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By Daina Beth Solomon
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Amazon.com Inc said on Thursday it has invested $100 million in opening new warehouses in Mexico, including its first shipping centers outside the populous capital area, in a bid to offer faster deliveries.
The new sites include two so-called fulfillment centers – one near the northern city of Monterrey and another near the central city of Guadalajara – as well as a support building in the State of Mexico, just outside Mexico City.
Amazon also opened 12 delivery stations, bringing its total to 27 across the country, it said.
Monterrey and Guadalajara are the two biggest metropolitan zones of the country after the sprawling Mexico City area.
The new facilities represent 69,000 square meters (742,710 sq ft) altogether and create 1,500 direct and indirect jobs, Amazon said.
Enrique Alfaro, the governor of Jalisco state that is home to Guadalajara, said the new local warehouse would help more small and medium sized businesses ship their products faster and at lower costs.
Amazon is also striving to make inroads in Brazil, where it recently opened its fifth and biggest fulfillment center in the country, with 100,000 square meters (1,076,391 sq ft).
In both countries, which are the biggest economies in Latin America, Amazon is vying with local rivals for shopper loyalty, despite its ranking as the world’s biggest online retailer.
(Reporting by Daina Beth Solomon; Editing by Amy Caren Daniel)


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EL DORADO COUNTY — Sheriff’s deputies arrived at the residence of one Steven Michoff of Greenwood, who was recently identified as the culprit in an “extensive burglary in the Coloma area.”
Although Michoff wasn’t home at the time, deputies discovered several articles of suspected stolen property in the yard and in the home, including nearly 5oo bottles of wine, fine china, crystal stemware, wine-making equipment, and thousands of pounds of hardware and garden supplies from area stores.
Authorities worked around the clock to successfully reconnect the stolen goods with their rightful owners.
Michoff, however, remains at large on a felony burglary warrant. He is known to drive a tan 2-door 2003 Toyota Tundra, license plate #7A78242. Anyone with information that may lead to his whereabouts or arrest is encouraged to contact EDSO Dispatch at 530-621-6600.
Based on the official El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office press release.

domain: news


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Supported by a robust economic environment, the Los Angeles real estate market has experienced strong improvement in 2014, and is expected to remain solid for the next few years.
Determined to capitalize on the strong demand for both residential and commercial properties, many investors have turned their attention to L.A., with the top 10 largest commercial transactions by value totaling almost $3 billion last year.
As compiled by PropertyShark, here are Los Angeles’ top 10 most expensive commercial real estate deals of 2014.
#10. 851 Francisco St, Los Angeles
Chinese real estate developer Greenland Group has made it to our top 10 list with its acquisition of a parking lot along the 110 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles. The company paid almost $150 million for the parcel and plans to construct a high-rise mixed-use complex that is destined to redefine the downtown Los Angeles skyline.
Dubbed Metropolis Los Angeles, the high-end complex will include upscale residences, a 350-room hotel as well as a thoughtfully curated collection of retail and dining space.
The Rockefeller Group acquired a premier 236,000-square-foot office building portfolio on Civic Center Drive in Beverly Hills from Tishman Speyer.
Known as The Ice House and UTA Plaza, the complex houses tenants such as Playboy Enterprises, United Talent Agency, and the Live Nation Worldwide headquarters.
#8. 801 S Figueroa St., Los Angeles
Next on our list is 801 Tower, a state-of-the-art Class A office building located at 801 South Figueroa Street in the financial corridor of Downtown Los Angeles.
Mani Brothers Real Estate Group sold the tower to Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers LLS, which shelled out $178 million for the property. This resulted in a cost of about $386 per square foot. Built in 1991, the property features three subterranean parking levels and ground-floor retail space.
#7. 8480 Beverly Blvd, 100 N La Cienega Blvd, Los Angeles
In the 7th spot on the list was the purchase of properties at 8480 Beverly Blvd. and 100 N. La Cienega Blvd. for just under $200 million. Situated between Vanowen Street and Victory Boulevard in West Hills, this 880,000-square-foot open-air shopping center offers a nice variety with such retailers as Kohl’s, Wal-Mart, Target, Home Depot, Trader Joe’s, and Petco.
Retail Opportunity Investments Corp. (ROIC) has acquired Fallbrook Shopping Center, a well-positioned shopping center that serves the West San Fernando Valley.
The 1.12 million-square-foot property was purchased for a total of $210 million in cash.
#5. 707 Wilshire Blvd, 637 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles
Shorenstein Properties took home the prize for the 5th most expensive commercial deal when it acquired two properties located on Wilshire Boulevard, both office buildings, for a total price of $268,520,000. Among the two properties purchased was AON Center, a 62-story tower at 707 Wilshire Blvd. Built in 1973, the tower remained the tallest building in the Los Angeles area for several years.
Also included in the purchase was 637 Wilshire Blvd., a property that has been somewhat overshadowed by nearby skyscrapers due to its unassuming height and black glass panel façade. Among the most interesting features of this property is the fact that it connects to the much statelier 707 Wilshire Blvd., better known as Aon Center, via an underground tunnel.
#4. 3150 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles
In one of last year’s biggest deals, a partnership of Capri Capital Partners, LLC and TruAmerica Multifamily, LLC has purchased a newly-built, 464-unit high-rise apartment complex in the Koreatown area of Los Angeles.
This high-end multifamily project, dubbed the Vermont, features entire block frontage along Wilshire and includes 31,000 square feet of retail space.
#3. 350 S Grand Ave, Los Angeles
One of the most expensive office building purchases in Los Angeles in 2014 was the acquisition of Two California Plaza by CIM Group, which paid slightly over $300 million for the 52-story office building.
Designed by Arthur Erickson Architects, this blue glass structure is one of the most prominent landmarks in downtown Los Angeles and was named BOMA Building of the Year twice.
#2. 9900 Wilshire Blvd, Beverly Hills
Occupying the second-place position for the largest commercial real estate transactions in Los Angeles was the purchase of 9900 Wilshire Blvd. in Beverly Hills, by Wanda Beverley Hills Properties. The Chinese mega-developer paid just over $420 million to BH Wilshire International for the department store site.
Wanda Group says it plans to invest about $1.2 billion to redevelop the site and turn it into a world-class mixed-use project, predominantly featuring luxury residential condominium units. Design plans for the condominiums were completed by architect Richard Meier.
Groundbreaking is set for 2015.
#1. 4750 Lincoln Blvd, Marina Del Rey, 5200 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, 5700 W Centinela Ave, Los Angeles
Last year’s most expensive commercial deal was the merger of BRE Properties, Inc. and Essex Property Trust, Inc. The transaction, which totaled more than $600 million, involved the purchase of three separate properties.
“We are excited to consummate the merger and move forward to combine these two great organizations to form the leading West Coast multifamily REIT,” said Michael Schall, President and CEO of Essex, in a statement. “The integration effort is proceeding as planned, which we believe will result in a stronger platform for sustainable growth, superior service for our residents, and expanded career opportunities for our employees. I want to thank the employees of both companies for their hard work, dedication and support.”
Want more research like this? Check out the Top 10 Best-Selling Buildings in NYC in 2014 on PropertyShark.com.


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2014 Porsche 911
In this latest video from Drive, Chris Harris asks straight away, "Can you still compare a base Corvette to a Porsche Carerra?" That's an particularly interesting question in this film, as the 911 in question is a 400-horsepower Carrera S model that's been fitted with $60,
Porsche's Facebook fan base appears to be accelerating as quickly as the cars it builds. The German automaker has just unveiled a special 911 Carrera 4S designed with crowdsourced input as a way to thank its five million Facebook fans.


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Samsung's ambitions to introduce the world's first foldable smartphone seem to be finally getting off the ground as the South Korean company has got its Galaxy X foldable smartphone certified in its home country. The South Korean certification body has certified Galaxy X (model number SM-G888N0), as per a report.
According to a report by LetsGoDigital, spotted by GSMArena, the National Radio Research Agency (NRRA) of the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) has given approval for radio connectivity on Samsung's alleged foldable smartphone. As we said, the smartphone, which has been passed by the South Korean regulator equivalent to US FCC, bears a model name SM-G888N0, which doesn't really shed any light on the what the final device will look like. However, the 'N0' part at the end of the model name suggests a Korean model.
On the certification result page, the model number SM-G888N0 is marked as "Equipment of radio equipment for LTE mobile communication", which means that it could be any device, but a device bearing the same model number was previously spotted on the Wi-Fi alliance as a smartphone. While the things look blurry right now in terms of the device's identity, its US FCC certification listing will clear the air in the coming weeks.
To recall, Samsung's mobile chief DJ Koh earlier this month said that the South Korean colossus is planning to introduce a foldable smartphone in its Galaxy Note smartphone series by as early as 2018. The smartphone has previously been referred to Galaxy X, however this name is not official. The Galaxy X will take on the latest Apple's iPhone X that features an all-screen display with just a notch at the top.


