text:
Back in March, General Electric and Local Motors announced a new crowd-sourcing platform, called FirstBuild, which was created in order to utilize the talents of designers, makers, engineers and students around the globe to enhance GE’s current appliances, and create a new batch of smart appliances.
In April, when the company first launched FirstBuild, Chip Blankenship, the CEO of GE Appliances said, “This is global co-creation paired with a microfactory on site. We will innovate and bring products to market faster than ever before.”
The idea behind this innovative new idea is to allow the engineers and designers out there to have input in developing some of the smart appliances of tomorrow, through what GE refers to as “open innovation”. Today it was announced that GE has now teamed with MakerBot, one of the leading manufacturers of consumer level 3D printers, as well as TechShop, a membership based do-it-yourself workshop and fabrication studio, to help advance their FirstBuild platform.
“GE continues to foster collaborative relationships to drive innovation through cutting-edge manufacturing models and partnerships that are redefining how ground-breaking products are made,” explained Kevin Nolan, vice president of technology for GE Appliances.
The hope is that by bulding on the FirstBuild platform, the partnership with MakerBot and TechShip will “enhance GE’s collaboration with engineers and makers,” which will provide additional opportunities in engaging the FirstBuild community as they develop the next generation of major home appliances.
FirstBuild currently has two co-creation challenges running. One is for a “Micro kitchen”, where innovators are to make designs of kitchens that have a smaller footprint than traditional kitchens, while maintaining the same functionality. The other is the ‘Indoor grilling challenge’, where they are asking designers to create designs for an indoor grill. Once the challenges are complete, they plan on selecting the winners, and then having the global community help determine what the engineering specifications will be. The most popular products that are created will potentially be mass manufactured and sold, providing royalties to those who have contributed.
Some of the examples of ideas that you will find on FirstBuild include:
- The creation of an app on the refrigertor that produces recipe ideas based on food that is currently in the frig.
- A wireless thermometer on an oven to show the current cooking temperature on a users smartphone.
- Self cleaning juicers.
- Vacuum technology in refrigerator drawers to increase shelf life of food.
It is not completely known yet, what MakerBot’s role in the partnership will be, however, it is safe to assume that they will be contributing via their ability to connect with ‘makers’. On top of this, they could potentially contribute some of their 3D printers to the project. 3D printers will allow designers and engineers to prototype their designs, prior to submitting their them for products, and without having to spend large sums of money in order to do so.
What do you think this partnership between GE, Local Motors, TechShop and MakerBot will mean for the co-creation of smart appliances? Discuss in the FirstBuild forum thread on 3DPB.com
Subscribe to Our Email Newsletter
Stay up-to-date on all the latest news from the 3D printing industry and receive information and offers from third party vendors.
You May Also Like
New INTAMSYS Desktop 3D Printer Features Independent Extruders
Based out of China, INTAMSYS is an exciting firm that aims to challenge the larger material extrusion market across nearly all fronts. With high-temperature 3D printers, as well as a...
Can Your 3D Printer Become a Bioprinter with ViscoTec’s New Nozzle?
German firm ViscoTec makes all manner of dispensing nozzles. For years they’ve been used in 3D printing to print silicone on standard material extrusion machines adapted to work with their...
One 3D Printing Nozzle, Many Diameters: New from Sculpman
In material extrusion, you’ve traditionally been tied to one nozzle geometry and size. Ideally, you may want to have a larger nozzle to make large interior areas and a finer...
3D Systems and Jabil Create ‘High Speed Fusion’ Filament 3D Printing Technology
Just as Stratasys began to enter onto 3D Systems’ home turf, now, 3D Systems (NYSE:DDD) is pulling its own such move with the introduction of a fused filament 3D printer,...


text:
Uruguay's attempts to enter the global cannabis market fall flat as marijuana shortages abound
In December 2013, Uruguay legalized Cannabis for recreational use and sale and had since proven itself to be on the cutting edge of drug and marijuana deregulation and reform. Now, five years later, with medical cannabis legal in a number of U.S. states and various countries across the Americas and the world, Uruguay seeks to continue its market edge by becoming one of the major exporters of medical cannabis around the globe.
Uruguay first exported medical cannabis in December 2017 but has not made significant strides in their market since. Today, non-Uruguayan medical cannabis is exported from Oceania to Europe to the Americas, though recreational exports are still globally banned.
The Latin American cannabis market is expected to explode in the next decade reaching a value of $8.5 billion by 2028 up from $125 million now. As the world’s 96th largest economy, Uruguay stands much to gain by building its medical export business early.
Uruguay's Year in Weed/France 24 English
Frustrated consumers turn to the black market
The country has a six-year advantage for its production facilities. Since 2013, the country has had more than eight thousand Uruguayans register for home growing initiatives and nearly seventeen collectives licensed to grow cannabis. Despite the potential capacity, until December 2018, only two medical licenses had been allotted, to Symbiosis and ICC Labs Inc. (TSX-V:ICC), who have thus far failed to yield their allotted amount of two tons per year, leaving long lines and shortages for medical consumers within Uruguay.
[At the KCSA Cannabis Investor event, Khiron outperforms competitors in the Latin American Market]
This shortage of medical supply has impacted full implementation of legalization, prevented Uruguay from building export stocks, and has left consumers frustrated and turning to illegal sellers, undermining the legalized system. At full capacity, including non-medically licensed growers, the system could produce 9.7 tons, according to La Nacion, an Argentinian news site, which would more than satisfy local demand.
If the country wants to meet and exceed the demand of its citizens, it will need to make big changes in its growing capacity. The government is well aware of the problem. Uruguay’s National Drugs Council Secretary-General, Diego Olivera, acknowledged to the Associated Press, "The demand is greater than our productive capacity. It is a challenge we need to tackle.”
To address this, in December 2018, Uruguay announced that it would provide five additional federal licenses for medical cannabis cultivation, which they hope to award in mid-February.
The cannabis market embraces Uruguay
In addition to new licenses, Uruguay embraced international Cannabis investors Aurora Cannabis (NYSE:ACB), who recently bought all outstanding common shares of ICC Labs. Meanwhile, Khiron Life Sciences Corp. (OTCQB:KHRNF) (TSXV:KHRN) announced in January that it would buy Nettagrowth International, one of the first licensees to grow medicinal cannabis in Uruguay, and Auxly Cannabis Group Inc. (TSX.V:XLY) (OTCQX:CBWTF) purchased 80 percent of Inverell, an Uruguayan cannabis producer with a full federal license.
The hope is that companies with strong international resources will connect Uruguay to markets across the world.
A bumpy start for Uruguay’s cannabis market
Will these strides will bring success for Uruguay’s burgeoning export market? Already they are off to a bumpy start.
Growers, already struggling to meet supply, won’t receive the new licenses until mid-February. By February, outdoor growers will have already missed prime growing season during the country’s summer months of December-February. They also face competition from countries like Colombia, an equatorial nation with a perfect cultivation environment, which has begun mass cultivation.
[Germany prepares to cultivate cannabis following government approval]
They too want to dominate the cultivation and export market.
Despite these challenges, in 2013 when Uruguay undertook the first attempt at a fully regulated cannabis market, there wasn’t a global market for cannabis on this scale. Canada’s groundbreaking legislation in 2018 legalizing recreational marijuana, has driven the market into overdrive, with firms everywhere trying to gain the greatest advantage. Undeterred, Uruguay remains one of two countries in the world to legalize recreational cannabis, and with so many growers already participating in the internal market, they have an advantage they may be able to use to their benefit though, they still have a ways to go to become leaders in the global export market.

domain: news


text:
The Government should launch an urgent inquiry into the food scare sparked by the use of the potentially cancer-causing dye Sudan 1 in a wide range of products, an influential Commons committee urged today.
The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee called for a "speedy" investigation into how the dye made its way into the UK's food chain.
The alert over the banned additive saw hundreds of contaminated food products cleared from shop shelves at a cost of millions of pounds.
The alert was sparked by tests which discovered the dye in a chilli powder used to make a consignment of Crosse and Blackwell Worcester Sauce.
In a report published today, the committee said: "We recommend that the Government undertake a speedy investigation into the events which resulted in the illegal dye, Sudan 1, making its way into the UK food chain."
The committee also called for the provision of information about the nutritional content of food on all prepacked foods to be made mandatory.


text:
Mary Pea and her husband have always watched prices on their trips to the supermarket. But now when the couple go shopping in San Jose, Calif., they are buying fewer of the things they like in order to stay within their budget.
"We no longer purchase things like wild fresh fish, organic produce or dairy, or deli items," Pea said. "We stick to the perimeter of the store, as always, but stay away from some of the better quality or so-called luxury items."
And they are not alone. As the price of just about every food product soars, Americans everywhere are looking for ways to cut their grocery bills.
Pea said that she and her husband used to cook fish three times a week. But now they only buy it when it is on sale — once every 10 days or so.
"And then even sometimes the sale price is too high," she said.
The couple has added more beef and chicken to their diet instead. "Even those prices are going up but they are not as high as fish," Pea said.
They also cut organic produce and organic milk from the shopping cart.
"My husband isn't terribly fond of leftovers, but we do leftovers," Pea said.
"There's no throwing anything out if it can at all be avoided."
In the past year and a half, consumers across the country have seen the prices at grocery stores spike, said Ephraim Leibtag, an economist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service.
In the past two decades food prices have only increased by an average of 2.5 percent each year, Leibtag said. But from 2006 to 2007, prices spiked 4 percent. And this year they show no sign of easing. The Department of Agriculture is forecasting a 4-5 percent increase in retail prices this year.
The cost of white bread alone was 16.3 percent higher in March than at the same time last year, according to the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics, which tracks inflation through the Consumer Price Index.
Grade A large eggs were up nearly 35 percent during the same period and sliced bacon was up 4.6 percent.
There are a number of factors causing this run-up in food prices.
First, there is more money in a lot of developing countries. The upshot is that people can afford to eat more and also to eat foods they traditionally have not consumed, such as meat. So these countries then need more corn to feed their cattle, which drives up demand for the grain.
Also, the world's population is growing faster than the growth in food production.
Poor weather in some parts of the United States have also contributed to the run-up. Think floods and early frosts.
With oil and gas prices at all-time highs, it costs more to transport foods to your grocery store. That cost is now being passed on to consumers.
Some countries are also dipping into their stockpiles of food, causing greater pressures on the market.


