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Donegal-based maker of bespoke furniture ceases trading
Customers left out of pocket for special children’s beds costing upwards of €1,000
One of the beds previously advertised by Anderson’s Themes and Dreams.
A Donegal-based furniture maker which specialises in making bespoke children’s beds shaped like castles and monster trucks has gone out of business, blaming uncertainty surrounding Brexit for its sudden closure.
Anderson’s Themes and Dreams began emailing customers who has placed orders with it on Thursday morning, announcing it was ceasing trading immediately.
The closure is likely to leave hundreds of families across Ireland and the UK substantially out of pocket with some of the beds it has sold costing well in excess of €1,000.
“We make things you can’t buy just anywhere, think princess castles and monster trucks. Is there anything you are dreaming of and haven’t seen in any shops? That’s where we come in,” was how the company described itself.
However the dream appears to have died.
“It is with deep regret and sadness that we have to inform you that as of Thursday, June 13th [we] will cease trading,” the email to customers said.
“This is due to overwhelming financial difficulties and uncertainty with Brexit making funding extremely difficult,” it continued.
The owners said they were not taking take “this course lightly or intentionally but have been left with no choice and ordered to cease trading”.
The mail said that “over the years we have made so many children’s dreams come true and the thought of letting any child down breaks our hearts. We have exhausted every avenue we could.and tried everything but just can’t continue. We are truly sorry for any upset and stress that this has caused and please believe that this is a last resort.”
It concluded by says it is “a small family business that grew too big to handle with staff with families who depended on us too which makes this all the harder for everyone who has lost their jobs and livelihood as a result.”
It then encourages impacted customer to contact their card provider or PayPal for details on reclaiming money spent on orders which will never be delivered.
The only option for people who have been let down by the company is to instigate a chargeback.
A chargeback sees an impacted customer notify their credit or debut card provider to refund money paid directly to a company which has ceased trading so it can be paid directly back onto their card.
Time limits do apply, and consumers typically have 120 days from the time they become aware of the problem to apply for a refund.
It depends on the bank, the credit card provider and the reason for the chargeback but the process can take up to two months to be concluded.
One woman who contacted The Irish Times detailed how she ordered a bed at Christmas for which she paid over €1,200. She was told it would take 12 weeks but it was never delivered.
She tried multiple times to make contact with the company but either her emails were ignored or she was given incomplete answers.
In March, she was told it would be at least 14 more weeks before the bed arrived. All further calls and emails to the company were either not responded to or handled in the most cursory manner before she finally got a mail today saying the company had ceased trading.


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Naidoo, 35, electro-mechanical engineer and founder of E-Waste Africa, said it was when his father asked him what consumers were supposed to do to safely get rid of Led and fluorescent light bulbs that his business began to germinate.
Naidoo is a finalist in the national 2018 Entrepreneur of the Year competition.
Naidoo said he spent a year researching the subject during his spare time before he finally quit his job to pursue his passion to make a difference in both the environment and the economy.
Naidoo matriculated at Pieter- maritzburg College in 2000 and went on to graduate with a BSc in electromechanical engineering from UCT.
“I wanted to do something different, something no one else in my family had done,” Naidoo said.
His first job was as part of a trainee management programme at British American Tobacco in Stellebosch and in Heidelberg.
He then joined Associated Energy Services as an operations manager for KwaZulu-Natal before landing a top job as plant manager for Unilever in Durban at the age of just 27.
“One day my dad asked me what we did with used light bulbs at Unilever, and what people should be doing with their light bulbs. I did a Google search and it led to a few hours of searching and a lot of investigation,” Naidoo said.
Most traditional light bulbs contain hazardous materials such as mercury and thorium that, if released into the environment, can create serious public health and ecological concerns.
While the mercury content in bulbs has reduced significantly over the years, even compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) and energy-saving bulbs contain a few milligrams of mercury.
Naidoo was determined to find a solution. “I spent a year investigating it while at Unilever,” he said.
His investigation took him to the UK where he visited a company that was selling the technology he would need to be able to recycle light bulbs.
“They sell the machinery to be able to capture and sell the by-products. They’re the only company in the world selling the technology.”
Naidoo pooled his pension and life savings and quit his job in 2013 to start his light bulb recycling firm in Pietermaritzburg to handle the hazardous waste in a legally compliant and ethical manner.
He imported the necessary machinery from the UK, which enabled him to be the first to open a commercial lamp recycling plant in the country in 2014. His wife, Karishma, also quit her job and joined the business as financial manager.
“Before I resigned, I applied for a loan. I thought the business would go live in three months but it only went live nine months later and it took two years to get an HH Waste Management licence (to recover and recycle hazardous waste),” he said.
Naidoo focused on diverting waste previously sorted at businesses, and destined for landfill sites, to his recycling plant to extract the glass, plastic, metal and other materials, mostly for resale back into the raw materials markets.
“People often don’t realise that practically all components of light bulbs - the glass, metals and other materials - are recyclable.
“As a safe light bulb recycler, we offer a full range of solutions to ensure the safety of both people and the environment, while ensuring the re-use of these materials. These services include on-site storage, collection, transportation, recycling, all while ensuring full beneficiation of the by-products,” Naidoo said.
“While some recycling systems only deal with specific types of lamps, and the processing of others may require additional purchasing of expensive front-end add-ons or separate stand-alone systems, our state-of-the-art lamp-recycling technology allows our system to process all fluorescent lamps (FL), compact fluorescent lamps (CFL), ‘energy saving bulbs’, and all other types of light bulbs, without the need for presorting,” Naidoo said.
Naidoo was granted a R1million interest-free loan by the SAB KickStart programme in 2015 and a R400000 grant which helped his business immensely. He opened a waste storage facility in Gauteng in 2016 and to date has prevented some 800 000kg of hazardous waste from entering landfill sites. He is confident the firm will hit the 1 million kilogram mark in two months.
Naidoo is passionate about both saving the environment and building the economy.
His business employs 22 staff and his vision is to grow the firm to employ 200 in the next five years. Staff include former waiters from a local coffee shop who now work on his sales team and an expert with a doctorate in chemistry.

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Younkers expected to reopen Wednesday after smoke fills Valley West store
A smoke-filled Younkers department store at Valley West Mall in West Des Moines was closed for business Tuesday while company officials worked to mitigate damage from a small early morning fire.
The store is expected to reopen Wednesday for normal business hours, said spokeswoman Christine Hojnacki.
"The damage was contained to the elevator shaft and did not impact the selling floor or any merchandise on the selling floor," Hojnacki said in an email. "We are in the process of cleaning up the affected area."
A small fire in a mechanical room on the first floor of the store near the loading dock was put out immediately early Tuesday, but not before smoke filled the first floor and drifted up duct work and the escalator to the second floor, said Mike Whitsell, West Des Moines fire marshal.
The call came into the West Des Moines Fire Department at about 4:50 a.m., he said. Crews arrived as a maintenance worker was about to open the store and was met with smoke.
Because there is no natural ventilation, the company brought in a smoke mitigation firm to clean up the space, he said.
No one was injured in the blaze and the cause of the fire is under investigation but does not appear to be suspicious, Whitsell said.


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In an increasingly complex economic and legal environment, it has become imperative to efficiently protect, enhance and defend the essential assets of your company.
Dreyfus offers access to a wide range of online tools to manage all of your industrial property issues.
Are you impacted by the emergence of digital technology? If your answer is < yes > Dreyfus can assist you.
Technologies and Biotechnologies, telecoms, medias, services, tourism, luxury industry,... Dreyfus team is constantly looking for innovative solutions for our customers.
Posted on 26 June 2019
Our study of the draft orders transposing the Directive (EU) 2015/2436 of the European Parliament and of the Council of December 16, 2015, leads us today to examine the invalidity action. The owner of an earlier mark who is instituting invalidity proceedings may now be opposed by the defendant non-use of the earlier mark. In addition, the invalidity action becomes imprescriptible.
Posted on 24 June 2019
On May 20 2019, EUIPO and EURid announced in two separate press releases that they have launched a new monitoring service for domain names in .eu and .ею (See EUIPO press release and EURid press release).


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October 1, 2020
At its core, brand trust is all about communication. Companies can gain a competitive advantage by embracing opportunities to share with honesty, empathy and transparency. Open communication can establish trust among consumers and employees, which makes brands more likely to: Win their business Earn their loyalty Retain top talent. How does your company build brand […]
May 26, 2020
Forget crowdless UFC matches – 2020’s biggest rumble is taking place between retail giants Amazon and Walmart. Their arena is today’s unrelenting market complexity, including economic and technological upheaval amid the coronavirus crisis. In this third and final piece in a series, we compare Walmart and Amazon’s enduring and pandemic-specific strategies to spot market opportunities […]
May 10, 2020
Most retail companies are burning their 2020 business strategies. The coronavirus crisis has: – Left many independent retailers and brands insolvent– Prompted department store Neiman Marcus to file for bankruptcy last week – Shuttered storefronts and, earlier this year, Walgreens, Forever 21 and Sears had already closed several stores By contrast, Amazon is booming. Jeff […]
May 4, 2020
By investing $4 billion of operating profit into its COVID-19 plan, Amazon is setting itself up for spectacular success that will last far beyond the current coronavirus crisis. The funds will simultaneously improve internal weaknesses and counter external threats to address issues with consumers, critics and competitors. What do you think of Amazon’s approach? Related […]
April 28, 2020
Creativity conquers chaos: This year, agile companies have shown profound resilience by reinventing themselves in response to the coronavirus pandemic. From beer to fitness, many industries are filling consumption gaps with relevant solutions, including essential goods and technology. What other examples of responsiveness have you seen?
April 20, 2020
The coronavirus crisis has forced companies to adapt to new global market realities. Now marketing, communications and sales teams have an urgent opportunity to support their C-suites. They can collaborate to ensure their approach to messaging aligns with corporate goals to help their company survive this crisis and reduce risk. This framework can help your […]
April 6, 2020
Recession-proof sectors: Although we’re all affected by profound changes due to the global coronavirus pandemic, certain industries are booming right now. Among the most resilient sectors, 3 trends stand out: 1. BASICS: Essential goods and services are most in demand. 2. ONLINE: More consumption and work are going digital. 3. CONNECTION: Isolated in our silos, […]
November 18, 2019
The most effective content for sales balances left-brain logic (cold, objective facts) with right-brain emotion (warm, subjective feelings). Does your marketing appeal to your audience’s entire brain?
September 26, 2019
Proven marketing tips to stand out (even on a small budget!).
May 21, 2019
Even the dullest B2B topics can transform into riveting content your audience will actually want to read and share. These 3 proven tips can help.
April 15, 2019
I get it: It’s far easier (and it feels safer) to stay in the snuggly, warm cocoon of our comfort zone. However, consider this: Taking the risk to share our experiences can help others. (Helping others also helps you stand out and grow.) What lessons from your own life (whether they’re business or personal) could […]
April 23, 2017
So grateful to have spoken to businesswomen and business students at the recent Women in Leadership conference hosted by the Schulich School of Business, York University, Toronto. The audience shared overwhelmingly positive feedback on my interactive workshop on How an Entrepreneurial Mindset Gives You an Edge in Today’s Market.


