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Fiat Chrysler surprised the auto world when it showed off the first three photos of its unrevealed next-generation 2018 Jeep Wrangler on its website Tuesday, Oct. 31.
While details were sparse in the news release, FCA released two images of its Wrangler Rubicon edition and one of the Sahara. The new Wrangler will make its debut, complete with information, on Nov. 29 at the Los Angeles Auto Show.
The Auburn Hills, Michigan-based automaker did confirm in the release that the new Wrangler would have improved aerodynamics, and more safety and technology features "than ever before."
"The all-new Wrangler's unique design includes an instantly recognizable keystone-shaped grille, iconic round headlamps and square tail lamps, improved aerodynamics, a convenient fold-down windshield for off-road purists, even more open-air freedom, and dozens of different door, top and windshield combinations," FCA says in the release.
Judging from the photos, owners will still be able to remove the next-generation Wrangler's top and that there are some design changes to the front-end and roof.


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Disney Announces Intinerary for Upcoming Disney+ Day
Marking the second anniversary of its launch, The Walt Disney Company will be celebrating Disney+ Day on Friday, November 12, 2021.
“Subscribers to Disney+ will be treated to new content releases across the service’s iconic brands, Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic, and Star in international markets, along with a special presentation on Disney+ for fans with sneak peeks into what’s to come.”
To prepare for the upcoming event, the company released an itinerary to give its subscribers an idea of what is coming to the streaming service soon:
- Premier Access: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Disney’s Jungle Cruise was released simuletanesly in theaters and on Disney+ via Premier Access. However, on Disney+ Day, the film will be available to all subscribers with no addtional fee.
- Star Wars: In anticipation of the upcoming The Book of Boba Fett series, Disney+ will be releasing a special “celebrating the origins and legacy of Star Wars’ legendary bounty hunter, Boba Fett.”
- Marvel Studios: The most recent cinematic chapeter in the MCU, Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings, will make its streaming debut. Additionally, Marvel will be releasing a “special look” which will “[celebrate] the Marvel Cinimetic Universe on Disney+” and at the future of Phase 4.
- Disney+ Originals: To prepare for the holidays, the streaming service will be releasing a Home Sweet Home Alone, which will be “a reimagining of the popular holiday franchise.”
- Walt Disney Animation Studios: A brand new series of shorts called Olaf Presents will be coming to the streaming platfrom. The series will feature fan-favortie, Olaf, as he retells “several classic Disney tales as only he can.” Futhermore, Oscar-winning shorts Feast and Paperman will make their streaming debuts, as well as the Oscar-nominated Mickey Mouse short, called Get a Horse!
- Pixar: Pixar will release a short, titled Ciao Alberto, which is based on the newly popular animated film, Luca.
- Simpsons: A new Simpsons short will be released, which will “pay tribute to Disney+’s marquee brands,” which include Disney, Star Wars, Marvel, Pixar, National Geographic, and Star.
- National Geographic: Season two of The World According to Jeff Goldblum will premeire on Disney+, beginning with the season’s first five episodes.
- Star: For its international markets, Disney+ will release Dopesick, starring Michael Keaton, Peter Sarsgaard, and Rosario Dawson. The series will begin streaming on October 13th on Hulu in the United States.
While fans and subscribers eagerly await the upcoming Disney+ Day, the company promises to deliver more “exciting content premieres, consumer offers, and news will be announced leading up to Disney+ Day.”

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Sunday Alcohol Sales Signed Into Law
In front of media, staffers and legislators, Gov. Eric Holcomb signed the bill into law. Holcomb says the bill is giving the consumers what they want.
“This is just yet another example where the State of Indiana has sought to, and indeed modernized, our laws to meet consumer expectation,” Holcomb says.
As expected, Hoosiers will be able to purchase alcohol on Sundays, starting this weekend.
“There is absolutely no need to any longer to make run for the border if you’re a Hoosier or a Hoosier at heart,” Holcomb says.
Sen. Ron Alting (R-Lafayette) wrote the bill and says the timing was right.
“We sold this bill that it is consumer friendly. Sunday is the biggest day of shopping. So that was one of the differences too on my approach on how to sell Sunday sales.”
Carry-out alcohol sales won’t be legal all day Sunday – just from noon to 8 p.m. Alting says he plans to take a look at that restriction in the future and see if adjustments should be made.
House Speaker Brian Bosma says more changes are in the works for alcohol reform.
“This will be the first of several no doubt revisions to the alcohol code,” Bosma says.
It does not include some provisions others still want, including the ability for sellers other than liquor stores to sell cold beer.


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Pearl Dairies plans to employ about 4,000 people along the value chain in its honey processing project as it nears commissioning of the factory located in Mbarara.
Mr Michael Van den Berg, head of dairy and apiculture development, Pearl Dairies, said the honey processing factory is 90 per cent complete.
“The factory is 90 per cent completed. The final equipment that we imported from Italy arrived a few days ago. So we are very close to having the factory commissioned. We expect to commission it either by the end of March or beginning of April,” he said without revealing the investment amount injected into the factory development.
Pearl Dairies will have two production lines with one dedicated to organic honey primarily for export to Europe and another non-organic for the local market due to price variations.
He said Uganda has a 5,000 tonne export licence of honey to Europe that is still unutilised.
Europe is the largest global consumer of honey, being responsible for more than 20 per cent of the total global consumption.
China, the United States of America and Turkey are the other major global honey consumers while China, Turkey and Iran among others are the biggest honey producers globally.
The factory which is envisaged to produce 20 tonnes of honey per day is only expected to employ 10 people as Pearl Dairies says it is fully automated.
However, Mr Van de berg said, 4,000 jobs will be created along the value chain including the farmers, 70 per cent of whom will be women and sales executives for the product once it hits the market.
The milk processor took the initiative to provide a total of 1,000 modern hives to about 200 farmers in its first phase of the pilot honey production through a revenue sharing model.
From one hive, he said, a farmer can earn Shs166,000 per year.
According to Mr Ernest Simeoni, the consultant and managing director African Beekeepers Limited in Kenya, they expect about 30 to 40 tonnes of honey annually from the 1,000 hives.
Mbarara, he noted, has conducive weather and natural vegetation for honey production. However, Mr Van de berg says the milk processor will consider expanding to other regions beyond Mbarara.
Pearl Dairy has also not been able to re-enter the Rwandan market which has for over two years closed its borders to Ugandan products including Lato milk. Kenya has added Ugandan maize to the list of products banned from entering the country.
Pearl Dairies first made the announcement to diversify into honey last year, saying the product will be an additional revenue stream as demand for milk dropped after Kenya blocked milk from Uganda.
Kenya in February locked out milk products from Pearl Dairy on claims that the company was re-exporting and dumping “cheap milk” on its market.