text:
Kicking off on Friday, Aug. 31, FOX is putting YOU behind the news desk at WURG with anchors Chuck Darling (Kelsey Grammer) and Kelly Carr (Patricia Heaton) from FOX’s BACK TO YOU at www.backtoyouanchorizer.com. Designate your favorite “anchorized” look by picking out a snazzy suit, a handsome mustache, and other accessories to create your own signature newsroom style.
Options for “anchorization” range from simply inserting a digital picture into an existing group shot with the BACK TO YOU cast, to going all-out and customizing your likeness online with a variety of different “anchorized” features. The resulting image will be a JPG file that can be e-mailed to friends or even posted online for your social networks.
They also had WURG news van hitting locations near you this Labor Day weekend. The vans were on location in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York passing out BACK TO YOU premiums touting the show and its premiere on Wednesday, Sept. 19 (8:00-8:30 PM ET/PT)on FOX. Did any of you see these vans? Tell us about it!


text:
Public-health England (PHE) said that the victims were among six patients influenced in England along with the deaths occurred in Manchester and Liverpool.
Sandwiches and salads in The fantastic Food Chain linked to the outbreak have been pulled and production ceased.
A spokesperson for the Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust said it offered its own”deepest condolences to the bereaved families” and”sincerely regret” both of these seriously ill patients contracted listeria.
The hope, that would not say when the deaths occurred, said the sandwiches were out of the patient menu.
Aintree Hospital said:”Public health experts advised us with the distribution chain dilemma on Friday 24 May and we instantly eliminated all services and products from this supplier.”
Dr Nick Phin, deputy manager at the National Infection Service in PHE said:”currently there have been no associated cases identified outside healthcare businesses, along with some danger to the public is low.”
PHE explained The Good food-chain was given meat created by North Country Cooked Meats which afterward produced a positive test result because of its outbreak strain of listeria.
This business and North Country Quality Foods, that it distributes through, have also systematically ceased production.
A spokesman for The Good Food Chain Ltd stated the organization’s production centre in Stone, Staffordshire, was”cross contaminated by means of an ingredient in among its own approved meat providers”.
The BBC has contacted North Country Quality Foods such as remark.
Listeria is a bacteria that may cause a sort of food poisoning called listeriosis.
However, these cases occurred in people who were severely sick.
Along side expectant mothers, toddlers infants and seniors, they have been most at risk of a more serious disease that may spread to the brain or blood flow.
Listeria is located in various types of food such as soft cheeses, chilled ready-to-eat foods like pre packed sandwiches, salads and sliced meats, along with unpasteurised milk products.


text:
(ThePatriotSource.com)- What was once a search engine has become one of the biggest online service providers in the world. Google now runs the operating systems on our phones and some tablets and laptops, stores our emails, records where we visit, gives us our apps, and so much more. That’s why many people don’t like using the service or go out of their way to “opt out” of certain services to ensure Google isn’t keeping their data.
If a recent lawsuit is to be believed, however, Google could still be tracking people even after they have opted out of those services. According to a report from Reuters, a new lawsuit claims that the tech giant is tracking thousands of user actions every single day on hundreds of different mobile applications. The lawsuit says that Google is doing this even when users have opted out of services that require the tracking.
This isn’t a completely new story, by the way. Google has been accused of this before and a data privacy lawsuit was filed just a few months ago by Boies Schiller Flexner. The clients represented in that case claim that Facebook and Oracle, as well as Google, were tracking data without user permission.
The latest complaint was filed in the United States District Court of San Jose. It accuses Google of violating California’s privacy laws as well as federal wiretapping laws by logging the actions of users. These actions include collecting ride-hailing information and news reading habits from people who have turned off the “Web & App Activity” tracking settings on their Google account.
In short, it means people are following the instructions Google gives them to turn off tracking, leaving them thinking that Google isn’t collecting their data. And when they feel safe that Google isn’t tracking them…they track them.
“Even when consumers follow Google’s own instructions and turn off ‘Web & App Activity’ tracking on their ‘Privacy Controls,’ Google nevertheless continues to intercept consumers’ app usage and app browsing communications and personal information,” the lawsuit says.
We’ll have to wait and see how this one pans out, but it’s worth noting in the meantime that if you use Google services, your data might well still be being accessed by Google. It’s only an allegation, but you never know…


text:
'Phoney bid wars' under fire
PRESSURE is building for the City's Takeover Code to be widened to cover 'phoney wars' in which a bid is indicated but takes a long time appearing.
The Takeover Panel has given entrepreneur Robert Breare and Pubmaster until 1 June to make an offer for Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries or walk away.
This is its first formal intervention in a saga which
began last August when Breare spoke of offering 500p a share. Since then Pubmaster, backed by German bank West LB, has also come in but neither has yet bid.
Many now feel such situations should be covered by the Code. 'This has been going on for nine months. Babies arrive in that time,' said one jaded analyst.
Most watched Money videos
- Bentley blower is back! British marque completes reborn 1920s racer
- All-New Dacia Sandero supermini will hit UK market later this year
- The all new Toyota Mirai 2021 hydrogen fuel cell car
- 'UK shares can do well when the world reopens': Tom Becket
- Renault 5 EV prototype will look like the 1980s rally car
- 1972 Lamborghini Miura SV sold for 11% above market value
- Lord Blunkett 'never envisaged' disabled Child Trust Fund issues
- UK's first garage for charging electric vehicles opens in Braintree
- Can Scottish Mortgage keep climbing? Tom Slater interview
- The 311mph supercar Venom F5 worth £2million
- Chinese Nio ET7 electric family car costing £60,000
- Electric cars could reap benefits from new green number plates


text:
For every 10% increase in excise duties, illicit tobacco trade incidence could increase by as much as two percentage points, potentially causing the government to lose an additional RM254 million in uncollected excise taxes, revealed a non-governmental think tank today.
The Datametrics Research and Information Sdn Bhd (DARE) Winning The War On Tobacco Black Market also revealed that criminal syndicates currently reap RM8 billion per annum in total sales revenue of illicit tobacco products in Malaysia, while the Government losses around RM5 billion in uncollected tax revenue. As of May 2021, the illicit tobacco market in Malaysia stands at 57.9%, according to the Illicit Cigarettes Study May 2021 report.
“Our study clearly shows that raising excise duties for tobacco products is counterproductive. Instead of increasing the government’s revenue, placing more taxes on legal tobacco products will only drive more consumers towards cheaper alternatives.
This will not only cause the Government to lose more in uncollected tax revenue. It can also exacerbate other socio-economic problems like systemic corruption across enforcement agencies fuelled by the ill-gotten gains of this trade, deeper criminal penetration into the country’s policymaking bodies, and reduced investor confidence as the rule of law in Malaysia comes under threat,”Pankaj Kumar, Managing Director of DARE says.
Even if excise duties were to remain as it is, DARE’s study shows that the illicit tobacco trade may still rise due to the affordability factor. In a survey commissioned by DARE and carried out by its market research partner, The Green Zebras, most smokers (53%) have said that they will switch to cheaper but illicit alternatives because they just cannot afford legal products at current prices.
“More and more consumers are faced with income crunch as a result of job losses and pay cuts due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As legal tobacco products are very expensive compared to the illicit, demand for black market products can only increase, and criminal syndicates will naturally do what it takes to fill this need and make a big profit,” Pankaj explained.
In providing policy solutions to this problem, Pankaj recommends the Budget 2022 to include:
- Better enforcement, especially at the coastal areas
- Maintaining excise moratorium to reduce tax revenue leakages
- Reducing price gaps between legal and illicit tobacco products by reducing sky-high duties
- Imposing stricter legislative moves to clean up illicit tobacco products sold in the market
“Malaysia needs to resolve this issue in order to generate funds towards the fulfilment of the 12th Malaysia Plan,” Pankaj concluded.
Winning The War On Tobacco Black Market report is based on the analysis of publicly available data. The Green Zebras was also commissioned to conduct a nationwide market survey. The full report is available on daresearch.com.my


text:
The vadu manga season has begun. Now, the bright green and round vadu mangas (baby mangoes) are stocked up at most of the pavement shops at South Mada Street, Mylapore.
While the Madurai vadu is priced at Rs. 300 per kilo, those from Madhavaram and Coimbatore are priced at Rs. 220 and Rs. 250 respectively for a kilo.
Says S.Kavitha, a hawker, who has been selling vadu mangas for some 32 years, “This year, as the rainfall was poor, the supply has been less. Hence, the rates are high.”
However, shoppers are not discouraged by the high cost. Many are seen thronging the market to buy their favourite mangoes.
Said Sethu Lakshmi, a shopper from Guindy, “Though the prices are high, I buy the mangoes due to its heavenly taste.”
Vadu manga pickle is a must-have with curd rice, she says.


text:
ONTARIO, N.Y. — New York state has shut down a chain of seven unlicensed cannabis dispensaries that allegedly sold cannabis to underage customers.
David Tulley owns and operates eight shops under the "I'm Stuck" name across Wayne, Cayuga and Oswego counties. According to a release from Attorney General Letitia James' office, Tulley's stores have been selling cannabis without a license since at least early 2022.
Locations in Auburn, Aurelius, Lyons, Macedon, Pulaski and Williamson were among those shut down Monday. Tulley also has a shop in Seneca Falls.
Tulley is accused of ignoring repeated notices from the state's Office of Cannabis Management to stop selling without a license.
Investigators reported observing store clerks selling cannabis products to underage customers on multiple occasions.
James said Tulley, his companies and the building owners could face millions of dollars in fines.
“Legalizing cannabis in New York was a historic milestone to correct the harms of the past, but there are laws that must be followed to ensure cannabis products are safe and kept out of the hands of minors,” James said in a statement. “David Tulley brazenly violated our laws, cheated taxpayers, and endangered our kids by selling unregulated cannabis to underage customers. Today’s enforcement action should send a clear message that businesses that are selling cannabis without a license will be stopped."


