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Photo: Daily Times
Jeff Bezos has just been stripped of the title of second richest person in the world and drops to number 3. Indian business tycoon Gautam Adani is rapidly climbing the charts on Bloomberg’s Billionaire Index.
Elon Musk, who is still at the top with $ 260 billion to his name, may have to be careful. It took Adani less than ten months to climb to number 2 after starting the year in 14th place.
Adani’s rise marks the first time an Asian person reaches one of the highest ranks on Bloomberg’s list, which white tech entrepreneurs have long dominated.
Adani’s $146.9 billion fortune, largely due to his growing stakes in the Adani Group conglomerate, still trails Musk’s $260 billion. The group runs a number of businesses, such as ports and coal, which have seen a resurgence over the past year.
Since June 2020, shares of some Adani companies have risen more than 1,000%, reflecting investors’ bias towards the conglomerate’s strength in areas such as infrastructure and renewable energy, which the Prime Minister Narendra Modi prioritized development.
In 2022, shares of flagship Adani Enterprises soared over 115%.
Adani Bests Ambani and Bezos
Adani overtook his compatriot Mukesh Ambani in February to become the richest person in Asia.
Per Bloomberg, Bezos’ net worth fell to $145.8 billion due to the broader equities’ selloff on Friday – it hit tech stocks hard. Amazon shares slumped 3% in early trading, and the stock decreased over 25% this year.
The Amazon founder formerly sat on top of the list; however, his divorce in 2019 took a turn on his wealth. Most of his fortune is tied up in Amazon stock.
The tech selloff has cut $45 billion off Bezos’ net worth since January, says Bloomberg.
Tech stocks are on the dangerous side of Wall Street at the moment.


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The Air Jordan 6 Black Infrared, which was worn by Michael Jordan during his first NBA championship, will be returning with original branding in 2019.
This marks the first time since 2000 that the “Black Infrared” colorway of the Air Jordan 6 will return with OG-style Nike Air branding. Both the 2010 “Infrared Pack” and the 2014 Retro didn’t include Nike Air detailing.
Air Jordan 6 Black Infrared Release Date
Look for the Air Jordan 6 “Black Infrared” to release during All-Star Weekend on February 16th at select Jordan Brand retailers. The retail price tag is set at $200 USD.
Style Code: 384664-060
Release Date: February 16, 2019
UPDATE: A closer look at the Air Jordan 6 “Black Infrared” 2019 Retro. Photos: @hanzuying
UPDATE: Here is the first detailed look at the 2019 Retro “Black Infrared” Air Jordan 6 in men’s sizing. Photo: @ln5factory
UPDATE: First look at the Air Jordan 6 “Black Infrared” 2019 Retro in Grade School sizing. Photo: @aquamanjay_

domain: news


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May 14, 2008 |
Apple Inc. has scooped up Time Warner Inc.'s HBO to feed television shows to its online iTunes store, reeling in one of the last holdouts among major channels and agreeing to a rare pricing concession to land hit shows such as "The Sopranos" and "Sex and the City." Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple said HBO programming began appearing Tuesday on iTunes. The shows cost $1.99 or $2.99 per episode, making HBO the only channel allowed to charge more than the standard $1.99 for its episodes on iTunes.
January 20, 2011 |
Heading for Super Bowl XLV in Arlington, Texas, on Feb. 6? The City of Arlington, in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, is offering free iPhone and Android apps, plus a mobile website, so that you can stay up-to-date on what’s going on during your stay. The interactive maps feature will help you navigate --and remember where you parked. Use the attractions and entertainment guide to get information about Cowboys Stadium or to book tee times at a local course. Keep informed with real-time news and traffic updates and check the weather forecast (you might not need a jacket, after all)
June 9, 2006 |
CBS Corp., which already sells episodes of its hit television shows "Survivor" and "CSI" on Google Inc.'s online video store, is now offering the downloads on Apple Computer Inc.'s iTunes Music Store. Apple's online store carries other shows from ABC, NBC and Fox. It previously offered some CBS programming, such as NCAA basketball, but not prime-time hits.
October 6, 2011 |
When Walt Disney Co. looked to revamp its troubled retail stores in 2008, Chief Executive Robert A. Iger sought advice from the company's largest shareholder, a foremost expert on the consumer experience. Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Jobs had lured theme-park-size crowds to his company's stores with daring architecture, no-pressure sales staffs and displays that enticed customers to come in and play with the tech world's sexiest toys. Though Disney sold its chain four years earlier, its name was still on the stores.
October 6, 2011 |
Less than a decade ago, a recording keyed to one song — the single — was considered dead in the water. Even though it had long been a critical part of the way music fans bought and enjoyed music, the single had become a marginal facet of the music business. Meanwhile, the record industry was waging a life-or-death battle over music piracy because the Internet had blasted open floodgates that allowed people to share their favorite music with one another across the globe, without bothering to pay for it. And then along came Steve Jobs, armed with Apple's iTunes and iPod.
September 21, 2007 |
Beginning this week, season premiere episodes of seven Fox Broadcasting programs will be made available for free through Apple's iTunes store, a move that highlights the TV industry's race to harness the Internet and try out potential business partners. The Fox-Apple deal is designed to expose iPod users to the upcoming season of new and returning prime-time shows. Executives with the News Corp.
August 30, 2008 |
Artists including Neil Young and Bob Dylan have made no secret of their distaste for digital sound. But Grammy-winning producer T Bone Burnett believes he's found a way to affordably give listeners an experience akin to hearing studio master tapes. Since last fall, Burnett, the mastermind behind such roots-oriented releases as the "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" soundtrack, has been working with a team of engineers on a high-fidelity audio system called Code. He's invested his own money -- he won't say how much -- to develop the new technology and has recruited industry veterans, including John Mellencamp and , to his cause.
October 29, 2007
Ed Burns is a filmmaker, so it's not surprising that he likes to see his work on the 40-foot screen of a movie theater. But for his eighth independent film, "Purple Violets," Burns is forsaking the silver screen in favor of flat panels and iPods. Burns, an actor-writer-director-producer whose credits include "The Brothers McMullen" and "Sidewalks of New York," is pioneering what may be a new business model for independent filmmakers. The first stop for "Purple Violets" will be on Nov.
January 5, 2011 |
Knowing what ingredients are in the foods we buy and eat is important – even when you’re in a rush at the market. Here's a cellphone app that might help, and it's free. Fooducate , a website dedicated to helping all of us to eat a little healthier, has launched a new iPhone app that allows you to scan or type in a bar code and receive an overall grade rating for a product. The grade is based on certain "bad" ingredients -- too much sugar and salt, too many additives, too much high-fructose corn syrup, etc. (Download from the iTunes App Store.
April 21, 2007 |
Retail chain Circuit City and Web music service Napster said they would jointly offer a subscription service with millions of songs, the latest effort to compete with Apple Inc.'s iTunes music store. The service will begin April 29 with a subscription cost of $14.95 a month. Individual songs may be downloaded for 99 cents. Electronics retailers and Web music services have sought new ways to team up and compete with iTunes, which has more than 80% of the U.S. market.


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With ecommerce in Asia pretty much dominated by Jack and Jeff, the region’s startup scene has begun looking for the next big thing.
Venture capital firm Fenox wants to be in the thick of it. The US-Japan-Southeast Asia firm recently launched a US$20 million fund to invest in what it calls “core tech” startups.
It’s an alphabet soup of catchphrases: robotics, artificial intelligence, big data, internet of things, healthtech, fintech, and more. That said, it’ll still looking out for B2B and B2C platforms.
A notable limited partner (LP) in this fund is Wistron. It’s essentially a lesser-known Foxconn, a Taiwanese contract manufacturer that’s still pretty massive, employing 60,000 people and making US$18.8 billion in annual revenue. It has assembled some of Apple’s iPhones.
“With the Wistron partnership, Fenox will be able to help its portfolio startups connect to a reliable manufacturing and technology partner who can help them not only with manufacturing but also with technology and business expansion.”
Fenox focuses on assisting corporates with sourcing for startups to invest in, work with, and even acquire. Fenox has partnered 20 corporates to date, including Sega and Bandai.
The firm, which has been in business for five years, did not share specific details on how its funds are doing, but did say its portfolio saw six acquisitions and three IPOs:
2014: Dream Link Entertainment
2016: Evolable Asia
- Sidecar acquired by General Motors
- Roximity acquired by Verve
- Bop.fm acquired by LifeLock
- Circa acquired by Sinclair Group
- Socialize acquired by ShareThis
- Schematic Labs acquired by Rhapsody
Fenox did not give exact figures on much it made out of these deals. Its most prominent win is probably Metaps, billed as one of Japan’s hottest startups. Anis says it invested US$5 million into Metaps and US$6 million into Evolable Asia, and made “significant returns per share” on both.
Some of these acquisitions aren’t made under the best circumstances though: Sidecar was sold after it failed to compete with Uber and Lyft. Circa and Bop.fm, meanwhile, looked like fire sales.
It has only deployed under 10 percent of its overall fund so far, but Anis claims that’s because it’s raising more funds from LPs than it can invest.
The new fund will target both Asian and US companies.
This post 3 IPOs and 6 exits later, this VC reloads with $20m to fund US and Asian startups appeared first on Tech in Asia.


