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Gartner claims that by 2020, the average person will have more conversations with bots than with their significant others. A startling prediction that indicates how entwined humans will become with technology. Nonetheless, businesses will need to be able to fuel those interactions, and more importantly, derive value from the exchange of information using real-time analytics.
Yet, that is a capability that many enterprises currently lack. The challenges behind visualization data in real-time are many, ranging from a lack of infrastructure to capture data, to static analytics tools, to managing the flow of data. Industry thought leaders tend to agree.
“Real-time data is becoming more and more important,” says Alooma CTO Yair Weinberger. However, many are finding the prospect of deriving value from that real-time data daunting. “Building something in-house based on open source tools is going to be hard,” Weinberger says. “That’s very hard to do.”
Naturally, those challenges have led to the rise of companies that fuel the ability to leverage real-time data, such as Alooma, which recently announced Alooma Live, an offering that gives users the technology for enhancing the creation of real-time data streams to cloud data warehouses, replacing slow, outdated batch uploads. Yoni Broyde, Co-founder and CEO of Alooma says “Alooma Live makes it possible for data scientists and engineers to gain unprecedented visibility into their streams, so they can correct problems and be confident the intelligence being derived from their data is accurate, reliable and actionable.”
Of course, Broyde’s comments highlight what the company’s products are all about, Alooma’s Co-founder is on to something. Real-time analytics is becoming an important capability for businesses, especially in the retail sector.
One only has to look at e-commerce examples, such as Amazon.com, to understand how much value real-time analytics can deliver. For example, Amazon uses real-time analytics to take action based upon a shopper’s preferences and offer content that is relevant to their shopping experience. Much the same can be said for many other large web sites, such as the New York Times, which can adjust content in real-time to address user preferences.
Of course, real-time data visualization can be used for much more than powering A/I based customer interactions. For businesses that need to reach quickly to market conditions, Real-Time visualization can increase the relevance of data, illustrating the data that drives today’s customers’ decisions and what choices they will make. Yet, real-time analytics is all but useless if the proper data streams have not been created.
Gartner goes on to predict that harnessing streaming data for real-time analytics will become more affordable and more accessible to businesses, thanks to architectural developments that can streamline the process. Architectural blueprints, such as Lambda and Kappa, will enable enterprises to achieve fast access to fresh, streaming data. Allowing data and analytics leaders to reduce cost and accelerate implementation of real-time analytics solutions.
According to Alooma’s Broyde, the company goes many steps further, easing the implementation of real-time data analytics by integrating with existing platforms. Broyde says “Our support for the Google Cloud Platform ensures that customers can integrate all their disparate data silos with the cloud provider of their choice. Our existing support for Google BigQuery, and new integration with Google Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL and Google Cloud SQL for MySQL are the latest examples of our close collaboration with Google.”


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Mobile word processing service Quip has finally landed on Android with the app now available on both smartphone and tablets four months after its initial launch on iOS.
Quip for Android 1.0 is available via the Google Play store with the popular collaborative document creation service bringing its unique combination of features to a much wider pool of users.
“Android accounts for 81% of the smartphones shipped in the world, and with this launch, Quip is now available on 76% of the world's smartphones and tablets. People work more and more as global teams, and are looking for their technology to make that easier. Now touching Android too, we're excited to facilitate collaboration regardless of language, country, screen size, or operating system,” said co-founder Bret Taylor.
Quip was created by ex Facebook CTO Taylor alongside founder of Google Suggest and Google App Engine Kevin Gibbs with the four core designs goals of “collaboration, mobility, interactivity and simplicity.”
Quip for Android offers automatic Google account integration that immediately recognises the account without the need for the password to be entered and there is also easy collaboration with Google contacts.
Inputting data is easy with support for third party keyboards such as SwiftKey and Swype as well as Google’s standard keyboard. Stacked notifications mean that large numbers are grouped together in order to reduce clutter.
Tablet specific support is also catered for with the app designed to natively support larger screened tablets as well as showing an expanded view of the Desktop or Inbox when the app is opened.
The Android version can be used on smartphones and tablets running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and above, with the app supporting 11 languages including English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Russian, Turkish, Brazilian Portuguese and Korean.

domain: news


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Nest Labs is taking the next step in its quest to become a central hub for the smart home, by letting creators of other...
Jun 24 2014, 5:00am CDT
Two smart thermostats, Google's Nest and Apple HomeKit partner Honeywell's Lyric are in competition with each other.
Jun 16 2014, 6:02am CDT
Dyson vacuums are to acquire robotic tendencies by making robot vacuums, thanks to the plans put into place by the company founder Sir James Dyson.
Apr 19 2014, 4:52am CDT
Today it was announced that iControl, a smart home platform provider that powers smart home and security services from...
Apr 9 2014, 7:42am CDT


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When the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission recently arraigned Adeniyi Elumaro for allegedly perpetrating a 404 million naira fraud, he and his partner Rakiya Mamman, dominated the news headlines. After all, the list of alleged victims read like a mini Who’s Who of politicians and dignitaries: Bayero Nafada, the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives; Mohammed Bello Adoke, the Attorney-General of the Federation; Babatunde Oshotimehin, a former Minister for Health; Farouk Lawan, a powerful and long-serving representative and thirteen other investors who contributed millions to Elumaro’s Integrated Capital Services Limited, ICSL. The incident shocked his colleagues in the private sector where Elumaro had built a reputation as a serial entrepreneur, financier and technophile.
A brilliant student, Elumaro earned a first-class degree in business administration from the University of Benin and spent ten years at Andersen Consulting where he rose through the ranks to head its Strategy Organisation and People department. He later moved to the Tony-Elumelu backed Heirs Alliance Group and took up a senior management position as an Executive Vice-President. After the United Bank for Africa merged with Elumelu’s Standard Trust Bank, he was tapped to lead the group’s insurance unit and ran it until 2007 when its general business arm was sold to Jimoh Ibrahim’s Nicon Insurance. At this time, the stock markets stratospheric growth encouraged him to skip the humdrum grist and become an entrepreneur. His first move was to set up Investcorp Capital and engineered a buyout of Integrated Capital Services Limited, an obscure subsidiary of the defunct Chartered Bank. It had been established in 1989 as a specialised retail currency trading outfit and Elumaro was ostensibly interested in its marquee value as he immediately set out to make ICSL the core of his fledgling business.
He then teamed up with Lai Labode, a lawyer and business consultant, to launch Salt and Einstein, the Abuja firm that would play a major role in the birth of MoneyBox Africa. The partners initially started the firm as a business incubator and were working on many harebrained ideas till they came up with the blueprint for a mobile payments system. They incorporated the new company and Elumaro became its first chief executive. They promoted the firm with evangelical fervor. Touted as West Africa‘s first mobile payments ecosystem, MoneyBox Africa’s technical agreement with Paybox, a leading European mobile payments outfit, provided it with enough credibility to attract international investors and a clutch of local companies including Interswitch, eTranzact, Nextzon and Intercontinental Bank soon signed on as partners. The novel startup also received a considerable grant from the African Enterprise Challenge Fund.
It’s difficult to say if Elumaro was simply an ambitious businessman or a Madoffian swindler but at the same time he was raising 10 million dollars for MoneyBox, he was also shopping for 3 billion naira for Citilink Marine, a ferry operator that was supposedly a joint venture with the Federal Government and Lagos State. He seems to know a thing or two about doing business in Nigeria. His companies are chaired by industry stalwarts such as former Accenture chief Adedotun Sulaiman and JKK founder Tunde Yusuf and he is a tireless self-promoter and networker. In the case of MoneyBox Africa, he managed to complete a billion naira private placement even though the company previously had a paid-up capital of only 5 million naira. This placement earned ICSL millions in consulting fees and all of MoneyBox Africa’s initial promoters; ICSL, Salt and Einstein, SWIC Microfinance Bank and M.I.S.S had direct ties to him.
Elumaro has been in trouble with the law before. In November 2008, Odiki George, the chief executive of Tamstel Nigeria Limited accused him of fraud and asked the Special Anti-Fraud Unit of the Police to investigate ICSL. George had invested 50 million naira with the firm after being promised an unbelievable 175% return. When the company repeatedly failed to meet its obligations, the police stormed ICSL and arrested its top executives. That episode didn’t stop Elumaro and it seems he is not losing much sleep over his recent humiliation by the EFCC. A silver-tongued operator and big dreamer, he is already planning his comeback. ICSL recently unveiled plans to a 2 billion naira recapitalisation plan with the injection of 1 billion by a mystery investor. The company says it will divest some core assets, establish an advisory practice and launch energy, commodity trading and brokerage units.
MoneyBox Africa has just rolled out its mobile payments service and the company seems an attractive proposition on paper. It has first-mover advantage in a potentially high-growth industry and is chaired by the highly-connected Sulaiman who also heads the boards of several local technology companies including Interswitch. But ICSL still has a majority stake and Elumaro, who is now the vice chairman, still calls the shots. David Kaye, the company’s new chief may be a respected engineer and geeky SAP consultant, but he is also a personal friend of Elumaro and served under him before landing the top job. Mobile banking is a sensitive business and MoneyBox Africa is still Nigeria’s only CBN-licensed mobile money operator. Given the recent turbulence in the local financial markets, one wonders if it is safe to leave the company’s future in the hands of an ethically-challenged snake oil salesman.