text:
Two people have been arrested after thousands of pounds worth of clothes were purchased using stolen customer details. Nottinghamshire Police launched an investigation after 47 fraudulent orders were placed online with a retailer, with officers searching a property in Dale Grove, Sneinton, on Tuesday, March 21.
A number of clothing packages were seized at the address. Nottinghamshire Police said it believes customer names and personal details were stolen by hackers and sold on the dark web, with fraudsters using them to order clothing items on credit.
A 23-year-old woman and 16-year-old boy have been arrested on suspicion of fraud by false representation. They remain in custody for questioning.
Poll: Should the UK deal with snow better? Have your say here
Detective Inspector Ashley Xavier, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “Fraud can have a huge impact on retailers and individuals whose personal details are stolen. Reports will always be treated seriously by Nottinghamshire Police.
“Two suspects are in custody and our inquiries are ongoing.”
Are you planning an event for King Charles III’s Coronation? Let us know here
Inspector warns students to secure accommodation after rise in burglaries
Neighbours shocked after man found stabbed in 'nice little town'
How empty Nottingham high street has transformed into a 'cool and fresh' destination
11-minute exercise that cuts risks of stroke, cancer and heart disease, say scientists


text:
Chilled seafood has continued to grow market share in U.K. retail over the past year, much to the detriment of frozen and ambient sales.
According to the latest data from the U.K. Seafish Authority, sales of seafood in retail (not including discount grocers) for in-home consumption exceeded GBP 3.1 billion (USD 3.8 billion, EUR 3.6 billion) in the 12 months to 28 January 2017, which represented an increase of around… Read More
Increases in prices for some of China’s most popular freshwater species are being driven by producers in the country's heartland, who are switching from carp to shrimp and crab.
Volume of seafood sold at the Changsha Mawang Dui wholesale seafood market – one of China’s largest – rose by 4.17 percent year-on-year in 2016, while the average price paid per kilo rose by 3.45 percent to CNY 37.14 (USD 5.38… Read More
The 2016 sales data from Tmall.com, obtained by SeafoodSource, presents a glimpse into the complex and obscure world of e-commerce in China, especially as it relates to seafood.
Tmall is part of the Alibaba group and a market leader in China’s e-commerce sector, and its annual sales report was compiled by CBNData in cooperation with Tmall.com.
According to the report, Tmall’s three top-selling seafood species last year were king crab from… Read More
While the United Kingdom’s booming foodservice sector today incorporates no end of diverse cuisines, the traditional fish and chip dinner is in the midst of a consumer renaissance, according to a new study.
Latest statistics provided by the U.K. Seafish Authority in its “Fish and Chips in Commercial Foodservice 2016” report show that sales of the iconic meal increased by more than 4 percent over the last two years to 333.6 million… Read More
New U.K. grocery market share figures issued by Kantar Worldpanel for the 12 weeks ending 1 January 2017, show the fastest recorded retail growth since June 2014, thanks to an additional consumer spend of GBP 480 million (USD 590.6 million, EUR 552.9 million) increasing total supermarket sales by 1.8 percent.
Year-on-year market growth has been helped by comparisons to a weaker Christmas in 2015, but sales were also buoyed by strong consumer… Read More
European at-home fish consumption is increasing with 72 percent of people eating fishery or aquaculture products once a month and 42 percent consuming seafood once a week, finds a new survey on EU consumer choices.
Conducted by Eurobarometer at the request of the European Commission (EC) Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (DG MARE), the study establishes that people in the EU eat seafood quite regularly, although how far… Read More
Vietnam’s Directorate of Fisheries under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) has set a seafood export revenue goal of USD 7.1 billion (EUR 6.8 billion) for 2017, an increase of USD 100 million (EUR 96 million) on last year’s total.
The agency has targeted a total fishery production output of 6.85 million metric tons (MT) for the whole year, including 3.05 million MT of sea catch and 3.8 million MT from aquaculture.
In… Read More
International non-profit research organization Worldfish has launched a six-year strategy aimed at boosting sustainable aquaculture production and small-scale fisheries in developing countries, while at the same time helping many of the world’s poorest fishers and fish farmers exit poverty.
The strategy, which is aligned to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), places increased emphasis on the development of improved fish breeds and… Read More
The United Kingdom’s decision to leave the EU has coincided with a clear drop in the amount of visits that Brits made to restaurants, yet the amount being spent on these meals has increased, finds the latest foodservice quarterly report prepared by the NPD Group Inc. on behalf of the U.K. Seafish Authority. The study also confirms an upturn in out of home (OOH) seafood consumption with sales growing in most foodservice channels.
According to… Read More
Norwegian seafood exporters shipped 2 million metric tons (MT) of seafood worth NOK 74.3 billion (USD 9 billion, EUR 8.2 billion) in the first 10 months of this year, representing a 9 percent decrease in volume but an increase in value of 16 percent compared with the corresponding period of 2015, and just slightly short of the total value achieved by the Scandinavian country’s seafood exports for the whole of last year.
According to new… Read More


text:
RBS CMO David Wheldon says it won't pull ads from Daily Mail in the name of brand safety
The glare of the industry spotlight on brand safety has shifted from platforms to publishers over the past six months, but RBS’ chief marketing officer David Wheldon has told The Drum he would be reluctant to freeze spend with editorial titles like the Daily Mail in the same way it did with YouTube.
RBS’ chief marketing officer David Wheldon has told The Drum he would be reluctant to freeze spend with editorial titles / RBS
Brands, he argued, should not be the "judge and jury on what’s appropriate content".
The bank was one of the first advertisers to pull investment from YouTube after reports of ads being misplaced next to extremist and pornographic content hit the national press in 2017. However, he suggested that pulling ads from news sites was a separate, thornier, issue.
Wheldon said RBS “hasn’t had a single incident” with the Google-owned platform since it resumed YouTube spend in the few weeks after the crisis emerged last year. However, he noted that some customers had taken issue with its ads appearing on Mail Online – "bizarrely" conflating illegal content with content that posed ethical questions.
RBS, he revealed, found itself embroiled in a recent controversy after its ads appeared adjacent to a column published on the site by Richard Littlejohn. The piece, which criticised Olympian Tom Daley and his husband Dustin Lance Black after they announced they were expecting a child, prompted Center Parcs and the Southbank Centre to cease advertising with the paper.
“I might disagree with what Richard Littlejohn said but I am not editor of the Daily Mail and actually RBS is after the Daily Mail’s audience,” he said.
“We’re sorry if our ad appears digitally alongside something people don’t like. We chose not to talk publicly about it [at the time] – even though I am now – because I think long and hard about the issues that are at hand here, and one of them is not we cannot be judge and jury on what’s appropriate content. Yes we have to follow the laws and guidelines and stipulations of this fair land, and that’s exactly what we do.”
Drawing the distinction between illegal content and potentially polarising content, Wheldon said that when it came to the latter, the issue of advertisers deciding what was and wasn’t appropriate was verging into “ethical” territory.
His comments come amid a growing pressure on advertisers from lobbying groups like Sleeping Giants and Stop Funding Hate who have taken issue with brands spending with right-leaning publications and websites across the media spectrum.
Earlier this year the issue of whether advertisers should be moral gatekeepers came to a head when retailer Paperchase pulled a promotion it was running with the Daily Mail following lobbying from campaigners.
Virgin Trains too found itself in the midst of the debate after it banned the sale of the tabloid from its services, only for chief executive Richard Branson to u-turn on the decision.
Wheldon explained that the only way RBS would quit advertising on an editorial title was if it took "really extreme" views that were offensive to its customers at large. Indeed, the bank flexed this muscle earlier this year when it blacklisted far-right Steve Bannon-fronted outlet Breitbart as a media buy.
Wheldon explained: "We’re pragmatic about it but we’re also thoughtful because we understand that there are all sorts of pressure groups who will take offense to things and they are our customers too.
"What Richard Littlejohn said, for example, does not represent our views but this is the problem with digital advertising – you do not know specifically where your ad will land. It’s not like the good old days of TV buying where you would say 'show me this spot list'."
Noting that this is much tougher to do digitally, he said that focusing on brand safe environments was still high on RBS' agenda.
Discussing whether RBS would ever follow Bank of America's recent example and appoint an internal brand safety chief, Wheldon said he believed it wasn't just the job of one person.
"I want everybody in my team to think about brand safety," he added, cautioning that by putting the responsibility in the hands of one person, other marketers "may think they don't have to worry about it".
Wheldon, who is also president of the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), said that data from members uncovered that actually it is the role of the chief digital, or media, officer that's on the rise.
"Everything is being digitised. Banking is changing exponentially, and customers' experience of our app shows that – but I think there's a confusion [among brands] between digital advertising and communication and the digitisation of all services."


text:
McDonald's is testing PayPal at the point of sale in 30 locations in France, and VeriFone wants you to know it's involved as well. The company announced today that its Point Group is "providing key payment services" to the mobile ordering system that McDonald's has deployed to facilitate faster ordering at test loctions.
"Point's work with McDonald's in France provides yet another example of how VeriFone's payments-as-a-service solutions integrate the worlds of traditional point-of-sale and mobile payments," said Point CEO Johan Tjärnberg.
Specifically, Point Group is providing its Paybox gateway service to process payments for mobile pre-ordering. This lets McDonald's customers place an order and pay without waiting in line for personal service. Instead, they pick up a ticket at an unattended kiosk for "fast-track food pickup."
Point Group's Paybox is a suite of services that support merchants. It includes a secure processing platform for electronic payments coming from call centers, interactive voice services, e-commerce, and now mobile, as well.