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G4S, an international security company that posts guards at workplaces and homes noticed a trend that threatens to ruin its bottom line. An entire 72% of US-based G4S hourly employees were quitting their jobs per year. And when the security firm conducted a poll to find out why; staff unanimously said that they were struggling to make a living out of the job.
According to G4S Chief HR Officer Geoff Gerks, low wages and the two-week payment round were the main reason guards left. Being a well-established firm that cares about its staff— or a savvy business looking to retain its employees—the G4S followed a growing trend among a set of brands such as Wal-Mart, Boston Market, Kroger, and Taco Bell.
These companies allow their staff to access a portion of their paychecks earlier than the legacy two-week round. Desperate to find a win-win remedy, Mr. Gerks was counting on this early wage strategy and a slight increase in salary.
Because more brands—particularly those in low-wage sectors— are seeking to hold on to their staff amid the tight job market, Silicon Valley technology startups are engineering an app-driven early payment solution. These apps will help address the growing pains of employees who must wait for their next paycheck.
Early wages are pay for the work that staff have done and will help them deal with life’s unforeseen expenses, according to Wal-Mart spokesperson Michelle Malashock. The giant retailer has collaborated with the fortnight early wage payment solution providers known as PayActiv and Even. Malashok also said a team that is financially secure performs better.
The increase of early wage pay avenues is comparable to strategies by companies like Lyft and Uber, which enable their drivers to get their pay several times a day. Corporations are hoping this step will help change the legacy two-week pay series and help citizens keep away from high-interest loans and accumulating personal credit.
However, some market analysts fear that early wage payment vendors are no better than payday lenders. Rushing pay cycles could cover a bigger crisis: stagnant pay or wages.
Speaking to Bloomberg, Chris Tilly, an economist at the University of California, said early wage pay does not address the problem of insufficient savings. Low wages remain low, and this is being worse due to escalating housing, healthcare as well as other costs of living.
In the meantime, the tech firms behind early wage pay companies are fighting to walk safe past the many regulatory obstacles. These new vendors must now look at regulations on matters like banking, tax compliance, and employee matters in states like California and New York.
Let’s hope early wage payment does not come with the consequences critics have voiced. Employers must find ways to help their staff manage the cost of living and solve the problem of little reserves.
Author Bio: Electronic payments expert Blair Thomas is the co-founder of high risk payment processing company eMerchantBroker. He’s just as passionate about assisting businesses get a payday loan merchant account as he is with traveling and spending time with his dog Cooper.
An Information Technology Consulting Company That Is Perfect for a Biotech Firm – 7 Signs
Business Consulting UAE Company – Get Services Of UAE Offshore Company
Helping Clients Manage Change


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Ray White Commercial Achieves 80% Auction Clearance
The Ray White Commercial network’s auction campaigns achieved a clearance of almost 80 per cent during the first quarter of 2016, compared to 59 per cent in the corresponding period last year.
Ray White Commercial Head of Research, Vanessa Rader, said retail and office investments were most popular with 23 out of 29 commercial properties offered for sale at auction nationwide selling for a total of $32 million.
“Despite some shift in market sentiment this year, the auction clearance rate remained high at 79.31 per cent compared to 58.82 per cent in Q1 2015,” Ms Rader said in her Auction Insights January-March 2016 report.
“To date, all of the sales for 2016 were sold prior to auction or under the hammer, highlighting another strong year of investment demand fuelled by low interest rates.
“Retail and office investments remain the most highly sought after attracting the greatest numbers of registered bidders.”
Vanessa Rader said most auction activity was towards Queensland investments with strong demand for tenanted small retail and industrial holdings.
One of the auction highlights for the quarter was the $9 million sale of a retail investment at 2211–2215 Gold Coast Highway, Mermaid Beach, by Ray White Commercial Gold Coast’s Michael Willems.
The marketing campaign for the property attracted 186 enquiries and there were 29 registered bidders at the auction with the winning bid coming in at $9 million.
“The successful bidder was a local investor and the property was sold under the hammer for a yield of approximately 4.67 per cent,” Michael Willems said.
“The property comprised two buildings on a total land area of approximately 1,555 sqm and included 14 tenancies generating net rental income of approximately $420,686 per annum.”


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Profits at the world's biggest cafe chain rose 10pc to $382.1m (£243.5m) for the three months to January 1, beating expectations.
Global sales at coffee shops open for a year or more rose 9pc as customer made more visits and spent more. Analysts had forecast a rise of 7.7pc. Total revenue rose 16pc to $3.4bn.
The company said it was considering opening franchises in Britain.
Kris Engskov, the Starbuck managing director for Britain, said: "I hope by the end of the calendar year we will have the first franchise in the South of England. That wil be our first franchise anywhere in the world."
Currently the company operates its own stores and via licences - it recently is signed a deal with Euro Garage to open 100 such stores - but it is now seeking franshise partners in smaller towns.
Starbucks believe the franchise model will work in Britain.
As a result of the strong performance, Starbucks raised the low end of its full-year profit forecast. Starbucks shares, which have risen 45pc over the past year, slipped 1.1pc to $47.79 in extended trading.


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The awards, now in their sixth year, were broadcast online from EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum and hosted by podcaster and comedian Jarlath Regan.
Our annual awards are always a big night in the bonkers.ie calendar!
The awards are about celebrating companies that provide exceptional value and service to consumers in Ireland and this year there were over 30 companies represented in 18 award categories.
This year's event was once again a tad different to previous years as the Covid pandemic meant it wasn't quite possible to have our usual black-tie event in the Round Room, at the Mansion House, in Dublin. As a result, we had a scaled-down (but no less fun!) ceremony from the beautiful EPIC Irish Emigration Museum instead, which we broadcast online.
The event was presided over by Irish comedian and podcaster Jarlath Regan, assuming the mantle with aplomb for the third year in a row.
Speaking about the event, the founder and Group CEO of bonkers.ie, David Kerr said: “The past year has been a difficult time for us all yet many businesses went above and beyond for their customers. So this year we felt that recognising the companies that have provided excellent service and value to consumers in Ireland was more important than ever.
"The mission of bonkers.ie since we started in 2010 has been to help consumers take advantage of the best products on offer from suppliers in Ireland and to get better value. At a time when prices are rising and inflation is on many people’s minds. I’m delighted that bonkers.ie is able to play such an important role in helping households reduce their cost of living.”
Just click here to visit our YouTube channel if you'd like to look back on this year's event.
Electric Ireland, Permanent TSB and An Post Money were all big winners at the awards.
Electric Ireland won three awards, including Best Customer Service, while Permanent TSB also picked up three awards for Best Community or Charity Engagement, Best Current Account and Best Mortgage For First-Time Buyers.
Other notable winners were Virgin Media for Best Broadband Provider and GoMo for best SIM-Only deal.
In the insurance categories, Royal London won Best Mortgage Protection for the fourth year in a row while Zurich Life won for Best Term Insurance.
The Grand Prix is perhaps the most coveted prize at the awards each year and it was An Post Money who took home this year's trophy, as well as the award for Best Credit Card.
All the winners at today’s awards have shown excellence in consumer value over the past year and many could have been chosen as this year’s Grand Prix winner. But sitting inside a wider organisation which has been transforming over the last number of years into a leader in areas such as gender pay equality, innovation, and customer service, An Post Money stood out for its values, vision and purpose.
Chairperson of the judging panel, Bobby Kerr.
|Best term insurance||Zurich Life|
|Best sim-only deal||GoMo|
|Best rewards or loyalty programme||Revolut|
|Best community or charity engagement||Permanent TSB|
|Best credit card||An Post Money|
|Best mortgage for switchers||Avant Money|
|Best electricity plan||Electric Ireland|
|Best broadband provider||Virgin Media|
|Best 5G provider||Eir|
|Best mortgage for first-time buyers||Permanent TSB|
|Best mortgage protection||Royal London|
|Best retrofit service||SSE Airtricity|
|Best smart home package||SSE Airtricity|
|Best dual fuel plan||Electric Ireland|
|Best current account||Permanent TSB|
|Best customer service||Electric Ireland|
|Grand Prix: Best Consumer Business||An Post Money|
During the awards we ran a competition giving viewers the opportunity to win a pair of premium tickets to see Billie Eilish in the 3 Arena.
To be in with a chance of winning viewers had to tweet using the #bonkersawards hashtag. We got some great entries throughout, but there could only be one winner...
Congratulations to Grace Tooher. We hope you enjoy your prize!
On behalf of the entire bonkers.ie team, we'd like to thank everyone who tuned in to the awards ceremony and who helped make it such a special occasion.
We'd also like to thank our hosts, EPIC, and our presenter Jarlath Regan.
And finally we'd like to give a huge thank you to our esteemed panel of judges.
These awards, which have grown in size and stature each year, are so important because they help consumers make better informed decisions by showcasing the companies that go the extra mile and provide excellent value to consumers in Ireland.
We look forward to celebrating next year in person at the Round Room in the Mansion House!


