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51 crypto firms withdraw licensing applications in the UK. The inability to satisfy Anti-Money Laundering standards set by regulators in the United Kingdom is reportedly forcing many crypto companies out of business. By. ioBanker. Published on June 3, 2021. Share; Tweet; Strict Anti-Money Laundering laws in the United Kingdom appear to be constituting a major operational hurdle for crypto. Cryptocom withdrawal fees uk / crypto com review pros cons fees and risks finder com / join the 33 people who've already contributed. » gbetu tv / crypto.com does not charge fees for gbp withdrawals via fps, but your bank may apply a processing fee. For even more savings, stake cro and pay your trading fees in cro. Crypto.com does not charge any fee for the fiat withdrawal, yet fees may be.
We believe that Wirex is the best bank in the UK for every crypto enthusiast. The bank natively supports cryptocurrency conversions, allows transfers to exchanges, and even gives 2% cashback as bitcoin for its Visa Card. Another alternative to look out for is Revolut, a challenger bank that supports native conversions. If you want to stick with high street banks, we would recommend Natwest, Royal Bank of Scotland, TSB, and the Co-operative bank. However, they do not come with the convenience. . Business. UK investors have been faced with a dilemma after HSBC announced it would no longer support the transfer of funds from crypto exchanges . The Sunday Times reported on Saturday that HSBC had blocked all transactions involving crypto exchanges. Crypto customers will now be unable to transfer their profits to their bank account. It appears that the multinational bank. By Armaan Malik Last updated Jun 1, 2021. Among the UK bank Starling momentarily shuts out transfers of its consumers who wish to move funds to cryptocurrency exchanges. The factor is the bank's issues about criminal activity How to Withdraw from Coinbase to UK Bank Account. From the Dashboard, click Wallets. Click Withdraw. If you have not already done, so you will need to link a bank account and deposit an amount of £2.00 to validate your account. Once the account to validated you can Withdraw after 5 days. Select Your Bank Account from the dropdown.
For instance, while Lloyds Bank isn't crypto-friendly, you can freely transfer funds from Lloyds to Revolut, convert to EUR or GBP, and then deposit on any cryptocurrency exchange. Here are some of the most popular ones that offer crypto-related services. Xace. Xace was created as a crypto bank, a bitcoin-friendly bank, and a gaming-friendly bank Direct deposit and withdrawals to and from UK bank accounts. Available on web and mobile (Android and iOS). Supports Bitcoin and a range of large-cap altcoins. An exchange platform for professional traders. OTC trading desk. A Cryptocurrency debit card. Fees: 1% flat for buy and sell orders. See the full fee schedule. Pro The spokesperson declined to comment when the bank proposes to lift the ban. The bank, however, stated that only deposits from Starling accounts to crypto exchanges are prohibited. Customers can continue to withdraw funds from cryptocurrency exchanges into their Starling accounts without limitation. Starling is a mobile-only bank that debuted in the United Kingdom in 2014 May 6, 2021 11:42 am License United Kingdom challenger digital bank Revolut now allows its customers to move the Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) acquired through its systems to external wallets Starling said that it will reverse the ban as we roll out additional checks specifically for payments to crypto exchanges. The spokesperson declined to comment when the bank proposes to lift the ban. However, the bank confirmed that only deposits from Starling accounts to crypto exchanges are barred. Customers can continue to withdraw funds from crypto exchanges into Starling accounts with no restrictions. Starling is a mobile-only bank launched in the UK in 2014
British Banking Giant Blocks Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Transactions. The largest bank in the UK by assets is refusing to transact with cryptocurrency exchanges. The Sunday Times reports HSBC will neither process cryptocurrency payments nor allow wallet-to-bank transfers. The London-based newspaper adds that while other big banks accept. Starling, one of the UK's challenger banks, will launch a new financial crime prevention system and eliminate its temporary deposit restriction on cryptocurrency exchanges. After testing a new financial crime prevention system, British digital bank Starling will relax its prohibition on deposits to cryptocurrency exchanges on June 23 Starling barred its customers from depositing funds into cryptocurrency exchanges on May 29. A spokesperson for the bank told Decrypt today the restriction will be lifted on June 23. British digital bank Starling will now lift its restriction on deposits to cryptocurrency exchanges on June 23 after testing a new financial crime prevention system