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Originally printed in the December 2018 issue of Produce Business.
Lone Star State wears many hats, from global hub to farm stand down the road.
During this time of the year in the Lone Star State, Texas growers harvest and ship melons, citrus and other crops to supermarkets throughout the Eastern half of the country.
During an even colder season, Texas is the major conduit for fruits and vegetables from Mexico.
But even in this global hub, many residents prefer to Go Texan with fruits and vegetables grown just down the road.
These markets, while different, are not always contradictory. Shippers commonly serve them with produce from diverse areas within and just south of the state.
“Quite a few of the growers in Texas also have relationships with the growers in Mexico,” says Dante Galeazzi, president of the Texas International Produce Association, Mission, TX. “It creates a one-stop shop for buyers to purchase produce in McAllen. They can get produce from Mexico, from Texas, local produce and tropical produce.”
The Texas International Produce Association, founded more than 75 years ago to help grow the state’s produce industry, took on the added mission in 2012 of facilitating the importation and marketing of fruits and vegetables grown outside of the country and brought into the U.S. through Texas ports of entry.
Although there can be market conflicts between Texas- and Mexico-grown crops, relationships developed over decades of free trade have largely diminished the importance of the border.
“In 2016, two-thirds of all the fresh produce sold in Texas was grown in Mexico,” says Galeazzi. “We also deal with people who grow in Texas. Texas grows $900 million of 60 different produce items on 117,000 acres. There are 26,000 acres of watermelons, and 22,000 acres of grapefruit out of a total of 29,000 acres of citrus.”
TEXAS TIME OF YEAR
J & D Produce, a grower-shipper in the Rio Grande Valley and named for Jimmy and Diane Bassetti, has been supplying customers in the northeastern U.S. with kale in the winter months for more than a quarter century.
“Probably 20 percent of what we grow stays in the state, and the other 80 percent goes out of the state,” says Jeff Brechler, sales and production representative at J & D Produce, Edinburg, TX. “We ship to a mix of wholesale terminal markets and retail distribution centers and stay pretty much east of the Mississippi.”
Texas plays such a pivotal role in the produce supply system that heavy rains early this fall could impact the national availability and schedule of greens, citrus and onions.
“I was speaking with one of our South Texas growers, and he said it best: ‘It’s going to be an interesting start to our Texas season,’ ” says Galeazzi. “Weather has been a big factor for us in Texas. Most of our Rio Grande Valley and central Winter Garden/Uvalde growing regions have received a lot of rain over the last month, and it’s impacted a lot of our plantings. Our Texas fall crops are definitely experiencing delays and some challenging harvesting conditions. When the fields are wet, it’s really hard to move equipment or personnel through the fields. Thankfully conditions are improving; we had a handful of good days in a row and that allowed the growers to get back into the fields and back to business. Hopefully, we’ll continue to see these types of conditions moving forward.”
Texas is so important in grapefruit and orange production that when California’s largest grower-shipper wanted to fill out their portfolio of year-round citrus, they looked to the Lone Star State.
“We grow grapefruit and oranges in Texas,” says Kevin Roberts, Wonderful Citrus director of sales for Texas in Mission, TX. “The past five years have been somewhat flat in terms of volume, but with new plantings we started a few years ago, we see both grapefruit and oranges moving upward, and we expect to see this growth continue for the next several years, year-over- year.”
The Los Angeles headquartered Wonderful Company augmented its citrus position by also becoming the largest grapefruit grower in Texas.
“Wonderful will be the No. 1 supplier of red grapefruit, with about 50 to 55 percent total share of volume this winter season,” says Roberts. “Grapefruit and oranges are both growing in volume.”
Although Florida remains the orange juice king despite struggles with citrus greening disease, California and Texas are by far the leading fresh market citrus producers with a combined total of nearly 300,000 acres, according to the US Department of Agriculture’s Citrus Fruits 2018 Summary.
“We market the fact we grow oranges and grapefruits through our Texas Grown label, which showcases Texas as the primary messaging on the label,” says Roberts. “We have display bins for both labels that provide excellent options for merchandising Texas citrus in stores.”
The weather should make for good-sized citrus this year, but it may come a few days later than usual.
“For Texas citrus, the rain at this point in the season will help give the fruit size and ensure great eating quality,” says Galeazzi. “Unfortunately, it has slowed the kickoff of the season. Right now, we should be rocking and rolling with Texas grapefruit, but we haven’t quite gotten to that point.”
Because the produce supply chain is national, even global, the ability of New Yorkers to find an abundant supply of leafy green vegetables in the middle of winter may depend on the weather in the Rio Grande Valley.
“The 2018-2019 vegetable season will conclude in the middle of April, and this season supply will be trying at least through the holidays,” says Brechler.
“Right at the time of planting, we had more and heavier rains than we usually do. The entire valley, including the Winter Garden area west of San Antonio, has been getting heavier rains. It made for difficulty with planting schedules, which will lead to difficulty with availability later.”
Other shippers also ran into delays planting their greens that could lead to winter supply gaps.
“The Texas greens are off to a much slower start,” says Galeazzi. “Quality has been good on product that has come out of the fields so far, but because of the slow start and weather, some of the areas are reporting lower yields, and we may continue to see low yields throughout November on some varieties, and perhaps much longer on others. We also foresee Texas cabbage being in high demand for November through January, because of the hurricane damages in Florida and Georgia.”
The wet weather may also diminish the supply of onions from Texas, but it is too early to know for certain.
“With regards to Texas onions, the rain came right in the middle of plantings,” says Galeazzi. “We had some onions get in the ground ahead of the storms, but everyone is out there right now trying to catch up on plantings. We expect this will cause some of our growers to plant a little less acreage on onions this season, although it’s tough to judge the overall impact until we wrap up with plantings.”
Because most consumers want both fruits and vegetables from the farm just down the street and availability of everything from kale to tomatoes when it is snowing outside, many Texas shippers are both helped and hurt by the combination of global and local markets.
“The market gets complicated in the summer because some of the competition is a half-hour from the store,” says Jaime Garcia, general manager at Kingdom Fresh, Donna, TX. “But when the hurricanes come through quality becomes No. 2, because availability is No. 1.”
Kingdom Fresh ships Roma, grape and vine ripe tomatoes from 500 acres of greenhouses built over the past 15 years southeast of Mexico City in Puebla and a few hundred miles north in Torreon.
“People are looking for a sweet snacking tomato, whether you call it cherry, grape, Campari or cocktail,” says Garcia. “We also see more demand for Roma tomatoes because all the retailers want them to attract customers with a good deal.”
Texas growers find themselves in competition with the counterparts in Mexico during the weeks when many seasonal crops overlap.
“At certain times of the year, the Mexican imports impact us,” says Brechler. “It may affect us with parsley and cilantro. It can affect us with watermelons and honeydews, and onions.”
In 2016, U.S. fruit and vegetable imports from Mexico reached about 10 million metric tons, with a total value of about $12.4 billion, according to US Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service statistics, which accounted for 43 percent of all U.S. fruit-and-vegetable imports from all countries.
“Half of all the fresh produce that comes into the country from Mexico comes through Texas,” says Galeazzi.” Every year, 255,000 truckloads come into Texas from Mexico. At the Pharr International Bridge south of McAllen alone, 157,000 loads of produce come in every year, which is a little more than Nogales, AZ.”
Tomatoes account for nearly 30 percent of all the vegetables imported from Mexico, while avocados, watermelons and limes make up more than half the volume of fruits, according to USDA statistics.
“For the past 12 years, fresh produce from Mexico has grown significantly every year,” says Galeazzi. “The biggest items now are tomatoes, avocados, limes, mangos and broccoli. Mangos and limes flip-flop some years, and No. 5 changes. It was sweet peppers a few years ago.”
There are grower-shipper operations with farms on both sides of the border, as well as Texas-based shipping operations that grow in Mexico and sell to U.S. retailers.
While expanding its line to suit U.S. consumers, Kingdom Fresh remains committed to growing in Mexico because the tomatoes are better.
“The quality of the tomatoes from Mexico is better because of the technology and infrastructure,” says Garcia. “In the U.S., you have a lot of field-grown tomatoes, but in Mexico the growers put them under protection and the quality is usually higher.”
In the past couple of years, Kingdom Fresh has branched out to offer organic options for its most popular tomatoes.
“We grow Roma, grape, vine-ripe, organic Roma, and organic grape tomatoes,” says Garcia. “We are going into our second season with organic. We are pushing it in Texas, and we have had a lot of success marketing them.”
Every day more consumers have questions about the conditions of the workers who produce their food, and this company has answers.
“The human connections are what make our business successful,” according to the Kingdom Fresh internet site. “No labor camps, no relocated workers, no separation of families. What we get is long-term employees that get additional access to training, healthcare, education and support for local programs that grow their communities and support their families. By cultivating the human connections — we cultivate consistently great-tasting products.”
Although Mexico has become the most important source of produce sold in Texas, fruit and vegetable production is still increasing on both sides of the border.
“We expect the produce figures to keep growing,” says Galeazzi, “in both Texas and Mexico.”
REMAINING LOYAL THROUGH LOCAL
Texas growers and shippers also find willing customers among Lone Star state residents eager to support their local farmers by purchasing fruits and vegetables grown just down the road.
“Our main commodities are zucchini, yellow squash and purple top turnips,” says Bernie Thiel, who has grown vegetables and fruits outside Lubbock, TX, under the Sunburst Farms name for nearly half a century. “During the summer months, we mostly stay in Texas. With Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio there are plenty of customers. We have H-E-B, Safeway, Albertson’s, Berkshire Brothers. They promote it as from Texas. We have a sign in the store that says Locally Grown.”
Texas’ population hit the 28 million mark in 2018, according to U.S. Census estimates, and has the third highest growth population rate of all the states at 1.8 percent per year.
The San Antonio-based H-E-B supermarket chain paralleled that growth to reach 350 stores throughout the state.
Although most of Thiel’s ground is in squash grown under the Sunburst Farms name and shipped throughout the state, he has had success restoring the more personal connections of bygone days devoting modest acreage to produce sold directly to the public at his farm stand.
“The stand’s doing great; I think we pick up some customers every year,” says Thiel. “It’s probably 10 to 15 percent of our harvest The bulk of the customers are repeaters; some of them come two or three times a week, or even more. A bunch of it is repeat customers, but we get new ones every year.”
Although J & D Produce, Edinburg, TX, supplies retailers the length of the Eastern Seaboard with peppers, melons, dry onions, tropicals and a full range of leafy greens grown in the rich Rio Grande soil under the winter sun, the company also benefits from the recent interest in local produce.
“The Texas share of our sales has probably increased 5 percent the past three to five years,” says Jeff Brechler, sales and production representative at J & D. “There seems to be more support for local produce, and we have the Go Texan label on most items.”
The Texas Department of Agriculture Go Texan program provides a logo, shaped like the state, social and broadcast media, promotional signage, and in-store demos of a broad range of products grown, served on a plate, or sewn (yes, they do quilts), to promote sales throughout the state and around the world.
Even shippers whose main role is supplying fruits and vegetables grown in Mexico to the Eastern half of the US during the stormier time of year benefit from Texan pride in local produce.
“We’re really strong in our relations with retailers in Texas, and probably 40 percent of our tomatoes stay in the state,” says Jaime Garcia, general manager at Kingdom Fresh. “We grow in Mexico and come through Donna, TX, which is five miles away from McAllen. We sell 75 to 90 percent in the U.S.”


