFly needed to drive the DeLorean DMC-12 in order to travel time in “Back to the Future.”
Wolfram Alpha utilizes over 10 trillion pieces of data, over 50,000 algorithms and models, and linguistic capabilities for over 1,000 domains. The company said its site runs on “supercomputer-class compute clusters” and makes “extensive use of the latest generation of Web and parallel computing technologies.”
The site was created by Stephen Wolfram, the founder and CEO of Wolfram Research and the creator of Mathematica, the computational platform whose symbolic code forms the core code base of Wolfram Alpha.
“It points to a couple of very interesting trends in terms of where search is going,” Allen Weiner, an analyst with Gartner, said in an interview. “Wolfram has taken search visualization to an entirely new level, and showed incredible promise for providing results in a way that wipes out the outdated notion of 10 hyperlinks.”
On May 12, Google announced the upcoming rollout of Google Squared, a search application available through Google Labs that will take unstructured information and organize it into a customized table, which in turn will sort more detailed information about the search term into categories.
Google’s demo of the new application featured a search for “small dogs,” which created a table listing information such as size and breeds.
In March, Yahoo updated SearchMonkey, allowing site designers to make their pages appear as enhanced results in Yahoo’s search results. Integrating lines of code into a page will display a thumbnail image of the site’s video beside the search result.
According to Weiner, the recent moves by Wolfram, Google and Yahoo could indicate how search will look in the future.
“I think a search engine might attempt to give you, at the core of your results, the structured things with the greater utility, with links off to the side,” Weiner said. “Ten blue links is just, ‘Here they are, go at it.’ We don’t want to have to click at all.”
The segment that may eventually find the most use for Wolfram Alpha, however, is business and the enterprise.
“The power of the search technology and computation may have better application within the business environment to address specific needs for research, whether pharmaceutical or aerospace or military,” Sheri McLeish, an analyst with Forrester, said in an interview. “It’s a great opportunity for those in the realm of math and science.”
However, the same issue confronts Wolfram as other upstart search companies, not to mention social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter: How does a site operator monetize its services sufficiently?
“It’s tough to sell,” McLeish said. “How do you monetize it? Is it a not-for-profit endeavor? How do you make it the sort of thing that’s going to generate revenue?”


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Flutter acquires Italian online gambling operator Sisal for €1.9bn Deal will give Paddy Power owner greater foothold in fast-growing Italian market
The price is payable in cash on completion of the transaction, and includes full repayment of all Sisal’s debt. Flutter will finance the deal through additional debt facilities agreed with Barclays Bank.
It is expected to complete in the second quarter of 2022, and is subject to merger control clearance and other approvals.
Milan-headquartered Sisal is a leading betting, gaming and lottery operator, employing about 2,500 people. Revenue for 2021 is expected to reach €694 million, with consolidated earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of €248 million, with 90 per cent of that coming from its Italian operations. The remaining 10 per cent comes from regulated lottery operations in Turkey and Morocco.
Italy is the second largest regulated gambling market in Europe after the UK, with a total estimated gross gaming revenue in 2019 of €19 billion. The Covid-19 pandemic has led to an increase in online operators’ share of total Italian gross gaming revenue over the past two years, growing from 10 per cent in 2019 to about 20 per cent. The Italian online market is projected to be worth £3.6 billion (€4.3 million) by 2024; Sisal’s online market share is currently 11.9 per cent, which when combined with Flutter’s existing assets will bring the total to about 20 per cent.
Flutter chief executive Peter Jackson said the company was looking to attain “a gold-medal position” in the Italian market.
“For some time we have wanted to pursue this market opportunity via an omnichannel strategy and this acquisition will ideally position us to do so,” he said. “Sisal has grown its online presence significantly in recent years, aided by its proprietary platform and commitment to innovation. I’m excited to see how Flutter can complement these capabilities through our scale, differentiated products and operational capabilities.”
The deal will also see Flutter’s recreational customer base grow by 300,000 online average monthly players and more than 9.5 million retail customers.
“Through our commitment to digital innovation, international expansion and safer gambling, we have achieved a leadership position in Italy’s online gaming market and developed our global footprint by winning lottery tenders in Morocco and Turkey,” said Francesco Durante, Sisal chief executive. “We are delighted to join Flutter and are convinced that through its scale and operational capabilities, we will be able to further strengthen our leadership in the markets we operate in.”
Flutter Entertainment PLC is an Ireland-based global sports-betting and gaming company. The Company operates through four divisions: United Kingdom (UK) & Ireland, Australia, International and the United States (US). Its UK & Ireland division includes Sky Betting and Gaming, Paddy Power and Betfair brands offering a range of sportsbook, exchange, and gaming services, along with over 600 Paddy Power betting shops in the UK and Ireland. The Australia division consists of the Sportsbet online sports betting brand. The Company’s International division includes PokerStars, Adjarabet, Betfair and Junglee operating in multiple jurisdictions around the globe offering a range of sportsbook, exchange, and gaming services. Its US division includes FanDuel, Stardust, FOX Bet and PokerStars brands, offering regulated real money and free-to-play sports betting, online gaming, daily fantasy sports and online racing wagering products to customers across various states in the US.


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There's little data on asteroid 2013 TX68, leaving doomsayers predicting a cataclysmic collision. But the space agency is far less concerned.
Bose has always taken great pride in its technical innovations and the quality of its products. But new CEO Bob Maresca is betting on a new approach to get Bose to the next level: telling people what this secretive company is all about.
The nation's largest broadband provider heeds Google's call to make ultrahigh-speed broadband available to the masses. Now it just needs to work out a few details.
The value-oriented brand has given up the ghost, but most of its models will live on with a Toyota badge.
The Denver Broncos will take on the Carolina Panthers in this year's big game. Here are all the different ways to tune in.
Mobile operators have been preparing like mad to ensure that fans' selfies and video clips can be shared without a hitch.
Angry investors asked GoPro: Are action cameras dead? GoPro's response was rather revealing.
Commentary: After three months with BlackBerry's first Android phone, this CNET editor reflects on what went well -- and what didn't.
Google has always been light-years ahead of its time, thanks to its unconventional co-founders. They're shaking things up, again.
The Audiophiliac on the finer points of headphone listening.