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Plastic shopping bags will be with us a little longer. What can consumers do to eliminate them?
On May 12 of this week, Kroger announced that it would delay its plans to eliminate single-use plastic bags in its Cincinnati stores this June. Just one week earlier (May 4), Kroger had given notice to its customers that it would eliminate single-use plastic beginning June 1. The reason for the delay, Kroger said, was due to Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s bill banning bans on single-use plastic bags. DeWine had signed House Bill 242 on Oct. 13, 2020, which puts a one-year moratorium on regulations regarding the use of single-use plastic containers.
Cincinnati’s ban against single-use plastic bags was passed last year in September of 2020 and was slated to go into effect Jan 1 of this year. It was postponed due to Ohio’s House Bill 242. Our greatest concern now is that our State representatives will vote to extend HB 242 and that Gov. DeWine will not veto it. What action should we take as Cincinnatians in response to this situation? Cincinnati should be able to proceed with its municipal ordinance and let city businesses like Kroger follow suit.
Kroger has decided it would be best in to comply with the City’s ordinance which goes into effect January 2022, saying “cutting out plastic bags is in cooperation with the city of Cincinnati plastic bag ban and is part of the store’s Zero Hunger initiative.” Kroger officials will meanwhile encourage customers to use their reusable bags each time they visit a store and to recycle any plastic bags.
Consumers can perhaps best respond by writing letters to the editor, or to Kroger directly, commending its efforts to end single-use plastic bags in its stores. More importantly, we could encourage the Kroger Company to urge Gov. DeWine to allow HB 242 to expire when it is due to sunset on Jan 15, 2022. City Council had broad community and business support when it established its ordinance in the first place, and it has been fully transparent in adopting it. We do not need any more delays!
As Kroger customers, we might also write Gov. DeWine directly to persuade him that HB 242 not only undermines human and environmental health; it intimidates local businesses and subverts Cincinnati’s Home Rule.
The issue of plastic pollution continues to be a growing concern. The more we learn, the more we realize how scary the consequences are and how much governmental regulation is necessary to protect human and environmental health. We do have purchasing power as consumers. Corporations are beginning to feel the risk of continuing to invest in plastics, as we customers become more willing to forgo conveniences and use our dollars elsewhere.
One final step consumers can take: Support federal legislation that calls for action addressing the root cause of plastic pollution through the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act. #BFFPPA
Miami Group Conservation Committee
Miami Group Executive Committee
Past Plastic Cincinnati Coalition


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Read the Original Article at http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=6511872
Media and entertainment executives always saw the Internet as a distribution channel, but it's behind the scenes where the Web is having its most transformative impact. Companies as diverse as Electronic Arts, The New York Times, and R.R. Donnelley & Sons have learned to use Web-based collaboration as conduits to customers, partners, and suppliers.
What a difference a year has made for Electronic Arts, a $1.7 billion video-game maker. This time last year, online collaboration "wasn't even on the horizon," CIO Marc West says. Today, the company is using collaborative tools to automate order processing and demand forecasting. It's also managing the creation of new games. The benefits? A deeper understanding of operations and less coding when changes are made within applications.
The Times has turned to customer self-service extranets. One provides the newspaper's 38,000 retailers and wholesalers with 24-hour access to their accounts and cuts newsprint waste. Previously, CIO Michael Williams says, "there was no way for those retailers and wholesalers to manage their business with the Times" without picking up the phone. A second portal that lets advertisers access media kits, reserve ad space, submit digital materials, and check production status has been something of a surprise. It was expected that advertisers primarily wanted a transactional engine, but the most popular uses have involved collaborative matters (such as meeting production schedules) that had required the involvement of sales representatives. "The more we can rely on digital processes, the less we depend on human production," Williams says.
Meanwhile, R.R. Donnelley has begun to use real-time collaborative tools to work with customers in developing customized outsource services. The $5.3 billion printing house has seen demand for bundled services grow among smaller companies that don't want to manage multiple vendor relationships, senior VP and CIO Gary Sutula says. R.R. Donnelley uses customer-facing applications to host digital-asset libraries and help shepherd materials through every part of the production process, essentially becoming a de facto supply-chain management vendor.
Says Sutula, "That's the secret sauce of supply-chain management -- looking out for each other's best interests."


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Luxury cognac brand Louis XIII is rather well known for embracing the rich history of the maison. But it seems the cognac house is equally adept at dabbling in new-tech as it is in nostalgia.
Indeed, and until the beginning of this month, the internationally released Louis XIII Smart Decanter has ushered in the future of drinking in South Africa.
Equipped with a smart NFC chip integrated in the cork stopper, the Smart Decanter opens up an exclusive world of privileges to Mzansi customers, with a mere touch on their NFC-enabled smartphones. Each decanter directly connects clients to the LOUIS XIII Society, a private club where members can enjoy exclusive content, unique experiences and personalised services through their smartphones.
Explaining the concept, Ludovic du Plessis, Louis XIII Global Executive Director, says: “As part of our latest attempt to offer our customers the very best experiences, every Louis XIII Smart Decanter features a smart solution.”
It’s safe to say that with the Louis XIII Smart Decanters , we’re not just be thinking – but also drinking – a century ahead!
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(From Billboard Magazine, October 5, 2013) Beats Music and other music companies are pushing to partner with some of the larger cellphone carriers in America. Currently no music company is partnered with one of the major cell providers. The music subscription industry seems sure that partnerships with companies like Verizon and AT&T, the two largest carriers in the US, will create huge boosts in their sales. There are 238.8 million mobile phone subscribers over half of which are smartphone owners. Digital music services have only 20 million subscribers. This is a large reason why the streaming industry wants to partner with mobile phone companies.
There are three basic factors in getting a cellphone company to team up with music:
1.The partnership’s ability to gain new subscribers to that phone company,
2. The ability for cell companies to increase revenue under the partnership, and
3. The ability for both parties to retain subscribers.
There have been a couple of partnerships with very small cellular companies, but the companies both had something to gain from it. This isn’t necessarily the case for the larger cell companies. These businesses are growing and doing so well that the added music benefit doesn’t really interest them because they know they will sell phones regardless. There has been a lot more of this kind of partnership overseas where music streaming is much less popular. There has also been a case where a cell company has partnered with ESPN for digital sports streaming.
One of the challenges for the music streaming companies like Spotify is that it is hard to get people to pay when there are services offered for free. They have a hard time converting free users to premium users. They are convinced that a partnership with a phone company would streamline the payment process so customers would pay their phone bill and not have to worry about making any other payments. One theory is that it only needs to happen once. One partnership would get the ball rolling for all of the other companies, and pretty soon everyone would want digital music services on their phone.


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If you want to import a private key into a hardware wallet such as a ledger, you need to perform additional steps. First, you need to import the private key into a wallet such as Electrum before you can send coins to your ledger address.
Bitcoin Future： electrum wallet import to core
Go to the Assets page - Click on the New Wallet - Import Wallet - Select currency BTC or ETH (in the case of ETH) - Select Import Wallet - Start wallet import.
Like Bitcoin's core wallet, Electrum Wallet allows users to control their own funds and private keys. Electrum wallets' private keys can also be exported and used on other supported wallets to access funds. Electrum apps are available for Windows, Linux, OSX and Android, but do not support iOS and browser clients.
Then, on top of another computer, install the electrum. Create a new wallet and select Import Bitcoin Address or Private Key
Bitcoin Wallet Electrum confirms a phishing attack against its users, reminding them not to download Electrum Wallet software from any channel other than the official website. Earlier media reports said Electrum users had maliciously stolen millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrencies. Hackers create Electrum wallet software with malicious code, induce users to download, and trick users into providing login information such as passwords to commit theft.
Bitcoin Wallet Electrum has released a 4.0 beta version with new updates that support Lightning Networks and more.
iOS Wallet Electron (not Electrum!) QT (using the new code base)
Security firm: Electrum Wallet suffered a massive DoS attack that has cost millions of dollars.
Bitcoin Wallet Electrum now supports Lightning Online Payments According to Coindesk July 11th, Bitcoin Wallet Electrum now supports Lightning Web Payments. It has previously been reported that Bitcoin Wallet Electrum has released a beta version of Electrum 4.0, adding support for the Bitcoin Lightning Network.
Cryptocurrencies Wallet Electrum has lost nearly 250 bitcoins (approximately $914,000) as a result of the new phishing attack. Electrum has confirmed the authenticity of the attack. An attacker could induce a user to provide password information by creating a fake wallet.
Electrum is a software wallet. It provides more security than an online wallet, but less than a paper wallet or hardware wallet.
Google developers have discovered that a Bitcoin wallet Electrum vulnerability could lead to money being stolen from websites.
The latest version of UBTC Electrum Light Wallet V3.3.3 is available for download.
On August 8, Electrum, a BTC wallet service provider, posted on Twitter that its servers were facing an ongoing DoS attack.


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Albright Fashion Library LA
“High fashion doesn’t really exist here since most of the major photographers and models are in New York,” said Albright Fashion Library founder, Irene Albright of the red carpet-centered fashion scene in LA. That was part of her inspiration to bring her namesake showroom to the West Coast.
Filled with thousands of designer dresses, shoes, and accessories available to rent, Albright Fashion Library is an essential stop for stylists, celebrities and the fashion savvy public looking for unique pieces for photo shoots, award shows or movie set wardrobes. Albright opened her New York showroom in 1990 and is now bringing the same fashion sensibility to Los Angeles with her daughter Marina. “There isn’t a spot other than downtown LA that’s created this kind of space,” Albright said.
With a new space in Beverly Hills overlooking the city and ocean, it’s all about creating an experience. “What I’m doing is creating event spaces so it’s not just clothing. It’s an all-in-one package,” Albright said. “It’s art and fashion. It’s music and fashion. It’s film and fashion.” Albright plans to cultivate the LA fashion scene with collaboration and events. “I think LA is missing that center. New York has it by virtue of the fact that you walk out on the street and you’re bumping into friends. LA doesn’t really have that and that’s what I’m trying to create here.”
Since its beginning nearly 30 years ago, stylists, editors and designers have taken advantage of the extensive, yet finely edited, collection. “I know that every editor that has come my way in NY says that if it wasn’t for that for Albright they couldn’t do their job. It’s crazy right?” Albright said. With some 39,000 items for celebrities and the public to rent, the library is well-known for dressing for some of Hollywood’s star players, including Jane Fonda, Hailey Baldwin, Noah Cyrus, Sofia Richie, Cardi B, Kate Hudson, Morgan Stewart, Kristen Cavallari, and Halsey.
The library came about after Irene Albright, who worked for years as stylist and consultant to prominent magazines and photographers, found her creative imagination needing more. She decided to invest in items with an edge. “I would lend things to my friends who needed it,” Albright shared, “and before I knew it, they convinced me to charge money to borrow, and I realized they had convinced me to run a business.”
When asked about some of her favorite pieces, Albright revealed, “I’ve bought the entire Saint Laurent collection. Alexandre Vauthier and Gucci pieces that I covet because they’re masterpieces of art and fashion. The McQueen dress that was worn in Devil Wears Prada… these pieces are just magic.” While stores are driven to buy pieces that sell, Albright is interested in something else. “I’m lucky enough to be able to shop with my daughter, go to Paris four times a year,” Albright said. “I buy just like the department stores do except that I’m coming from a different eye… I’m looking for the more avant-garde things… The one shot deal.”
Albright often has looks for the upcoming season in stock even before department stores do, as well as archives of classic pieces from Chanel to Dior to Gucci. “I know every single item in the showroom even though everything is barcoded,” she says. Daily rental prices range from $500- $1,000.
“A lot of people showcase who they are with their clothing, with the way they dress, the way they style themselves. It’s one way of showing your individuality,” Albright insisted when asked about the importance of offering access to new fashion. “Sadly if that’s gone we’ll all be wearing black dresses.” She doesn’t just want to give people clothing to wear. It’s all about making standout, original choices. “I like artists to be magicians, for fashion to be magic, to make the moment be magic. I like when somebody feels really, really good when they walk through a room.”