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More US consumption of imports indicated here as well as with US trade data, as US growth continues to get downgraded post oil price collapse:
May 25 (Reuters) — Japan’s annual exports in January jumped the most since late 2013. The 17.0 percent year-on-year gain in exports marked the fifth straight month of increase, supported by brisk shipments of cars to the United States and of electronics parts to Asia. The export data followed a 12.8 percent rise in December.
And US exports looking suspect as well:
Growth remains steady in Markit’s US manufacturing sample where the flash February reading is holding little changed, at 54.3 vs 53.9 at month-end January and 53.7 at mid-month January. The plus side is led by production volumes, which are at a 4-month high. Dragging on the index are slower growth in employment, the slowest in 7 months, and slower growth in new business, the slowest in 13 months and weighed down especially by weakness in exports and also by weakness among oil & gas customers.
As the US demand leakages (agents spending less than their incomes) grow relentlessly, I look for the deficit spending required to sustain GDP growth. Turns out last year it came from the energy sector which ended abruptly in Q4 2014, with GDP growth sagging accordingly. And so far no sign of a credit expansion from the household sector. You can argue debt is more affordable, but not that it’s happening:


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Industry Statement on DCM: Zignature
Zignature’s Statement on DCM
Zignature is a US based pet food company that we have had in store for years. They have a very clean ingredient panel and do not include chicken in any of their formulas. They were named in the July 2019 update from the FDA but we have heard countless customer success stories while feeding Zignature. Here’s what they said:
On June 27, 2019, the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) issued its third status report on its investigation into any potential connection between certain diets and Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM), a type of heart disease, in dogs. While DCM impacts less than one percent of U.S. dogs, with .000007% being supposedly related to diet, we recognize that these studies are of critical importance to those families whose beloved dogs have been afflicted by this heart diseases.
As you review the FDA’s most recent report, it’s important to understand the following:
Most dogs in the U.S. have been eating pet food without apparently developing DCM.
The FDA continues to believe that the potential association between diet and DCM in dogs is a complex scientific issue that may involve multiple factors and that the actual cause has still yet to be determined.
The overwhelming majority of impacted dogs belonged to breeds genetically predisposed to DCM, a disease that was first discovered in the 1980’s well before the grain-free diets were available for pets.
The DCM cases reported to the FDA included dogs who ate both grain and grain-free diets.
The FDA states that chicken is the number one protein of affected dogs, as you know, Zignature does not use chicken.
Nulo goes further and provides some data showing the AAFCO minimum requirements for an adult maintenance formula and how they exceed in every way.
What is Canine DCM?
How do I know if my dog has DCM?
Is this an issue only for boutique brands of dog food?
No. The pet food advocacy website, the truthaboutpetfood.com, has taken a close look at the data that the FDA has released and found that the FDA received a significant number of DCM reports from the largest pet food producers.


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"The country is facing a grave pandemic. It is for this reason that Heala is calling for a sugary drinks tax to increase," says Lawrence Mbalati, Heala's programme manager.
Heala wants brands to change the way they display nutritional information on the packaging of food.
Just like with cigarettes and alcohol, they feel a large warning sign, informing the public that a product has added sugar or salt, should be standard on products.
"Firstly, people have to know what is in their food to make an informed decision. So, where we are at now very few people do not know what is in their food.
"The current packaging model of our food is telling us what is in it, but not in a way that is clear and comprehensible," Mbalati continues.
Heala believes that the lack of regulation in the food and beverage industry is part of the problem. But lack of education is also a major factor as well.
"You can never outrun all those sugary drinks because they have already caused the damage in your body. This is bigger and beyond just what I put in my kids' lunch box, it's a conscience decision that you as an ordinary South African need to stand up against and actually see that you are being manipulated by the industry," says Mbalati.
On their website, Heala currently has a campaign called "What's in my food?" This is where consumers can go to see what nutrients, sugars and fats are in their food. This is the first step to reforming the food and beverage industry according to the organisation.


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NJ Croce keeps churning out stuff we dig (click for the latest example), and they’re keeping it going in 2017 with a number items — including this Michael Keaton Batman bendable:
Seriously, that is looking like a must-have.
I know it’s just a prototype pic but NJ Croce has an excellent record of producing items in line with their models and this looks like one of their best Bat-items yet. That’s saying something considering the great work the company’s done on Batman ’66 (click here and here for just two examples) and Batman: The Animated Series (click here for another example).
This Batman will be about 5 7/8 inches and will be available around mid-May, according to the company’s Andrew Croce.
One of the big selling points on NJ Croce’s figures is the affordability. The price isn’t final but will be in line with their other bendables, which means you’re talking $8-$10 tops. That’s pretty remarkable in this day and age.
And as they used to say in the Ronco ads, “But that’s not all!” Keaton Batman will be joined next year by a 1:24-scale ’89 Batmobile, including a 3-inch figure. And, yes, the canopy will open. Keep an eye out for images down the line.


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Organizations that embrace proactive recovery programs can cut daily cost of a data breach by more than half as well as decrease the chance of repeat data bBreach by more than 30 percent. Overall, the study shows a distinct competitive advantage in financial results, operational efficiency, and corporate reputation for organizations that deploy automated disaster recovery to maintain business continuity following a data breach.
The 2018 Cost of Data Breach Study: Impact of Business Continuity Management, sponsored by IBM and conducted by the Ponemon Institute, reinforces the call for new solutions to combat evolving cyber threats around the world. The longer it takes to identify, contain, and recover from a data breach, the more it consumes significant time, money, and resources throughout an organization. On average, responding companies that prioritize business continuity management saved 44 days in the identification of the incident and 38 days in the containment of the data breach. Taking proactive measures can have a substantial impact on the future health of a business.
As shown in the research, 60 percent of the survey participants who have a disaster recovery program currently use automation and/or orchestration to help drive faster recovery. These organizations reported they have been able to:Reduce the mean time to identify, contain and recover from a data breach by more than 30% Reduce the average daily cost of a data breach by more than 50% Reduce the chance of disruption to material business operations by more than 20% Reduce the likelihood of a data breach recurring by more than 30%.
“The central takeaway from these study results is the invaluable opportunity that organizations have in the digital age to more effectively protect their organizations, their employees, and their customers,” said Andrea Sayles, General Manager of IBM Business Resiliency Services. “
Cyber threats are real and will continue to grow, however adopting new innovations to help improve business resilience has proven to boost the long-term vitality of organizations across the globe.
“Business leaders simply cannot afford to waste time in an environment where competitors are constantly disrupting industries and capturing market share. The same technologies that are helping customers transform their business, including cloud, AI, automation, predictive analytics, and more, should also be designed and utilized to help keep those same customers protected following a data breach,” mentioned Sayles.
“Our research over the last few years continues to confirm that the proactive steps business leaders and organizations are taking to protect and recover critical data are working,” said Dr. Larry Ponemon, chairman and founder of Ponemon Institute.
“These actions can improve the bottom line, make businesses more efficient, and give customers more confidence to entrust the enterprise with their data, he summed up.


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Torchy’s Tacos announced its Richmond restaurant will officially open on Wednesday, July 21.
Torchy’s Tacos, the popular Austin-based craft fast-casual taco brand, has announced its Bandera restaurant officially opened on Wednesday, July 7.
Hop in and get ready to ride because the flavors of Torchy’s Tacos’ July Taco of the Month are coming to you from the busy streets of Bangkok.
Torchy’s Tacos' Texas Hottie is back in action with hot and spicy flavors as June’s Taco of the Month. Available at participating Torchy’s locations June 1-30, the Texas Hottie features a hottie ch
Torchy’s Tacos, the popular Austin-based craft fast-casual taco brand, has announced its first North Carolina location in Raleigh.
Torchy’s Tacos' Tokyo Drifter is in pole position and ready to rev up taste buds with its spicy-sweet flavors as May’s Taco of the Month.
Torchy’s fan-favorite Scallywag Taco is back as April’s Taco of the Month.
Torchy’s fan-favorite Roscoe Taco is back as March’s Taco of the Month.
Whether you’re single or not during the month of love, Torchy’s Tacos is playing Cupid and sending love to taco fans with its new Low Rider Taco of the Month, custom Queso-gram deliveries, and additio