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The three Austin tech companies below have been busy. From recently going public to landing full integrations with Google and Microsoft to winning over 160,000 clients, Hyliion, LumApps and EZ Texting are reaping the benefits of the hard work their teams are putting in, and they have a lot to celebrate.
We did a deep dive into some of the recent developments, technology offerings and case studies these tech companies have that are worth paying attention to.
What they do: Hyliion is a provider of electric powertrain solutions for Class 8 long-haul semitrailers. The company aims to decrease carbon emissions in logistics by offering a fully electric powertrain system — the Hypertruck ERX — and conversion kits to transform standard diesel-powered trucks into hybrids.
Trading trucks: Hyliion Founder and CEO Thomas Healy rang the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) bell earlier this month to celebrate the closing of a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) with Tortoise Acquisition Corp. The business combination granted the now-public company — formally known as “Hyliion Holdings Corp” — with $560 million in capital to spark the commercialization and mass production of the all-electric Hypertruck ERX vehicle and continue development on existing hybrid powertrain solutions.
Healy told Transport Topics that his team wanted to pursue a SPAC rather than a more conventional initial public offering (IPO) because they appreciated that the former was more of a negotiation rather than a “roadshow for an IPO that may — or may not — be successful.”
Electric shipping: Hyliion’s business model is driven by updating existing trucks with more sustainable solutions rather than building entirely new vehicles from scratch. The company combines its proprietary batteries, software and analytics with electric motors and other machinery. The Hypertruck ERX system will replace diesel engines with a bank of electric batteries charged by onboard generators that are powered by compressed natural gas. The system will offer more power and torque than traditional trucks, with a range up to 1,300 miles carrying an 80,000-pound load.
Hybrid conversions can be fitted to most of the popular truck brands today and feature an electric axle, battery pack and improved aerodynamics. They also feature algorithm-based control units that analyze the upcoming topography of the road and adjust outputs to deliver more efficient power and fuel management.
What they do: LumApps is an intranet, employee engagement and workflow consolidation suite that houses many of a business’s digital tools in one place. Employees can see their emails, tasks, meetings, favorite Slack channels and more on a centralized dashboard.
Google and Microsoft integration: Earlier this month, LumApps was officially added to Google Cloud Marketplace. Companies can now adopt the platform — which was built natively on Google Cloud and fully integrated with Google Workspace — as their social intranet and digital workplace of choice easier than ever. That integration positions LumApps as the only enterprise intranet that Google explicitly recommends.
In February, LumApps also announced a full integration with Microsoft Office’s 365 suite. The customizable dashboard can manage all Microsoft’s tools — SharePoint Online, Outlook, Teams and more — that teams can access at any time from their mobile devices. The integration was built off the success of LumApps joining the Microsoft Partner eXperience program (PAX) in October 2019, which enabled LumApps’ product and development teams to work in close collaboration with Microsoft on new initiatives.
Finish Line partner: In 2018, box-store shoe retailer Finish Line migrated its 14,000-person corporate and in-store workforce to LumApps’ Google integration. The company needed a united digital workplace and communication portal to connect staff in its Indiana-based headquarters with employees across its nationwide storefronts, which total almost 1,000 in number. According to Finish Line VP of Technology and Operations Solutions Warren Lenard, collaboration was inefficient across the entire organization. For instance, one document that employees were building together could take 60 emails to generate and could have different versions split between various locations. And uploading files to previous internal servers “would take forever,” he told Computer World.
Over a two month period, Finish Line migrated to LumApps’ G Suite solution to create a new company intranet and improved their efficiency dramatically. Lenard said in the first year, teams uploaded over 2 million documents to Google Drive, emails between executive teams and in-store staff reduced by 90 percent, and there was a huge overall cost savings.
What they do: EZ Texting helps businesses of all kinds connect with their intended audiences through a text-based marketing platform. The platform helps clients reach goals like win customers, improve brand awareness, manage events more efficiently and more.
Cross-industry solutions: There are more than 26 billion text messages sent every day in the U.S. as of June 2017, according to Statistic Brain. EZ Texting reports that texts have a 98 percent open rate and that 75 percent of people prefer to receive marketing messages via text as opposed to other mobile messaging systems. Based on this principle of high usage, EZ Texting is currently helping over 160,000 businesses across more than a dozen verticals — including hotels, schools, government, gyms and religious organizations — use text-based solutions to meet their needs.
Marketing tools like personalized texts, drip campaigns and text-to-win promotions help clients connect with consumers. While tools like mass texts, custom toll-free numbers, one-on-one direct messages and an analytics suite help drive efficiency and improve sales.
Domino’s Pizza case study: A Domino’s franchise near the University of North Carolina at Charlotte that serves 25,000 students wanted to boost RIO from its roughly minute-long TV and video ads during the school’s basketball games. Area Director Ryan Swanson wanted to use the ads to increase engagement on the franchise’s Facebook page where it could host promotions and sell more pies. However, previous attempts had prompted students to type in the page’s web address, which led to lower engagement rates.
“Most students are not going to jot down a website during a basketball game,” Swanson told EZ Texting. “But taking a couple of seconds to send and receive a text with the URL of the group makes sense.”
Swanson employed EZ Texting’s keyword and common-use short code during ads, which offered free pizzas to those that joined the Facebook group. The promotional texts averaged around 25 percent redemption rates, drove many new students to the Facebook page and boosted profits significantly. Over that semester, the franchise’s cost per acquisition was only 15 cents and it added 850 text message marketing subscribers.


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Only days ago, we were reporting on a major acquisition among equity crowdfunding platforms which saw SeedInvest purchased by StartEngine. Today another acquisition pertinent to digital securities and asset tokenization has been announced. Hg Exchange, commonly referred to as ‘HGX’, has been acquired by Alta Exchange – a digital marketplace based out of Singapore.
Details of the Deal
For the time being, no details have been released surrounding the financial workings of this acquisition. What is known though, is that HGX will continue to operate as a digital securities exchange under the Alta Exchange umbrella, expanding its suite of services on offer to clientele.
Moving forward as a subsidiary of Alta Exchange, it is expected that HGX will be renamed, operating under the same banner of Alta Exchange as well. It is believed that the team behind the exchange now formerly known as HGX will be retained moving forward.
Notably, HGX was able to generate interest in late 2021 from significant investors, including Binance
Upon announcing the deal, Alta Cofounder and CEO Kelvin Lee, stated, “Our acquisition of Hg Exchange marks a new chapter in our journey to revolutionize private markets with a blockchain-powered digital exchange, bringing enhanced access and liquidity to alternative investments for all investors…Our goal is to connect promising new opportunities with capital. Today, by standardizing processes around our tokenized listings, we make investing in alternative cost-effective and transparent for investors.”
In Other News
On the topic of digital securities, it was recently announced by Prometheum Ember ATS that it has received approval for a regulated platform meant to bring liquidity to this niche market. The platform, which is expected to cater to both institutional and retail investors, will see integrations with companies like Anchorage Digital Bank. This integration in particular will see Anchorage provide Prometheum with services like clearing , settlement, and custody.
Interestingly, Prometheum currently supports and treats various assets on its ATS as securities which are otherwise treated as cryptocurrencies elsewhere. These include,
- The Graph
With the niche sector of digital securities still in its early days, companies taking steps like those described above are doing well to establish a first-movers advantage, and strategically position themselves for what is sure to be a lucrative future.


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On April 21, Ipsos Business Consulting is honored to be invited to speak in the coming Taipei AMPA seminar, one of the largest automotive events in Asia.
Welcome to Ipsos Flair, Thailand. Our 2017 rendition, “Beyond the concerns”, offers a unique perspective on the mood of the country. 2017 represents a crucial year for the Thai economy which has latterly suffered from weak growth.
Getting Sticky - Brand managers want emotionally attached customers!
Nine in ten Canadians (93%) say they tend to buy from companies they trust more.
Ipsos offers deep-dive customer experience surveys and benchmark studies for automotive clients.
Welcome to the November edition of Ipsos Update, our monthly selection of research and thinking from Ipsos teams around the world.
China overtook the United States as the world’s largest automotive market in 2009 and has retained the crown since then. China’s automotive aftermarket industry value reached USD 118 billion in 2015 and it is expected to grow at 12.7% CAGR to reach USD 214 billion by 2020.
Research Innovation Webinar - December 7, 2016
As automotive manufacturers around the world continue to grapple with stagnating or declining sales in their traditional markets, a strong strategy for geographic diversification becomes increasingly urgent.
Indonesia’s developing used car market is gradually becoming more structured due to the greater availability of flexible financing terms, standardized and authorized dealership channels and better transparency of information.


