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Thousands of workers are facing the virus to do their jobs with the same professionalism as always
The logistics sector represents 6% of the GDP. This segment handles more than 500 million shipments annually, which involves moving 5 million tons a year and employing more than 800,000 employees.
Logistics professionals continue to operate at full capacity to supply the population and to be boosted by the rise in e-commerce
Seven days a week, thousands of road transport professionals keep the logistics sector functioning. They are part of a sector considered essential by the various local, national and international administrations, and are crucial for the supply of the hospitals, pharmacies, supermarkets and petrol stations.
We will never get tired of repeating that the hauliers are the other heroes who work to stop COVID-19, just as they work tirelessly and in the front line of health and security forces. Because in the fight against the virus it is also essential not to transmit it, a point in which the hauliers play a key role by acting as a link between production plants and the general public.
But have you thought about how the sector will change after COVID 19?
At Webtrans we believe that digitalization is the key to improving the efficiency of freight transport in terms of cost, time and respect for the environment. We also believe that for a global digitisation we must collaborate between all the digital platforms in the exchange of information.
It seems obvious that with the crisis of COVID 19 the sector is walking at a fast speed towards digitalization as some of the new rules approved by the EU Council at the beginning of April already announced, see the news El Vigia.
And while the digital re-evolution looks to the future of the logistics sector, at Webtrans we bring this future to your today, to your day-to-day, offering a platform with a world without limits, where you can reach anywhere from one place. In Webtrans we put in your hands the platform that combined artificial intelligence and blockchain technology to facilitate logistics processes by land, sea and air.
With Webtrans you will improve the traceability of your goods, simplify the administrative processes, optimise schedules and traffic flows, increase safety in measures to prevent damage to perishable and dangerous goods and, finally, contribute to reducing the CO2 emissions.
At Webtrans we offer you the control of the entire logistics chain from a unique interface.
In addition, we want to honor with our video to all those heroes who have changed their capes for a wheel, we want to make their way easier, offering loads so that their returns will not come back empty, a invoicing service so that the management is done in real time, an advance payment of their services so that they do not have to wait to be charged for endless days and days and a long etc. That we invite you to discover through our contact forms.
We will never forget that, in spite of everything, you, the hauliers, continue to carry out your work with the same or more, if possible, professionalism as always.
We want to take with this post to remind you that from the company, we have reached an agreement of collaboration with UNICEF by which a donation of 50 euros will be made for each new annual voucher until June 1st. Also from our home we have provided you with direct access to UNICEF for anyone who wants to make a personal donation to the non-profit organization that is allocating the funds to purchase equipment such as masks, surgical gloves, gels … to protect all those who are in the front line of the battle against the virus. Webtrans wants to give our support to UNICEF with this campaign so that the solution arrives as soon as possible.
Know all our services, take a look at our website.


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Thanks to Jericho’s Incentient, making an informed wine selection in a restaurant is more touchy-feely – literally. A recently designed touch-screen wine list dubbed Smartcellar by the Long Island tech company will be presented to diners at an upscale Manhattan ...Read More »
Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum on Friday sued Systemax Inc. and its subsidiaries, saying the companies failed to pay advertised rebates to consumers. Consumers reported that the rebate programs were very difficult to navigate and often led to consumers giving ...
Tagged with: SystemaxRead More »
Long Island’s biggest purveyor of Wi-Fi is vying for the region’s Holy Grail when it comes to Wi-Fi accounts: the Long Island Rail Road. Cablevision has responded to a request for proposals put forth by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to ...Read More »
With BlackBerrys, laptops, iPhones and other electronic devices becoming more ubiquitous, employees can more easily stay in touch and work from home or while on the road. But company policies regarding use of these technologies haven’t kept pace. That’s begun ...Read More »
The question of how Cablevision’s ownership of Newsday will be reflected in the daily paper’s pages has been answered … with a bullhorn. The Bethpage-based media company has decided to block its biggest rival, Verizon, from advertising its FiOS television ...Read More »
TiVo Inc. on Wednesday sued AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. for patent infringement, including one covering the ability to pause and rewind live TV. The DVR maker filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of ...Read More »

domain: news


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On TikTok, Personal Finance Fills a Knowledge Gap
The internet has led to the democratization of knowledge in a number of areas, from beauty to home improvement to cooking. In recent years, another arena in which people have turned to YouTube and, more recently, social media, for guidance is personal finance. According to a recent report in Bloomberg, there’s more overlap between the world of influencers and personal finance than you might think, an effect that’s been heightened by the pandemic. While millennial bloggers and YouTubers pitched the financial independence, retire early (FIRE) movement in the 2010s, the 2020s are focused on Gen Z, and TikTok is the medium for financial wisdom. Per Bloomberg:
“This year, as the Covid-19 pandemic wreaked economic havoc around the world, young people have increasingly turned to TikTok as a source of financial literacy and tips for managing their money. Hashtags like #sidehustle, #personalfinance, #investing and #stocktips have drawn millions of views in just a few months, and videos about how to become a millionaire by 22, which credit card to get or how to open a brokerage account have become regular programing.”
While personal finance gurus are not new, the emphasis on get-rich-quick messaging seems to be overrepresented in the digital space at the moment. This makes sense given the uncertainty the pandemic has brought to almost every corner of the economy. But it also has to do with the medium through which these ideas are dispersed. Personal finance gurus like Suze Orman and Robert Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter of “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” fame have pitched their ideas about saving and budgeting for decades, primarily through books. But as anyone who’s ever tried to create content on social media knows, people aren’t looking for the same old chestnuts when they seek advice online. “One weird trick” is what drives engagement.
That said, social media presents a unique opportunity for financial literacy to reach a younger audience, especially in the United States, where the subject is seldom taught in schools. (According to non-profit Next Gen Personal Finance’s 2019–2020 progress report, only six states require high schoolers to take at least one semester-long personal finance class.) TikTok in particular has the potential to present dense concepts like inflation, tax law, and retirement accounts in digestible, seconds-long bites. The graphics and editing abilities that are built into the app lend themselves well to educational content. There’s a reason why so many finance education YouTube videos seem a bit like PowerPoint presentations.
The risk of a dubious stock tip here or there might be outweighed by the benefits of reaching a demographic that’s traditionally uninterested in topics like credit and brokerage accounts. Simply seeing a video on, say, opening a retirement account might inspire a young person to give the topic thought. At S71, we work with creators to grow their audience across social platforms, including TikTok, with talent like Alonzo Lerone and Matthew Santoro. Like any other kind of social pressure, the drive to learn about money is not inherently a bad thing. As they say, knowledge is power. And when it comes to personal finance, knowledge is everything.


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First, there were niche networks. Now, with the massive bandwidth available over the public Internet, television programming is moving into micro niches, or, to be exact, micro networks.
Former executives of MTV and Nickelodeon have launched Next New Networks, a New York-based startup that will create highly specialized video Web sites on a wide range of narrow topics. They include subjects as varied as cartoons, car racing, comic books and do-it-yourself fashion.
The founders of Next New Networks include Herb Scannell, the former Nickelodeon executive responsible for "SpongeBob SquarePants" in the 1990s, and Fred Seibert, the first creative director at MTV and the man who made millions of viewers say, "I want my MTV."
The startup has received $8 million in seed capital, in part from the Pilot Group, a media investment firm run by Robert W. Pittman, who created MTV and later overhauled Nickelodeon, the "New York Times" reported. Other investors include Jonathan F. Miller, the former CEO of America Online, as well as some successful venture capital firms.
Next New Networks plans to blend elements of old and new media into a hybrid that revolves around professionally produced, sponsored video segments three to eight minutes in length. Though some programs will solicit user-produced content, outside submissions will be screened before airing.
The "Times" said the company plans to generate a limited amount of programming itself, but will be seeking talented video contributors to supply content on a regular basis.
The venture will begin with six Web sites. Fast Lane Daily (http://fastlanedaily.com) is a daily news program for auto enthusiasts. ThreadBanger (http://threadbanger.com/) offers a five-minute weekly show with MTV-style anchors that discuss the homemade-clothing culture. Two existing video sites — Channel Frederator (http://channelfrederator.com), a weekly program on animation, and VOD Cars (http://vodcars.com/) a curated collection of video clips from the car culture — will also join the network.
The company's founders compared their venture to the early, experimental days of cable. "The nature of big media companies is about incumbent brands and repurposing and refashioning their material for the Web," Scannell said. "We have no incumbent brands. We're a white sheet for creative people."
The network, now with 13 employees, said it has plans to launch more than 100 micro networks over the next five years. In the months to come, it plans to add one to three networks per month.
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WASHINGTON: An official US digital currency could offer potential benefits to American consumers and businesses, but it is not clear they would outweigh the potential risks, the Federal Reserve said Thursday.
In a long-awaited report on central bank digital currencies (CBDC), the Fed stressed that it is not taking a position nor does the paper signal “any imminent decisions about the appropriateness of issuing a US CBDC.”
The global rise of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin as well as the growing use of digital payments has fostered interest in an official digital money, and major central banks around the world are exploring the possibility, while Nigeria in October launched its own virtual money.
While existing cryptocurrencies can be subject to theft and used for illicit purposes, the Fed said a US digital currency, depending on how it is designed, “could provide households and businesses a convenient, electronic form of central bank money, with the safety and liquidity that would entail.”
However, a CBDC could also pose risks and raise questions about how it might affect banks and availability of credit as well as the “stability of the financial system, and the efficacy of monetary policy.”
The Fed said the paper is just “the first step in a public discussion... about the potential benefits and risks of a US CBDC,” and has asked for response to a questionnaire by May 20.
“We look forward to engaging with the public, elected representatives and a broad range of stakeholders as we examine the positives and negatives of a central bank digital currency in the United States,” Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said in a statement.
However, the report said the Fed “will only take further steps toward developing a CBDC if research points to benefits for households, businesses, and the economy overall that exceed the downside risks, and indicates that CBDC is superior to alternative methods.” The Fed likely would need authority from Congress to issue a digital dollar.