Revolut's UK Users Will Finally Be Able to Withdraw Bitcoin. Revolut has come under fire in the past for not allowing users to withdraw their crypto from the platform and deposit it in their. UK's Ban on Crypto Derivatives Goes Into Effect Today. The Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) ban on the sale of derivatives and exchange-traded notes (ETNs) passed in October went into. Digital bank Revolut announced on Thursday the public beta launch of crypto withdrawals. According to Revolut, the new feature will provide customers with the option to transfer Bitcoin to their. How Can I Withdraw Naira from My Binance Account to My Bank Account 2021. Here is how you can sell your crypto assets back to Naira. Skip to main content; Skip to secondary menu; Skip to primary sidebar ; Mycryptoblocks. Daily updates on cryptocurrencies and Blockchain. Bitcoin (BTC) $ 38,952.00 5.63%. Ethereum (ETH) $ 2,843.40 7.55%. Dogecoin (DOGE) $ 0.430287 12.26%. Polkadot (DOT) $ 27.71. Binance cash withdrawal to bank account. Visit Binance and Log in to your registered account; After the , click on [Wallet] - [Spot Wallet] on the upper right-hand side of the page. Then, click on [Withdraw] button on the right banner; Input the abbreviation or full name of a coin/token to withdraw, or select from the lis
Jose Fernandez da Ponte, Paypal's head of cryptocurrency, said during the Consensus 2021 conference Wednesday that his company will soon start allowing cryptocurrency withdrawals to third-party. The main thing that separates a crypto friendly bank from the sort of bank account that you may already have is that a crypto friendly bank does not view Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in a negative manner. In fact, these forward-looking banks will either be looking to integrate cryptocurrencies directly into their online banking portals or will have already done so. While some banks have actually blocked transactions related to Bitcoin in the past, more banks are now taking a. Best UK Crypto Exchange: Reviews. Here is our summary of the best crypto exchanges in the UK. For an in-depth of each platform, click on the exchange review links below. 1. Coinbase. Residents of the UK can use Coinbase to buy Bitcoin which is a popular cryptocurrency exchange that has been around since June of 2012 . Fellow Binancians, Binance users in the EEA and UK can now instantly withdraw GBP and EUR from their fiat wallets directly to their Visa Fast Funds (Visa Direct)* enabled card on web and app. Instant Card Withdrawals will give eligible Binance users faster access to their crypto funds, being processed in as little as five minutes. Further information on availability and.
I put money into [crypto.com](https://crypto.com) about 1 month ago, and would now like to withdraw my funds, I've been trying to do so for a couple of days, they don. 51 crypto firms withdraw licensing applications in the UK. Home » Daily Data » 51 crypto firms withdraw licensing applications in the UK. Posted By Magnus Adsmon on Jun 4, 2021 | 0 comments. To view the original post, click here. The inability to satisfy Anti-Money Laundering standards set by regulators in the United Kingdom is reportedly forcing many crypto companies out of business. Strict. Author: Jordan LyanchevLast Updated Apr 22, 2021 @ 09:39. While US-based banks rush to enable their institutional customers to receive BTC exposure, a UK banking institution will stop servicing all crypto-related businesses. A UK-based bank, NatWest, will reportedly halt serving customers who accept payments in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies
UK's FCA Ban on Crypto Derivatives. In 2021, the Financial Conduct Authority banned the offering of crypto derivatives products to retail users in the UK due to a number of inherent risks that the regulatory body believes could negatively affect retail customers of cryptocurrency in the UK. The FCA cited 5 reasons for the ban; (1) the. Crypto.com: March 2021 Updates. March was a phenomenal month for Crypto.com. We announced a global partnership with Visa that includes principal membership in its network in Australia, with more markets to come. Through this partnership, we also look forward to directly issuing our card and rolling out Spending Power globally Crypto.com users can withdraw USD from the App by selling crypto to their USD fiat wallet and transferring USD funds from this wallet to their U.S. bank account(s) on the ACH network.. How to submit a USD withdrawal request? Prerequisite: Have successfully set up a USD Fiat Wallet. If you have not set up a USD currency wallet in the Crypto.com App, please follow the steps here for details All our partner brokers are regulated in the US, the UK, Australia, and South Africa and hence must observe Know Your Customer (KYC) measures. Deposit a minimum of $250. Fund your Crypto Bank account with a minimum of $250. All deposits facilitate on the underlying broker's page given that they are the one to place orders in the market. These brokers are adequately regulated, and hence your. UK bank NatWest is saying no to crypto. According to a report, business users that accept crypto, like Bitcoin, may be refused access to the bank's services. As reported by the Guardian, NatWest.