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Image by: Groupon
By Steven Morrison II
We absolutely love a good Internet success story, and Groupon fit the bill so perfectly, didn’t it? The well-funded upstart offers an exciting new way to save money at local retailers, and, at the same time, give retailers a new way to boost their market exposure and get new customers in the door. Investors were clamoring to get in the boat. It was seen as a true win-win-win.
The good press was everywhere, smiles were had by all. Coupons were suddenly cool, which fit the recessed economy like a glove (a glove which was purchased, of course, at a discount). Then came the inevitable IPO and everybody made a ton of money. Which lasted seemingly for only a day or so …
But then it was as if Lemony Snicket took over the company – Groupon was suddenly besieged by a series of unfortunate events, including a public airing of their hide-the-debt accounting practices and an avalanche of bad reviews from retailers. Consequently, the company’s value tanked and its reputation soured.
And as we watched the stock fall from grace and grandeur and eventually bottom out at about 80% of its peak value, I started to wonder if their stock wasn’t the best deal Groupon was offering? Forget saving $2 on a cup of frozen yogurt – shares of Groupon are the real deal being offered by the company. Investors paid $20 or more for that little slip of paper just mere months ago.
But now it sits at $4.58. And it is expected to go higher soon. On Friday, the stock jumped 23% based on a comment in the media by Tom Forte of Telsey Advisory Group. If a single comment can cause that much of an spike, think of what kind of a boost the price could see if and when an actual deal is rumored to take place.
And that could be any day now. Speculation is running rampant that a major player may step in a gobble up Groupon or at least became a large-scale strategic partner. Remember, Google offered to buy Groupon for $6 billion and it is now worth $2.9 billion. The mighty Google sees potential, surely others do as well.
There is plenty of room to grow … so buy, buy, buy.
Is the first culturally significant large-scale promotional discounter shockingly undervalued? In a word, yes.


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As per a new report by Nikkei Asia, Apple is planning to start mass production for two new Apple Silicon MacBooks in the second half of this year. There have been rumors that the upcoming MacBook Pro models will likely be redesigned versions of the existing 13-inch and 16-inch Pro models, moving Apple’s premium laptops into a new era. The last time Apple introduced a new design language for its laptops was back in 2015, with the fanless 12-inch MacBook.
Various reports have all but confirmed that the 2021 MacBook Pro models will ship in 14-inch and 16-inch screen sizes. They will feature edge-to-edge mini-LED displays, flat-edge design like iPhone 12 Pro, and the return of SD-card and HDMI ports. These new MacBooks are also expected to feature USB 4.0 support and MagSafe charging, which used to be a regular feature in MacBooks before the redesign in 2015. Lastly, the OLED Touch Bar might also be removed in these new MacBook Pro models, and replaced by conventional function keys.
Meanwhile, Apple has rescheduled plans to begin mass producing two new MacBook laptops in the second half of the year, from the previous schedule of May or June, Nikkei has learned. The two MacBooks will be powered by the Apple Silicon processor as part of a two-year transition away from longtime supplier Intel’s microprocessors.
Along with these Apple Silicon MacBooks, the Cupertino giant is also working on new Apple Silicon iMacs, which are also expected to launch this year with a brand new design inspired by the flat-edge design of iPad Pro and iPhone 12, 20-core M-series chips, and custom GPUs. A Mac Pro mini with powerful M-series chips and a cheaper external display are also in the works, showing Apple’s seriousness towards its Mac customers.


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The Federal Chief Information Officers Council released new guidance on toting government-issued cell phones and gadgets on international journeys – and when to go away official gear at house. USDA wants to modernize WIC to allow for on-line buying, however tech and regulatory hurdles need to be cleared. DrayTek’s Vigor2962P is geared toward businesses that depend upon their router for high pace and redundant networking, plus wonderful network management and distant connection options. The JBL EON 700 Portable PA Series can dazzle in music venues, event areas, houses of worship, and far more.
Loadsmart is the newest digital intermediary to make use of SoftBank venture funding to surpass the $1 billion valuation barrier after saying a $200 million spherical Tuesday. Paris-based visibility supplier Shippeo is eyeing North America as it seeks to increase the competitive panorama of the fierce world predictive cargo visibility market. Descartes is including to its in-house roster of commerce compliance instruments with the $40 million buy of on-line customs dealer software supplier NetCHB.
He has most recently worked as the Chief Technology Officer and part of the founding staff for Axios, the news and information start-up. Prior to that he was the Director of the New York Times’ Research and Development Lab, where he had extensive expertise in researching and implementing new technologies. Matt has fifteen years’ intense expertise on the Media and Entertainment industry, solving problems of content administration, distribution, and market positioning. There are rising functions of artificial intelligence in health sciences education.
Ditch the swap for everlasting standard time with more mild earlier within the day. Ditch the change for everlasting daylight financial savings time with more mild later in the day. Hello friends and welcome to Daily Crunch, bringing you crucial startup, tech and enterprise capital news in a single package. A Mysterious Satellite Hack Has Victims Far Beyond UkraineThe largest hack since Russia’s warfare started knocked hundreds of people offline.
The pandemic caused a speedy acceleration of organizations shifting to the cloud. Now is the time to take a step again to review your move to the cloud to make sure it is strategic and efficient. Banking and monetary companies giant turned to Genesis’s platform to deal with certain app development.
Live Science is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and main digital writer. Ironclad, co-founded by an MIT alumnus, has created a collection of workflow and analytics options to help firms draft, manage, and be taught from business contracts. “This is really going to provide us a platform to connect with the world around issues that communities are facing Technology News,” defined Prof. John Ochsendorf, who will function the academy’s founding director. Increasing the speed and accuracy of FOIA processing not only advantages an agency’s employees by liberating up their time, but it also builds public belief when government agencies effectively tackle residents’ considerations.
If you qualify, please update your consumer profile and examine the box marked “Check right here to register as an accredited member of the news media”. Please include any notes in the “Supporting information for media credentials” field. ARLINGTON, Va.; March 21, 2022 –Accenture Federal Services, has won a five-year, $118 million U.S.
From Dell Technologies and Hewlett Packard Enterprise to Atos and Supermicro, listed right here are 10 servers that assist AMD’s new third-generation AMD EPYC processor with AMD 3-D V-Cache technology. The U.S. chip behemoth was already working with Granulate’s cloud computing optimization merchandise by way of its Mobileye subsidiary. In a veritable arms race to meet a GPU provide shortage, the companies’ mixed efforts could put strain on chip powerhouses TSMC and AMD. We could see the Nothing Phone for the primary time during the reside stream event.