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Bringing you what’s new in travel for October 20th 2010 through October 21st 2010:
- Google’s self-driving car: The death of the great American road trip? – Nicholas DeRenzo recently posted this on This Just In… Newsweek's Travel Blog:
Google has taken cruise control to a whole new level. The company announced last week that it has invented a self-driving car. This isn't some distant-future, Jetsons-style invention that has only been dreamt up in the minds of mad scientists. We're talking about now. While such cars wouldn't be available to a wide market for years, fully-functional test models (Toyota Priuses outfitted with sensors) have already driven a whopping 140,000 miles. According to a New York Times article one of these cars even managed to maneuver itself down San Francisco's Lombard Street, widely considered to be America's "crookedest" road. So has it had any accidents? Only one, when a careless driver rear-ended the car at a red light!
Through the use of video cameras, radar, and a 360-degree rooftop sensor, these Google cars are expected to dramatically reduce accident rates and double the amount of vehicles that could fit on American roads.
Sure, the invention has its benefits, but I can't help but be a pessimist: Won't Google's self-driving cars ruin the American family road trip?
Stumbling upon off-the-beaten path destinations���from random roadside attractions to gas station barbecue joints to small town drive-in theaters���is what makes road trips so popular. Unless you remember to punch the world's largest jackalope or the Cadillac Ranch into your GPS system, you're all but guaranteed to miss these icons of Americana if you're in a self-driving car. In a sense, you'll lose the ability to get lost. I'm afraid road trips will become more about getting from point A to point B in the shortest amount of time and less about the wacky, kitschy, quirky stuff you encounter along the way. And I guarantee that few of our "Road Trip" story writers know about the hot spots they uncovered before getting behind the wheel and being willing to see where the road takes them.
What are your thoughts? Am I being too sensitive? Do you think the new Google car will ruin the family road trip?
- San Francisco: A must-have guide to Haight Ashbury – Justine Sharrock recently posted this on This Just In… Newsweek's Travel Blog:
Visitors interested in checking out Haight Street, famous for its role in the 1960s hippie heyday, should pick up a copy of the Haight Ashbury Map and Guide, by longtime Haight residents Jack and Gay Reineck (and published by Rufus Graphics).
- Exploring the Knife River Indian Villages of North Dakota – posted this over on Frommer's : Authentic prairie villages and a Lewis and Clark connection are just two of the reasons to see this site in the Missouri River Valley.
- In-flight Internet Coming to an Intercontinental Flight Near You – Smarter Travel has posted some info about ed perkins: Lots of big airlines are grabbing onto the in-flight-Internet trend, and many are involved with intercontinental travel. Ed Perkins explains what you can expect within the next year or so.
Head over to www.smartertravel.com to read the whole article.
- http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/blogs/commercial_aviation/ThingsW.. –


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[Via Satellite 09-21-2015] Astro Malaysia Holdings Berhad, the top pay-TV provider in Malaysia, anticipates adding 50,000 additional subscribers during fiscal year 2016. The company announced it gained 15,000 more subscribers while reporting its financial results for the first six months of fiscal year 2016, ending Jan. 31, 2016, and launched seven new channels.
Investors view Astro positively as a company with significant potential. Many regarded this latest earnings report as confidence building.
“We are encouraged to learn that Astro recorded 15,000 growth in pay-TV subs in the quarter (vs. the 5,000 subs loss in 1QFY16) as customers return to Astro’s platform in time for the Raya festivities (Raya is an Islamic festival and is recognized as a public holiday in Malaysia). We think that this explains the gradual decline of the churn rate from 10.3 percent in 1QFY16 to 9.8 percent in 2QFY16. In addition, management also attributed the improvement in pay-TV subs to conversion from its NJOI customers (its prepaid TV offering) to the pay-TV platform. For 1HFY16, management estimated that Astro has completed about 19k conversion from prepaid to pay-TV platform,” CIMB Analyst Mohd Shanaz Noor Azam wrote in a Sept. 16 research note.
Revenue for Astro grew 4 percent Year over Year (YoY) to RM2.7 billion ($640 million), and EBIDTA climbed 7 percent to RM962 million ($227 million). The pay-TV operator’s CEO Rohana Rozhan said in a Sept. 15 statement that the company added 426,000 net TV customers in H1FY16, increasing Astro’s market penetration in Malaysia to 65 percent, up from 60 percent the same time last year.
“Astro is our top pick for the Malaysian media sector due to its strong three-year EPS CAGR of 21 percent and dominant market position with a 65 percent market penetration. Rising ARPU growth from value-added services and stronger contribution from home shopping are potential catalysts,” Mohd Shanaz continued.
He noted, however, that Malaysia’s Goods and Service Tax, enacted in April 2015, has influenced customer spending, and is likely the cause of a 1.4 percent drop in Astro B.yond HD subs.
In an April 2015 interview, Swee Lin Liew, Astro’s chief commercial officer, told Via Satellite the pay-TV provider added 10 new channels last year, and reached a total of 48 HD channels. Liew said Astro anticipates doubling the amount of satellite capacity it uses over the next five years to have room for significantly more HD channels as well as more SD channels. She said the company also envisions reaching a household penetration rate of 84 percent.
“Amid a weak consumer sentiment, management noted that while low-to-mid ARPU customers continue to adjust their wallet share, premium customers have been spending more, which is reflected in the pick-up in its multi-room and PVR net adds — this could continue in the near future,” Pankaj Suri, analyst at Nomura, wrote in a Sept. 16 research note.
Rozhan said Astro is also aiming to increase the take up of connected boxes and of Astro on the Go from 181,000 to 500,000 by the end of the year. Astro on the Go, which now lets users download programs to mobile devices for offline viewing, saw downloads increase by 31 percent YoY to 1.6 million with weekly viewing time exceeding 140 minutes. Astro has also seen success with the launch of its Go Shop channel, and plans to launch a second Go Shop channel in Chinese in November 2015.


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Our universities produce thousands of engineers each year. Have you ever thought how many graduates end up creating jobs, rather than hunting for one?
The answer appears to be obvious. An overwhelming majority of the graduates opt for the latter, with goals of joining multinational companies (MNCs) like Pepsi, Procter & Gamble, and Unilever. One can’t fault them either as working for MNCs has become a status symbol—revered by friends, family and society at large.
However if you look beyond the obvious, you will discover an amazing trend in Pakistan’s most prestigious universities. There’s a small but exceptionally strong movement in top-tier universities like National University of Science and Technology (NUST), Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), and Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute (GIKI) where current students are launching businesses, or doing so right after graduation.
To back my claim, I would like to share observations from NUST School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (SEEC). I graduated from there with a Bachelors in Engineering (Software Engineering) last year. Of the eighty classmates who graduated successfully, twenty are currently pursuing entrepreneurship. That’s an incredible 25 percent of our batch! It includes a healthy mix of technology startups, digital agencies and general businesses. Let’s look at a couple of examples.
Trequant, for example, is developing a wearable for tracking tremors. They’ve been featured in major publications all over the world including Tech in Asia, Express Tribune, and Digital Trends. PriceOye.pk, my own startup which helps Pakistanifind lowest online prices, has received coverage on platforms like e27.co, ProPakistani, and Daily Pakistan. Traverse Pakistan is launching a local travelopedia while operating tours to the north to boost tourism.
One particularly great example is Aloo Clan. I remember we were in our second year when we heard our classmate Usama Tauqeer launched his own business. We were all surprised by this move, especially since we were about to enter the toughest phase of our undergraduate program.
Yet, Usama and his co-founders subsisted, and came out victorious. Starting with just three co-founders, they now have a huge network of 55 commissions-based employees, and 9 part-time ones who are distributed all over Pakistan. To date, they have served 80+ local and international clients.
What’s even more interesting is that they achieved profitability while the founders were in school. After they graduated in mid-2015, revenues have grown a whopping 88 percent!
The advent of 3G/4G spectrum, greater awareness of technology, lowering smartphone prices, better access to knowledge – these are some of the important elements which have come together to create an environment conducive to entrepreneurship. It’s great to see our universities encouraging students, our industry facilitating startups, and society supporting the risk-tolerant individuals.
As someone who has benefited greatly from the Internet, I find Pakistan’s new-found love for it quite delightful. Since its launch in 2014, telcos are adding at least 1 million 3G/4G users each month! This is expected to grow as smartphone imports keep increasing every year. The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) reported 50 percent of all imported phones last year were smartphones – an increase of 125 percent over the previous period.
Solving problems, increasing convenience, and providing entertainment to an increasingly digital Pakistan is creating amazing opportunities for entrepreneurial individuals.
I have been closely following major startup ecosystems these past few years. Observing small startups quickly grow to become multi-billion dollar companies in U.S. and India always left me longing for a similar ecosystem in Pakistan.
The efforts of industry leaders like Dr. Umar Saif are to be lauded here, as they’ve kick-started a national entrepreneurship revolution. Just look at the startup examples I shared from NUST-SEECS: Two of them were incubated at Plan9—the government-backed startups incubator.
Thanks to such initiatives, Pakistanis are finally developing products for Pakistan and rest of the world, in Pakistan! We are nowhere near U.S. and India certainly, but I still feel great about this encouraging trend in Pakistan where colossal wealth is created by solving problems at scale with technology. You should, too!
Awais Imran is an Internet Entrepreneur & Public Speaker.