May 27, 2021 00:33; Updated; There are two ways to withdraw from your Dapper Balance: Via direct wire transfer to bank accounts based in the US, UK, and Canada. At this time, these are the only countries available for wire transfers. By converting your Dapper Balance to USDC and sending the tokens to any Ethereum wallet address that can accept USDC. Please note: USDC withdrawals are not yet. And here are some more USPs of using this crypto-friendly UK based banking service: Buy, store and manage your crypto (BTC, LTC, XRP, ETH) and traditional money (GBP, USD, EUR). Add funds using a credit card, debit card or bank transfer. Instantly exchange between crypto and traditional currencies at live rates. Link to your Wirex Visa payment card to convert and spend your crypto in-store and. TTM Bank crypto card holders can also withdraw fiat money at ATMs. The withdrawal fee is just €1,5+2%. Despite the fact that it has been less than a year since the project's launch, the number of TTM Bank crypto card users already exceeds 40,000. Surely, this indicates high demand for financial products that can keep the fundamental advantage of cryptocurrencies intact - full control. Miami Mayor Francis Suarez had his opening speech at the Bitcoin 2021 conference, saying that the days of a currency tethered to a central bank are coming to an end. Bitcoin 2021, the biggest BTC-oriented conference so far, is taking place in Miami right now. Opening the event was, somewhat expectedly, the mayor of the city - Francis Suarez Revolut launches public beta for bitcoin withdrawals. 06 May 2021. 7. 6. 1. Revolut is to allow customers to transfer their bitcoin holdings to wallets outside the superapp's ecosystem, adressing.
CoinLoan Review 2021: Crypto Loans, Lending, and Saving. The crypto economy is slowly becoming a real alternative to traditional finances. However, while demand is on the rise, concerns over security and legality continue to circulate. Although the crypto market has already grown up its own super-players like Binance, Uniswap, and so on, some. The central bank of the Netherlands, DNB, has reversed its recent decision to tighten up the rules around withdrawals from cryptocurrency exchanges over concerns the measures would have amounted to an unnecessary invasion of customer privacy. Earlier this year, the central bank published new rules for crypto exchanges, requiring them to collect more personal details about users at the point of. Crypto debit cards eliminate some of the unpleasant fees associated with bank-issued debit cards. Most promise zero foreign exchange fees, zero transaction fees and zero monthly maintenance fees.
Bill banning crypto mining for 3 years dies in NY state assembly By Cointelegraph - Jun 12, 2021. A bill which would have required miners in New York to halt operations for three years as part of. Withdraw to a UK Bank Account. Before you can withdraw GBP to your UK bank account, you will need to complete an initial deposit of GBP from your bank account to your Coinbase account. Instructions for this can be found above. To withdraw GBP from your Coinbase account, follow these steps: Select Portfolio on the menu at the top of the page
March 4, 2021; 0 ; Whenever you have the money to save, don't just save it on your savings account in the bank. I'm not sayings banks are not good for your money, but what if I can tell you that If you save N20,000 in the bank and another $50 on cryptocurrency trading or investment account, you could definitely make more money on cryptocurrency trading than what you have saved on your bank. Binance, one of the largest crypto exchanges by trading volume has come to the rescue of Nigerian crypto-traders as the Central Bank of Nigeria decided to ban crypto trading service by cutting all banking services to crypto traders and exchanges. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao took to Twitter to advise Nigerian crypto traders to withdraw all their. Malta-based cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, has reportedly extended its blockade of Zimbabwean users to include non-resident citizens. As a result of the new measures, all Zimbabwean nationals.
UK FCA Crypto derivatives ban finally comes into effect Texas state-chartered banks will now be able to provide virtual currency custody services to their clients. Samantha Dunn. 2 days ago Recent News. Crypto Weekly Roundup: El Salvador, Solana, And More . Bybit Seeks Volcanologist Following El Salvador Volcano Bitcoin Mining Project. IOST Tops CCID Global Index For Blockchain Technology. Crypto.com: April 2021 Updates. April was another noteworthy month for Crypto.com. We partnered with TIME to offer cryptocurrency as a payment option to digital subscribers in the U.S. and Canada, a service that will soon be available globally. This marks another major step in accelerating the world's transition to cryptocurrency Directly to a bank account; To a payment card; The most common and safe method used to withdraw these fiat currencies is by performing a SWIFT bank transfer (also known as a wire transfer) to your own personal bank account. Click on Add Money Withdrawal Methods: If btc exchange in pakistan you want to turn your Bitcoin into cash with Kraken, you can withdraw to your local bank account. However.