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After tasting Maybach's S-class sweetness, Mercedes-Benz launched Maybach's first SUVThe car will be the world's first show at Guangzhou auto show 2019, which opens on November 22.
It is understood thatMaybach GLS is based on Mercedes Benz's new GLS, but the former will use more design details and more luxurious interior style,In the future, the car will compete with Bentley Tianyue, Rolls Royce curinan and other models after being put on the market.
The new car is enlarged in size with reference to the previous photos.
There is no more information about the interior at present, but the official said,Maybach GLS car will use a unique fragrance, soft leather and tea fragrance to set off the fragrance of white osmanthus, and in order to pursue the sense of dignity, the second row of extended wheelbase will provide two independent options.This interior design concept is quite similar to the top luxury concept car previously released by Maybach.
In terms of motivation,The foreign media is expected to be powered by a 4.0 T V8 9 AT, and the high-profile model will have a power combination of 6.0 T V127AT.In addition, such as four-wheel drive system, air suspension and other configurations will not be absent.
Today, the large SUV market has attracted more attention from luxury cars. BMW has launched the X7, Lincoln has brought the navigator, Mercedes Benz has launched a larger luxury Maybach GLS on the basis of the new GLS. As for whether the real car can amaze us, see you at Guangzhou auto show 2019.
Spies of Maybach GLS
Maybach GLS rendering
Mercedes Benz ultimate luxury concept car


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The 2015 Lexus RC Coupe and LF-NX Concept will debut at this year's Tokyo Motor Show.
Read This Article
The new 2014 Lexus GX 460 has been priced significantly less than the outgoing model.
There were no big surprises for the 2012 J.D.
Luxury Japanese automaker Lexus has made many a fine vehicle over the years.


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As the BSVI emission norms come closer, Bajaj Auto Ltd will upgrade the entire Pulsar lineup with new engines that will likely feature fuel-injection for lower emissions
It has come to light that the entire Bajaj Pulsar lineup, which includes bikes with engine sizes ranging from 125cc to 220cc, become costlier in the coming future. The price hike will come at the back of the introduction of BSVI-compliant engines. The increase in cost will be courtesy of the high investment that the bike manufacturer will make to make the motors cleaner.
It is being said that there could be an increment of 10-15 per cent in the ex-showroom prices of every Bajaj Pulsar model. The updated range of motorcycles will launch in early 2020, ahead of the 1 April 2020 deadline for all vehicles sold in India to embrace the stricter emission norms.
The upgraded range of Bajaj Pulsar motorcycles will feature fuel injection technology, among other upgrades, to meet the stringent emission norms. While the performance figures aren’t expected to see any significant change as compared to the present models.
In line with the upcoming emission norms, several manufacturers have already planned similar upgrades for their motorcycles, which means you can even expect a similar price increment for rivalling motorcycles.
Also, keeping in with the government’s stress on the faster adaptation of electric vehicles, Bajaj Auto Ltd has been working on a range of electric scooters that will be sold under the Urbanite brand. The upcoming range of scooters will comprise of both electric and petrol models, with the latter sporting 100-125cc engines.
Speaking on the development, Rakesh Sharma, Executive Director, BAL, recently said that his company, along with its Austrian partner KTM, is also contemplating a high-end electric bike. The duo could also come up with a 48-volt electric powertrain that will arrive by 2022.


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Dolche Vita Café, Reading University
Reading University appointed Modus to strip out an existing Dolche Vita coffee shop within their Whiteknights campus and refit with a new layout.
The redesign included more counter areas with a more logical layout for customers to flow, offering a more efficient use of space and clear traffic routes. Works included; new – lighting, floor finishes, counter and ancillary equipment, display cold storage and mechanical and electrical services.
The project relied on a very strict programme as the facility was taken out of use, therefore a potential loss of revenue. Zero snagging was achieved to ensure the café could open on time.


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Another Pair Of High Heel Crocs Have Arrived, And This Time They’re Designer Stilettos
Just when you thought modern day fashion couldn’t get any uglier, earlier this week a pair of high heel Crocs went viral. Although people quickly took to social media to mock the sensible shoe, ultimately it was Crocs who had the last laugh: Subsequently, the style sold out, and the company got a ton of press.
Now, just days later, an even fancier version of the rubber shoe has surfaced. French fashion house Balenciaga, who has become known for trolling the fashion industry, has revealed its spin with a surprisingly-cute Crocs-inspired stiletto.
In a series of Instagram posts, the French fashion house gives us a sneak peek at the hot pink stiletto embellished with charms and brooches. The first photo shared, on June 29, is a styled shot in which its hard to register that the shoe is made of rubber. But in a photo posted three days ago — strategic timing — the design cannot be denied.
Of course, this isn’t the first time Balenciaga’s design head Demna Gvasalia has collaborated with Crocs. Known for his disruptive style, in October 2017, he debuted a pair of platform crocs at the Spring 2018 show in Paris. “To me these kind of techniques and working with these kind of materials is very Balenciaga,” he said at the time. At prices that ranged from $495 to $850, the platforms sold out before they were even released.
“Ugly products have become so ironic that they're now trendy, thanks to designer brands launching their own ugly clothing items,” writes Business Insider's Mary Hanbury. “It's an excellent marketing ploy — these unappealing products with large price tags create a backlash and subsequent buzz on social media.”
As for now, it’s unclear when (or if) the Balenciaga/Croc stilettos will be available for purchase, but in the meantime, we’ll be looking for them on all of our favorite fashion influencers. Because, yea, Crocs are cool now. Isn’t it ironic?


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More than 2,000 unique websites have been rigged to exploit the animated cursor security flaw in Microsoft's software, according to security vendor Websense.
Those websites are either hosting exploit code or are redirecting Internet users to sites with bad code, Websense's blog reported Monday.
The number of websites engineered to exploit the problem has jumped considerably since the vulnerability was publicly disclosed by Microsoft on March 29. It will likely continue to rise until patches are applied across corporate and consumer PCs, said Ross Paul, senior product manager for Websense.
Hackers are hoping to catch some of the millions of unpatched machines.
"What we've seen is that exploits tend to be used as long as they are effective," Paul said.
Last week, Microsoft broke from its regular patching routine and issued an off-schedule fix due to the danger of the vulnerability, which occurs in the way Windows processes .ani or Animated Cursor files, allowing websites to replace the regular cursor with cartoonish alternatives.
The flaw affects nearly all versions of Microsoft's Windows OS and is the third zero-day flaw that Microsoft has patched out of schedule since January 2006.
Companies tend to patch their machines on fixed schedules and may not immediately apply a patch when it's released, Paul said. Home users may automatically receive the patch if they are using Windows XP Service Pack 2, but users of older Windows OSes will not.
That's especially dangerous since the .ani problem doesn't require user interaction for a machine to be infected, said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos. Merely viewing a website engineered to exploit the vulnerability with an unpatched machine can result in an infection.
As a result, security analysts are generally recommending to apply the patch, even though Microsoft said Friday they were fixing compatibility problems with some applications.
"We are recommending this is a patch you really need to install now," Cluley said.
Websense said that attackers from Eastern Europe and China appear to be at the heart of the efforts. Groups in the Asia-Pacific region and China are exploiting the vulnerability, mainly on machines located in Asia, in order to gain credentials for popular online games such as Lineage, Websense said.


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When it comes to mobile applications, consumers can customize their phones with just a few taps. Motorola Mobility wants to make it that easy to personalize a gadget's hardware.
As YouTube prepares to launch its subscription music service by the end of the year, the digital music giant is seeking to capitalize on music fans' desire to have access to their favorite songs everywhere they go.
Social media such as YouTube videos provide a popular and flexible venue for online activism. How two different social protest movements—Occupy Wall Street and the Proposition 8 same sex marriage initiative—utilized YouTube, ...
Google's video-sharing arm YouTube is preparing to launch a subscription music service to allow consumers to watch videos and listen to music ad-free, industry sources said Friday.
To promote its new song from platinum-selling country music artist Hunter Hayes and Grammy winner Jason Mraz on Tuesday, Warner Music Group didn't book its stars on "Good Morning America" or "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon."
A new framework being created by a PhD student and academics from the University of Lincoln, UK, will enable people to search for videos on the internet, using images rather than text.
Video-sharing service YouTube has announced its first music awards, which will be presented at a live event November 3 featuring Lady Gaga, Eminem, Arcade Fire and others.
France said Friday it will fine Google up to 300,000 euros ($402,180) for breaking rules on data privacy.
You might think social networks couldn't possibly gather more information on you than they already do. That in a world where your every move is tagged, flagged and logged, there is nothing more that could possibly be gleaned ...
YouTube, the Google-owned video sharing website, said Tuesday it was revamping its comments feed which some web users claimed had turned into a magnet for crude and vulgar postings.