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Sprint King Usain is Bolting to the bank with a new deal with sponsor Puma. Bolt is said to sign a new endorsement with the sports wear giant that will run through to 2013. The deal is said to be the highest for an athlete earning Bolt in the region of US$6-7 million a year.
Until the end of 2013, PUMA will continue to be the official supplier of performance, training and lifestyle apparel and footwear for Usain Bolt. Bolt will play a pivotal role in PUMA’s global marketing campaigns… Continue
Added by megacityvip on August 24, 2010 at 6:25pm —


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SoftBank Profit Beats Estimates on Subscriber Boost
July 31 (Bloomberg) -- SoftBank, the Japanese carrier that acquired Sprint Corp for $21.6 billion, posted profit that beat analyst estimates after using Apple Inc.’s iPhone and acquisitions to lure subscribers. David Ingles reports on Bloomberg Television's "First Up." (Source: Bloomberg)
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Honeywell CEO Cote: Why Free Trade Is Good for U.S.
30:51 - David Cote, chairman and chief executive officer at Honeywell, explains why trade is important to his company and the U.S. economy, the populist backlash against free trade in America, and what he is looking for in the next U.S. president. He speaks on "Bloomberg ‹GO›." (Source: Bloomberg)


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IRVINE, Calif., June 19, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- In honor of National Solar Day, Golden State Foods (GSF), one of the world's largest suppliers to the quick service restaurant (QSR) industry is pleased to announce their adoption of solar energy to power pallet jacks and lift gates, extending the service life of lift gate electric batteries on their trucking fleet, thereby maximizing efficiency and minimizing the impact on the environment. By the end of 2015, each of the 10 Quality Custom Distribution (QCD) centers, a division of GSF, will be equipped with trucks utilizing the solar panels.
GSF embarked upon the use of alternative energy in 2012, beginning with traditional solar panels that power pallet jacks in Southern California. Within the past few months, GSF facilities in Southern California and Oregon have installed thin, flexible, weatherproof, high output solar panels to a total of 20 trailers and one tractor. The low profile solar panels passively charge the lift gate batteries during the day, regardless of whether the vehicles are on or off.
"It's a priority goal for GSF to utilize renewable energy or alternative fuels in 100 percent of our fleet by 2020," said Dimetria Jackson, director of corporate social responsibility and sustainability at Golden State Foods. "Through the innovative use of solar energy, we have eliminated an industrywide challenge of maintaining lift gate battery life during deliveries, allowing GSF to provide sustainable, consistent and reliable service to our customers."
With advances in technology, the new solar panels are a lightweight, thin film that is rolled onto the tops of trailers and tractors. The panels are flexible and work in both UV-A and UV-B light. Since installing the solar panels, GSF has eliminated battery related failure on delivery routes.
About Golden State Foods (GSF)
Golden State Foods (www.goldenstatefoods.com) is one of the world's largest diversified suppliers to the quick service restaurant industry. Established in 1947, the $7 billion company is values-based with proven performance in superior quality, innovation and customer service throughout the QSR industry. With approximately 5,500 employees worldwide, GSF services more than 125,000 stores in 60 countries on five continents from its 45+ facilities. Its core businesses include processing of liquid products, dairy, produce, protein, and full-line logistics to the food industry. The company also runs a national non-profit organization, the GSF Foundation for kids.
SOURCE Golden State Foods


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The pharmaceutical distribution sector is full of exciting opportunities for young professionals, whose fresh perspectives and innovative ideas will help enhance supply chain efficiency and security.
HDA’s Faces of the Supply Chain series continued this past month with the release of new videos featuring perspectives from nine distribution sector experts. Interviews touched upon topics ranging from innovations in healthcare distribution and manufacturing; the industry’s focus on patients; supply chain resilience through the COVID-19 pandemic; and more.
While the business of pharmaceutical distribution has changed significantly over the past eight decades, HDA members like Capital Wholesale Drug Company (Capital Drug) have continued to play an essential role in providing safe and efficient healthcare delivery to trusted pharmacists and providers.
On May 25, HDA member company KeySource gave a tour of their distribution center in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Representative Steve Chabot (R-Ohio).
In less than 18 months, the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) will reach its final milestone, culminating a 10-year implementation process across the healthcare supply chain. To help manufacturers and distributors prepare for interoperable data exchange, HDA, along with technical expertise from distributor- and manufacturer-member task force participants, has published new guidelines and other resources with the latest information and best practices.
Each June, Pride Month recognizes the spirit and contributions of the LGBTQIA+ community. It also serves as an opportunity to reinforce our industry’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and to ensure the health and vitality of the communities we serve.
The global supply chain continues to face scrutiny, with port backups and product shortages grabbing headlines. However, as Chuck Forsaith, Vice President and Founder of HDA’s Pharmaceutical Cargo Security Coalition (PCSC), shared in a recent episode of the Pharmacy Crossroads podcast, there is another supply chain risk impacting trading partners throughout the healthcare distribution industry — which HDA’s PCSC has been diligently tracking and working to combat. Pharmacy Crossroads, hosted by pharmacy industry veteran Bruce Kneeland, provides an insider voice for the community pharmacy industry and is a member of the Pharmacy Podcast Network.
Texas-based Authentix, which provides authentication services to a range of sectors, launched in 2003 with a few dozen employees and a modest, but loyal customer base. These devoted customers, many of whom have worked with the company for nearly 20 years, are the foundation upon which this HDA-member service provider has grown into a global company with more than 400 staff and operations on five continents.
The World Health Organization has estimated that more than 13 million deaths around the globe are due to avoidable environmental causes stemming from climate change. Accordingly, this year’s World Health Day (April 7) theme is “Our Planet, Our Health,” which focuses on the political, social and commercial decisions that affect the environment as a factor in human health. The public and private sectors each can do their part on this front — and HDA believes that healthcare distributors have an important role to play in the health of the planet when it comes to delivering medications sustainably.
As March comes to a close, HDA is rounding out Women’s History Month celebrations by sharing perspectives from some of the incredible women making a difference within the distribution sector and the larger healthcare ecosystem. Interviews were conducted in conjunction with the recent Distribution Management Conference and other forums in support of HDA’s Faces of the Supply Chain video series, a new initiative of the Health Delivered campaign.
Healthcare distributors, as logistics experts of the supply chain, are constantly innovating to increase efficiencies, optimize operations and generate solutions for an ever-evolving ecosystem — while continuously ensuring the safe, efficient and reliable delivery of 10 million medicines and healthcare products every day.
Throughout the past year, HDA distributor members worked tirelessly to ensure the continued delivery of everyday, lifesaving medicines and support COVID-19 response efforts. Equipped with extensive logistics expertise, distributors used communication, collaboration and coordination with trading partners and at all levels of the government to aid and help protect the health of Americans across the country.
The health of the pharmaceutical supply chain depends on the expertise and ingenuity of the committed professionals working to help get lifesaving medicines and supplies to points of care as efficiently as possible.
With the deadline to implement the 2013 Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) now less than two years away, HDA has released a new video that highlights the great progress that has been made by industry to implement DSCSA and some of the biggest challenges that still remain.
The coronavirus pandemic fostered and underscored the benefits of public-private partnerships as healthcare supply chain companies used their expertise and strengths to support the government’s response to an ongoing health crisis. The Milken Institute’s “2021 Partnering for Patients Forum” explored this topic during a panel discussion entitled, “Reimagining Public Health Partnerships: Lessons Learned from the Pandemic.”
Events spanning COVID-19 vaccine distribution to shipping containers held up at port have made the supply chain a “kitchen-table” issue during the past year. Many industries experienced notable disruptions in their delivery of goods and supplies; however, as noted by President and CEO Chip Davis, “[P]harmacies, health systems and physicians’ offices, more than 180,000 across the country, remain stocked with the lifesaving medications and vaccines patients need. That didn’t happen by accident.” Davis’ perspective was featured alongside healthcare supply chain association leaders as part of Chain Drug Review’s annual “Pharmacy Outlook” feature.
The two-year countdown to the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) deadline has begun. This final milestone, in combination with those already completed, will fundamentally change how product and data move together across the healthcare supply chain.
On October 7, HDA launched a three-part series to showcase how the distribution industry is helping create healthier communities through philanthropy, employee activism, partnerships with nonprofit organizations and more.
On October 7, we launched a three-part series to showcase how the distribution industry is making a difference in local communities across the country. In part one, we explored how HDA’s distributor members are leaving their imprint upon communities through corporate, foundation and employee support.
Long before the COVID-19 pandemic, HDA healthcare distributors recognized the vital role that philanthropy plays in building healthier communities — and the industry’s responsibility in leading these efforts.


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Audi is working on a comprehensive update for its A4 sedan which is expected to be revealed early in 2020.
In 2018, Audi quietly introduced a mild model year update to its A4 sedan and while the changes were mostly cosmetic, a full-blown facelift is currently underway to bring the A4 up to speed so that it can effectively compete against the all-new BMW 3 Series and Mercedes-Benz C-Class.
Our spy photographers have captured images of camouflaged A4 test mules winter testing in Europe and can be seen wearing a thoroughly revised grilled and a new headlight and daytime running light design. The rear bumper has also been reworked, now sporting rectangular tailpipes.
With the arrival of the new 3 Series, Audi will have to up its interior game and the facelifted A4 is expected to bring a host of changes in terms of design and technology, which will likely follow direction from the A6. Changes to engine options are also expected but details will emerge as development progresses. We will keep you updated as soon as more details become available.