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November 16, 1994 |
"Sometimes the best wine for Thanksgiving is a beer," says Lynn Hoffman, professor of food and wine at Drexel University and a fan of good beer. "There are a lot of big, loud flavors at Thanksgiving, and not everybody likes wine enough to have a big, loud wine to go along with it. There are a lot of people who are just uncomfortable with the idea of wine. It not their family beverage. They don't drink wine . . . and Thanksgiving is not the time to educate them. " Hoffman proposes either a light-flavored beer to cut through the intense flavors of the meal and refresh your mouth, or a more intense beer that will stand its ground next to the richest stuffing you can put on the table.
December 19, 1991 |
A beer-selling convenience store that neighbors said was a public nuisance because it attracted drug dealers and drunk and disorderly persons was ordered closed by a Common Pleas Court judge yesterday. Judge Ethan Allen Doty, after a hearing on a lawsuit filed by residents and the District Attorney's Office, ordered Sang K. Bae, the owner of Ogontz Hoagie City, to stop selling beer and sandwiches and to discontinue all other operations until a final hearing. "We're elated!"
December 28, 1988 |
Booze in a bucket. That's what you can get from two men who live next door to each other on 11th Street near Mount Vernon. You holler your order from the sidewalk. Out from an upper-story window comes a plastic bucket on a rope. Put your money in the bucket - $2 for a quart of beer or bottle of wine - and one of the "proprietors" hauls up the cash, places the beverage in the bucket, and lowers it to the sidewalk. The two men, who appear to operate as friendly competitors, say they've quit selling booze, but they were doing business on Monday, what with the state liquor stores closed.
August 5, 1993 |
After imbibing 2 1/2 cases of beer on the night of April 5, William Henry Haines got undressed. He probably should have gone to bed. Instead, at 2 a.m. April 6, Haines left his Levittown apartment - in the nude - and casually walked around between two apartment buildings. Some of Haines' neighbors didn't appreciate it, and called Falls Township police. Shortly thereafter, Haines, 38, was arrested, still in the buff, inside a utility room of the Chesterfield Apartments, 1338 New Rodgers Rd. A soft-spoken Haines, now serving time in Montgomery County Prison for another offense, stood before Bucks County Judge Isaac S. Garb on Monday and said that drinking was his downfall.
December 9, 1993 |
Mike celebrated his sixth birthday a little differently than most kids. Instead of cake and punch, he drank a few beers with his mom. "She had her friends over and all. It was my birthday party. She just put the can beside me and gave it to me . . . It felt good, real good. " After those first beers, Mike, now 19, went from cutting class and drinking quarts with his uncle to chugging whiskey and sleeping it off in a dumpster. By 16, he had graduated to marijuana and then a daily crack cocaine habit.
November 1, 2013
* The History Channel's Gary Monterosso will be the featured guest at "Beer for Babes," a ladies-only program (men can be put on a waiting list) that also will feature food and beer pairings by Chef Kevin Cronin at Atlantic City Bottle Company (648 Albany Ave., Atlantic City, 609-348-6400, acbottlecompany.com ). 2 p.m. Sunday, $30. Reservations: firstname.lastname@example.org * Day of the Dead celebrations are in order this week. Union Taco (712 W. Girard Ave., 267-455-0445, uniontaco.com )
March 14, 2014
IT SHOULD not pass without acclaim that Monday marks the 100th anniversary of one of the great achievements in the history of beer. On St. Patrick's Day 1914, a New York City coroner named Dr. Thomas Hayes Curtin stood before his associates and others at a Bronx social club and unveiled his wondrous invention: Green beer. Never before had anyone laid eyes on such a spectacle. Beer, the color of shamrocks, filling the mugs of hundreds. "Everything possible was green or decorated with that color," an eyewitness reported.
September 25, 1987 |
Eugene Fink became interested in Philadelphia beer memorabilia about 14 years ago, when his young son began collecting beer cans. The son has long since lost interest in beer cans, but Fink's collection of 19th-century implements, prints and posters has grown to about 1,000 pieces. And about one-fifth of that is now on display at an intriguing exhibit at the German Society of Pennsylvania, on Spring Garden Street near 6th. "You'd really be surprised at what the insurance costs are on this collection," said Barbara Lang, society program director.
November 1, 1990 |
Back in May, neighbors told the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board that they'd like to see a laundromat, a 7-Eleven, a hardware store, a day-care center - anything but the beer distributorship that was planned for an abandoned building on the corner of Front Street and Lehigh Avenue in the city's Fairhill section. Now the search is on for one of those other uses for the site, as the LCB informed residents in an Oct. 23 letter that it had denied a license to the beer business. "Everyone's happy, and it shows that if you really go forth doing something worthwhile, you get results," said Eddie Morales of the 100 block of East Sterner Street, a block away from the property in question.
October 6, 1988 |
A fifth grader who got off the bus at P.S. DuPont Elementary School on Tuesday with a beer and a loaded pistol in his gym bag has been turned over to juvenile authorities, principal Ann Houseman said yesterday. Gun, bullets and beer were confiscated, and the 10-year-old boy, a Wilmington resident, was charged with carrying a concealed weapon and possession of alcohol by a minor, Houseman said. He was returned to his mother's custody pending a Family Court review of his case, she said.


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News by Topic
- Search Marketing
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- Social Marketing
- Viral Marketing
- Trends & Ideas
- Internet Marketing 101
Pew: Over half U.S. mobile users own smartphones
New research by the American Life and Pew Internet Project shows that smartphone owners now outnumber their feature phone counterparts.
According to the survey, nearly half (46%) of Americans aged 18 and older own a smartphone as of February, 2012, up from 36% in May, 2011. The results also show that 41% owned a basic mobile phone, down from 48% in May last year and 12% did not own any type of mobile device, down from 17% in May, 2011.
According to Pew, "Nearly every major demographic group-men and women, younger and middle-aged adults, urban and rural residents, the wealthy and the less well-off-experienced a notable uptick in smartphone penetration over the last year."
The largest growth in smartphone ownership and use was among those within the lowest income bracket. Households with an income of $30,000 or less a year saw a 12% increase.
An analysis of the platforms being used reveals around 20% of all American mobile phone users own an Android OS-based phone, slightly more than the 19% of iOS users. Just 6% used Blackberry RIM, down from 10% in May last year.
In Europe usage is also rising. Smartphone use in the UK jumped 15% from 30% to 45% between January and October last year, according to a study commissioned by Google. That compares to a rise of 7% in the U.S. to 38%, 11% rise to 38% in France, 5% rise to 23% in Germany and up 11% in Japan to 17%.
- Study: Retailers aren't ready for next-gen tech
- Expert Advice: Invest in Near Field Communications
- Top struggles for email marketers
- Campaigner suggests marketers reset campaigns not just clocks
- Brands: How to use in-memory tech to increase personalization
- Study finds mobile payments high on consumers' minds
- Does Facebook really pose a threat to YouTube?
- In a digital age Out of Home advertising memorable and complementary
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China’s outbreak of a new strain of coronavirus is having ripple effects beyond its upending of daily life in the country. For the international luxury industry, which relies heavily on Chinese shoppers, it’s already taking a financial toll.
The outbreak has dramatically reduced the number of shoppers in Chinese cities and forced companies to close stores. Travel restrictions are also curtailing the normal flow of tourists to other destinations that usually host plenty of visitors buying luxury goods. Chinese shoppers make up about a third of global luxury spending, counting their spending inside and outside the country, according to management consultancy Bain & Company. That’s more than any other nationality.
The conditions prompted Britain’s Burberry to scrap its previously announced outlook for the year through March. Of its 64 stores in mainland China, 24 are closed, the company said in a statement (pdf). Those that remain open are working on reduced hours and have seen “significant” drops in traffic. While it said its business with Chinese tourists in Europe and other destinations had suffered less so far, it added, “given widening travel restrictions, we anticipate these to worsen over the coming weeks.”


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"We are the victims of this fraud"
says Spanish Ambassador about the PA TV ad
calling for boycott of Israeli products
by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik
Following Palestinian Media Watch's exposure of Palestinian Authority TV's ad calling for boycott of all Israeli products , which listed the Spanish government as sponsor, the Spanish Ambassador to Israel said to the Jerusalem Post that the ad was not paid for with Spanish money.
"We are the victims of this fraud," said Alvar Iranzo, Spanish Ambassador to Israel, although he had not yet contacted the PA for an explanation. The Spanish consulate in Jerusalem would follow up on the matter, he explained, describing the ad as "in frontal opposition to the [Spanish] government's opposition to any boycott of Israeli goods, much less a blanket boycott like the one insinuated in the video."
A senior PA official who wanted to remain anonymous told the Jerusalem Post that the ad would be "corrected" and that "someone made a mistake," calling for the boycott of all Israeli products, while they intended to call only for boycott of products from "Jewish settlements."
Click to see Israeli Channel 2 TV News' coverage of the story
Following is the article by Herb Keinon in the Jerusalem Post:
Headline: "Spain denies sponsoring Palestinian ad to boycott Israel"
Advertisement showed the Spanish government's logo; ambassador tells 'Post' "We are the victims of this fraud."
A "public service" advertisement on Palestinian television calling for the boycott of Israeli goods is not being paid for by Spanish tax payers' euros, Spanish Ambassador Alvar Iranzo told The Jerusalem Post Wednesday.
Iranzo was responding to a video posted Tuesday by the Palestinian Media Watch organization showing the ad, which has been running for the last week on PA TV. The advertisement announces at the end that it was sponsored by the Spanish government, the Spanish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, AECID (Spanish governmental humanitarian aid development), ACSUR (a Spanish nonprofit organization), and the Canaan Joint
Development Project for Jerusalem.
Iranzo said the Spanish Foreign Ministry and its aid arm, AECID, both denied financing the advertisement, and that the NGO listed as a sponsor had sent a letter to the ministry saying it bore no direct responsibility for the video.
"We are the victims of this fraud," the ambassador said.
He added that he had not yet contacted PA TV to determine how this had happened, but that the Spanish consulgeneral in Jerusalem would follow up on the matter. Iranzo said his first priority was to check with Madrid and find out if there was any Spanish involvement.
The Spanish envoy said the government was intent on seeing who was responsible for the advertisement and misuse of his government's logo.
"The substance of the advertisement is in frontal opposition to the government's opposition to any boycott of Israeli goods, much less a blanket boycott like the one insinuated in the video," he said.
While the Palestinian Authority has waged a campaign for months to boycott goods made in the settlements, this particular ad targeted Osem potato chips, which are not manufactured beyond the Green Line.
A boy featured in the ad drops the Israeli potato chips he has taken off a store's shelf after hearing machine gun fire outside, and says, "I don't want the Israeli product, I want the Palestinian product."
A statement issued by the Spanish Embassy said that "a boycott of Israeli products is not a policy of the Spanish Government. It should be recalled, however, that in the frame of the Association Agreement between the European Union and Israel, the products originating from the Occupied Palestinian Territories do not enjoy tax benefits in the European Customs Union."
It added that "the position of the European Union regarding Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories has been expressed ultimately in the conclusions of the Council for Foreign Affairs on December 13, 2010."
In those conclusions, the EU said, "Our views on settlements, including in East Jerusalem, are clear: they are illegal under international law and an obstacle to peace."
A senior PA official in Ramallah announced on Wednesday that the ad would be "corrected" so that it referred only to goods made in Jewish settlements.
The official, who asked not to be named, told the Post that the original ad was supposed to refer only to products made in settlements.
"Apparently someone made a mistake, and we will correct it," the official said, accusing Israeli media outlets of exploiting the case to "incite" against the PA. "Our declared policy is to boycott settler products, and we won't succumb to pressure or threats to change it."
Tovah Lazaroff and Khaled Abu Toameh contributed to this report.
[Jerusalem Post, Jan. 13, 2011]