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By Max Goldberg • Originally published on LivingMaxwell.com
Editor’s note: Read the following article to see why you should be concerned about pesticide exposure in your diet and in your life — and what you can do to protect yourself and your family.
Here are a few things that we know.
1) In its pioneering testing several years ago, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) identified up to 493 chemicals in Americans of all ages, including 287 industrial chemical pollutants found in the cord blood of 10 babies born in 2004.
So, from the time we are in the womb of our mother, our body is flooded with synthetic toxins.
2) Even though this EWG data was collected a decade ago, not much has changed since then, in terms of our exposure to chemicals.
This is largely because consumers remain completely unprotected when chemical companies bring a new product to market.
The nation’s toxic chemical regulatory law, The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) of 1976, allows chemicals on the market without meaningful safety assessments and gives the Environmental Protection Agency almost no authority to protect the public health.
Given that our government deems the profits of chemical companies to be more important than the health of its citizens, is it any surprise that 41% of Americans will get cancer and 21% of Americans will die from cancer?
Not to the President’s Cancer Panel.
In its annual report called “Reducing our Environmental Cancer Risk: What We Can Do Now,” the President’s Cancer Panel, among other things, recommends that in order to decrease exposure to pesticides, individuals should choose “food grown without pesticides or chemical fertilizers.”
Previous studies have shown that children who switch to an organic diet will reduce their pesticide load, but no similar study has been completed with adults.
Until this research was released:
In a report published in Environmental Research, Dr. Liza Oates and her team at RMIT University in Australia found that people who adopted an organic diet for one week saw an incredible 90% reduction in pesticide exposure.
The randomly selected 13 adults were fed both an organic diet and a non-organic diet, and urine samples were taken to determine the presence of dialkylphosphates, a class of chemicals which are produced as the body tries to break down organophosphate pesticides.
In case you are not familiar with organophosphate pesticides, they are some of the most widely used chemicals sprayed on food today.
What harm do they cause?
According to the Pesticide Action Network, long-term exposure to organophosphates has been linked to cancer, Parkinson’s disease, and serious reproductive and developmental problems.
What to do?
Clearly, switching to an organic diet will greatly help to decrease pesticide exposure. (Make sure you read this post – Should You ALWAYS Eat Organic? – to help guide you and answer any questions that you may have.)
While food plays a big role in reducing pesticide loads in your body, it is not the only thing that we need to be paying attention to.
Other areas of chemical exposure are household cleaning products and body care products.
One great resource for body care products is EWG’s Skin Deep Database, which provides safety and other information on nearly 70,000 personal care products.
In terms of household cleaning products, my absolute favorite is the Liquid Sunshine concentrate from Vermont Soap Organics. I LOVE it and have gotten many of my friends to use it as well.
It is 100% free of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), contains no chemical or synthetic ingredients, and can be used for dishes, floors, walls, laundry, bathrooms, and general cleaning.
While our bodies will never be 100% chemical-free, it is important that we take the necessary precautions to reduce our pesticide exposure as much as possible.
And the study out of Australia is just more evidence that adopting an organic food diet is an essential way to accomplish this.
Is organic really better? Find out in this article.


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How Google fooled you
Washinngton: Google joined in the April Fool`s pranks on Friday with the release of a new product called "Gmail Motion" that supposedly lets users send and receive emails using only gestures.
Gmail product manager Paul McDonald, in a deadpan explanatory video, said Gmail Motion uses a "language of movements that replaces type entirely" and ends reliance on "outdated technologies" like the keyboard and mouse.
"Using your computer`s camera and a spacial tracking algorithm, Gmail Motion interprets physical movement and turns it into actionable commands," McDonald said. "The movements are designed to be intuitive, ergonomic and easy to do."
In the video, a "Googler" demonstrates how Gmail Motion works, pointing backwards with one thumb, for example, to reply to an email message and using two thumbs to "reply all."
The video also includes an interview with a "Lorraine Klayman," presented as an "environmental movement specialist at Nevada Polytechnic College."
"Gmail Motion will free the regular user from the constraints that modern society and our interfaces with our machines have put on the human body," she says.
A link on Google`s home page directs a user to the blog post explaining Gmail Motion, which promises to "turn your email into a true body of work."
Google is renowned for its April Fool`s jokes, which over the years have included job applications for positions on the Moon and the revelation that its Internet search rankings are compiled by pigeons.
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Meizu unveiled the M8 Note mid-range phone at an event today but that wasn’t all. It also announced two new color variants for the Meizu 16X upper mid-range phone and the Meizu V8 lower mid-range phone.
Before today, the Meizu 16X was available in three colors – Jet Black, Noble Gold, and a special Ceramic White variant. They have now been joined by two new colors – Cistern Purple and Teal Blue.
Both colors are available in 6GB+64GB and 6GB+128GB variants and will go on sale on November 11 on the official Meizu online store and Tmall.com.
The Meizu V8, on the other hand, was originally available in Black and Gold. It has also gotten two new color variants – blue and purple. The new variants will also be available for purchase on the same day as the Meizu 16X.
The Meizu 16X has a 6.0-inch Super AMOLED screen. It also has an in-display fingerprint scanner like the Meizu 16th and Meizu 16th Plus. There is a Snapdragon 710 processor under the hood. Its rear cameras are a 12MP f/1.8 sensor and a 20MP f2.6 sensor. A 20MP f./2.0 sensor sits in front for selfies. It packs a 3,100mAh battery and runs Android Oreo.
The Meizu V8 has a 5.7-inch HD+ screen, a MediaTek MT6739 processor, 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. It has a single 13MP rear camera and a 5MP front-facing camera. It also packs a 3200mAh battery and has a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner.