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Long before Instagram toyed with removing “likes,” VSCO, an Oakland-based photo-sharing and editing app, built a community devoid of likes, comments and follower counts. Perhaps known to many only because of this year’s “VSCO girl” meme explosion, the company has long been coaxing the creative community to its freemium platform. Turns out, if you can provide the disillusioned teens of Gen Z respite from the horrors of social media — they’ll pay for it.
VSCO is on pace to surpass 4 million paying users in 2020, up from 2 million paying users in late 2018, the company said. Approaching $80 million in annual revenue, VSCO charges an annual subscription fee of $19.99 for access to a full-suite of mobile photo-editing tools, exclusive photo filters, tutorials and more. For no cost, users can access a handful of basic VSCO filters, standard editing tools and loads of content published by other users in VSCO’s photo feed.
In recent months, the company’s Oakland headquarters has swelled to 150 employees, an increase of 50% from 2018, with a new office in Chicago expected to fit several dozen more. The company, which counts 100 million registered users to date, has also recently inked a partnership with Snap. Together, they’ve launched Analog, VSCO’s first-ever Snapchat lens, in a deal that hints at a future acquisition. Needless to say, VSCO co-founder and chief executive officer Joel Flory is feeling pretty optimistic ahead of his company’s eighth birthday.
“When you walk into a museum, you don’t see the net worth of the artist,” Flory tells TechCrunch. “You don’t see how many people have walked through the museum. There’s not a space for people to write comments and leave stickers. It’s a moment. It’s for you. You get to sit in front of a piece of work, a piece of art. And does it move you? Does it speak to you? Are you able to learn something from it? Does it inspire you to go do something? How can we create a space in which you could do that online? That was our initial insight.”
Flory, a 40-year-old former wedding photographer, wears a grey Oakland Roots sweatshirt and a black Oakland Athletics hat when I meet him at VSCO’s offices on Oakland’s Broadway Avenue in November. He doesn’t look like the Gen Z whisperer I expected to meet, and his responses to my questions about the “VSCO girl” meme paint a picture of a CEO who’s inadvertently connected with a generation 20 years his junior. “It’s a sense of caring about the environment and kind of caring about causes that have a meaning and impact,” Flory said of “VSCO girls,” who have more-oft been described as 21st century valley girls or “annoying, white


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Google has presented a new Chromecast with Android TV that will allow us to control it using a remote with a bluetooth connection. Only for developers.
Android was born as a mobile operating system, but soon Google saw the potential it had and began to carry out spin offs for all kinds of products. The most striking due to its scope was Android TV , but it never came to fruition in a massive way, as it did on phones.
However, Google did not give up and in a twist to the concept of using Android on TV created the Chromecast , arguably the company's most successful hardware device.
Now he has decided to unite both concepts is a new Chromecast that will integrate the Android TV operating system, uniting the best of both worlds, as we already have in other devices such as the Xiaomi Mi Box . Of course, the device in question will not be sold to the public and will be relegated to the realm of developers so that they can test their apps for Android TV.
If so, you can also use another application to watch on SSS, which is titanium apk.


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Two new £13m presses on round-the-clock shifts to cope with customer demand
The new £13 million state of the art presses installed by automotive component company Unipres in Sunderland have led to the creation in 22 new jobs since they went live just after Christmas.
The giant pieces of kit – a 2,500 tonne Tri Axis transfer press and 600 tonne blanking press – are now working around the clock on three shifts producing lightweight, high tensile strength steel parts mainly for use at Nissan.
Japanese-owned Unipres is also ramping up production to supply Honda in Swindon with components for its new Civic Global model, which will be sold in Europe and the US. The company also produces parts for Renault and exports around a quarter of its products to overseas car makers.
The new equipment completes a £83 million capital investment programme in the Sunderland plant started by the Unipres Corporation in 2013. It has safeguarded 157 jobs at the site in addition to creating the 22 new positions on the new presses. The plant currently has a workforce of 1,162.
Unipres managing director Gary Graham said: “This level of investment is a statement of belief and confidence in the long term future of Unipres UK in supporting existing volumes and the on-going success of our major customers such as Nissan, Renault and Honda, whilst expanding our developing overseas markets in Europe and Russia which now equates to 25 per cent of our business.
“The new presses went on to three shifts immediately and they are now working flat out. The investment gives us greater capacity and takes a load off the existing presses.”
Unipres now has 18 presses and uses 514 425 robots to assemble the steel components – an essential part of the new generation of fuel efficient cars being built, which need lightweight parts manufactured to the highest safety standards. The plant uses 450 tonnes of steel every day.
A large proportion of the components are used by Nissan, which is based close to Unipres on Cherry Blossom Way. Unipres parts are found in Nissan Juke, Qashqai, Leaf and Note models along with the new Infiniti produced in Sunderland, as well as Renault models Kadjar, Espace, Scenic, Clio and Captur, Honda models CRV and Civic built in Swindon. The export of the new Honda Civic Global to the US has created greater volume demand for Unipres’s parts. In addition, the company is also focusing on increasing its exports in 2016 to customers in France, Spain and Russia.
Since arriving in Sunderland in 1987, Unipres has invested £180 million in the plant. The installation of the two new presses was the conclusion of a project that took two years from concept to completion, and was one the largest engineering tasks ever undertaken at the site.
Councillor Paul Watson, leader of Sunderland City Council, said: “Unipres is a fantastic asset to Sunderland’s automotive sector, and we’re delighted the company’s latest investment has resulted in 22 new jobs.
“Unipres has a long-term commitment to the city, and we are proud to support the business as it goes from strength to strength, both in its business with domestic car manufacturers such as Nissan and in winning new global orders.
“Through the success of companies like Unipres, Sunderland is well and truly on the international automotive map as a great place to do business, supported by the strong infrastructure of a successful and mature industry.”


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As theme park fans and employees wonder when it will be safe for the parks to reopen, many of us also are beginning to think about what the parks might look like once they do. The longer that this temporary closure lasts, the more likely it will be to make lasting changes to the theme park industry.
Some changes have happened already. SeaWorld has seen another CEO head for the door, although to be fair, SeaWorld’s CEO office seems to have put through more people than Tidal Twister did in the past year. Over at Six Flags, the board has implemented a “stockholder rights” plan, otherwise known as a “poison pill” strategy to ward off a hostile takeover.
Stock prices at SeaWorld, Six Flags and Knott’s owner Cedar Fair dived along with the rest of the stock market after the coronavirus hit. With market caps each under a billion dollars at this point, the companies could become takeover targets — if anyone in this ailing economy has the money to buy them.
Money is an issue even for market leader Disney, which will furlough its theme park employees and has told its June class of college intern cast members they won’t be needed this summer. Construction has stopped on new attractions at Disneyland and Walt Disney World as the company complies with local stay-at-home orders. But with no income from the parks right now, one has to wonder how many of the new rides and shows that Disney has announced will end up happening.
Will anyone be able to afford new rides and shows for a while? And if fans can’t afford to visit the parks as often as they did before, is there any point in parks spending millions of dollars in an attempt to attract those fans?
Fans will have some new attractions to enjoy when the parks return. Universal Studios Hollywood’s The Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash! ride was ready to soft-open when the parks closed, and SeaWorld San Diego’s Emperor dive coaster was testing. Legoland California was ready to open its Lego Movie World land, too.
But Disneyland announced that its Avengers Campus at Disney California Adventure would open on July 18 just one day before it announced its parks’ closure. With construction stopped, it’s hard to imagine the new Marvel-themed land opening by then, even if the parks do. It’s also hard to imagine any park going forward with new construction projects before it sees what the post-coronavirus marketplace will be able to support.
Forget the money for a moment. Let’s think about how this experience is changing the way we feel and act. Will fans conditioned to accept social distancing come back and embrace the shoulder-to-shoulder experience of being in a theme park or will they seek something different? Will the “something goes terribly wrong and the world is in peril” story lines that drive so many theme park attractions resonate with or repel audiences?
We don’t know yet. This is the biggest disruption in theme park history. But every industry disruption creates a business opportunity. The parks that survive and thrive in the post-corona world will be the ones whose leaders are envisioning that future correctly right now.


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The Rapid Expansion of Illicit Vaping
The lack of strict regulations and effective law enforcement mechanisms has allowed the illicit vaping market to flourish in the UK. Counterfeit and unregulated vaping products are flooding the market, offering consumers a potentially dangerous alternative to legitimate, regulated products.
The Health Implications
The consequences of unchecked illicit vaping are dire. Consumers who unknowingly purchase counterfeit or substandard products put their health at risk. These products may contain harmful chemicals, inconsistent nicotine levels, or even unknown contaminants that pose serious health threats.
The Urgent Need for Law Enforcement
To address the lack of law enforcement in the illicit vaping market, the UK government must strengthen the regulatory framework surrounding vaping products. This includes stricter product testing, transparent labeling, and clear penalties for those involved in the production and distribution of illegal vaping products.
Law enforcement agencies need additional resources and training to detect and combat illicit vaping operations effectively. Increased surveillance and targeted investigations are essential to curb the growth of the black market for vaping products.
Raising public awareness about the risks associated with illicit vaping is crucial. Campaigns that educate consumers on how to identify genuine vaping products and the dangers of using counterfeit alternatives can play a vital role in reducing demand for illicit goods.
Given the global nature of the illicit vaping market, international collaboration is vital. The UK should work closely with other countries to share information, intelligence, and best practices in combating illicit vaping operations.