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GLM to Unveil New Marketplace at May 2014 Shows
September 10, 2013,
White Plains, NY-GLM will introduce its new branding platform, "signature mix marketplace," during select May 2014 shows. The new marketplace, which runs Sunday, May 18 through Wednesday, May 21, 2014, at New York City's Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, will include the National Stationery Show (NSS), Creative & Lifestyle Arts (C&LA), and the premiere of Gift>it-Distinctive Gifts. Fabulous Finds.
The combination of this new marketplace, which will feature more than 900 exhibiting companies and more than 10,000 product lines, was created to help expand business opportunities for retailers and manufacturers during a time of year when merchandise is being refreshed and holiday shopping is still in progress, according to GLM.
New to the market mix, Gift>It will feature a diverse collection of product from popular as well as emerging, new brands that will complement NSS and C&LA offerings, including decorative objects, "kitchen chic," specialty toys and games, men's gifts and gadgets, jewelry and confections. Gift>it will also kick things off at a new start time for NSS and C&LA of 10 a.m.
"Annual events provide unique opportunities that differ from their semi-annual counterparts, largely due to the scope of participants and the content of the event from beginning to end," said Patti Stracher, show director, in a statement. "What's so exciting here is the product combination within signature mix-a first for the industry. It will provide a fresh, new experience for both the thousands of buyers that have attended NSS over the years, as well as attract a breadth of new buyers to the marketplace."
Signature mix marketplace is expected to attract an audience of 12,000 senior executives and category buyers from larger retailers and specialty chains worldwide, international distributors and owners of independent retail shops.
"Addressing the combined business needs of retailers and manufacturers in the stationery, lifestyle gift and craft communities with broad-based buying, learning and networking opportunities is GLM's goal in creating the signature mix marketplace", said Charles McCurdy, CEO, GLM. "We expect this marketplace to stand out from other show experiences due to the unique combination of products it will represent and professionals that come together."
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text: Romania’s Economy Minister Varujan Vosganian will head a delegation of the Economy Ministry (ME) and an economic mission to promote the Romanian naval industry in Mexico, over July 15-17, informs ME release. After Mexico, the Romanian economic mission made up of the representatives of seven Romanian trade companies, ship industry makers and exporters, continues to Panama, on July 18-19. On sidelines of his official visit to Mexico, Minister Varujan Vosganian will hold talks with Foreign Minister Jose Antonio Kuribrena and with Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal. The agenda’s main goals are the consolidation of the bilateral political and diplomatic relations within the Strategic Partnership between Mexico and the EU, a favourable framework for the development of the bilateral economic and commercial cooperation. The Romanian official will also hold talks with the president of Mexico’s National Chamber of Commerce (CANACO) and the officials of the PEMEX – Petroleos Mexicanos and PEMEX Transporte Naval. At the same time, the Romanian Economy Minister is to make a speech at Mexico’s Diplomatic Institute, and will meet with officials of several Mexican companies having potential to develop new commercial operations and economic cooperation to Romania.


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EA confirms Battlefield 6 is coming in 2018; Battlefield 1 is getting Esports Mode and GOTY Edition this Fall
From Software's "Shadows Die Twice" might be a new Tenchu game
WWE 2K18, The End Is Nigh, Floor Kids, more coming to Nintendo eShop this week
The Scientifically Proven Best Video Games of All Time: An Introduction and The Top 100
10 Actresses We Think Could Play Elena Fisher in the Uncharted Movie
Here’s a trailer for the season finale of Minecraft: Story Mode Season 2… which launches on December 19
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, Okami HD, Night in the Woods, more added to Xbox Store
Image & Form will bring SteamWorld Heist: Ultimate Edition to Switch on December 28
Okami HD, Papers Please, Romancing Saga 2, more coming to PS Store this week
Overwatch’s “Winter Wonderland” event begins today
All Articles: Riddick
Vin Diesel has been making the talk show rounds to discuss his latest cinematic actioner, Riddick. Riddick is the third film to feature one of science fiction’s most intense criminals and Diesel has big plans for the character beyond the realm of film.
Speaking to ScreenCrush, Diesel revealed that his game development studio, Tigon, has reassembled the original Escape From Butcher Bay team at Starbreeze. The team came together earlier this year and, while there’s no release date and no title, the actor confirmed they’re hard at work on the third Chronicles of Riddick game.
If you’d like a little Riddick in the more immediate future, Diesel also announced that an iPad game based on Riddick will be released soon.


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Black Kite launched the Black Kite Aviator partner program. Black kite is a recognized cyber risk ratings firm. Aviator allows IT solutions providers to expand their cyber risk services portfolio and assist clients in securing their supply chains. The Aviator program has reached an agreement with more than 50 companies.
Members of the Aviator partnership program will have rights to use Black Kite’s industry-leading platform, which streamlines third-party risk management, uses open-source intelligence and non-intrusive scans, provides automated and continuous monitoring, and measures third-party technical, financial, and compliance risk. Members of the program will also have access to Black Kite’s partner site, which has a repository of sales and marketing materials, a formal deal registration procedure, and other enablement tools.
“Every organization needs third-party risk visibility and a means of determining the financial, brand, and reputational costs,” said Paul Paget, CEO of Black Kite. “The Aviator partner program will make Black Kite’s unique cyber risk and ransomware rating tools available to companies in the healthcare, financial services, manufacturing, and automotive verticals.”
The Ransomware Susceptibility IndexTM (RSITM), the OpenFairTM Tool, and a scalable that system reduce vendor evaluation times from weeks to hours are among the cyber risk solutions offered by Black Kite.
The RSI is a tool that calculates incident susceptibility and detects ransomware-prone companies. The OpenFair System is the first automated risk-assessment software for C-suite executives that calculates the financial implications of cyber breaches in quantified, convenient commercial terms. The Black Kite software continuously monitors for modifications across 20 cybersecurity categories, keeping vendor risk evaluations up to date.


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United States Cold Storage of California (USCS) plans to spend about $14 million to add to its Tulare North freezer and dry storage space. This expansion in Tulare CA will increase space by 140,000 square feet (4 million cubic feet) and is expected to be completed by November 2005.
After the expansion, the facility will be able to accommodate another 100 million pounds of product per year. The Tulare plants are a warehouse for food products including ice cream, fruits, vegetables, and TV dinners.
USCS has 73 workers at its two sites in Tulare, and the expansion will add another 15 jobs. Storage space capacity at the sites is currently 9.5 million cubic feet.


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A B&Q store was closed for a deep clean after a member of staff tested positive for coronavirus.
The shop in Bangor was shut on Thursday and was cleaned as a "precautionary measure", said the company.
It is understood that the shop reopened on Friday morning.
The store has been open throughout most of the lockdown, since hardware shops were deemed an "essential retailer".
A B&Q spokesperson said: "We can confirm that our Bangor store was temporarily closed yesterday following a member of staff receiving a positive Covid 19 test result.
"The store has now reopened following a deep cleaning, which is a precautionary measure and goes beyond government advice."


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News Corp is a network of leading companies in the worlds of diversified media, news, education, and information services.
Tesla has a new semi-autonomous setting called Mad Max - but is it dangerous?
People asked who should DIE in bizarre hypothetical driverless car scenario
This is why traffic lights could soon be removed from all UK roads
Driverless Range Rover Sport set loose on one of the UK's most challenging roads
How ancient Greeks predicted killer robots and AI 2,500 years ago
Phones may soon control cars - and you don't even have to be in one to drive
Driverless police car could help prosecute criminals on their way to jail
From BMW's 3 Series to a self-driving limo - the best of Paris Motor Show 2018
BMW’s new X5 SUV has a camera that alerts you when your eyes wander off the road
Peugeot reveals the retro-inspired e-Legend car, complete with velvet seats
BMW's SUV of future that lets you control stereo just by touching the SEATS
Organ donation shortages - and how else driverless cars may change the world
Driverless cars may NEVER happen as they 'might be forced to choose to cause death'
A 60s Mustang will be the first driverless car up Goodwood's Hillclimb
Motorists could 'watch films and sleep' at wheel of driverless cars by 2021
How 'autonomous' cars are misleading motorists and making UK roads unsafe


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29th May 2014
David Tennant gets behind the wheel of some seriously supercharged vehicles in Virgin Media’s latest ad campaign, showcasing its new range of Big Bundles. Virgin Media is putting its customers in the driving seat with its flexible new bundles, enabling them to mix and match the UK’s fastest widely available broadband, the country’s best value mobile SIM and unbeatable TV and home phone services.
Each Big Bundle can be tailored to suit a household’s needs with great value extras available to add at any time. This includes the flexibility to take more of any particular service, such as adding Sky Sports or Movies or getting unlimited mobile data.
The ads also star Richard Branson and will first air with a primetime slot during Britain’s Got Talent on ITV on Thursday 29th May.
In the first ad, called ‘Power Drive’, Tennant starts off in a clapped-out Reliant Robin bemoaning unreliable copper broadband speeds. The car suddenly becomes a bright red sports car at the mention of Virgin Media’s superfast fibre optic broadband and powers a sleek red trailer carrying an entire family, all online at the same time. The car then transforms into a rock star tour bus, fully kitted out with Virgin Media TiVo, a gold-plated home phone and even a mobile SIM, all available with Virgin Media’s new quad-play Big Bundles. Branson appears, skating behind the tour bus, as Tennant exclaims all this is available for as little as the price of a “pair of old roller blades”.
In the second ad, called ‘Power Flex’, Tennant cruises along on a powerful motorbike and compares the experience to the freedom customers get with Virgin Media’s flexible Big Bundles. He pulls a lever to add and remove Sky Sports to his package whilst an entire Virgin Media family pulls up alongside him on a supercharged bike. Everyone is busy online with different devices so the family’s pet Labrador is at the wheel and cranks up the broadband speeds to cater for everyone’s needs. Tennant holds up a mobile SIM which can be added to his quad-play bundle, which turns into a dove and flies away, prompting Tennant to say “freedom is awesome, eh Rich?”’ Branson leans out from behind Tennant on the back of his bike where he’s been all along.
Richard Larcombe, brand and marketing director at Virgin Media, said: “The time had come for our blockbuster duo of Tennant and Branson to hit the road – after all, what better way to show off our supercharged services than from a supercharged vehicle? The ads celebrate the freedom and flexibility of our new unrivalled Big Bundles, helping turn Virgin Media customers into the Big Kahunas of the household.”
Virgin Media’s Big Bundles have transformed the way in which home communications and entertainment services can be bought, offering unprecedented flexibility and value to consumers. For just £45 a month, the ‘Big Kahuna’ bundle makes the most of the unrivalled power of Virgin Media’s network by boasting 152Mb broadband, twice as fast as any other service of scale. This market-beating bundle also includes the highly acclaimed TiVo® with over 230 TV channels with over 40 in HD, such as every BT Sport channel, and a home phone service.
The ad campaign was created by BBH with media planning handled by Fifty6, and will run across TV, print, out of home and online.
Details of the full range of Virgin Media Big Bundles can be found here.
The creative leads for the campaign are as follows:
Director: Guy Manwaring
Creative director: Matt Domon and Ian Heartfield, BBH
Copywriter: Ed Cole, BBH
Art director: Lewis Mooney, BBH
Production company: Sonny
Virgin Media offers four multi award-winning services across the UK and Ireland: broadband, TV, mobile phone and landline.
The company’s dedicated, ultrafast network delivers the fastest widely available broadband speeds to homes and businesses. And we’re expanding this through our £3bn Project Lightning programme, which will reach 17 million premises.
Our interactive TV service brings live programmes, thousands of hours of on-demand programming and the best apps and games in a set-top box, as well as on-the-go for tablets and smartphones.
We launched the world’s first virtual mobile network, offering fantastic value and services to customers. We are also one of the largest fixed-line home phone providers in the UK and Ireland.
Through Virgin Media Business we support entrepreneurs, businesses and the public sector, delivering the fastest widely available broadband speeds and tailor-made services.
Virgin Media is part of Liberty Global, the world’s largest international cable company. Together Virgin Media and Liberty Global serve 27 million customers across 14 countries.