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Chances are, if one of your employees complained externally about discrimination, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission was all up in your company’s business. Perhaps your business has had the not-so-good fortune of undergoing a Fair Labor Standards Act or Family and Medical Leave Act audit from the U.S. Department of Labor.
Late last week, the two federal watchdogs announced a partnership. Continue reading


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FMCG giant Coca-Cola is planning to launch its own range of Coca-Cola branded energy drinks, a first for the drinks brand, which is moving towards healthier drinks options from its traditional soft drinks portfolio.
Coca-Cola told Reuters that it is planning to launch new drinks under the names “Coca-Cola Energy” and “Coca-Cola Energy No Sugar”. The proposed energy drink contains naturally-derived caffeine and guarana extract.
In 2015, Coke bought a 16.7 per cent stake in energy drinks maker, Monster Energy, making it the largest shareholder in the company. The soft drinks giant has rights to distribute the energy drinks range in the US and Canada and it later expanded the deal to include distribution in other markets overseas.
WSJ reports Coke also transferred ownership of its energy drinks business, including NOS and Full Throttle, to Monster Energy. The deal prevents Coke from distributing competitive energy drinks, but includes an exception for products marketed under the Coca-Cola brand.
However, the partnership has turned sour as the beverage giants are currently in arbitration over the launch of Coke energy drinks, which would be in direct competition with Monster Energy.
“Coca-Cola has developed two energy products it believes it may market under an exception relating to the [Coke] brand. We believe that the exception does not apply,” Monster chief executive Rodney Sacks said on a conference call with analysts on Wednesday, according to WSJ. Sacks added that Coke is eyeing to launch the new energy drink before April.
“We have submitted the difference in interpretation to an arbitration panel for resolution, which is the mechanism agreed by the Coca-Cola Co and Monster in the original agreements,” a Coca-Cola spokesperson said to Reuters.
Many who took to social media were sceptical of Coke’s new energy drink.
Monster Beverage is having a bit of a scrap with Coca-Cola cos Coke wants to sell its own energy drinks … one analyst says Coke's would never catch onhttps://t.co/HHmYnonOXd pic.twitter.com/dvLgvetqu2
— ciara linnane (@LinnaneCiara) November 8, 2018
Coca-Cola on a healthier path
The soft drinks giant has been making waves down under this year, as it explores other healthy drinks options.
The company added its first line of kombucha through the acquisition of Australia’s Organic & Raw Trading Co., which makes the MOJO brand of organic kombucha drinks. Kombucha is made from fermented tea and is the fastest-growing beverage category in Australia. The acquisition is the first time Coca-Cola acquired full ownership of a brand in the category.
Last month, the soft drinks giant confirmed the purchase of a 45 per cent stake in Australia’s Made Group in a joint acquisition with local drinks distributor Coca-Cola Amatil. Made’s portfolio includes cold-pressed juice, high-protein smoothies, probiotic milk and coconut water.


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The Director General of Nigerian Insurers Association, NIA, Sunday Thomas has projected that the Insurance Industry will achieve a market asset base of N16 trillion and premium income of N6 trillion by the year 2020,
The NIA Boss, who made the disclosure at the Access Bank’s Insurance Forum, Wednesday, May 4, however said for this to be achieved, the industry operators, must shun the current trend of unhealthy competition among them.
Thomas said the unhealthy rivalry has seen many of the underwriters charging premium rate that is as low as one percent while others charge at 0.85 percent rate instead of the standard rate.
He said if the industry operators were playing according to rules, in terms of premium charges, the industry would have in the past three years (2013) hit the above margin.
Currently, insurance industry ‘s premium income hovers around N312 billion while industry total asset base stands at about N715billion, according to industry estimates.
The NIA DG, said to meet the set target, the industry operators, must show vested interest in promoting retail insurance market segment, place interest of their customers at the centre of their business plan and strategy, as well as review and tailor their products to suit the present day customers.
He censured the current trend whereby industry operators, focus much attention on corporate business while neglecting retail business, adding, cost of purchasing the corporate businesses impoverishes the industry.
He argued that among the operators that chase the corporate businesses, none of them retains the corporate accounts for good five years without losing such account to competitors despite how jealously he guides it.


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Downtown comes alive with Revive
The Revive Birmingham project kicked off last week, and downtown is one of five local neighborhoods getting more foot traffic because of retail and art shops.
As previously reported, the pop-up shops project was headed up by REV Birmingham, which chose the winners after receiving more than 50 proposals for shops to take space in downtown Birmingham, Five Points South, East Lake, Ensley and Woodlawn.
On Oct. 4, the first week of Revive will end with the "Birmingham Street Party," from 5 to 8 p.m. "We're taking over 3rd Avenue North between 18th Street North and 20th Street North, and we want YOU to bring the street life," says the event listing on the Revive website.
Following the street party, the historic Lyric theater's new exterior and signage will be lit up for the first time since its renovations started.
The Revive website says, "All of Birmingham is invited to join us as we finally light up the Lyric. We will #fliptheswitch at 8 p.m., showcasing the lobby's fabulous new exterior and signage. The Chad Fisher Group will provide live music from 7:30-8:30 p.m. and Trim Tab Brewing Co. will be pouring samples of their new Lyric beer. Show up & see history!"
Click here to see a full schedule of Revive Birmingham events, which will be going on for the month of October.
Brent Godwin is the online editor and social engagement manager for the Birmingham Business Journal. Click here to follow him on Twitter.
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The hemp industry remains largely unregulated by the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA). With a lack of mandate, it’s understandable that customers are wary about purchasing unsafe hemp and cannabidiol (CBD) products. Therefore, quality protocols like organic certification–as combined with safety measures like third-party testing–seem like trustworthy measures to take.
Unfortunately, there are some challenges facing hemp industry companies that are trying to build a reputation for themselves as safe and reliable.
For starters, the FDA has not approved CBD in food or beverages as “Generally Recognized As Safe” (“GRAS”). With that, organic certifiers have encountered difficulties when it comes to deeming a CBD product–more particularly, CBD edibles and beverages–as “organic” and subject to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) guidelines. In fact, until the FDA provides us with more comprehensible guidelines, certifiers will likely avoid certain products.
However, this isn’t to deem the products unsafe. All companies who’ve earned an organic certification are held accountable to high safety standards. If interested, you can look into the USDA Integrity Database to find out whether a company is organic.
The challenges go beyond food and beverages. It’s understood that in accordance with the 2018 Farm Bill, all hemp must contain less than 0.3% of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Some hemp plants, however, are fortuitously grown past this threshold.
With such a high demand for CBD products, farmers are growing more hemp than ever before. Yet, much of this crop is going to waste as it doesn’t meet with federal guidelines. In fact, the USDA estimated that nearly 20% of hemp lots would be destroyed this year due to exceeding the 0.3% THC limit.
While there was a push for legislation to raise the THC limit to 0.5%, this request was met with refusal.
A farmer might be able to cultivate plants with total THC levels below 0.3% but not all hemp or CBD businesses operate from seed to sale. In other words, many CBD businesses may have little control over whether their farmers grow crops within the legal limits. However, businesses can request a certificate of analysis (CoA) in order to identify exact phytocannabinoid counts.
In addition, many extraction facilities cannot perform all the processing required for CBD products in the market, including THC remediation to compliant levels (at minimum) through processes like chromatography to keep CBD concentrations high–or perhaps just through blending with a carrier like hemp or coconut oil, which also lowers CBD levels.
In such cases, the best option would be to ship oils to someone else’s extraction facility that does have the ability to maintain the integrity of the organic chain.
Yet, if one were to do this, it would come at a cost many businesses can’t add to their plate. To ship, a business would need to dilute its extraction to compliant levels. The only way to truly accomplish this is through organic solvent (such as ethanol). However, this solvent is often met with an egregious tax, making the whole idea of shipping oils to other facilities highly impractical.
Unless your company has control over the entire supply chain–from seed to sale–you may face some additional challenges that other companies don’t have to handle. It’s therefore important to evaluate these issues from all angles before starting a business. And, as with so many aspects of an industry that is still in its infancy, we will likely see many of these policies continually challenged and hopefully improved, so that all participants in the process–including consumers–will face fewer hurdles in their business and personal pursuits.
Image Credit: Rick Proctor
Image Source: https://unsplash.com/photos/PGc9Vid8O24


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Toyota Motor Corp. says it has issued a recall for two.43 million hybrid automobiles in Japan and in different places for doable issues of stalling.
The corporate stated Friday that during uncommon circumstances the automobiles may fail to go into a “failsafe” riding mode, lose energy and stall. Energy steerage and braking would nonetheless paintings however a stall at a quick velocity may building up dangers of a crash.
The recall applies to a couple Toyota Prius and Auris hybrids constructed from October 2008-November 2014. The automobiles have been eager about an previous recall that didn’t repair the prior to now unanticipated downside this is being addressed now, the corporate stated in a remark.
Toyota stated it might replace the tool of the automobiles to treatment the issue free of charge.
The recall applies to one.25 million automobiles in Japan, 807,000 within the U.S., 290,000 in Europe and three,000 in China with the remainder around the globe.
Toyota stated it had won 3 reviews in Japan associated with the issue by way of the tip of September and reported them to the shipping ministry. They didn’t contain injuries.
It will no longer touch upon incidents out of doors Japan, announcing it was once tricky to make certain about exact circumstances.
The recall is supposed to handle scenarios by which the failure of a selected element, coupled with exhausting acceleration, may motive the automobile to lose energy slightly than input a failsafe riding mode.