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Hewlett-Packard has started shipping a new set of software that automates many of the painstaking storage management tasks normally handled by an administrator, as the vendor works to keep pace with rival EMC.
HP began selling the OpenView Storage Provisioner software last week, adding a new tool for users of storage hardware acquired when the company bought Compaq Computer Corp. The software will allow users to set up policies that automate tasks such as freeing up more storage space for an application and backing up data. The new product is similar to EMC's Automated Resource Manager software that also started shipping last week.
"This offers customers a clear time and cost savings in that it cuts down tasks that used to take hours, days or even weeks to something that can be done in a few minutes," said Don Langeberg, director of marketing of network storage solutions at HP. "It also reduces the amount of human intervention, which can sometimes translate into human errors."
Storage system rivals HP and EMC are locked in a fierce battle to provide customers with software than can manage storage hardware from a number of vendors. Their efforts to open up their storage platforms and develop advanced software could have a big payoff for the end user, according to analysts.
"I know that both HP and EMC are aggressive about this and are on the front line," said Jamie Gruener, senior analyst at The Yankee Group, in Boston. "These tools help automate a lot of the manual tasks that administrators have been challenged by and are a top priority for the enterprise."
HP's new provisioning software fits into the company's OpenView Storage Area Manager (SAM) suite of software. It initially will work with the storage hardware HP acquired in its merger with Compaq and then will be extended to additional HP hardware and products from other vendors some time next year, Langeberg said.
Administrators can use the OpenView Storage Provisioner to handle a wide range of tasks. The software will automate the steps needed to designate a certain class of storage system for a particular application and also to free up more space for that application if the need arises. In addition, users can set up policies to tell the software when it should take snapshots of data for backup purposes. The new product also will alert administrators to potential problems such as dwindling storage capacity.
HP additionally has built in some billing functions for the OpenView Storage Provisioner. The software will report on how much storage a certain groups of users is consuming and what types of performance they receive, Langeberg said.
Pricing for an entry-level configuration of the software which includes the OpenView Storage Management Appliance needed to run the applications, will start at US$20,000, HP said. That configuration can support 2T bytes of storage.
The Yankee Group's Gruener said HP's new product fits in well with the company's overall goal of providing a broad set of software to manage multivendor storage.
"HP's Storage Provisioner is an important product, but it is also part of a larger framework that they plug it in to, whereas EMC's product is more of a crown jewel or a core product than something they would plug into something like OpenView SAM. But, I think for customers the end result is pretty much the same," he said.
EMC's product supports its own Symmetrix and Clariion systems and HP's StorageWorks systems, and HP is expected to follow on quickly with multivendor support, Gruener said. HP is probably waiting for the completion of a set of storage management standards that are being developed by the Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) before adding in support for more hardware.
"HP is waiting for the finalized standards to arrive before moving ahead, which is a prudent thing to do at this point," Gruener said.


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Keith Harris and Orville star in rap video for giffgaff
Mobile phone firm giffgaff has launched a new campaign featuring Keith and Orville starring in a rap video.
The two-minute parody, created by Albion London, urges viewers to "unlock your phone and unlock a chicken".
Giffgaff is working with the Wood Green Animal Sheter to re-home battery hen chickens when new giffgaff SIM cards are activated.
Albion executive creative director, Nick Darken said: "People on long mobile contracts are analogous to battery hens, laying profit for big mobile companies.
"We launched the idea of unlocking real battery hens through new SIM activations last year, and the giffgaff community loved it. We're now giving them shareable content to help get the chicken love out there. And yes we know - Orville is a duck."
The campaign gets underway today.


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Redmi launched the Redmi A1 budget smartphone in India last month. Today, the company has announced the launch of Redmi A1+, an upgraded version in the country on October 14th. This has a similar leather-like rear design, but it will come with a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner.
The phone was introduced for global markets a couple of weeks back that revealed that the phone will retain the 6.52-inch HD+ LCD screen MediaTek Helio A22 SoC, Android 12 Go Edition, 8MP rear camera along with a secondary depth sensor, 5MP front camera, and a 5000mAh battery with support for 10W charging.
Redmi A1+ specifications
- 6.52-inch (1600 x 720 pixels) HD+ 20:9 aspect ratio display, 400 nits brightness, scratch resistant glass
- 2GHz Quad-Core MediaTek Helio A22 12nm processor with IMG PowerVR GE-class GPU
- 2GB / 3GB LPDDR4X RAM, 32GB eMMC 5.1 internal storage, expandable memory up to 512GB with microSD
- Android 12 Go Edition
- Dual SIM (nano + nano + microSD)
- 8MP rear camera with LED Flash, f/2.0 aperture, depth sensor
- 5MP front-facing camera, f/2.2 aperture
- Splash resistant (P2i coating)
- Rear-mounted fingerprint scanner
- 3.5mm audio jack, Top-ported loudspeaker, FM Radio
- Dimensions: 164.9x 76.75x 9.09mm,; Weight: 192g
- Dual 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS + GLONASS
- 5000mAh battery with 10W charging
The Redmi A1+ will come in Light Blue, Light Green and Black colours. We should know the price when it is launched later this week.


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MEXICO CITY, Nov 8 (Reuters) – Apple founder Steve Wozniak was hospitalized in Mexico City on Wednesday after suffering a stroke, Mexican media said, but a TMZ report, citing sources, suggested the illness was due to severe dizziness. .
The 73-year-old scientist and technology entrepreneur was scheduled to attend a World Business Forum event in the Mexican capital’s Santa Fe neighborhood on Wednesday afternoon.
Event organizers did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Wozniak was scheduled to address the conference at 4:20 p.m. local time.
Reuters could not immediately confirm the news that Wozniak had been hospitalized.
US media outlet TMZ, citing sources with direct knowledge, said Wozniak finished his speech but told his wife he “felt weird”. He insisted that she go to the hospital.
TMZ reports that Wozniak may be suffering from vertigo.
In 1976, Wozniak co-founded the fledgling Apple computer company with his most famous business partner, Steve Jobs, the legendary investor and longtime Apple CEO who died in 2011.
Their business pioneered the personal computer and became one of the world’s most valuable companies, known for the design and operation of a range of consumer electronics, including laptop and desktop computers and the iPhone mobile phone.
People associated with Wozniak’s website, woz.org, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Reporting by Anthony Esposito and Valentine Hilaire, additional reporting by Daniel Trotta in California; Editing by David Alire Garcia and Sri Navaratnam and Miral Fahmi
Our Standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.


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Home Tags Lisa Kivirist
Tag: Lisa Kivirist
"We have a judge's ruling saying that selling home-baked goods is legal, but we do not have a law." Lisa Kivirist on what happens now.
The state of Wisconsin is continuing its push to limit the sale of home-baked goods. This much hasn't changed: A judge's ruling that home bakers can...