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News from The Business Journals
May 19, 2006, 11:32 am EDT
Danka Business Systems PLC said Joseph Parzick and Eric Muller were appointed to serve on Danka's board of directors, effective immediately.
Mar 16, 2006, 2:07 pm EST
Del Monte Foods Co. said Thursday it bought Milk-Bone dog treats and some other brands from Kraft Foods Inc. for about $580 million.
The San Francisco…
Mar 16, 2006, 8:50 am EST
Del Monte Foods Co., which earlier this month bought cat-food maker Meow Mix, added the Milk-Bone brand from Kraft Foods in a deal worth about $580 million.
Mar 2, 2006, 6:32 pm EST
Del Monte Foods Co. will purchase the state-of-the-art Meow Mix production facility in Decatur as part of the $705 acquisition of privately held Meow Mix…
Mar 2, 2006, 11:18 am EST
TreeHouse Foods Inc. is buying the baby food and private label soup businesses of Del Monte Foods Co. for $275 million, the firms said Thursday.
Mar 2, 2006, 8:37 am EST
As expected, Del Monte Foods Co. sold its baby food and private label soup businesses to TreeHouse Foods Inc. for about $275 million, while acquiring Meow…
Aug 22, 2005, 12:00 am EDT
The recent misadventures of American Italian Pasta Co. -- a delayed quarterly report, SEC and internal investigations, violated credit covenants, the departure…
Aug 16, 2005, 5:39 pm EDT
The founder of American Italian Pasta Co. has resigned from its board, according to a document filed late Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.


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Looming over “Bad Words” is the potential it could have had, as is, were it released ten years ago. With its focus of R-rated behavior poking at the projected innocence of children, along with the couple of chromosomes that keep Bateman’s Trilby from being a Vince Vaughn character, this movie is certainly a product of the comedies that have sculpted out the manchild story in the past decade.
CHICAGO – It’s been awhile since the ultra-useful DVD Round-Up brought you a wave of recently released DVDs that slipped below the mainstream radar but we’re back with a very star-powered installment of your favorite column and you can now expect us to return with monthly editions.
Blu-Ray Rating: 3.5/5.0
CHICAGO – With ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ opening this Friday, fans can catch up on where Hugh Jackman’s legendary character earned a following big enough to warrant a summer tentpole release date in the Blu-Ray release of the “X-Men Trilogy” including the two films by Bryan Singer (“X-Men” and “X2: X-Men United”) and the three-quel by Brett Ratner (“X-Men: The Last Stand”).


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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Technology stocks rose Monday, with Hewlett-Packard and flash memory developers leading the day's gains after ratings upgrades of SanDisk Corp. and M-Systems Flash Disk Pioneers.
Citigroup raised its ratings on both stocks to buy from hold citing the companies' strong intellectual property positions. Both companies develop flash memory technology that is used in digital media products such as music players and digital cameras.
With those companies in the lead, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index
rose more than 20 points, to 2,307. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index
Among other tech stocks, Hewlett-Packard Co.
Apple Computer Inc.
Apple is also scheduled to release some new products at an event at the company headquarters in Cupertino, Calif. on Tuesday.
Gains also came from Microsoft Corp., International Business Machines Corp, Intel Corp. and Cisco Systems Inc.


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While many drugstore makeup brands have risen to popularity over the last few years, there is no denying that a
Dior creates uniforms for No Label Academy in collaboration with rapper IDK. Joining forces with rapper Jason Mills – who
Iris Millot wins 6th edition of Dior Photography and Visual Arts Award for Young Talents. Organized in partnership with the
The luxury French fashion house took over the idyllic beachfront destination at One&Only Desaru Coast for their first pop-up store
To mark Haute Couture Fashion Week in Paris, the Dior Spa Cruise is moored at Port Henri IV in Paris.
“From New Look to New Wave”, Kim Jones fêtes fifth anniversary as Artistic Director with Dior Summer 2024 Men’s Show.


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The government has begun to issue biometric-based digital ID card from Monday. The first digital national ID card was distributed in Phidim by Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa. 101 years old Bhagwati Bhandari, a native of Phidim Municipality-4 received the first digital national ID card from Home Minister Thapa.
During the program of distributing digital ID card, Minister Thapa said: “it will be a historic step to make Nepal digitalize, within three years the digital national ID card will be distributed in all the districts.”
The program which was started eight years ago came into implementation after a long time.
Around 59 thousand names have been registered for distributing digital card, 52 thousands of them are a resident of Panchthar, and 7 thousand of them are high government officials based in Panchthar.
The government has planned to distribute digital card in 4 phases. The inauguration day has been considered as the first phase. In the second phase the digital maps will be distributed in 15 different districts, similarly, in third phase total of 25 areas will acquire the digital card and in the last phase, it will be dispersed in 36 communities.
The card will include family name, given name, address, father’s name, mother’s name, the photo along with four fingerprints of both thumbs and two index fingers. Similarly, each card will have a unique identification number.
Chomendra Neupane, director at the National ID Management Centre, informed the ID recipient would be notified through SMS requesting them to collect the card once the officials are prepared to issue the documents. The SMS alert system is functioning effectively, he added.


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Home' The Loxton News : November 19th 2014 Contents 12 - “RIVERLAND REAL ESTATE” Wednesday, November 19, 2014
THE RAA has announced it will offer
roadside assistance for mobility scooters,
which have become an increasingly
popular form of transport for older
The decision follows a pilot program
run by the RAA over the past year, where
the most common breakdowns experi-
enced were flat tyres (68 per cent) and flat
or faulty batteries (15 per cent).
“In many cases, the patrol actual-
ly attended the member’s home to help
them out, after they found their scooter
had a flat tyre or wouldn’t start just prior
to taking a trip,” said RAA senior manager
“If the member is located on the road-
side when their mobility scooter breaks
down though, our patrols will do all they
can to get it going again.
“If it’s not possible, they will make
arrangements to get the member and their
scooter home or to a place of repair.”
The RAA said mobility scooters were
a popular choice for consumers, with its
shops recording increased sales by 110 per
cent in the past three years.
“Almost 40 per cent of RAA’s members
are aged over 60, and this segment of our
membership base continues to grow,” said
“With this in mind, we knew we need-
ed to investigate new ways to ensure we
could continue to meet their changing
mobility needs throughout their lives.”
RAA assistance for scooters
CONCERNS for independent mechanics
have been raised following the collapse of
negotiations to develop a voluntary code of
conduct to allow them access to data and tools
to repair cars.
The Federal Government sanctioned negoti-
ations earlier this year to establish a voluntary
code of conduct between independent repairers
and car companies, providing access to vehicle
service and repair data.
But the Federal Chamber of Automotive
Industries (FCAI) recently pulled out of the
negotiations, announcing that it will develop its
own voluntary code of conduct.
The Australian Automobile Association
(AAA) said it was concerned the move would
leave consumers with less choice in their vehicle
As modern cars become more technologically
advanced, repairs and services rely on access to
information, computer upgrades and diagnostic
equipment which is supplied by the manufac-
In the USA and Europe, car manufacturers
and dealers must make the data available to
independent workshops, who usually pay a
subscription fee for the information, and the
Australian Automotive Aftermarket Association
believes a similar agreement should be made
available in Australia.
But the FCAI said its voluntary code of prac-
tise reached far enough by outlining a minimum
standard for providing service and repair infor-
mation to independent repairers.
The FCAI also argued its code of practise
allowed car manufacturers to protect customers
from the release of important vehicle informa-
AAA chief executive Andrew McKellar said
the FCAI’s code was “inadequate” and con-
sumers deserve to have “genuine choice” about
where to have their vehicle serviced or repaired.
“The car brands have sought to protect their
own interests and the interests of their fran-
chised dealers by limiting access to a range of
service and repair information,” he said.
“The code itself is completely inadequate but
more importantly, the car brands should return
to the consultation table and re-commit to an
agreement between all parties in the service and
repair sector,” he said.
Code of conduct concerns
MOTORISTS are encouraged not to provide
personal information to unsolicited callers
regarding motoring compensation, following an
increase in scam phone calls.
The Motor Accident Commission (MAC) said
it was aware of an increase in unsolicited calls
promoting compensation services or requesting
personal information following a car accident.
It said the caller may attempt to refer the
motorist to claims or compensation services,
and may purport to be from the Motor Accident
MAC encourages members of the public who
receive a call not to provide any personal infor-
mation and instead ask for the caller’s name,
organisation, website, email address and a return
The information provided during the phone
calls may be misleading or false, and MAC
advised motorists to report the call by visiting
www.scamwatch.gov.au, or calling 1300 795
The MAC said drivers who wish to discuss
a claim should contact its claims manager,
Allianz, on 1300 137 331, or contact their insur-
er to discuss a motor accident.
Fake callers leave
motorists on alert
The Motor Accident Commission (MAC) said it
was aware of an increase in motorists receiving
unsolicited calls following a car accident.
John Bougler will add
another honour to a
long list of awards when
he is inducted into the
Motorcycling SA Hall of
Fame later this month.
Mr Bougler, who
retired from riding in
1984, will be induct-
ed at the Annual Night
of Champions held on
Saturday, November 29.
Mr Bougler has a long
and successful history
with the sport, following
his debut at Adelaide’s
Rowley Park Speedway
on October 29, 1966.
He went on to become
an 11-time South
Australian Champion, and
was named the Australian
Champion twice, in 1971
In the ‘70s and ‘80s he
dominated the champion-
ship, winning seven titles
in a row at Rowley Park
and was named Midland
and Australian Long
The two-time World
Final qualifier was
the first captain of the
Australian Squad to win a
World Team Cup, in 1976.
set for hall of fame
THE Motor Accident Commission
(MAC) has released new
safety information and tips for
motorcycle riders ahead of the
warm weather and an increased
number of bikes on South
The information, developed in
consultation with the Motorcycle
Rider’s Association, includes
clothing advice, motorbike main-
tenance and preparation, and safe-
MAC general manager Michael
Cornish said there were nine
motorcyclist fatalities across the
state this year so far, and it was
important for riders to wear the
“Wearing the right gear can be
the difference between a nasty fall
and injuries that prevent you from
riding again,” he said.
The Royal Adelaide Hospital’s
director of trauma services Dr Bill
Griggs said protective clothing
reduces or prevents many com-
mon motorcycle injuries.
“We see many injuries from
motorcycle accidents and they
are significant injuries that can
have long term consequences,”
“There’s no question that pro-
tective clothing helps shield riders
over and above the level of nor-
MAC’s safety tips are availa-
ble from its website at www.mac.
New summer safety tips
out for motorbike riders
Toyota, BMW and Mercedes top trust list
AUSTRALIANS have voted
Toyota, BMW and Mercedes-
Benz as the most trustworthy car
manufacturers, according to the
latest Roy Morgan research.
The research shows the top 10
trusted car brands by drivers looking
to buy a car in the next four years.
Toyota topped the list with 34.3
per cent of those surveyed agreeing
the manufacturer was trustworthy –
a figure that remained the same as
BMW and Mercedes-Benz round-
ed out the top three, with all other
manufacturers in the top 10 scoring
a result of less than 20 per cent.
Roy Morgan industry director
Jordan Pakes said the industry’s
average trust levels dropped by
almost 11 per cent in the past year,
with eight out of the top 10 brands
recording a decrease.
“Most notable is the continued
decline in trust for iconic brands
Holden and Ford – which is hardly
surprising given the negative press
surrounding the pending closure of
both brands’ local manufacturing
options,” he said.
“Interestingly, trust in Toyota
(also soon to cease Australian pro-
duction) has remained stable over
this same period.”
Top 10 trusted car brands
(by drivers looking to buy a new car in the next four years):
BEST IN SHOW: This 1952 Aston Martin DB2, owned by former Grand Prix boss Mal Hammerling, won ‘Best in Show’ at this year’s
Motorclassica held at the Exhibition Building in Melbourne from Thursday, October 23 to Saturday, October 25.
Links Archive November 12th 2014 November 26th 2014 Navigation Previous Page Next Page


