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October 19, 2012 1:18 pmUA Basketball Fall ’12 Showcase Recap
Our look at Under Armour’s year to come in hoops, live from Brooklyn.
October 18, 2012 3:00 pmTop 50: Kyrie Irving, no. 17
The definitive ranking of the NBA’s best players for ’12-13.
October 13, 2012 3:00 pmTop 50: Paul Pierce, no. 27
The definitive ranking of the NBA’s best players.
October 12, 2012 1:30 pmLeBron X Nike iD Experience
A test run creating a custom pair of LeBron Xs, via Nike iD.
October 4, 2012 3:16 pmBuck on Broadway
For every three sharpshooter Steve Novak hits at MSG, dozens more were made back in Brown Deer, WI.
September 25, 2012 10:29 amReggie Williams Talks Kicks
Charlotte’s sharp-shooting sneakerhead speaks on his catalog of footwear.
August 29, 2012 11:27 amRock Solid
Now in its sixth iteration, the Jordan CP3 line is catching up to its namesake’s popularity.
July 23, 2012 12:21 pmOut Of The Blue
Overshadowed as an amateur and undervalued as a young pro, Mike Conley is now on the way to making a serious name for himself in Memphis.
July 17, 2012 5:21 pmTeam USA-Brazil Recap
Notes and quotes from Monday’s exhibition game in the nation’s capital.
July 16, 2012 4:32 pmOlympic Surprise
Powerade helps LeBron James and Chris Paul sneak up on a group of young players in DC.
July 5, 2012 2:55 pmBoogie’s Nights
Give DeMarcus Cousins a little time, and he’s going to be known as one of the NBA’s most dominant big men.
June 26, 2012 5:30 pmNike+ Global Launch LA Recap
Testing the latest technology from the Swoosh in the shadow of the Staples Center.
June 19, 2012 1:55 pmQ+A: Glen Davis
Big Baby discusses his first season in Orlando, the Dwight Howard saga, the NBA Finals and his new line of signature headphones.
June 7, 2012 2:20 pmUniform Advantage
After landing EBC partnership, Seattle startup Intrepid will showcase jerseys at Rucker Park.
June 6, 2012 1:02 pmBrad Beal, No. 3 (Mock Draft)
The Wizards select the top 2-guard to run with John Wall.
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Legislation to make it easier for Internet users to maintain on-line privacy and to fend off unwanted E-mail was proposed yesterday by State Attorney General Eliot L. Spitzer.
Concern about computer and software systems capable of discerning personal information about Web users has been increasing. The Manhattan Democrat said his bill would prevent companies from selling information about Web users without authorization.
A companion bill is aimed at protecting users from mass transmissions of junk E-mail. Mr. Spitzer would require marketers to provide identifying information with E-mail and give consumers the chance to decline future transmissions.Continue reading the main story

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Why Jack Dorsey's Square Is So Important For BitcoinBy Nick Chong
When you think of the company Square, "Bitcoin" and "cryptocurrency" are likely not the first words that come to mind. But evidence is mounting that the fintech company, captained by Twitter's chief executive, Jack Dorsey, is critically important to the cryptocurrency industry. Just look at financial data from the firm's latest fiscal quarter.
A Brief Recap
Let's take a brief look at Square's brief yet high-impact foray into crypto.
When Bitcoin flew into the quintuple digits in late-2017, interest from the public and corporations spiked. An asset that was once for those on the digital fringe — criminals, hackers, anarcho-capitalists, and cypherpunks — catapulted into the mainstream through 24/7 mainstream media coverage, social media buzz, and Fear of Missing Out (FOMO). Everyone and their mother was trying to discover ways to make money off the crypto craze.
Then Square, a financial services and technology firm headquartered in San Francisco, introduced its American clientele to Bitcoin. A little late to the party, Square's flagship product, mobile application Cash App, began to offer a barebones Bitcoin trading market in January 2018. At first it seemed that few consumers noticed, presumably because they were distracted by all the hype surrounding altcoins, Bitcoin futures, and news that other corporations and financial giants were getting into crypto. Or maybe low interest was a result of the fact that this feature of Square Cash was first unavailable in many states due to regional nuances in regulation. It took Square almost six months to secure a BitLicense, a business license for those wishing to deal in virtual currency-related activities in New York, from the state's Department of Financial Services.
Yet since its uneventful launch shortly after the peak of 2018's speculative mania, Cash App's clout in the Bitcoin ecosystem has continued to grow under the radar.
Booming Bitcoin Sales
Due to its status as a publicly-traded company, Square, which is listed under the ticker "SQ", has to release its financial reports for public consumption. This has allowed investors in traditional markets and cryptocurrency fanatics to peer into the company's financial standing. While profits are important, as is cash flow, Bitcoin enthusiasts will be most interested in the "Bitcoin revenues" and "Bitcoin costs" rows inside the reports.
According to the Q1 2019 results that were published in late-April, Square secured $65.5 million in Bitcoin revenues, implying that $65.5 million worth of BTC was purchased. The firm spent $64.7 million to sell that same BTC, meaning that Square made 1.2% of profit through its cryptocurrency business. It is important to note that Square doesn't charge trading fees, but instead sells BTC at a "mid-market" rate to account for volatility and spreads. One year ago, Square's Q1 2018 Bitcoin revenues sat at a relatively measly $34.1 million.
$65.5 million may not sound like much, especially considering that Binance, for instance, processes over $300 million worth of Bitcoin-to-crypto (and vice versa) trade orders every day. But Square's impact on the spot cryptocurrency market shouldn't be underestimated.
Cash App's Bitcoin exchange is untraditional in that it doesn’t participate in matching orders, which is very different from classical cryptocurrency exchanges. Users can buy and sell at their leisure at the rate determined best by Square. It is possible that when users sell their BTC through the Cash App, it is kept in a company wallet for a subsequent purchaser, not sold immediately. Otherwise, Square would be charging a fee to cover expenses and would not be setting a rate that accounts for volatility. The fact that Square has made a profit of 1.2% in a zero-fee environment is a testament to this. This means that when one purchases Bitcoin through the Cash App, there is no direct selling pressure on the underlying spot market.
This is just a theory, of course, as there are few details about the exact system Square employs to service its customers with physical BTC. Regardless, due to the rudimentary laws of supply and demand, any purchase of BTC through the Cash App should be a slight benefit to bulls.
Then again, $65.5 million of net capital inflows into Bitcoin still sounds strikingly low. But one must consider fiat amplifiers, which is the idea that purchasing BTC with fiat pushes up Bitcoin's market capitalization by orders of magnitude more than the nominal value of said fiat. Analyst Alex Krüger explained the concept on Twitter in early-January as “Invest a relatively large sum in a small asset (in $ terms), where additionally a significant fraction is not liquid (i.e. does not trade, sits off exchanges) => prices skyrocket. Fixed supply compounds the impact.”
While fiat amplifiers are widely believed to exist, opinions vary about the exact multiplier, which is likely a dynamic figure. In 2018, JP Morgan & Chase estimated that $2 billion worth of capital flowed into Bitcoin during fiscal 2017. During the same period, the asset's market cap swelled from $15 billion to $250 billion, all off the back of $2 billion worth of net inflow. This represents a fiat amplifier of 117.5. Some have been a bit more conservative in their estimates. Citigroup estimates a "cryptoasset" multiplier of around 50 times. Placeholder's Chris Burniske, who penned industry primer Cryptoassets: The Innovative Investor's Guide to Bitcoin and Beyond, pins the multiplier to be somewhere in between two times and 25 times — quite the range.
Considering a low-end estimate of a 25 times multiplier, Square's sales of $65.5 million worth of BTC in the first three months of 2019 may have single-handedly boosted Bitcoin's market capitalization by $1.637 billion. It may be important to note that the current actual multiplier may be even higher than 25 times because by the time December's plunge rolled around, it’s very possible that there were very few sellers at sub-$5,000 levels.
It’s also important to important to consider the amount of BTC that Square is selling, not just sales in dollar terms. Assuming Q1's average Bitcoin price of around $3,790 (CoinMetrics & The Block), Square sold an approximated 17,300 BTC during that period — Cash App's fees and spreads not taken into account. During that same time frame, 162,000 BTC was mined, assuming that the Bitcoin network keeps to its standard emission rate of 1,800 BTC each day. This implies that Square's users absorbed 11% of all BTC mined through their purchases. Considering that the sale of coins emitted by miners is considered a perpetual negative catalyst for BTC, as miners often need to liquidate their stash to fund their operations, an 11% alleviation on this pressure, dubbed a "natural selling pressure" by some pundits, goes a long way.
Square's impact on the spot market may grow even further, though. Yassine Elmandjra, the resident crypto analyst at the investment group ARK Invest, observes that if Square's Bitcoin sales (denominated in BTC) keeps pace at its current growth of 530% year-over-year (YoY), by May 2020 (Q2 of 2020), Cash App users will be purchasing over two BTC for every coin minted. Of course, maintaining 530% YoY growth, even for a market as embryonic as cryptocurrency, is easier said than done. Yet, considering Square's swelling traction in this market — not to mention the expected rally that cryptocurrencies may see in the coming 12 months — 200%, 300%, or even 530% YoY growth isn't out of the realm of possibility.
In other words, Cash App's Bitcoin market has and will likely continue to be a colossal driver for an expansion of the Bitcoin price.
A Medium Of Mass Crypto Adoption
Square could also drive mainstream adoption of Bitcoin. For starters, it is important to note that unlike traditional cryptocurrency exchanges such as Coinbase, Bitfinex, and Binance, Cash App's active user base and volumes have swelled in 2018. In the Q4 2018 edition of Square's Shareholder Letter, the company revealed that Cash App had 15 million monthly active users (MAU). This represents a 100% increase since Square last divulged this statistic, which occurred some time in late-2017. This jaw-dropping growth can be primarily attributed to the fact that the platform includes traditional fintech functions, like payments, an in-house debit card, and access to discounts at certain retailers and restaurants like Chipotle and Shake Shack.
What's notable about this figure is that when — or if — the next rally graces the cryptocurrency market, Square will act as a major on-ramp for consumers that have yet to embrace Bitcoin. As it stands, it is likely that a slim portion of Cash App's MAU actively use the Bitcoin feature. With public awareness of Bitcoin and the reputation of the cryptocurrency space rapidly rising, as Blockchain Capital determined in a recent poll, Cash App's easy-to-use, sleek, and barebones interface may quickly become a way for crypto newcomers to turn their digital pocket change into BTC. It's simple, so much so that each and every American Cash App user is just a few taps away from purchasing Bitcoin, no add-ons or app updates necessary. And, once Cash App rolls out Bitcoin support to other large markets, like the U.K. and Canada, adoption is likely to only rapidly accelerate. You do the math.
Jack Dorsey At The Helm
Square launch of Bitcoin trading is apparently linked to Jack Dorsey's love for Bitcoin. Dorsey's passion for cryptocurrency may serve Square well in the years to come.
In early-2018, just after Cash App launched support for BTC purchases and sales, Dorsey remarked that he believed Bitcoin would become the "native currency of the Internet." Then in early-2019, Dorsey again opined that Bitcoin is well on its way to becoming the ubiquitous currency of the digital world. He elaborated:
“The Internet will have a single native currency, which will likely be Bitcoin. It is something that was born on the internet, that was developed on the internet, that was tested on the internet. It is of the internet.”
In the weeks that followed, Dorsey renewed involvement snowballed. On Twitter, he publicly accepted a Lightning Network transaction, briefly hoisting the so-called "Trust Chain Torch" in a show of affection for the scaling solution. Dorsey noted that the Trust Chain, a grassroots movement meant to bolster the public's awareness of Bitcoin scaling solutions, was a "cool example" of the Lightning Network, which promotes low-cost, near-instant, secure, and private(ish) transactions.
Since early-2019, Dorsey has made appearances on Bitcoin-centric podcasts and has issued dozens many tweets about the cryptocurrency. During an interview on Tales of the Crypt, hosted by Matt Odell and Marty Bent, Dorsey remarked that he purchased $10,000 worth of BTC in the week prior, and may continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
The Future of Square and of Crypto
By many measures Square is already one of the most successful companies in the crypto industry. And this story is far from over.
Speaking to commentator Stephan Livera, Dorsey explained that Square's integration of the Lightning Network for payments, which would entice merchants to accept BTC over costly credit cards, is a matter of "when,” not "if.” He remarked that Square sees Bitcoin as a currency, rather than solely as a speculative asset. And as it stands, the widespread adoption of the Lightning Network is the most promising means to that end.
Weeks later, Dorsey wowed the community with a straight out of left field announcement. On March 20th, the entrepreneur revealed that the $28 billion Square intended to hire up to five individuals for "open source contributions to the Bitcoin and crypto ecosystem." Dorsey sees this as a way to promote “individual economic empowerment” and the creation of a “more accessible global financial system.”
Square, of course, isn't the only service positioning itself to be a fiat onramp for retail clients and an infrastructure provider for the community. Just recently, inside sources told Bloomberg that both TD Ameritrade and E*Trade, two retail-centric brokerage giants, plan to launch fully-fledged support for BTC trading in the coming months. On the infrastructural side, the Intercontinental Exchange's Bakkt is expected to rollout wallets, a merchant payment portal, among other key plays that are meant to expand crypto's value proposition.
What some of these companies may lack, however, is an established crypto-friendly user base, close ties with the millennial demographic and a Bitcoin enthusiast leading the mission.