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That’s what brewery owners say to a proposed bill that would allow their companies to increase the number of brewpubs they own in Delaware from three to five and to produce hard seltzer, a trendy commodity in the drinking world.
Mark Edelson, director of brewery operations and one of the founders of Iron Hill Brewery, pushed for an increase a few years ago when the limit was two.
“But we got a lot of push back, so we settled at three,” he said.
That limit affected Iron Hill’s decision to put a new production brewery, tap house and restaurant in Exton, Pennsylvania, instead of Delaware. It already has locations in Wilmington, Newark and Rehoboth Beach.
“Delaware was off the table,” Edelson said. The new site will employ about 85 people.
House Bill 45, introduced last week by Rep. Bill Bush, D-Dover West, would change the way the Office of Alcoholic Beverage Control Commissioner grants licenses.
“By capping these licenses at three, we are unnecessarily stunting the growth of our brewpubs, and in many cases, causing them to expand out of our state,” said Bush in a press release. “Allowing additional licenses will give our local craft breweries the ability to grow, creating jobs and opportunities here in Delaware.”
He and others see it as a pro-business bill that’s especially important in a time when small businesses have been battered by the COVOD-19 pandemic.
“I don’t think we should be codifying arbitrary numbers that regulate business from growth,” said Sen. Ernie Lopez, R-Lewis. He and other Republicans were floating a bill that would have increase the number of brewpub sites to four, but now will swing support to Bush’s bill.
It’s not good government to dictate how and where a company can grow, Lopez said. And limits are usually just arbitrarily set with no specific strategic for that, he said.
“We should be looking for ways … to grow or support our small businesses that are looking to expand,” he said. “To me, now more than ever, that’s where our focus should be in Delaware in regards to our small business community.”
Consumers want choices, he said.
“There’s always been room in the sandbox for every business, even if they are similar, to have an opportunity to become established and to grow,” Lopez said.
Bills to expand the number of brewpubs recognize that brewpubs have collaborated as much as they have competed and so helped each other grow, he said. If HB 45 is passed, it will give them an opportunity to continue to do that, he said.
“The Delaware brewing industry, including microbreweries and brewpubs, all want to stay here in Delaware, so anything the Legislature can do to help us grow and expand our business here is a plus for everybody,” said Eric Williams, president of Mispillion River Brewing in Milford and legislative chair of the Delaware Brewers Guild. in a press release.
One of the reasons that brewpub licenses were capped was to try to keep international brewery conglomerates from overwhelming local ones, said Sen. Trey Paradee, D-Dover, in the press release.
“Today, our hometown breweries are one of Delaware’s great small business success stories,” he said. “Some are now so successful that they’re bumping up against the cap. By passing this legislation, we will continue to reasonably and responsibly foster that growth.”
The rule change in House Bill 46 to allow Delaware breweries to make and sell their own hard seltzers designates all “fermented beverages,” which can include sake.
The bill specifies products “containing one-half of one percent or more of alcohol by volume, brewed from substitutes for malt, including rice, grain, bran, glucose,
sugar and molasses.”
Delaware law has prohibited those kind of beverages, but federal law has allowed it. Paradee’s bill would update Delaware’s code to mirror the federal law.
Bush said in the press release that he was surprised to learn that breweries are not permitted to brew hard seltzer.
Changing that means “giving brewpubs and microbreweries another avenue to grow and compete with larger national companies,” he said.
Paradee pointed out that consumer tastes change fast, and the industry has to reflect that,.
“Taken together, these bills will give our brewpubs greater flexibility, encourage job creation and allow this booming industry to prosper for years to come,” he said.


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GREENVILLE, S.C. (Nov. 3, 2003) — The Bib bobblehead came up a winner for the Special Olympics.
Michelin North America (MNA) Inc. raised $250,000 in the past several months for the Special Olympics through the sale and auction of bobblehead dolls in the image of Bibendum, the roly-poly Michelin Man.
Michelin presented a check for the quarter million dollars Nov. 1 to Jim Smutz, managing director of Special Olympics North America, at ceremonies marking the opening of the South Carolina Fall Games in Spartanburg.
Michelin sold nearly 100,000 Bib bobbleheads through online sales and through authorized Michelin dealers in the U.S. Bibendum himself got in on the action, auctioning off his own private bobblehead collection, which included a range of dolls from Mickey Mantle to Dick Tracy.
“Michelin is thrilled to provide support for the Special Olympics…,” said Sheryl Henderson, director of Michelin brand for Greenville-based MNA. “It's evident that the athletes who participate in these games have the same passion we do for being the best.”
Special Olympics South Carolina Inc. provides year-round olympic-type sports training and competition for more than 15,500 children and adults with intellectual disabilities in all of South Carolina's 46 counties.
“Michelin's gift will enable Special Olympics athletes around the country to experience the excitement and rewards of friendly competition,” Mr. Smutz said.
Michelin Man bobblehead dolls are still available online at www.michelinman.com.


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Leadership Promotions & New Hires
CPI Card Group, a world leader in card solutions for 30 years, with EMV card manufacturing and services capabilities in the U.S. and Canada, announced today several leadership additions which will continue to strengthen the company’s ability to serve its customers and drive key growth initiatives. The leadership addition of a new vice president and chief financial officer and key leadership promotions are as follows:
Jerry Dreiling, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Jerry Dreiling brings over 20 years of experience in finance and strategic planning to CPI Card Group. In his role of VP and CFO, Dreiling will be responsible for accounting, financial reporting, financial planning and analysis, tax, controllership and investor reporting. In addition, he will have responsibility for the information technology and procurement functions at CPI. Prior to joining CPI, Dreiling held the position of CFO at Picosecond Pulse Labs.
Bill Harper, Vice President and General Manager of the U.S. Commercial Market
CPI Card Group is pleased to announce the promotion of Bill Harper from general manager of CPI’s Nevada facility to the position of vice president and general manager of the U.S. commercial market. In this position, Harper will be responsible for commercial sales and customer care (Nevada) and will assume responsibility for leadership of CPI’s quality and operations councils. Prior to joining CPI Card Group in November of 2010, Harper was vice president of operations for YORK Label.
Docia Myer, Vice President of Financial Sales, Marketing, Customer Experience and eCommerce
Docia Myer, vice president of customer experience, was recently promoted to handle the additional responsibilities of financial sales, marketing and eCommerce, along with maintaining her current role of customer experience. Myer brings over 15 years of experience working in customer relation roles and in her current role, Myer shapes the customer experience for the U.S. financial market by managing the sales, customer care and marketing teams.
Andy Sappenfield, General Manager of U.S. Financial Operations
CPI Card Group is pleased to announce the promotion of Andy Sappenfield from general manager of CPI’s Fort Wayne facility to the position of general manager of U.S. financial operations. In this position, Sappenfield will be responsible for financial card and service operations and have responsibility for CPI’s Denver and Fort Wayne facilities. Sappenfield joined CPI (Didier Printing) in Fort Wayne as plant controller and has since been a key contributor to CPI through accounting and finance functions, as well as operations.
Paul Boge, General Manager of U.S. Secure Prepaid Market
Paul Boge of CPI Card Group was recently promoted from general manager of CPI’s Minnesota facility to the position of general manager of U.S. prepaid debit market. Boge has a 20-year strong career of accomplishments in operations and since joining CPI in 2005, has continued to excel in his profession.
Diane Jackson, Director of Products and Services, Europe
CPI Card Group is pleased to announce the promotion of Diane Jackson from Business Development Manager to the position of director of products and services in the UK. Jackson joined CPI with over 15 years experience within the retail financial services sector. Since joining the UK team in 2009, Diane Jackson has raised the profile of CPI in the card market industry and will now focus on identifying new growth opportunities through the development of innovative new products and services.
Paul Gerrard, Director of Retail Sales, Europe
After 12 years of dedication to CPI Card Group, Paul Gerrard was promoted to director of retail sales from the position of head of prepay in the UK. In his new role, Gerrard will continue to make progress in prepaid for CPI in the UK and develop new business in international markets.


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Alaloth: Champions of the Four Kingdoms Gets New Media, Release Window
After a period of silence, developer Gamera Interactive released a new gameplay trailer and screenshots for Alaloth: Champions of the Four Kingdoms. The video shows a variety of locations from the isometric action RPG before showing some combat footage. It also reveals a summer 2022 PC release window.
Alaloth: Champions of the Four Kingdoms is set in a darkness-corrupted world where players face an ancient evil while coming into contact with various feuding clans and noble families. The game was previously set to be released through publisher All in! Games, but is now being self-published by Gamera Interactive. Its previously-announced console versions are currently on hold while the studio focuses on its PC release.


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Loggu 4G Ghana, a startup broadband company, is looking to provide broadband Internet to the city of Ho in the Volta Region, with only 10 percent of 25 million Ghanaians having Internet access.
The company claims demand for fast, reliable broadband is growing at an exponential rate, and is using Ho as a pilot before planned expansion to other cities.
Adeklo Gershon, chief operating officer, told HumanIPO the model involves providing laptops to customers, allowing them to access a mixture of Wi-Fi and outdoor broadband wireless technology without any limitations.
“This does not mean we are giving laptops to our customers forever, but rather on a rental basis where customers come to our office and request the service,” he said. “He/she fills in an application form and after simple but thorough review of the application form we decide whether to lend a laptop with broadband to a customer or not.
“We have a system in place to be able to track these laptops in case they are stolen or even formatted.”
The company is looking to obtain at least 300 Toshiba laptops to get the business off the ground, and is currently raising funding in order to obtain these devices from a dealer.
Once the project is off the ground in Ho, Gershon plans to take the concept to the rest of Ghana.
“Our business idea and model are very compelling and therefore once we get off the ground we plan of expanding to other cities as quickly as possible. Tamale in northern Ghana and Koforidua in eastern Ghana are all part of our plan,” he said.