text:
The rumours that Hedi Slimane is parting ways with Saint Laurent have been confirmed after an official announcement.
The designer's contract with the famed fashion house expires this week and many within the fashion industry have speculated that the departure was imminent.
CLICK TO ENLARGE
Hedi's departure from the brand has been confirmed
"What Yves Saint Laurent has achieved over the past four years represents a unique chapter in the history of the house," said Francois-Henry Pinault, chairman and chief executive officer of Kering, in a statement on Friday morning.
"I am very grateful to Hedi Slimane, and the whole Yves Saint Laurent team, for having set the path that the house has successfully embraced, and which will grant the longevity to this legendary brand."
Francesca Bellettini, president and CEO of Yves Saint Laurent, stated today: "I would like to thank Hedi Slimane very much for his vision in reforming such an iconic house as Yves Saint Laurent. The direction that has been taken over the last four years represents an incredible foundation for the brand to build on for its continuous success."
Now, the industry waits to see who will replace Hedi, though his successor is widely thought to be Anthony Vaccarello.


text:
INVESTORS have enjoyed a retail bonanza on the sharemarket in the past year.
Woolworths, Wesfarmers, Myer, Harvey Norman, JB Hi-Fi and others have performed better than the broader sharemarket, despite battling the rapid rise of online shopping.A key reason for retail's outperformance, experts say, is because many stocks were coming from a low base after a bad couple of years in a fast-changing retail environment.
The question that new investors now face is whether the retail revolution will deliver good gains in the coming years.
Baker Young Stockbrokers managed portfolio analyst Toby Grimm says retail stocks performed poorly before 2012 because of factors including cautious consumers tightening their belts and the strong Aussie dollar tempting more people to shop online.
"They have bounced back because of the interest rate cuts, and we have seen an improvement in retail sales figures in the last six-to-nine months," he says."The bleeding has stopped and we have started to see green shoots of improvement."
Investors divide the retailers into two camps discretionary retailers such as Myer and David Jones, and the consumer staples giants Woolworths and Wesfarmers, which owns Coles supermarkets along with Bunnings and other brands.
Grimm says Baker Young "avoided discretionary retail stocks like the plague" for much of 2010 and 2011 but had started buying again in 2012, particularly Myer.
He says Woolworths and Wesfarmers are still generating significant dividend yields of 5.5-6 per cent when you take dividend franking credits into account.
The stocks you choose should depend on your risk profile. "Woolworths and Wesfarmers are core plays for any portfolio. As far as the others go, in a reasonably diversified portfolio there probably is good rationale in having exposure to them," Grimm says."I think the Australian retailers have significant benefits ahead if they move online.
"I don't think online is ever going to completely overtake physical stores. Bricks and mortar will remain long-term as the key component of retail."
However, the online retail component is likely to grow from less than 10 per cent today to 20-30 per cent in the next 20 years, Grimm says.
Pitcher Partners wealth management director David Lane says a decade from now, today's retailer will be almost unrecognisable. "Online sales, apps, QR codes, self-serve and other technologies are having a significant impact on retail," he says. "Retailers that thrive will have embraced new technologies to enhance the retail experience and make the purchasing process seamless."
Lane says the industry faces strong headwinds.
"Although there may be short to medium term share price recoveries, retail investors must keep an eye on the future and how well retailers adapt to change."We are still cautious about retailing in general. Our top picks are David Jones, Metcash and Myer."
Myer has been oversold and looks an attractive buy, while DJs is beginning to compete with online retailers through new websites, apps and blogs, Lane says.
Bell Potter Securities private client adviser Andrew Gartrell says retail shares started to rise in anticipation that the Reserve Bank's interest rate cuts would improve sales and profits, "which we are now seeing".
Gartrell says Woolworths and Wesfarmers which hit record highs last week look slightly expensive compared with historical valuations, but should still attract investors who are moving money out of term deposits.
"They are in a defensive sector and still have grossed-up dividends which exceed term deposits," he says. "By contrast the discretionary retailers have much further upside as they have only just started to see an improvement in sales.
"Investors need to understand that discretionary retailers are far more dependent on the economic cycle than the consumer staple stocks like Woolworths and Wesfarmers, and therefore the share prices are more volatile.
"Discretionary retail stocks have better potential for gain if bought at the right time, but also have a greater potential downside in a weakening economy." Bell Potter's top retail share picks are Myer, Super Retail Group and Kathmandu.
Originally published as Price check needed on retail shares


text:
NASCAR 14 hits European retailers today
Eutechnyx has announced the European release of their latest NASCAR racing title.
NASCAR 14 brings high-octane action the great American tradition of diving stock cars with massive engines around a variety of tracks at ridiculous velocities to PC and console.
The game includes an extensive career mode, all of the official teams and tracks, online leagues and full online multiplayer. It also uses the NASCAR Highlights system to recreate this year's season in your own career.
NASCAR 14 is out now on PC and PS3.
- Thomas Was Alone gets a release date for PS4 and Wii U
- New Warframe update adds space-flight to the gameplay with Archwing mode
- New poll indicates that people believe online gaming is “the least welcoming space” for women
- CD Projekt RED releases The Trail, the opening cinematic from The Witcher 3
- New Project CARS trailer pulls up to the starting grid
- Far Cry 4 dev says linear games will suffer in the new world of gameplay video sharing
- Almost 1,100 developers, students and journalists sign the new #gamediversity petition embracing diversity in games
- Felicia Day breaks her silence about #Gamergate, is almost immediately doxxed
- Ubisoft announces PC specs for Assassin's Creed: Unity and they're killer


text:
Volvo is upgrading its new Advance Air technology in its new car that will clean your cabin air including bad breath to yesterday’s food smell.
The automaker has said that its new air technology has a sensor that measures PM 2.5 levels inside the cabin. PM 2.5 values are widely used to measure the air quality and many urban areas suffer from exceeding the levels recommended by the World Health Organization.
This technology is available on all models based on Scalable Product Architecture (SPA) i.e. V90, V90 cross country, XC90, and all 60 series models. Because of synthetic fiber-based filter and ionization, this technology is cable of keeping up to 95 percent of PM 2.5 particles out of the cabin. It is also capable of filtering particles naturally emitted through the human body in the form of a burp, breathe, etc.


text:
Recently, Variety posted an article concerning Netflix and their future plans. The web streaming service has stated they had plans to introduce “around 20” original scripted shows per year in an effort to appeal to a variety of people.
The statement about creating more original series isn’t a surprise taking into consideration the successes of Orange is the New Black and House of Cards. What is a surprise is the number of shows they plan on adding to their streaming service. With the number of shows they want to have for each year (including the new series in their partnership with Marvel), one has to wonder if Netflix is trying to become a competitor to the television networks.
Right off the bat, I don’t think Netflix can compete with the Big 4 of ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox. At least, not at the moment when there are still people who watch television first, Internet second. I do think it can be competitor to cable channels and premium networks such as SyFy, AMC, and Showtime. It has the benefits of more freedom to the creative staff like the premium networks and the benefits of not being inundated with commercials during the viewing. The added bonus is that the audience can watch the show whenever they want and allow for more viewership who’s willing to pay the 8 dollars a month to have Netflix.
Of course, the next question is can Netflix sustain all these series and would it affect their brand. I’ll start with the latter and say it won’t. Unlike say HBO and SyFy, Netflix’s brand is simply to provide streaming media toe the populace. There’s no set genre, tone, or demographic to the company and it gives them the necessary freedom to have a diverse number of shows. For the former, that’s a bit early to tell. We know that Netflix can handle original series and more people are willing to watch shows online through a variety of devices. But are they getting ahead of themselves by having nearly 20 series a year? Again, we’re going to have to wait and see when more series start to roll off the pipeline.


text:
EA has just released their financial results for the quarter and one of the more interesting aspects of the documents released is the shift in consumer demand.
Gamers have grown up in an age of acquiring physical manifestations of video games, but times are changing. The financial data in EA’s 10-K Report has highlighted the growing trend in digital sales. Since the year 2015, EA has been steadily increasing digital sales at third-party storefronts such as the PlayStation Store and Xbox Store. In the year 2015 Microsoft’s digital store consisted of 10% of EA’s total net revenue. The following year PlayStation accounted for 16% while Xbox held 14% of EA’s revenue. Now in 2017 EA is gaining monetary gain at a 19% from Sony’s PlayStation Store and 17% for Microsoft’s Xbox platform. To compare that with physical disk sales Gamestop, one of the leading video game retailers in America, were “no greater than 10%” of total net revenue for EA in 2017.
This shift in video game consumption benefits mostly the developers. Before digital storefronts became front and center studios would lose second hand sales from retailers such as Gamestop. Gamestop would be able to buyback used copies and in turn resell those copies to other costumers keeping 100% of those profits. With developers claiming that development costs are far to high to sustain a AAA video game industry, it would seem only natural for these companies to find ways to increase their revenue.
For more gaming news and discussions follow us @TiCGamesNetwork on Twitter and Facebook.