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Nicox, Azursoft, M2M Solution, Myxyty, Login People, 1check,… 5 financing rounds have already raised €43M this year on the Cote d’Azur! Toise operations primarily affect the digital sector (security, IoT, M2M), but also the smart city, cleantech, health and tourism/MICE.
Business insights from Sophia Antipolis, Nice, Eco-Vallée, Grasse, Cannes and the Riviera française
The American chemistry giant Dow is celebrating 40 years in Sophia Antipolis, and making new investments in its innovation centre whose staff grew from 90 to 161 in 2014. The American chemistry giant has invested €2.2M to redevelop its site … Continued
With a consortium of manufacturers focused on the smart city, on 16 March, Nice opened its Smart City Innovation Center, a collaborative platform unique in France and which anticipates a new model in Europe.
The Innovation World Cup puts the spotlight on the exceptional ability of Cote d’Azur companies to innovate at the confluence of information technologies, biotechnologies and risk management.
Juniper Research’s smart cities ranking establishes the innovations by the Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur and the industrial partnerships created for developing a connected, sustainable and smart city and highlight an attractive ecosystem for companies.
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An outpouring of support for Black-owned businesses back in June launched Southern Roots Vegan Bakery into the spotlight. In the words of co-founder Cara Pitts, the San Antonio, Texas-based online business “literally grew overnight.” Now, the family-run bakery is in the midst of a busy holiday season and planning on an even busier new year. But what makes Southern Roots Vegan Bakery stand out? And where did it all begin for the business?
Keep reading to find out the bakery’s story, plus there’s a special discount on offer for LIVEKINDLY readers.
Southern Roots Vegan Bakery’s journey started with the viewing of a vegan documentary a few years ago. Cara’s husband, Marcus Pitts, sat down to watch 2017’s What The Health, and, by the end, he was ready to rid his life of animal products for good. After taking the time to research the vegan lifestyle more, both he and Cara decided Marcus’ instinct after watching the documentary was right: the vegan diet was the best choice for them.
Marcus says the vegan lifestyle is important to him now, “because it increases the chance of vitality and improves the quality of life with a simple mindset shift.” For Cara, veganism is also about living a healthy lifestyle. She sees the difference not just in Marcus but in her 97-year-old grandmother Mary Lee, who she cares for.
“Implementing a plant-based diet has done wonders for her,” she tells LIVEKINDLY. “At 97, she has so much more energy. She’s up until after midnight watching Family Feud and does laps around the house with her walker for exercise.”
Veganizing Their Favorite Foods
The Pitts are both firm supporters of plant-based food now, but after they first made the switch, they struggled to find foods and dishes they enjoyed.
“We really didn’t know where to start,” Cara explains. “We both loved to cook prior to changing our eating habits, and I’ve been baking since my first Easy-Bake Oven, but we were really struggling trying to create plant-based meals just for us to enjoy.”
With little luck, they decided to go back to the drawing board, eventually deciding to revisit the foods they had originally enjoyed before going vegan, only without the animal products.
They started veganizing traditional soul food dishes and their favorite desserts, like cookies, cakes, and brownies, testing out the recipes on Mary Lee, the local church community, and their children’s ministry classes. Their creations were a resounding hit – the food was delicious and the lack of animal products unnoticeable. The feedback was so positive, they started toying with the idea of selling professionally.
After contemplating a full soul food line, Cara and Marcus decided to start with desserts and Southern Roots Vegan Bakery was born. Made with soy milk, dairy-free butter, and zero eggs, their vegan cakes, brownies, and cookies easily compete with their animal-based counterparts on delicious taste and texture. “I love when people first experience our desserts and you can see the stigma breaking right before your eyes of what they thought vegan food was,” says Cara. (Plus, good news for parents of allergy-sufferers, everything is nut-free.)
To grow their plant-based business, they gained experience through selling their baked goods at farmers’ markets and vegan events in San Antonio. Additionally, they took part in Break Fast and Launch, an accelerator program for culinary-related companies. The Pitts credit the 10-week course for providing them with the necessary business expertise to get through the “ups-and-downs” that come with starting a food business. It also gave them mentor access and a multitude of other helpful resources.
Navigating a Tumultuous Year
By the beginning of 2020, the couple was ready to bring their delicious indistinguishable-from-the-animal-version sweet treats nationwide and show the world that adopting a vegan lifestyle doesn’t mean you have to miss out on any of your favorite foods, including scrumptious chocolate fudge brownies and red velvet donuts.
They had just launched their website when the unprecedented events of 2020 started to unfold, and the novel coronavirus began to sweep the globe.
In May, in the thick of COVID-19, another event shook the U.S.: The death of George Floyd at the hands of police officers. The tragedy sparked a surge of support for the Black Lives Matter movement, which spiraled into a social media juggernaut of advocacy for the cause. Thousands of listicles and articles flooded the web, not just calling for justice and reform, but also calling for more support for the Black community, for Black entrepreneurs and influencers, as well as Black-owned businesses.
Southern Roots Vegan Bakery was featured in a number of publications calling out Black-owned vegan businesses to support. The bakery started to receive an influx of new orders as a result. It doubled sales at the time. “We went from having a few sales a week to thousands in a week,” Cara recalls.
The sudden surge in sales was undeniably a positive. Cara says they felt “blessed” to receive the “overwhelming love and support.” But it was also “scary” and “eye-opening,” she remembers. Not least because they were unprepared. They make all of their sweet treats in a commercial kitchen before they are shipped out to customers across the country, who place orders through their website. They didn’t have enough capacity, or resources, or kitchen staff, to cater to the surge in demand at first.
“We launched our online site a month before the COVID pandemic, so when the articles came out supporting Black businesses, it took some time to develop the systems and processes to create a sustainable business,” she explains.
But they responded quickly, with adjustments to their resources and their team. Ultimately, the surge in demand helped Southern Roots grow, Cara says. She notes: “We feel like the accelerated ride we experienced these last few months made us get better faster than we would have otherwise.”
Marcus agrees. He adds: “The business is still prospering and, with the implementation of systems, it has allowed us time to develop new products.”
Wrapping Up The Year and Moving Forwards
For the holiday season, the bakery has plenty of plant-based sweet treats on offer. The Kid at Heart Bundle includes a slice of Mary Lee’s Lemon Cake, Fudge Brownie, six donuts (for fallophiles, Pumpkin Spice is an option), and 12 cookies. The Holiday Cookie Bundle comprises a variety of the bakery’s best-selling cookies, including Oatmeal Raisin, Chocolate Chip, Double Chocolate Chip, and Sprinkle Sugar.
The bakery was plunged into the spotlight due to external events (it also appeared on Tabitha Brown’s Very Good Mondays social media segment earlier this year). But, its sustained success is all down to hard work and consistent quality. Southern Roots Vegan Bakery’s products are loved by its customers, now, for the very same reason that Mary Lee and their local church community were won over initially: you would never guess they’re vegan, and they’re so tasty, you just can’t stop eating them.
“We use real pumpkin in the Pumpkin Spice donuts of course, but the spice is light, so they’re just moist yummy vegan donuts that go perfectly with a cup of coffee,” says Cara. “I also got to develop the recipe for our new Sprinkle Sugar cookies, which are part of the Holiday Cookie Bundle. Just like potato chips, no one can eat just one!”
Looking forward to 2021, the Pitts intend to offer even more bundles, as well as develop new mouth-watering products. A line of Southern Roots dry mixes will launch next year. And, there will be even more flavors of cakes, cookies, and baked goods. With their new capability to mass-produce, they even have their eyes on expanding into stores across the U.S.
But for now, it’s time to take stock of a rollercoaster year and cheer up everyone’s holiday season with their moreish sweets.
“Christmas is the time of year that we all want to indulge in our favorite holiday treats, and it brings us great joy to know that nobody has to sacrifice this year to maintain their commitment to the vegan lifestyle,” says Marcus. “It’s been a rough year for all of us, so we hope our new goodies can brighten everyone’s day.”
In the spirit of Christmas, Southern Roots is currently offering its biggest discount yet! By using the special discount code LIVEKINDLY you can receive $10 off its Holiday Cookie Bundle. And that should make Santa very happy.
To place an order, or find out more about the bakery, find Southern Roots’ website here.
This is a sponsored post.


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Xiaomi 11T Review: The magnificent MediaTek mid-range movie mogul
The Xiaomi Mi 11 was a big hit this year, and now Xiaomi has released the Xiaomi 11T – bring a very similar experience at an even better price.
Nokia has claimed the new G50 smartphone is the cheapest 5G smartphone out there, which isn’t actually true, but at under £200 it still represents excellent value for consumers wanting in on the 5G action without breaking the bank.
iaomi will be launching two new models to add to the Mi 11 (now Xiaomi 11) series, and as part of this news comes details of how long users can expect support in terms of OS and security updates.
Since leaving the EU, we are no longer duty bound by regulations that protect net neutrality. If we don’t want to go the same way as the USA under Trump, we need to get our thoughts in now to prevent detrimental changes!


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Cadillac Celestiq Flagship Getting Ultra Cruise Hands-Free Driving In 2023
All thanks to an ultra-compact Qualcomm SnapDragon computer...
Cadillac's new flagship will be a long, limo-like sedan with a hatchback instead of a trunk. Not only will the Cadillac Celestiq be hand-built, hand-crafted, and hands-down jaw-dropping—it'll be SnapDragon smart.
Before we get to what that's all about, General Motors Chair and CEO Mary Barra promises more information on this halo electric vehicle in the first half of this year. We hope and expect this includes showing it in public, given how it appears as though the Celestiq is hitting the market in 2023. During a virtual keynote address for CES 2022, Barra said the next generation of its hands-free driver assist system known as Ultra Cruise will be available next year on the Celestiq, among other GM rides. Ultra Cruise is next-level tech, building on Super Cruise which offers highway hands-free driving capability and offering door-to-door hands-free driving.
Here is where SnapDragon comes in. The computing power that enables Ultra Cruise to take over driving the car comes from a computer architecture that puts the intelligent driving system onto chips. These smart semiconductors come from Qualcomm Technologies, and GM will be the first automaker to use the tech company's SnapDragon Ride Platform which is an artificial intelligence accelerator. That is what allows the car to become the driver on virtually all paved roads.
Ultra Cruise's computer (yes it is a noun) is about the size of two laptops stacked together. It has high-performance sensors and enough memory bandwidth to work with GM's Ultra Cruise software to allow the Celestiq to handle all the driving in 95 percent of all driving scenarios.
"Despite its relatively small size, Ultra Cruise's computer will have the processing capability of several hundred personal computers," Ken Morris, GM vice president of Electric, Autonomous and Fuel Cell Vehicle Programs, said in a release. "It will take qualities that have distinguished GM's advanced driver assist systems since 2017 to the next level with door-to-door hands-free driving."
GM Developed Ultra Cruise Software
GM developed the Ultra Cruise software at engineering facilities in Israel, the United States, Canada, and Ireland. It was designed to work with vehicles equipped with cameras, radar, and lidar gathering reams of data.
The overall system consists of two SnapDragon system-on-chips (SoC) and one AI accelerator to control driver functions. They were designed to meet all safety standards with multiple redundancies built it to keep the driver-as-passenger safe.
"We are very proud of our collaboration with General Motors on one of the industry's first uses of our Snapdragon SoCs in an automated driving system," Nakul Duggal, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. senior vice president and GM, Automotive, said in a release. "Ultra Cruise powered by Snapdragon Ride on Cadillac vehicles will be an experiential and technological leap forward for the industry."
And if all this isn't enough, GM promises Ultra Cruise will continue to evolve and the SnapDragon platform was designed for future expansion and over-the-air updates through GM's Ultify software platform and electrical architecture. Barra says Ultify, a new Linux-based software platform, is now available on seven models.
Automakers Talk Tech
GM is not alone in these efforts. Words like SnapDragon, SoC, and OTA are becoming part of the more mainstream automotive lexicon. And this year's CES had a large automotive presence with more vehicles shown than ever before.
Stellantis used CES to announce agreements with Amazon to advance its own software-driving evolution of the experience customers can expect in their new vehicles.
Stellantis will use Amazon Devices, Amazon Web Services, and Amazon Last Mile, while also selling a fleet of electric Ram ProMaster commercial vehicles to Amazon starting in 2023.
Amazon will help Stellantis develop vehicles, create software-based products and services, leverage artificial intelligence, and even train 5,000 future software developers and engineers by 2024.
The two will deliver software for the STLA SmartCockpit that will start showing up in vehicles in 2024, providing an enhanced infotainment experience. Amazon is the cloud provider for all the data involved.
Watch Kia Soul Pinwheel Through Air After Hitting a Brodozer’s Rogue Wheel
Take the Latest EV Battery Breakthrough News With a Grain of Salt
Bewitching British Vintage Camper Van Might Cast a Spell on You
New All-Electric Jeeps Leak Out of Stellantis Dealer Meeting
The 2024 Hyundai Sonata Now Wears One Sexy Electric Unibrow