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UNWTO launches 'One billion tourists: One billion opportunities' campaign
The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has launched a new campaign to encourage sustainable tourism as the world gets set to see the one billionth tourist this month.
13 December 2012 – A record one billion tourists are expected to travel internationally by the end of 2012. Reaching one billion tourists is not only a major achievement for the tourism sector, but a unique opportunity to remind the world of the importance of tourism to economic growth, jobs and development.
To celebrate this milestone UNWTO (United Nations World Tourism Organisation) campaign: One Billion Tourists: One Billion Opportunities has focused on encouraging sustainable tourism and called on the world’s tourists to make their actions count.
It asked them to vote for the travel tip they think will have the most positive impact on the people and places they visit and to follow that tip when they travel. On 13 December - the symbolic arrival date of the one-billionth tourist - the most popular tip has been revealed and sent out to millions via social media.
Coach and bus tourism is one of the most sustainable forms of tourism that can have one of the biggest positive impacts on local communities. "Using public transport" has scored fourth on the winning tip top list. So get smart and take the bus to make your actions count when travelling.


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After debuting its first Dallas-area location in 2016, it looks as if JuiceLand is plotting a second outpost.
A leasing flyer for The Pavilion on Lovers Lane, the shopping center at 5600 Lovers Lane near the intersection of Inwood, indicates that JuiceLand’s second outpost is expected to open there alongside eateries like Cafe Express, Paciugo Gelato, and Eatzi’s. Additionally, a help wanted ad posted to Craigslist indicates that the chain is currently staffing up for that expansion.
Known for its customizable smoothies, freshly-pressed juices, and vegan-friendly fare, JuiceLand has cultivated a cult following in Texas and beyond. Outside of its home base of Austin, where it operates nearly 20 outposts of the wildly popular smoothie spot, JuiceLand has opened multiple locations in Houston along with a lone store in Brooklyn, NY.
No word yet on when JuiceLand will make its debut at The Pavilion on Lovers Lane, but Eater has reached out to the chain for more details on its Dallas expansion. Stay tuned.


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Are there any apps out there as loved and hated as social media apps? Whether your personal brand of poison is Facebook, TikTok, or Instagram, you’ve surely heard about all of the ways these apps can use your data and invade your privacy. But do you actually know which one poses the biggest potential risk? You don’t have to delete every single social media app on your phone to live a safer online life, but knowing which apps to avoid can help retain your privacy as much as possible. This is the one social media app putting your personal data at risk, according to experts.
It’s easy to forget about Facebook Messenger as a contender for worst social media app because its sibling Facebook is always in the news for the myriad ways it compromises user data and privacy. But make no mistake, the Messenger app has big-time security flaws of its own. “Messenger is possibly that one app that you should stay away from at all costs,” says Tech Expert Tommy Mello, the founder, and CEO of A1 Garage Door Service. “Its algorithm is designed so that, when you send messages to anyone through the app, the employees at Facebook (its parent company) can easily access that data. The company is designed in a way that any employee with login credentials can access your messages easily. The controllers manually check-in to see if anything inappropriate has been shared and take it down themselves. This sacrifices any personal data that you might have shared on the messaging app.”
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One of the major reasons why Messenger is so problematic is that it does not utilize end-to-end encryption, says Mila Garcia, co-founder of iPaydayLoans, which make it stand out from chat-based apps like WhatsApp, which do use it. “This means that the company essentially stores your private messages in plain text on their servers, which also means that this information can be easily accessed by any Meta employee with login credentials,” Garcia says. “And considering the fact that the company has faced multiple data breaches in the past, the use of this app for personal or business purposes poses a great risk to your privacy.”
For your safety and privacy, consider deleting the Facebook Messenger app and using a different chat-based app for communication purposes.