text:
Dec 16, 2011Listeria hysteria
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there were 29 reported deaths from last fall’s listeria outbreak. As of November, CDC reported 139 people with severe illnesses.
Last September, CDC traced the listeria to tainted cantaloupes from Colorado’s Jensen Farms. The outbreak led to national attention and a widespread drop in cantaloupe sales across the country, according to FDA, USDA and numerous news agencies.
“I’ve had several customers ask me about cantaloupes every day,” said Justin Weaver, the produce manager at Village Foods in Bryan, Texas. “People just aren’t buying cantaloupes.”
Cantaloupes in court
Several lawsuits have been filed as a result of the listeria outbreak. The lawsuits are aimed at anyone associated with the growing, distribution and sales of the tainted cantaloupes. Among the retailers dealing with the outbreak’s fallout is Walmart.
“As soon as we were made aware of the listeria outbreak associated with cantaloupes, we immediately worked with health officials and suppliers to determine the source of the contamination,” said Dianna Gee, Walmart spokesperson. “Out of an abundance of caution, we actually began removing Rocky Ford cantaloupes from our stores prior to the official recall. Our food safety team continues to work with our suppliers to ensure we are providing our customers with only cantaloupes sourced from areas health officials deem safe.”
Walmart has been named in a lawsuit filed on behalf of Charles Palmer of Colorado, who became sick during the outbreak after eating a cantaloupe he purchased at a Colorado Walmart store.
“Retailers are going to be left holding the bag,” said Bill Marler, an attorney specializing in food poisoning outbreaks. “The grocery stores and retailers who sold the product, from big-box stores to roadside stands, are going to have to step in and fill the gap.”
Marler has filed suit against Jensen Farms, Frontera Produce and Walmart on behalf of Palmer. It is one of nine such suits brought by Marler’s office. Jensen Farms is one of Frontera Produce’s Colorado growers. Frontera markets Colorado cantaloupes from the Rocky Ford area, where commercial cantaloupe production originated in the United States in 1895.
“In regards to the Walmart lawsuit, we wish Mr. Palmer well and we take claims such as his very seriously,” Gee said.
Marler’s most recent lawsuit names the companies that performed the safety audit at Jensen Farms in July: Primus Labs, a California-based food safety inspection service; and the Texas-based Bio-Food Safety Inc., the company that actually did the inspection under contract from Primus Labs.
The lawsuit was the first filed in New Mexico on behalf of a victim of the listeria outbreak, Florence Wilcox. Wilcox began experiencing symptoms, including fever, chills and weakness, about Sept. 8, after eating contaminated cantaloupes. Wilcox died Sept. 15, Marler said.
Jensen Farms issued a statement saying it was shutting down operations temporarily.
“Our operations will not resume until we are completely satisfied that we have done everything within our power to ensure the safety of our products,” the statement said. “We continue to cooperate fully with the FDA and other government agencies and extend our deepest concerns to any and all members of the public who have been affected by this outbreak.”
Detecting pathogens on cantaloupes can be quite difficult, according to FDA. The current technique is the rinse method, which depends on the amount of contaminants present on the cantaloupe, as well as how strong the organisms are attached to the rind. If there is a low level of contamination, which is tightly bound, then the rinse method could produce false negatives.
One possible solution may have come from the University of Idaho, where students Intan Karina, Jo Scholkowfsky, Sarah Reichman and Keith Christopher designed a tester for listeria. In early 2011, with help from faculty advisers, the four students designed a cantaloupe-washing machine that cleans off listeria and other deadly bacteria. It was initially built in response to a salmonella outbreak, also in cantaloupe, and as an entry in a design contest held by the University of Mexico’s Waste-management Education and Research Consortium.
The cantaloupe sampler/cleaner device was inspired by the hand-operated golf ball cleaners you see on gold courses, said David Down, the faculty adviser to the student group. The device brushes the cantaloupe while rinsing with a buffer solution to keep the bacteria collected alive for subsequent analysis. The device was tested with a laboratory strain of E. coli, and then a cantaloupe soaked in bacteria-laden “duck pond water” at the contest.
“The device has not been tested with listeria, but there is no reason to believe it would not work just as well on listeria as it does on salmonella and E. coli if the collected sample was analyzed for listeria,” Down said.
There has been no work done on the device since the contest, and future work will require a financial sponsor, Down said. Idaho is not a cantaloupe producing state, and state appropriation funds are not available.


text:
Close to half of Britons use their broadband connection to shop online from their bed.
New research from Give as you Live, a service that allows people to donate from charity when shopping over the internet, found 48 per cent of people have bought something online while in bed.
Some 11 per cent of respondents said they have shopped online from the toilet, while one per cent have even done so while having sex.
One in ten people claimed to have made a web purchase when out socialising, with these individuals dubbed 'anti-social shoppers' by Give as you Live.
Steff Lewis, head of consumer insights at the organisation, stated: “The ability to compare prices and product reviews means that internet shopping has become a staple for many of us - but there’s a time and a place!
"We’re slapping the culprits with anti-social shopping orders - we hope they learn their lesson!”
The survey found women are more likely to shop while socialising and Manchester is the 'bed-shopping capital' of England, with 59 per cent of people in the city having made a purchase while under the covers, The Drum reports.
Belfast, meanwhile, is the toilet-shopping capital, with 22 per cent of residents revealing they have made a purchase while on the loo.
This research is just the latest in a long line of studies that have revealed the growing popularity of online shopping and its increasing prominence in everyday life.
According to figures from the latest IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index, British Retail Consortium and the Office for National Statistics, online sales grew strongly in July and this is a continuation of a trend that has seen internet retail flourish in recent years.
Research conducted by the Centre for Economic and Business Research on behalf of Royal Mail earlier this month revealed people with faster broadband connections tend to spend more online.


text:
According to IndiaTech, an NPO, the gross revenue of the online fantasy sector operators stood at over INR 2400 crore for the financial year 2020, which was merely 920 crore in 2019. The increase is almost 3 times over a period of one year.
Fantasy sports giants such as Dream11 and MPL are all set to raise a huge sum of $235 million and $50 million from investors.
If we talk about the users of fantasy platforms, they grow to nine crores in 2019 from merely 20 lakhs in 2016. The number of fantasy sports users will continue to increase to 10 crores by the end of the year 2020, and revenue is expected to reach INR 2400 crore with a 160% increase by the end of the year 2020.
The potential of the fantasy domain is huge. If you are looking to hire a mobile app development company for fantasy sports app development, then this post is just for you.
Today, we will discuss the potential of fantasy platforms and the top reasons to invest in the fantasy platform in the year 2020-21.
Opportunities for Fantasy Sports Mobile Apps
As we have discussed above, the fantasy sports users are exponentially growing in the past few years along with surging revenue growth. With the fantasy sports platform, sports enthusiasts have got a place where they can build their team and play fantasy sports in 2020.
To the joy of sports lovers, the year has lots of big tournaments lined up, such as the Indian Premier League (IPL), which is followed by the ICC event of ICC Men’s t20 World Cup 2020.
So if you are planning to invest in a fantasy cricket online platform, then this is the right year for you. Having said that, let’s move ahead and understand why 2020-21 is the best year to launch a fantasy cricket mobile application.
Top Reasons to Invest in Fantasy Cricket Mobile Applications
Indian Premiere League – Listed as the most seen Cricket league, the T20 cricket league brings out the finest associations in the realm of sports. IPL takes place once a year, and the year 2020 is the 13th season. Henceforth, it would be a great idea to invest in an app like Fan Super League.
World Cup T-20 – October and November of the year 2021 will come with lots of surprises for every sports lover. It is the time when 2021 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup is planned for its seventh tournament edition. The tournament will be held in India, and 16 countries including, Australia will partake in this seventh version of the competition.
This would be the time when the entire world would be drenched in the sporty hues, and you can opt for fantasy sports app development services.
All the dream app designers and business visionaries, pull out all the stops and get ready to rank in some serious cash in a short time.
Barclays Premier League
The year 2020-21 will be the twenty-ninth edition of the Barclays Premier League. It is the top-notch English professional league for the affiliation football clubs since its inception in the year 1992.
Originally the season was planned to begin on August 8th, 2020 but due to the outbreak of Covid-19, the game got postponed until twelfth September.
All the business owners planning for building a fantasy sports app get ready to hire the best mobile app developer for your dream app.
Big Bash League
The Big Bash League is another T20 cricket alliance similar to that of IPL. It is all set to start from the middle of the December-Feb 2021. The fans of this league can expect approx 59 matches this year.
Significantly it will be the time for business owners to start thinking about fantasy cricket app development. The coming time will be perfect to earn a humongous fortune in a short span of time.
Reasons To Start Your Fantasy Platforms in 2020-21
The Sport Calendar
Keep a close eye on the sports calendar, as many prominent and international cricket events and other sports are about to start, such as IPLC, ICC World Cup, and many more. Grab this opportunity and go for fantasy sports app development to leverage the fantasy sports world excellently.
The platform for fantasy sports is quite new to the Indian market as compared to the other industry. You won’t find more competitors in the industry to be precise; there are just 2 major players who are driving the fantasy sports industry.
There are high chances of your success if you hire mobile app developers to build a fantasy sports app for you.
People across the globe have the same level of enthusiasm for their favorite sports. So, it will be quite easy for you to find and target the right set of audience.
These will be the audience who are dying to wait for their favorite sports like forever. It would be a brilliant opportunity to easily target the audience and improve downloads for your fantasy sports application.
It is Legal
After a long fight, finally, fantasy sports are now legalized in India as well. The honorable Supreme court of India has given its verdict that the idea of fantasy sports is round of aptitude and not betting.
It would be, therefore, won’t be a problem for you to start your own fantasy platform in 2020-21.
The trend of mobile app development is surging high. People are crazy about fantasy sports. The platforms have become quite fascinating among the users as they can experience utmost fun, excitement, and most importantly, they win some amount through these apps.
Seeing the trend, we can tell the fantasy sports mobile applications are gradually becoming the brand value for many sports.
Thus, it is advisable for you to grab this opportunity and go for fantasy sports app development and improve your chance to get into the partnership with some big brands.
Expanding User Engagement
The fantasy platforms have successfully made their place in sports enthusiasts. You will be surprised to know that India has become the greatest center point for fantasy sports after the United States.
According to a data survey, the users of fantasy sports have increased from 20 lakhs to 90 lakhs from the year 2016 to 2019. You can do the math to calculate the popularity. There’s a huge scope of earning great benefits to investing in a fantasy platform this time.
As we have discussed above, this is the time of the year when various premiere leagues are about to launch. Henceforth, it is time to launch fantasy sports apps.
The New Year is about to bring many big levels of tournaments and with that, the demand for such apps will also increase undoubtedly. Get ready to build your fantasy platform by hiring the best mobile app development company.
As we know the extravagant show of multiple sports leagues is about to start in few months, and thus, it is the most suitable time that you can excellently leverage the fantasy platforms by earning a high return on investment.
The fantasy sports app is the most suitable platform to get high returns with low investments. For that, you have to select a fantasy sports app development company that can build the best fantasy sports mobile app for you.
After discussing all the points above, we can say that the year 2021 will bring enormous opportunities for fantasy sports entrepreneurs. Since so many leagues are lined up in the coming months, business owners must realize the importance of the time and hire the best fantasy sports app Development Company to garner hue return on fantasy platform investment.