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Americans increasingly suffer eye strain and a new report says it isn't due to bad lighting. Rather, it suggests it's caused by too much screen-time.
The report by The Vision Council, based on a survey of more than 10,000 adults, also found that 65% of Americans report symptoms of digital eye strain, such as dry, irritated eyes, blurred vision, neck and back pain, and headaches.
“Our eyes are not built to stare at digital screens all day, but the demands of our modern-day world frequently put us in front of a screen for hours every day,” said Dr. Justin Bazan, medical adviser to The Vision Council. “Patients underestimate how their technology use may be contributing to eye strain and do not consider ways to reduce this stress.”
The increase in symptoms correlates to more time staring at a screen. In the report, one in 10 people admitted to spending at least three-fourths of their waking hours on a digital device.
The more time looking at a screen, the worse the symptoms seemed to be. Nearly 96% who experience digital eye strain spend two or more hours each day using devices.
Combination of factors
A combination of factors can cause problems. Proximity to the screen, the frequency and duration of use, and the degree of exposure to high-energy visible (HEV) or blue light emitted by video screens all can increase eye strain.
The report, in particular, raises concern about children, since they seem to stare at their screens the most. Even young adults are looking at screens more hours a day than their older peers.
Eighty-seven percent of Millennials in their 20s report using two or more devices simultaneously and 73% of them report symptoms of digital eye strain.
“When using technology, many people think suffering with digital eye strain is unavoidable, but it doesn’t have to be,” said Mike Daley, CEO of The Vision Council. “The optical industry has responded to the shift in digital habits and has developed lens technology to protect eyes from blue light, glare, and other environmental stressors.”
Daley says this computer eyewear helps because they have lenses that are constructed specifically for the mid-distance range at which users typically view a digital screen, and they can be purchased with or without a prescription.
The lenses and filters are also customized to reduce blurriness and pixilation, decrease brightness, block blue light, and minimize glare while working in front of a screen—or multiple screens.
Should you buy a pair? Maybe the glasses have gotten better in recent years, but in a 2008 column, New York Times technology blogger David Pogue was mightily unimpressed.
He claimed to have gotten about the same results with a good pair of reading glasses from CVS.


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In early March, Microsoft announced plans to cancel Fable Legends and put forth a “proposed closure” of the iconic studio Lionhead. Today, it’s official: Lionhead is no more.
“We can confirm that after much consideration over the six week consultation period with Lionhead employees, we have reached the decision to close Lionhead Studios,” Microsoft told our friends at Kotaku UK this morning. “We have nothing but heart-felt thanks for the team at Lionhead for their significant contributions to Xbox and the games industry.”
Said “consultation period” was just a formality: British law requires companies to go through a very specific process before they officially shut down. Lionhead employees had been prepared for the end. Even the website is no more.
Lionhead, best known as the studio behind Fable and Black & White, was founded in 1996 by former Bullfrog employees including Peter Molyneux. Molyneux left the company in 2012.


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Toyoda Gosei Holds Grand Opening Ceremony at its Czech Plant
May 19, 2003 – Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd., announced today that its Czech subsidiary, TG Safety Systems Czech, s.r.o.*1 (TGSSC), held an official grand opening ceremony on May 8, 2003, to mark the recent start-up of full-fledged manufacturing operations. The opening ceremony was attended by Vice Minister Zdenek Vorlícek of the Czech Ministry of Trade and Industry and other distinguished guests, while Toyoda Gosei’s Chairman Tokio Horigome and President Takashi Matsuura and Toyota Tsusho’s Chairman Eizo Takeyama flew in from Japan to take part in the ceremony.
The result of a joint venture with Toyota Tsusho Corporation to manufacture steering wheels and airbags for automobiles, TGSSC was established in the Czech Republic city of Klásterec nad Ohrí in February 2001. With capital of 600 million Czech Koruna (2,390 million yen), 80 percent of which was contributed by Toyoda Gosei and 20 percent by Toyota Tsusho, TGSSC completed construction of its 48,000 square-foot (4,500 m2) plant on a 6.2-acre (25,000 m2) site and began production in April 2002. Quickly expanding its production volume and sales within its first year, TGSSC recently moved to full-scale operations.
The Czech plant is strategically important for Toyoda Gosei’s Safety Systems business unit, which is expanding its operations to provide world-class products to global automobile manufacturers. TGSSC forms an important pillar in Toyoda Gosei’s global production network of safety systems in four major markets: Japan, Asia, the Americas, and Europe. As more and more automobile makers procure automobile parts on a global basis from suppliers with global production networks, it has become crucially important for Toyoda Gosei to expand its production capabilities and build a strong presence in Europe in order to secure worldwide business. Toyoda Gosei is now able to further enhance relationships with its customers in the U.S. and Japan who purchase parts according to global procurement policies and needs.
TGSSC employs 120 people as of the end of April 2003 and plans to expand its employment to about 350 by the end of 2004. It recorded sales of 111 million Czech Koruna (450 million yen) in 2002 and has a projected annual sales of 1.1 billion Czech Koruna (4.5 billion yen) in 2004. The company’s three directors currently consist of two executives from Toyoda Gosei and one from Toyota Tsusho.
(1) s.r.o. (spolecnost s rucením omezenym) : Limited Liability Company


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Search engine giant Google has released its latest data of travel destination searches over the last month showing that Spain remains a clear favourite and with Madrid leap-frogging summer beach destinations to be the second most popular spot in the country.
As the pandemic receeds and the freeze on international travel thaws, many travellers are itching to get back in the air and Spain appears to be very well positioned.
According to Google statistics, Spain is among the three most searched for destinations by users who are thinking of travelling and seeking accommodation over the next few months in the world with only the United States and Italy more popular.
The latest figures for June release by Travel Insights with Google – which offers statistics with local data in real time, shows that the three favourite Spanish destinations for Google searches are Ibiza, Madrid and Barcelona, followed by such other coastal destinations as Benidorm, Malaga and Maspalomas in the Canary Islands.
According to the Google tool, the search for Spain as a tourist destination has seen steady growth since the end of the state of emergency on May 9th.
In the first week of June, there was double the number of searches as in the same period last year, as well as almost 50% more than at the start of May this year.
By country, users from Germany are those who show the greatest interest in Spain as a tourist destination, followed by users from France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
Most of the searches for Spain, however, are recorded from within the country, thus pointing to a reactivation of national tourism.
Spain and several of its cities, moreover, figure among the destinations with the highest increase in demand in the world, thanks to recent changes in the mobility restrictions.
Madrid in line with other autonomous regions has placed significant resources in order to promote itself as a travel destination for both internation and domestic visitors.
Specifically, it is the fifth ranked country to see the highest growth in searches in the first week of June (up 10% – 20%), while, by city, Madrid – with search growth of between 25% and 50% in the same week – stands in second place, ahead of New York, Paris and Istanbul. Ibiza and Barcelona, ranked in 8th and 9th position respectively, also appear in this top 10, with search growth of between 10% and 25%.
As well as the data offered by Google, there are other data that point to optimism in the summer tourism campaign. According to the travel portal Weekendesk.es, reservations for sustainable tourism destinations in our country have shot up by 237% in the last year.
These figures place Spain as one of the destinations where this type of tourism has most consolidated its position, above the average (189%) of all the markets analysed, which include France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
Catalonia is the autonomous region to post the greatest demand for this type of holiday, accounting for 75% of the reservations for eco-sustainable accommodation – those with renewable energy sources and concerned to reduce the environmental impact of their activity as much as possible. It is followed by Andalusia (14%) and the Region of Valencia (9%). Moreover, according to Weekendesk, the residents of these regions post the greatest demand for this type of holiday, frequently in conjunction with gastronomic activities.