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'Tech-media-telecom convergence is an opportunity for large start-up ecosystem'
Pradeep Dwivedi, CEO-India, Eros International Media Limited, talks about impact the convergence will have on the Indian Media & Entertainment landscape and more
As the tech-media-Telecom ecosystem converge, it also builds value proposition in segments like digital e-commerce, physical commerce, entertainment and news content consumption, where big technology companies can gain by riding piggyback on the telecom network. Pradeep Dwivedi, CEO-India, Eros International Media Limited, talks about impact this convergence will have on the Indian Media & Entertainment landscape and the new business models that it is likely to empower.
What's your view on the big technology companies acquiring stake in Indian telecom majors, and how do you think it will change the Indian media and entertainment landscape?
The convergence that has been predicted between telecom-media-technology(TMT) is now finally coming to the fruition. The value that the consumer gets is an amalgamation of all the three. For big companies that are well funded, the idea is that if they can extract revenues and market share and share of mind by actively participating in more than one part of the convergence chain, they gain a lot. So clearly a technology company which is well funded would then want to get into the content, distribution and even handset side of the ecosystem. So clearly the motives are financial integration of the value chain.
In the Indian context, there are large population opportunities which are now becoming internet savvy and hence telecom and mobile ecosystem is coming under a lot of interest. So from a technology and market perspective, India with around 1.4 billion population becomes a lucrative market for US based technology giants. The series of investments that private equity majors are doing in Reliance Jio is an indication about the market attractiveness, technology readiness and more importantly consumer willingness to pay for content.
What is your view on the advantages these tech majors will bring in when they collaborate with Indian telecom companies?
The telecom companies have access to consumers, so the handshake is actually happening through them and with the concept of net neutrality, telecom operators are obligated to provide equivalent services to the consumer. The advantage that some of these platforms bring by partnering with telecoms is that they will be able to get a better understanding of the customer. And depending on usage patterns, demographics, the geographical dispersion of the audiences they can define and customize better products to appeal to those audiences.
For example, Facebook's investment into WhatsApp was largely around capturing a large ecosystem of a messaging service which was gaining popularity in the world. And clearly since WhatsApp was not running ads, Facebook had to go ahead and launch, you know WhatsApp for business, which then they could monetize in a certain way.
But beyond that, even for WhatsApp to go to the next step from just being a messaging platform to a messaging cum commerce platform, they would need to get into the digital payments ecosystem, which for whatever regulatory reasons, they could never really get it. Now the advantage of working closely with Jio is that Jio already has a Jio wallet. And I'm speculating here, but perhaps there is an opportunity for Jio and Facebook to collaborate to create a more compelling wallet feature for the audiences or the subscribers that are largely tied into the aggressive tariff plan and good quality of services of Jio on a pan country basis.
So, there is a value proposition in many segments like digital e-commerce, physical commerce, entertainment and news content consumption, where big technology companies can gain by actually riding piggyback on the telecom network.
Also, telecom companies in India are under various AGR obligations and struggling due to huge financial liability. These investments also allows them to perhaps defray and pay off some of these obligations and ensure their own survival and sustainability in the long run.
What new business models and avenues are these partnerships likely to bring up?
Clearly, the way I look at it is the sky's the limit, you know this is one of those pivotal moments where they say it's a bit of a carte blanche mandate, a white paper mandate and you can draw almost anything on top of that. Big tech majors and their desire to connect with consumers compounded by having access to the pipes that actually provides the handshake with consumers will transform and impact every sector right from healthcare, education, commerce or even banking. I can't imagine any sector which is not going to get impacted by it.
It also provides a brilliant opportunity for a very large startup ecosystem to flourish, because even though this combination provides a lot of vanilla services to the consumers, there will be opportunities for specialized solutions to emerge by startups.
Taking a hypothetical example of Amazon, in case it happens to tie up with any telecom major in India, there could be a startup with the ability to create a longer delivery value chain, which then feeds into the Amazon network and allows it to go beyond the that it already has in India.
There is an opportunity to disrupt a lot of existing business models, in logistics, distribution, pure play content consumption or even creating new forms of content that can be consumed by audiences in different way. For example, a news app like that of TikTok which provides 30 second bytes of news as a stream, continuously on a channel. It could be around sports, entertainment or music.
I think this decade 2020 to 2030 is actually going to transform the Indian economy into a true blue digital economy which will thrive a lot on these collaborations between technology majors, telecom players an evolving consumer segment.
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Men’s lifestyle brand Xyxx is targeting between 50% and 70% growth this financial year and expects to see around 50% year-on-year growth annually for the coming 10 years. The brand plans to continue to expand both its exclusive brand outlets and presence across modern trade.
“We’ve always. Been essential wear- inner wear and lounge wear- brand and our 96% to 97% of revenue comes from these categories,” said Xyxx’s founder Yogesh Kabra, ET Retail reported. “Recently, the categories that we’ve launched are a little more towards outerwear and as we will inch closer to the summer season, we plan to double down on the athleisure wear.”
The brand recently opened two new brick-and-mortar stores in Surat and in Infiniti Mall Malad. Xyxx plans to open between 15 and 20 new stores by the 2025 financial year to bolster its retail presence across the country, according to Kabra.
All of Xyxx’s stores are currently company operated and company owned. The brand also has a retail presence in around 250 multi-brand stores, planning to increase this by 300% across modern trade by the 2025 financial year, ET Bureau reported.
“As far as exclusive brand outlets are concerned, we currently have five exclusive brand outlets,” said Kabra. “We are not fixated on hitting a number of stores milestone, however, we focus more on operating profitability per store.”
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We've been hearing a lot about Xiaomi’s latest flagship device, the Mi Mix 2. Now, a fresh leak suggests that the successor of the Mi Mix might be launched on September 12, the same day as the iPhone 8 is expected to be launched.
Over the past few days, there have been a lot of leaks about the Mi Mix 2 and little is left to imagination. While there has been no confirmation from the company about the launch date, Xiaomi CEO, Lei Jun had earlier revealed that the device will be launched in the second half of the year, which makes the leaks a lot more plausible.
To recall, the Mi Mix was launched in October last year and it came with near bezel less display and curved edges. It was powered by a Snapdragon 821 processor, coupled with 4GB or 6GB RAM, up to 256GB internal storage and a 4,400mAh battery.
Philippe Starck, the man behind the Mi Mix design will also design its successor. This was confirmed by Lei Jun in a Weibo post. Starck recently shared a concept which revealed extremely thin bezels on the top, left and the right side of the Mi Mix 2. The bottom of the device houses a camera and is slightly bigger than the other sides.
The main highlight of the device will be its bezel less display and a dual camera setup. Some rumours have also revealed that the Mi Mix 2 will come with a 3D camera for facial recognition.
Coming to the leaked specifications, the Mi Mix 2 is expected to be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, 6GB RAM and up to 256GB of internal storage. It will come with an AMOLED display and a 4,500mAh battery.
The Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 is expected to be priced around CNY 4,599, which is roughly Rs. 48,000. However, like its predecessor, the Mi Mix 2 may not be launched in India and may be limited to the Chinese market only.