text:
One of the world’s major global distribution system providers, Worldspan, spent lavishly last month in a successful effort to thank their many clients throughout the country for using their services. Some 200 travel agents arrived for the gala night-out event held at one of the capital’s most up-market hotel complexes.
Worldspan’s sales manager, Theo Pitsinelis, said the company simply wanted to recognize the wonderful cooperation it has with its Greek customers, and said he was especially pleased that so many agents from points such as Rodos, Crete, Patras and even Ikaria arrived for the event.
Special guest at the event was the head company’s vice president of e-commerce, Tim Wright, who spoke on the need for agencies to get into e-commerce if they haven’t already. He said the future was here and that even with the terrible events of the past few weeks we must not stop moving forward.
The Worldspan group offers e-commerce tools and professional consulting services to support business-to-business and business-to-consumer Web sites. As a matter of fact, Worldspan says it is the market leader in e-commerce for the travel industry, and that it processes more than 50 percent of all online travel bookings.
Their services include an offer of a full complement of custom solutions designed to let any site enjoy full connectivity and functionality with the company’s worldwide network and travel resources.
The entire group provides global electronic distribution of travel information, Internet products and connectivity, and electronic commerce capabilities for travel agencies, travel service providers and corporations worldwide. The company’s three lines of business are travel supplier services, e-commerce, and global distribution systems for the worldwide travel industry.
The Worldspan reservations system provides nearly 21,000 travel agencies and other users worldwide with travel data and booking capabilities for hundreds of the world’s leading travel supplier services.


text:
OkCoin and Huobi announced an immediate suspension of withdrawals for one month after receiving a Directive from the PBoC to improve on their AML systems. This singular act caused Bitcoin price to plunge nine percent overnight, declining from $1,060 to $959 across major global Bitcoin exchanges.
OkCoin and Huobi may have kept their customers in the dark probably to prevent massive withdrawals by customers out of panic, thereby making it difficult for the company to bounce back after the interval.
“This is like when a stock exchange halts trading to avoid an irrecoverable collapse,” says Michael Vogel, CEO of Netcoins.
AML or consumer protection?
This development has left a bitter taste in the mouth of users of their platform. However, a more important aspect that this brings to the forefront once again is where to draw the line between AML and customer protection.
Simon Dixon, CEO BnkToTheFuture.com tells Cointelegraph that many times regulators choose anti-money laundering at the expense of consumer protection and KYC is that exact choice in action.
Dixon says that in order to prevent money laundering, regulators require companies to store confidential documents for customers, putting the customer at risk of identity theft and exposing them to a hacker risk, which is the opposite of consumer protection.
“Regulators often choose anti-money laundering over consumer protection and this is an example,” says Dixon. “Customers cannot access their funds because regulators have chosen anti-money laundering over consumer protection. If we were just thinking of consumer protection, of course, it is a bad idea to prevent all customer withdrawals but regulators are not choosing customers in this case.”
Dixon describes this development as another bump in the road in the story of Bitcoin but nothing that stops its utility as a global store of value with no counterparty risk unless you choose to leave it at an exchange.
Bitcoin is not stocks
Vogel expresses surprise as to how these companies were able to keep this suspension under wraps “it would be interesting to see how many of their own employees made withdrawals prior to the announcement,” he says.
Having likened the situation as to when a stock exchange halts trading to avoid an irrecoverable collapse, Vogel notes that the entity here is Bitcoin and not stocks and the spirit of Bitcoin is that it shouldn't be controllable by a third party in this way.
Vogel also explains that almost every negative incident related to Bitcoin has to do with trusting third parties, most of the time it's an exchange, the favorite go-to incident being Mt Gox.
“This is why Bitcoin ATMs and in-person transactions continue to thrive at record levels and in the markets are affected by OkCoin and Huobi. I don't think we'll see a decrease in trade volume, it'll just move to the ATM and in-person markets. I remain bullish on Bitcoin price.”


text:
For the majority of Forbes’ new list of America’s Richest Self-Made Women, securing a spot in the ranking took several decades of work. A small number of women, however, have achieved huge success at a much younger age. Just three of the 60 women on the list are under age 40; another 8 are under 50.
The youngest list member is superstar singer Taylor Swift, who at age 27 has won 10 Grammy awards and achieved global stardom. Her 2015 tour pulled in $250 million in gross receipts, and she’s been adding to her earnings by doing commercials for Keds, Diet Coke and Apple. Swift, who’s worth an estimated $280 million this year, was also the youngest member of the list in 2016.
The second youngest, Beyoncé Knowles, also hails from the music world. Knowles, 35, has been on the list for 3 years in a row. Her estimated $350 million net worth puts her at No. 46, up from No. 56 one year ago. The leap was thanks to her sixth solo No. 1 album, “Lemonade,” That album led to the Formation World Tour, which grossed $250 million dollars. She also got a little help from her stake in Tidal, a music streaming service that rose in value when mobile phone carrier Sprint bought a 33% stake in early 2017.
The beauty industry’s it girl, Jamie Kern Lima, is a newcomer to this year’s list and, at age 39, the third youngest of America’s richest self-made women. A former TV news anchor, Kern Lima founded IT Cosmetics after she created foundation to cover her blotchy red skin. She sold IT Cosmetics to L’Oreal for $1.2 billion in August 2016 – giving her an estimated net worth of $410 million. She stayed on as the brand’s CEO and aims to make it one of the largest beauty brands in the world.
Another list newcomer: Kendra Scott, the 43-year-old founder of jewelry brand Kendra Scott Design, is the fifth-youngest list member. Scott has established over 40 retail stores across the U.S., and her company’s jewelry is sold at tony department stores Nordstrom, Bloomingdale's and Neiman Marcus. Private equity firm Berkshire Partners LLC bought a minority stake in the company in late 2016, valuing the whole company at $1 billion, and making Scott’s stake worth $500 million. The Austin, Texas-based entrepreneur is ranked No. 36 on the list.
Check out the gallery for the complete list of America’s youngest and richest self-made women.


text:
Xandros First to Use New LSB Test Kit
Our member and distribution partner Xandros is the first to use our new distribution test kit as part of their certification to the LSB. You can read the release here.
“We are very proud that Xandros Server 2.0 has the honor of being the first Linux solution to use automated testing procedures to certify to the latest Linux Foundation LSB specification,” said Ming Poon, Xandros VP of Product Development. “The new testing toolkit worked like a charm and should provide a major boost to Xandros Server and other standards-based Linux distributions by making it easier than ever for application vendors to support the entire Linux ecosystem.”