The team of crypto exchange/futures platform AAX, announced today that in light of recent developments, AAX will be suspending its fiat deposit and withdrawal service by direct bank transfer.. Fiat deposit requests will be disabled from June, 2nd 2021; while fiat withdrawal requests and crypto-to-fiat conversion will no longer be possible from June, 7th, 2021 Can You Withdraw Bitcoin to Your Bank Account. It goes without saying that every Bitcoin holder can exchange cryptocurrency for fiat money and transfer it to the bank account in a matter of minutes. In fact, there are 4 ways to do that: Sell Bitcoin on the crypto exchange and get money directly to the bank account. There are many trusted crypto exchanges operating on the Internet nowadays and. 'It would look very like a bank run': crypto faces dangerous times Bitcoin stolen during the hack of cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex moved on 14 April, 2021 Getty Images/iStockphot London fintech Revolut has launched bitcoin withdrawal, and said that they will add more tokens in the near future. With this, Revolut will offer the exchange of currencies with no hidden fees including cryptocurrencies & gold. The company has over 15 million customers and 500,000 business customers across 35 countries, with 100 million transactions per month
Crypto-Cards 2021: Bitpay Vs. Wirex Vs. CryptoPay Vs. TTM Bank. April 11th 2021 620 reads. 7. 1. In 2020, the consumer has spoken and business has recognized the need to step up the game. In July, giant payment networks started to accept the need for a bridge between cryptocurrency and the traditional financial world We review crypto exchanges to help you decide which one makes sense for your cryptocurrency needs. Buying cryptocurrencies starts with finding the best crypto exchange for you and your specific needs. There are many to choose from, with varying deposit and withdrawal fees, identity verification requirements, and user experiences. Below, we have. As mentioned above, such a P2P platform as LocalBitcoins, Paxful and a crypto giant exchange, Coinbase, allow you to sell BTC with PayPal and consequently withdraw fiat money. Just check whether PayPal withdrawals are available in your country. Please note that Coinbase charges a 3.75% commission fee for selling BTC with PayPal. However, there are other options, though May 31, 2021. in Blockchain. 0. South Korea's central bank is moving forward with its national digital currency plans as it now looks for a technology supplier to design a pilot platform for the digital won. The Bank of Korea announced that it launched a bidding process to choose a tech partner for studying the practicalities of launching a.
Net banking is charged just at 1.77%. For Crypto Transactions: No fee is charged for crypto transactions. Withdrawal fees: Withdrawal fees for fiat transactions are nominal and are approximately ₹ 10. The withdrawal fees for Crypto transactions are variable, and the list is available on their website As for commission charges, the fee depends on the fiat currency used to purchase the cryptocurrencies and the network traffic. Generally, there are no maker fees imposed by Luno. Instead, you have.
The European Central Bank could decide by April whether to push ahead with planning for a digital euro, a move closely watched by banking and tech sectors Buy with you Bank Card Buy Crypto and fund your account directly with your bank card. Transfer & Receive Crypto Send & withdraw Crypto to and from any other wallet. International cash transfers Transfer cash to any debit card, credit card, or bank account in over 150 countries. Open an account. Get a loan. The platform is developed and managed by Rintral Trading SL, Carrer de la Ciutat de.
As a part of the partnership, Revolut will use Elliptic Lens, Navigator, and Forensics in the UK to give visibility over risks, and the knowledge to block high-risk crypto-asset transactions. Notably, Revolut Metal customers in the UK are now able to withdraw cryptocurrency and their transactions are recorded on the blockchain for the first time Best UK Crypto Exchange List 2021. If you're looking to starting buying and selling digital currencies right now, below you will find the best crypto exchanges in the UK. For a full review of which exchange, scroll down! eToro - Overall Best Crypto Exchange UK (FCA Regulated) - Visit Now; Coinbase - User-Friendly Crypto Exchange UK With Over 35 Million Customers - Visit Now; Binance. Binance Briefly Suspends Withdrawal Services. Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange, briefly suspended withdrawals on May 10. The exchange officially notified on Twitter that it had stopped withdrawals, and then about half an hour later said they had resumed. The exchange tweeted at 7:10 a.m. eastern time that withdrawals would be. In 2021, Revolut decided to double down on crypto, adding bitcoin withdrawals with more features planned. This makes Revolut one of the leading cryptocurrency mobile apps offering Bitcoin withdrawals. Neither PayPal nor Robinhood currently allow withdrawal of digital assets PayPal Plans To Add Crypto Withdraw Feature. By PYMNTS. Posted on May 31, 2021. PayPal will soon let customers who hold cryptocurrency in their accounts transfer the funds to external digital.