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The Electric Vehicle space is like a spider web. Endless EV companies are competing but also planning possible acquisitions and M&A. Thus it can be hard to navigate the spider web or even choose a potential winner. However, as time progresses, the future industry captains emerge.
In is safe too say Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) is the king of the EV mountain. However, Elon musk might have to make space as companies like Nikola (NASDAQ: NKLA), and Nio Incorporated (NASDAQ: NIO) begin to experience significant investor backing. Today we are discussing why NIO, a Chinese Electric Vehicle maker, is up, how COVID-19 affected them, and whether they are worth the investment?
Why is NIO up 100%?
Speculation currently controls the EV market. Future expectations can be great if the expected outcome is positive. However, speculation can also be the mother of all evil. Because if investors suspect lawsuits and potential bankruptcy files then the stock can fall off a cliff as seen with Luckin Coffee (NASDAQ: LK), Hertz (NASDAQ: HTZ), and Chesapeake (NASDAQ: CHK).
Thankfully for NIO the forecasted future was bullish. It all started on Monday with the Electric-truck maker Nikola. On Monday, the founder and chairman of Nikola have announced that they will start taking reservations for their new electric truck in late June this year. After this announcement, Nikola’s shares rose 100%, creating optimism around the EV sector. The bulls charged over to NIO on Tuesday causing a 15% increase during the day.
However, NIO is not just up because of retail investors speculating. The recent investment by the Hefei government into NIO is grabbing the eyes and wallets of value investors. (opinion not advice). Consequently, many financial institutions raised their target price and buy ratings on the Chinese EV manufacturer. For example, Goldman Sachs analyst Fei Fang raised his target price on NIO to $6.40.
How has COVID affected their business?
Flashback to the beginning of 2020 and NIO was financially unhealthy. The EV maker has burned through more than $6 billion since 2014. To add insult to injury, NIO faced a battery call, which cost the company a significant of money in overhead costs. Also, Nio only sold 8,224 vehicles in the fourth quarter of 2019. The unpleasant sales continued as they only managed to sell 3,838 vehicles in Q1 2020. Causing a loss of $238.9 million in the 1st quarter of 2020.
Then COVID-19 struck NIO and caused its sales to plummet by more than 50%. Investors began to question the financial future of the company.
However, the Hefei government rescued NIO from their financial struggles through an investment of $1 billion. The investment resulted in Hefei government holding 24% stake of the company, leaving 76% to Nio and their shareholders.
Is NIO worth the investment?
Before I start, I am obliged to remind our viewers that this is not advice only general commentary from my extensive research in this area.
Despite the bullish trend we should see a pullback. Considering NIO is down 5% in pre-market activity (at the time of writing) we should see bears at the bell. However, a small selling should not discourage investors from keeping a close eye on NIO.
Long and short term strategy
Because NIO could surge of China’s EV ambitions, the overall market is positively speculated, and the world is heading towards a more sustainable future. Also, we now know that there is a positive correlation between positive Nikola news NIO surges. (opinion not advice) Thus, if investors play their cards right they could snap up a nice gain off positive Nikola news (opinion not advice). Just like the correlation between positive OPEC news and oil stocks.
Downside of EV speculation
However, when NIO surges when others in the industry like Nikola and Tesla do well, you must ask, is the buying logical? The short answer is probably not. Just like how Split it (ASX: SPT) , Openpay (ASX: OPY), and Sezzles (ASX: SZL) all surged when growing BNPL player Zip co blew up 200%. Thus, I would focus on Tesla and Nikola for the time being until enough evidence can validate a long-term investment instead of just speculation.
If you enjoy our article or are wanting to learn more, you can subscribe to us for free via email and get updated when we post a new article. From all of us at YIG, thank you for the support.
The information above is not financial advice. Youth Investment Group has no liability for personal financial interests or investment decisions. You should make your own investment decisions based upon your own research and what you believe is best for you.
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Written by Jaewon Jung, Associate of YIG