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(Want to get California Today by email? Here’s the sign-up.)
President Trump this month signed a resolution to undo internet privacy rules that would have kept companies like AT&T and Comcast from selling users’ browsing histories and other personal data.
But California, a pioneer of privacy protections, has so far been silent.
That could soon change.
Assemblyman Ed Chau, a Democrat who heads the Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee, said he was holding meetings on steps the Legislature could take to safeguard personal information.
“California has been at the leading edge of innovation in approaching privacy issues and consumer protection for years, and there is no reason for that to change,” he said in a statement.
Some lawmakers have argued that the privacy rules, drafted last October by the Federal Communications Commission, would have unfairly targeted telecom carriers, while sparing web companies like Google and Facebook that also provide access to user data.
“They really created an unlevel playing field,” said State Senator Joel Anderson, a Republican who has worked on digital privacy. He added, “They gave free rein to Google and to Facebook.”
Privacy groups have noted that consumers can avoid a website with objectionable user terms. But to go online, you have to contract with a broadband provider.
That doesn’t mean letting the web services off the hook, said Richard Holober, executive director of the Consumer Federation of California, a nonprofit.
“We’d love them to go after Google,” he said. “But you start with the folks who have unfettered control of watching everything you’re doing.”
Any effort to reproduce the overturned federal rules in California is by no means a lock.
Nicole Ozer, the technology and civil liberties policy director for the American Civil Liberties Union of California, said lawmakers had introduced “many, many bills” over the years intended to shore up digital privacy.
“Unfortunately, very few of them have been signed into law,” she said.
One of those was in 2015, when Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill that required law enforcement to get a warrant before accessing user data.
The latest privacy debate, however, differs in a crucial way: It threatens business interests in a state where tech companies enjoy tremendous influence.
“Technology is a very large industry in California,” Ms. Ozer said, “so I think there are a lot of legislators who are very cognizant of those issues.”
(Please note: We regularly highlight articles on news sites that have limited access for nonsubscribers.)
• U.C. Berkeley canceled a speech by the conservative author Ann Coulter, citing safety concerns. [The New York Times]
• “He’s not a terrorist, he is a racist.” Officials shared a detailed timeline of a gunman’s shooting rampage in Fresno. [Fresno Bee]
• “We’re witnessing a transition to a post-oasis landscape in Southern California,” a forester said. [Los Angeles Times]
• A child born in Richmond is expected to die five years earlier than one born in nearby San Francisco. [Opinion | The New York Times]
• A Southern California law school became the first fully accredited one in the country to shut down. [The New York Times]
• A top law enforcement official proposed declaring Kern County a “non-sanctuary county.” [Bakersfield Californian]
• They are app makers and podcasters and they are possibly at risk from President Trump’s immigration policies. [The New York Times]
• Why does Facebook keep winning against rivals like Snapchat? It’s because of the network. [The New York Times]
• A darling of Silicon Valley investors, Juicero created $400 gadgets that squeeze juice from bags of fruit. Turns out they can be squeezed by hand. [Bloomberg]
• Appointments with this Los Angeles hairstylist are more like emotional exorcisms — if you’re into that kind of thing. [The New York Times]
• More than 1,600 American breweries were analyzed to create a ranking of top craft beer towns. No. 1? Santa Rosa. [The Pudding]
And Finally …
The Dubs are finna go undefeated, yaddadi-mean?
If you didn’t understand that, there’s a new book that might be able to help. (See definitions below.)
“Talk Like a Californian” is a pronunciation and slang guide to the state.
The author, Colleen Dunn Bates (who uses the pen name Helena Ventura), said she wrote the slim book mostly for fun. But it could also help save new arrivals to California from embarrassment.
“I’ve heard the same thing my whole life: people moving to L.A. and pronouncing Sepulveda, Sep-ul-VAY-duh,” she said. “It’s one of those rituals of shame that newcomers to L.A. go through.”
Beyond helpful pronunciations, the book gives a slang tour according to a few linguistic categories: statewide, Northern California, Southern California, Hollywood, surfer and tech.
Hustle: Your work.
Yee: Yeah. The Bay Area claims it as its own, but it’s statewide now.
Dubs: The Golden State Warriors
Finna: About to, or going to.
Yaddadi-mean: You know what I mean?
909er: Someone who lives in the Inland Empire, where the area code is 909.
Tightsauce: Outstanding and/or attractive.
Golden times: Super-duper overtime, which typically kicks in for union workers after 16 hours.
The industry: Show business.
Barney: An uncool beginner who gets in the way, a kook.
Gandolf: An older, wiser guy.
Pivot: Your start-up didn’t fail — you’re just pivoting in a new direction.
Ramen profitable: A start-up that is profitable only because the founders live in an uncle’s basement and eat ramen.
California Today goes live at 6 a.m. Pacific time weekdays. Tell us what you want to see: CAtoday@nytimes.com.
The California Today columnist, Mike McPhate, is a third-generation Californian — born outside Sacramento and raised in San Juan Capistrano. He lives in Davis.
California Today is edited by Julie Bloom, who grew up in Los Angeles and graduated from U.C. Berkeley.


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Ferrari turns its attention to the potential of hydrogen fuel cell luxury carsJuly 4, 2022
The Italian supercar maker intends to roll out the first model of its vehicle by 2030.
Ferrari is considering the potential of using hydrogen fuel cell technology for an upcoming luxury vehicle design, according to recent media reports.
The supercar maker is transitioning toward the use of electric powertrains in coming years.
Hydrogen fuel cell cars has already been rolled out to a limited degree by certain automakers such as Toyota and Hyundai. Even BMW has come out with certain H2 vehicle. Viritech and Pininfarina have also announced that they are working on similar tech. The zero-emission technology makes it possible for vehicles to operate without producing greenhouse gas. If green H2 is used to refuel the vehicle, then the production of the fuel will also be zero-emission.
The media reports, initially made by Reuters, claim that the new Ferrari production line has a focus on electric vehicles. The goal is to raise the automaker’s production at its Maranello, Italy plant. It wants to increase production by 35 percent, bringing its total to more than 15,000 by 2025 when compared to its 2021 production numbers of 11,155.
It is working to develop hydrogen fuel cell technology to help decarbonize its vehicles.
Ferrari will increase its production from its current 46 per day to 65 per day. It wants to achieve this goal in order to raise its profit margins.
The automaker’s CEO Benedetto Vigna said in the report that the automaker is partnered with four other companies in Europe and Asia to develop the necessary battery components for the company’s next generation of high-energy-density solid-state batteries. The purpose of the battery research is to produce a version that is lighter than current batteries.
That said fuel cell vehicles require infrastructure that will allow them to refuel their H2. It’s unlikely that this network will be adequately built out in most of the automaker’s main markets until the 2030s. If that’s the case, even if the automaker rolls out its first hydrogen fuel cell vehicle it isn’t likely to occur until the end of this decade at the earliest so refueling will be available.
Article Updated 6/7/2023
The Latest From Ferrari: Ferrari’s Carbon Neutrality Goal by 2030 Remains Unaffected by E-Fuel Cars, Says CEO Vigna
Ferrari’s CEO, Benedetto Vigna, has affirmed that the company’s decision to build internal combustion engine cars powered by e-fuels does not contradict its goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2030. During the Financial Times’ ‘Future of the Car’ conference, Vigna stated that the two targets are “very much compatible.” Ferrari intends to use e-fuels, which are produced by synthesizing captured CO2 emissions and hydrogen using renewable or CO2-free electricity, for its thermal cars. Although Ferrari is already producing plug-in hybrid models and plans to launch its first full-electric vehicle in 2025, it has not established a timeline for transitioning to full-electric. However, Ferrari’s business plan forecasts that 80% of its range by 2030 will comprise fully-electric and hybrid models, with the remaining 20% powered by internal combustion engines.
From Factory to Classroom: Ferrari’s Investment in Hydrogen Education for a Sustainable Future.
Ferrari’s commitment to sustainability is not limited to its auto factories. The Ferrari Institute for Innovation at the Maranello school is investing in hydrogen technology and education, supported by European Structural Funds. Students are provided with a comprehensive educational experience, combining theoretical classroom instruction with hands-on practical activities and instruction from external experts. Through the project, students acquire the skills required to operate a hydrogen system and perform a hydrogen vehicle conversion. This investment in hydrogen education is vital to developing environmentally conscious citizens and equipping future professionals with the knowledge and skills necessary for a sustainable future. From Enzo Ferrari’s vision for professional training to modern-day initiatives, the Ferrari Institute for Innovation remains a leader in innovative education.