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Hong Kong startup Booqed is looking to change how organisations utilise spaces and link them with people seeking temporary offices and event venues.
The business model emerged out of frustration when the co-founders, who needed a conducive space to conduct a video conference, spent three days searching for a suitable room only to show up to find there was no record of their reservation and the $100 deposit they paid.
They decided then to set up a P2P marketplace with the aim to "redefine and reimagine" the use of space, said David Wong, Booqed's co-founder and CEO, in a phone interview Thursday with ZDNet.
The startup's platform allows organisations to rent out under-utilised space, including office spaces, F&B outlets, and music studio, to be used for various purposes such as to host events and as co-workspace. Through the platform, host companies can list and manage their space.
Through its mobile app, users can find, book, and pay for a space. They also can provide a rating of the space after they have used it. The app currently is only available on Apple App Store, but an Android version is scheduled for release in the next three months.
Co-founder and COO Charles Oh said a new version of the app would be released in three to five weeks offering several new features, such as allowing host partners to set the lead time to make a booking, so they could have more time to prepare a venue if they needed to.
Wong added that there was potential to extend the platform for businesses to utilise as their backend booking system. He noted that in Hong Kong, for instance, the spectrum of host partners could span from those that had invested millions of dollars building their own booking platform to business centres that still used pen and paper to track their bookings.
"There are so many different systems that it would be almost impossible to integrate our platform with any of these backend systems," he explained. "What we're looking to do instead is to offer an API (application programming interface) so the organisations can hook up their backend with ours and do some integration. This isn't something that we're looking to do in the near-term because it requires significant work, but it's something we're looking at."
For now at least, Oh said it could extend the use of its basic system for free as a value-add service to its partner organisations, especially those that still relied on manual paper-and-pen entries.
The startup had roped in various organisations in Hong Kong, including business centres, co-working spaces, music studios, and gallery space. It recently signed up a hospitality company with F&B outlets, including Michelin restaurants.
Both platform and mobile app are available for free, with Booqed receiving a 10 to 20 percent commission fee from each booking. The startup handles all payments in order to minimise administrative work for host businesses and users, who can pay via credit cards or PayPal.
Development work on a mobile app and booking platform began a year ago, but the service was officially launched in Hong Kong and Shenzhen, just a month back.
It also just launched in Singapore, which Wong hoped would eventually serve as its Southeast Asian hub, as the startup looked to expand its service over the next six months to other markets in the region, including Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai, Bangkok, and London.
He added that the startup was targeting markets that had active freelance communities and were popular among business travellers and small and midsize businesses, which often visited Asian cities and needed a temporary workspace.
To better cater to the region's local practices and preferences, he said there were plans to incorporate local payment platforms such as Alipay in China and Apple Pay.
Asked if there were concerns about subletting rules that might restrict companies from renting out their space, Booqed said its business model would not be affected since it was focused only on short-term usage. Bookings typically were based on hourly or daily basis, or spanned a couple of days. Anyone that required a space for a week or longer would be referred directly to the host partner.
In addition, the startup's Terms of Service states that the host is "selling a license to the guest" to use the space. This distinguishes, from a legal perspective, such services from a short-term rental or lease since it does not indicate any interest or tenancy in the space, according to Booqed.
Apart from Wong and Oh, there are three other co-founders in the startup, each with equal share and who have been bootstrapping. The team currently is readying a pre-series A round to fund its international expansion.
Wong said: "We're targeting to raise up to US$1 million, but the sweet spot is US$500,000. Looking further into the future, we're also exploring a number of options including listing on the ASX (Australian Securities Exchange) or doing a Series A. We'll probably come to a decision on this early part of next year."
Asked why it was looking at an Australian IPO when it had yet to launch its service in the country, he pointed to a strong focus on high tech and Asian opportunities in the market there. He revealed that his team already had began initial discussions with finance and corporate advisors Down Under, where there was "an openness about the solution we're offering".
He also noted that the ASX only required one board for companies to list, and added that the Australian market showed a lot of interest in early startups.
Wong said plans also were underway to launch Booqed in Sydney and Melbourne.
Oh said: "Australia is an interesting market. The number of freelance [consultants] and business travellers there are incredible including both international and domestic travellers, especially between Sydney and Melbourne."


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Oh hey PR peeps!
It's that time of the month again - that's right - it's TOTPRP (Top of the PR pops).
Here is our pick of the smartest (and cutest) campaigns and news from the super month of September...
British Gas: Wilbur The Penguin
With animated snowmen, Russian meerkats and talking monkeys, advertising is clearly evolving from information-heavy to creative that triggers emotion and uses humour to entertain viewers - and British Gas has just followed suit with Wilbur the penguin.
"Warm & working", created by CHI & Partners, introduces Wilbur, a penguin explorer who enters a family’s home and is drawn to the flame of the boiler, the hot water, and a warm radiator.
Sarah Golding, Chief Executive at CHI & Partners, said: "The Warm & Working campaign is a warmer, more customer-focused evolution of the Planet Home creative – demonstrating how much British Gas cares about helping its customers look after their homes."
Google: Customer Match Tool
Google has rolled out "Customer Match", a new tool to help brands reach specific customers and push apps.
Customer Match will allow brands to upload a list of email addresses that can be matched to signed-in users on Google "in a secure and privacy-safe way".
Sridhar Ramaswamy, the senior vice president for ads and commerce at Google, wrote: "With Customer Match, your brand is right there, with the right message, at the moment your customer is most receptive".
The tool also has a similar audience element, meaning brands can reach new customers on YouTube and Gmail who are likely to be interested in their products and services.
AIG: Virtual Rugby
American International Group (AIG) is bringing rugby fans closer to the game with their Haka 360º Experience.
The app, which uses 360º video technology, gives viewers the feeling of being on the pitch and in the midst of the Māori ritual, the Haka.
“This electrifying world first experience of being transported onto the rugby field with the team is not to be missed.” said Daniel Glantz, Global Head of Sponsorship for AIG at the launch event.
“We wanted to bring fans closer to the All Blacks and what better way to do that than to harness the power of 360 degree video technology to bring them face to face with the legendary haka. The video enables users to look anywhere and control their own experience; allowing them to truly feel like they have taken their place on the field with the All Blacks.”
Uber: Breathe Easy, Singapore
Singapore's PSI levels have been rising to alarming levels over recent weeks - and Uber's stepped in.
Understanding that its people still need to get out and about, the global taxi firm is using its power to deliver haze protection masks to its loyal passengers.
#UberHEALTH was available all day on 24th September and Uber users were able to request their On-Demand haze masks within their app – for free!
Uber's word on the matter: "Stay healthy and stay safe, Singapore!"