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Google and Spotify announced a multi-year partnership, the first of its kind, to allow the Android version of the music streaming app to accept other payment methods than Google – currently the only option. However, by the disclosed details or the lack of them, the feeling is that this is more of a PR stunt to calm regulators than something promising and concrete. The terms of the agreement are vague and leave room for doubts.
The two companies do not say when, where or how much the change will cost or stop costing Spotify and its users. In Spotify’s press release, we read things like “later this year” “countries around the world.”
The Spotify deal is part of a pilot project by Google, to be extended to a small number of developers, to “offer an additional billing option alongside the Google Play billing system.” The pilot’s purpose, says vice president Sameer Samat, is “explore ways to offer this choice to users while maintaining our ability to invest in the ecosystem.”
The move can be seen as anticipation, albeit a little late, to mounting pressure from regulators around the world for Apple and Google to abandon the exclusivity they grant themselves to process payments for digital items and subscriptions made on their platforms, Android and iOS.
Although it gains less prominence than Apple, Google is also under pressure on this front. Its app store, the Play Store, charges between 15% and 30% of these payments, a percentage that many apps — including Spotify — consider unfair.
Apple and Google are already obliged to offer alternative means of payment in South Korea, for example. In the Netherlands, Apple was forced to allow dating apps to provide their own means of payment.
In South Korea, according to the Wall Street Journal, Google still charges a 26% fee for apps that are sold via alternative payment systems. In the Netherlands, Apple wants to charge 27% instead of 30% for the same arrangement with dating apps. The country’s authorities were not satisfied with the proposal and continued to fine Apple for around €5 million a week. Apple shows no hurry or interest in pleasing Dutch watchdogs.
In the pilot program of Google and Spotify, Google will receive a percentage of transactions made outside the Play Store. How much? Companies do not disclose. A spokeswoman for Spotify limited herself to saying that “we negotiate commercial terms in line with our standards of fairness.”
This arm wrestling between platforms (Apple and Google) and developers calls into question what this turn of winds would represent for the application market and, in particular, for the end-users — the decision, in the end, will be at their fingertips.
And then, the question arises: why would a person using Android or iOS prefer to re-register their data directly on Spotify, for example, instead of paying the subscription with a tap using Apple and Google’s systems?
In addition to being more convenient, Apple and Google’s systems free us from entering and storing card data in each application with which we transact and, in the case of subscriptions, allow us to cancel them with a touch — something that is not guaranteed outside of the app stores. (On Spotify, this is pretty easy, but try unsubscribing to a newspaper, for example, outside of app stores; it’s hell.)
It doesn’t take a math genius to realize that if Apple and Google manage to charge 26% or 27% on payments made on systems other than their own, everything changes, and nothing changes at the same time. Moreover, user experience is likely to get poorer and, worse, with no discount at sight.
The devil is in the details, and the few we’ve seen so far are worrisome.
This post was last modified on March 24, 2022 7:42 pm
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In the space of one week the Xbox One has seen four price drops in the European region; one so far declared as made in error. With Gamescom 2014 looming, are these drops indicative of a larger price drop?
It was a price cut? I thought it was just a cheaper option that came without Kinect. Price cut would imply that the original $500 Kinect version permanently dropped in price as well, no?
There were more prices cuts than the non-kinect version ;). All good - cheaper for Christmas is a fine idea.
I can tell you the most likely reasons this is happening. There is a big conference coming soon and Amazon or other retailers have a bit of stock that needs moving. Cutting the price before the conference means they can shift more units. After the conference the price will go back to normal as, usually, following these events the buzz generated increases and Amazon is likely to push more unitz This is just a simple case of Amazon trying to push units (hence the countries it has happened in). Signs from Microsoft say they wouldn't do this.
price cut? i don't think they can afford another epic fail, especially after they lost half a billion in the last quarter.
While another price cut would be great for consumers, it would be a TERRIBLE PR move. The internet would eat MS alive
They made 900 million in the division for the end of the fiscal year which was just released.
If it gets really cheap I might buy one to play Halo
@BiggerBoss You are right MS is between a rock and a hard place. If they keep current pricing sales continue to lag if they drop price their image suffers.
@abzddine MS profited $6.5 billion last quarter and $22 billion last fiscal year. If you are going to poo poo someone's financials you should look in the mirror at Sony's as they have been in the red fiscally for at least the last 7 years, and by big numbers too
I doubt it. It would be great for the holiday sales, and all 3 manufactures should be able to drop price at this point if they wanted to. However, I think they want to have their full worldwide launch at a $400 price point for maximum Day 1 profit, then have a price drop Spring 2015 ($349) when their big guns start rolling out.
I don't think it's coming here in Canada. I just got a bunch of emails from retailers offering 3 launch titles for $99 and a Forza+Ryse kinect bundle for $499. Either way it's evidence that the retailer and MS are trying very very hard to move the xbones. What was it MS said last gen when the PS3 cut it's price after about a year? Something like "when you cut price that early it sign of failure? Or something like this. But this gen they termed their unbundling/price cut as "options" and "value". I honestly think the next price cut by MS is met with a price cut or better bundles by Sony.
When will they make a discless X One? I would buy that for halo and forza, 350, but matching the PS4 makes it not worth it. Not to mention the size, taking out the drive might make it not so bulky
Microsoft's entire profit and the Xbox division's profit is being confused here.
Amazon have cut the price of the Kinect inclusive bundle in Italy, France and Germany. And sometime last week Microsoft cut the price of the Kinect-free bundle in Spain, but then said they made a mistake. Seems suspect, don't you think?
I doubt Microsoft will do a price cut, it'll upset a lot of customers. I recon if this should ever happen, that it'll only be after the XB1 was released on all countries.
they stopped making them at one point because they had so much stock in storage.u can still get the titanfall bundle in laods of shops in UK(available for around £375).
There haven't been any xbox or ps4 price cuts yet. new skus are not price cuts. Retailer sale prices are not price cuts.
I suspect a 360 and PS3 price drop to be a more likely scenario. There is still steam left in them, particularly in the PS3's case, and while there may be some wiggle room on current gen, I doubt they'd do the price drop thing within the first year. Although, it has happened, I just don't see it as necessary since the consoles are selling well overall, just one poorly compared to the other, but well on it's own.
Yeah the Kinectless version version was technically a price cut.. They cannot cut it again so soon as it would look to the mass market like they are in trouble. It would hurt stocks and MS care more about stock and investors than the average consumer.
It was not technically a price cut. They removed the Kinect camera, selling the console for $399. They provided a cheaper option by removing a piece of hardware that some people were hesitant in paying for that was mandatory. That's like saying if Sony sold a PS4 SKU with a camera in it as an option now and people are saying "Sony raised their price." No, they offered another option, a different package. Also, they will not cut prices in America, the console doubled in sales the month they sold the kinectless console.
MS is already loosing lots of money on X1 hardware, price cut might be not be an option anytime soon.
Lol disagrees , it's a fact MS have lost loads of money on the xbone so far , there report said over 400 million. Just because you don't like what this guy says doesn't mean it's wrong.
They made 900 million on sales of 9 billion. Revenue was increased for the year by 3.2 billion, but the cost of revenue also increased which is where people are coming up with this 400 million figure. Take a look at the financial statement yourself so you can stop spreading misinformation.
@death Didn't Microsoft just release a statement saying they lost nearly half a billion in the xbox division?
Here you go fellas, to clear up the misinformation: http://www.winbeta.org/news... MS actually gained revenue this year compared to last.
The trap is in the words chosen to announce the revenue. They speak of xbox plateform not xbox one. If revenue has increased is because of the sales of the 360. That's why they announced they sold more the numbers of consoles sold, xbox one and 360 together. If they would announced the numbers just by console the picture would be different.
Well said, BG. There's a reason they didn't single out the XB1, but instead said "platform," which would include Live, the 360, and other such things along with the new console.
Again Microsoft's overall profit is being confused with the Xbox division's profit.
yes in germany the kinect version will drop from 500 to 430Euros.
Well, yes. That is exactly what it is. However, it's a lot easier saying "price drop" than saying "the entry price for buying the XB1 is now lower than it was at launch." when anyone says price drop that's obviously what they mean. No use to argue semantics.
Soon the Next Gen (can we still call them Next Gen if they are already here?)consoles will be cheaper than Current Gen consoles. :)
wishful thinking but unlikely :D
They probably won't be as cheap as the last gen consoles right now for another 6 or 7 years lol
Highly doubt this generation will last that long.