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Patron is now letting shoppers order alcohol via social media. The Mexican tequila brand has partnered with Instagram to let users purchase Patron straight from ads on the app.
Patron has partnered with delivery apps Instacart, Drizly and ReserveCart to allow users that swipe up and order tequila from Patron’s Instagram Stories to have it delivered to their homes. Working with these third-party partners allows the venture to be far-reaching, as the three companies currently deliver in 48 states. Capitalizing across media platforms has become increasingly complex according to a Gartner L2 report on the topic, meaning brands have to think outside the box with digital strategies. Facing competition from legacy brands as well as lesser-known beverage companies has increased in difficulty as more companies enhance a digital presence. Patron is attempting to get ahead of the trend for alcoholic beverages selling on Instagram’s new shopping platform as the social media app continues to ramp up its e-commerce efforts.
Patron’s digital efforts come at an interesting time for the alcohol industry. Consumer behavior towards alcohol on social media shows that overall interest is decreasing as wellness trends encouraging alcohol abstinence and discouragement of heavy drinking are on the rise. A study done by research firm Mintel revealed that many younger people are drinking less these days due to a fear that their alcohol-induced actions will end up on social media.
Patron has not released its target market for Instagram tequila sales, though the brand acknowledged measuring KPIs to develop a better relationship with the consumer. Other brands could take note of Patron’s digital ingenuity and begin finding social media pathways to sell and promote alcoholic products in the near future.


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New Mexicans were gettin’ high in July.
The state said Thursday that adult-use sales last month were the largest since New Mexico’s recreational program began in April.
According to the Governor’s Office, businesses realized nearly $23.5 million in adult-use sales for the month. April topped more than $22 million, which was the highest for recreational sales until now.
“These numbers show that the impressive sales generated in the first month of legalized recreational cannabis sales were no fluke — and this is only the beginning,” Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said in a Thursday statement. “We’ve established a new industry that is already generating millions of dollars in local and state revenue and will continue to generate millions more in economic activity across the state, creating thousands of jobs for New Mexicans in communities both small and large.”
In just the first four months, recreational sales have accounted for close to $88 million dollars. And for July, including medical cannabis sales, the state’s cannabis industry saw about $40.3 million in combined sales.
Albuquerque, the most populated city in New Mexico, again saw the highest number of sales — doing about $7.7 million in adult-use sales and $6.9 million in medical sales, according to the state data.
Santa Fe did nearly $1.9 million in adult-use sales. Hobbs did nearly $1.3 million in recreational sales and Sunland Park did about $1.2 million in adult-use sales — both towns which border Texas where cannabis is still illegal recreationally.
Rio Rancho did more in medical sales than recreational, with about $873,861 coming from the medical side and $742,725 coming from the adult-use side.
New Mexico Cannabis Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Ben Lewinger called the numbers a win for the state.
“I couldn’t be prouder of my home state,” he said. “The Cannabis Regulation Act presented what felt like an impossible timeline to stand up a brand new adult use cannabis industry, yet here (we) are – four months into legal cannabis for folks over 21 and we have record sales, for not only adult use but also our cherished medical cannabis program. …Best of all, no one city or county owns this success — the industry will continue to grow across the entire state.”
New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department spokesman Charlie Moore said June cannabis excise tax returns totaled close to $2.5 million. Taxes are due on the 25th day of each month. July numbers won’t be ready until late August.


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When shredded, HP cartridge plastic is mixed in with the metal and paper that go into creating these complex little capsules. It's a useful waste stream, but a contaminated one.
The same basic issue has plagued auto recycling. Although the car is among the most recycled products (around 70 to 80 percent by weight is recovered), the final frontier has been recovering what is known as "fluff" -- plastic, foam and other non-metallic material.
Argonne National Labs in Chicago has been working on recovering more fluff, including hard-to-recycle foam. And the process is well on its way at Lavergne Group. According to President Jean-Luc Lavergne, pelletized PET plastic recovered from soda and water bottles (only about 20 percent of which are recycled in the U.S.) goes to Michigan, where it is made into front end parts for new Ford Econoline vans.
Lavergne would like to dismantle cars at his facility the same way he dismantles the HP cartridges. Indeed, he recently completed a trial program in which he took apart 50 cars and recovered their plastic parts.
Lavergne said he is talking to both Mercedes and Opel about setting up auto dismantling operations in Germany, where recycling laws are getting more stringent. Europe, where as many as nine million cars reach their "end of life" annually, is well ahead of the U.S. in mandating the fullest possible auto recovery and making owners and manufacturers responsible for that process.
Cars are part of the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) movement in Europe. This started with adoption in 1991 of Germany's Green Dot law, which mandated that manufacturers take responsibility for recycling packaging.
The European Commission proposed a law covering vehicle dismantling and recycling in 1997, and it was mandated for 2002. The provisions are far-reaching, requiring carmakers to reduce the use of hazardous substances and increase the use of recycled materials. By 2015, only about five percent of the car can be landfilled. The law also requires collection of end-of-life vehicles (ELV) and sets deadlines for materials recovery. The last owner of ELVs are required to dispose of them properly through a take-back system paid for by carmakers.
The law made manufacturers responsible for end-of-life recycling for packaging, and led to a sharp reduction in packaging. Green Dot was mandated by the European Union in 2002, and has since spread to more than 20 European countries (and Japan and South Korea as well).
- In Sweden, a car scrappage law was ahead of the EU law, going into effect in 1975. It was revised in 1997, and requires manufacturers to accept ELVs free of charge.
- In the Netherlands, the auto companies have entered into contracts with dismantlers that recycled 90 percent of the 234,000 Dutch ELVs in 2006.
- In Great Britain, carmakers and dismantlers entered into the so-called CARE collaboration to research and test best practices for maximizing the recycled amount of cars and trucks.
Lavergne, whose business is growing rapidly, says he can dismantle cars profitably even without the laws that would be required in Canada. "I can do it today, on my own, and be successful," he said.
Photo: Flickr/George Laoutaris