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Nexkey says its mission is to disrupt the access control market and ‘change the way people experience access to physical places’. The startup is embracing the latest buzzword for access control – frictionless – while also enabling electronic access control for doors currently protected by mechanical locks. The system is simple with only three components – a controller, an electronic replacement lock core, and a smart phone app.
The ‘controller’, a combined reader and access control panel, is used to connect to existing electric strikes, mag locks, electronic push bars and other hardware components at the door. It also communicates via Bluetooth with a smart phone credential. Users approach a door, choose the door they want to open in the app, and wait for the app to say ‘unlocked’.
Replacing Key Cards And Fobs With App
Access rights are customized for each user, and doors can be unlocked remotely to allow a delivery guy or guest to enterThe electronic ‘core’ device can be switched out with existing mechanical lock cores to provide electronic access control in locks such as deadbolts, mortise locks, Euro-cylinders, levers and camlocks. It is compatible with 95 percent of mechanical locks, using a changeable tail piece to adapt to various configurations. The core communicates via Bluetooth with a smart phone credential that links to a cloud system. Users approaching a door open the app, tap the core, and wait for the app to say ‘unlocked’. A Nexkey goal is to ‘replace all keys, key cards and fobs with one app’.
The Nexkey app recognizes which ‘key’ goes to which door and reveals the right key as you approach. ‘Keys’ are created and access rights are assigned from a smart phone, using email addresses and phone numbers to verify identity. Temporary codes can be texted for one-time entrance for cleaning crews or contractors. Access rights are customized for each user, and doors can be unlocked remotely to allow a delivery guy or guest to enter the building. The Nexkey Portal provides a snapshot of system operation, who enters which door at what time, and logs that can be reviewed and downloaded for audit reports.
Affordable Access Control Systems For SMBs
Nexkey is targeting the small- and medium-sized business (SMB) market, basically companies with 20 to 500 employees, which are looking for access control systems that are affordable and easier to manage.
Nexkey is targeting the SMB market, which are looking for access control systems that are affordable and easier to manage
Larger enterprises tend to want out-of-the-box integration with alarm systems and video, which Nexkey does not offer, so SMB is their “sweet spot,” says Eric Trabold, CEO. There is an API (application programming interface) that integrates with third-party applications.
According to Nexkey’s customer surveys, 30 percent of customers say they bought Nexkey to have a simpler access control credential (a smart phone instead of a key, card or fob). Another 30 percent favor simplified management and quick access through the app. Some 17 percent like the ‘unified’ experience to manage shared, single and multiple workspaces using smartphone credentialing and a cloud-based system.
Involving Security Dealers And Integrators
Nexkey announced a ‘dealer program’ at the recent ISC West trade show in Las Vegas, and interest was highIn the early days, Nexkey looked to work directly with businesses to foster communication and to gain understanding of how the product can best be deployed. Having gained that insight, the ‘next level’ is to engage security dealers and systems integrators to install the system, says Trabold.
Nexkey announced a ‘dealer program’ at the recent ISC West trade show in Las Vegas, and interest was high. Trabold says 134 integrators/dealers sought to engage. In coming weeks, the company will be finalizing that program, enhancing the dashboard to enable dealers to manage the system on behalf of their customers, for example.
“We will be looking at how we can go from that amazing level of interest to being actively engaged with partners in the channel,” says Trabold.
Using NPS To Measure Product Quality
Nexkey uses the Net Promoter Score (NPS) as a benchmark for how well the product is accepted in the marketplace. NPS measures the quality of a product by analyzing how likely customers are to recommend it to a friend or colleague. As an example, Apple currently has an NPS of 65%. In comparison, Nexkey has achieved a score of 60 percent, and is looking to improve it even more.
“A year from now, we want to get the same positive feedback from our dealer/integrator community,” says Trabold. “That’s the challenge, engaging with partners and scaling the business forward. We still have work to do.”


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Why Companies Should Take “Communicating With Customers Through Social Media” Seriously
According to a report released by social media software producer Sprout Social, it is not enough for companies to just post ads on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media. If consumers see brands on social media sites, it was revealed that they expect you to engage directly with them, and this, perhaps, is the most important deciding factor on what to select from the vast alternative products and/or services in the industry. When you communicate with customers, you build their trust, which has a higher potential of being translated into sales.
This spring, Sprout Social surveyed nearly 1,000 consumers and marketers about their marketing goals and consumer expectations. For example, when consumers were asked what makes a brand best in class on social media, nearly half (47%) said brands should provide strong customer service, making it on the top priority list. When marketers asked the same question, only a third (35%) rated good customer service as a sign of a brilliant social media presence. Five other action items ranked higher.
Direct communication with customers can be the most important aspect of the job. The ability to communicate well with customers directly impacts sales as they feel they are valued and given the right attention they deserve. If the customer is torn between two similar products, customer service will choose the company which consistently and actively responds to their queries and concerns delivered through social media. In this way, they are happier and more satisfied both with their purchase and with the customer service and attention they receive.
Below are statistics on social responsibility in various industries. Where does your company stand in the competition? Does your company track such resonance statistics? Bear in mind, customers pay attention.


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Yesterday, we learnt that Aston Martin is working on replacing its outdated VH architecture for a brand new one thanks to its biggest round of investment in its 101-year history. Now, Auto Express has confirmed that the first new Aston Martin sports car to utilise the new architecture will be the next-generation Aston Martin DB9.
Details about the new architecture remain limited at the moment but it is highly likely to be made from aluminium and will be stronger and lighter than the outgoing VH platform. It will however maintain the flexibility of the VH platform so it can be used for multiple cars of differing lengths and widths.
As well as being the first to utilise the new architecture, the 2016 Aston Martin DB9 will apparently be the first car from the British marque to utilise one of AMGs twin-turbocharged V8 engines as part of the firm’s recent tie-up with Mercedes-Benz’s in-house performance arm. It is most likely that a variant of the 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 set to be utilised by the 2015 Mercedes-AMG GT will be used.
While recently discussing the technical tie-up with AMG, Aston Martin chief financial officer Hanno Kirner said, “The strategic partnership with Daimler AG will bring with it cutting edge electrical and electronic expertise, and the shared development of world-class bespoke V8 powertrains”.
[Via Auto Express]


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Apple's Lawsuit Casts a Wide Net
5. Palm could be next
It's also clear from reading the lawsuit that Apple won't be content to stop with HTC. Even in a statement released this week, the company said that it will protect its patents against all competitors that it believes "steal" its technology. Realizing that, Apple might start targeting other companies in the industry that might offer something similar to the patents it's trying to protect in the HTC suit. Palm could be next.
6. It's not about multitouch
Before the world erupts with concern over the future of multitouch, we should end the discussion now: This lawsuit has nothing to do with multitouch. There is no mention made of the "pinch-to-zoom" feature. The company does not list "multitouch" as part of the lawsuit at any point. The issue revolves more around how HTC's mobile OS works and how it relates to operating system patents Apple holds.
7. It goes beyond the iPhone
Apple's lawsuit goes far beyond the iPhone. As noted above, some of the issues the company has with HTC date back 15 years when it secured patents on how operating systems work. For example, one alleged patent infringement, the "Object-Oriented Graphic System," discusses how graphics are displayed in an operating system. It was secured in 1995. It has nothing to do with the iPhone, but Apple ostensibly believes that it relates in some way to Android.
8. Unlock behavior is there
An Apple patent on how a user can unlock the iPhone with a "swipe" motion was secured in February. The company included it in its lawsuit, citing HTC phones that offer a similar functionality to help users access the main operating system. This is a big one. Apple's unlock screen is a great feature. Its competition knew that and built it into their own software packages. If Apple can win on this patent, it could totally change how users access their devices.
9. It targets Android's browser
Android's browser might suit the fancy of some users. But if Apple has its way, it will need to be reworked. One of the alleged patent infringements discusses how the HTC device lets people use their fingers to move around the screen in any direction, rather than in straight vertical or horizontal lines. So, when users move around a page in Android's browser in any direction they wish, Apple alleges that it violates one of its patents. If it wins, Android's browser could be much different than it is today.
10. iPhone screen shutoff
When a user receives a call and places the iPhone against their ear, the device's screen shuts off to save battery life and ensure they don't hit any buttons while talking. Apple alleges that it holds the patent to that technology and HTC is violating it by providing a similar functionality in its devices. The patent is specific, since it includes a touch-screen display and an ambient light sensor, but unfortunately for HTC, that means its devices might be subject to it.
Going forward, there's no telling what will happen. Apple might win its lawsuit, HTC might work out a deal, or the companies might spend years in court. In any case, one thing is certain: Apple plans to protect its patents and its iPhone. And it's targeting Android-based devices first.