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Shell UK is preparing to launch the lastest version of its premium fuel V-Power in the spring. The new fuel, which features 'Dynaflex technology' will be marketed across the media and on Shell forecourts nationwide as 'Britain's best fuel'.
Greenergy has signed agreements to supply a further three sites owned by Top 50 Indie Penny Petroleum, taking the number of Penny Petroleum sites supplied by Greenergy to seven. All of these sites are Esso-branded.
Jaguar drivers can now use their cars touchscreen to pay for fuel at Shell filling stations with a new cashless payment app.
Certas Energy's retail director Ramsay MacDonald is in buoyant mood as he reflects on the strength of the company's Gulf brand as we head into 2017. "Now's a good time for people to be contacting us, because we're locked and loaded to go," he gushes.
The glorious Powerscourt Hotel in Wicklow, Ireland, was the setting for last month's biennial Jet conference, which brought together retailers, wholesalers and senior Phillips 66 executives including Brian Mandell, president, global marketing in an informal setting. The event is all about relationship building, sharing news, ideas and feedback.
Dramatic falls in the price of petrol and diesel, and a boom in the fleet of vans making home deliveries, have helped to turn around a weakening fuel market. The total volume of road fuel sales looked to be in permanent decline after year-on-year falls from their peak in 2007 to 2013, but the trend is now positive again.
Expect to hear more about Harvest Energy in the coming months and years. Its goal is to double its dealer business over the next five years, growing 20% every 12 months. It also plans to grow its company owned network, both operated and unmanned.
Since Top 50 Indie group MFG took over Murco's retail assets in October 2014, the focus to the outside world has been very much on the 228 company owned sites in the deal, which considerably boosted its portfolio of filling stations at the time to 288.
UK BP dealers gathered in Berlin last month for the official launch of BP's new premium fuel Ultimate with active technology. The event involved 600 guests from 15 countries across Europe, scientists involved in the project, as well as a visit by chief executive Bob Dudley.
A change of leadership in any company can be an unsettling time. But at Phillips 66 care was taken to facilitate a smooth transition as Pete George, the well-respected and long-serving managing director, UK and Ireland, retired and made way for the incoming Mary Wolf.
Retailers are signing up to Shell in the UK because of the growing strength of the brand, which follows the company's aspiration to be the number one global fuel retailer, according to David Moss, Shell UK's general manager, retail.
Essar Oil UK has just reported its best three-quarter year results, with a profit after tax of $179m (up to December 31), compared with $35.3m for the same period in the previous year.
It's been another positive year for the Gulf brand, according to Certas Energy's retail director Ramsay MacDonald, who admits to being hugely ambitious, and spending every waking hour constantly thinking about how the brand can enhance its position in the marketplace.
reportsIndependent forecourt groups are changing the world. Well, to be more precise, they're changing the world of distribution and logistics company Hoyer Petrolog, according to its operations director Allan Davison (pictured above).
Jet used the Forecourt Show 2015 as a platform to launch its new convenience initiative, a concept that will give Jet's 350-plus dealers access to four bespoke levels of retail support.
Harvest Energy is back on the dealer trail following an 18 month review, and is supplying fuel at better prices than its major competitors, according to Ian Woodcock, the company's head of retail and branded wholesale, speaking at last month's Forecourt Show in Birmingham.
In the summer of 2011 Shell surprised the industry with its purchase of around 250 Total sites from a consortium, Rontec Investments, which had just acquired Total's UK retail and fuel distribution business. This was during a period when most oil companies as amply illustrated by Total were either rationalising their networks or pulling out of the market altogether. A trend which has continued Esso is currently in the throes of disposing of its retail network.
Mention the word refinery, and not long after comes the phrase 'challenging environment'. That's because the UK's refineries the few that remain are facing enormous competitive pressures which could threaten their future survival. There was hope that the recent government review into the UK's refining and fuel imports sectors looking at the security of fuel supply would offer some element of support and a level playing field to the heavily regulated refining community, but alas it merely served to disappoint. What it did highlight however, was the fact that in 1975 there were 19 refineries operating in the UK, but by 2014 this had fallen to seven. This was reported in April before Murco announced it was to stop buying crude oil for processing at its Milford Haven Refinery, whose future is uncertain as a sale process is under way.
The Nisa-branded forecourt concept is proving a great success, with six retailers fully branded and more in the pipeline, according to Nisa's format and development director Raj Krishan.
Esso's On the Run format will soon be consigned to the archives as the final tranche of the oil major's company-owned sites are put on the market, and it charts a new path to growth if not market leadership in the retail fuel market.
Jet has launched a new standards and service programme, 'Proud to be Jet'. The programme assesses, benchmarks and continually measures site performance across Jet-branded forecourts based on annual compliance audits and other brand-related activity. The programme has been designed to improve the forecourt experience for customers in terms of facilities and forecourt safety, but also to reward dealers and instil a sense of pride in being part of the brand's network.
A deal to sell 84 service stations to two of the Top 50 Indies has been agreed by Esso Petroleum Company and ROC UK (ExxonMobil).
Despite being the largest retail food chain in the world, Spar is very clear about its goal for 2014 it wants to get more retailers in the UK selling Spar-branded fuel.
Dealer groups are now signing to the Gulf brand in significant numbers according to Ramsay MacDonald, retail director of Certas Energy (formerly known as GB Oils). The signings mean that the company will start the New Year 53 million litres stronger as a result.
For those of you who believe that staffing at the Petrol Retailers' Association has been a bit thin on the ground of late, some good news. Step forward Richard Chadderton, the new head of petrol (since July), a full-time, permanent position, realigned from the scope of its previous incumbent to be totally dedicated to the PRA, without obligations for commercial activities elsewhere within its parent body, the RMIF.
Nisa Retail is the latest of the symbol operators which, having realised the potential of the fuel retailing sector, wants to significantly raise its forecourt profile.
Plans to boost the number of Jet sites by 30%, and a raft of initiatives aimed at enhancing the brand's retailer package were announced at last month's Phillips 66 annual dealer conference, held in the plush surroundings of Gleneagles, Scotland. At a convivial gathering of more than 200 delegates, including retail and commercial customers, Pete George, the company's managing director, UK & Ireland Marketing, says: "Since our re-organisation 18 months ago, we've been reviewing the best way to drive the Jet brand forward and taking our time to ensure that we get things right.
Since Valero Energy acquired the UK marketing and distribution assets of Chevron more than two years ago, it has been on a mission to strengthen its supply infrastructure in order to grow the business. This month sees the completion of a significant part of that project with the coming on full stream of the company's Manchester fuel terminal following an intense year of refurbishment. The terminal, which had been in existence since the '70s, had been mothballed in 2010, when it was owned in an equal three-way split by Chevron, Total and Esso, but operated by Esso on behalf of the other stakeholders.
This month sees the start of a new fuel supply service targeting independent, unbranded fuel retailers across the South East. The source of the supply is Prax Petroleum, which has been building up to this point for several months, publicising its services including exhibiting at April's Forecourt Show at the NEC and talking to retailers in order to gauge reaction and interest.
Shell in the UK is a far more attractive proposition for both customers and dealers than it has been for some time, according to David Moss, who took over as the company's general retail manager, north cluster (UK, Denmark, Norway), at the start of the year, replacing Melanie Lane. And the dealer offer is evolving into something particularly compelling, he claims.
It's been another interesting year, but thankfully there has been some stability in the market. Those of you who were at the Top Indies Dinner in March and at Forecourt Live! at the NEC in April will have seen evidence that things are looking quite good for the independent forecourt sector in 2013.
It's about 18 months since Valero Energy acquired the UK assets of Chevron, and with it the legacy of the Texaco brand, which has been in the UK for nearly 100 years.
Hugely challenging' but 'very exciting and rewarding' is how Maxol chief operating officer Brian Donaldson describes the brand transformation process that has engrossed the oil company over recent months. Family-owned Maxol invested £12m upgrading and expanding its retail business in 2012, acquiring five new forecourts and starting the roll out of its vibrant new 'brio' image across the network of 225 service stations, including 125 dealer sites.
It's been more than a year since Ramsay MacDonald took charge of the GB Oils fuel retailing business as retail director. His first duty was to bring a sense of order to the retail network in the aftermath of acquiring the Total and Pace dealer operations. His next and continuing duty was to develop the Gulf brand in the UK.
ConocoPhillips Limited has now officially changed its name to Phillips 66 Limited, following the company's global repositioning of its upstream and downstream operations to create two independently-operated companies, which took place on May 1.
The 2012 Olympics is finally within touching distance and one company that is fully engaged with the opportunity is BP. Its forecourts up and down the land have been appropriately adorned with Olympic imagery, most notably of the six athlete ambassadors that BP has been supporting on their Olympic journey for the past two years.
Ramsay MacDonald is the new man appointed to take charge of the ever-growing fuel retailing business of GB Oils. He takes over at a critical point following the company's recent acquisition of the Total and Pace-branded dealer business.
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From MIZZIMA News Group (r)
Ephedrine hydrochloride smuggled across Indo-Burma border
By: MIZZIMA NEWS GROUP
12th February 1999
The Indo-Burma border, which was for some years used as a route of
heroin smuggling from Burma to outside world, is changed to a route of
Ephedrine hydrochloride smuggling. The Ephedrine is used in making
Amphetamine tablets, a drug being used as a substitute of heroin for many
drug addicts. According to some local sources, some merchants in
Indo-Burma border trade have turned into this tablet trade which profits
The Free Press, a local newspaper in Manipur State of India, reported on
10th February that Amphetamine tablets worth Rs. 23,40,000 (US $ 55,714)
were seized from a local merchant at Moreh which is a border township of
Burma. The tablets were reportedly meant for illegal export to Burma
through Moreh-Tamu border trade route. Customs officials in Manipur told
that this is the first official seizure of tablets even though the tablet
trade has been going on for quite some time. The newspaper quoted Mr C.
Songate, Assistant Commissioner, Customs in Imphal (Capital of Manipur
State) saying that total 471,212 kg of Ephedrine hydrochloride worth Rs.
60,45,996 (US $ 14,3952) were seized from June 16 last year to January 8
this year. The drugs and tablets are smuggled out of India via Burma and
In Manipur State of India, many drug addicts have become tablet users due
to cheaper, easier and less risk availability of the tablets. In the first
week of January, the People's Liberation Army (PLA), an armed insurgent
group in North East India issued a warning to the drug users and drug
traders to stop this unholy trade and practice. Over thirty thousands are
officially registered as drug users in Manipur State. The Ephedrine
hydrochloride is a licensed item in mainland India but it is not allowed
to trade in North East India.
Local merchants in Manipur State estimate that at least 200 kg of
Ephedrine is being smuggled from India into Burma everyday.


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Chicago-based Carol’s Cookies (you can find them locally at AJ’s and Whole Foods) is celebrating its 30th anniversary–and the company has decided to honor the special occasion with a flavor competition. The competition will give fans of Carol’s Cookies to create and name the popular brand’s next flavor.
Carol’s Cookies will take suggestions for its next ingredient and flavor combination via its Web site www.carolscookies.com and its Facebook fan page dubbed “Carol’s Cookies Giant Cookie Club.” Participants can join the group to weigh in on flavor suggestions through August 12 (the competition started last week). After reviewing all entries, Carol’s bakers will select the top five flavors and spend four weeks perfecting the recipes in its cookie factory. The five finalists’ recipes will be judged on September 15, at the Carol’s Cookies’ Illinois factory. During the festivities, celebrity judges will sample the tasty treats and officially pick the next Carol’s Cookies flavor. Presiding over the event will be owner Carol Goldman, Katrina Markoff (Vosges Haut-Chocolat), Marc Schulman (Eli’s Cheesecake) and Bryant Keil (Potbelly’s Sandwich Works).
So what’s in it for the winner? Beyond enjoying the prestige of creating the newest flavor, the winner will receive a year’s worth of free Carol’s Cookies as well as recognition on the company’s Web site, via press releases and its Facebook fan page. Further sweetening the pot, the champ will be flown to Chicago to be a guest baker for two days at Carol’s Cookies Highland Park bakery; lodging and airfare will be provided. The runner-up need not despair, they’ll receive free Carol’s Cookies for six months, while third place winner will receive complimentary Carol’s Cookies for three months. The winning selection will join Carol’s Cookies other amazing flavors, like cinnamon swirl, toffee crunch, brownie cookie and old-fashioned sugar.