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It’s an easy story for beleaguered journalists: a belligerent government versus a belligerent union, with both making wild claims about food safety.
Lost in the rhetoric is any concern about the people who eat – pretty much all of us – and the people who barf.
The union representing federal food inspectors says Canada’s food safety system is being pushed beyond its limits.
Some $35-million and 192 inspectors are on the food safety program’s chopping block over the next two years, according to online documents posted by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
The agency has also disbanded a team of inspectors dedicated to protecting consumers from food fraud throughout Metro Vancouver. The Consumer Protection Unit once boasted 11 inspectors, but that number dwindled to four due to attrition.
The federal health ministry referred questions to the CFIA, which responded to the union’s claims with a broad e-mail.
“The statements by the union are false. There have been no cuts to food safety. Canada has one of the safest and healthiest food systems in the world,” it said.
The agency acknowledged there have been recent changes to how it handles the Vancouver area.
Time to change the discussion and the approach to safe food. Time to lose the religion: audits and inspections are never enough.
• Food safety audits and inspections are a key component of the nation’s food safety system and their use will expand in the future, for both domestic and imported foodstuffs., but recent failures can be emotionally, physically and financially devastating to the victims and the businesses involved;
• many outbreaks involve firms that have had their food production systems verified and received acceptable ratings from food safety auditors or government inspectors;
• while inspectors and auditors play an active role in overseeing compliance, the burden for food safety lies primarily with food producers;
• there are lots of limitations with audits and inspections, just like with restaurants inspections, but with an estimated 48 million sick each year in the U.S., the question should be, how best to improve food safety?
• audit reports are only useful if the purchaser or food producer reviews the results, understands the risks addressed by the standards and makes risk-reduction decisions based on the results;
• there appears to be a disconnect between what auditors provide (a snapshot) and what buyers believe they are doing (a full verification or certification of product and process);
• third-party audits are only one performance indicator and need to be supplemented with microbial testing, second-party audits of suppliers and the in-house capacity to meaningfully assess the results of audits and inspections;
• companies who blame the auditor or inspector for outbreaks of foodborne illness should also blame themselves;
• assessing food-handling practices of staff through internal observations, externally-led evaluations, and audit and inspection results can provide indicators of a food safety culture; and,
• the use of audits to help create, improve, and maintain a genuine food safety culture holds the most promise in preventing foodborne illness and safeguarding public health.
Audits and inspections are never enough: A critique to enhance food safety
D.A. Powell, S. Erdozain, C. Dodd, R. Costa, K. Morley, B.J. Chapman
Internal and external food safety audits are conducted to assess the safety and quality of food including on-farm production, manufacturing practices, sanitation, and hygiene. Some auditors are direct stakeholders that are employed by food establishments to conduct internal audits, while other auditors may represent the interests of a second-party purchaser or a third-party auditing agency. Some buyers conduct their own audits or additional testing, while some buyers trust the results of third-party audits or inspections. Third-party auditors, however, use various food safety audit standards and most do not have a vested interest in the products being sold. Audits are conducted under a proprietary standard, while food safety inspections are generally conducted within a legal framework. There have been many foodborne illness outbreaks linked to food processors that have passed third-party audits and inspections, raising questions about the utility of both. Supporters argue third-party audits are a way to ensure food safety in an era of dwindling economic resources. Critics contend that while external audits and inspections can be a valuable tool to help ensure safe food, such activities represent only a snapshot in time. This paper identifies limitations of food safety inspections and audits and provides recommendations for strengthening the system, based on developing a strong food safety culture, including risk-based verification steps, throughout the food safety system.


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On Sunday evening at 20:30 local time in the island state of Tonga techno fell back logically to the last century. The submarine cable, which will connect the island group in the South Pacific with the Internet, failed. This is associated with Mail services, the Web was more than just a temporary loss of E -, Facebook, Twitter and other social networks. Also, the phone connections to foreign countries were no longer possible, and credit card terminals were able to finalise payments author.
In a report of the news site, “Matangi Tonga Online,” reported the head of the local office of Western Union that because of the Internet outage were to Tuesday no cash transfers are possible. It was only when it was normally about the 827 Kilometer-long fiber-optic cable running redirect traffic via a local provider of satellite Internet, have you start working again. However, the Transfers were “still very slow” and only on the main island of the archipelago.
The power outage also has an impact on one of the few sectors of the economy of the country, the tourism. For one, prospective customers can make, currently, no online bookings with suppliers in Tonga, to the other vacationers were not able to take prior to arrival with travel suppliers and Hotels to contact in order to arrange your pick up from the airport. Retailers and Hoteliers also complain of problems because no card payments are possible. In part, it was therefore started to record the credit card data of the customer, the due contributions later.
repair of the submarine cable could be one to two weeks
How long is the Internet default for the approximately 100,000 residents of Tonga will continue to take is unclear. The damage had apparently occurred in 80 kilometres away, said the head of the operator of the Tonga Cable Ltd. in an interview with “Matangi Tonga Online”. What is the nature of the Problem is, one cannot say. The repair will take one to two weeks.
While much of the island’s population seems to be the Internet failure, so far, been largely left, complains the President of two women’s business organizations, that the incident generated so little excitement. Finally, you live to be a “global world, companies can’t afford to be cut off.”
Christian Patouraux, CEO of Kacific Broadband Satellites, the satellite Tonga currently connect to the Internet, summarizes the state of the island opposite the AP news Agency: “Internally, the country is functioning normally, but from the Rest of the world, it is largely cut off. It’s like in the dark ages.”


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– U.S. retail gasoline prices could hit an all-time high by the end of May due to ongoing problems at the nation’s oil refineries, automobile and travel group AAA said on May 2, according to Reuters.
Gasoline prices have risen 30 cents since early April to $2.97 a gallon on average.
Gasoline stockpiles in the United States have dropped by 15 percent since early February amid an unusually high number of refinery outages, alongside robust demand and low imports. AAA said it was “alarming” that gasoline prices were rising so high without the backdrop of a major geopolitical or natural event to disrupt supply, such as a hurricane or a new military flare-up in the Middle East.
The U.S. government said earlier this week that gasoline prices could hit a record this summer, according to Reuters.
Originally posted on Fleet Financials


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Rupert Murdoch - News, Features, and Slideshows
Just hours after claiming responsibility for hacking News International’s The Sun website and posting a fake story about Rupert Murdoch’s death, hacker group Lulz Security has tweeted that News International’s DNS servers are down denying access to some 1024 web addresses.
News Corp. will close its weekly U.K. newspaper News of the World amid allegations that the tabloid hacked into the mobile voicemail accounts of celebrities, the British royal family, and crime victims.
- Marriott CIO: FCC message on WiFi blocking loud and clear
- Microsoft to business: Don't worry about Windows 10, consumers will test it
- Google Now adds data from Lyft, Airbnb and many more apps
- Outlook app for Android and iOS boosts Microsoft's mobile comeback
- MIT randomizes tasks to speed massive multicore processors
- Report: Marketing teams must be restructured
- How virtual reality stole the show at Sundance Film Festival
- Qantas tests virtual reality for in-flight entertainment
- Report: Data-driven marketing the norm as marketers aim for 1-to-1 customer connections
- Updated: Jeanswest sets sights on customer growth with new omni-channel capabilities


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China Purchases More U.S. Soybeans
China purchased more soybeans earlier this week as the U.S. and China discussed the ongoing trade tensions between the two nations. Monday, Chinese importers purchased at least 180,000 metric tons, but some trade experts say the purchase may be closer to 900,000 metric tons, according to Reuters.
The gap in purchase size is reflected by the lack of USDA export sales reports during the government shutdown. The purchases of U.S. soybeans, an estimated five million metric tons in the current marketing year, is a fraction of the 23 million metric tons purchased by China in the previous marketing year.
China halted purchases of U.S. soybeans last year after the nation placed a tariff on U.S. soybeans in retaliation to U.S. trade policy against China. About 60 percent of all U.S. soybean exports are shipped to China every year, with most purchases made during the last three months of the year.
Source; NAFB News


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- Starbucks debuted the Crystal Ball Frappuccino on Thursday.
- Like the Unicorn Frappuccino, the over-the-top, peaches-flavored beverage will only be available for four days.
- Even before the launch, baristas were already panicking about the crushing number of Crystal Ball Frappuccinos they will be forced to make.
Starbucks is debuting a new, over-the-top Frappuccino this week – and baristas are already freaking out.
The Crystal Ball Frappuccino is Starbucks’ latest Instagram-worthy, limited-time beverage, Business Insider reported on Monday. The new drink hit menus on Thursday and will only be available for four days – or until stores run out of supplies.
The Crystal Ball Frappuccino is an alluring marbled turquoise shade, ideal for Instagram. The cream-based Frappuccino uses peach flavours and is topped with whipped cream and rock-candy crystals.
Starbucks baristas started practicing crafting the Crystal Ball Frappuccino earlier this week.
However, it takes a lot of effort to make a Frappuccino with the potential to go viral.
Baristas already have a rough time when Starbucks rolls out new, Instagrammable Frappuccinos.
Making specialty Frappuccinos is an arduous, multi-step process, especially when stores are flooded with orders and customers are paying close attention to the aesthetics of the drink.
Baristas had similar issues with the Unicorn Frappuccino, which Starbucks debuted in April 2017. As an extremely popular and complicated drink, the Unicorn Frappuccino’s short stint on the menu left baristas exhausted and covered in pink and blue dye from the sprinkles used to make the beverage.
So, Starbucks lovers, do your part on Thursday. If you’re ordering the Crystal Ball Frappuccino – and want to see Starbucks roll out more over-the-top drinks in the future – tip your baristas for their efforts.