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Some Athenians collectively pocketed more than $1.5 million by renting rooms to football fans in the past two years, according to Airbnb.
The number of Athens residents renting out parts of their homes during UGA home football weekends also saw a sharp uptick in the Bulldogs’ 2017 winning season, according to an Airbnb press release.
The company booked rooms for more than 11,000 people during UGA’s 2017 football season, up 62 percent from the Bulldogs’ mediocre 2016 season. Their earnings this season totaled about $91 million, up 54 percent from 2016.
The University of South Carolina game in Sanford Stadium drew the most fans — 2,770 on Nov. 3 and 4. The biggest weekend in 2016 for Airbnb renters in Athens was on Nov. 11-12, when Auburn played the Bulldogs in Athens.
UGA football on the road was also a boon for Airbnb, according to press releases Airbnb distributed to media in college football towns across the nation.
South Bend Airbnb contractors took in $340,000 Sept. 9 and 10, the weekend UGA played Notre Dame in the Indiana city. That was far more than the Airbnb take from any other football weekend. The second most lucrative weekend in Notre Dame’s 2017 home football schedule was Oct. 21 and 22, when Airbnb hosts collected $277,000 as the University of Southern California played the Fighting Irish.
Airbnb hosts in Tuscaloosa and Auburn banked about $726,000 this season, according to the company. Reflecting Auburn’s good season — the Tigers are UGA’s opponent in Saturday’s SEC Championship game — 2017 revenues for Auburn were more than double what they were in 2016.
Valued at about $31 billion, 9-year-old Airbnb allows homeowners to compete with hotels by renting out rooms or suites. Airbnb doesn’t own the real estate, but makes its money by acting as brokers. The company has some 3 million listings in 191 countries, according to Wikipedia.
Airbnb and similar companies have come under increasing scrutiny recently because of a number of controversies, including the competition with local hotels. One study has shown that the practice tends to raise rental rates, with a negative effect on affordable housing.
Follow Lee Shearer at www.facebook.com/LeeShearerABH or https://twitter.com/LeeShearer.


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HTC Chairwoman Cher Wang has confirmed that HTC will not make any plans to settle their ongoing patent lawsuit with Apple, regardless of Apple’s recent victory of Samsung. In fact, she not only reaffirmed her company’s position to forge ahead with the suit, but also ruled out plans to settle the case as well.
“Samsung’s defeat does not mean that Google Inc’s Android camp is defeated,” the Chinese-language online news outlet Cnyes.com quoted Wang as saying yesterday.
HTC and Apple have sued each other several times at the US International Trade Commission with the next hearing expected on November 7th. HTC’s position is admirable considering their phones have already undergone a brief ban from entering the US. Best of luck HTC, you just may need it.


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Carrefour, the world’s second-largest retailer by sales, has recently launched two new supermarkets in Rumania – at Bucharest and Alexandria.
The store at Bucharest extends over a sales area of 780 sq.mt and has seven cash counters, while the one at Alexandria is spread over a sales area of 530 sq.mt and has six cash counters.
Meanwhile, the retailer, in a bid to extend its presence in China, has inaugurated a new store in the city of Liaoyang.
The store extends over a sales area of 7.213 sq.mt and has 33 cashiers.
The Carrefour group currently operates four main grocery store formats: hypermarkets, supermarkets, hard discount and convenience stores. The group has over 15,500 stores, including company-operated and franchise, across the world.
– IndiaRetailing Bureau


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In addition to the development taking place on Main Street in Waltham, another mixed-use development offering street level retail and 230,000 square feet of high performance workspace is underway at 10 CityPoint in Waltham. The new project leased its first-class office space to Wolverine Worldwide for the headquarters of its Sperry Top-Sider, Saucony, Keds and Stride Rite brands. Broker’s focusing on the Mass Pike/128 submarkets are optimistic about the development as they feel it will attract more talent and businesses to the area, helping absorb vacancy in surrounding markets such as the office space in Needham and Newton.
Wicked Local offers an assessment of the location’s commercial exposure:
“10 CityPoint, located on Route 128 at the exit 27 interchange, will be seen by more than 400,000 cars per day. The project includes street level retail and restaurant options and 230,000 square feet of high performance workspace, according to Boston Properties.”


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andranik123 - stock.adobe.com
Online payment fraud losses are expected to exceed $206bn over the next five years, according to a study by Juniper Research.
Juniper says the predicted fraud figure between 2021 and 2025 will be the equivalent to almost 10 times Amazon’s net income in its 2020 financial year.
The Fighting online payment fraud in 2021 paper calls on retailers and all merchants to explore the use of machine learning-based fraud prevention platforms and make them an immediate priority. Problems have grown in the pandemic, with Juniper noting a surge in synthetic identity and account takeover fraud, which threatens the security of entire accounts, alongside associated payment data.
Remote physical goods purchases are deemed the leading cause of online payment fraud, accounting for over 47% of fraud losses in 2021 to date. Juniper urges payment fraud prevention suppliers to offer services based on digital identity verification, to boost security and combat the surge in account takeover fraud.
Research co-author Nick Maynard says: “Given the large amounts of online payment transactions globally, it is essential that this transactional data is leveraged to continually detect fraudulent transactions.
“Payment providers which can use this data to identify new fraud sources and tactics will be those who prove to be the most resilient to this significant market loss.”
Mark McMurtrie, an independent payments consultant, says retailers are currently too slow in adjusting their strategies, especially now the touchpaper has been lit under online retail. Since the onset of the pandemic, e-commerce has jumped from around one-fifth of total retail sales to much closer to one-third, according to the Office for National Statistics.
“Retailers’ thinking and systems need upgrading to reflect the increasing volume of payments, the faster pace of money movement and the new attack threats they face,” says McMurtrie.
“We’ve found criminals are faster at adopting new technologies because they don’t have business cases to submit – unlike retailers and banks.”
A retailer’s perspective
Consumer electronics retailer Maplin, which was reincarnated under new ownership in 2019, finds itself in one of the sectors of retail most affected by online fraud.
Ollie Marshall, managing director of Maplin, says large volumes of high-value small items that are particularly resalable makes the sector “rife with fraud”. After bringing Maplin back to life two years ago, the business was instantly under attack from criminals, he adds.
“We were being hit from day one by pretty sophisticated fraudsters,” he says, adding that Apple products and e-scooters are among the products most targeted, with credit card scams among the frequent types of fraud. “There’s a great ecosystem of tools out there to manage it, but it’s a shame it exists.”
Maplin, which now operates as an e-commerce pureplay, outsources fraud monitoring and prevention to a third party. It taps into the expertise of Signifyd, one of a band of modern tech businesses addressing the challenges associated with merchant fraud by using machine learning processes.
Marshall says the partnership has been successful, but acknowledges that there is always going to be fraud: “We see it as a cost of business and an amount of risk to take on as a business. If you’re on top of fraud and collecting the intelligence, it’s manageable.”
New channels fuelling ‘friendly’ fraud
A head office worker at another consumer electronics retailer told Computer Weekly that in-store collections are one of the worst channels for fraud, which is indicative of criminals taking advantage of emerging fulfilment methods.
This is part of a developing phenomenon known as ‘friendly’ fraud, which also involves shoppers wrongly claiming they did not make a transaction or receive a delivery.
“We get a lot of abuse around returns,” Marshall says, explaining that, somewhat bizarrely, there have been multiple instances where the retailer received tins of baked beans rather than an expected returned PlayStation. Evidently, consumers have taken advantage of gaps in communication between payment providers and the merchant to keep the item they said they had returned, while also pocketing a refund.
“We have received devices damaged or broken, but they are shrink-wrapped so they look like new,” he adds.
“People buy something from one retailer and buy from us and return the broken one to us, so we have to be super hot on our serial number tracking and our processes, and really keep a lot of evidence. That’s key to fighting this activity.”
Ed Whitehead, Signifyd
A consumer survey published in September 2020 by Signifyd, which also works with companies such as Lego, Samsung and Wish.com, found that more than 36% of respondents had falsely claimed that a legitimate charge on their credit account was fraudulent in order to receive a refund while keeping the product.
“Consumers have become more stretched during the pandemic, and behavioural change hasn’t always been for the better,” says Ed Whitehead, managing director for Signifyd in Europe.
“The difficult thing for retailers is making sure they don’t block legitimate customers. As much as blocking the bad, you want to make sure you’re not blocking the good – and that’s the real skill, that’s where machine learning-first solutions come in.”
So-called friendly fraud can also occur when someone accidentally or without permission runs up a bill on a family member’s credit card without their knowledge. These incidents, which largely occur in gaming and via in-app purchases, are then reported as fraudulent.
“To tackle this, sensitivity is needed because it may have been unintentional rather than a deliberate fraud attempt, so it could be solved through dialogue and education,” says McMurtrie.
Vigilance in the face of an ongoing battle
Trade association the British Retail Consortium (BRC) published its annual Retail Crime Survey in June, covering the 12 months leading up to 30 March 2020. Although the focus was on growing violence and abuse aimed at shop staff, there was reference to the rising threat of cyber crime.
There were increased attacks and breaches for 54% of the retailers surveyed, with theft of data seen as a high or medium threat by 86% of respondents. Phishing, whaling, credential stuffing and web app-based threats were close behind, according to the BRC, which said cyber crime has increased in retail every year it has tracked it since 2015.
Graham Wynn, assistant director for consumer, competition and regulatory affairs at the BRC, says: “There has been a huge shift to online commerce since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, and processes across the supply chain are being rapidly digitised and automated – from e-commerce, cloud systems and shift patterns to payroll and procurement.
“Greater dependence on these technologies has brought more cyber risk and hackers are becoming increasingly sophisticated in their tactics. Retail firms have spent £160m in the past year on deploying cutting-edge systems to protect their customers and prevent future breaches. But, now more than ever, it is crucial that retailers remain vigilant and adhere to necessary security protocols to combat these emerging threats.”
Together, retailers and tech companies have their work cut out to tackle the challenge of online fraud and cyber crime. The introduction of Strong Customer Authentication regulation later in 2021 is expected to help to some degree.
“People will always try to break the system – for some it’s not even the financial gain, it’s the prowess and bragging rights,” says Whitehead. “We monitor the dark web and forums, and actually someone will love doing it to show they are better than the retailer or better than the fraud prevention solution.”
That’s what retailers face, and it’s one of the reasons why the battle with online fraud remains a going – and growing – concern.