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Driving dwelling for Christmas is likely to be expensive this year. With fuel rates practically 50 percent bigger in Oct than a yr back, a road journey rarely charges considerably less than flying. The national regular value for a gallon of gasoline is $3.41, and while Oklahoma is at present down below the $3.00 mark (amazingly, nevertheless only by 1 penny), Californians are on the lookout at price ranges just shy of $5 for every gallon.
Contrasting the document lows of pandemic-ridden 2020, the cost surge this autumn feels specially impolite.
It is not just gasoline, of system. Inflation strike a 31-year higher in Oct: the Labor Division documented purchaser selling prices were being up 6.2 per cent in comparison to the exact same thirty day period in 2019. Meat prices are main shoppers to pick out floor beef about much more expensive cuts, and the notorious provide chain crisis has meant that even if you can afford most factors, many are only significantly less out there. Generally ahead of the curve, the New York Times is marketing a vegetarian Thanksgiving menu this 12 months, consisting of just facet dishes, hold the turkey—whether since meat charges are surging or because traditions have to be gate-checked when you open up the internet pages of the Moments, it is caustically fitting for individuals Us residents who just can’t get their fingers on a hen for Thursday.
Middle America has felt the inflation worse than anyone else, in accordance to the Journal. Though California may possibly spend far more by sheer greenback amount, states like Kentucky, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, and Nebraska—the Midwest and the South—have noticed the best rate boosts in the nation, extra than seven per cent increased than the former 12 months. For states like my dwelling condition of Tennessee, which also noticed a price tag boost of more than 7 p.c this drop, skipping turkey is just the idea of the iceberg.
What’s going on to serious people, the faces guiding the figures? Last thirty day period, a CNN interview of a spouse and children suffering the effects of this inflation went viral—not for the reason that it was a tragedy that the mom and dad of nine kids were being having difficulties to find the money for milk, but since they experienced the audacity to get 12 gallons of it each and every week. To the drinkers of soy, almond, oat, and coconut, it’s difficult to think that anyone—even a spouse and children of 11—could take in that substantially cow in seven days. So significantly so that it is not just odd, or diverse, it is downright mistaken. If you’re essentially drinking that much milk, lefty Twitter mocked, it is excellent you can no longer find the money for to. But for the Midwest mothers, the Southern teenaged boys in pursuit of gains, and the mothers and fathers of large family members having difficulties to make ends meet, milk is not just some thing you might place in your espresso. Milk is an inexpensive filler food— prior to the $4 for every gallon times, that is—and a considerably more healthy option than the soda that if not dominates in these demographics.
Ironically, the course that mocks the 12 gallon household and other hillbillies and hicks for their wellness decisions is the exact same class whose guidelines are earning the challenge worse. You’ve likely read of Mountain Dew Mouth, a ailment of rotting tooth that afflicts rural Appalachian communities, the place many consume more Dew than water. The Midwest and the South also boast the greatest fees of coronary heart disease in the country. But the actuality is that poverty, not mere “know nothingness,” is the root of a great number of of these undesirable patterns. Soda is less costly than h2o, less expensive than just about everything. Quickly food stuff is chock full of seed oils, soy, and chemicals, but costs a portion of the value of actual food. As the selling prices of even cheaper foods like milk and eggs proceed to soar, how numerous additional children will inherit rotting enamel and heart attacks since their parents couldn’t manage some thing far better?
No a person is reaching starvation on milk selling prices by itself, but unquestionably those who store in a little margin will be holding out for reduced prices, and possible deciding on even worse choices in the meantime.
Organizations like Tyson’s Meat are already minimizing meat output—and raising prices—due to labor shortages induced, in component, by pandemic sponsored handouts. Competing with unemployment help, numerous entry-stage industries now offer an extremely hard $15 starting wage, together with lavish signing bonuses, including university tuition guidance courses. However when Tyson’s and many others come to feel the hurt in their earnings, staff members are however number of and significantly involving, in component because $15 indicates a lot less now than it did very last 12 months. In fact, genuine wages are down 2.2 % nationwide since January. Lessening the meat source that reaches the market only further more fuels the conflagration.
My mother likes to make a joke about employing your new pounds first for the reason that they’re truly worth considerably less. Of study course, the U.S. dollar seriously follows the guidelines of team justice: we all go through for the sins, or the inflation, of just one. And as we’re finding out promptly, some really feel the hurt additional than others.
The Biden administration’s Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen claims the resolution is much more federal expending. Biden’s $1.8 trillion social paying monthly bill, which handed in the House on Friday, will enhance the social protection net and make it easier for individuals to return to get the job done, lowering inflation by increasing labor participation, Yellen argues. Nonetheless she’s figured increased unemployment advantages will persuade men and women to get off unemployment, it doesn’t issue. The injury is accomplished. Hundreds of hundreds of males, ladies, and family members in the heartland are now feeling the consequences of the past 12 months’s inflationary insurance policies, and the very long-term ramifications for the health and fitness of our nation, each fiscally and physically, are not heading to be optimistic.
It’s a grim way to kick off a year of feasting.


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Cadence Tensilica HiFi DSP adds support for Digital Radio Mondiale
Feb 7, 2014 9:10 AM, By Doug Irwin, CPBE DRB
Geneva - Feb 6, 2014 - The DRM Consortium announced that a recently implemented licensing agreement between Cadence and Fraunhofer IIS, will facilitate the ability of the Cadence platform to decode DRM audio.
On Jan. 6, 2014, the two companies announced that Cadence had licensed the full suite of MPEG AAC codecs from Fraunhofer IIS for use with the Tensilica HiFi DSP. Cadence plans to use the products to enhance the library of more than 100 audio/voice software packages optimized for the HiFi DSP family. New standards include the AAC-ELD (Enhanced Low Delay) communication codec, which enables telephone conversations with the highest possible audio quality, and xHE-AAC (Extended High Efficiency AAC), which is the latest upgrade to the MPEG AAC family of codecs.
The xHE-AAC MPEG audio codec is the first to combine speech and general-purpose audio coding in a unified system, allowing for high quality delivery of any type of audio content at virtually any bit-rate. In addition, the library adds full support for DRM Digital Radio Mondiale audio decoding according to the latest ETSI system specification, bundling xHE-AAC and HE-AACv2 for all DRM modes (DRM30, DRM+).
Among the findings: The share of all radio listening via a digital platform has reached 36.1 percent, an increase of 9 percent year over year....
His keynote will address how cloud services have addressed the challenges and complexity of offering consumers content anytime, anywhere, and on any device....


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Apple will likely unveil mobile payments on Tuesday, "the holy grail for e-commerce" and a "game-changing product" that could revolutionize the entire industry, former CEO John Sculley told CNBC.
Sculley, who appeared on "Squawk on the Street" before the Apple event, said the technology giant has long "been putting together the pieces" for a mobile payments product.
Read MoreMost anticipated Apple product not an iPhone: Expert
"The most important piece are 800 million credit-card-scored iPhone users," Sculley said. "And when you combine that with OneTouch for the biometric security, combine that with [near field communication], which is also high security, and tie it in the announcements, which Apple has said they're going to make with the major credit card companies, major retailers, I think we're in for something that's going really game-changing."
Aside from company executives and a few employees, nobody knows exactly what the tech behemoth will announce, but that hasn't stopped Apple observers from speculating.
Many think Apple will reveal the new iPhone 6 with both 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch screens—bigger than the 4-inch screen on the iPhone 5s and 5c. Others are expecting an iWatch.
Read MoreApple Live Blog: New iPhone, iWatch coming?
To Sculley, who ran Apple from 1983 to 1993, the company will likely announce the iPhone 6. The latest generation smartphone will be "phenomenal," but he doesn't think it will wow users because it's "already a well understood product." People are hungry for a "creative leap" that mobile payments will provide, he said.
—By CNBC's Drew Sandholm.