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Potter fans, don’t hang up your broom and cape just yet. It looks like the era of midnight releases and overnight Internet spoilers is still going strong. J.K. Rowling is set to release a new book, “The Tales of Beedle the Bard” Dec. 4, in time for Christmas shopping.
Seattle-based online retailer Amazon will be the only company selling a leather-bound collectors edition priced at $100.
This isn’t the first time Amazon has bought the book. When Rowling first wrote the book, she sold seven hand-written copies. Amazon bought one of those copies for nearly $4 million.
Rowling said in an Associated Press story that the new edition would include her illustrations and introduction, the stories themselves and commentaries by Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of the fictional Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, “which appear by generous permission of the Hogwarts Headmasters’ Archive.”
Rowling’s Harry Potter books have sold more than 400 million copies and been translated into 64 languages.
I know what you’re thinking. Hasn’t she made enough money off the Harry Potter craze? The answer would be: yes. That is why she is giving 100 percent of the proceeds to The Children’s High Level Group charity, which supports institutionalized children.

domain: news


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Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the Centre as the truck sales in August fell by nearly 60%. She opined that there was a news item about recession every day. She further added that the government continued to maintain silence on it. Vadra observed that both these aspects were very dangerous. Moreover, the Congress leader contended that the government neither had any solution nor did it have the strength to reassure the people of the country. Mere talk, giving excuses and spreading rumours would not work, she observed.
काउंटडाउन: हर दिन मंदी की खबर और हर दिन भाजपा सरकार की इस पर खामोशी: दोनों बहुत खतरनाक हैं।— Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) September 5, 2019
इस सरकार के पास न हल है न देशवासियों को भरोसा दिलाने का बल है।
सिर्फ बहानेबाजी, बयानबाजी और अफवाहें फैलाने से काम नहीं चलेगा।#EconomyInCrisis https://t.co/nrANrebP3n
The sales of medium and heavy-duty commercial vehicles suffered a higher, double-digit slump in sales in the month of August. This is considered as one of the important barometers of the economy. The overall volume at India’s top commercial vehicles makers - Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland, Volvo Eicher and Mahindra & Mahindra declined by 59.5% to 31,067 units in comparison to August last year. Tata Motors that produces Tata Prima trucks and Tata Ultra trucks fell by 45% to 21,824 units. Similarly, Ashok Leyland produced only 8,296 units in contrast to 16,628 units in the same month, last year showing a fall of 50%.
The slowdown in the economy is touted as a crucial reason affecting the sale of trucks. The Indian economy grew at only 5% in the June quarter, which is the slowest in over 6 years. Secondly, there has been a slump in consumption too. While the Centre recently rolled out a slew of measures to boost the ailing automobile industry including lifting the ban on government departments to purchase new vehicles, the industry has been demanding more reforms such as reduction in the Good and Services Tax (GST) rates and initiation of the scrappage policy.
The Congress leader has been unsparing in her criticism of both the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh (UP) government and the Centre. She recently criticized the UP government for increasing the electricity tariffs by 12%. Furthermore, Vadra lamented the incompetence of the government to even acknowledge the crisis in the economy. She had also accused the Centre of looting the Reserve Bank of India.


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Solana NFTs will be listed on OpenSea in April
Hassan Maishera - Cryptowisser
The Solana team announced via a tweet on Tuesday that the NFTs hosted on its blockchain will be listed on OpenSea by next month. OpenSea remains one of the leading NFT marketplaces in the world and hosts numerous Ethereum-based NFTs including CryptoPunks and Bored Ape Yacht Club.
Solana is a high-speed single-layer blockchain, currently supporting peak capacity of 65k transactions per second and 400ms block times using a network timestamp system called Proof-of-History ("PoH").
SOL, the native coin of the Solana ecosystem, is down by 1.2% today and currently trades at $112.24.
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Apple’s tough negotiating stance apparently has hobbled its efforts to bring entertainment industry companies on board with its planned streaming TV service. Talks with Disney, 21st Century Fox and CBS reportedly have fallen through. Had the entertainment and cable TV industry given in, Apple’s demands would have turned current practices topsy-turvy. For example, Apple reportedly wanted a multiyear freeze on the monthly per-viewer rate it would pay for Disney Channel licenses, whereas the standard practice is to increase rates annually.
The original article can be found here: http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/83777.html?rss=1
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Financial companies get MFA, right? Right?
If there is an industry most people would think is on top of things related to identity authentication, it probably would be finance. Apparently, that is not the case.
An authentication services vendor has published a multinational report that alleges financial firms are failing to deal with compromised credentials, an area that vendor HYPR says is the “biggest threat in cybersecurity.”
Eighty percent of financial firms said they had suffered one or more breaches caused by weak authentication in the year preceding the survey.
That is a big number, but according to the survey only one-third of the victimized service firms altered anything about their authentication policies and systems.
Decision makers in large finance IT departments in the United States, United Kingdom and Germany were queried.
The kicker is that 90 percent of those decision makers felt their authentication approaches are mostly or entirely secure.
The other other kicker: 99 percent of respondents told survey-takers that their authentication strategy is inadequate.
The report states that among the conditions making the sector ripe for picking is that too many are operating legacy technologies and systems that are not up to the task.
They’re also operating with faulty information, according to the report, not realizing that using passwords as part of multi-factor authentication strategies does not make passwords more secure. The passwords make multi-factor authentication less secure.