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Hulu has launched Hulu Plus, which is claimed to be the first and only internet video subscription service to stream full current seasons and a deep library of back seasons of hit TV shows from ABC, FOX, NBC, and more.
The service is being offered in HD, to computers, internet-connected TVs and Blu-ray players, set-top boxes, mobile phones, and tablets, for $7.99 per month.[ Also Read: Xfinity TV App for iPad to Watch TV Shows ]
“We’re proud to offer consumers the best of current TV on their terms,” said Jason Kilar, chief executive officer of Hulu.
“With Hulu Plus, it’s now possible to watch any episode from the current season of watercooler shows like Glee, Modern Family, 30 Rock and dozens more; whenever and wherever they want.”[ Also Read: Google Makes Web a New Channel for Your TV ]
Any users who subscribed during the preview period will also receive a credit for the difference from the $9.99 preview price to be applied automatically to their next billing cycle. Starting today (Nov. 17), all new subscribers to Hulu Plus receive a 1-week free trial.
Hulu Plus will be available through a wide variety of devices that have an installed base of over 50 million in the U.S. No matter when and where a TV lover wants to catch the latest episode of House, Saturday Night Live, or Family Guy — whether it’s in the office, in the living room, or on the go — Hulu Plus is there, says the company.
Here’s the list of gadgets for the service:
Connected TV and Blu-Ray players: Samsung, Sony BRAVIA HDTVs and connected Blu-ray Disc Players, and coming soon: LG Electronics, Panasonic, VIZIO
Connected Set-top Boxes: Roku, Sony Network Media Player, and coming soon: TiVo Premiere DVRs, Western Digital’s WD TV Live Hub Media Center and WD TV Live Plus Network Media Player
Gaming Consoles: PlayStation 3, and coming soon: Xbox 360
Other network appliances: Sony Dash
HD-available programs will stream to users in 720p high definition on HD-capable devices. Hulu will continue to announce additional supported devices and platforms in the coming months, it says.
For the launch of Hulu Plus, the company has partnered with leading brand marketers including Bud Light, McDonald’s, Nissan, and Microsoft to expand their reach to Hulu’s engaged and connected audience.
Hulu is also working with online, digital media research services like comScore and Nielsen to help create accurate measurement tools for the Hulu Plus service.
Hulu is an online TV service. It was founded in 2007 and is operating independently with offices in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and Beijing.
NBC Universal, News Corporation, The Walt Disney Company, Providence Equity Partners, and the Hulu team share in the ownership of the company.
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Honda â€“ the maker from Japan unveiled a teaser photo of the next Accord Crosstour, before the official crossover's launch on 1st of September. Extra details will be released soon, Honda will leak new info and shots about this new car.
Motor Trend says the crosstour runs with an 3.8l MDX engine, found on ZDX also. The 2 four cylinder 2.4l engines (making 177, 190 hp) will be under the hood of this all-new crossover model, like the V6 3.5l, having 271 hp output. 'An all-new crossover vehicle based on the award-winning Honda Accord will go on-sale in the fall of 2009 as the "Accord Crosstour," American Honda Motor Co., Inc., announced today. This new addition to the Honda lineup will be sold as a 2010 model. Additional information will be announced later in the year' the Japanese maker affirmed in July this year when the crossover got in the public's eye.
Honda is working on the Accord coupe variant, joining the TSX and TL range. Unlike the Crosstour, a few details are available involving this unit. The coupe will run with a four-cylinder 2.4-liter engine making about 200 horsepower.
As for Accord the present generation, the manufacturer said there will be new features, including Bluetooth HandsFreeLink (expanded application) on cars having seating surfaces from leather.
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From 2001 to 2004, the music industry produced a steady stream of new artists with big hits: At least 30 first-timers landed in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 each year. In 2022, only 12 new acts managed the feat (plus a pair of songs from the Encanto cast). “This is the hardest time to break through and market music,” one manager tells Billboard.
It’s not for lack of trying: In recent years, labels have been signing acts at whirlwind speed, yet this surge of new signings hasn’t yet amounted to a surge of new stars. And some executives worry that the dry spell is partly due to the recent wave of signings, claiming that the majors have inked deals at a rate beyond their ability to provide service.
“The over-signing of [the] COVID [era] is now a pain point at every label,” says one manager with multiple acts on majors. If staff growth doesn’t keep up with roster growth, artists don’t necessarily get the care they need to level up. “No one has enough product managers. So they’re all getting crushed.”
As Royalties Sales Ramp Up, Labels Are Overwhelmed by New Accounting Requests
“It is not humanly possible for a product manager — the person responsible for the story of the artists, the story of the music — to creatively, strategically and efficiently implement marketing for 20 artists at one time,” says Craig Baylis, a former major-label product manager who runs the boutique publishing company Eighth & Groove. Record companies often “aren’t getting the best out of [their staff] because they are ramming them with all of these artists that they’re not even getting the chance to know.”
All the major-label groups have broken new artists in the last few years, of course, whether it’s Olivia Rodrigo (Universal Music Group), Steve Lacy (Sony Music) or Zach Bryan (Warner Music Group). In a January letter to staff, UMG chairman/CEO Lucian Grainge reaffirmed the company’s commitment to this task, writing, “We diligently work, day in and day out, to break our artists and songwriters.” While speaking with investors last year, Sony Music chairman Rob Stringer said “creative staff,” which encompasses A&R, marketing, product managers and artist relations, had increased at a faster rate than artist roster size, helping launch new acts onto the streaming charts.
Roster size numbers are difficult to come by, but in 2017, a study organized by the RIAA found that major labels had signed 658 artists that year, up from 589 in 2014. Although the RIAA hasn’t released a follow-up, many lawyers and executives say the rate of signings has climbed since that report. Two senior executives believe the number of deals is now as high or higher than it has ever been; Sony Music told investors that new signings rose 32.4% between 2017 and 2021.
The recent wave of signings is in part a byproduct of streaming becoming the main revenue source at the majors. The biggest streaming services pay rights holders according to their share of total plays on the platform. But low-cost distribution has brought a “vast and unnavigable number of tracks” into the music ecosystem, as Grainge put it in his staff memo. Streams for those tracks eat into big record companies’ piece of the pie. If tens of thousands of new tracks are added to streaming services daily, “then [major-label] market share is going to be diluted by default,” Stringer explained last year.
Playlists Don’t Hit Like They Used To
Signing more is a way of fighting back. “For major labels, independents and distributors, it’s all about volume of signings now,” says Andreas Katsambas, who was a senior vp at BMG before joining the analytics company Chartmetric as president/COO.
This puts major labels in a bind: They need to sign and release more to keep market share up, but this makes it harder for each artist signed to get the attention they need to break through.
“Intelligent marketing is not going to be a facet of developing artists today if record companies are going to continue doling out artists, singles and projects at the frequency that they do,” says Baylis. “There is a high level of fatigue that product managers are experiencing.”
A former major-label employee who left to go into management agrees that product managers and marketers tend to be “completely overworked.” “A digital person may have 60 projects,” he adds. “It’s crazy.”
TikTok Is Driving Fewer Streams to Its Biggest Hits
Mike Caren, founder of the publishing company and independent label APG (and former president of global A&R at WMG), points out that “even the best marketer is limited by the number of hours in the day and days in the week.” He adds: “Executing an artist’s vision is time-intensive, and the best artists challenge their teams with unique ideas that take a lot of time to properly deliver. Capacity is a key metric to determine when choosing a label or team.”
This may be especially true today, when the ability to grow audiences seems increasingly like the most important service a label can offer. Artists no longer need to turn to majors for national and international distribution or studio-quality recording equipment; now, anyone can get those things from their laptop while sprawled on the couch. Instead, “gaining awareness is the most challenging thing for anyone that releases music,” Katsambas says. “Awareness more than anything else, and then engagement and retention.”
Are those goals compatible with high-volume signing? “It’s hard creating a game plan for longevity for some of these artists that are really talented and deserving,” Baylis says, “because executives are charged with just feeding the beast called the DSPs.”
DJ Khaled is set to appear on the 2023 Grammy Awards telecast with collaborators Fridayy, Jay-Z, John Legend, Lil Wayne and Rick Ross to perform “God Did,” which is nominated for song of the year, best rap song and best rap performance. Related 2023 Grammy Nominations: The Complete List 02/03/2023 DJ Khaled is also nominated for album of the year and best rap album for the album of the same name. […]
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Plea for old brewery bottle
Last updated at 15:12, Friday, 11 July 2014
A Keswick brewer is appealing for help to add an old beer bottle to her collection.
Keswick Brewing Company, based in The Old Brewery on Brewery Lane, Keswick, has 12 bottles on display in a cabinet, but one in particular has proved tricky to track down.
Owner Sue Jefferson has had a bottle from The Old Brewing Company, which was based in Keswick, on her wish list for some time.
She believes the brewery was located on or near the current site and has heard that bottles are still in existence.
Sue said: “We know that there were some bottles, more than 100 years old. The one we’re missing is vital.
“We were given some bottles when we first started brewing about eight years ago and that was how the bug started really.
“It would be lovely to get as much history of local breweries as we can.”
Anyone with information can call Sue on 017687 80700.
First published at 15:09, Friday, 11 July 2014
Published by http://www.timesandstar.co.uk
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Seen here for the first time testing with less disguising than we'd snapped it ever before is the new 2008 Mercedes-Benz C-Class estate.
The Mercedes C-Class estate will be unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show
The sedan model has been unveiled at the recent Geneva Motor Show. The station wagon version will break cover at the Frankfurt Motor Show alongside the C63 AMG model.
Like with the brand-new sedan, buyers will have the option between the four-cylinder C180 or C200 and the six-cylinder C230, C280 or C350.
Diesel enthusiasts might prefer the C200 CDI, C220 CDI or C320.
The C-Class sedan is due to go on sale in South Africa in September, while the estate will arrive here early in 2008.


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A West Island-based high-tech company has received $500,000 in financial support from the federal government.
Reflex Photonics in Kirkland was officially granted the sum last Thursday by local MP Francis Scarpaleggia, on behalf of Navdeep Bains, the federal Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development and Minister of Canadian Economic Development (CED).
The company develops, manufactures and exports industrial-grade electronic optic/photonic components for the various markets, including defence, aerospace, telecommunications and date centre markets, as well as equipment manufacturers.
“For sustained and inclusive growth, the Canadian economy needs business to invest in their futures through research and development, the acquisition of state of the art equipment and the commercialization of their products,” Scarpaleggia said.
“A high-performing and forward looking enterprise, Reflex Photonics is contributing to the economic growth of Montreal and Canada and creating jobs for the middle class.”
The government funding, through the Canadian Economic Development for Quebec Regions (CED), will help Reflex Photonics expand its production capacity to increase sales and exports, said Michel Hamel, vice-president of finance for Reflex Photonics.
“It’s allows us to purchase some machinery that is going to make us more competitive,” he said. “Actually, it’s machinery we needed to upscale our production. This type of financing is really helpful for small companies because it is not easy to get financing for small companies.”
Hamel said the funding is more like a loan (at zero per cent) than a grant, and is to be paid back over five years.
Hamel said the production expansion has helped the company consolidate more than 24 existing jobs and create about 14 new ones.
“A year ago we were 24 people and now we’re about 38,Hamel
David Rolston, co-founder of Reflex Photonics and a graduate of Riverdale High School in Pierrefonds, said he was pleased to see the company expand its West Island operations.
“I grew up in the West Island and still live here,” said Rolston, the company ’s chief technology officer who holds a PhD in electrical engineering (photonics) from McGill University.
He started the company about 16 years ago in the basement of his Beaconsfield home. “Just as the telecom bubble burst, I decided to start an optical company,” recalled Rolston, 46.
Scarpaleggia said the West Island is becoming a hub creating specialized for high-tech companies. He said industrial park zones in Baie-d’Urfé and along Highway 40 employ hundreds of people in high-tech industries.
“We have a very strong industrial base here,” said the MP for Lac St. Louis.
Scarpaleggia said companies like Reflex Photonics are worthy of government investment funding through the CED.
“They’re 99 per cent export driven, they’re doubling their sales every year and they’re following the text-book model for innovation and manufacturing,” Scarpaleggia said.
“They started with an idea at McGill. Then they got some seed money from a multi-university venture capital fund. Then they were able to successfully commercialize the product, and manufacture it here.
“So if everybody could do the same thing, we’d be (pleased). It gives us a lot of confidence that our economy is up to the international standards of innovation and manufacturing.”


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When Square’s IPO launches Thursday (Nov. 19) morning, it will start off seeking $9/share, which values the company at $2.66 billion, half of where it had valued a year ago. Even its IPO prospectus had estimated a range of $11-$13. Square is arguably the industry’s best-known payment facilitator.
“It’s a signal that Square will face a challenge when it finally goes public,” noted TechCrunch. “Square’s pricing — below its previous valuation — is one of many instances of valuations being written down among late-stage startups.”
Fair or not—FYI, it’s not—Square is facing Wall Street analysts who need to pigeonhole Square direct competitors. But the Square business model, size and customer based is sufficiently unusual that there really are no like-for-like rivals.
This was a point that Rick Oglesby, a senior analyst with payments consulting firm Double Diamond Group and a longtime tracker of Square, stressed during a video segment on Bloomberg.