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Sinha discussed about building a strong people culture at Leo Burnett and also how brands need to step up and help today
- We caught up with
Dheeraj Sinha, CEO & Chief Strategy Officer, South Asia, Leo Burnettto talk about all that has been happening at the agency, how they have been coping in these difficult times.
- Sinha told us all that is being done to make sure its employees are safe and motivated and its clients get the most effective solutions to their problems.
- He also gives some advice to brands on how to navigate these times.
For Leo Burnett, a few of the pivots they had been bringing about in the agency in the past 2-3 years worked in its favor. The year 2020, despite being a difficult year, saw the agency lose zero clients, bring home quite a few awards and come up with work that was noticed and loved.
Dheeraj Sinha, CEO & Chief Strategy Officer, South Asia, Leo Burnett gives the credit for a good performance amidst such gloom to the culture the agency has been able to build in the past few years. “We all know what the agency of the future is going to be. It will be about solving our clients’ real-time problems, not just with advertising but with the combined use of creativity, data and technology. But I feel what really prepares us for the uncertain future is the culture we are able to build. In terms of culture, the agency of the future has to be really flat and everybody has to be a creator. But if you have an agency with an ingrained culture of resilience, of people coming together, fighting together and making things happen, we will be able to succeed, because frankly, we don't really know what tomorrow might throw at us,” he said.
As a leader, Sinha has been working towards building and strengthening this culture that he speaks about. Not wanting to restrict itself to just a creative workshop, the agency has been focusing on creating full-funnel solutions for its clients. A recent example is its campaign for
The agency has also launched three specialized divisions – Leo Burnett Digital, Consult and Design, to give clients exactly the solutions they are looking for.
Building a culture also includes how you treat your employees and Sinha says his focus also has been to keep everyone motivated through the last one year, when everyone has had to stay at home. “The biggest job in a people’s business like advertising is to keep our people’s energies up. I sometimes feel I'm the Chief Energy Officer of Leo Burnett and not the Chief Executive Officer,” he said with a laugh. Over the last year, the agency has come up with frameworks such as 0-3-6, a short- term thinking model to help brands and businesses navigate the not just the immediate (0) but the next three and six months. It has also conducted over 50 workshops for clients. Sinha has also been having conversations with different people from his team which he has named ‘Chai Pe Charcha’, to make sure he is able to have a connect with employees who he does not talk to on a daily basis.
Sinha also said that democratizing leadership has had an important impact on how the culture at the agency is shaping up. “As soon as we entered the pandemic last year, we created a platform for our top 50 leaders. We meet every Tuesday and discuss all kinds of issues. We discuss business, new business, people issues, and a lot of the decisions are taken jointly. If we're going through an issue, it's not one person's decision, rather, the decisions are being owned by a larger culture or a larger group of people. And that to my mind has gone a long way because everybody had a contribution and a say in the direction that agency was headed and in the decisions that we should be taking. And whenever we were in trouble, I would always call upon people and people have stood up and fought and we’ve together won the day,” he explained.
When asked what one of his biggest lessons from the last one year has been, he said, “You need to lead from the front. You cannot ask people to do things that you would never do yourself. You have to lead from the front, you have to be out in the trenches because there’s no way of replicating the amount of camaraderie and strength in culture that builds.”
He feels it is a combination of all these factors that helps the agency sail through, relatively unscathed from the turbulence of 2020. “If you look at our revenue performance in 2020, we weren’t more than 5-6% short than say 2019, which in a year like 2020 is really good. Despite the lockdown, we won around 20 new business pitches, we created close to 1000 pieces of work, we conducted 0-3-6 workshops. In fact, we were India's number one agency at APAC Effies and at
On how he anticipates the current wave will impact advertising budgets overall, Sinha said, “I feel most of us right now are going to wait and watch, in terms of how this situation pans out. I feel there are two possible scenarios. If we are able to bring the situation under control, say by the end of May in places like Mumbai, I feel it would lead to a postponement of budgets and demand. But if it goes longer and deeper, that is when we will see budget cuts. We might also see some demand vanish.”
Considering the times we are living in where there is immense suffering all around us, what does he think is the correct approach for brands, considering for many people, ads might be the last thing on their minds at the moment! “If you're a brand, large or small, and you have a stake in the Indian consumer market, you're on TV, Digital, you're playing advertising and selling your products, you have to have a stake in what's going on at this point in time. You have to be on ground and help. I have this whole idea of brands being socio-capitalist where, of course, you are a part of the consumer economy but you should also focus on how you can help. Can you help with oxygen, medicines, food, contribution, entertainment or information? And if you can, this is the time for you to help, you have to play your part as a responsible corporate citizen,” he said.


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- Former SpaceX engineers are building self-driving, electric freight train cars, CNBC reported.
- The LA-based startup, Parallel Systems, raised $50 million in a Series A funding round.
- The system is made up of autonomous, electric rail cars that work to transport shipping containers.
Three former SpaceX engineers are teaming up to build autonomous and battery-electric freight train cars.
CNBC and other outlets reported on the news.
The trio consists of CEO Matt Soule and co-founders Ben Stabler and John Howard. They have named their new Los Angeles-based startup Parallel Systems and it has raised $50 million in a Series A funding round, according to Fast Company.
In an interview with CNBC, Soule highlighted the energy efficiency of freight trains in comparison with trucks. He told the outlet that rail does have “operational and economic limits,” because of “the way that it is architected.” But, he added, “if you can break through those barriers and allow rail to serve more of these markets — that’s the opportunity.”
In an interview with Design Boom, Soule said: “Our business model is to give railroads the tools to convert some of the $700 billion US trucking industry to rail. The parallel system can also help alleviate the supply chain crisis by enabling low cost and regular movement of freight in and out of ports.”
The system is made up of self-driving electric rail cars, which work in pairs to transport standard shipping containers, according to the company’s website.
Each unit can also join up with others or split off to their destination alone, which offers a key advantage in reducing waiting times that are linked to loading long freight trains, per Design Boom.
Parallel Systems isn’t the only company recently created by former SpaceX engineers. Benson Tsai, who worked at Elon Musk’s company for five years, said in an interview with Insider that he launched a pizza-making robot startup, Stellar Pizza, with two former colleagues.