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Dublin, December 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE)-"Divided by material (metal, PTFE, nitrile rubber, silicone, EPDM, FKM, FFKM, UHMWPE, PU), type (O-ring seals, gaskets) The pharmaceutical processing seals market, lip seals, D-seals), applications (manufacturing equipment) and regions-global forecast to 2026" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's products.
The pharmaceutical processing seal market is estimated to be USD 2.1 billion in 2021, and is expected to reach USD 3.3 billion by 2026, with a compound annual growth rate of 10.0%.
O-rings occupies the largest market share in the pharmaceutical processing seal market.
O-rings occupy the largest market share in the pharmaceutical processing seal market. O-rings are used in pharmaceutical equipment used in the pharmaceutical process. The growing demand for pharmaceutical processing seals is driven by the growth of the pharmaceutical industry. Globally, the factors driving the growth of the pharmaceutical industry are the increasing incidence of chronic diseases and lifestyle diseases, the increasing elderly population, and the improvement of the healthcare system. O-rings are used for low temperature, biological processing and other applications. The equipment types of high-consumption O-rings are agitators and hydraulic cylinders, and their huge consumption is expected to promote the global pharmaceutical processing seals market.
Silicone is the fastest growing material for pharmaceutical processing seals.
It is estimated that between 2021 and 2026, silicone will become the fastest-growing material for pharmaceutical processing seals. Silicone has become the first choice in the pharmaceutical industry due to its flexibility and stability under extreme pressure and temperature conditions, chemical inertness and minimal bacterial growth. When purity and cleanliness are of high concern, silicone is a suitable material for pharmaceutical processing seals used in pharmaceutical equipment. It is used in the pharmaceutical industry to manufacture O-rings, diaphragms, elastomer seals and gaskets. The growth in the consumption of these seals in pharmaceutical equipment is expected to drive the development of the global silicone pharmaceutical processing seals market.
North America is the largest market for pharmaceutical processing seals.
North America is the largest pharmaceutical processing and sealing market in 2020 because the region has a strong and developed pharmaceutical industry. North America is composed of some of the world's major pharmaceutical markets, such as the United States and Mexico. The huge production of medicines in the region has driven the pharmaceutical equipment market, thereby increasing the demand for pharmaceutical processing seals. The factors leading to the increase in drug production in the region are the huge demand for generic drugs and biosimilar drugs, huge healthcare expenditures, an increase in the elderly population, and the increasing incidence of lifestyle diseases. The huge production and consumption of pharmaceuticals in the region is expected to promote the development of the pharmaceutical processing seal market.
4 Premium Insights 4.1 Attractive opportunities in the pharmaceutical processing seals market 4.2 North American pharmaceutical processing seals market, by country and application, 2020
5 Market overview 5.1 Introduction 5.1.1 Driving factors 184.108.40.206 Increasing demand for OTC drugs 220.127.116.11 Increasing cases of chronic diseases 5.1.2 Constraining factors 18.104.22.168 Increasing preference for refurbished equipment 5.1.3 Opportunities 5.11.5 The elderly population Growth 213. Growth of TCM manufacturing in emerging economies 5.1.4 Challenges 22.214.171.124 Dynamic regulatory measures lead to an increase in overall costs 5.2 Porter’s five forces analysis 5.2.1 Supplier’s bargaining power 5.2.2 Threats from new entrants 5.2. 3 Threats of substitutes 4 Bargaining power of buyers 5.2.5 Intensity of competition 5.3 Macroeconomic indicators 5.3.1 Global GDP outlook
6 Pharmaceutical processing seal market, introduced according to material 6.1 6.2 Metal 6.2.1 The ability to withstand high pressure and high temperature makes metal an ideal choice for medical processing seals 6.3 Polytetrafluoroethylene 6.3.1 The growing market for O-rings and gaskets is growing Promoting the demand for polytetrafluoroethylene medical processing seals 6.4 Silicone 6.4.1 The inherent characteristics of silicone resins drive its demand for medical processing seals 6.5 Nitrile rubber 6.5.1 Nitrile rubber-based O-rings due to its low compression Permanent deformation, high tensile strength and high abrasion resistance increase demand characteristics 6.6 Epdm 6.6.1 Chemical resistance and thermal reactivity are one of Epdm’s main characteristics, driving the demand for manufacturing seals for pharmaceutical processing 6.7 Fkm 6.7.1 Increased demand for high-performance seals in pharmaceutical equipment manufacturing drives market growth 6.8 Fkm 6.8.1 Fkkm Application in high-end applications to drive demand 6.9 Polyurethane 6.9.1 Increased demand d New drugs and innovative drug products are driving the D seal market 6.10 Uhmwpe 6.10.1 Increased demand for new drugs and innovative drug products is driving the Uhmwpe market
7 Pharmaceutical processing seals market, introduced by type 7.1 7.2 O-rings 7.2.1 The increase in demand for O-rings in the pharmaceutical industry is due to its cost-effectiveness and versatility 7.3 Gaskets 7.3.1 Increased demand for pharmaceutical manufacturing, especially It is in developing countries that the economy is driving the gasket market 7.4 Lip seals 7.4.1 The evolving pharmaceutical industry is driving the lip seal market 7.5 D Seals 7.5.1 Increased demand for new and innovative pharmaceutical products is driving D Shape seal market 7.6 Others
8 Pharmaceutical processing seals market, introduced by application 8.1 8.2 Manufacturing equipment 8.2.1 The growing pharmaceutical industry is driving the demand for manufacturing equipment segmentation market 8.3 Others
9 Pharmaceutical processing seal market, by region
10 Competitive landscape 10.1 Introduction 10.2 Market share analysis 10.3 Major market development 10.3.1 Acquisition 10.3.2 New product launch
11 Company Overview 11.1 Trelleborg Group 11.2 Freudenberg Group 11.3 Flowserve 11.4 James Walker Group 11.5 Parker Hannifin Company 11.6 Saint-Gobainsa 11.7 Garlock 11.8 John Crane 11.9 IDEX Company 11.10 Chemical Technology Co., Ltd. Advertising Accuracy 11.11 Associates, Inc 11.12 McClellan Rubber Co., Ltd. 11.13 Marco Rubber and Plastic Products, Inc. 11.14 Seals and Design, Inc. 11.15 Darcoid of California 11.16 American High-Performance Seals 11.17 Vulcan Engineering Limited 11.18 Canada Rubber Group Inc. 11.19 Etannor Sealing System 11.20 Other company profiles 11.A.20.20 Eagle Industry Co. Ltd. 11.20.3 Performance Sealing Inc. 11.20.4 Technetics Group 11.20.5 C. Otto Gehrckens GmbH and Co. Kg Seal Technology 11.20.6 WIKA Alexander Wiegand Se and Co. Kg 11.20.7 Intec Seals
For more information about this report, please visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/jd05s9
Investors in Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) stock seem to be unable to rest. Reason: Once again, Wall Street seems to be just looking for a cheaper way to deal with the global semiconductor shortage than buying Nvidia stock. According to TheFly.com report, this growth rate is almost twice the 6% growth rate previously predicted by Citigroup. The problem is that when interpreting these data, Citi chose to highly evaluate its potential to increase the earnings of AMD and Intel—making these two chip companies exceed expectations in the fourth quarter.
Anjalee Khemlani of Yahoo Finance provided the effectiveness data reported by Pfizer Vaccines against the Omicron variant, which has been detected in 33 states in the United States and 77 countries/regions worldwide.
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) shares closed down 3.3% on Tuesday after the US Department of Labor reported that producer price inflation in November hit a record high, up 9.6% year-on-year. The news came before the 6.8% increase in consumer prices announced yesterday-the fastest price increase in 40 years. When Bloomberg reported that Microsoft's stock price fell, it drew clues to Microsoft's stock price weakness directly from the inflation data. Think about it this way: Currently, analysts tracking Microsoft stock predict that the company's annual revenue will grow by about 15% in the next five years.
At a basic level, all companies have the same goals-only some companies are good at it.
On Tuesday, cloud software companies Datadog (Nasdaq: DDOG), Zscaler (Nasdaq: ZS) and Cloudflare (NYSE: NET) fell. This is another difficult issue for technology stocks. day. In a wide-ranging report from the bank, Sterling Auty, a software analyst at JPMorgan Chase, issued a new appeal to the entire industry.
Investors are reminded to pay attention to several risk factors that need to be considered for this investment.
Our appeal from Stifel that day believes that the Fed is working hard to create a bubble of the century. This is what happened before.
Making progress in promoting the transition to a hydrogen economy, Plug Power (NASDAQ: PLUG) today announced the signing of a long-term supply and logistics agreement. However, considering that the details of the partnership are quite small, investors are not impressed. As of 12:14 pm Eastern Time, Plug Power's stock price has fallen 6.2%. Although Plug Power initially made money by providing fuel cell systems, the company has articulated its long-term vision of diversifying its business by producing green hydrogen.
Is the bear finally waking up from hibernation? Goldman Sachs said it was not so fast. Volatility has recently dominated Wall Street, leading some to conclude that those with a more pessimistic outlook have been proven correct, but the company believes that the stock market can still climb. According to David Costin, head of US equity strategy at Goldman Sachs, the S&P 500 index may reach 5,100 points next year. If the index finally reaches this target, it will reflect a 10% return. "If you are looking for a good
(Bloomberg)-Former US Secretary of the Treasury Lawrence Summers warned that retail purchases and enthusiastic investors have pushed up the risk of "spontaneous financial market contraction." Can Paradise Indoor Farm reach the height of a skyscraper? China is building the world’s largest national park system. Boris Johnson’s angry members of Congress worry that his next mistake may be fatal, with "a lot of euphoria," Summers said.
The Supreme Court will not block the authorization of New York's healthcare vaccines, Apple is preparing to become the first company with a market value of $3 trillion, MGM Resorts selling Mirage Hotel to Hard Rock, and other news to start a new day.
Sunrun (NASDAQ: RUN) shares fell on Tuesday after a regulatory proposal threatened a slowdown in the growth of the solar industry. As of 3:25 pm Eastern Time, Sunrun's stock price has fallen by more than 13%. The proposed changes to California's net energy metering program may significantly increase consumer costs and eliminate "tens of thousands of jobs." Fenster said in a press release that it “represents the worst aspect of California politics, while ignoring what voters want—innovation, control, and quick solutions—but supporting failed and boring incumbents. "
Tokyo (Reuters)-Toyota Motor Corporation promised on Tuesday that it will invest 8 trillion yen (70 billion U.S. dollars) in the electrification of vehicles by 2030, half of which will be used to develop a series of pure electric vehicles (BEV) because it hopes to use A growing market for zero-emission vehicles. But as a latecomer to all-electric vehicles, the world's largest automaker said that by the end of this decade, the annual sales of pure electric vehicles will only reach 3.5 million, accounting for about one-third of its current car sales. At the same time, traditional car companies are increasingly competing with Tesla, which has become the most valuable car manufacturer this year. Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda said at a press conference in Tokyo that his company is still pursuing a multi-pronged carbon reduction strategy, which also includes hybrid and hydrogen vehicles.
Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM), a customer relationship management software company, fell sharply on Tuesday. As of this writing, the Nasdaq Composite Index, which is dominated by technology stocks, is down more than 2%. Salesforce's decline came shortly after the company announced its strong third-quarter results, but its guidance for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2022 was mixed.
In the long run, investing in emerging technologies can bring substantial returns to investors.
The CEO made a big bet on Bitcoin. But he is not alone.
The share prices of Roku (NASDAQ: ROKU), Snowflake (NYSE: SNOW) and DraftKings (NASDAQ: DKNG) all fell more than 6%, and then rebounded slightly. First of all, they are both very high multiple growth stocks. Traders seem to worry that at the Fed meeting this week, officials may decide to accelerate the pace of financial tightening, which may damage these types of stocks in terms of finances and valuation. Fed officials will meet on Tuesday and Wednesday and may discuss a faster reduction in bond purchases, which reflects Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s comments earlier this month.
Anjalee Khemlani of Yahoo Finance disaggregated Pfizer's latest data, which indicates a COVID-19 vaccine and a COVID-19 treatment against a variant of Omicron.
The bears will point to the decline in sales of AbbVie's rheumatoid arthritis drug Humira in Europe as evidence that its growth days have fallen far behind. However, the story goes far beyond that.
Supermarket giant Kroger has changed its coronavirus policy to cut some benefits for unvaccinated employees.


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NYK Logistics (Americas) announced Monday that Michael Noone is joining the company as chief operations officer on March 1.
Noone comes to NYK Logistics from APL, where he held a number of senior positions in its logistics and liner businesses, most recently as vice president and managing director for the Eastern Region.
NYK Logistics news from JOC:
NYK Consolidation Boosts Yusen Profit 125 Percent
Noone has more than 25 years of logistics and transportation experience in international trade.
-- Contact Peter T. Leach at firstname.lastname@example.org.