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Be One of the Four Lucky Winners of a Luxury Bag Worth PHP70k When You Purchase a Brand New OPPO F5
OPPO Philippines is set to define the new generation of selfies with its new OPPO F5. To celebrate the record-breaking success of having a total pre-order number of 33,000 units in just seven days, OPPO is giving away four luxury bags worth PHP 70,000 starting November ‘till December 1, 2017.
All Filipinos who will buy an OPPO F5 during the promo period is included in the Capture the Real You contest. To register, participants need to visit http://capturetherealyou.ph/submit-entry/ with their complete name, email address, registered address, and the OPPO F5 IMEI1 number located at the back part of the unit’s box. To get one raffle entry, the participants must upload three photos that they captured using the OPPO F5. These pictures must be composed of: One natural-looking selfie, one beautified selfie, and another one taken using the OPPO F5’s rear camera. The deadline for the submission is until December 1, 2017, 2 PM.
A lucky winner will be chosen every week via a raffle draw. Draw dates will be on November 10, November 17, November 24, and December 1, 2017, by 3 PM at the OPPO Main Office. The announcement of the lucky winners will be on November 11, November 18, November 25, and December 2, 2017. Announcements will be made through OPPO Philippines’ official Facebook page, and an email notification will be sent to the winners as well.
OPPO Philippines’ Brand Marketing Manager, Stephen Cheng said, “OPPO highly appreciates the overwhelming support that we received from the F5 pre-orders. We have always been grateful for our fans’ continuous support, and this is just one way for us to give back to them.”
The new F5 is OPPO’s latest selfie expert smartphone boasting with a 6.0-inch full-screen FHD+ display device, and facial unlock recognition. It is also equipped with the first A.I. Beauty Recognition technology which is designed to make more natural-looking selfies.
The OPPO F5 is now available at any authorized OPPO dealers nationwide for PHP 15,990. Installment options are also available via Home Credit at 0% for 6 or 9 months payment plans.
To get more information about the OPPO F5, kindly visit http://www.oppo.com/ph/smartphone-f5 or follow them on Facebook for the latest updates and announcements at https://www.facebook.com/OPPOPH.


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Facebook has hired Gary Briggs as their new chief marketing officer. Briggs was previously the marketing head at Motorola Mobility, a subsidiary of Google. Briggs will be replacing Facebook’s VP of product marketing Eric Antonow.
Antonow oversaw Facebook’s marketing department since 2010. Briggs will oversee Facebook’s product marketing, platform marketing, events, communication design, content strategy, and brand marketing.
Prior to working at Google, Briggs was the VP of consumer marketing at Google where he oversaw marketing efforts around search, Chrome, Google+, commerce, Google.org, and Google’s overall brand strategy. Briggs used to be the CEO of a gift card startup company called Plastic Jungle before joining Google in 2010. He also worked at eBay for 6 years across various marketing positions.
While at Motorola, Briggs was an advisor to Motorola chief executive officer Dennis Woodside and chief marketing officer Bill Morgan.
“Facebook isn’t just a company. For more than a billion people, it’s their connection to the friends and things they care about most. Telling the story of such an important and still very young brand is an incredible opportunity, and I cannot wait to get started,” said Briggs in a statement.
Briggs will be replacing to Facebook’s VP of product Chris Cox. Facebook head of consumer marketing Rebecca Van Dyck will report to Briggs, according to AdAge.


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Controversy to Trump is like a moth to a flame, and it’s certainly no different when it comes to Trump and the technology sector. From forcing tech giants such as Apple to relocate full production to US soils to restricting H-1B visas, effectively stopping highly skilled overseas workers coming to the U.S., the controversy continues. With TechUK, the U.K.’s technology industry representative, recently warning about the potential negative effects of this, we look at why workers and companies might instead consider moving to the U.K., benefiting themselves, the industry and the U.K.’s economy.
In London alone, a new technology business is established every hour. Companies such as Shazam and Avecto are part of the estimated 45,000 companies which will be located there within the next decade. Cities such as Manchester, Glasgow and Ipswich are among many who also expect to see high growth and job creation in the coming years. 95% of Tech City UK companies are positive the industry will continue to grow and 80% plan to employ more workers within the next year. Along with the 44% higher average salary of £50,663 compared to those working in non-technical roles, the promise from Prime Minister Theresa May of funding for ‘’artificial intelligence, robotics, 5G, smart energy and more,” and thousands of tech-related meetup events every year, covering topics from artificial intelligence to creative coding, there is much to attract a recent graduate or international worker to the U.K.
“London’s strength derives from the city’s diversity, rich pool of talent and global connections. This has been the basis for our considerable success, and it is important to protect these factors as our tech sector continues to create more jobs and wealth.” Russ Shaw, London Tech Week ambassador and Founder of Tech London Advocates.
Though Trump may be restricting entry to workers, the U.K. is embracing them. For example, the Tech Nation Visa allows skilled technology workers from across the globe to freely work in the U.K.’s technology industry. This provides successful applicants opportunities to work at companies that suit their needs, from small start-ups to big multinational corporations, without fear of deportation. With Google, Facebook, Apple, Amazon and Snapchat all recently announcing further technology investment in London, there’s certainly much to choose from.
‘’Tech groups and investors said…that Mr. Trump’s ban could come as a boost to the British technology scene, as US tech groups may choose to expand international operations at the expense of domestic hiring, and UK start-ups think twice about expanding to Silicon Valley.’’ The Telegraph, 2017.
“The tech companies in Silicon Valley and New York are waking up to the fact that, with a stroke of Trump’s erratic pen, their key employees, even those with Green Cards, can suddenly be barred from returning to their country. So this should make London a much more attractive place for tech businesses. Apple, Google, Facebook and Amazon already employ thousands of their engineers here. Trump’s actions will likely accelerate that trend.” Harry Briggs, BGF Ventures.
With advantages including high salaries, a huge choice of companies to work for and thousands of meet-up events allowing networking and further learning, the U.K. could well be an alternate option for workers and companies alike. Trump may see the technology industry go up in smoke, but we predict the U.K.’s flame will continue to burn brightly.
DISCLAIMER: This article expresses my own ideas and opinions. Any information I have shared are from sources that I believe to be reliable and accurate. I did not receive any financial compensation in writing this post, nor do I own any shares in any company I’ve mentioned. I encourage any reader to do their own diligent research first before making any investment decisions.
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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Apple Computer Inc. appl after Thursday's closing bell said an internal investigation has discovered irregularities related to the issuance of certain stock-option grants made between 1997 and 2001. Apple said one of the grants in question was to Chief Executive Steve Jobs, but that it was subsequently cancelled and resulted in no financial gain to Jobs. A special committee of Apple's outside directors has hired independent counsel to perform an investigation and the company has informed the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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Major Chinese tourism conglomerate, HNA Group, is reportedly buying a 25 percent stake in Hilton Hotels International. This is a transaction valued at roughly $6.5 billion, the equivalent of about $26.25 per share, in cash. Perhaps more significantly, this stake will reduce Blackstone’s interest in Hilton, and by as much as 21 percent. The companies now expect the transaction to close within the first quarter of next year; and on the heels of Hilton’s previous announcement to spin off its Park and HGV brands, also expected to end at the close of the year.
Included in the transaction, HNA enters into a stockholders agreement with Hilton as well as with Park Hotels & Resorts and Hilton Grand Vacations (to own 25 percent shares of all three companies). At closing, then, the agreement will allow HNA to now appoint a pair of directors (one from HNA and a second to be elected independently) to Hilton’s Board of Directors. This will then bring the total to 10 members.
According to this agreement, HNA has agreed to some restrictions on its ability to sell its interest in Hilton for at least the next two years. The agreement also limits HNA’s ability to buy more than its current 25 percent of Hilton’s existing outstanding shares without the chain’s consent. In addition, the agreement says that HNA will then vote its shares in excess of 15 percent proportionality among the other stockholders; of course, certain exceptions apply. Finally, Blackstone will still have its two seats on Hilton’s Board; Jon Gray will stay as the board’s chairman.
“We are pleased to welcome HNA Group as a long-term investor and strategic partner,” explains Hilton Hotels president and CEO Christopher J. Nassetta. HNA Group has a broad portfolio of successful travel and hospitality businesses and a proven track record of creating value in this industry. We believe this mutually beneficial relationship will open new opportunities for our brands and guests around the world, particularly in light of HNA’s strong position in the fast-growing Chinese travel and tourism market, the largest outbound travel and tourism market in the world.”
In addition, HNA Group vice chairman and CEO, Adam Tan notes, “Hilton is an iconic global hospitality company with an unmatched portfolio of high-quality brands and a reputation for operational excellence. This investment is consistent with our strategy to enhance our global tourism business, and we look forward to working together on new initiatives that leverage our respective strengths, expertise and tourism platforms to provide travelers more choice, value and world-class services.”


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Welcome back to another post on the Galaxy S4 news blog dear reader! Today, we have some fresh new stories to share with you and all of today's content comes right from T3.Com who I personally find a much reliable news source than many others that are a lot more popular. Today's news are also a lot more original since they focus on the Galaxy S4 camera details and features which is something that a lot of previous rumors and leaks did not mention at all. Yes - today's post won't be about any specs, processors or rumored release dates - today's post is about the S4 camera and I am honestly happy to welcome this change!
|The S3 had a really nice thing going for it last year in terms of camera software|
Now, so far we have already heard that the Galaxy S4 will feature a 13 MP camera and this will probably is become and industry standard for high-level devices in the future. The fans are not planning to settle for anything less it would seem and Samsung will really have to put-out when it comes to this. Personally, I never understood why people demanded to have an amazing camera on their smartphone. I would still prefer to use my real camera during a trip or a major social event. Even so, there are just some moments that you want to capture in the best possible way and if you are paying over $700 for a phone why not look for one that has a really good camera?
Well, those who have high expectation of Samsung when it comes to the Galaxy S4 camera can rejoice! T3.com is saying that they have a tip from AndroidGeeks that Samsung is working on a new feature that will maximize the power of their 13 MP camera. The concept is called Samsung Orb and this is expected to be superior to the S3's Photo Sphere. So, how would you like to take 360 degree pictures with a 13 MP camera on your Galaxy S4? I admit that I am also quite intrigued with this feature and I certainly welcome a new concept!
The website is also reporting that the Samsung Orb will have social media integration that will allow you to share your photos with your friends and allow them to enjoy the amazing photos that you will no doubt be trying to create thanks to latest software and hardware that the Galaxy S4 is expected to dish out.
So what do you think about this concept? It isn't anything extremely new, but it sounds pretty cool. Are there any other improvements to the camera that you would like to see? Leave a comment down bellow!