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Shares in Huishan Dairy Holdings, China’s biggest dairy company, plunged downward by 85% on Friday wiping close to $4 billion from its market value, according to Reuters.
Trading on its shares, on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, was suspended – the second such occurrence in three months.
There were reported allegations that the company’s largest shareholder misappropriated 3bn yuan (over €400m) to invest in real estate. This has been denied by Chairman Kai.
News website Barron’s quoted Huishan Dairy Chairman, Yang Kai, as saying that the fall resulted from an ‘attack’ by a short seller.
At the end of last year, US-based short seller Muddy Waters questioned Huishan Dairy Holdings’ profits. It said that the company had inflated spending on its cattle farms to “artificially raise capital expenditure figures”.
This was based on an alleged “misrepresentation” with regard to its self-sufficiency – in its use of alfalfa as feed for its cattle. Muddy Waters also said that Huishan Dairy Holdings was “over-leveraged”.
Huishan Dairy Holdings responded by saying the allegations were baseless.
Who or what is Huishan Dairy Holdings?
Huishan Dairy Holdings is principally engaged in the production and sales of raw milk, liquid milk products and milk powder products.
The business is split into three divisions. The Dairy Farming division is engaged in planting, growing and harvesting alfalfa grass and other feed crops, processing feeds and breeding dairy cows.
The Liquid Milk Production division is engaged in the production and sales of pasteurized milk, ultra-high temperature (UHT) milk, yoghurt and milk beverages. Lastly, the Milk Powders Production division is engaged in the production and sales of infant milk formula products, adult milk powder products and dairy ingredient products.
The company operates 82 farms in Liaoning province. It went public in 2013 in a $1.3 billion initial public offering, with global investment banks Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC and UBS acting as sponsors of the listing.


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Mpeshe Selebalo recently in China
SHANGHAI — Visitors to Lesotho’s pavilion at the World Expo in China have been keen to know more about investment opportunities in the kingdom.
`Mabafokeng Ncholu, who is co-ordinating Lesotho’s exhibitions at the expo, told the Sunday Express that if the investment inquiries came good rural-based businesses in this country stood to benefit.
“Most of the products that are displayed at the Lesotho pavilion were produced in the rural areas,” Ncholu said.
“This is through some of the projects targeted at promoting small businesses based in the rural areas.”
Lesotho is showcasing sandstone and aloe products as well as handicrafts among other exhibits, including bottled water.
Such products are mostly sourced from rural areas, where nearly 80 percent of Lesotho’s 1.8 million live mainly on subsistence farming.
“We want to maintain the low rural-urban migration through initiating small income-generating projects,” Ncholu said.
She said some investors had also shown interest in the diamond sector.
Some of the world’s biggest diamonds have been discovered in Lesotho.
The mining industry in Lesotho has seen positive growth in recent years on the back of rising demand for rough diamonds on the international market.
“There were some investors who were interested in polishing diamonds to increase their value, which will increase earnings for the country,” Ncholu said.
The World Expo is a gathering of about 200 countries to promote business and showcase technological innovations.
The expo, which began in May and will run until October 31, is being held under the theme “Better City, Better life”.
“This is one of the largest stages for investment promotion and we can secure some of the markets in the world,” Ncholu said.
“Large events such as the expo provide a platform for the exchange of ideas that can be used to solve different challenges for both small and bigger countries.”
The government of China provided Lesotho with a grant totaling US$650 000 to participate in the expo.


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Bangladesh’s earnings from exports of sweaters have grown 15.82 per cent over the last year. Sweater manufacturers have upgraded machinery and technology to go from manual to automated. Technological upgradation has contributed a lot to increase exports earnings. Installation of new technology has improved the quality of products as well as capacity. As a result, global buyers place more work orders, which has pushed export earnings up. Bangladesh has gained from the ongoing trade conflict between the United States of America and China. While wages in China went up, higher US tariffs, promoted buyers to shift their business to other countries, especially Bangladesh. The country offers quality products at a lucrative price, giving it an opportunity to grab a bigger share of the sweater market.
However, with rising export earnings, there has been no jump in profit margins because of the sharp rise in production costs. Buyers have become stingy in paying. The country is moving toward value addition and better productivity in order to remain competitive in global markets and sees a huge scope for expanding its export earnings as it has the production capacity to meet any rise in demand.


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Image Courtesy: Inside Sports
Fans of PUBG Mobile will be able to play the game in its new reincarnation, Battlegrounds Mobile India, in the near future. Pre-registration for the battle royale game is now open on the Google Play Store. Krafton has also been releasing teasers to give fans a taste of what to anticipate from the game. The most recent teaser depicts the popular PUBG Mobile vehicle, the UAZ.
A teaser video was posted on Battlegrounds Mobile India’s official Facebook page. “Keep your seatbelts fastened!” says the caption. You only need the vehicle advantage to rule the Battlegrounds! We have a soft spot in our hearts for UAZ, and we can’t wait to drive about in the Battlegrounds!” The teaser video displays a preview of the UAZ jeep, which will be accessible in the game when it launches.
The UAZ is an off-road vehicle that can accommodate the full squad. It is only available on the Erangel map in PUBG Mobile. The vehicle may be exclusive to Erangel in Battlegrounds Mobile India as well (Erangle). Krafton has promised further PUBG Mobile features like as the level 3 backpack, energy drink, and Sanhok map. It’s reasonable to say that the Battlegrounds Mobile India experience will be similar to PUBG Mobile, but with certain improvements and differences. It will have Indian-specific customizations, and the game will be released only in India.
Moreover, Krafton revealed earlier this week that pre-registrations for Battlegrounds Mobile India had surpassed 2 million. Krafton reported 7.6 million pre-registrations for Battlegrounds Mobile India on the first day. Krafton has yet to confirm the launch date for Battlegrounds Mobile India, although it is likely on June 18. For the time being, Android players may pre-register for Battlegrounds Mobile India on the Google Play Store and win the Recon Mask, Recon Outfit, Celebration Expert Title, and 300 AG.