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Once North East Independent School District announced its new clear backpack policy for middle and high school students in early June, the calls came flooding in. Over the last month, Jon Hart Design received an influx of inquiries from customers and retailers seeking backpacks that would comply with the 65,000-student school district’s new rule, company spokeswoman Sharon Durham said.
“It was really just the demand from our customers that had us start looking at the possibility of making the clear version of our backpack,” Durham told the Rivard Report on Monday.
Eyeing a new market, Jon Hart Design, a San Antonio-based handcrafted bag designer, developed a prototype and on Sunday began taking pre-orders for a $125 clear backpack that has the look of Jon Hart’s other bags and backpacks, with plans to sell it online and at shops around the state. The handmade backpacks can be monogrammed and will ship in early August.
For some, $125 is a steep price to pay for a new book bag. Less expensive options are available at local and national retailers like H-E-B, Target, Walmart, and Amazon, where customers can buy a clear backpack for less than $25.
Campus organizations also are meeting the need by selling clear backpacks that have been approved by NEISD. Reagan High School spirit teams, for example, are selling clear bags as part of a fundraiser – stadium totes for $10 and backpacks for $20.
NEISD also has said it would provide a clear backpack to students whose families cannot afford one.
“We understand that this may be an added expense that some parents may not be able to manage,” NEISD officials wrote in a release announcing the backpack policy. “If this is the case, contact your principal, and a clear backpack can be provided to you by the school.”
Since NEISD announced its clear backpack requirement, other districts around the state have adopted similar policies. Most notably, the state’s third largest school district, Cy-Fair ISD in northwest Houston, announced that it, too, would implement a clear backpack policy for all middle and high school students in 2018-19.
“It really does seem like there is a new school district every day implementing the [clear backpack] policy,” Durham said, noting that in contacting retailers around the state, Jon Hart learned of many other districts that are requiring students to use a clear bag.
Some NEISD families and students have criticized the district’s backpack and other security policies for invading student privacy.
An online petition on change.org to repeal the rule has close to 1,400 signatures. The petition says requiring a clear backpack “strips any opportunity for individuality from its students [and]… eliminates privacy and is inconsiderate to those who carry personal items such as feminine products.”
Parents commented on Facebook with additional criticism, saying clear backpacks have functional challenges, mainly that they are “ugly” and “break easily.”
Durham said Jon Hart is a local option that is meeting the demand brought about by the new policy, while seeking to address these concerns.
“I don’t think anyone was overly excited about the aesthetics of having to have a clear backpack,” Durham said. “The Jon Hart backpacks are really cute, though, so it makes clear a lot prettier.”
NEISD initially implemented its clear backpack policy amid a national school safety discussion, stoked by a string of school shootings. Starting next school year, NEISD students also will be subject to random searches by handheld metal detector wands. All campus exterior doors will be locked and anyone wishing to enter will have to be “buzzed in” by school personnel.


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- The event, which is part of the celebrations for its 20th Anniversary, will take place on Friday 1 December in the Assembly Hall of the Port Authority of Valencia.
- The conference will address the challenges facing the maritime-port and logistics industry, such as Artificial Intelligence and 5G technologies.
Valencia, 13th November 2023.– The conference “Challenges in the maritime-port sector: digital transformation, standardisation and optimisation” will take place on 1 December in the Assembly Hall of the Valencia Port Authority.This event, organised by Fundación Valenciaport as part of its 20th anniversary celebrations, will bring together the main players in the maritime-port and logistics industry to present their point of view on the current challenges facing the sector in terms of digital transformation, emerging technologies, and the application of standards.
Both maritime transport and port logistics are undergoing a rapid and complex transformation process. The new configuration of supply chains in the post-COVID scenario, the conflict in Ukraine, rising prices due to the energy crisis and climate change as a backdrop, characterize the current framework of uncertainty.
In this context of disruption and high volatility, the port-logistics sector and maritime transport must provide a global response to adapt to the new challenges and scenarios posed. Industry 4.0 technologies have an indisputable impact on port transformation on its way towards the Port 4.0 model, where digitalization and standardization are a lever to harmonise operational processes and efficiently exchange the information shared by ships and ports.
On the other hand, disruptive technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) or sensor networks are already being tested in logistics-port environments for the digitalization of processes that contribute to the competitiveness of ports.
Likewise, digitalization is a key driver in the integration and interoperability of the different modes of transport, contributing to the exchange of information in the multimodal logistics chain in an efficient, simplified, and harmonised way.
All these issues will be discussed in depth at this international conference organised by Fundación Valenciaport, which has been a pioneer and leader in innovation and training at the service of the logistics-port cluster for 20 years.
*More information and registration: https://www.fundacion.valenciaport.com/noticias-eventos/2023/10/jornada-retos-en-el-sector-maritimo-portuario-transformacion-digital-estandarizacion-y-optimizacion/
20th Anniversary of Fundación Valenciaport
The conference “Challenges in the maritime-port sector: digital transformation, standardisation and optimisation”, is the last of the activities proposed by Fundación Valenciaport on the occasion of its 20th Anniversary.
The celebrations, which will begin on Tuesday the 28th of November and will last until the 1st of December, will include a demonstration event of the H2PORTS hydrogen project; the final events of the GREEN C PORTS, EALING and CONNECT VALENCIAPORT projects, and a reunion of the former students of the Master in Port Management and Intermodal Transport, among others.


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- Brooklyn startup Revel plans to launch an all-electric ride-hailing business in New York in May.
- It’ll be served by a fleet of 50 blue Tesla Model Y SUVs to start.
- The cars have extra legroom, a touchscreen in back, and room for up to five passengers.
- See more stories on Insider’s business page.
Brooklyn startup Revel plans to unleash 50 bright blue Tesla Model Y compact SUVs onto downtown Manhattan streets in May.
Revel customized the cars with more than just a paint job.
By removing the front passenger’s seat, Revel gave riders extra legroom and a place to put their bag.
The driver is separated from passengers by a plastic barrier for COVID-19 safety.
There’s a touchscreen in the back that riders can use to change the music or the climate controls.
The screen also displays a map that shows the ride’s progress.
And Revel added a power outlet and USB plugs to the passenger footwell.
Despite the missing seat, Revel’s taxis can still carry five passengers, since some of them will have a third row with room for two.
They’ll also each come with a child’s seat in the trunk.
Revel chose the Model Y because it offered the best combination of range, price, and user experience, Frank Reig, the startup’s CEO, told Insider.
But the most crucial factor was that the vehicle be able to travel at least 300 miles on a charge, Reig said. The Long Range Model Y has an EPA-estimated range of 326 miles.
A benefit of owning a fleet of Teslas is that Revel can tap into the cars remotely to monitor each vehicle’s performance.
When a taxi starts running low on battery, the company will begin routing trips toward a charging station, Reig said.
On the flip side, the company may tell drivers they have enough juice left to extend their shift.
The vehicles will charge overnight at Revel’s own Superhub fast-charging stations, which it says will start rolling out in June.
Reig said Revel will also give feedback to drivers about their top speed, acceleration, and braking to ensure a safe and comfortable ride.
Customers can sign up for Revel’s waitlist now, and the company says rides will be priced competitively with Uber and Lyft.
The service will launch below 42nd Street, but Revel aims to expand to other neighborhoods in New York and to other markets over time.
The company is sticking with Tesla Model Ys for now, but plans to expand its fleet and add some “exciting options” over the next year or so, Reig said.