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Delta Air Lines took a dip in a respected consumer survey while most airlines experienced an upswing in customer satisfaction.
Passenger satisfaction with Delta Air Lines took the largest drop in the University of Michigan’s American Customer Satisfaction Index, falling 2 points, to 62. The national index reports scores on a zero-to-100 scale.
Customer satisfaction with airlines overall increased for the second year in a row, but that trend is expected to be short-lived as fares rise and flights become even more crowded. This year’s composite score for airlines was 66, up from 64 last year and 62 in 2008.
The drop is attributed to Delta’s acquisition of Northwest Airlines in 2008, which made Delta the Twin Cities’ dominant airline.
The overall industry uptick is attributed to airline customers becoming savvier at shopping for fares and avoiding fees by carrying on bags, Van Amburg said.
The latest government air travel consumer report — which covers April — showed Delta as the most complained-about airline, though its rate of complaints was slightly lower than a year ago. Delta’s on-time rating was slightly below the industry average and its rate of mishandled baggage was middle of the pack.
— Gita Sitaramiah


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|Siemens will install thousands of charge points in Europe with Monta’s software||Monta’s software enables Siemens to become a one-stop-shop for EV charging solutions||Siemens offers EV charging solutions to individuals and businesses, while building a public charging network.|
The industry giant Siemens has chosen Monta as their software provider in a pan-european deal that is set to accelerate the expansion of the EV charging network. Siemens will use Monta’s Charge Point Management System to make EV charging seamless for drivers and businesses
Siemens will use Monta’s software to manage their own EV fleet as well as provide EV charging solutions for individuals and businesses as well as set up public charging all over Europe. Siemens picked Monta due to their dedicated focus on innovative software, groundbreaking solutions and dedication to great customer experiences.
“We’re excited to be working together with Monta, integrating their innovative, feature-filled software into our offerings. This supports our ambitions to further expand EV charging infrastructure”, says Markus Mildner, CEO eMobility at Siemens Smart Infrastructure.
Siemens offers the solution as a “managed service” for businesses, which means that they will manage the installation and administration of their customers’ charge points. Everything runs on Monta’s software and it allows Siemens to customize the setup to their customers’ individual needs.


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Top Ten “Lab Original” Articles of 2021
Rounding up the most popular and insightful articles that we published over the course of the year
Welcome to the end of 2021 — We did it!
As we continue to navigate the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic, this year was also a breakthrough year for a few important emerging innovation territories, including social audio, NFTs, cryptocurrency, and the Metaverse. All the buzz around these hot concepts is aptly captured by the popularity of the following four articles:
The Rise of NFTs and What It Means for Marketers — Feb. 18, 2021
Perhaps as a testimony to what a banner year that NFTs and the larger crypto movement have had this year, this 101 guide to NFTs for marketers easily takes the top spot as our most popular article of the year, with more than 13,000 reads. The hype is simply undeniable. But have marketers learned how to harness the buzz around NFTs and truly deploy it to the benefits of their overall brand experiences? Things are certainly trending in the right direction, but it is still too early to call.
What the Rise of Clubhouse Means for Marketers — Feb. 4, 2021
Clubhouse had a big moment at the beginning of the year and ushered in a new era for live social audio content. Yet, as the year went on, the path to monetization and brand opportunities turned out to be lackluster for the hottest social app and the type of social audio content it champions. This early piece from 2021 examines how Clubhouse could effectively monetize the attention it garners, along with some thoughts on what the rise of social audio means for audio advertising.
A Marketer’s Guide to the DeFi Movement — Oct. 28, 2021
DeFi, short for decentralized finance, is an umbrella term for the emerging class of blockchain-based applications aimed at decentralizing the existing financial system by offering peer-to-peer alternatives for conventional financial services and institutions. In this piece, we take a close look at how DeFi works, the pros and cons of DeFi, and what it means for financial service brands.
Facebook Stumbles Into the Metaverse — Nov. 4, 2021
Facebook’s bullish move is pushing the nascent concept into the mainstream spotlight far before the company is ready to deliver any use cases of true value. In doing so, its rushed stumble into the metaverse has inflated the hype and expectations around the metaverse, possibly setting up everyone for disappointment. Here’s my take on what brand marketers need to know about Facebook’s corporate rebranding as Meta.
As always, each Lab member brings their own passion and subject matter expertise to our original articles. This year, we published contributions from every team member, old and new, on a wide-ranging array of topics, including the experience economy, the wellness culture, holiday shopping trends, live commerce, and more. All of these articles broaden the perspective of our thought leadership and enrich our understanding of the evolving market landscape. The following three articles are among the most viewed articles by guest authors that we published this year:
The Future of the Experience Economy — Aug. 12, 2021
Not only do venues have to assure fans that it is safe to come back, they also have to convince them that the in-person experience is better than, or at least comparable to, the virtual experiences that people have become accustomed to over the past 17 months. In this piece, the Lab’s group director Josh Mallalieu walks us through how venue owners and experiential brands are using new technology and digital services to enhance guest experiences, eliminate friction, and provide additive experiences.
Myth vs. Truth: Sustainability as a Tenet of Brand Value — Sep. 23, 2021
Increasing awareness of environmental challenges is having a transforming effect on consumer behavior at a rapid pace. Yet, despite knowing that, brand marketers are still slow to take actions to green-proof their brands. In this original piece, our client service director Ben Hone walks us through the common myths around sustainability, and how brands can confront these common objections used to argue against building a sustainable brand.
The on-demand generation is getting one step closer to the holy grail of instant gratification, and live commerce will play an essential role in that evolution of consumer expectations. In this original piece, Ryan Miller, our manager of partnerships, walks us through how live shopping solutions grew from pandemic-era explorations to an essential part of ecommerce infrastructure, and what the future holds.
Here at the Lab, we are always fascinated by the intersection of technology, media, and culture, for we believe that the trends emerging out of this crucial crossroad are the ones that hold the true power to shift audience attention and change consumer behavior en masse. After all, the combination of technological advancement and cultural shifts is what drives media habits and raises consumer expectations.
Throughout 2021, we continued to keep a close eye on the intersectional trends that are popping up across key innovation categories such as fintech, social commerce, gaming, and the creator economy — all of which blend and converge fluidly with one another to form powerful new trends that marketers should heed:
The movie industry didn’t move online fast enough, and as a result, it’s now trailing music and video games in cultural relevance. The friction of having to go to the theater didn’t used to be a problem, but in 2021, when culture moves at the speed of memes and dark social, that friction significantly slows down movies’ ability to occupy the center of our cultural conversation. However, there is nothing Hollywood loves more than a good comeback story, and there are many moves that the movie industry and media owners can make to earn its way back into the cultural spotlight.
The Exciting Intersection of Fintech and Ecommerce — July 9, 2021
As an extended version of my analysis on the market-making potential of ecommerce solution providers like Shopify, Affirm, and Square, this piece is meant to be a deep dive into the dynamic intersection of fintech and ecommerce, and how today’s ecommerce solution providers are catering to and reshaping online shopper behaviors.
Why Brands Should Still Care About NFTs — Aug. 20, 2021
As a follow-up piece to the NFT 101 for Marketers article above, this article seeks to deepen our understanding of the potential alignment of NFTs and video games that could open new doors for brands to rethink their strategy regarding gaming, NFTs, and digital assets. Furthermore, it also offers a glimpse into the metaverse future where NFTs and other decentralized financial tools may serve as its economic infrastructure.
The ups and downs of 2021 have not been easy to navigate, yet it offers a hopeful glimpse into a post-pandemic future where we embrace the cultural shift triggered by hybrid work, adopt more flexible omnichannel experiences, and dive deeper into the wild wild west of web3 applications and the metaverse with eyes wide open. Nothing is ever the same, and this decade is still young and full of possibilities. What your brand does in 2022 will help determine where your brand will be situated in the broader consumer culture and competitive landscape by the end of the 2020s.
Thank you again for your readership! Check back in early January for our CES coverage as well as the 2022 Outlook trend report. Happy holidays!