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MINNEAPOLIS — It`s 8 a.m., and thousands of workers stream through 40 blocks of offices and stores tied together in a web of skywalks.
At noon, they traverse skywalks to shop in four department stores, a concentration of downtown retailers rarely found elsewhere. And at day`s end, some return to their cars parked in heated garages, a great perk in a city where snow has fallen in nine of the past 12 months.
``It is common to drive to work and never put on a coat,`` said John Labosky, president of the Minneapolis Downtown Council, a business group.
Like an urban anthill, the city`s walkways have united retail, office and entertainment into a vibrant hub uncommon in America`s downtowns.
In contrast, many major American cities resemble a sea of decline with islands of prosperity, with their major attractions not united into a prosperous whole.
``Minneapolis did it all-it built offices, spawned walk-to-work housing and lured major retail,`` said Bernard Frieden, urban development professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. ``Minneapolis is on the rise, while so many other downtowns are declining.``
Downtown Minneapolis is not without its troubles. Office vacancies are rising, and some retailers, notably the upscale chain Harold`s, have closed downtown stores. And the skywalks have been no substitute for the once thriving street life.
To rebuild street-level activity, the city now holds a weekly farmers market on Nicollet Mall during warm months.
The farmers market illustrates how Minneapolis is constantly fighting the ever-present danger of downtown decline. Indeed, the downtown`s vibrancy is the result of 35 years of continuous, carefully planned and well-financed intervention by government and business.
``Minneapolis has had excellent planning,`` said Stephen Watson, president of Dayton Hudson Corp., one of several major corporations based in downtown Minneapolis. ``We know what we want to do with our city.``
Minneapolis moved early to head off suburban competition. It formed the Downtown Council in 1955, just before the opening of the area`s first suburban shopping center.
City planners have been rebuilding the central business district ever since, adding 50-story-plus office buildings and luxurious retailers, such as Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue.
Equally important, city planners ringed downtown with public parking garages, some of them heated. And the area was connected to the rest of the city with landscaped suburban highway corridors that enable residents to travel quickly downtown.
The city also created incentives for new housing in and near downtown, where 20,000 residents now live. That gives downtown a 24-hour vibrancy necessary to support big retailers and restaurants.
More importantly, the city, with its multitude of public lakes, rivers and creeks, remains highly attractive to well-to-do residents. There are many densely settled middle-class neighborhoods within 10 minutes of downtown.


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The Mazda MX5 has been ranked as the most reliable car in Britain, according to What Car? magazine. The publication’s annual reliability survey analysed over 50,000 vehicles, confirming the Mazda’s number one position.
The consumer-focused magazine found that 96 per cent of MX5 sports cars built after 2005 are running completely fault-free.
The two-seater recorded a failure rate of just four per cent, the lowest of all cars in the 2012 survey and a significant way ahead of its next closest open-top rival at 15 per cent.
The impressive 96 per cent of fault-free vehicles meant the Mazda MX5 achieved an excellent Reliability Index score of just eight, a massive 92 points ahead of the national average.
The Reliability Index is calculated from the survey’s results, as a function of the number of times a car fails, the cost of repair, the average time it spends off the road being repaired, its age and its mileage.
Even on the rare occasion the post-2005 Mazda MX5 model goes wrong, it was found that owners benefit from the lowest repair costs, with an average bill of just £165 to rectify the problem.
Mazda UK Aftersales Director, David Wilson-Green:
“It’s no surprise that the MX5 scored so highly in the What Car? annual survey. The car has won many awards over the years and regularly achieves excellent reviews in the national media for the pure driving enjoyment it provides and its distinctive good looks.
“Our Japanese brand is renowned for its engineering expertise and for its remarkably reliable models.”
For more information and special offers on the Mazda MX5 – the world’s best-selling two-seater sportscar – visit our website today or drop into our dedicated Mazda showrooms in Bookham, Surrey and Orpington, Kent today.


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Accept them or not, but autonomous automobiles are here, and they’re the future of the automotive industry. Autonomous vehicles will add features to our current vehicles to enhance safer operations and perhaps prevent accidents.
Now, at least one automotive related company has conducted research into the future of autonomous autos. Industry experts are weighing in on the future, and in some aspects, the future is bright. These predictions give insight into the current state of automation.
For instance, check out one of the results as to the “victor” of the fully automated auto challenge.
Tesla and Mercedes-Benz are the experts’ favorites. I am a bit surprised not to see Toyota having high marks, since they’re usually at the forefront of some technological innovations — think Prius. Safety is perhaps the greatest concern, where we’re too reluctant to fully abandon personal security to a robot or machine. I’d agree with one expert who says, “I would need a very obvious ‘human override’ button.” Personally, I think there’s probably more security in autonomous vehicles, especially if you can ratchet up the safety mode. I would think autonomous vehicles contain stricter safety protocols that humans sometimes abandon.
Here’s the full infographic that gives us a small, albeit possibly very wrong, glimpse into the future (click to go big).


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Taking to Instagram, the former Love Island contestant-turned-influencer said: “I’ve been working with the PLT team on something HUGE, our biggest project yet🤍 Get ready London Fashion Week… we’re coming @prettylittlething.”
In the snap, the blonde 22-year-old wears a matching cream suit paired with a brown bandeau and snakeskin-style knee-high boots.
Hague shared another image to her Instagram Story and wrote: “My favourite campaign to date…LFW can’t come soon enough.”
The announcement comes just weeks after the reality star faced backlash on social media for comments she made during a recent podcast.
Speaking on The Diary Of A CEO podcast with Steven Bartlett, Hague said: “You’re given one life and it’s down to you what you do with it. You can literally go in any direction.
“When I’ve spoken in the past I’ve been slammed a little bit with people saying: ‘It’s easy for you to say that, you’ve not grown up in poverty, you’ve not grown up with major money struggles. So for you to sit there and say we all have the same 24 hours in a day is not correct’. But technically what I’m saying is correct – we do.”
She added: “I understand we all have different backgrounds and we’re raised in different ways and have different financial situations, but if you want something enough you can achieve it and it just depends to what lengths you want to go to get to where you want to be in the future.”
These comments, among others made on the podcast, sparked backlash on social media with people calling her out for her “privilege”.
Hague, who was in New York City at the time the backlash happened, responded to the comments on her Instagram story on 10 January, writing: “I apologise to the people that have been affected negatively or misunderstood the meaning of what I said in the podcast, the intentions of the podcast were only ever to tell my story and inspire from my own experience.”