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Web conferencing software maker ClearOne Inc. won the “extraordinary relief” of a preliminary injunction against audio equipment company Shure Inc. for allegedly infringing a patent covering a microphone array for conference rooms.
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois said Aug. 5 the injunction was justified because Shure likely infringed the patent and caused ClearOne irreparable harm.
ClearOne owns U.S. Patent No. 9,813,806, which combines a beamforming microphone array (BFMA) with a ceiling tile to pick up audio in a conference room while remaining hidden from view.
The court found ClearOne was entitled to stop the sale ...


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According to French site MacBidouille, Apple is working on ARM-based Macs as well as a new keyboard for desktop Macs.
A supposedly reliable source told the site that Cupertino has prototypes of various ARM-based Macs in its laboratories.
According to the report, the prototypes used to test the new configuration include the iMac, Mac mini, and 13″ Notebook with 4-8 64-bit ARM Quad-core processors.
In addition, the manufacturer could implement a Magic Trackpad into the keyboard of the new ARM-powered Macs.
A “completely equivalent” version of OS X was equally advanced in development.
Rumors that Apple wants to separate from Intel have been around for long. Now it seems the shift may finally take place.


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Who's that Pokemon? It's Zygarde! For the first time, trainers across the world will be able to get their hands on the Legendary Pokemon Zygarde as a special Mystery Gift.
The Pokemon Company quietly started the new distribution on April 29, starting in Europe and South America and moving to North America. Now you can get a level 100 Zygard in Pokemon X, Y, Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire.
The special Zygarde distribution already took place in Japan last year. The Pokemon Company hasn't explained why they've decided to take it worldwide at the moment, but it might be part of a promotion for the Pokemon anime.
Zygarde is a dragon and ground type, and it comes with the following moves: Land's Wrath, Extreme Speed, Glare And Outrage. It's unclear how long the promotion will last so you'll have to hurry if you want to catch 'em all!


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On July 24th, India’s Minister for Transportation announced the nation’s ambition to create a government-run taxi booking app, allowing citizens to choose from a wide selection of transport options such as electric four-wheelers or two-wheeler taxis.
According to Nitin Gadkari, India’s Minister for Roads and Transport, “The government platform will help get more people employment opportunities”. He also explained to the Economic Times that “the idea is in the primary stage but we’re working on it seriously.”
In recent years the Indian Government has run into many difficulties surrounding taxi aggregators such as Uber, due to their impact on local jobs and passengers’ security. As a result, the government has been trying to tighten rules and regulations for these organisations. A recent law under consideration seeks to bring taxi aggregators under the Motor Vehicles Act. Subsequently, various state governments must follow the guidelines fixed by the Transport Ministry while issuing licences to such companies.
This announcement also coincides with another proclamation that India will not accept driverless cars in an attempt to save Indian jobs. This declaration also came from Gadkari on Tuesday who said to The Hindustan Times, “We won’t allow driverless cars in India. I am very clear on this.”He later stated “We won’t allow any technology that takes away jobs. In a country where you have unemployment, you can’t have a technology that ends up taking people’s jobs.”
Due to the current monopoly run by Uber and Ola, an Indian based taxi app, many small scale cab business do not have an equal opportunity to provide a service to customers. This unsettled displacement is not unique to India, but can be felt by taxi drivers around the world.
In Mexico city, furious crowds opposed to Uber attacked the company’s drivers during protests, throwing rocks, eggs and flour. In South Africa an Uber driver was recently burnt alive in his car, allegedly by rival meter-taxi drivers. On top of this, drivers are not the only ones at risk when participating in this service. In the past, India’s Home Ministry has tried to ban taxi aggregators after the rape of a passenger by an Uber driver in December 2014.
India evidently has a strong vision for the future, selectively utilizing new technology with the hopes of improving both transport and unemployment. However, their path to success is not likely to be without issues. If they intend to crack into this $10 billion ride-hailing market, they will need to compete with the giants that already exist, whilst ensuring fair employment ability for drivers and safety for passengers.
Nevertheless, India’s willingness to adopt technology to counteract the negatives of new technology may work as an excellent guide for future issues. For example, while India currently states that it cannot accept driverless cars, there may come a time when ignoring this technology is no longer an option, thus forcing authorities to implement a new method.


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Chick-fil-A is switching to antibiotic-free chicken in an attempt to use more natural products.
The fast food chain announced that it will only serve chicken raised without antibiotics within the next five years. Chick-fil-A is looking to suppliers and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to ensure that no antibiotics are used on their chickens.
Chick-fil-A has been trying to become more natural since last year when it announced plans to remove high fructose corn syrup and artificial dyes from its dressings and sauces. Chipotle (CMG) also tries to use meat raised without antibiotics whenever it can.
More Food News
- How Burger King Plans to Take Down the Big Mac
- Taco Bell to Roll Out Mobile Ordering Nationwide
- Azodicarbonamide Offenders: Subway Isn’t the Only One


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The 17-year-old shows off the beginnings of a new hair do.
Budding style icon Brooklyn Beckham rocked Kanye’s tour merch and what looks like a transition into a new dreaded hairstyle, as he accompanied younger brother Romeo to Adele’s concert in LA.
Just like his famous father, it seems like the oldest of the Beckham kids is not afraid to play around with his look and change up his ‘do. And with Romeo sporting an embroidered Louis Vuitton bomber too, it looks like he won’t be far behind. Brooklyn has been seen out sporting a variety of designers of late, we’re keeping our eyes peeled for what’s next.