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Source: Philadelphia Business Journal, Kenneth Hilario
The first franchised location of a local Indian restaurant chain will open in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, an area that lately has seen a surge of new restaurants, both local and national.
Tiffin, which first opened in 2007 in Northern Liberties, has grown to nine locations throughout the Philadelphia region, and additional locations were always in the books after owner and CEO Munish Narula decided to franchise.
Narula had been scouting locations for a few months now, with the first location slated to open early next year at the Valley Forge Plaza Shopping Center. The restaurant will be led by franchisee Rajesh Byanjankar, a 9-year veteran of Tiffin and one the company’s first employees.
“We started to see a pattern several years ago as former Tiffin employees would open their own restaurants. It occurred to me I’d rather turn my employees into partners instead of competitors,” Narula said. “The experience Rajesh brings to the first Tiffin franchise is enormously valuable and helps assure its success.”
Wharton School MBA grad Narula closed his Tashan Restaurant & Lounge last September after four years in operation to focus on Tiffin’s growth. It’s no surprise Narula decided to expand in the Philadelphia region first; he told the Philadelphia Business Journal earlier this year that the plan was to grow ” close to home” first before tackling other markets.
To prepare for regional and eventual national expansion, Narula over the past year upgraded Tiffin’s ordering technology and delivery scheduling protocols to reduce wait times. New branded materials will also be introduced, including customized takeout containers, bags and staff uniforms.
King of Prussia has become a hotbed for a number of restaurant concepts, including ones at the King of Prussia Town Center and the King of Prussia Mall. The past year has seen the openings of both national restaurant chains and those based in the Philadelphia region.
“Restaurants are a serious growth industry these days, both in the city and in the surrounding suburbs,” said Eric Goldstein, executive director of King of Prussia District. “King of Prussia, in particular, is experiencing an exciting surge of new restaurants and so many of them are unique concepts, first-to-market locations.”
Here are a few national eateries that have opened or will open outposts in the area:
- Chicago-based Naf Naf Grill at the King of Prussia Town Center
- Maryland-based Mission BBQ at the King of Prussia Town Center, slated to open in 2017
- Washington, D.C.-based Founding Farmers at the King of Prussia Town Center, slated to open in 2017.
- New York’s Melt Shop in the King of Prussia Mall’s new 155,000-square-foot connector at “Savor King of Prussia,” a high-end food court
- New York’s Nicoletta Pizzeria at “Savor King of Prussia”
- New York’s Halal Guys at the Valley Forge Plaza Shopping Center
- Phoenix-based True Food Kitchen outside the King of Prussia Mall, to open in summer next year
And a few local eateries that opened additional outposts in the area:
- Honeygrow at the King of Prussia Town Center
- Hai Street Kitchen at “Savor King of Prussia”
- The Fat Ham by Chef Kevin Sbraga at “Savor King of Prussia”
- Pizzeria Vetri at the King of Prussia Mall adjacent to Urban Outfitters
Areas with large concentrations of restaurants create destinations for visitors and residents to go to, but they also attract real estate and developer investment. JBG Cos., the Maryland-based company behind the King of Prussia Town Center said the goal of the project was to create a downtown experience in King of Prussia.
“The influx of restaurants, like Tiffin, make King of Prussia one of the best dining locations in the Philadelphia suburban region and add a tremendous amount of energy to the community,” Goldstein said.


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Chick-fil-A finished 2022 the way you’ve come to expect over the past couple of decades: With remarkably strong sales.
The Atlanta-based chicken sandwich chain generated $18.8 billion in U.S. system sales last year, according to the company’s newly filed franchise disclosure document (FDD), up nearly 13% over 2021. That likely cements its spot behind McDonald’s and Starbucks as the nation’s third-largest restaurant chain.
Perhaps the most notable number, however, is just how much money a typical Chick-fil-A generates. Standalone locations outside of malls, which now number more than 1,900 locations, generated median sales last year of $8.6 million per unit, up nearly 8% from the year before, according to the FDD.
Mall locations, by contrast, generate just $2.7 million per location. Chick-fil-A, which emerged as a mall concept in the Southeast in the 1970s and 1980s, operates fewer than 200 mall locations in the U.S. these days.
Chick-fil-A has taken a deliberate expansion approach, opting for fewer, carefully placed locations, often with double drive-thru lanes, rather than more restaurants closer together. That approach, coupled with the company’s continued popularity, has equated to the industry’s strongest unit volumes.
For instance, Chick-fil-A last year developed just 100 new locations, finishing 2022 with 2,800 U.S. restaurants. That’s unit growth of just less than 4%. Its unit count is less than half that of other fast-food chains like Taco Bell, Burger King or Wendy’s, each of which generates fewer sales overall.
Instead, the company has opted to ensure that its existing locations generate a lot of sales, which earns better incomes for its operators. A typical Chick-fil-A franchised location, including the mall units, generates about $8 million. That’s over twice that of a typical McDonald’s restaurant, four times that of Wendy’s and five times that of Burger King.
The company’s standalone unit volumes are better even than the hot dog and Italian beef chain Portillo’s, which likewise is known for its high-volume locations. They are also on par with high-volume, polished-casual restaurants and high-end steak concepts.
The highest-volume stand-alone location last year generated nearly $17 million. The lowest-volume restaurant, meanwhile, was $2.2 million. The lowest-volume Chick-fil-A, in other words, would have been an above-average volume Wendy’s restaurant.
All this has contributed to some remarkable growth for the chain. Since 2017, Chick-fil-A has added $10 billion in U.S. system sales, according to the FDD and data from Restaurant Business sister company Technomic. To put that another way, Chick-fil-A has added the equivalent of Burger King to its domestic sales base.
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Dec 27, 2020 01:58 PM EST
Over the past year, many businesses became on a trend that will undoubtedly accelerate as we turn the calendar into 2021. One of the trends will be the vaccine for the coronavirus. It will definitely pent-up demand for consumers who want to get back to normal as they miss traveling, concerts, and various social gatherings.
Remote work and leaner workforces will also continue to accelerate. Therefore, finding ways to capitalize on both is essential for entrepreneurs. If you are looking for a product to launch or to start a business in 2021, here are three significant trends that would encourage you to keep a close eye, according to Fast Company:
A significant push will happen with health and wellness products in 2021. All these businesses quintupled in revenue in the last six months, as per FC. The COVID-19 vaccine will soar with even more sophisticated products.
According to PRNewswire, a modern certified home care agency, Prime Health Services has launched at-home monitoring of COVID-19 patients. They could track patients' health remotely through MonitorMe technology, an all-in-one health and wellness concierge monitoring program.
The coronavirus pandemic has shown society several ways to take care of ourselves that can be done at home as more people have found it to be a convenient option on certain days.
Read also: 7 Biggest Dominant Consumer Trends in 2020
Businesses outsource manufacturing to other countries, but depending on how trade wars continue between different countries and America will impact many companies in the states. Supplying large organizations has many benefits as per Supply Chain Digital. However, many industry insiders have highlighted the increasing advantages of sourcing from smaller and medium-sized enterprises to a diversification of the supply chain.
The emerging trend is the increasing numbers of entrepreneurs starting to realize the risk in having their business reliant on one supply chain or one manufacturing partner. FC encourages you to at least have other supply chain options if you are launching a new venture product. You should also know the possible outcomes of something were to go wrong.
E-commerce establishes itself quickly as the best and easiest way to launch a business or product. According to new data from IBM's U.S. Retail Index, the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the shift from physical stores to digital shopping within five years. As a result, department stores sought significant declines. In 2020's first quarter, non-essential retailers and department stores declined by 25% and grew to a 75% decline in the second quarter. For entrepreneurs who look for a new product or venture to launch in the world today, starting online is far better and then pursuing any kind of brick-and-mortar distribution later.
Read also: World's Most Expensive 'Weird' Sculptures
When Nick Collins was just 14 years old, he started his first business, which included around-the-clock phone calls and numerous questions from his parents. In fact, he began building his stout portfolio in the seventh grade by doing web design, incorporating creative content with brand strategies and plugging in a then-fledgling tech Flash.
Barry Gabster is the founder of InitiateU and is a leading proponent of the marketing mailer revolution, having already taken his company to 10x growth in 2021, alone. In fact, the exponential growth has seen the company rise from $800K-$8.5M just on word-of-mouth referrals.
If you think that the micro accounts are useful only for beginners who may not be able to cope with the fast dynamics of changing quotes on trading platforms, then this is not so. Professionalism grows out of these cent accounts.
Journalists love their jobs because they get to interact with people from all sorts of backgrounds and expertises, then turn around and share their knowledge with the world.
Rustam Gilfanov is a famous IT businessman, a founder of a large IT company, and a partner of the LongeVC Fund.
Bitcoin and cryptocurrency in general guarantee some amazing profits if invested correctly.
In the currency trading business, many individuals make mistakes. Since most individuals join this profession with too much excitement, they forget about efficient strategies. Instead of controlling their investment and execution process, most individuals make poor choices for trading.
In today's digital world, more and more people are investing in cryptocurrencies. These digital tokens have exploded into popularity over the past few years, and have grown to the point that there are now nearly over 6,000 of them, according to Statista.


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dvertising field guru Sir Martin Sorrell right now warned small business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng versus coming up with additional pink tape for corporation administrators as they fight to rebuild their corporations from the current economic crisis.
Kwarteng’s current white paper contains a host of new duties for directors and radical adjustments to the way businesses are audited.
Sir Martin now said: “I can see why he’d want to strengthen regulation to cease fraud and offer with the major 4 audit corporations but firms are working with globalisation, local weather transform, the pandemic, digital disruption, Brexit. To pile additional things like that on them just doesn’t make feeling.”
In general, however, he remained bullish about the world economy as his S4Cash digital advertising and marketing conglomerate conquer Town forecasts with underlying revenues escalating nearly 20% inspite of the pandemic.
“We’re wanting at 4-5% GDP growth this year and 4-5% subsequent 12 months. When was the past time we observed again to again development like that? The dilemma is what transpires in 2023 when the issue will come: how do we fork out for all this. The financial and fiscal stimulus was definitely required but at some level we have to pay out it again.”
S4C boomed last year even with the financial crisis, he claimed, for the reason that it was in the “sweet spot” of encouraging businesses go to electronic.
Today, together with his once-a-year earnings announcement, S4C’s flurry of mergers ongoing with the takeover of Jam3, a electronic creative agency with 170 employees in Toronto and Los Angeles.
S4C’s eighth merger considering that lockdown started, Jam3 will be merged into S4C’s MediaMonks rival. Jam3’s largest customer is Fb, Sorrell reported, even though “it performs with all the prime tech businesses, “ he reported.
Stripping out revenues from the flurry of acquisitions Sorrell has finished about the 12 months, like-for-like billings to shoppers were up 19.6%. Earnings was £342.7 million up 59.3% on £215 million a 12 months just before with underlying income of £62.2 million, up 18% on a yr in the past like-for-like.
January gross financial gain was “well ahead of budget”, he explained, with projected advancement for 2021 of 25%, like-for-like.
Sorrell describes large clientele as “whoppers”. The business now has 5 and Sorrell reported it experienced recognized 5 new “whoppertunities” on the horizon.
Through the 12 months, S4C’s MediaMonks division won food big Mondelez International’s pitch to handle its worldwide tech infrastructure and websites and was incorporated in BMW/Mini’s roster of companies in Europe. Other new client wins provided operate with Google, Fb, Amazon, Netflix and Procter & Gamble, the enterprise explained.
Stockbroker Jefferies issued a be aware to shoppers stating: “S4 is a disrupter with structural expansion tailwinds.”
Shares obtained 1.2p to 489.2p, valuing the enterprise at £2.66 billion.