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Want to clock more ZZZ's? Change up your plate. Certain nutrients in your diet—like vitamin C, lycopene, and selenium—are associated with healthier sleep patterns, according to a new study on 4,500 people published in Appetite.
Researchers crunched sleep and nutrition data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). They broke people up into four sleep categories: “very short” (less than 5 hours per night), “short” (5 to 6 hours), “normal” (7 to 8 hours) and “long” (more than 9 hours) and examined the participants' diet patterns from 24-hour food recall interviews.
One key finding from the study: People who ate a more varied diet were more likely to be “normal” sleepers (about 18 foods versus 14 in the shortest sleepers). Eating a variety of foods may indicate you’re consuming more nutrients. In turn, “that may provide the nutritional coverage to help your body work optimally, which, among other things, would translate into better sleep,” says study coauthor Michael A. Grandner, Ph.D., a research associate at the Center for Sleep and Circadian Neurobiology at the University of Pennsylvania.
More From Men's Health
So why’s the sleep-diet connection so important? People who get 7 to 8 hours of sleep at night are generally healthier. Research shows those who log less hours have an increased risk of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease, while sleeping more than 9 hours has been linked to depression.
“This study should remind us that not only is sleep an important part of overall health, but sleep and diet are related to each other,” Grandner says. The reasons why vary—people who sleep better may make more nutritious food choices, or they may make healthy eating a priority. Other studies have shown that sleep loss affects certain hormones that control hunger and appetite.
Although Gardner says his research didn’t uncover why certain foods are related to better sleep, it can’t hurt to eat more of the nutrients identified in the study that help make your night better. Here are five:
Lycopene: A cancer-fighting antioxidant found in tomatoes, watermelon, and pink grapefruit.
Vitamin C: One cup of strawberries or one medium kiwi packs more than 100 percent of your daily value of this heart- and cancer-protective antioxidant.
Selenium: An ounce of Brazil nuts or a can of tuna are both excellent sources of this anti-inflammatory that’s key for immune function.
Theobromine: Find this heart healthy phytochemical in tea and chocolate.
Lauric acid: Most commonly found in coconut oil. Though it’s a saturated fatty acid, studies show that it may improve “healthy” HDL cholesterol without affecting “bad” LDL levels.
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Your NJ Honda Dealer, Hamilton Honda is very active in and around NJ. Take a peek at our latest news...
American Honda Honors Hamilton Honda with Prestigious President's Award Hamilton Honda is honored to receive the President's Award form American Honda for the second time in three years. The young New Jersey Honda dealership showed record-setting sales for 2012 and founders, Jessie Armstead (New York Giants Pro-Bowl linebacker) and Mike Saporito (automotive veteran) show pride in their dealership. Cream Ridge, NJ Resident Lived a Day Life Jesse Armstead Thanks to Hamilton Honda Online contest winner received two tickets and transportation to the New York Giant NFL season finale from New Jersey Honda dealership co-owned by the former Pro Bowl linebacker. Hamilton Honda sells 10,000th new vehicle to Mercerville couple Three-year-old
dealership, co-owned by former New York Giants linebacker Jessie
Armstead and automotive veteran Mike Saporito, reaches milestone in new
Honda vehicles sold. Hamilton Township, NJ. Fresh off celebrating its
three-year anniversary, Hamilton Honda has sold its 10,000th new Honda
vehicle this week. Jill and Brian Patterson of Mercerville, New Jersey
purchased the milestone vehicle."To reach such a huge milestone in such a
short amount of time is a testament to the team we have here at
Hamilton Honda," said Hamilton Honda co-owner Mike Saporito. "The
numbers speak for themselves and show that we pride ourselves on
customer service and satisfaction."
Mike Saporito, co-owner of Hamilton Honda, was on hand last week when Honda re-certified the dealership's state-of-the-art Express Service Facility The news means customers looking for Certified Honda Maintenance and Genuine Honda Parts in the Hamilton/Trenton, New Jersey area can continue to rely on Hamilton Honda. Hamilton Honda's Service Team of factory trained technicians consistency provides excellent service. If you're looking for Honda maintenance, repairs or parts in the Hamilton, New Jersey area can visit the Express Service facility at Hamilton Honda to experience the 5-Star rated customer service 7 days a week. The NJ Honda dealership's Express Service Facility is open 9:00am-4:00pm on Sundays for your convenience.
Hamilton Honda Sponsors 25th Annual Notre Dame Golf Classic On June 4th, 2012 former
NY Giants players Jessie Armstead and Antonio Pierce ignited the crowd
with their enthusiasm and set a record for funds raised at Notre Dame
High School at the 25th Annual Notre Dame Golf Classic. The event (which was sold out) raised $46,433.00 for tuition assistance which was an
increase over last year of 108! Notre Dame High School extended a
special "Thank You" to Jessie Armstead and Mike Saporito, Co-Owners of
the event's title sponsor Hamilton Honda.
Hamilton Honda Sponsors Annual Ryan's Quest Golf Outing On Friday May 11, 2012 The Ryan's Quest Foundation held it's Annual Golf Outing sponsored by Hamilton Honda at Mercer Oaks Golf Course. The outing was a great success with over 200 players including Mike Saporito, Co-Owner of Hamilton Honda and New York Giants legends Jessie Armstead and Antonio Pierce enjoying an amazing day of golf. The event raised over $50,000 to benefit Duchenne muscular dystrophy research.
Jessie Awarded Citizen of the Year On May 2, 2012, Jessie Armstead was was honored as "Citizen of the Year" by the Hamilton Elks. The former NFL star turned owner of Hamilton Honda is a longstanding member of the organization that help mainly veterans and special children through drug awareness and by donating scholarships to local high schools every month.
Hamilton Honda Supports St. Patrick's Day Parade Jessie Armstead and Mike Saporito of Hamilton Honda joined Trenton residents to celebrate St. Patty's Day during the annual parade that took place the Saturday before St. Patrick's Day. The Parade featured an exciting lineup of marching bands, dancers, floats, costumes, Irish music, goodies, handouts, and much more.
Hamilton Honda Gives Car to Military Mom Officer, veteran and single mother Seron Verrett proudly drove her new 2012 Honda Civic LX to her Browns Mills home yesterday after winning the silver, four-door sedan in a giveaway contest from Hamilton Honda. Mike Saporito, the owner of the dealership, last month congratulated Verrett for being the lucky winner of the drawing.
Hamilton Honda Joined the Hamilton Area YMCA to Raise Funds for S.K.O.R. Jessie Armstead and Mike Saporito of Hamilton Honda joined the Hamilton Area YMCA to honor Michael Pratico, Jr. at the annual "Special Night for Special Kids" food and cheer tasting event on September 15th. The fundraiser was designed to benefit the S.K.O.R (Special Kids Organized Recreation)
Hamilton Honda Sponsors Ryan's Quest Charitable Golf Outing Over 200 attended the third annual Ryan's Quest Charitable Golf Outing that raised over $50,000 for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy research. Sponsored by Hamilton Honda and NFL legend Jessie Armstead, the day brought together golf enthusiasts and celebrity athletes, including NFL players Antonio Pierce, Lincoln Coleman, Kevin Williams and Marcus Buckley.
NY Giants Ring of Honor Jessie Armstead was inducted into the New York Giants Ring of Honor. Armstead is co-owner of Hamilton Honda, one of the top Honda dealers in the nation. The Ring of Honor recognizes the iconic figures who have contributed to the success and history of the Giants.
The Fans Go Crazy How did New Jersey Dealer, Hamilton Honda, climb up to the top 10 Honda retailers in the nation less than a year after opening the doors? Hamilton Honda is known as one of the fastest-growing dealerships on the East Coast.
Michael S. Saporito Honorary Commander The U.S. Air Force has given Michael S. Saporito the status of Commander. Saporito is the founder of one of the largest Honda retailers in the world, Hamilton Honda in Hamilton, New Jersey. This honor was presented to Saporito on May 24, 2010 at McGuire Airforce Base by Major Elizabeth Clay.
One GIANT Step for Ryan's Quest Ryan's Quest announces their most profitable fund raiser since the inception of the organization. NFL Pro-bowler and former NY Giant, Jessie Armstead along with co-owner of Hamilton Honda, Michael Saporito sponsored this event held last month at the Mercer Oaks Golf course in West Windsor, NJ. Two hundred twenty guests played and had opportunity to meet, take pictures, receive autographs from several former and current NFL players.
Top 10 Hamilton Honda broke the top 10 list for Honda after only being open for one year. The dealership was opened in May 2009 by Mike Saporito and Jessie Armstead and quickly became one of the largest Honda dealerships in the Nation.
655 US Highway 130
sales Sales Toll Free:
service toll free Service Toll Free:
Monday: 9:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Tuesday: 9:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Wednesday: 9:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Thursday: 9:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Friday: 9:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Saturday: 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Sunday: CLOSED (Express Service Open 9AM-4PM)
Would you like more information about news, inventory, parts or service? Contact us below and we will answer your questions.


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+44 (0)20 7612 9612
January 18, 2021
Neil McArthur, Chief Executive of the Gambling Commission, has published an open letter to all online operators reminding them of their duty to protect consumers during lockdown. Mr McArthur notes that the restrictions imposed in response to Covid-19 have had an impact on customer behaviour, as set out in the Commission’s National Strategic Assessment. The Commission has also continued to gather monthly operator and consumer data and will shortly publish the data from November 2020.
Mr McArthur says that “No one should be in any doubt about how closely we are monitoring issues or our willingness to take further action if we deem that necessary”. He says that extra operator vigilance is needed during this new national lockdown because:
- most people will be spending more time at home and many people are likely to be feeling more isolated and vulnerable as a result of the length of the pandemic period, the new restrictions and further uncertainty about their personal or financial circumstances;
- some consumers, such as highly engaged gamblers who play a range of products, are likely to spend more time and money gambling and the fact that sport will continue during this lockdown will mean there are more opportunities for betting customers to gamble; and
- some people may gamble for the first time.
The Commission expects online operators to:
- continue to follow the strengthened guidance issued during the first lockdown, taking close interest in data that shows consumers expanding their portfolio of games and spending more time or money than before;
- interact directly where triggers are reached, as well as more generic email engagement;
- avoid any temptation to exploit the current situation for marketing purposes and be very cautious when seeking to cross-sell products; and
- take particular care when on-boarding new customers and making decisions over affordability checks which reflect the environment we are in.
Mr McArthur says that the Commission will continue to:
- take steps to permanently strengthen regulatory requirements, encompassing changes to RTS and LCCP to protect consumers; and
- monitor operators and consumer behaviour very closely and conduct its compliance assessments during this latest lockdown as it did last year.
As well as gathering and publishing its own data, if operators want to share their own analysis of impacts to the industry or share other information that may be relevant to the Commission’s work they can talk to Ben Haden, Director of Research and Statistics, who is collating all of the information about how Covid-19 is affecting the industry at this time.
Additionally, Mr McArthur says, if operators have information or concerns about the behaviour of an operator, the Commission’s Confidential Intelligence Hotline is continuing to take calls or they can email the team. Guidance to support best practice can be found in the Commission’s Annual Compliance and Enforcement report and operators can also continue to contact their account manager in the normal way.
Mr McArthur says that the gambling industry and daily life as a whole continues to be impacted by the pandemic and whilst there is some light and hope ahead with the vaccine, he wants to ensure that “operators are clear of our expectations”. He concludes that “operators must now more than ever, continue to be vigilant to protect their customers”. To read the letter in full, click here.


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Surely the City Council has better things to worry about. Last week, it passed legislation that would impose heavy fines on stores that leave their doors open wide while air conditioning is on.
The stores, we are told, do this to encourage shoppers to come in off hot city sidewalks. The Council members who sponsored this piece of legislation were concerned about energy conservation.
The fine will be set at $200 for the first violation and $400 for subsequent violations during an 18-month period.
It remains unclear, at least to us, where the Council gets the authority to tell privately owned businesses how they can use their air conditioning and when they are permitted to leave the front door open.
The possible exception would be during an energy crisis, when everyone in the city is asked to conserve electricity to prevent a brown out or black out.
The legislation is the brainchild of Manhattan Councilwoman Gail Brewer, who was concerned about the shops on 34th Street and Fifth Avenue. “Hopefully, they will get the message to help save the planet,” she said. “There's no use cooling the sidewalk.”
We agree: Cooling the sidewalk is a foolish waste of money. But we are much more concerned when the City Council takes on new powers and assumes the right to micromanage the affairs of privately owned businesses.