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Amazon and other e-commerce platforms have a huge fake-goods problem, but courts previously decided that they weren't liable for counterfeit products third-parties sold on their websites. A group of bipartisan lawmakers wants to change that. The group has introduced a bill called the Shop Safe Act of 2020, which would create trademark liability for companies selling counterfeits from China and other countries that pose a risk to consumer health and safety -- counterfeit goods like drugs, medical equipment, baby formula, chargers, car seats and airbags.
Based on the information published by members of the group, the bill would require online platforms to vet sellers to make sure they're legit. The company will also have to remove counterfeit listings and their sellers, as well as be more proactive in preventing continued sale of counterfeits by third-party sellers.
As The New York Times notes, the Department of Homeland Security published a report earlier this year, urging companies to establish stronger policies to protect buyers from fake goods coming from sellers overseas. Peter Navarro, the White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy director who helped oversee Homeland Security's recommendations, criticized Amazon for profiting off counterfeits. "Under current lax interpretations of the law," he said, "e-commerce platforms face virtually no liability for their counterfeit trafficking."
Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), one of the lawmakers who introduced the bill, said in a statement:
"American consumers increasingly turn to the internet to shop. Counterfeiters have followed consumers, and it is clear more must be done to combat the rising trend in online sales of counterfeit products. Consumers should be able to trust that what they see and purchase online is what they will get, but counterfeiters continue to join platforms with ease and masquerade as reliable sellers in order to infect American households with dangerous and unsafe counterfeit products. The SHOP SAFE Act proposes a set of commonsense measures to tackle the gaps in these platforms' systems and stop counterfeit sales."
As for Amazon, it told CNBC that it's already actively dealing with bad actors on its platform, but that it will continue working with authorities on the issue:
"We are actively fighting bad actors and protecting our store and we will continue to work with brands, government officials, and law enforcement."


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New Delhi, May 28 (PTI) Supported by pick up in demand at the spot market, nickel prices were marginally up by 0.04 per cent to Rs 994.50 per kg in futures market today as speculators built up fresh positions.
At the Multi Commodity Exchange, nickel for delivery in current month up by 40 paise, or 0.04 per cent, to Rs 994.50 per kg in business turnover of 786 lots.
On similar lines, the metal for delivery in June contracts gained 20 paise, or 0.02 per cent, to Rs 999 per kg in 118 lots.
Analysts said speculators created fresh positions, taking positive cues from spot market following pick up in demand from alloy-makers, led to the rise in nickel prices in futures trade here. PTI SUN KPS ANS ANS


text: Vetiver grass (Vetiveria zizanioides), native to Thailand, is often planted there to combat soil erosion. According to this article in the Bangkok Post, entrepreneurs in the country have begun to manufacture furniture and other items from the grass, and see its potential as a timber substitute. In the search for the best type of Vetiver grass for every situation, Thailand has also imported many ecotypes of this species from all over Asia, including India and Japan. Since this grass is already known to be weedy, will the foreign ecotypes lead to the development of an invasive species? Vetiver grass is also planted for erosion control in South Africa, and possibly in Mexico as well.


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Printing machines maker Heidelberger Druckmaschinen Aktiengesellschaft (HBGRF.PK) reported a wider first-quarter net loss of 74 million euros, compared with a loss of 46 million euros in the previous year. Loss before taxes also widened to 82 million euros, from a 47 million euros loss last year.
Sales for the first three months of the current fiscal year decreased to 520 million euros, from 544 million euros a year earlier.
In the next financial year, the cost savings resulting from FOCUS 2012 would take full effect and lead to annual savings of some 180 million euros. Therefore, the company still expects to achieve a result of operating activities, excluding special items, of around 150 million euros and a net profit in fiscal year 2013/2014.
Click here to receive FREE breaking news email alerts for Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG and others in your portfolio
by RTT Staff Writer
For comments and feedback: email@example.com


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Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers Launches New $525 Million Venture Fund
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, one of the old-line giants of the venture capital industry, has closed its 15th traditional fund at $525 million, the firm announced late on Thursday. The fund, known as KPCB 15, will have a wide mandate, including investments in consumer and enterprise Internet start-ups, green technology and life sciences companies. It will be led by 10 of Kleiner Perkins’ partners. “Portfolio companies in KPCB 15 will benefit from the firm’s holistic approach to company building that we pioneered more than a decade ago,” Ted Schlein, a Kleiner Perkins partner, said in a statement.