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Last Monday, Marigot Bay welcomed its third liner of the season, the Seabourn Ovation with 300 suites. Two other luxury ships, The World Navigator and The World, already anchored last month in the territorial waters of Saint-Martin.
Five other luxury cruise ship stops are planned by the beginning of January 2022. The Seadream 1, which is used to coming to Marigot, is scheduled by the port establishment on December 12 and 27. The Seabourn Ovation and Odyssey are scheduled for December 14th and January 5th. Marigot also plans to premiere the new luxury liner, the Ritz Carlton Evrima on December 20.
These are small liners with a capacity of 112 passengers for the Seadream, 300 for the Ritz Carlton Evrima, 450 and 604 for the Seabourn Ovation and Odyssey.
On the Dutch side, "[yesterday was] a great day with 6 liners docked for the first time in the season," said the port authorities of Sint Maarten. “We [were able] to see more than 7 passengers and crew disembarking to visit the friendly island,” they commented. “After 500 months, it was the first time that we had 20 cruise ships docked,” they underline.
The liners that called were the Sky Princess, AIDAluna, AIDAdiva, Marella Discovery, Explorer of the Seas and Jewel of the Seas. (soualigapost.com)


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The wallet supports NFTs on GameStop’s beta marketplace powered by Loopring
User can also store their preferred cryptocurrencies
The wallet is available as a browser extension on the Chrome Web Store
GameStop previously partnered with Immutable X
The pair announced a $100 million fund in IMX tokens for NFT-focused studios
American video game retail powerhouse GameStop announced the launch of its self-custodial Ethereum wallet as part of its deep dive into the Web3 digital economy.
According to a press statement issued on Monday (May 23, 2022), the wallet supports cryptocurrencies and non-fungible token (NFT) operability across multiple platforms and decentralized apps (Dapps) including GameStop’s beta marketplace.
The retailer said the wallet will allow gamers and users to interact with the broader Web3 ecosystem without ever having to exit their web browsers. Notably, the wallet comes as a browser extension like MetaMask and can be downloaded from Chrome’s web store.
Features available through the wallet are similar to other decentralized wallets. Users can send, receive, store, as well as approve transactions for digital currencies and NFTs.
GameStop’s Beta NFT Marketplace With Loopring
The video game retailer announced a marketplace for digital collectibles powered by blockchain technology earlier in March 2022. As EWN reported, the platform was in partnership with the Ethereum layer 2 scaling protocol Loopring.
Loopring deploys zero-knowledge (zk) rollup technology to deliver faster throughput and transaction processing while also offering low gas fees. Layer 2 protocols like Loopring are supposedly becoming increasingly popular on Ethereum as a working solution to combat network congestion and high transaction costs.
The retail giant previously announced plans to build its marketplace with another layer 2 scaling solution – Immutable X. At the time, the pair also unveiled a massive $100 million fund earmarked for studios building NFT-powered gaming experiences with plans to launch on GameStop’s platform.
Milestones meant to trigger the release of more funds were also included in the deal. Immutable X planned to dish out another $150 million in IMX tokens for achievements in sales and trading volume at the time.


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Nissan cuts Leaf retail price by $6,000 in bid to boost sales
Consumers looking to purchase a new Nissan Leaf could find themselves saving some green this year.
The 2013 Leaf will retail for $6,000 less than the previous model, the company announced Monday at the Detroit auto show. The S-series, Nissan’s newest model in a line of battery-powered all-electric vehicles, will cost $28,800.
In California, the $7,500 federal electric-vehicle tax credit and a $2,500 state rebate could drop the price as low as $18,800. The new models will go on sale in February.
The company slashed prices in part to boost lackluster sales of the Leaf, which Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn predicted would jump 50% worldwide in 2012. Sales of the Leaf increased only 22% last year, and U.S. sales of the car were less than half Ghosn’s 20,000-unit goal.
Ghosn told reporters Monday that he hoped the price cut would boost sales at least 20%.
“Since we launched the Leaf in 2010, we’ve learned that people are very attracted to the advanced technology and other amenities, but they are also looking for a more affordable price point,” Brian Carolin, Nissan’s senior vice president of sales and marketing, told The Times last week.
The company says it’s spending less on some parts for the 2013 model, and production of the Leaf for the U.S. market was recently moved from Japan to Tennessee.
Ghosn wouldn’t say whether Nissan would lose money on the Leaf, but insisted the company would not abandon electric vehicle technology. “Zero emissions are here to stay,” he told reporters Monday. “I fundamentally believe it is the technology of the future.”
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Today our portfolio company, Benson Hill, began trading on The New York Stock Exchange under the new ticker symbol “BHIL” following the approval of their business combination with Star Peak Corp II (“Star Peak”), a special purpose acquisition company in the sustainability space. We are thrilled to see Benson Hill achieve this exciting milestone, which supports their rapid growth in the forecasted $140 billion plant-based meat segment and broader $5 trillion agri-food industry.
Benson Hill empowers innovators to unlock nature’s genetic diversity from plant to plate, with the purpose of creating healthier, great-tasting food and ingredient options that are both widely accessible and sustainable. Its CropOS® platform is a cutting-edge food innovation engine that combines data science and machine learning with biology and genetics to both shorten the breeding process and optimize for quality traits such as nutrition and flavor profiles.
It has been an honor to partner with Matt Crisp and the team at Benson Hill from our first investment in 2017 to today as they enter the public markets. Matt and the team at Benson were a visionary about the expanding the role of genetics and biodiversity - one that helped consumers get more flavorful and nutritious food as well as create a closed loop supply chain where farmer profitability increases. They are the forefront of the plant based revolution today but have the potential to be the bridge between the 20th century commodity food system to the 21st food system that is more sustainable and healthy.
At S2G, it's our mission to back trailblazing entrepreneurs who are working to build a healthier and more sustainable food system. Entrepreneurs are on the frontlines every day, working hard to innovate and bring new products to market that are making food healthier, more sustainable and more accessible. It’s our goal to support them in their journey and we look forward to continuing to support entrepreneurs that create better outcomes for human health and well-being. We invite you to learn about the innovative companies in our portfolio and hear their stories on our blog Seeding Change and podcast Where We Grow From Here.


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Shares of Chinese Internet video company Youku Tudou (YOKU) climbed Friday after the company announced a content-sharing deal with China Web portal Sina (SINA), as the two companies battle Web giant Baidu (BIDU).
U.S.-traded Youku and Sina shares were each up 3% in afternoon trading in the stock market today. Baidu's U.S. shares also were up nearly 3% in afternoon trading Friday.
Youku says it's giving Sina access to its video library, including more than 4,500 films and 2,700 TV dramas. Sina will be promoting the content on its Weibo social network, the most widely used Twitter-like service in that country.
It's a "powerful move toward deepening consumers' online viewing and sharing experience," Youku Tudou President Dele Liu said in a statement.
The companies are going to be recommending Youku Tudou videos on Weibo. And when a Weibo user searches for a TV show or movie, they'll now see thumbnail pictures leading them to Youku Tudou videos.
Sharing Youku videos via Weibo already is one of the "most popular activities" on the network, accounting for 47.7% of videos posted, Youku says, quoting Deutsche Bank research. Tudou videos account for 15.9%.
Competition in the Internet video space in China has stepped up since the March 2012 announcement of the merger between Youku and Tudou, two of the sector's leaders. Since then, other services — including iQiyi from Baidu — have scrambled to catch up with Youku, wrote T.H. Capital analyst Tian X. Hou in a research note last month.
Youku Tudou attracts some 170 million daily mobile views. But Baidu has stepped up, last month announcing iQiyi's merger with PPS.
Online video had 452 million unique viewers in China in January, according to iResearch China. It's that nation's No. 2 use of the Internet, trailing only search's 454 million users.


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Microsoft shares dropped by two per cent in US trading yesterday, after the company appeared to hint at a possible further delay to the release of its new Windows Vista operating system.
The launch of Vista, the first major software update Microsoft has developed since the release of Windows XP several years ago, has already been postponed several times.
Microsoft was due to distribute the product during the second half of this year, but was forced in March to put back its release date for consumers, following quality assurance delays.
Five years into the development of Vista, a Microsoft executive has now cast doubt over whether the company will be ready to launch the product onto the market in early 2007, as currently planned.
Addressing the software giant's annual meeting of financial analysts yesterday, Kevin Johnson, co-president of Microsoft's platforms and services unit, said Vista would be shipped "when it is available".
"We are going to ship the product when it is ready and we are just going to take it milestone by milestone", Mr Johnson said.
His comments follow those made by Microsoft chairman Bill Gates, who last month warned that there was only an "80 per cent chance" Vista would be shipped according to schedule.
Goldman Sachs analyst Rick Sherlund said Microsoft appeared to be hesitating over the release date of its new software.
He claimed that Mr Johnson's comments supported predictions previously made by analysts that Microsoft would not begin to accrue revenue from the widespread availability of Vista until March or April of next year.
"When they hesitate, that's confirmation we were right," he said, adding that Microsoft was known for its tendency to slip beyond initial targets for major software releases.
Corporate customers are currently expected to be able to purchase Vista from November of this year.