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Spartan Stores opened two new Valu Land Supermarkets in Warren and Roseville, Mich. last week, MLive reports. The selected locations are dense Detroit suburbs with diverse communities, said Alan Hartline, Spartan Stores executive vice president for merchandising and marketing. Spartan also has Valu Land locations in Lansing, Leslie, Marion, and Clare.
“With the economy as it is, Valu Land is responding to a heightened need for value that shoppers can depend on every day. Convenience is a key factor in terms of finding quality staple items at low prices in an organized store, saving time searching for deals and efficiently navigating the store,” Hartline said at the grand opening.
Spartan Stores expects to open six to eight more of the small discount stores in Metro Detroit in 2013. Spartan is being careful not to select locations that might compete with the grocer’s existing wholesale customers, which includes more than 375 independent grocery locations in Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio. Together, those independent grocers have the largest market share of the city of Detroit when it comes to traditional grocery stores.
Hartline said Spartan was “greeted with open arms” in both Warren and Roseville. The company spent about $1 million in each location renovating an empty storefront and adding 35 new jobs. The new stores feature new white and red signage and a logo of a shopping cart replacing a blue and yellow look.
The 20,000-square-foot stores are about half the size of Spartan’s traditional grocery stores which are operated under the banners of Family Fare, D&W Fresh Market, VG’s Supermarket, and Glen’s Market. The limited-assortment stores are designed to compete with Aldi and Sav A Lot by offering a greater selection of national products and more produce than those two retail chains. (Convenience Store News: www.csnews.com)


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(Reuters) - Walt Disney Co's ESPN is looking to license its brand to major sports-betting companies for at least $3 billion over several years to take advantage of the booming online betting industry, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
It held talks to license its brand to sportsbooks including Caesars Entertainment and DraftKings, the report https://on.wsj.com/3DmEgGp said, adding there is no guarantee that it will reach a deal.
The companies did not immediately respond to requests from Reuters for comment.
It remains unclear whether gaming companies would want to pay for the ESPN name when they are already investing to establish their existing brands, the report said.
As more states legalize sports betting, media companies have turned to the sector to diversify their revenue. Fox Corp launched https://reut.rs/3jtd3dv the FOX Bet sports betting platform in 2019 through a partnership with The Stars Group.
Disney shares jumped 2.1% after the news.
(Reporting by Sahil Shaw in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)


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Wednesday, November 25, 2015
From the waking groans of a key in the ignition, to the grunt of exhaust as the metal beast pushes its limits, the sounds of an automobile in motion are like music to petrolheads' ears.
Tuesday, November 24, 2015
Sunday, November 22, 2015
It's easy to get overwhelmed with the sheer number of apps — there are more than a million apps in Apple's App Store and Google's Play Store.
Bovee & Thill's Online Business Communication Magazines's insight:
"Over the last few years, the smartphone has become more than a device we use to call people and send text messages." . . .


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As fashion moves more toward sustainable practices, upcycling seems to be the hottest and trendiest topic right now, with brands such as Miu Miu, Burberry, Alexander McQueen and Marine Serre all tapping into the trend.
Contemporary fashion label Forte_Forte, meanwhile, quietly embraced it almost 10 years ago by partnering with silk specialist Mantero Seta to retrieve and breathe new life into deadstock silks.
Now marking the opening of its latest flagship store in Italy’s tony resort destination Forte dei Marmi, the brand — owned by private equity Style Capital — is unveiling Bloom, a 10-piece capsule collection crafted from old garments in the Forte_Forte archives up until spring 2020.
“This project is very close to our identity and stems from a deep reflection on sustainability that we carried out during the first lockdown last year,” said the brand’s creative director Giada Forte.
Bloom was originally a communication project that debuted last year when the brand started posting on its Instagram account a series of flower pictures to offer relief during the lockdown.
“Each piece of clothing or fabric in the unsold stock brings about a lot of values — from the research trips made to create them to the artisans and weavers we worked with, and they had to be celebrated in some way. It’s not only about making a sustainable statement by way of upcycling but also a way to telegraph the human values that go into the creation of fashion pieces,” Forte explained.
The collection comprises duster and trench coats, as well as billowing frocks and shirtdresses, all exuding a DIY and arty feel.
“Upcycling is a beautiful process in that it forces me as a designer to push my creativity and rethink the same fabrics and pieces I had conceived in the past as if they were characters into something new,” Forte said, adding that the timeless quality of Forte_Forte pieces made the process easier.
Each style is available in three to four pieces and comes with a dedicated label bearing its flower-inspired name and the number of the item, as well as information on the seasons the fabrics and scraps come from.
Exclusively available from June 11 at the Forte dei Marmi store, which opened last month, Forte said the capsule echoes the free-spirited sentiment of rebirth the store opening conveys, and did not rule out debuting similar projects for each new flagship.
The choice to offer the capsule exclusively in the physical store is strategic. “The beautiful thing about such projects is that they can help people rediscover the pleasure of physical shopping in such a digital-driven and frenetic world,” Forte said. “To fully understand these items, you need someone that tells you the story and process behind it and this cannot happen online.”
The brand’s sustainable bent goes way back: After the seminal project with Mantero Seta 10 years ago, Forte_Forte last year introduced the “Corde Vocali” project asking artist Pauline Guerrier to use the brand’s deadstock fabrics for her artistic tapestry — a reflection on the notion of gender — which led the creative director to apply the same cut and sew aesthetic for a range of 14 limited-edition garments.


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Principal Consultant, STL Partners
Accelerating enterprise 5G:
The new B2B ecosystem
Research we’ve undertaken at STL Partners indicates that while there’s certainly a buzz around 5G, understanding of its real potential among enterprises is early in its evolution. Now is the time to capitalize on 5G availability and opportunities to gain a competitive and operational edge.
Until now, perhaps one of the biggest challenges for enterprises has been the availability of industry-specific use cases for 5G. For instance, while the use of autonomous drones in five years might be an exciting vision for a logistics company, the roadmap for getting to that point is less clear. Today, there are significant opportunities for telecoms operators and digital partners to help enterprises on that journey.
Application enablement platforms
Beyond connectivity, the arrival of 5G brings telecoms operators opportunities to offer their customers more value. As higher volumes of data are generated, enterprise customers will look to cloud-based application enablement platforms for managing, sharing, and exchanging all this data for business value.
More than just growing data repositories, these platforms can be key to helping 5G customers to generate and leverage insights from data at scale and in real time. Data privacy, trust, and compliance will be critical and must be built into application enablement platforms by design.
New coordination era
We’re likely to see a move away from the traditional linear value chain towards a more open, flexible ecosystem. As a result, we’re entering a new coordination era in which partners collaborate and co-innovate to leverage an understanding of their customers’ requirements and environment to deliver new 5G-enabled ambitions together.
In this way, telecoms operators can take on a more strategic, advisory, platform-enabled role. This is not just about the network: it’s about having access to the skills and capabilities to drive business advantage for the applications the 5G supports.
Proving and scaling value
In the meantime, many enterprises are still searching for the ‘killer app’ that justifies their investment. This can seem challenging given that the major returns on investment come with multiple use cases, scaling and business transformation. Yet the opportunities are there.
Closer collaboration between enterprises and their partners will enable a more holistic view to become 5G ready. Success is about working in collaboration with customers, as well as digital and integration partners, to develop and scale value-driven proofs of concept. This market is still nascent, but with benefits-driven investment and partnerships, the potential is vast, both for enterprises and for the customers they serve.


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It’s been a long time coming, but Sixense looks to be finally nearing shipping of its pre-production units of the STEM motion controller system for virtual reality (VR) experiences. The company has this week issued an update on the status of its shipping schedule, suggesting that those first units could finally be on their way to Kickstarter backers in the very near future. Earlier in the year the pre-production units were confirmed to be delayed as Sixense improved the technology behind them.
“Our engineers are currently performing the final testing of the STEM Base circuit board,” the company explained in a Kickstarter update. “This process has taken longer than we expected and has required additional revisions. As soon as testing is completed, we will be ready to manufacture the pre-production prototypes that will ship to our backers at the Silver Bundle level and above. If all goes well, these units will ship in October.”
Priced at $1,000 USD on Kickstarter, the aforementioned Silver Bundle includes five STEMS, controllers and STEM packs. Having been delayed from April 2014, the pre-production units were meant to then start shipping in July, although this obviously never happened. These delays also push back to the standard production unit’s shipping, although the company still anticipates shipping them before the year’s end, “assuming no unforseen delays.”
VRFocus will continue to follow STEM moving forward, reporting back with any further updates on the controller’s progress.