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Pittsburg to consider ban on retail plastic bags
Pittsburg is proposing to stop the distribution of single-use plastic bags in grocery and retail stores, making it the first East Contra Costa city to consider such a ban.
Join the discussion below, or Read more at Inside Bay Area.
#1 Aug 31, 2013
how about a ban on violent knuckle draggin jigs? at least a bag wont shoot you!
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Photo Gallery: Workers United Rally Outside Walmart-Contracted Warehouse
MIRA LOMA — A group of 30 workers at a warehouse went on strike Wednesday, complaining of what they said was retaliatory surveillance for speaking out against unsafe conditions at the Walmart-contracted warehouse where they work.
The workers at Olivet International were joined, after they walked off the job, by dozens of other protesters from other Southern California unions, including the United Food and Commercial Workers, former Walmart employees from OurWalmart and organizers with Warehouse Workers United.
With picket signs, drums and horns, the large gathering of protesters marched in a circle in front of the truck gate to the Olivet warehouse property with the aim of getting the attention of the retail giant, which contracts with the warehouse.
Some of the workers filed a complaint with Cal-OSHA in May over working conditions at Olivet.
While the state’s investigation is ongoing, protest organizers said warehouse operators had fixed some of the most egregious problems in the warehouse but have also increased surveillance of workers. Warehouse managers, protesters said, issued new rules aimed at stopping workers from discussing health and safety problems, and installed dozens of cameras to monitor workers.
The employees said they are striking for at least two days, beginning Wednesday. Those on strike said that since they began speaking out in May against what they said were dangerous conditions at the warehouse, they’ve been followed by labor consultants, watched on newly installed surveillance cameras and have been harassed daily.
“Warehouse workers at this warehouse are out on strike because they’ve had enough about surveillance retaliation and the illegal practices by this company to silence workers simply because they spoke out against illegal working conditions such as boxes stacked too high and just a lot of problems where workers could potentially get hurt,” said Guadalupe Palma, director of Warehouse Workers United.
Peter Lin, corporate secretary for Olivet, said allegations of retaliation are false. Lin said employees have a right to strike.
“We repeatedly have told our employees that they are free to express their views,” Lin said in a statement. “We have respected their right to do so.”
Lin said Olivet is committed to maintaining a safe workplace.
“The working conditions are nothing like those claimed or reported by some to the media,” Lin said. “We are going through an (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) inspection and have been cooperating fully with OSHA. Any issues that arise as a result of OSHA’s inspection will be addressed accordingly.”
Walmart spokeswoman Brooke Buchanan said the complaints from the workers in May are being investigated internally by Walmart.
Buchanan said the Wednesday labor action at the Olivet warehouse is a publicity ploy from unions attempting to garner attention to the “failing cause” of unionizing Walmart employees.
“There are other major brands that do work out of that location, but whenever there is a potential or alleged concern raised over poor working conditions, we look into it,” Buchanan said. “We do our own internal investigation.”
Workers are calling for health benefits and a living wage.


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The U.S. moved closer to sending U.S. beef to China as USDA released the rules packers will have to meet to ship.
The president of the American Soybean Association has bluntly stated the ASA does not want out of the U.S./South Korean free trade agreement which President Trump apparently wants to withdraw from. Read moreRead More »
An American business group appealed to China to ease import restrictions on agricultural goods including genetically modified seeds and other biotechnology, highlighting complaints Beijing blocks market access despite its vocal support for free trade. Read moreRead More »


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Mikkeller San Diego collaborated with punk rock band the Descendents to create a coffee IPA called Feel This.
Named after a song on the Descendents most recent album called “Hypercaffium Spazzinate,” Feel This is a IPA brewed with Dark Matter Hypercaffium Spazzinate coffee beans and clocks in at 7.3 percent ABV.
‘While doing this collaboration we got an opportunity to meet the Dark Matter boys and learn about their coffee process,” said Bill Batten, Mikkeller’s San Diego brew master, in a statement on the company’s website. “Using their roasting profiles, in combination with our passion for hop-forward IPA’s, we were able to create a special beer as unique as the band.’”
Feel This ships out this week to over 25 states in US and will also be available on Mikkeller’s website.


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A new lawsuit alleges AT&T is regularly overcharging iPhone and iPad customers for data usage, in some cases up to 300% more.
[ad#Google Adsense 300×250 in story]Lawyers for the lawsuit said they spent $80,000 testing devices in preparation for their day in court. In one instance, lawyers purchased a brand new iPhone and turned off everything that could affect data usage. When the bill came in from AT&T, there were 35 transactions for data usage, according to MSNBC.
Lawyers said that AT&T overcharged on every single transaction. Not once did a data usage charge go in favor of the customer. Lawyers said that AT&T systematically overstated data usage by 7-14% and sometimes up to 300%.
While they said that individual charges may add up to $10 or $15 a month, with millions of customers, it’s quite a boon for AT&T.
One lawyer compared the AT&T charges to a rigged gas pump where you pay for a gallon of gas and only get 9/10 of a gallon.
AT&T says the charges are “without merit” and says customers misunderstand how data is charged. The company points to things like automatic app updates in the background that customers may not be aware of.


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Ford is currently working on bringing a supercar to production that has potentially over 700 horsepower and carry a price tag north of $400,000. While that’s nice to look at and think about, it might difficult to understand why a company would invest so much time and money into a project that will have so few sales. How does a 2017 Ford GT benefit you and I?
At this year’s annual Ford Trends technology symposium in Silicon Valley, Ford showed a variety of automotive journalists and social influencers how technology found in the uber-Ford GT makes its way into other automobiles.
Carbon fiber, which makes up the entire body of the Ford GT, is a material that is incredibly strong and incredibly light. Lightening a supercar makes sense, because every pound saved increases the vehicle’s overall speed and handling. But the money being invested into carbon fiber now will see results in the cars that you and I buy tomorrow.
For example, carbon fiber is used in the construction of the wheels that are on the Ford Shelby GT350R. Reducing the weight of the wheels makes the wheels easier to turn, improving acceleration, but also lightens the car, improving fuel economy.
While the GT350R is still an extreme example, Ford showed off a concept Fusion that also had the carbon fiber wheels. In this case, the lightweight wheels would be used exclusively for fuel economy. Alone they might not improve economy much, but as more and more components become made with carbon fiber, it’ll all start to add up.
Right now carbon fiber is still pretty expensive. You wouldn’t want to scuff up your carbon fiber wheel. But, as the company spends more time researching, and using, the material, the prices will come down.
What’s a good example of this? The 2015 Ford F-150. The entire body of the truck is made out of aluminum alloy. The material is more expensive to produce than high-strength steel, but Ford was clever in the way they manufacture the trucks to keep costs in line with what it cost to build a steel truck. That means the end consumer doesn’t end up paying more for the truck just because Ford wanted to use a new material.
The same will happen with carbon fiber. The Ford GT is the start of the carbon fiber experiment at Ford, but it’s not the end. We’ll see the technology in the high-performance vehicles first, where people will pay extra for it, but eventually it’ll trickle down into the cars you and I drive every day. That means we’ll end up with safer cars that get better fuel economy, without sacrificing the things we care about in modern cars.
That sounds like a big win to me!


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BT-owned operator EE is using the iPhone 12 Pro’s AR to help make an early case for 5G as part of a new marketing campaign.
5G devices have been available for well over a year now, but it’s often said that new smartphone technologies aren’t truly adopted until that little old firm called Apple gets onboard.
With 5G iPhones now available, operators are expected to ramp up their 5G deployments and marketing significantly. More people than ever will have devices in their hands capable of accessing the latest generation network.
However, 5G remains a difficult pitch to consumers at this early point. Setting aside that 5G is still not available in many areas, there just aren’t many killer apps for it yet.
EE has launched a campaign with Hollywood legend Kevin Bacon – a regular face of EE’s campaigns – and pop singer Rita Ora. The campaign intends to show off one of the exciting early possibilities for 5G… real-time AR.
So far, AR has only had any mainstream success with Pokemon Go or seeing how that MALM looks in your room using the IKEA app. However, the iPhone 12 Pro’s LiDAR technology unlocks new possibilities for both capture and consumption.
EE put Rita Ora in a motion capture suit and used an iPhone 12 Pro to track her facial movements. In real-time, using 5G, Kevin Bacon is able to watch a giant AR version of Rita Ora perform against London’s iconic skyline on his own iPhone.
You can view the ad below:
Can’t say I’m personally a big fan of Rita Ora’s work, but it’s an exciting look at what 5G is capable of today.
As we await more killer applications – like video streaming was for 4G – such campaigns may be enough to start luring people into opting for a 5G plan when they’re due for an upgrade.
Interested in hearing industry leaders discuss subjects like this? Attend the co-located 5G Expo, IoT Tech Expo, Blockchain Expo, AI & Big Data Expo, and Cyber Security & Cloud Expo World Series with upcoming events in Silicon Valley, London, and Amsterdam.


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Japanese gamers who are Nintendo Switch owners will soon be in for a treat as Amazon Japan and Nintendo have put together a bundle that includes the Super Smash Bros Ultimate video game along with a special amiibo case to hold the 63 amiibo it comes with. The bundle seems to include amiibo which have yet to be released, so it seems likely that the item won’t ship until around February 2019. There are only 50 of these items available.
Amazon hasn’t said when the 50 box sets will begin to ship, but it seems most likely that buyers won’t receive it until at least mid-February.
Thanks happygamer1224 for the tip!