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Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have always had a massive backing which about to grow even bigger thanks to a recent study is carried out by researchers at Imperial College London. According to a paper by the researchers titled “Cryptocurrencies: Overcoming Barriers to Trust and Adoption”, bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies will be subject to massive adoption as means of paying for goods and services in the coming decade.
The study which was sponsored by eToro focused on various barriers to trust and mainstream adoption of crypto within the current setting. It further listed three main criteria that would propel bitcoin and other digital currencies towards mainstream adoption, that is, ability to act as a store of value, a medium of exchange and a unit of account. While cryptocurrencies have already fulfilled one of the criteria as they are used by millions of people around the world as a store of value, the researchers said they will have to overcome setbacks such as regulation and scalability if they are to fulfill the other two criteria.
“The world of cryptocurrency is evolving as rapidly as the considerable collection of confusing terminology that accompanies it. These decentralized technologies have the potential to upend everything we thought we knew about the nature of financial systems and financial assets,” said Professor William Knottenbelt from Imperial College London. “There’s a lot of skepticism over cryptocurrencies and how they could ever become a day-to-day payment system used by the man on the street. In this research, we show that cryptocurrencies have already made significant headway towards fulfilling the criteria for becoming a widely accepted method of payment.”
eToro, the brokerage firm that facilitated the research believes that bitcoin already exhibits all the important characteristics of money and all that is left is advocacy for mainstream use.
“The first ever bitcoin transaction took place a little over eight years ago, and today we are already seeing it begin to meet the requirements of everyday money. Given the speed of adoption, we believe that we could see Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies on the high street within the decade. There are of course barriers to mainstream adoption, but they are far from insurmountable,” Iqbal Gandham, the managing director of EToro UK commented on the research.
Regulation Is the Final Step
Many experts agree that even though bitcoin has already evolved well enough to be considered as a standard means of performing transactions, regulation is the only thing holding it back. If bitcoin and other digital currencies are to become the medium of exchange we are all hoping they will become, then favorable regulations are more than necessary. This is particularly of grave importance since some governments have taken negative stances towards cryptocurrencies especially because they have been used to facilitate criminal activities in the past. With regulation, though, this should not be much of a problem.


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AdRoll has also added Toby Gabriner to its advisory board. The former Adap.tv and [x+1] CEO will consult on product strategy. According to CEO Aaron Bell, AdRoll has an opportunity around marketing tech.
“Companies like AdRoll that started out in retargeting have deep relationships with their customers,” Bell said. “We can drive performance and from that we’re able to onboard a lot of data, including cookies, mobile identifiers and deterministic identifiers like email addresses, which are valuable for advertising and for marketing technology.”
AdRoll has a bunch of product announcements coming down the pike that build off of existing offerings, like its data co-op and email retargeting solution.
“I never bought into that ad-tech-is-over story,” Bell said. “At least half of the value of enterprise internet companies comes from advertising – it’s the backbone of the internet and it’s the only business model we’ve found that works. It’s not going anywhere. Most ad dollars today are still spent in an old-fashioned way on TV upfronts, and you know more and more of those dollars are going to move over to digital.”
The last round of funding AdRoll took was a hefty $70 million Series C in 2014. The company has raised a little more than $89 million total since 2006.
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A small beer brewery in southern Indiana plans to expand its operations and more than double its brewing capacity.
Upland Brewing Co. expects to spend $3 million on equipment and buying and renovating a former RCA Thomson warehouse south of Bloomington's downtown. The Herald-Times reports the expansion will allow Upland to increase production of its 20 beers from the current 11,000 barrels a year to 25,000 barrels.
Upland president Doug Dayhoff says its sales have tripled over the past five years and that brewers have squeezed all the capacity they can from its original equipment.
Upland's original Tap Room restaurant will remain open on the north side of downtown Bloomington.
Mayor Mark Kruzan says he hopes the new brewery will spur development along the city's B-Line hiking trail.
Upland also has a tasting room and small brewing operation at 4842 N. College Ave. in Indianapolis. Its products are sold statewide through wholesale distributors that supply liquor stores and bars.


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Porter Airlines is resetting its tentative date for resuming flights to July 20, 2021, the company said on Monday (May 17).
“It’s encouraging to see the recovery of the aviation industry in the U.S.,” said Michael Deluce, president and CEO of Porter Airlines, in a statement. “As vaccination rates in Canada increase, we are hopeful travel restrictions and public health measures will ease, so we can recall our team members, welcome back our passengers and begin to rebuild the airline.”
Porter previously set June 21, as its tentative restart date.
The airline's operations were temporarily suspended on March 21, 2020, due to COVID-19.
"We want to see our planes in the sky as soon as possible and are actively working to prepare for our resumption of service," said in a statement posted to its website. "However, the ongoing uncertainty presented by government travel restrictions, including border closures, is impacting our ability to operate flights."
"We are closely watching developments and know that Porter will be an important part of providing people with travel options as the economy recovers."
The airline noted that it is currently preparing to introduce enhanced health and safety measures for its return to service, the details of which will be announced "closer to when flights restart" so that plans are as aligned with the latest public health recommendations.
To provide flexibility and give travellers peace of mind when purchasing for future travel, Porter is waiving change and cancellation fees on all fares booked between today and July 20. This also applies to Porter Escapes vacation packages.
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Chicago is not the only municipality that’s prone to vagarious legislation - our sister blogs have recently been covering some nonsensical happenings in their necks of the woods. To whit:
• In Boston, they want to ban loud ice cream truck songs. Shouldn’t that already be covered under a noise ordinance?
• In Oakland, there’s this whole complicated thing about Trader Joe’s, liquor licenses and unions. It seems like the TJ’s is being blocked via their wine shop in order to protect labor, but TJ’s allows unions, so…sounds totally Northern California’d out to us.
By the way, Chicagoist has a succinct update on the latest foie gras brouhaha. You like that? Not as much as it likes you.