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Xiaomi’s upcoming Redmi K 60 flagship series will debut in the coming weeks, but no official date has been set yet. The intensity of the recent leaks suggests this is fast approaching, as are the certification documents now flying in.
The latest certification is from China 3C, which indicates that the original Redmi K 60 will support 67W fast charge. According to previous rumors, the phone will offer a 5,500 mAh battery with 30W wireless charging.
All in all, the 3C certification is not surprising, because the charging speed of last year’s Redmi K 50 is the same, but it confirms No or an upgrade in that department.


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T-Mobile pre-announced a spectacular Q4 and 2020 despite the headwinds of COVID-19. T-Mobile saw 1.7 million net additions in Q4, which we expect will easily lead the industry. 1.6 million high-ARPU postpaid subscribers were added and an additional 824,000 prepaid customers were added.
Another highlight of the quarter and year is T-Mobile continues to lead US 5G rollouts. It now covers 280 million people with its low-band 600MHz spectrum (marketed as ‘extended range 5G’). It also covers 106 million people with its mid-band 2.5Ghz spectrum (marketed as ‘ultra capacity 5G’). T-Mobile also has C-band and mmWave licenses it can incorporate into its network coverage.
Customer churn was only 1.03% in Q4 despite absorbing Sprint. Sprint had churn two times higher than Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile in 4Q19 and 1Q2020–the two quarters before the merger with T-Mobile. T-Mobile has done an admirable job reducing churn of the roughly 25 million subscriber phone base of Sprint.
Similar to how T-Mobile quickly and efficiently absorbed prepaid channel MetroPCS, it is quickly and efficiently moving Sprint subscribers onto the T-Mobile network. T-Mobile is accelerating its rollout of Sprint’s 5G 2.5GHz network holdings. Since October, updating cell sites has increased from 1,000 sites per month to 1,000 sites per week.
Key highlights during Q4 and 2020:
- Usually in the US market, there is a shift to prepaid from postpaid when unemployment and economic uncertainty is elevated. This is not the case even during the COVID-19 pandemic. Within T-Mobile, there has been migration from prepaid to postpaid. This is positive for service revenues and ARPU.
- T-Mobile added 1.6 million postpaid customers in Q4 and 5.5 million during 2020.
- 824,000 postpaid phone customers were added in Q4 and 2.2 million were added during 2020.
- 84,000 prepaid phone customers were added in Q4 and 145,000 during 2020.
- 794,000 ‘other’ net customers were adding during the quarter. This is mainly comprised of hotspots, wearables, and tablets. 3.3 million were added during 2020.
- Churn was 1.03%. Promos were aggressive but not as aggressive as AT&T. Netflix bundle and other ‘un-carrier’ moves have kept phone churn near record low levels.
- 5G rollouts continue. Over 180 million consumers are covered by 5G. 2.5GHz mid-band spectrum rollouts are accelerating at about 1,000 sites a week. This spectrum is seeing speeds approaching 300 megabits per second, which will improve in 2021 as more spectrum.
- Counterpoint Research estimates T-Mobile sold about 6.4 million postpaid smartphones and 2.1 million prepaid smartphones. Bring-your-own-devices was down slightly during the quarter.
- T-Mobile now has a smartphone base of over 66 million. Despite being considerably smaller by smartphone subscribers –Verizon has a smartphone base of over 91 millions – we expect T-Mobile sold about the same number of smartphones as Verizon during the quarter. For complete US channel sales, see North America Online-Offline Monthly Channel Tracker-November 2020.
- Top sellers during the quarter include Apple iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro Max, iPhone 12 Pro, LG Stylo 6, and Samsung Galaxy A11.
- Similar to how quickly T-Mobile integrated MetroPCS, T-Mobile has absorbed Sprint into one master brand ‘T-Mobile’ brand and the prepaid channel of ‘Metro by T-Mobile’. T-Mobile has done good work converting Sprint customers over to T-Mobile service plans. Sprint’s handset leasing plans are being phased out as the mathematics are not working.
- Other opportunities include fixed wireless opportunities. As Verizon and AT&T are focusing on mmWave within metros, there may be an opportunity for T-Mobile to offer low or mid-band 5G fixed wireless in smaller metro and even rural areas. TVision LIVE television package for $40 per month is now selling. This will be difficult to break through, but will be interesting to watch in 2021.


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While the corona pandemic hit numerous industries hard and many people lost their jobs, the wealth of the richest of the rich has grown even faster than ever before. There are reasons.
?? For the first time ever, the total fortune of dollar billionaires exceeds $ 10 trillion
?? Economic stimulus packages as growth drivers
?? Donation amounts are also increasing
The major Swiss bank UBS together with the consulting firm PwC, examined how the current pandemic has affected the wealth of the world’s 2,189 billionaires. The result is quite revealing.
Thanks to economic stimulus packages, wealth is increasing
From a monetary point of view, the super-rich have not only survived the crisis unscathed, but are also emerging as big winners. By the end of July, their total assets had risen to $ 10.2 trillion, the equivalent of 8.7 trillion euros – a new record.
Among other things, the experts identified the numerous government measures as a reason for cushioning the consequences of the corona pandemic for the economy. The economic stimulus packages have ensured a recovery on the stock markets, which in the meantime even set new record highs in some cases after the corona-related slump in March. Tech stocks in particular led the recovery in the summer, the stocks that numerous dollar billionaires have in custody and on which a large part of their wealth is based.
The involvement of the super-rich in the health sector, which has benefited in recent months from hopes for a vaccine and a drug to treat the coronavirus, among other things, was one reason why the wealth of the super-rich has recently grown faster than ever before.
Jeff Bezos becomes first $ 200 billion billionaire
The richest man in the world AmazonCEO Jeff Bezos, has benefited particularly from developments on the stock markets. Because his company, of which he remains the main shareholder, was not only able to benefit from developments in the world with its online shopping platform, but also benefited from developments in this area with its growth area Amazon Web Services and the associated trend towards cloud use Year. At the end of July, Bezos became the first person to ever exceed the US $ 200 billion mark, and according to the Forbes Realtime Wealth List, the richest man in the world is still worth US $ 185.6 billion.
Donations also at a record level
But many super-rich have not only increased their assets but also their willingness to donate. According to the study, the super-rich donate more than ever to charity. Recently, the ex-wife of Jeff Bezos had announced a billion donation, Jeff Bezos himself wants a portion of his billionaire fortune Fight against climate change the 56-year-old recently had a School founded.
Finanzen.net editorial team