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WM Link Roundup: 11-07-07
- Why Google launched OpenSocial: Today's announcement from Facebook is the reason why Google announced OpenSocial last week.
- Facebook unveils ad targeting program: Facebook has begun transforming itself from an online hangout into an online business district.
- How will OpenID change your site?: OpenID promises a lot — just one username and password for life — but can it deliver?
- Five Common Paid Search Mistakes That Can Sink Your Campaign: While learning how to effectively manage a paid search advertising campaign can take quite a bit of time, there are plenty of quick and easy ways to increase your chances at success.
- The power of the Web with Opera Mini 4: We've done a lot with this new Opera Mini. For example, we rewrote the entire code for Opera Mini 4 and added lots of improvements and new features to make the browser even better.
- Seasonal PPC Increases on the Shopping Engines: It’s that time of year again. Many of the shopping engines have raised their cost per click (CPC) rates for the holidays.
- Freeloaders Outnumber Paying Downloaders of Radiohead's 'In Rainbows': During the first 29 days of October, 1.2 million people worldwide visited the "In Rainbows" site, with a significant percentage of visitors ultimately downloading the album, according to comScore.
- Windows Live emerges from beta: After a trickle of updates and "betas" bearing the Windows Live moniker, Microsoft Corp. is ready to start promoting its official package of free desktop programs for e-mail, instant messaging, blogging and sharing photos.
Website Magazine Weblog Posts:


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(BEDFORD) - Bedford Detectives are looking for a 2007 Chevy Silverado stolen from Hubler Chevrolet.
Police say store employees discovered the vehicle missing from the Hwy. 37 parking lot. After a few phones calls to other Hubler stores, it was determined the vehicle was taken illegally.
The Silverado is blue in color and anyone who may have seen it is asked to call the Bedford Police Department.
Have a question or comment about a news story? Send it to email@example.com


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Crumbs Bake Shop coming to Braintree
A Crumbs Bake Shop store will be opening soon at South Shore Plaza.
The chain’s first location opened in 2003 in Manhattan.
The New York company now has 62 locations, including the Burlington Mall, the Northshore Mall in Peabody and the Pheasant Lane Mall, Nashua, N.H.
South Shore Plaza’s director of marketing, Vicki Bartkiewicz, said the shop is expected to open within a few weeks.
It will be on Level 1 of the plaza near Macy’s.
“I have not seen the other (Crumbs) locations, but I hear the variety is great and that it’s very tasty,” Bartkiewicz said. “We’re hoping it’ll open by the end of April.”
Bartkiewicz said Crumbs will be the first cupcake shop in the plaza.
Asked how she expects the bake shop to do, Bartkiewicz said, “Well, who doesn’t love cupcakes?”
Crumbs Bake Shop is known for its enormous cupcakes.
The offerings include cookie dough, milkshake and peanut butter and jelly cupcakes.
Reach Janine Mullaney at firstname.lastname@example.org.
READ MORE about this issue.


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There have been several trends in Turkey that emerged in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. First is the trend of consumers turning to discounters in retailing. Discounters are very prevalent in Turkey, and since the coronavirus outbreak, have increased their product ranges in dairy, snacks, carbonated drinks, home care and personal care.
Another trend witnessed in the country is the performance in domestic travel, which is doing well despite the pandemic due to numerous promotions provided by local hotels and rental car companies. It has been a difficult year in Turkey, and digital innovation is becoming increasingly important for expanding the country's supply management and reach.


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Angie’s List, the website allowing members to post and access reviews of businesses they patronize, is accused of taking its own customers to the cleaners.
A lawsuit seeking class-action status in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana alleges that Angie’s List automatically renews membership fees at a higher rate than customers are led to believe, calling the practice a “systematic and repeated breach of its membership agreement.”
The complaint was brought by Marie Fritzinger, a Philadelphia resident who said she’s been a paying member of Angie’s List since 2007.
Fritzinger is represented by Irwin Levin, managing partner at Indianapolis law firm Cohen & Malad, who has earned a national reputation for class-action lawsuits.
Indianapolis-based Angie’s List has more than 1.2 million paid members in about 200 local markets. In 2011, it collected membership fees of $33.8 million and total revenue of $90 million.
The complaint alleges that Angie’s List, while reserving the right to modify membership fees and billing methods, is not authorized by contract to charge members who are renewing their subscription more than the stated membership fee. Members provide a credit or debit card that Angie’s List keeps on file to allow for automatic renewal later.
“In breach of the plain language of its membership agreement, Angie’s List instead automatically renews its members pursuant to a distinct–and more costly–'membership renewal fee,'” according to the suit.
Fritzinger alleges the company does not disclose the renewal fee anywhere in its materials.
The complaint also alleges that longer-tenured members are hurt by a 2010 change in the Angie’s List business model in 30 of its most-mature city markets. That change gave members the option of limiting memberships to one of three categories–auto service providers, home contractors and health care providers–or purchase a bundled premium membership for all three categories.
The suit, filed in August, says Angie’s List renewed more-tenured members at the premium rate without notification.
Angie’s List has not yet filed a response to the lawsuit. It sought and received an extension from the court to respond by Nov. 2.
“We don’t comment on litigation,” said spokeswoman Cheryl Reed. “We’re vigorously defending against this suit.”
The suit alleges breach of contract, deception and unjust enrichment. It seeks an unspecified award of three-times the financial damages incurred under a count alleging deception for allegedly mis-applying credit and debit cards to collect the unauthorized bundled membership fees.
Angie’s List has not posted a profit since founded in 1995 and last year lost $49 million.
Company management and analysts nevertheless have said Angie's List is on track to be profitable by 2014 as it builds critical mass in national markets.
The company is pouring massive amounts of money into television advertising, fueled by $72 million in proceeds from an initial public stock offering last November.
Older markets, such as Indianapolis, tend to generate the most revenue for Angie’s List. Generally the older the market, the higher the membership fee–roughly $63 a year in Indianapolis versus around $30 a year in a newer market like New York City.


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“Right now, growing cells as meat instead of animals is a very expensive process,” said Yaakov Nahmias, founder and chief scientist of Israel-based startup Future Meat Technologies. But it will get cheaper, and it probably will be needed.
Global population is 7.7 billion and heading for 10 billion by 2050. Average global incomes will triple in the same period, enabling more people to eat meat-rich diets.
tap here to see other videos from our team.
“We need a significant overhaul, changing the global food system on a scale not seen before,” says Prof. Tim Lang of the University of London, one of the 37 scientific co-authors from sixteen different countries who wrote a report by the EAT-Lancet Commission on Food, Planet and Health that launches in Jakarta on Friday. But we’ve heard it all before.
It takes seven kilos of grain to grow one kilo of beef; 70 per cent of the world’s fresh water is used to irrigate crops. We have appropriated three-quarters of the world’s fertile land for food production, and we’ll need the rest by 2050. The world’s stocks of seafood will have collapsed by 2050. It’s all true, but we’re sick of being nagged.


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With recent cyber-attacks on AT&T users and health clinic Planned Parenthood, keeping your team secure is more critical than ever. The threat of Malware and Ransomware grows daily. It does not matter what smartphone device you own or if you’re a Mac or PC user.
If you’re already aware of what data breaches can mean for a business, you know the devastating consequences of losing personal information-en masse to the worldwide web.
Working at home can mean less cyber protection if not careful.
According to Reuters News, big corporations like Google committed to stalling the return-to-work process as far as January 10th, 2022. While the reason for this lies mainly with pandemic safety, there’s now a gaping hole in cyber security.
It’s harder to keep track of worker safety when everyone uses a home network. During this time is when most workers will be vulnerable. Everyone ends up on a private network, or even worse, a public one. What happens after that is like the Wild West.
The kind of information stolen by cybercriminals vary.
Cybercrimes are not harmless for any entity. And it usually takes an expert to handle dealing with them. 1R Technologies can help you decide what type of IT support you need. In both cases of the recent attacks above, confidential client data remains compromised. Stolen sensitive information can exist in parts of the web where it shouldn’t be.
According to government officials from the United States Office of Treasury, the payouts for these scams estimate to top one billion dollars this year. It is not clear if Planned Parenthood LA received a ransom to pay. There’s no telling who will fall for that kind of trap in more minor, isolated incidents with no help, though.
Here are ways to protect workers from potential cybercrimes.
- Keep sensitive data in the Cloud.
- Have an IT expert that can help navigate individual risk.
- Create a plan and a backup plan for optimum recovery.
- Learn your device and learn media literacy.
- If workers have a laptop for professional use, install cyber safety software.
- Always use Ad-Blocker when not working.
- Never open a suspicious email.
- Stay up-to-date on the news in the tech industry.


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Car dealer CFAO Motors says there is need to create a second-hand vehicle market in Zimbabwe by encouraging people to buy new vehicles and submitting them back to the dealership over time.
BY TATIRA ZWINOIRA
This comes as CFAO Motors have launched three Volkswagen vehicles onto the market — the 2016 editions of Golf 7, Jetta and Passat — at a time the company is experiencing an uptick in sales with the brand.
Speaking at the launch of the new vehicles last week in Harare, CFAO managing director Marius Prinsloo said to create a local second-hand vehicle market would require a complete ban on second-hand imports.
“First of all, we need to stop the importation of second-hand cars. All we have to do is build up new vehicle sales over time and then it will spill over and generate its own second market. What happens here is, buying a brand new car is very tough for some people because within two years’ time, the price drops so much because the ‘10-year-old grey import’ is so cheap. As a result, the brand new vehicle that is now a bit old loses value,” Prinsloo said.
“We are importing very old vehicles into our country, so people are paying money to buy second-hand vehicles instead of us generating our own second-hand market. A lot of other countries ban the importation of second-hand vehicles and for the first three years, it is tough. There is not a very big flow, but over time, it flows and becomes an automatic second-hand market, so money does not leave the country.”
He said if you generate your second market through the initial import of brand new vehicles, your value appreciates a lot more gradually, along with the ageing process and safety of the vehicle.
The call for a local second-hand vehicle market comes at a time when imported vehicles were dominating the market by huge margins.
In 2015, estimates placed second-hand vehicles at about 64 000 by the end of the year compared to an average about 3 300 new vehicles sold per annum.
In the first seven months of the year ending July, brand new vehicle car sales dipped by about 5,13% to 2 089 vehicles from 2 202 recorded over the same timeframe last year.
The dip in sales means that the vehicle retail market is expected to further experience a decline by the end of the year, largely due to imported vehicles.
Imported second-hand vehicles have found a home in Zimbabwe due to their affordability on the back of low disposable income, lack of financing mechanisms and a general decline in incomes.
CFAO Motors are licensed dealers of the Hyundai and Volkswagen brands, with the latter experiencing a growth of 195,1%.
In the first seven months of 2016, the company sold 24 vehicles from 11 vehicles sold over the same period last year.
Motor Industry Association of Zimbabwe president Luckson Gwara said in order for a second-hand vehicle market to work in Zimbabwe, focus should be on establishing manufacturing plants for big brands.
“It will only be supported by us producing cars locally, but for us to be able to do that, we need to get into a relationship with the car brand. We, therefore, need to have our economic and investments policies to be done fairly for us to be able to attract such a player. In Zimbabwe, we need to be manufacturing vehicles,” Gwara
“Mind you, when you are building a vehicle, you cannot just do it for your own market. You need to be able to do it for the world. If you look at South Africa, for example, they are building for the whole world, not just for South Africa. So when you build cars, you need economies of scale to justify manufacturing.”
CFAO Motors Zimbabwe is a subsidiary of the CFAO Group, a French company represented in 32 African countries and French overseas territories.