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Heineken, the world’s third-largest brewer, is making its first “aggressive” investment in Western Europe for seven years as it dismisses the recent surge towards emerging markets as too “binary and simplistic”.
Europe-bashing has become an “international sport”, but not all emerging markets offer sustainable growth and good returns on investment, Alexis Nasard, the new chief of Heineken’s Western European business, has claimed.
The brewer, which is the market leader in Europe with a 28pc market share, is planning to plough significant investment back into the region - a strategy that goes against the grain of the past few years when consumer companies have been primarily concentrating on expansion in the emerging markets.
Heineken, which generates two fifths of its revenue from Western Europe, has drawn up a fresh strategy for region, which includes a target to double its rate of innovation in the next three years and gain market share by tapping into the trend in countries such as the UK for speciality beers.
The brewer is also planning to target “rocket” cities such as London, where sales are bucking wider industry trends.
“In the last two years it became an international sport to do Europe-bashing,” said Mr Nasard, who was appointed president of Heineken’s Western Europe business in February last year.
“If you start thinking about the fundamentals of Europe, it’s 6pc of the world population with 30pc of the world GDP. It’s a very rich continent with consumers who have deep pockets. The public narrative about the world economy in our view became a little bit binary. If you are exposed to emerging markets, you are good, if you are not, you are bad.
“I find that too simplistic. Not all emerging markets are born equal. There are some which have sustainable prospects for growth and others which have shotgun growth, three years great, three years disaster.”
Consumer groups such as Unilever and drinks giant Pernod Ricard have recently been hit by a slowdown in emerging markets.
However, Mr Nasard insisted the brewer isn’t turning away from emerging markets; in 2012, Heineken gained full control of Tiger Beer maker Asia Pacific Breweries in a £2.8bn deal. It also recently increased its holding in India's United Breweries.
“Obviously there are great opportunities for emerging markets and we are fully committed to that, but we need both engines firing to have sustainable growth as a company,” Mr Nasard said.
Heineken’s renewed focus on Western Europe comes after several years of intensive cost-cutting. The brewer had a tumultuous time after its £7.8bn joint takeover of Scottish & Newcastle brewer in 2007 before the banking crisis.
Mr Nasard said the brewer would continue to reduce costs in Europe but it was re-investing money saved to try to increase its share in the region. “The role of Western Europe is to be a sustainable source of revenue and profit for the company and an innovation hub,” he said.
Mr Nasard said new products such as Radler - a low alcohol drink which mixes lager and lemon juice - have been popular with drinkers who wouldn’t normally choose beer. The brewer has also developed a machine similar to a Nespresso coffee maker to serve draught beer at home.
Heineken reported a 1pc rise in organic revenue in Western Europe in the third quarter of 2013, a turnaround from a 5pc fall in the first half of the year.


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Is that a cop in my rearview mirror? Why is it coming up so darned fast? The jig's up this time, because I've been snared by a police-issue Carbon Motors E7, with turbo BMW power.
The Carbon Motors car isn't on the road yet, though some prototypes with the BMW engine have been built. Carbon Motors announced a deal with BMW Group for 240,000 245-horsepower next-generation BMW diesels this week, but the deal will only happen if Carbon snares the $310 million Department of Energy (DOE) loan it asked for last August. It hopes to finalize that loan in six months, but there are no guarantee.
Carbon is attempting to sweeten the deal for the DOE by agreeing to built the E7 in hard-hit Connersville, Ind., occupying a 1.8 million square-foot plant vacated (at great emotional cost locally) by auto supplier Visteon in 2007. The company is promising 1,550 jobs, plus thousands more indirectly.
It may seem surprising that BMW would sign what could be a vaporware deal, but Ian Robertson, a high-ranking member of BMW's board of management, was there at Carbon Motors' press conference.
The E7 would likely be the first purpose-built police car in the U.S., and also probably the first diesel cop car here (though they're common in Europe, where BMWs, Volkswagens and even Jaguar diesels are pressed into service).
No price has been announced, but Carbon did make its spec sheet available. The car will have a zero to 60 time of 6.5 seconds, complete the quarter mile in 14.5 seconds, and reach 150 mph. Today's Ford Crown Victorias (with the police interceptor package) come fairly stripped, but Carbon will outfit its cars with integrated shotgun mounts, automatic license plate recognition, siren, rear cage surveillance and special fast-exit police seats.
Stacy Stephens is a former Dallas cop and also co-founder of Carbon Motors, which was launched back in 2003. The loan process, he said, is "moving extremely quickly." But many other contenders want a share of that DOE largesse as well. So, only time will tell.


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As the Orange County web development and design as well as online marketing company, ByteLaunch is currently collaborating with the Discovery Science Center situated in Santa Area to generate the latest enduring exhibit. The new exhibit is funded by an endowment from NASA will showcase a model of JPL NASA Curiosity rover model as well as providing all the guests the chance to interact with three different kiosks based on the NASA’s most recent mission to Mars – Curiosity.
For the span of five months, ByteLaunch is currently working on a customized programming structure for the newly-built kiosks. ByteLaunch created an interactive kiosk system that enables boosted user interaction as well as being attainable for the upcoming Mars Curiosity results. It even covers a variety of fresh, updated features such as HTML5 HD video presentation. The disclosure of the new exhibit is in line with the historical Curiosity rover Mars that is expected to land on August 6, 2012.
Even though ByteLaunch is popular for its online marketing tactics as well as web development and design, it primarily started out as an IT company but when technology and the Internet further developed, so did ByteLaunch. The moment the chance arrived to generate fresh software for the Discovery Science Center, everybody at ByteLaunch were thrilled to investigate a fresh component in the field of technology.
ByteLaunch was established back in 2006 as a web development and software company. It eventually developed into a full service web design and online promotion agency. ByteLaunch has grown and expanded and offered web marketing services as well as web design to business all over the country. We love to share great technology news singapore and seo.


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Epicor Global Growth Index Reveals Businesses are Investing in Tech to Offset the Impacts of COVID-19
Report provides insights from business leaders across industries on key strategies, growth initiatives, and how they define success
Epicor Software Corporation, a global provider of industry-specific enterprise software to promote business growth, announced the release of the annual 2020 Global Growth Index, a report that explores the growth trajectory of companies around the world and provides insight on how business leaders are using technology to support and drive growth initiatives. The index looks at the constantly changing state of growth in the manufacturing, distribution, retail and e-commerce industries along with what trends impact the bottom line.
“The trends outlined in this report prove to the wider business community that technology investment is paying off, and that technology investment will continue to be vital if leaders wish to successfully maintain business resiliency, adapt to geopolitical volatility, and stay flexible around market changes.”
The report’s findings show that companies across the globe are embracing technologies to offset the impacts of global volatility, such as COVID-19 and supply chain disruptions. These market conditions are fueling the need to enhance business resilience over the next 12 months, with companies prioritizing better technology (41.4%), better planning (38.9%) and working more efficiently (40.9%). Other key themes identified through the research is listed as followed:
Investments in AI and Big Data are paying off
- AI is driving growth and proving worth the investment for most organizations, with more than 80% of respondents reporting that AI delivered business value in 2 years or less. According to 85.4% of total respondents AI was driving growth overall, with 37.9% specifically reporting that it helped to increase competitiveness.
- Big data analytics is driving growth and proving worth the investment for most organizations, by optimizing operations (42.7%), increasing sales (44%) and improving profitability (45.3%).
Cloud is poised to be a priority
- Cloud technology is set to be a key strategic priority, with one out of four respondents saying they will prioritize investing in it in 2020.
- When asked about key technology trends that are expected to be emerging over the next 12-18 months, cloud was chosen as the second most likely to have the biggest positive, direct impact on future industry growth.
“It’s no secret that recent global events have disrupted the normal order of operations and further spurred businesses’ adoption of technology,” said Steve Murphy, Chief Executive Officer at Epicor. “The trends outlined in this report prove to the wider business community that technology investment is paying off, and that technology investment will continue to be vital if leaders wish to successfully maintain business resiliency, adapt to geopolitical volatility, and stay flexible around market changes.”


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Tesla Reports Q1 Loss of $702 Million, CEO Elon Musk Says the Company Will Return to Profit in Q3
【Summary】Tesla CEO Elon Musk got a dose of reality as the electric automaker announced its 2019 first quarter earnings. The electric automaker posted a $702 million dollar loss or $4.10 per share amid slowing demand for the Model 3 and difficulties delivering the company’s first mass-market car to customers.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk got a dose of reality as the electric automaker announced its 2019 first quarter earnings. The electric automaker posted a $702 million dollar loss or $4.10 per share amid slowing demand for the Model 3 and difficulties delivering the company's first mass-market car to customers.
Tesla reported net loss attributable to common shareholders of $702.1 million in the first quarter ending March 31, compared with $709.6 million, or $4.19 per share, a year ago.
The company reported Wednesday that automotive revenue in the first quarter fell by 41%, to $3.7 billion from $6.3 billion in the previous quarter, a much higher drop than expected for sales for all three of its electric models—the Model S, the Model X and the Model 3.
Shares of Tesla fell by 20% this year. Tesla shares fell by nearly 5% on Wednesday to close at $258.66.
Tesla managed to boost production of the Model 3 in the first quarter but delivered 20% fewer than the previous quarter. Sales of the more expensive Model S and X deliveries dropped by 56% on falling demand.
Tesla has looked for ways to cut expenses and increase profitability in Q1. The company unveiled its Model Y crossover in early March just days after announcing it would close its retail stores and move sales to online only, only to backtrack on that decision. Tesla's retail employees were blindsided by the announcement and many claimed they were laid off without notice.
Musk said shortly afterwards that he will keep many retail locations open, but moved sales of the $35,000 base Model 3 to online only, removing the purchase option from its website.
The Model Y unveil in early March was for the most part lackluster. The Model Y was dismissed by many as just a more expensive Model 3 and by Tesla fans hoping the Model Y would be more of a unique vehicle. The two models will reportedly share around 70% of their parts.
Tesla said on Wednesday it would return to profit in the third quarter of 2019 after racking up two consecutive losses in the first half of the year. Tesla is also burning through its cash reserves.
Musk assured investors that higher deliveries and cost cuts will help Tesla post a narrower loss in the second quarter and return to profitability the following three months. But he hinted earlier this week that Tesla may seek more funds as he embarks on a hugely ambitious pursuit to unleash fully autonomous robotaxis in a shared service next year, Bloomberg reported.
Tesla ended the quarter with just $2.2 billion in cash, after paying off a $920 million convertible bond obligation in March. The company has another $566 million of convertible bond obligations due in November.
Tesla, however, affirmed its outlook of delivering 360,000 to 400,000 vehicles in 2019 and said it may produce as many as 500,000 vehicles in the year if its Gigafactory in Shanghai reaches volume production in the fourth quarter. Musk as usual, remains optimistic about returning to profitability later this year.
"As the impact of higher deliveries and cost reduction take full effect, we expect to return to profitability in Q3 and significantly reduce our loss in Q2," Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said in a letter to investors.
Tesla is also facing growing competition from global automakers releasing their own fully-electric models later this year to compete with Tesla. Among the most anticipated electric offerings are the Audi e-tron SUV, Mercedes Benz EQC and Porsche Taycan.
resource from: Reuters
Tesla Maintains its Sales Momentum, Delivers 88,400 Electric Vehicles in the First Quarter of 2020
Automakers Ford & General Motors are Allowing Rival Tesla to Lead U.S. EV Production Until at Least 2026, Data Indicates
Toyota is Developing a Hydrogen-Powered Fuel Cell Truck With its Hino Motors Unit
Electric Automaker Tesla is Forced to Reduce its Workforce By 75% at its Fremont, California Factory
Waymo, Others Stop Testing Self-Driving Cars on California Roads Due to the Coronavirus
Tesla Begins U.S. Deliveries of the Highly Anticipated Model Y
U.S. Automakers General Motors & Ford Instruct Employees to Work From Home Beginning Next Week Due to the Coronavirus
Volkswagen is Exploring Ways to Use its EV Batteries to Power the Grid
- BMW i Ventures Invests in AutoFi, a San Francisco-based Vehicle Financing Startup
- Relectrify Using Old EV Batteries to Power the Grid
- Chinese Tesla Rival NIO Reports Higher EV Demand, Stock Soars 40%
- MIT Researchers Working on Way to Make Autonomous Cars Better in Inclement Weather
- Magna, Lyft's Autonomous Partner, is Ditching Self-Driving Tech
- Tesla Stock Hits A Record High as the Company Beats 2019 Delivery Targets
- Ride-Sharing Startup Via Launches the Largest U.S. ‘Micro-Transit' Service in California
- Volvo Cars & China’s Geely in Talks to Merge, Creating a Single Global Auto Group
- Toyota & BYD Officially Launch Joint Venture Company to Build Electric Vehicles in China
- Here Are Some More Details About the Upcoming Tesla Model Y Crossover