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Containers are seen on a transport dock, as the worldwide outbreak of the coronavirus illness (COVID-19) continues, within the Port of Los Angeles, California, April 16, 2020.
Lucy Nicholson | Reuters
A ship with 197 containers of Peloton bikes and merchandise circled at anchor simply outdoors the Port of Los Angeles proper earlier than Christmas, coming into a holding sample on Dec. 22 till it was allowed to dock Jan. 2, in accordance to world transport knowledge firm MarineTraffic.
“The ship, and Peloton’s expected supply time, lost 12 days due to this while their product was nearly within swimming distance of shore,” mentioned commerce knowledge analyst William George of Import Genius. “This is a crazy illustration of the problem Peloton and other U.S. importers are struggling with.”
The mixture of report container quantity arriving at the Port of Los Angeles — the busiest container port within the Western Hemisphere due to its proximity to Asia — and Covid-19 delays are slowing down imports coming to the U.S. According to the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, round 800 of its 15,000 members have been out of labor due to Covid-19 — both recovering from the virus or in any other case quarantining at dwelling.
The report congestion at ports internationally has some corporations forgoing maritime transport for air freight to get well-liked or seasonal gadgets on retailer cabinets sooner. Not solely is it saving invaluable time, however it’s additionally saving cash. Air charges are nonetheless more costly than transport by way of ocean freight, however they have been dropping in current months, in accordance to the net worldwide freight market Freightos.
“While air cargo had its period of volatility in the first few months of Covid, tracking a 400% increase between February and April 2020, ocean freight has become a bottleneck in global supply chains, making air cargo a more viable option in some cases,” defined Eytan Buchman, chief advertising and marketing officer of on-line worldwide freight market Freightos.
Some of the congestion at U.S. ports is predicted to ease as more longshore staff get vaccinated in opposition to the coronavirus, which began Feb. 12. Just 5% of longshore staff have obtained vaccinations up to now, mentioned Gene Seroka, government director for the Port of Los Angeles. He mentioned the port is lobbying “all levels of government” for more vaccines to assist ease port congestion.
CH Robinson air freight
Source: CH Robinson
Peloton, which declined to remark for this text, referred CNBC to the corporate’s quarterly shareholder letter launched final month. The firm mentioned its revenue margins over the past three months of the yr, through the important vacation procuring season, have been squeezed by $100 million in further transport prices.
“The global increase in shipping traffic has added significant delays to all sorts of goods coming into US ports, including Peloton products,” Peloton CEO Josh Foley mentioned in a Feb. Four letter to members. “These unpredictable delays have resulted in painful delivery reschedules for many people as Peloton Bikes, Treads, and accessories have been held at Port for upwards of five times longer than usual.”
Peloton’s December cargo is only one instance of the number of items getting held up at U.S. ports.
As of Monday, there have been 30 container vessels at anchor outdoors the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, in accordance to MarineTraffic knowledge. Another 30-plus container ships are anticipated to arrive at the Port of LA and 27-plus are anticipated to dock at the Port of Long Beach by the top of March. Among the anchored vessels ready to unload at the Port of Los Angeles is the APL Charleston, which carried the delayed Peloton deliveries in December. She arrived once more absolutely loaded with Chinese exports on Feb.18.
The delays in December weren’t uncommon, mentioned Capt. Adil Ashiq, government of MarineTraffic’s U.S. Western Region.
CH Robinson air freight
Source: CH Robinson
“It is a reality many vessels, supply chain and logistics providers are currently facing at the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach,” he mentioned in an interview. Port congestion knowledge exhibits the median time a container ship spent anchored outdoors the dock final week was simply over 7.5 days earlier than it might head inland, Ashiq mentioned. “Now that the APL Charleston is back at anchorage, she may face similar circumstances as she did from her previous port visit in December, but of course this is shipping so anything can happen.”
The bottleneck at ports has added prices to maritime transport that make air freight, which is often considerably more expensive, seem like a relative discount — particularly when factoring within the time saved. Prices on air transport have dropped dramatically in current months.
A 250 kilogram air cargo with a full container from China to the U.S. dropped in value from about about 60% of the price of a full container to nearly 36%, he mentioned.
“In other words, for the right type of cargo, and certainly the right value, air is absolutely becoming a more enticing option, with both capacity and far faster transit times,” defined Buchman of Freightos.
Brian Bourke, chief progress officer at Seko Logistics mentioned the time saved in a product arrival justifies the fee for his or her shoppers who want to meet client demand.
“If you want to ship a hot tub via ocean from Shanghai to New York, that will cost you around $1,000 for the transportation for a lighter hot tub, but it will take a minimum of 35 to 45 days,” he mentioned in an interview. That would not embrace a further 7 to 14 days in case you want to ebook upfront, he mentioned. Airfreight prices round $2,000 to $3,000 to ship, relying on the load, he mentioned.
“But it will only take you three to four days to get your hot tub,” he mentioned. “So, paying two to three times will save you four to seven weeks right now. Ultimately the math makes sense for certain shippers right now.”
Kim Peterson, transportation supervisor of Canyon Bicycles USA, mentioned they’re transport most of their stock by way of water, however their hottest bikes are being shipped by air freight to meet a surge in demand.
“Air is faster, and we need to meet the demand of our customers,” he mentioned. “While I could pay an additional $1,000 to $2,000 to get my product in (an ocean) container at the head of the line in China, it doesn’t matter because the cargo then sits in the LA congestion.”
Before the pandemic, transport by ocean took 20 to 30 days, he mentioned. Now it is about 60 to 75 days whereas air freight takes three to 5 days, Peterson mentioned. “It’s a huge difference. We have a backorder in Asia right now,” he mentioned. “We can’t wait. It would have an impact on sales.”
Shawn Richard, vp of world air freight for Seko Logistics tells CNBC they do not count on the height congestion to finish anytime quickly.
“We are regularly flying 65 inch televisions in from China to the U.S.,” defined Richard. “We saw a 40% increase in air freight in December. Large items like hot tubs were also being transported. Our ocean freight teams are now selling air freight.”
Richard says giant dwelling recreation gadgets like ping pong tables, and train tools such as treadmills, would sometimes be shipped by ocean due to the fee. Now they’re shifting by air due to a spike in demand. The Covid-19 pandemic has individuals locked indoors however searching for methods to keep match and entertain outdoors.
“BBQ equipment and associated goods such as lawn/patio furniture, inflatable pools, filter equipment, and everything that could be used to improve the shelter at home experience in lieu of family vacations are now moving by air,” he mentioned.
The lack of commerce reliability has stretched the performance of logistics and provide chains to their limits.
“We see those industries who need expedited shipping being pushed into the air versus the hurry up and wait on the ocean front,” mentioned Matt Castle, vp of air freight services and products at C.H. Robinson. Recreation automobiles and elements that used to ship by ocean have shifted to air freight, he mentioned. “One of the things I never thought we would see being moved by air was vacuum cleaners. It’s a hot item now with so many people at home.”
Castle defined the drive to air is a mixture of things: corporations with a slender seasonal window for promoting merchandise and production-based industries wanting to restore some form of rhythm and enjoying stock catch up.
“The ocean congestion is compounding that need to meet orders and driving demand for airfreight,” Castle mentioned.
Stephen Svajian, CEO and co-founder of Anova Culinary, which sells its precision countertop combi-ovens and cookers to COSCO, Target and Amazon, mentioned they’re rising their air freight orders given the surge in demand fueled by the “restaurant experience at home.”
“We decide on what products to air freight based on the retail set date and consumer expectations. We don’t want to be out of stock and not fulfill orders,” Svajian mentioned. “There is more pressure to use air this year because of delays on the ocean.”
This logistical technique of shifting some merchandise to air is just not solely taking place within the United States. Castle mentioned they’re additionally seeing corporations in Europe making the swap. “That market is very strong. There is a lack of container capacity everywhere.”
Air can also be changing into an choice for U.S. exporters struggling to transport their merchandise abroad as carriers decline U.S. ag exports in favor of sending again empty containers. Carriers make far much less transport exports from the U.S. to China — $744 per container versus $4,922 for Chinese exports certain for the U.S. The money and time saved by not having to load, unload and clear empty containers makes up for the misplaced cash on the route again to Asia.
It’s additionally costing U.S. farmers who’re struggling to ship their commodities abroad. Their entry to worldwide markets “is being severely undermined by the unprecedented dysfunction and cost of ocean transportation services,” mentioned Peter Friedman, government director Agriculture Transportation Coalition.
Richard of Seko Logistics mentioned spices and perishable commodities like lobster began transport by air to China as early as October.
There would not appear to be a fast repair to unclog U.S. ports, which leaves corporations like Canyon with few choices.
“In the cycling world, when the sun comes out, people want to take a ride on a bike,” mentioned Canyon’s Peterson. “Demand is still high. It’s quite obvious, we will have to continue and do more air.”


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directline holidays rolls out unprecendented school holiday discounts in response to official figures reporting record truancy levels
Leading online travel agent, directline holidays today unveils a revolutionary new promotion to save its customers up to £75 on family holidays departing between 17 July and 29 August 2010, traditionally a time when holiday prices peak.
This offer is in addition to the existing up to £100 off all holidays booked online currently and represents a huge cost saving of £175 per family on holidays which already offer exceptional value.
The deal was created in response to last week’s official figures by the Department for Children, Schools and Famililes reporting record truancy levels in the UK. Some pupils are missing more than a term a year with pupils under eleven missing twelve per cent more days of school without permission last year than in 2007 and 2008. The full report can be viewed at: Official Government Report
directline holiday’s CEO Maria Whiteman, previously Hayes and Jarvis, commented “The last year has been difficult for UK consumers and there are few people that remain unaffected by the recession. Brits are taking children out of schools during term time because travelling off peak currently offers considerable cost savings. Some tour operators do offer free child places but if you take in to account under occupancy charges the benefit is neglible.”
“We are running this offer in a new drive to discourage absence from school by enabling families to take their Summer break during the traditional school holiday period. Whilst directline holidays offer some of the most competitively priced holidays in the industry, supply and demand can lead to a price difference in periods of peak demand. This offer gives families an excellent opportunity to book early and keep costs down.”