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The nominations are in, it's time to decide who deserves the crown for 2019!
Intel's latest 10-core has received a hefty price cut, but is it worth the cash?
We take a look at Gigabyte's sub-£500 TRX40 board to see if it can compete with the excellent ROG Strix TRX40-E Gaming.
Another service for the chop.
Google's netbook-oriented operating system, Chrome OS, has enjoyed an official launch event - and while it won't be shipping until next year, the code is already available.
Google has taken the next logical step in its plans to conquer the Internet, with the beta launch of an open-source standards-compliant browser dubbed Chrome.
The popular CoreAVC for Linux project, which allows registered users of the CoreCodec's CoreAVC DirectShow filter to run the product under Linux, has been removed from Google Code.
January 24 2020 | 12:00
Copyright © 2000 - 2020, bit-tech.net. All rights reserved.


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Einstein Bros Bagels has been a regular sight at USD, but the bagel shop is now paired with Caribou Coffee since the beginning of August.
Caribou Coffee has 263 shops across the United States. Of those 263 shops, 50 are paired with Einstein Bros Bagels.
Adam Chicoine, USD’s director of campus dining, said Caribou Coffee offers students a more diverse menu at the same price as the Einstein Bros Bagels shop in years past.
“Caribou has a more diverse menu of drink options available as they specialize in coffee,” Chicoine said. “They also offer a variety of smoothies and coolers (which Einstein did not).”
According to the press release from Aramark, Nicholas Schafer, the Senior Vice President licensing and Food Service, said they saw the merger as an opportunity to give Aramark customers a better experience.
“Now you don’t have to choose between a great coffee experience and a great breakfast sandwich, you can have both,” Schafer said.
Chicoine said the merger has been well accepted by students and faculty, however, McKenna Kutz, a sophomore strategic communications major, feels differently.
“I was very upset about the recent switch from Einsteins to Caribou,” Kutz said. “I loved Einstein’s coffee because I thought it tasted like a real authentic coffee shop. I feel like they went completely mainstream with the coffee offered on campus now.
Kutz said now that Einstein’s is Caribou she has stopped purchasing coffee there altogether.
“Because of the change of coffee I switched over to U-Brew coffee,” Kutz said. “I don’t think U-Brew has the best coffee either, but I just can’t get on board with Caribou.”
Although she was upset with the switch, Kutz said she realizes it was out of the university’s hands and said she knows other students do enjoy coffee from Caribous.
“I have heard a lot of students who do like Caribou,” Kutz said. “The kind of coffee you like is a pretty specific thing, so they might like sweeter coffee which Caribou definitely has. So it’s not all bad.”
Sierra Vander Zee, a sophomore addictions students major, said she is excited about the change. VanderZee said she likes Caribou’s wider variety of roasts and better dairy-free options.
“I personally like the way their coffee tastes more so than Einsteins, or Starbucks even,” Vander Zee said. “I think that since Caribou is more well known for coffee than Einstein they are able to offer a wider variety of drinks, which will be better received by students.”


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Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America’s (WSWA’s) SipSource released its Q3 2023 report and announced a slew of 2024 product enhancements, including the industry’s first rigorous, fully transparent, data-backed forecasting capability.
WSWA SipSource’s Q3 report identifies wine and spirits trends and explores commercial and consumer behaviors that drove negative trends in both categories year to date, the company states. The report focuses on data over a 12-month period (October 2022–September 2023), predicting what consumer trends will bring for both the on- and off-premise during the holiday season, while giving short- and long-term insight for the industry’s future.
Analysts Foresee Q4 Tailwinds
Current market conditions remain challenging, and 2023 depletion trends are solidly in the negative with combined spirits and wine depletion trends down -6.7% year to date and down -5.5% in the 12-month rolling period ending September 2023, the company states.
“There is a compelling case to be made that we may have hit a trendline low point with the September-ending data,” says SipSource Analyst Danny Brager. “The basis of this thinking is largely driven by the forward-looking comparative depletion trends over the next six months. For spirits, depletions were up only +0.7% in Q4 of 2022 and were down -4.3% in Q1 of 2023. For wine, -5.5% and -6.8%, respectively. These comparative numbers provide some optimism around potential trend improvements, albeit still challenging.”
Narrowing the Gap
“While Spirits continue to outperform Wine, the gap is narrowing,” says SipSource Analyst Dale Stratton. “The trend gap is currently 390 basis points and narrowing each month. Unfortunately, the narrowing gap is being driven by the ever-declining trend in spirits while wine has been more stable, with declines in the mid-single-digit range over the long term.”
Third-quarter depletions were especially soft for spirits, down -8.8%. The wine category also experienced a difficult third quarter, with depletions down -11.7%. Those declines have put wine down -7.4% with the latest 12-month numbers and down -8.4% year to date.
Recreation Drives On-Premise Growth
As consumers continue to take advantage of on-premise experiences in the wake of the COVID pandemic, the Recreation channel continues to drive growth for both wine and spirits, up +6.0% for the two categories combined. Spirits leads the way in Recreation, up +9.2%, with wine growing +1.1%. It would also appear spirits are stealing share from wine in the Dining channel. Spirits are growing +2.1% and wine is down -4.4%. While wine still has more than a 50% share of Dining volume, the gap is getting very narrow.
New! 2024 Subscriber Enhancements and Forecasting Capabilities
“Existing industry forecasting solutions rely on partial data and black-box methodologies to arrive at less-than-optimal forecasts,” says SipSource Director Michael Bilello. “For decades, this partial data has become the focus of business planning meetings, driving major decisions across the industry. With SipSource’s new forecasting capabilities, subscribers will be able to make better decisions because they have better information.”
Developed with partners at Kearney, VIP and NIQ (formally NielsenIQ) the forecasting capability will be rooted in wholesaler depletion data plus third-party data including macroeconomic, demographic and social media trends, brought together through AI-based modeling. Preliminary 2024 forecasting will be available for select categories including Tequila, Brandy/Cognac, and American Whiskey in the first quarter of the year, with more categories to come throughout the year.
Additional enhancements rolling out in January include the integration of new data contributors, optimization of the platform, as well as new data indicators including control state flags, account velocity, updated price tiers, demographics data, additional wine regions and more.


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Rachet and Clank: Rift Apart will be one of the early titles to launch on the PlayStation 5, and fans of the series are excited. Those playing on other platforms will be disappointed after what Insomniac Games has revealed about the game.
Sony plans on supporting the PlayStation 4 for years to come. This means having their first-party developers create games which are both compatible with the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. However, for Rachet and Clank: Rift Apart, fans will have to buy the next gen of the PlayStation first as the game has some exclusivity.
Only a PlayStation 5 exclusive
As per Insomniac Games, the upcoming next entry in the Rachet and Clank series is going to be a PlayStation 5 exclusive. While this may not come as a surprise to some, there are those that had expected otherwise. Some of Sony’s first-party games for the PlayStation 5 will be releasing on the PlayStation 4.
Games like the upcoming Horizon Forbidden West, for instance, will be launched on the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. A more appropriate example would be Insomniac Game’s upcoming Spider-Man Miles Morales, which will launch alongside the PlayStation 5. The game will be compatible with the PlayStation 4 as well.
Insomniac Games didn’t detail why Rachet and Clank: Rift Apart will launch on the PlayStation 5 only.
Some players are speculating that the game is too demanding to be on the PlayStation 4. We’ve already seen a ton of gameplay footage, and it’s safe to say that Insomniac Games is maximizing all of the resources available on the PlayStation 5. However, it’s not just the visuals and performance that could be the reason for the exclusivity.
A core feature of the upcoming title is Rachet’s ability to instantaneously jump from world to world. This is a huge part of the gameplay, which could be impossible to emulate on the PlayStation 4 without taking making huge compromises.
The Rachet and Clank series has always been a PlayStation exclusive. Sadly, the PlayStation 5 exclusivity means that some fans won’t be able to enjoy the game immediately. At the very least, fans are guaranteed a smooth gameplay experience on the PlayStation 5 instead as there’s bound to be no compromises.
Rachet and Clank Rift Apart for the PlayStation 5 doesn’t have a release date yet. However, there are rumors going around that the game will launch in March next year. Hopefully, the developers officially reveal the release date of the game within the coming months.
Image used courtesy of PlayStation/YouTube


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Fresh off a triumphant couture collection inspired by René Gruau and only days before Paris Fashion Week begins, John Galliano has had his world turned upside down by allegations that he made anti-Semitic and racist remarks and assaulted a couple in a Paris cafe. After the Thursday night altercation, the designer was briefly arrested and then escorted home by police, who did not press charges. However, LVMH-owned Christian Dior wasted no time in suspending its longtime creative director. “The House of Dior declares with the greatest firmness its policy of zero tolerance with regard to any antisemitic or racist statement or attitude,” said Dior president and CEO Sidney Toledano in a statement.
The couple involved in the incident filed charges against Galliano, who proceeded to sue them for defamation. Meanwhile, the controversy didn’t deter Galliano devotee Nicole Kidman or Sharon Stone, a face of Dior Beauty (and someone whose own culturally insensitive remarks got her in trouble with the brand a few years back), from wearing Dior gowns on last night’s Oscar red carpet. Neither actress would comment on the situation. Whether Galliano’s fall ready-to-wear collections for Dior or his own label will hit the runway this week remains anyone’s guess, but the plot thickens. Today a second complaint was filed with the Paris police. According to WWD, a woman claims she was verbally attacked by the designer earlier this month at the same Marais cafe, which is near Galliano’s home.