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On January 14, 2021, Samsung launched the Galaxy S21 series that comes pre-installed with the Android 11-based One UI 3.1. After delivering the One UI 3.1 update to the Galaxy Tab S7 tablets, the company itself explained the newly added productivity features.
On the other hand, the Korean tech giant has begun sending the One UI 3.1 features to its latest affordable flagship device – Galaxy S20 FE back in February 2021. Later on, the company pulled the rollout for some time and further started again. Now, as per the latest info, the unlocked variants of the Galaxy S20 FE receiving the One UI 3.1 update in the US.
Samsung One UI 3.1 adds several new features including Google Discover on -1 screen, private share, video call effects, remove the location of images before sharing, object eraser, Director’s view, Samsung Free, and much more. [Read the latest One UI 3.1 features]
In order the enhance the security of the system, this update also installs the latest Android patches. And, it is worth mentioning that the major network carriers have also released the One UI 3.1 features for their branded Galaxy S20 FE handsets.
New Galaxy S20 FE running Android 11 approved by Wi-Fi Alliance:
A new Samsung smartphone with model number SM-G780G has passed Wi-Fi Alliance certification recently. However, the documents have not revealed any hardware functionalities but it shows that this device running on Android 11. Read more
Coming back, a few things to be noted that it’s an initial rollout, so it may take some time to be available for every Galaxy S20 FE unit. Meanwhile, you can check for the updates manually by following the steps given below.
How to check for updates manually:
- Open device Settings
- Find and select the Software updates menu
- Finally, tap on Download and install button.


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DON'T SHARE NUISANCE.
BB10 OS will come to the PlayBook, confirms RIM
The new BlackBerry 10 OS is based on the same QNX platform as the current Playbook OS.
New Delhi: According to a report from Techradar, the BlackBerry PlayBook will be getting the BB10 OS as soon as it gets ready. Though no specific timeframe has been set by the company as yet, but the company claims to bring the BB10 OS to the Playbook later this year.
Rob Orr, RIM's VP of product management, confirmed the news to Techradar. He said, "We've said publicly a number of times that our first BB10 handset will be available towards the end of 2012, and that's still firmly the case," adding "At some point after the launch we'll bring BB10 to our PlayBooks, yes."
Owners will be relieved to hear that they will benefit from the new BlackBerry 10 OS, which is based on the same QNX platform as the current Playbook OS.
But when exactly will this take place is something that we still look forward to hear from RIM.
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Last week Nokia Australia (now a subsidiary of Microsoft Mobile Oy) confirmed the launch of the latest and greatest Lumia Windows Phones coming to Australia. The high-end Lumia 930 and budget entry Lumia 635 will be the first Windows Phone … Continue reading
In more Lumia 1020 news, WPDU can now confirm that the Lumia 1020 has popped up in Harvey Norman’s system. This means that you can place pre-orders for them NOW! As for pricing….
Woot! The news many of you have been wanting to hear. MS just confirmed that the Surface RT devices will be available in AUSTRALIA via retail stores. We had confirmation yesterday from HN that they will be stocking them – … Continue reading


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Even a $2.3 billion quarterly loss at Fannie Mae couldn’t hold off the charge of the bulls on Wall Street on Friday.
With crude oil falling to $115 a barrel, the stock market shrugged offThursday’s losses and the Dow Jones Industrial Average mushroomed more than302 points, or 2.7 percent, to 11,734.32. And after enduring a 2.1 percentdrop on Thursday, as retail sales came on at disappointing levels with signs of more trouble to come, the Standard & Poor’s Retail Index climbed 6.2 percent to 381.92.
Hermès is launching a Laundromat pop-up shop in NYC - dubbed Hermèsmatic - where customers can bring their old scarves to be dip-dyed by an expert. Get all the details on WWD.com. #wwdnews (📷: @donstahl)


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Expectations are low for any significant progress towards scrapping nearly a trillion dollars in subsidies paid annually to farmers around the world when global trade ministers meet this week.
Trade Minister Todd McClay will have a key role at the biennial meeting of 163 World Trade Organisation (WTO) ministers starting today in Abu Dhabi but he’s unlikely to return home with anything much New Zealand farmers can cheer about.
The glory days of the WTO and its trade-liberalising predecessor, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), would appear long gone.
The Doha round of global trade talks, which were started more than two decades ago with the aim of extending the substantial cuts made to tariffs and subsidies following the Uruguay round in the mid-1990s, have been stalled for more than a decade.
If anything, the liberalisation of global trade has gone backwards as the large economies of the United States, European Union, China and India have showered subsidies on their own industries and raised tariffs in an attempt to build up their own producers at the expense of those of their rivals.
The credibility of the WTO as the arbitrator of trade disputes between countries has also taken a blow with the refusal by the United States in 2019 to allow its appellate court to operate.
Stephen Jacobi, the executive director of the International Business Forum, which represents major exporters including Fonterra, Silver Fern Farms, and Zespri, said there was a zero chance of an agreement for further cuts to agricultural subsidies and tariffs at the Abu Dhabi meeting.
The most that can be expected is a consensus to keep negotiating with the hope of making more progress towards such an agreement at the next meeting of ministers in two years’ time.
Ministers will also consider a request by India for a permanent dispensation for subsidies paid to its farmers. India was granted a temporary pass by WTO members in 2013. This was to help it build up food reserves to use in times of food shortages to keep its poorest from starving.
Making the dispensation permanent is opposed by the US as well as developing countries such as Indonesia and Thailand.
They share NZ’s concerns that the subsidies have led to excess production of commodities such as rice, which has seeped into export markets and depressed prices.
Jacobi said NZ fears that progress made in reducing subsidies for agricultural exports at previous WTO meetings could unravel if India’s request is granted.
“We may not care about them exporting subsidised rice but it would not just be subsidised rice.
“The rules that apply to one country would apply to others.
“Other countries that would love to get back into the export subsidies game might see this as an opportunity.”
Jacobi said latest OECD estimates show there are already $817 billion in agricultural subsidies being paid to farmers by governments around the world every year.
Reinstatement of export subsidies would not be something a small, unsubsidised economy like NZ could stand, he said.
“Not only would we not have our own export subsidies, but even if we did we would not be able to match the export subsidies that used to be used by other exporting countries,” Jacobi said.
Jacobi said McClay is poised to play a key role in Abu Dhabi as one of three deputy chairs and the meeting’s facilitator on a proposal to rollover a long-standing moratorium on tariffs on cross-border e-commerce transactions.
India has lined up against the majority of WTO members to oppose the moratorium’s extension although there is concern it is cynically using that position as a bargaining chip in the talks on agricultural subsidies.
While it would be disappointing for the WTO should it fail to roll over the moratorium, it would be unlikely to be the organisation’s death knell, Jacobi said.
The GATT and WTO agreements still act as the baseline for global trade agreements and cannot just be abandoned and started again, he said.
“We all support the thing we have got even though what we have got isn’t really fit for purpose and we would have shown that it is not fit for purpose in the future because in a whole new area such as digital trade the members would have shown they couldn’t work out something sensible.”


text: Weak lead generation led ValueClick Inc. to report preliminary third quarter revenue falls short of its guidance range. The Westlake Village-based online marketer expects revenue of $156 to $157 million for the third quarter ending Sept. 30. The prior guidance range had been $155 million to $165 million. For the full fiscal year, the company anticipates revenue in the $635 million to $630 million range compared with the guidance range of $645 million to $660 million. Third quarter revenue was impacted primarily by weakness in lead generation, partially offset by better than expected results in the Comparison Shopping segment. Company management believes that the lead generation business has stabilized. ValueClick releases its third quarter financials on Nov. 1.