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TrueCar CEO: Disrupting the Car-Buying Process Nearly Drove It Out of Business (Video)
Many companies believe they can disrupt an existing offline business by offering consumers lower prices over the Internet.
It’s a playbook that Amazon has used for years, and more recently, companies like Warby Parker have been getting recognition for offering prescription glasses online for hundreds of dollars less than brick-and-mortar stores.
But Scott Painter, TrueCar’s founder and CEO, says he knows what it’s like to drive prices too low.
The company started off providing leads to dealers that were willing to offer the lowest prices on a car. While great for customers, it often meant a loss for the dealer. At first, Painter wasn’t terribly concerned, adding that he has always been interested in “sticking it to the man.” But after learning the hard lesson that the dealers were his partners — and there’s actually not that many of them in the U.S. — he altered the business to be more dealership-friendly. Today, it operates more as an intelligent Kelly Blue Book service that provides pricing transparency to customers by tracking all car sales in the U.S. TrueCar collects a flat rate from the dealer when one of its customers buys a car.
Up until last year, the Santa Monica, Calif., company was profitable; revenue was doubling every year for seven straight years. But in late 2011 everything changed. A nationwide advertising campaign, highlighting customers who saved thousands of dollars on their car purchases, got car dealerships to wake up to the fact that TrueCar’s service was resulting in cars being sold at a loss.
What happened next nearly buried the company.
Within 90 days, TrueCar’s dealer network had shrunk by one-third to about 3,200 dealers, and it went from making a profit to losing $40 million in the first six months of 2012. Due to requests by industry trade associations, regulators started looking into whether TrueCar’s methods violated consumer protection laws, and in many cases it was found guilty, requiring it to tweak its operations in several states. “We were on death’s door,” Painter admits.
While the company’s old model was very profitable, he now says it wasn’t going to pencil out in the long term. It created a situation in which dealers were blindly competing on price. “It wasn’t sustainable,” he said. He’s since restructured the business to focus on providing price transparency by tracking and publishing data based on actual car sales.
As you can see from the video below, Painter can talk about the company’s dreariest days with a sense of detachment, a sign that the worst is already behind him. It helps that, since last year, TrueCar has raised $50 million in additional financing as a buffer while it pulls off the transformation. Painter said dealers are starting to sign up for its services again and he expects the company to be cash flow positive by the end of the year.
Additionally, it is planning a new — much less controversial — advertising campaign that will kick off on Nov. 15.


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SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) -- There has been a new development in a series of massive hacks at California's unemployment department that KPIX 5 first exposed. Now, attention is shifting from the state to Bank of America that distributes most of the money, at last count $105 billion dollars, through debit cards we discovered are vulnerable to hacks. KPIX has received more than a hundred emails from victims. Now lawmakers are taking notice.
From a criminal's perspective, it's the perfect scenario: ATMs give out bills and cash is king in the underground economy. KPIX was the first to expose how fraudsters are hacking Employment Development Department (EDD) debit cards and wiping out the benefits of potentially tens of thousands of Californians.
"This is just absolutely unacceptable, that we have a bank that's not responding. They're not responding to you. Not responding to me, not responding to the people who they are serving," said California Assemblyman Phillip Ting.
That was Assemblyman Ting's first reaction, after watching our reports about rampant hack attacks on debit cards issued by Bank of America, the Employment Development Department's exclusive debit card provider.
We heard from dozens of desperate Californians who lost thousands of dollars, mostly stolen in cash from ATMs miles away from where they live. As we have previously reported, the debit cards do not have chips, making them more vulnerable to fraud.
But despite all the obvious red flags, victims say Bank of America is routinely denying their claims and leaving them holding the bag – people like Lieza Sy.
"I was really mad," said Sy. "How can you tell me that I'm not going to get my money back? The money that I earned, that that's rightfully mine."
The single mom found out her card was hacked while on a road trip to Pismo Beach with her kids. Two suspicious withdrawals, one for $200 and another for $800 were made that very morning back in the Bay Area.
"Wow! I'm not in Milpitas. I'm all the way down south, like how can that happen? At first I panicked because I had never had anything like this happen to me before," said Sy.
Like everyone else, she spent days trying to get through to Bank of America's fraud department to appeal the denial of her claim.
"As soon as you give them your claim number they hang up on you," said Sy.
She's still out a thousand dollars, money she desperately needs.
"I have to feed my kids. That's the most important thing. And I need to be able to provide some kind of reassurance to my kids that, hey, you know, I got you guys, things will be okay," said Sy.
"We're going into the holiday season. This is where people need money to maybe buy a few gifts for their kids, make sure that they have a nice holiday season with food. So if they can't get access to money I don't know how they can do that," said Ting.
The Assemblyman is now leading a bipartisan effort in Sacramento to demand answers from the bank. In a letter the lawmakers are calling on Bank of America to explain why it's not "unfreezing" an unknown number of debit card accounts that EDD has now confirmed are legitimate.
As we have been reporting, the bank froze 350,000 accounts several months ago due to suspicious activity.
"We have so many people who don't know why they can't access their EDD funds," said Ting.
Now Ting also wants answers from the bank about the hacks on "active" accounts that we exposed.
"We can continue to pressure EDD to push their vendor to do what their job is. We can also make sure that at the next hearing Bank of America shows up so basically we can get our questions answered. If they are under contract to service these individuals and they can't perform, they should just give it up. They should either give us the answers or give it up and we should find someone else to go do this job," said Ting.
We do have some good news to report. After we submitted Sy's name to Bank of America she got her thousand dollars back. She's one of now 15 victims that got help after we referred them to Bank of America. Still, countless others are still waiting. How many we don't know, because Bank of America won't tell.
Bank of America finally did respond to the state lawmakers' letter on Monday, saying it reviews every claim and restores money promptly to legitimate recipients. The bank says it has increased call staffing to more than 6,000 personnel and that most of the 345,000 accounts that EDD asked it to freeze are fraudulent. The losses so far, just on those frozen accounts: At least $2 "billion" in taxpayer dollars.
Meanwhile, if you want to protect yourself from the hacks the best option, right now, may be to automatically transfer benefits out of your debit card account and into your personal account as soon as the money comes in. Here's a link to Bank of America's FAQ on how to do that: https://prepaid.bankofamerica.com/EddCard/Program/FAQ#q8.
- Statement from Bank of America's spokesperson Bill Halldin:
The program is unfortunately riddled with billions of dollars in fraud. Criminals have found ways to steal money from the state and the debit cards of legitimate unemployment recipients. We have helped stop billions of dollars in theft by these criminals and protected taxpayer dollars, in partnership with state and law enforcement officials.
The criminals don't ever stop – even calling Bank of America and the news media trying to get money from the bank with fake claims. We review every claim and restore money promptly to the debit cards of legitimate unemployment recipients. We have added thousands of additional agents to answer phone calls and investigate claims for areas of the program we are responsible for and, as a result, our average wait time for callers has dropped dramatically.
We report wrongdoing to law enforcement and assist them in their prosecution of the criminals trying to steal money and undermine this program.


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His session was jam-packed – there was no space to get a foot in sideways. And with good reason, too.
Mallikarjun Swamy, 52, principal of Kittur Rani Chennamma Residential School in Yellammana Palya, Anekal taluk, Bangalore Urban district, allegedly suffers from a perversity. He can't sleep till he rests his head on a pillow borrowed from a girl stud
Remake rights of <i>Rose</i> have been sold to Hindi and Tamil filmmakers
The Bombay high court has come to the rescue of around 1,100 people who had invested money with a couple who had promised them an interest of 1-2%. But the couple could not repay them subsequently.
Defaults on loans stayed near record lows, a separate PayNet index showed.
For the first quarter of the financial year, the state government has sought a second time borrowing.The state will borrow 200 crore through sale of 10-year Goa government stock (securities).
Commerce secretary writes to RBI seeking 50% hike in ceiling and $10-billion line of credit
The study took into account students from three co-educational schools, representing low, middle and upper income groups in Chandigarh.
Be it borrowing on credit cards, bank advances against time deposits or borrowing from micro credit markets, they all indicate consumer confidence in the economy touching a new bottom and it will take some big-ticket initiatives by the government to lift the morale of both consumers and businesses, an ASSOCHAM study, ahead of general elections has indicated..


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By Jon Weisman
A special sales event — Blue Friday — will take place at Dodger Stadium on November 28 from 10 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Select merchandise at the Top of the Park store will be offered at a 20 percent discount. Season ticket holders will receive this discount in addition to their regular season-ticket-holder merchandise discount with their Dodger Pride Rewards card.
In addition, Dodger infielder Justin Turner will sign autographs from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., followed by Dodger Alumni League members Al Ferrara (1 p.m.-3 p.m.) and Tim Leary (3 p.m.-5 p.m.)
Levy Restaurants will offer concessions including Dodger dogs, nachos, peanuts and bottled beverages. Fans can also take photos with the Dodgers’ bobblehead character.
Blue Friday also offers an opportunity to explore 2015 ticket options, including singing up for the 2015 season ticket and mini plans waitlists, and can also renew existing plans.
Fans can enter via Sunset Gate A, at the intersection of Elysian Park Avenue and Stadium Way, and park in lot P starting at 9:30 a.m.
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