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Top eCommerce Trends to Look Out for in 2022 and Beyond
When it comes to eCommerce, change is the only constant. It’s an innovative industry where business owners adopt new technologies every day to stand out from competitors.
This was further boosted by the pandemic when people were forced to stay in their homes. In 2020, over 2 billion people purchased goods online. Moreover, worldwide e-retail sales surpassed $4.2 trillion in the same year. Global retail grew by as much as 25% during the year of the pandemic.
All this buzz around eCommerce has encouraged retailers to step up their game to offer customers better shopping experiences. This involves adopting the latest eCommerce trends to stay ahead of the curve.
In this article, we’ll discuss a few top eCommerce trends to look out for in 2022 and beyond.
Trend 1 - AR/VR to be the game-changer for eCommerce
Roughly 70% of all online shoppers abandon their carts before making a purchase. This means 7 in 10 shoppers don’t complete a transaction, suggesting that online retailers need to do a lot more to persuade customers to go ahead with their purchases.
Emerging technologies like augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) have the potential to positively affect eCommerce. Ever since the ‘Metaverse‘ buzz started last year, AR and VR have been trending because these are the foundational technologies upon which metaverse is built.
AR/VR allows shoppers to truly see and experience the items they are purchasing. Especially in industries like fashion and home decor, AR/VR has been gaining wide popularity.
Some promising use cases of AR/VR include –
- Building innovative and immersive marketing campaigns to capture customer attention
- Build awareness by offering an opportunity to virtually experience the benefits of the product
- Virtual showrooms to allow customers easily explore products from their homes
- Cutting down costs for customers by allowing them to try products before purchasing
- Fewer product returns and complaints since customers can experience beforehand how the product will work for them.
In 2022 and beyond, we are AR/VR is going to a key trend that will reshape eCommerce.
Trend 2 - The demise of third-party cookies to force brands to rethink personalization
Personalization has worked a great deal for retailers over the past decade. However, with the death of third-party cookies, brands will now need to rethink personalization.
In 2022 and beyond, internet users will exercise their privacy rights more and more. The governments will only make it easier for them to do so. In 2021, China enacted the Personal Information Protection Law. Similarly, Brazil also began issuing penalties to violators of the country’s General Data Protection Law. Then there is California’s Consumer Privacy Act as well as the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which has been active since 2018. More countries and states around the globe will start enacting such data privacy laws, making it difficult for marketers to offer personalization.
Moreover, recently we are seeing the rise of a slew of browsers (like Brave, Firefox, Safari) that automatically block third-party cookies.
In order to fill this void, brands will start turning to first-party data (collected directly from customers). In 2022, as many as 42% of brands plan to use tools like quizzes, custom mobile apps, and first-party or third-party behavioral data to offer their customers personalized product recommendations.
Another way brands will look to implement personalization will be through community building. Brands that focus on building communities will be able to leverage customer loyalty to get user data. Strengthening customer relationships is the way forward.
Trend 3 - Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) model to gain further popularity in the eCommerce sector
The Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) isn’t a new model but it became massively popular during the pandemic when customers were looking for ways to offset payments. BNPL became especially popular among young shoppers.
BNPL is simply a payment model that allows customers to pay for products they purchase in regular installments instead of paying the entire amount upfront. It’s preferred over credit card payments because BNPL transactions are interest-free.
A key trend that we may see in 2022 and beyond would be the higher adoption of BNPL in eCommerce. Online retailers are increasingly looking at adopting BNPL because it reduces cart abandonment rates, increases average order size, boosts sales, and accelerates the checkout process.
Trend 4 - Rising acquisition costs to force brands to focus on building long-term relationships with their customers
It’s easier than ever to sell online because of the advancement in technology as well as the availability of online marketplaces. Thanks to this low entry barrier, there has been an influx of D2C brands that are directly competing with eCommerce stores for customer attention. With so many businesses online, it’s getting harder for brands to be found by customers.
Moreover, paid ads are more expensive than ever. Digital advertising costs are skyrocketing across platforms, eating up the majority of marketing budgets.
Then there are data regulations by brands like Apple, making it more difficult to track results in ad spending. All this leads to a rise in acquisition costs. In other words, online merchants are spending more and gaining less. Some brands are seeing ad costs rise 5-times higher than before for acquiring the same amount of traffic.
So, companies have started focusing on brand building. Although a long-term approach, it gives brands better returns than paid ads. Moreover, a strong brand not only improves performance marketing but also lays the foundation for sustainable growth. Strong brands get higher organic acquisitions and are better able to retain customers. With crowded digital spaces, brand identity and brand awareness will only become more crucial.
In 2022, we will see a lot more brands focus on building long-term customer relationships as opposed to paid digital advertising.
Trend 5 - Diversified payment options including crypto
Unless you live under a rock, there’s no way you wouldn’t have heard of cryptocurrency. The year 2021 was the year of crypto and NFTs. The same is expected to continue in 2022. The global market for cryptocurrency is projected to reach $4.94 billion by 2030.
Therefore, unsurprisingly, crypto will also make a foray into eCommerce as well. Customers like flexibility in payments and hence, they would expect diversified payment options. Payments through cryptocurrency is a trend that many online retailers will get into in 2022.
Trend 6 - More brands to adopt headless and API-driven eCommerce
Headless commerce architecture is the decoupling of the front-end presentation layer from the back-end commerce functionality of a website. It’s a solution that allows eCommerce platforms to utilize a front-end technology of choice to deliver high-quality content with a plugged-in backend eCommerce solution that manages functionality.
Many eCommerce businesses are adopting headless architecture because of the flexibility it offers on the backend along with SEO, content marketing, and digital marketing features.
In 2022, we’ll see more eCommerce platforms adopt API-driven headless architecture to have better control over content and customer journey.
Trend 7 - Sustainability to become more important than ever
With customers becoming increasingly aware and concerned about climate change, we are going to see brands adopt the same vision to cater to customers.
eCommerce brands these days need to offer more than just a good shopping experience. Brands conscious of environmental issues are preferred more by customers than others. As many as 71% of US adults aged between 18 and 55 years care a lot about product sustainability.
In 2022 and beyond, we are going to see more and more eCommerce brands adopt environment-friendly practices like eco-friendly packaging and shipping.
So, there’s a lot happening in eCommerce. We have only scratched the surface here while talking about the top eCommerce trends for 2022.
There’s a lot more to come. The evolution of retail will be directly impacted by the evolution of new technology like wearables, AI, drones, autonomous vehicles, etc. Since technology is always evolving, we are always going to look forward to the future.
Did you enjoy reading this piece? Was there any particular segment you liked the most? Let us know in the comments.
Check out Dresma’s blogs for more such insightful articles.


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3 Industries Virtual Reality is Altering
There are currently two topics in the tech world that are impossible to ignore. One is Pokémon Go, and the other is virtual reality. While there are rumors that the two could merge one day (which might break the internet), it’s VR that is currently gaining the most traction as an industry game-changer.
The Oculus Rift is unquestionably the most well-known VR headset, but since other options have come onto the market, it seems anyone and everyone is getting involved in virtual reality. But what industries will it impact the most? Here’s a look at three that are evolving with the addition of virtual reality.
While not every new accessory thrust into the gaming world has instant success (Nintendo’s Power Glove, we’re looking at you), others are a fantastic innovation and take off overnight (Nintendo redeemed themselves with the Wii Remote). Some might say that video games are immersive enough as they are, but it looks like things will get even more engaging for gamers. PlayStation’s own VR headset has been released to generally favorable reviews, but it’s going to have tough competition from the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift.
There are already several exciting games and many more coming soon with VR capability, such as Minecraft, Dying Light, GTA V, and of course… Euro Truck Simulator 2? Well, exciting if you love driving trucks. Check out a full list of games available with virtual reality.
The use of VR in adult entertainment is another prominent example of the many creative ways the technology is being utilized. Some sites have already been trialing a VR category, but there is a new contender battling for VR supremacy in adult entertainment. Although currently only available to Android users, AliceX is a new website that presents models in live interactive virtual reality in order to further explore the potential of the technology. Whatever your stance on the industry, the addition of VR to adult entertainment seems like a move that is destined for success, as it harnesses new technology to present viewers with a unique experience.
Although the music itself won’t really be affected, the overall live experience of concerts and festivals stand to gain substantially from virtual reality. Coachella handed out Google cardboard headsets within a welcome package for this year’s festival, which, when combined with the official app, allowed access to 360-degree tours of the grounds and exclusive interviews with bands and artists.
Having control over what angle we watch the stage from at filmed concerts is also an exciting prospect for VR. Abi Mandelbaum, CEO of virtual reality production company YouVisit, spoke of the ways VR could be used for live music. “It allows users to engage with artists like they’ve never been able to before,” she said. “In traditional video you have the director who predefines every scene and the order of those individual scenes. Our software platform allows the viewer to be the director.”


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Pet Age Staff//June 6, 2023//
Pet Age Staff //June 6, 2023//
Press release: Dogtopia
Dogtopia, the nation’s leading dog daycare, overnight and spa franchise, recently announced the signing of a franchise agreement, which will bring four new dog daycares to the tri-state area. Behind the agreement are Orangetheory Fitness franchisees Eric and Tara Hudson, who will develop their daycares in Passaic County, New Jersey, and Rockland County, New York. In New Jersey, Dogtopia currently has six daycares open with two in development, and in New York, the company has 10 existing daycares with one in development.
“The Hudsons are a perfect addition to the Dogtopia family,” said Alex Samios, chiefg growth officer of Dogtopia. “Franchisees from the fitness sector have performed extremely well in our leading pet franchise, so partnering with the Hudsons to develop four new locations throughout New Jersey and New York was a natural fit.”
Eric and Tara have been Orangetheory Fitness franchisees since 2016, with three gyms open and one in development. Their interest in Dogtopia was sparked after they adopted a puppy named Roxy last year and saw firsthand how much value Dogtopia can bring to pet parents.
“We are strong, driven, passionate leaders with a proven track record of success as multi-unit franchise owners, having led the development, growth, and operations of some of the most successful locations within the Orangetheory network,” said Tara. “With three children and a 10-month-old puppy, we thought Dogtopia was the perfect brand to diversify our portfolio and continue showing our family what can be achieved with hard work, drive, and compassion.”
This deal with the Hudsons continues a hot streak of new franchise agreements for Dogtopia in 2023. Last month, the company announced it surpassed 500 signed agreements, propelled by a historic 33-unit deal with a Los Angeles-based family office.
Dogtopia has attracted entrepreneurs from a variety of notable backgrounds and franchise brands, such as Orangetheory Fitness, Primrose Schools, Dunkin, Jimmy John’s, Jersey Mike’s Subs and Sports Clips. The network comprises both single-unit and multi-unit operators, including husband and wife teams, father and daughter/son duos, siblings and many different types of experienced business owners.


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I Am Cyber Woman. Hear Me Roar
Marlene McDaniel, chief executive of Web upstart Women.com Networks Inc., recalls a time not so long ago when Internet heavyweights like America Online Inc. virtually blew off the female half of the population. "We were told they just didn't think there was a market for women on the Internet," says McDaniel.
How times have changed. This year, women will achieve near-parity with men in sheer numbers on the Net, accounting for 49% of the online population in the U.S., says researcher Jupiter Communications. And since six out of 10 newbies on the Net are female, Jupiter estimates Janes will outnumber Johns online in less than two years.
"CRITICAL MASS." This flood of women is forcing the Net to change--from the kinds of Web sites being launched, to how and where advertisers pitch their wares, to how information is delivered. Forget about cars, computers, and sports. This year what's hot is family, beauty, health, home furnishings, and pets. "A new set of commerce categories has been created," says Candice Carpenter, CEO of iVillage.com, a site geared toward women. "This was made possible by women getting this critical mass."
Now the trick will be inducing women to fork over cash. Today, men still spend more time and money in cyberspace than women. Indeed, women surf the Net 6.9 hours a month, vs. 10.4 hours for men, says researcher Media Metrix Inc. Jupiter also finds that the average male shopper spends more--$536 online in 1998 vs. $439 for the average woman. But experts expect that spread to narrow as more sites offer women what they want in the ways they want it.
So what do women want, Web-wise? A study to be released on Nov. 10 by Women.com, in conjunction with Procter & Gamble Co. and Harris Interactive, attempts to answer that question. It finds that, among other things, time-pressed women tend to be very focused when seeking information or performing tasks on the Web--very much the in-and-out approach. Men, on the other hand, seem to prefer surfing. Thus, the survey concludes, women prefer a handful of organized sites over flashy ads or e-mail. "The best thing you can do for women is to streamline," says Fiona Swerdlow, an analyst at Jupiter. And when a woman finds a site that meets her needs, she also tends to be more loyal than male Netizens, the study notes.
Perhaps most revealing and useful for marketers, the study finds that 83% of wired women are key decision-makers behind major family moves in finances, health care, and education. So as women gain more confidence doing business online, they will eventually be the Net's biggest spenders.
With this in mind, advertisers are on the move. This year Toyota Motors Sales USA Inc., for example, traded in some of its banner ads to sponsor an area on Women.com. That area features tips on eating right on the road and how to keep kids entertained. "A year ago we wouldn't have been doing a special microsite with Women.com," explains Toyota's Interactive Marketing Manager June Okamoto. "But the numbers are too strong not to be in that space."
Of course, simply targeting women isn't an automatic recipe for success. Women.com's stock has soared 80% above its initial offering price on Oct. 14, and the site is one of the fastest-growing on the Internet. But trailblazer iVillage has struggled in its four years of existence from management turmoil and some early not-well-received strategy calls, say analysts. Its stock is down to $23 a share, from a high of $130 earlier this year, and its losses are mounting.
Still, sites focused on women, including Oxygen Media and Martha Stewart Living, are generally expected to flourish. And the rest of cyberspace is working at attracting the female population, too.
Take AOL, whose audience was 84% male five years ago. It is now dominated by women and channels dedicated to lifestyles, shopping, and family. AOL's most popular keyword? Slingo, a bingo and slot machine game with more women players than men.
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You have searched for "Hot Weather"
Showing 1-10 of 1790
Great Eastern Life offers you tips on staying cool in hot, humid weather.
KUALA LUMPUR: Members of the public are advised to reduce intake of caffeinated beverages such as coffee, tea and carbonated drinks, which can increase water excretion during the hot weather.
THE current hot and dry spell may be the bane of many people but it is a boon to drink sellers.
KUALA LUMPUR (Bernama): The hot weather currently experienced in the west coast states of Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah is expected to continue until the end of March, according to the weatherman.
KUALA LUMPUR: Tenaga Nasional recorded a jump in its earnings in the third quarter ended May 31, 2016 boosted by the hot weather and high tariffs, says CIMB Equities Research but it expects the fourth quarter earnings to be weaker due to seasonally higher expenses.
THE hot and dry weather is taking a toll not only on the people but also on the supply of coconuts in Penang.