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Above: Vreal lets you spectate inside virtual reality in games such as Surgeon Simulator. Vreal has raised $11.7 million in venture capital funding for its platform for streaming virtual reality experiences to both VR users and spectators on 2D screens.
Axioma Ventures led the round, with contributions from new investors Intel Capital and the Akatsuki Entertainment Technology Fund. Existing investors who also participated included Upfront Ventures, Vulcan Capital, and CRCM Ventures.
Seattle-based Vreal will use the funding to further develop and launch its platform, which it hopes will pave the way for gamers to create, share, and enjoy video game content within virtual reality. The money will give the company some runway to work on refining its platform and content creation tools as the market for virtual reality gaming starts to take off.
So far, the market growth has been slower than expected. Above: Todd Hooper, CEO of Vreal in Seattle.
Vreal CEO Todd Hooper said in an interview with GamesBeat that the company is watching its expenses in light of VR’s gap of disappointment, and that was one of the reasons why it was able to raise the money. He said the funding could give the company time to get its platform right as the market for VR livestreaming developers. Read more from venturebeat.com…
thumbnail courtesy of venturebeat.com


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PepsiCo aims for energy boost with $3.85 billion Rockstar deal
(Reuters) – PepsiCo Inc (PEP.O) on Wednesday made its biggest bet in the energy drinks market with a $3.85 billion deal to buy Rockstar Energy Beverages, opening a new front in its long-running battle with Coca-Cola Co (KO.N).
The deal is also the latest move by PepsiCo’s new chief executive officer, Ramon Laguarta, to reduce the company’s dependence on its core sugary drinks and salty snacks, which have been increasingly shunned by health-conscious consumers.
Pepsi last July announced the acquisition of South African maker of cereal and fruit juice Pioneer Food Group, a few months after closing its $3.2 billion buyout of carbonated drink-machine maker SodaStream.
The Rockstar deal comes about two months after Coca-Cola, which owns a stake in Monster Beverage Co (MNST.O), rolled out Coke-branded energy drinks in the United States, after launching in European markets last year.
PepsiCo, which already distributes Rockstar products in some markets, has a smaller presence in the energy space with its Mountain Dew Kickstart and Mountain Dew Game Fuel brands.
“With Rockstar underneath their wings, they’ll have a family of energy drinks… they can coordinate the activity of an entire family of brands to meet a variety of needs of people,” Edward Jones analyst John Boylan said.
Laguarta has previously said the company was looking to expand its presence in the caffeinated beverages market, as longer working hours in the United States was helping increase demand for a quick energy fix.
Spending by consumers globally on energy drinks rose 9.9% to $12.72 billion for the year ended February 2020, compared with a 2.6% increase in sales of soft drinks to $26.96 billion, according to market research firm Nielsen.
Credit Suisse analyst Kaumil Gajrawala said PepsiCo’s previous distribution deal with Rockstar limited its ability to participate more meaningfully in the energy drink category.
Founded in 2001, Las Vegas-based Rockstar initially aimed straight for major player Red Bull, by having a wider variety of flavors and selling cans twice as big for the same price.
However, the brand, whose bright yellow logo can be seen on extreme sports teams and at music festivals, still remains far behind the Austrian giant, as well as Monster.
Monster and Red Bull, together accounted for over a third of the global energy drink market in 2019, according to data from Euromonitor International.
Pepsi said the deal is not expected to impact its revenue or earnings per share in 2020.
The company’s shares fell 2.9% in early trading in a weak New York market.
Source: Read Full Article


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In December, 2013, Techcrunch published an interview with researcher Skye Grey who claimed textual analysis of published writings shows a link between Satoshi and bit-gold creator Nick Szabo. And perhaps most famously, in March 2014, Newsweek ran a cover article claiming that Satoshi is actually an individual named Satoshi Nakamoto – a 64-year-old Japanese-American engineer living in California. The list of suspects is long, and all the individuals deny being Satoshi.
With no ties to a national economy and lofty goals, Bitcoin's price is famously volatile. Prices have soared and plummeted in the wake of various national policies, financial deals, competing cryptocurrencies, and fluctuating public opinion. On the other hand, as many sovereign nations find themselves with currencies that are also vulnerable, the citizens of countries such as China and Venezuela are turning increasingly to virtual currencies.
Bitcoin has become more widely traded as of 2017, and both short term traders and long-term investors are looking to participate in this exciting market. The price of bitcoin fluctuates on a daily basis, and can see some significant price volatility. Prices can be affected by numerous influences. Some of the possible drivers of price include: further acceptance, more exchanges opening, regulations, weakening paper currency values, inflation and more.
Bitcoin mining is the process through which bitcoins are released to come into circulation. Basically, it involves solving a computationally difficult puzzle to discover a new block, which is added to the blockchain, and receiving a reward in the form of few bitcoins. The block reward was 50 new bitcoins in 2009; it decreases every four years. As more and more bitcoins are created, the difficulty of the mining process – that is, the amount of computing power involved – increases. The mining difficulty began at 1.0 with Bitcoin's debut back in 2009; at the end of the year, it was only 1.18. As of April 2017, the mining difficulty is over 4.24 billion. Once, an ordinary desktop computer sufficed for the mining process; now, to combat the difficulty level, miners must use faster hardware like Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASIC), more advanced processing units like Graphic Processing Units (GPUs), etc.
The simplest way to approach the model would be to look at the current worldwide value of all mediums of exchange and of all stores of value comparable to bitcoin, and calculate the value of bitcoin's projected percentage. The predominant medium of exchange is government backed money, and for our model we will focus solely on them. The money supply is often thought of as broken into different buckets, M0, M1, M2, and M3. M0 refers to currency in circulation. M1 is M0 plus demand deposits like checking accounts. M2 is M1 plus savings accounts and small time deposits (known as certificates of deposit in the US). M3 is M2 plus large time deposits and money market funds. Since M0 and M1 are readily accessible for use in commerce, we will consider these two buckets as medium of exchange, whereas M2 and M3 will be considered as money being used as a store of value.
Bitcoin is pseudonymous, meaning that funds are not tied to real-world entities but rather bitcoin addresses. Owners of bitcoin addresses are not explicitly identified, but all transactions on the blockchain are public. In addition, transactions can be linked to individuals and companies through "idioms of use" (e.g., transactions that spend coins from multiple inputs indicate that the inputs may have a common owner) and corroborating public transaction data with known information on owners of certain addresses. Additionally, bitcoin exchanges, where bitcoins are traded for traditional currencies, may be required by law to collect personal information.
Bitcoin has been criticized for the amount of electricity consumed by mining. As of 2015, The Economist estimated that even if all miners used modern facilities, the combined electricity consumption would be 166.7 megawatts (1.46 terawatt-hours per year). At the end of 2017, the global bitcoin mining activity was estimated to consume between one and four gigawatts of electricity. Politico noted that the even high-end estimates of bitcoin's total consumption levels amount to only about 6% of the total power consumed by the global banking sector, and even if bitcoin's consumption levels increased 100 fold from today's levels, bitcoin's consumption would still only amount to about 2% of global power consumption.
In October 2013, the FBI seized roughly 26,000 BTC from website Silk Road during the arrest of alleged owner Ross William Ulbricht. Two companies, Robocoin and Bitcoiniacs launched the world's first bitcoin ATM on 29 October 2013 in Vancouver, BC, Canada, allowing clients to sell or purchase bitcoin currency at a downtown coffee shop. Chinese internet giant Baidu had allowed clients of website security services to pay with bitcoins.
In May 2013, Ted Nelson speculated that Japanese mathematician Shinichi Mochizuki is Satoshi Nakamoto. Later in 2013 the Israeli researchers Dorit Ron and Adi Shamir pointed to Silk Road-linked Ross William Ulbricht as the possible person behind the cover. The two researchers based their suspicion on an analysis of the network of bitcoin transactions. These allegations were contested and Ron and Shamir later retracted their claim.
Though transaction fees are optional, miners can choose which transactions to process and prioritize those that pay higher fees. Miners may choose transactions based on the fee paid relative to their storage size, not the absolute amount of money paid as a fee. These fees are generally measured in satoshis per byte (sat/b). The size of transactions is dependent on the number of inputs used to create the transaction, and the number of outputs.:ch. 8
More recently, at a congressional hearing on Capitol Hill, global economist and New York University professor Nouriel Roubini said, "Crypto is the mother or father of all scams and bubbles." He called out "swindlers" who tapped into investors' fear of missing out and took them for a ride with "crappy assets that went into a bust and crash — in a matter of months — like you have not seen in any history of financial bubbles."


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Lorissa’s List from protein snack brand Lorissa’s Kitchen is a digital destination featuring a variety of gift options for moms, from mom-owned businesses. To help champion the new initiative, the brand enlisted Kristin Cavallari, a fellow "mom entrepreneur," television personality, founder, and CEO of Uncommon James. Kristin commented on Lorissa's List, stating: “Lorissa’s Kitchen snacks have always been a go-to for me and that’s why I am excited to partner with the protein snack brand and help rally behind these amazing moms, just in time for Mother’s Day.”
In addition, Lorissa's Kitchen will launch 'Mompreneur Monday's' on social media that features the business owners across the course of the next eight weeks. Moreover, all the "mompreneurs" chosen for Lorissa’s List will receive access to tools to help grow their businesses through national promotion, advice from Lorissa herself, and a membership to networking group HeyMama.
Image Credit: Lorissa's Kitchen