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Today, with our new products, our vision to truly measure the entire web is a reality
London, UK (PRWEB) September 23, 2014
SimilarWeb becomes the first online competitive intelligence platform to offer insights on internet traffic across desktop websites, mobile websites and mobile apps.
SimilarWeb, the competitive analytics start-up that launched in 2013, has quickly grown to be one of largest data providers in the industry with millions of visitors to SimilarWeb.com each month. Leading publishers like TechCrunch, the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and Reuters use SimilarWeb as a resource for data insights.
“We live in a multi-device world where more often than not we are using apps, browsing websites and consuming media from different devices frequently at the same time. Only measuring and considering desktop website analytics creates a big blind spot about actual web usage. Today, with our new products, our vision to truly measure the entire web is a reality,” said Or Offer, CEO of SimilarWeb.
With the new additions, SimilarWeb PRO shows the traffic and engagement breakdown between desktop and mobile surfers. SimilarWeb PRO’s App Analytics introduces several new data points never before available in the world of app analytics.
Exclusive Insights Include:
- Top keywords driving people to apps, based on real search queries
- Most popular keywords on the Google Play Store
- Breakdowns of the channels people use to discover apps in the app store
- Breakdowns of the paths taken inside the app stores to discover apps
SimilarWeb’s World of Apps
Using data found in SimillarWeb’s App Analytics we mapped out the world of apps and app stores.
- In the U.S. only 2 of the top 100 grossing apps in the Google Play Store are not games. Pandora Internet Radio and OkCupid Dating.
- MineCraft is the only app in the top 100 grossing U.S. apps in the Google Play Store that is not free to download.
- The #1 Keyword searched in the Google Play Store is Launcher
- The most searched for game in the Google Play Store is 2048
- For the keyword “Candy” in the Google Play Store, Candy Crush Saga grabbed only 40.7% of the traffic, the second most went to Candy Frenzy with 11.7%
- Clash of Clans is the Top Grossing App in over a dozen different countries including the U.S., U.K., and Russia
SimilarWeb is the leading international online competitive intelligence provider. SimilarWeb PRO is the platform which unlocks traffic statistics for any website, mobile website or app, and is the only platform to offer global data at country-specific levels. SimilarWeb PRO data is also available via API.
SimilarWeb’s proprietary classification algorithms create unmatched industry benchmarks and insights into competitive marketing strategies. SimilarWeb’s wealth of data combined with intuitive discovery tools uncover the pulse of the internet; that’s why SimilarWeb insights are often used by leading publications, including Bloomberg Businessweek, Wall St. Journal, TechCrunch and the Guardian.
SimilarWeb is used every day to help businesses, publishers, marketers and analysts benchmark performance and find successful marketing strategies to drive more traffic and opportunities.
Companies that use SimilarWeb include Travelocity, Google, PlayBuzz, KPMG, eBay and UBS.
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Ripple’s XRP performs far below the expectations of its main defenders
Ripple’s XRP has had a disastrous period in the past two years. At a time when other large-capped cryptocurrencies attempted a comeback, XRP lagged significantly behind. The digital asset emerged as the worst performing among the top 20 cryptocurrencies during the first quarter of 2020.
At $ 0.20, the cryptocurrency that has close ties to the San Francisco-based company Ripple remains 94% below the historic high of January 2018. Data from the Messari search platform recently gave us an insight under the hood to identify why the token performed dismally.
Messari noted that this may have something to do with the currency’s circulating supply, which subsequently resulted in the XRP having the highest rate of inflation among large-cap crypts.
20.5%: XRP inflation rate is quite alarming
The data provided by Messari shows that there is now 20.5% more XRP in circulation this year compared to last year. This is because XRP has an annual inflation rate of 20.5% – the highest among large-cap cryptocurrencies.
Also according to Messari, there are currently approximately $ 29.86 billion in XRP tokens in circulation. This amounts to just 30% of the coin’s maximum supply. For comparison, 87.5% of BTC’s maximum offer is already in circulation.
However, the reason why the circulating supply of the token is skyrocketing at a shocking rate is not a mystery. Ripple, the blockchain company behind the token, unlocks $ 1 billion of XRP at the beginning of each quarter. Millions of these tokens are used to grow the Ripple ecosystem through investments and strategic partnerships.
While in reality, Ripple needs to sell coins to expand the usefulness of the token, this strategy has not been well received by most of the crypto community, as constant sales are believed to inhibit the growth in XRP value.
Ripple has unlocked at least $ 5 billion in XRP from custody so far. With $ 49.4 billion still blocked in guarantee portfolios, sales are likely to continue for the next 21 years.
How other large-cap crypts fared
In addition to XRP, Tezos (XTZ) is the only other major cryptocurrency with a relatively high inflation rate of 13.1%. But, unlike the Ripple token, Tezos has performed well in recent months, with more than 55% gains in the year. The currency has even consolidated its position among the top ten cryptocurrencies. Most observers believe that XTZ is shining due to its security model, Proof of Stake (PoS), which is gaining momentum in the crypto industry.
Other major cryptocurrencies like Ethereum (ETH), EOS and Litecoin (LTC) have an inflation rate of 4.7%, 2.6% and 5.1%, respectively.
Bitcoin, meanwhile, recently completed its third halving. As such, the reward of 12.5 BTC has been reduced to 6.25 BTC, resulting in fewer Bitcoins being minted per day. The BTC inflation rate is now 3.8%, lower than that of gold. It is also significantly lower than the XRP inflation rate.
Meanwhile, XRP is valued at $ 0201346 at time of publication, up 3.81% on the day.


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News articles about DXP Enterprises (NASDAQ:DXPE) have trended somewhat positive recently, Accern Sentiment Analysis reports. The research firm identifies positive and negative media coverage by reviewing more than 20 million blog and news sources. Accern ranks coverage of public companies on a scale of negative one to positive one, with scores closest to one being the most favorable. DXP Enterprises earned a news sentiment score of 0.04 on Accern’s scale. Accern also gave media stories about the industrial products company an impact score of 47.5506649823712 out of 100, indicating that recent media coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an effect on the stock’s share price in the next few days.
Shares of DXP Enterprises (NASDAQ DXPE) opened at $27.37 on Friday. DXP Enterprises has a 12 month low of $24.86 and a 12 month high of $42.00. The company has a market capitalization of $468.36, a PE ratio of 27.48 and a beta of 2.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 2.51.
DXP Enterprises (NASDAQ:DXPE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 2nd. The industrial products company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.22 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $251.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $250.42 million. DXP Enterprises had a net margin of 1.83% and a return on equity of 6.87%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.02 earnings per share. sell-side analysts anticipate that DXP Enterprises will post 0.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.
ILLEGAL ACTIVITY NOTICE: “DXP Enterprises (DXPE) Given Coverage Optimism Score of 0.04” was first published by Week Herald and is the sole property of of Week Herald. If you are accessing this piece of content on another site, it was copied illegally and reposted in violation of US and international copyright and trademark law. The original version of this piece of content can be viewed at https://weekherald.com/2017/12/08/dxp-enterprises-dxpe-earns-news-sentiment-rating-of-0-04.html.
About DXP Enterprises
DXP Enterprises, Inc (DXP) is engaged in the business of distributing maintenance, repair and operating (MRO) products, equipment and service to industrial customers. The Company operates through three segments: Service Centers, Supply Chain Services and Innovative Pumping Solutions. The Service Centers segment provides MRO products, equipment and services, including technical expertise and logistics capabilities to industrial customers.
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Sanofi-Aventis SA said it settled litigation with two drug makers over U.S. sales of generic copies of its allergy treatment Allegra, one of the company's top 10 sellers.
Sanofi-Aventis's U.S. unit will grant Barr and Teva a license to certain patent rights, allowing them to sell generic versions of Allegra in the U.S. in exchange for payment of royalties, some of them from past sales.
The settlements, which are subject to review by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and U.S. state attorneys general, allow generic competition in certain versions of the drugs before their patents expire.
Israel-based Teva, the world's largest generic drug maker, has agreed to buy U.S.-based Barr.
Sanofi-Aventis also settled patent litigation with Barr over the generic version of Allegra D-12 Hour and another allergy drug, Nasacort.
Sanofi-Aventis filed its first suit against Barr for patent infringement in 2001, when Barr was seeking U.S. approvals to produce a generic version of Allegra caplets. Barr and Teva started making Allegra generics in 2005 in a so-called at-risk launch -- without waiting for the resolution of the patent case.
In the third quarter, Allegra sales dropped 4.1% from a year earlier to €139 million ($175.4 million), or about 2% of Sanofi-Aventis's sales.
Sanofi-Aventis said its U.S. unit continues to be involved in U.S. patent litigation against other parties in relation to Allegra and Allegra D-12, and noted that these other suits aren't settled by the recent agreements with Teva and Barr.
Separately, Teva said it is launching a generic of AstraZeneca PLC's Pulmicort Respules asthma treatment. AstraZeneca responded by saying it would launch its own generic version of the asthma medication, and filed for a temporary restraining order to stop Teva's launch until an existing patent challenge is settled in U.S. courts.
Meanwhile, AstraZeneca said that a late-stage trial of its lung-cancer drug Zactima had revealed mixed results and that the company's full-year earnings per share will be near the bottom of the $4.90 to $5.05 range flagged previously.
—Kathy Sandler and Marietta Cauchi contributed to this article.
Write to Geraldine Amiel at firstname.lastname@example.org


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Google has found itself in a sticky situation when it comes to Wallet. While trying to move forward with Tap+Pay NFC functionality, it ran into security road blocks with the major cell phone carriers who were developing their competing ISIS payment system.
Recently, Google has evolved what Wallet is. Starting with a more PayPal-like money sending service tied to GMail, including membership and rewards cards, and now moving Wallet out of its digital app situation and into your real-world um… wallet.
Now you can grab a Wallet card, which ties to your online Wallet account. If you have funds in Wallet online, you can use your card anywhere Mastercard is accepted to pay for goods and services. You can also use it to make cash withdrawals at ATM’s. As other online payment systems have started making inroads into the general shopping experience, none of them have been able to rival old fashioned plastic, so this Mastercard compatibility is pretty key.
It’s a handy end-run around the Tap+Pay fiasco, though I do hope we can see some of the NFC functionality return to non-Nexus handsets outside of Sprint (currently the only carrier supporting NFC Wallet). The timing on this is also critical as we’re about to see Amazon’s payment system go wider with a new set of developer API’s allowing smaller merchants to use Amazon’s one-click payment system on other sites.
(via Google Wallet)


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Paul Stanley's Folgers commercial is finally available for KISS fans to see with their own eyes. The coffee company's ad was filmed in 2000, but was reportedly never aired until someone posted it to YouTube last week.
The audio from the clip has made the rounds before, but now fans can watch the video of the KISS frontman enjoying a cup of coffee while a gymnast shows off on a trapeze.
Stanley has said in the past that he's never had second thoughts about shooting the commercial. He said he had a blast doing it, and wasn't worried about whether it was "rock n' roll or not."