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The days of careless wrapping of packaged food and drink bound for retail are all but over, as large supermarket chains force greater liabilities on suppliers who take short cuts.
A new training centre aiming to educate the next generation of food technology and manufacturing experts opened this week.
Andrew U’Ren, one of the AIP scholarship winners from the Southern Cross Awards program in 2011 has graduated from the Certificate in Packaging.
Food packaging company, tna, has appointed Patrick Avelange as vice president for the Americas.
Did you know that the word Nylon is derived from New York and London?
Food processing and packaging company, Tetra Pak, has acquired Switzerland-based Miteco, which provides production solutions for soft drinks, fruit juices, liquid foods and carbonated soft drinks.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has announced that it will not oppose the proposed acquisition by Amcor Ltd of competitor, Detmold Group’s Australian flexible packaging operation.
OneHarvest, one of Australia’s largest fruit and vegetable growing companies has licenced innovative British technology to reinvigorate the nation’s beetroot industry.
Food processing and packaging company, Tetra Pak has announced the introduction of a new juice pasteurisation process that saves up to 20 percent on energy consumption.
Organic baby food manufacturer, Green Monkey, is suing its former packaging producer to recover almost $1 million in costs following a 2011 product recall.
R.L.Windsor, the parent group of Australian packaging manufacturer, Fibre King has announced the expansion of their operations to include a new factory in Thailand.
Submissions are now open for the 6th annual Australian Packaging and Processing Machinery Association (APPMA) scholarship program.
The world’s largest glass container manufacturer, Swiss based O-I has entered into a partnership with the Carlsberg group to develop certified sustainable packaging solutions.
Two undergrad students from the United States have reinvented the humble cardboard box, creating their own version that’s less wasteful, easier to pack and easier to open.
Stephen Barter from the Australian Institute of Packaging sheds light on the best ways to approach blow moulding and the influence it can have on a package’s effectiveness.
Frucor, owned by the Japanese beverage and food company Suntory Group, has won an intellectual property battle with beverage giant Coca Cola in New Zealand over the design of one of its bottles.
New Zealand jam manufacturer, Anathoth, has refreshed its look and rebranded to Anathoth Farm.
Supermarket giant Woolworths is arguing that Aldi should sign the grocery code of conduct, claiming its private label products may infringe on the intellectual property of other leading brands.
Taylors Wines’ Tateham’s Waterhole range and Wine-In-Tube product have received a number of packaging awards in recent weeks, including one at the 2014 Worldstar World Packaging Organisation.
PhD candidate Jennele Heising from Wageningen University in The Netherlands is developing a new packaging innovation for seafood that lets consumers know how fresh the product is without opening the package.


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Zynga Slots Sees Huge Growth on Facebook
Zynga seems to have found success with its new Zynga Slots game as for the second week in a row the Zynga slots has been the fastest growing game on Facebook.
Now the game has more than 10.6 million active monthly users, a 177% increase from last week.
The game isn’t a real money gambling game, but the basis for one. The company’s real money gambling is offered through Zynga Plus Poker and Zynga Plus Casino which includes slot machine games.
Since the company launched real money gambling in the UK on April 3rd, Zynga’s stock has risen by over 6.5%.
It seems that real money gambling, thanks to its proved popularity, has been a good move for the company.
Most importantly Zynga is now poised to launch real money gambling in the US as soon as it is legalised. The US has the potential to be the biggest real money gambling market in the world and could mean seriously big money for Zynga. However, for the time being Zynga will have to content itself with smaller markets.


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Is this Chesterfield's favourite cocktail?
Chesterfield is full of wannabe porn stars if its taste in drinks is anything to go by.
Tomorrow is World Cocktail Day, a celebration of cocktails around the globe, marking the publication date of the first definition of a cocktail on May 13, 1806.
In response to a reader’s question, New York tabloid The Balance and Columbian Repository defined a cocktail as “a stimulating liquor, composed of spirits of any kind, sugar, water and bitters”.
A cocktail, as we know it, is used to refer to a drink that contains two or more ingredients, at least one of which is alcoholic – and has become a staple of a night out with dedicated cocktail bars and specialist mixologists and cocktail bartenders.
An Aruba spokeswoman said: “I think it is probably the country’s biggest cocktail. It’s fruity and smooth.”
Indeed it was named the UK’s favourite cocktail in 2018.
The drink – a mix of vanilla-flavoured vodka, Passoã, passion fruit juice, and lime juice – was created by Douglas Ankrah of London’s Lab Bar in 2002.
He said he wanted to create a drink that was “bold, sexy and playful” and initially named it the Maverick Martini, before later renaming it.
In an interview with The Buyer Net he said: “The drink is very evocative and tantalising. I called it Pornstar because I thought it was something that a pornstar would drink. There’s nothing sexual there.”


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FaceBook Face Detection Technology
Facebook has begun testing face detection technology for Facebook Photos. Some users will start seeing this feature today. The technology focuses on decreasing the time waste of “tagging” friends in Facebook photos. Currently users upload photos, click on each face in a photo ti tag that photo and continue the process until the complete album is tagged. This takes a lot of time if there are many photos.
Most people spend their time uploading, browsing and tagging photos. As a result, we’re working to improve your experience in each of those areas. For tagging, we began testing today a faster and easier way for you to tag your own photos.
Facebook has implemented face detection technology that will automatically find faces in photos and select them, eliminating time wastage in tagging Facebook friends in photos. Your friends are already selected by the software, all you have to do is answer the Facebook prompt, “Whose face is this?”
The technology is the same as the facial detection technology most digital cameras use today, this is the web version of it which is a clever and very welcomed addition to the Facebook Photos feature.
There is also a new iPhone App that recognize people based on facebook. It’s called FaceLook – face recognition for iPhone.
With this new feature, tagging at FaceBook is faster since you don’t need to select a face. It’s already selected for you, just like those rectangles you see around your friends’ faces when you take a photo with a modern digital camera. All that’s left for you to do is type a name and hit enter.
According to FaceBook the tagging feature is just the start of improvements FaceBook is trying out.


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Bankruptcies increased particularly in metropolitan counties, which earlier had been the driving force behind the decrease in bankruptcies, business and credit information agency UC reported on Wednesday. However, the number of bankruptcies in 2010 so far has declined by 12 percent overall.
The number of business failures rose to 487, an increase of 64 or 15 percent compared with same month in 2009.
“The number of bankruptcies in September breaking the trend and increasing instead is a fact, but it would be unfortunate to make too much of the figures for a single month. Since so many other economic indicators are pointing up, so it appears to be more of a temporary increase,” said Roland Sigbladh, market director at UC.
“Primarily, small companies with few employees and revenues of several million kronor have been hardest hit by the recession, with bankruptcies as a result. Many of them have fought their way through the crisis, but some of them have now reached a point where they can no longer run the company,” he added.
In the first three quarters of 2010, 4,547 businesses have gone bankrupt, compared with 5,146 in the first three quarters of 2009. In particular, Stockholm and Skåne counties experienced a sharp increase in corporate bankruptcies in September.
However, even Västra Götaland in western Sweden and several other counties had more bankruptcies in September compared with last year, but the vast majority of counties saw considerably fewer bankruptcies than the previous year.
Signs point to continued improvements in economic activity, especially in Stockholm, and for the first time since 2008, businesses in the region are increasing the number of employees they have.
The growing number of bankruptcies in September can be mainly attributed to the construction industry and trade and private service companies. However, so far in 2010, virtually all sectors have made substantial recoveries.
Wholesale and retail trade already took off last year, largely due to strong consumption-led growth, helping many trade enterprises avoid falling into insolvency. The private service sector is also among the industries during the year that has seen declining bankruptcies and believes increasing demand will continue in the future.
“The construction industry is a competitive sector in which bankruptcy vulnerability is higher than in many other industries. Within this sector, it was still very tough, but in recent months, it appears that the recovery has gained momentum,” said Sigbladh.
The economic development outlook for Swedish business remains positive for most aspects. At the same time, glimpses of European storm clouds are cause for concern, including high fiscal deficits and weak growth in some countries, affecting in particular Swedish export companies.
The number of companies in Europe that go bankrupt is expected to grow over the coming months and even if the Swedish economy is in a much better position than many other countries, it remains to be seen how business bankruptcies in Sweden will unfold.
Consequently, UC is maintaining a forecast of a 10 percent decline in business bankruptcies compared to last year.