text:
Martha Stewart, GE, Merck, Mylan: Intellectual PropertyEllen Rosen
Macy’s Inc. will ask a judge to expand the scope of his order blocking J.C. Penney Co. from selling goods designed by Martha Stewart’s company in certain categories even if they don’t carry her name or trademark.
New York State Supreme Court Justice Jeffrey K. Oing is scheduled to hear arguments today in Manhattan to broaden a preliminary injunction he issued in July keeping Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. from selling goods with Stewart’s name at J.C. Penney in categories exclusive to Macy’s, including soft home goods and cookware.
Macy’s wants Oing to extend the injunction to cover goods designed by Stewart’s company that don’t carry her name, which J.C. Penney plans to sell under the name “JCP Everyday.” Macy’s also wants Oing to declare that plastic partyware sold at J.C. Penney under the name “MarthaCelebrations” violates his injunction and should be pulled from the shelves.
Oing on April 10 dismissed one of the two claims in Macy’s suit against Martha Stewart Living, saying that Macy’s hadn’t proved that the company violated a confidentiality provision of their contract.
The judge yesterday denied a motion by New York-based Martha Stewart Living to dismiss the second breach-of-contract claim as it relates to whether the company can design products for other retailers in the exclusive categories.
The judge granted Martha Stewart Living’s motion to dismiss a claim for damages related to disgorgement, saying that Cincinnati-based Macy’s isn’t entitled to part of a design fee paid to the company by J.C. Penney, which is based in Plano, Texas.
Oing also granted a motion to dismiss one of three claims in Macy’s suit against J.C. Penney. The judge threw out a claim for intentional contract interference. Oing said he will rule today on a bid by J.C. Penney to dismiss a second claim of unfair competition.
The cases are Macy’s Inc. v. Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc., 650197/2012; Macy’s Inc. v. J.C. Penney Corp., 652861/2012, New York State Supreme Court (Manhattan).
For more, click here.
General Electric Offers Some Patents for Crowdsourcing
General Electric Co. entered into an unusual arrangement with Quirky Inc., a site that helps individuals create consumer products. Under the agreement, announced April 10, GE will make available its patents for use by inventors and entrepreneurs.
A GE spokeswoman, Leigh Farris, said in a phone interview yesterday that initially GE would make “200 of its 30,000 patents available across its product lines, but may increase that number to 1,000 over the course of the year.” GE will receive royalties on any products in which its patents are used, she said.
“GE and Quirky have been working together for some time and worked together in a variety of ways,” Farris said. While GE has sublicensed its patents before, the company “has never made a quantity like this available to a broader platform.” She said the arrangement is “very much an experiment.”
In a statement announcing the deal, Quirky founder Ben Kaufman said: “We are going to return patents to their original purpose to act as a blueprint for technological and societal progress while protecting inventors and becoming a source of inspiration for future creators.”
Merck Victory Upholding Vytorin Patents Will Stand, Court Says
Merck & Co.’s February victory upholding the validity of its patents on the cholesterol drugs Zetia and Vytorin will stand, a U.S. appeals court said yesterday.
Mylan Inc. asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to reconsider that decision. That request was denied, according to a notice posted on the court’s website. Together, the drugs had about $2 billion in U.S. sales last year, and the ruling will prevent Mylan from selling generic versions of the drugs before April 2017.
Gevo Wins Court Ruling in Butamax Biofuels Patent Lawsuit
Gevo Inc., a biofuel chemical development company, won a court ruling in its favor as part of a series of patent-infringement lawsuits with Butamax Advanced Biofuels LLC, a joint venture of DuPont Co. and BP Plc.
U.S. District Judge Sue Robinson in Wilmington, Delaware, found that some claims of one Butamax patent were invalid and that Butamax admitted that Gevo didn’t infringe another patent, according to court papers.
“There is no just reason for delay in entering final judgment” on those patent challenges, Robinson wrote April 10 after ruling two weeks ago on two patents. The entering of a final judgment allows Butamax to appeal.
The judge severed claims involving two other patents in continuing litigation between the two companies involving at least 15 different cases in the same court, according to court papers.
Butamax sued Gevo in 2011, alleging misuse of technology for genetically engineered microorganisms used to produce biofuels. Gevo is in a joint venture to make the chemicals with the oil refiner Total SA and specialty-chemicals maker Lanxess AG.
“Butamax strongly disagrees with the court’s claim construction” and has decided to appeal the case, said a company spokesman, Mark Buse.
The case is Butamax v. Gevo, 11-cv-00054, U.S. District Court, District of Delaware (Wilmington).
CA Technologies Sues AppDynamics Over IT Management Patents
CA Technologies, a maker of software for managing information technology, filed a patent infringement suit against AppDynamics Inc., a company started by a former CA Inc. employee.
AppDynamics’ founder, Jyoti Bansal, previously worked at CA on developing products related to the three IT patents, Islandia, New York-based CA said in a complaint made public yesterday in Central Islip, New York, federal court.
AppDynamics, a San Francisco-based provider of application performance-management software for the entertainment, retail and gambling industries, has “actual knowledge of the patents-in-suit and hasn’t ceased its infringing activities,” CA said in its complaint.
CA, the world’s sixth-largest maker of infrastructure software by market share, acquired the patents when it bought Wily Technology in 2006 for $375 million, according to the company. Bansal formerly “led the design and architecture for several products” at Wily and founded AppDynamics in 2008, according to the San Francisco company’s website.
In November, CA sued San Francisco-based New Relic Inc., also asserting that it had infringed patents obtained through the acquisition of Wily. New Relic was founded by Lewis Cirne, formerly a senior Wily executive, according to CA. That suit is pending.
Greg Howard, a spokesman for AppDynamics, said in an e-mail that the company hasn’t received the official paperwork.
“We do strongly believe” AppDynamics doesn’t infringe upon any protected intellectual property, he said.
The case is CA Inc. v. AppDynamics Inc., 2:13-cv-02111, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York (Central Islip).
Billionaire William Koch May Win More Fake Wine Trial Damages
Billionaire William Koch won a fraud lawsuit in which he claimed a consigner sold him 24 counterfeit bottles of wine from France’s Bordeaux region and may get punitive damages as the jury resumes deliberations.
The federal jury in Manhattan yesterday found against the consigner, Eric Greenberg, concluding he made fraudulent misrepresentations about the authenticity and provenance of the wine, including many purported grand crus that cost Koch tens of thousands of dollars. The jury awarded Koch $379,000 in damages, comprising the amount he paid for the wine at a 2005 auction and $1,000 in compensatory damages for each bottle.
The jury of six men and two women, who heard Koch and Greenberg testify during the three-week trial, are scheduled to return to court today to consider punitive damages. Koch, the brother of conservative Tea Party funders David Koch and Charles Koch, is the founder of West Palm Beach, Florida-based Oxbow Carbon & Minerals LLC.
Koch estimated that hundreds of millions of dollars in counterfeit wine have flooded the vintage market.
Greenberg and his lawyers declined to comment on the verdict after court.
Arthur Shartsis, a lawyer for Greenberg, argued that his client hadn’t misrepresented the wines and had instead relied upon wine experts to inspect and authenticate his bottles for the sale.
The wines at issue included a purported 1864 Chateau Latour bottle, which Koch bought for $14,160, two 1950 Chateau Petrus magnums he bought for $20,060 each, and a 1921 Chateau Petrus magnum that cost Koch $29,500.
The case is Koch v. Greenberg, 07-cv-09600, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).
For more, click here.
For copyright news, click here.
Researcher Accused of Drug Theft for China Pleads Not Guilty
A Medical College of Wisconsin researcher accused of stealing a developmental cancer drug to deliver it to a Chinese university pleaded not guilty to charges of computer tampering and lying to federal agents.
Hua Jun Zhao, who was indicted by a federal grand jury on April 9, entered his plea yesterday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Patricia Gorence in Milwaukee. He’s being held without bail.
Zhao, 42, initially was accused of economic espionage in a criminal complaint filed on March 29. Gerald Shinneman of the Federal Bureau of Investigation said in an accompanying affidavit that surveillance cameras showed Zhao to be the only person to enter and leave a medical college office at the time three vials of the medicinal compound vanished in February.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Ingraham yesterday asked Gorence to dismiss the criminal complaint while leaving prosecutors with permission to refile those allegations at a later date.
Zhao’s defense lawyer, Juval Scott, said yesterday in a phone interview, “We’re looking forward to getting information from the government and starting our own investigation.”
The case is U.S. v. Zhao, 13-cr-00058, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Wisconsin (Milwaukee).
Google Sued for ‘Cynical Manipulation’ as EU Probes Advance
Google Inc., operator of the world’s largest search engine, was sued in London by a U.K. Internet company for promoting its own maps over those of competitors in what it claimed was “Google’s cynical manipulation of search results.”
Streetmap, a provider of Internet maps, filed a complaint in London March 15, according to court records. Google’s actions have made its products “harder to find,” the U.K.-based company alleged in an April 10 statement. It’s at least the second such lawsuit filed against Google since June.
Streetmap said its complaint mirrors an antitrust probe by the European Union into whether Google favors its own services over competitors in search results.
“We have had to take this action in an effort to protect our business and attract attention to those that, like us, have started their own technology businesses, only to find them damaged by Google’s cynical manipulation of search results,” Kate Sutton, commercial director of Streetmap, said in the statement.
Google has submitted an offer to the EU that will soon be shown to rivals and customers as part of settlement talks to end the probe into claims that its search results discriminate competitors. EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia told reporters in Washington yesterday that its goal is to “secure legally binding commitments” from Mountain View, California-based Google as part of the settlement negotiations.
Tom Price, a spokesman for Google, declined to comment yesterday on the allegations, saying in an e-mailed statement that he hadn’t seen the Streetmap complaint.
The case is Streetmap.eu Ltd. v. Google Inc., case no 13-1013, High Court of Justice, Chancery Division.
For more, click here.


text:
Note: The garage sale for August 22, 2020, has been canceled due to a low number of registered garage sales.
Reuse items or find a treasure at the annual City Wide Garage Sale. The City lists registered sales in The Gazette, and a map of participating garage sales will be online the morning of the sale. Garage sale
For more information call 319.248.1750.
Recycle Swap Day
Saturday, May 9, 2020 (Canceled)
Note: Recycle Swap Day has been canceled for May 9, 2020.
This free spring event at City Hall keeps items out of the landfill when citizens donate or trade clean, usable items as a form of recycling. Items left at the end of the day are donated to non-profit organizations.


text:
Dedicated to design & manufacturing for medical device
August 31-September 2 2022 | SWEECC H1&H2
EN | 中文
2022.01.12 ViCentra Closes Series C Funding to Expand Its Insulin Pump in Europe
The proceeds from the $75 million funding will be used for the European launch of the company’s updated Kaleido insulin patch pump system......
2022.01.07 Tackling Tuberculosis in Children through Non-Invasive Sampling
42 Technology partnered with FIND and Rutgers University to develop a solution for diagnosing tuberculosis in children......
2021.12.28 Osseosurface Electronics Capture Real-Time Bone Data
Made of calcium phosphate ceramics, the sensors grow into the bone and can provide ongoing bone health data......
2021.11.09 10 of the Most Controversial Deals in Medtech
Some companies were able to overcome the odds despite controversy and close on the acquisitions. Others weren’t as fortunate, and the mergers folded. MD+DI has compiled a list of some of the most controversial deals the industry has ever seen......
2021.04.21 Emerging Trends in Cardiovascular Devices
A global need for less invasive medical procedures and high efficacy treatments has outlined the developments of cardiovascular devices......
2021.03.24 Intellectual Property at the Intersection of Medical Devices and Artificial Intelligence
There are challenges to obtaining patents related to AI-based medical devices. What are your options?......
2020.12.16 Your Chance to Drive Innovation in Medical Device Packaging
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
Kilmer Innovations in Packaging offers packaging engineers the chance to collaborate on four important challenges facing the industry, explained speakers during Virtual Engineering Week.......
2020.12.11 From High Stakes to High Speed
Automation solutions stemming from the pandemic could reshape the medical device industry. ......
2020.11.24 Is Industry 4.0 Right for Your Business?
Medical device companies could achieve lower costs, greater quality, and enhanced efficiency by adopting an Industry 4.0 manufacturing strategy.......
2020.11.10 Is this the next generation of orthopedic device outsourcing?
Major orthopedic device companies appear to be shifting the entire manufacturing and sourcing of certain products to their suppliers. Orchid Orthopedic Solutions is positioning itself to be in the vanguard of orthopedic device outsourcing.......


text:
Quick Food Effects
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has released steerage intended to assist food producers and processors who handle meals that may contain residues of the pesticide chemical chlorpyrifos. “In the present well being crisis we are facing around the world, selling healthy diets to strengthen our immune techniques is very appropriate”, FAO chief QU Dongyu mentioned, kicking off the year final December. Reducing food loss and waste, strengthens the sustainability of food methods and improves planetary well being. Some parasites, such as fish-borne trematodes, are only transmitted through food.
‘It’s devastating because I am never going to get these 10 days of my life again,’ she said. Manchester United FCMan United beat Brighton 2-0 on Tuesday and David de Gea has opened up on what occurred within the United dressing room. Manchester restaurantsIf you’re a fan of cauliflower cheese together with your roast dinner, get a load of this…
The Place To Search Out Safe Residence Food Preservation Recipes And Information
First, Meyer was filmed at his eponymously named Short North restaurant with a lady who wasn’t his wife, then he was fired as head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars amid controversy and after a 2-11 start. According to Ben Koo of the website Awful Announcing, the model new investor is Shawn Shahnazi, the previous owner of the now-shuttered Monarch Lounge. It’s unclear whether or not Urban Meyer’s Pint House in Bridge Park will comply with suit. Also introduced is the launch of a five-year, $50 million Local Food Infrastructure Fund, designed to support community-led tasks that enhance entry to safe, wholesome and culturally numerous food.
- You will need some puff pastry, leftover turkey and ham and cheese.
- NEW YORK, Feb 7 — At the lately opened Beijing Olympic Games, athletes must keep within the Village in order to restrict the spread of covid-19.
- ’ Shoppers go wild over nostalgic Nineties biscuits – in shops today MCVITIE’S has at present re-introduced certainly one of its most iconic biscuits to UK supermarkets.
- These five snack recipes will take your Super Bowl LVI spread to the subsequent level.
- Delish has got the thrill on all of your favourite food merchandise, restaurants, freebies, promotions, and crazy cooking devices.
Antimicrobial resistance is likely considered one of the primary threats to modern drugs. Fish and chip retailers and other fast food outlets are being focused by criminals who are stealing cooking oil which is being processed for the black market. The Food Packaging Forum Foundation is a science communication organisation. The Food Packaging Forum supplies unbiased and balanced info on points associated to food packaging and health. In doing so the Food Packaging Forum addresses all its stakeholders, together with enterprise decision makers, regulators, media and communication experts, scientists and consumers.
Food Costs To Be Hit With Terrifying Rise, Warns Trade Physique Boss
Breakable, molded sweet shells meant to be shattered so hidden goodies spill out, piñata-style, got here into vogue in 2018 when Kim Kardashian asked A-list pastry chef Chris Ford to fashion greater than one hundred for a public relations marketing campaign. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador put ahead the conspiracy theory after the U.S. suspended imports of Mexican avocados on the eve of the Super Bowl following a threat in opposition to a U.S. plant safety inspector in Mexico. Offering child approved fruit products that improve any kids meal. After COVID-19, the future and form of the quick-service trade might just rest on the drive-thru.


text:
MGM Invests in an App That Lets You Hear What’s on TV
Tel Aviv-based Tunity raised $12 million. The company’s app syncs muted TV programs and streams live audio to users’ smartphones
MGM Resorts entered a strategic partnership with machine vision-based live audio streaming startup Tunity, the companies announced Tuesday. The Tel Aviv-based startup developed an app that syncs muted TV programs and streams live audio to users’ smartphones. When users scan nearby television screens, the Tunity app identifies the live video stream, sending the audio directly to users’ mobile devices. As part of the partnership, MGM Resorts will use Tunity's technology at its properties through their mobile applications, Tunity said.In a statement, Tunity said it will use the funding to develop its third-party data business and enhance its cloud-based deep learning and computer vision technology.
For daily updates, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here.
MGM Resorts participated in a $12 million Series A investment in Tunity, according to the announcement. Existing investors such WeWork Founder and CEO Adam Neumann and John Mack, former Morgan Stanley CEO, participated in the round, as well as new investor MGM Resorts.
Yaniv Davidson, Tunity founder. Photo: PR
Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Tel Aviv, with an additional office in New York, Tunity (formerly known as AudioStreamTV Ltd.) has raised $13 million in equity to date. The company currently works with more than 100 channels in the United States, including FOX, CBS, and ESPN. According to Tunity’s data, since its launch, the Tunity app has been downloaded more than 1.5 million times.
"With more than 20% of Americans watching television outside of the home, today's announcement brings us one step closer to transforming the way consumers interact with live programming they want to watch but can't hear," Tunity Founder Yaniv Davidson said in a statement. "Measuring these out-of-home audiences has tremendous value to brands and the networks,” Mr. Davidson added. “Extracting Tunity's unique data insights will provide a better understanding of viewing habits, and lead to more effective ad buying decisions."


text:
Tapping into the girl market besides Disney Princesses!
At SDCC, Hasbro debuted some gorgeous new Transformers toys– and we have a first look
Early in the morning of every first official day of San Diego Comic-Con, the Hasbro Toy Company delights the press with a promise of food and toys. This year, they delivered a veritable buffet of both; so much so that I didn’t know exactly where to start.
Miles Morales has his hands full with Prowler and Kingpin judging by these Hasbro toys
Keep Thanos away from this Hasbro SDCC Exclusive!
Just as badges and hotels before them became lotteries, so now exclusives and elite autographs have now become online lotteries at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con. Exclusives – including precious items from Funko, Hasbro, LEGO, and UCC Distributing – and autographs for celebrities and top comics folk (Snyder, King) will now be distributed online. Anyone […]
Hasbro celebrating MLP 35th Anniversary with SDCC Exclusive Set
Defenders and Dino-Cassettes included in this year’s Hasbro SDCC Exclusives
Power Rangers was the key property in a $522M acquisition.
Calling it now, this is going to be the hot Christmas toy of 2018 that will be on the lists on nearly all children (and children at heart, like myself). Not wanting to let the Porgs show him up, everyone’s favorite wookiee is going pint sized with the upcoming FurReal Friends “Star Wars Ultimate Co-pilot […]


text:
Many women are responsible for maintain the service on their vehicles. Have you heard about the recent survey done on women and auto shops? Let’s look at what women find important for auto shops to consider.
According to an article at knowyourparts.com, “Recent Survey on Women and Auto Service”
“The National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence reports that women are increasingly taking responsibility for the maintenance and repair of the family vehicles. In fact, the Institute estimates more than 65% of customers who take their vehicle to an auto repair shop for service are women.
Other surveys show a slightly lower number but there is no doubt that women increasingly make the decisions regarding automotive service and repair.
It is vital, therefore, for auto repair shops to understand the needs of women and how to communicate with them.
Nine out of ten women responding to a recent Car Care Council survey said they believe auto repair shop operators treat them differently because they are women.
5 tips to Keep Your Women Customers Coming Back to Your Auto Repair Shop
- When explaining issues, be sure to use in laymen’s terms (lose the tech speak)
- Be sure to always be polite and respect the fact a woman may feel out of place
- Keep your waiting area and restroom clean and make it as comfortable as possible
- Consider adding some kid-friendly features like coloring books
- Always follow-up after the repair; a phone call or email can go a long way in cementing the relationship.” To read the entire article click here.


text:
A lot of SEO related news came out from Google last 2013. We take a look at these changes as part of the Google SEO guide for 2013. This is crucial to know for SEO experts since some SEO strategies that have worked before the 2013 changes may not work anymore going forward.
A lot of experts remember the changes that took place in 2013. Some say that it was the year that SEO was changed forever. We take a look back and see what those changes were and how it will affect the way we do SEO.
Panda And Penguin Updates
Panda is Google’s way of addressing spam content, there were at least 2 updates tracked in 2013, Panda Update 24 was confirmed and announced last Jan. 22, 2013. Panda Update 25 however, was confirmed as coming out, but there was no confirmation that it did happen. May 2013 had Google announcing that the Panda Dance monthly updates were going to happen over a 10 day period.
Penguin updates penalize linking schemes which now include more types of links. Google wants links and content to have more value other than to get higher rankings.
This will benefit those looking for quality information, spam content is filtered out which is the result of the Panda updates.
This is also good for SEO experts who focus on white hat strategies and quality content. The time has come for their websites to rank higher in search results.
2013 was the year a new Google algorithm was launched that was going to have an impact on 90% of searches globally. This was known as the Hummingbird.
This made a lot of online marketers nervous, but Google was quick to calm down the tension because they revealed that Hummingbird was already up and running a month before it was announced and nobody even noticed it’s effects.
This new algorithm helps the Google search engine do a better job with improving its semantic search. Conversational queries are becoming the norm, Hummingbird dials in on the intent and context of terms used in searches.
Longer-tail searches can now be answered by Google even if the page is not optimized for them. Experts say that there is nothing SEO experts need to do differently with Hummingbird, high-quality content is still key in search rankings.
Page Centric Search
One of the biggest changes in the SEO landscape was Google’s to 100% secure search. This means that all search activity will now be encrypted. This aims to provide added protection for users and it may be an attempt to block NSA spying activities. Click on ads and ad search traffic are the exception to this new directive.
The Rise Of Mobile Users
More than half of US internet users are using their mobile devices to browse the internet. It is projected for mobile traffic growth to leapfrog desktop traffic. As part of SEO tactics, websites that are mobile-friendly will get higher rankings on Google. This would make searches easier for people no matter what device they are using. Mobile searches offer speed and convenience over the desktop counterpart.
SEO needs to shift to the potential demand these mobile users have in the marketplace. Websites should be optimized for mobile and content should be as well. Shorter and straight to the point content is what mobile users are after and sites that can deliver these up front will win the rankings battle versus the competition. More transactions are also expected to be done through mobile devices, so there should be links to shopping carts or the website should be able to handle mobile transactions outright.
Social Media Platforms Matter
The year 2013 started off with the launch of the Facebook Graph Search. This gives personalized results based on social media connections, it combines social, local and business information into search results. Social media is now a part of SEO, and it is expected to have an influence in search rankings. It has been shown that more Twitter engagements can result in higher rankings, same with optimized Google plus profiles and pages.
There were a lot of huge changes that happened 5 years ago, and it was nice to look back on our Google SEO guide for 2013.


text:
While Starwars.com currently has our mind on McQuarrie inspired Vader costumes, LA Weekly brings our attention to the Shogun Vader. Created by Alexander Lam of the L.A. Jedi, the costume is currently made up of cardboard and posterboard though he hopes for a plastic/metal upgrade in the not too distant future. Click here for the LA Weekly article with lots of pictures.
Rebelscum Breast Cancer Awareness Charity Patch Posted By Philip on November 25, 2014: Thanks to everybody that ordered patches. I sent a check for $1,600.00 to the National Breast Cancer Foundation on Monday. While it's not as much as I hoped for, it's still very much appreciated. They will remain for sale in the store for anybody that still wishes to purchase them. Details after the jump.