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Are humans poised to reclaim their jobs from robots at the supermarket? Maybe so. Another supermarket chain is ending self-checkout lanes in favor of more cashiers. This time it's the Big Y chain, which is eliminating self-checkout in all of its 61 stores because of an internal study that showed that they caused more delays and customers were less satisfied with them than checkout lanes run by lowly humans.
This announcement comes on the heels of major grocery chain Albertson's announcement in July that it was eliminating self-checkouts in about a third of their stores.
According to a recent Food Marketing Institute study, fewer people are using self-checkouts at the grocery store. They accounted for 22% of all supermarket transactions in 2007, but have since declined to 16% of transactions in 2010. The same study noted that customers were more satisfied with human-run checkout lanes.
For my own part, this is sort of a moot issue because the grocery store I frequent doesn't have any self-checkout lanes (another data point?). But at my old place, the grocery store I usually used did have that lane, which I found tended to be faster when I had a few items and I didn't have to wait in line, but much slower otherwise. So I'm not too surprised that fewer people seem to be using self-checkout lanes.
In the past decade or so, a lot of Americans have lost jobs to either mechanization or outsourcing. But some of those jobs have been trickling back, especially when they're customer-facing, like call center operations. Indeed, one of Albertson's stated reasons for removing self-checkout lanes was for more customer interaction. I wonder if this is a temporary blip or an actual trend. I guess we'll find out soon.
Update: Albertsons has a clarification on their self-checkout policy:
Albertsons stores are owned by two separate companies. Albertson’s LLC eliminated self-checkouts in all of its stores as of August of this year; our stores are in AR, AZ, CO, FL, LA, NM, & TX. All other Albertsons stores are operated by SUPERVALU and are not impacted by this announcement.
(h/t James Joyner)


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The Philadelphia Police Department’s Southwest Detectives Division has released surveillance video in an effort to identify the suspects who recently robbed a 7-11 store in Carroll Park. Distinctive clothing logos can be seen in some of the footage.
- If you see these suspects do not approach them, contact 911 immediately.
- To submit a tip via telephone, dial 215.686.TIPS (8477) or text a tip to PPD TIP or 773847.
- Use this electronic form to submit a tip to the police anonymously.


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EDMONTON — Hidar Elmais spent 420 serving up discounted pizzas to red-eyed, mellow stoners — and non-stoners — from across the city.
Elmais, owner of Pizza 106 in the southend, was celebrating the one-year anniversary of his restaurant Friday, but with a special twist. As part of a daylong special, Pizza 106 priced all its pizzas at $4.20 — a nod to the annual stoner celebration on April 20.
“We wanted to do something pretty extreme and we thought what better day to do it than 420 and do pizzas at $4.20,” he said. “We know people are going to go hungry and people get lots of munchies, so it just came hand-in-hand with what our anniversary is.”
Businesses from across the Edmonton area cashed in on the 420 buzz — the last time the festival is celebrated before cannabis is legalized.
Foodora, an online food delivery service, had its own promotion on offer in Edmonton.
“The team at foodora is always looking to raise the bar, not only delivering good food, but a great customer experience as well,” said David Albert, the managing director of foodora Canada, in a statement.
“For 420, we wanted to go above and beyond, giving our foodies an extra special keepsake while they indulge in some epic munchies.”
As part of the promotion, foodora partnered with Burger’s Priest — a burger joint with locations in Alberta and Ontario — to offer the Hot Box special. Hungry customers received mints, sunglasses and a lighter, in addition to their $4.20 burger.
Elmais says his pizzeria’s offer was successful, too, and hungry patrons from the community turned out to thank him for the deal.
“People are just loving the vibe,” he said, adding a DJ played family-friendly tunes outside the restaurant all day. “I think we’re going to have good vibes all night.”
In the lead up to cannabis legalization, attitudes surrounding pot is changing, and it’s important to be accepting of people’s lifestyle choices, he added.
“It’s 2018. Potheads are no longer looked at as extreme drug users,” he said. “I know that that’s one thing that we’ve always been about — making sure we’re inclusive to everybody.”


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The Kit, the promised new, free digital beauty magazine led by former Fashion magazine publisher Georgina Bigioni, has launched. It is aimed directly at the lucrative beauty advertising that is a mainstay of traditional women's service magazines, particularly the fashion titles and, no doubt, very particularly Fashion. A release says
The Kit targets Canadian women, delivering all the latest trends in a digital format that's timelier, more environmentally friendly and much easier to share than a traditional print magazine. This new medium is growing in popularity throughout the U.S., and The Kit is poised to be a Canadian leader in this digital movement, offering women a new, free and highly credible source for all things beauty.
Advertisers include such well-known brands as L'Oreal, Chanel, Biotherm, Calvin Klein, Oscar de la Renta, Elizabeth Arden and Aveeno.
There is a formidable editorial team, led by Doug Wallace, the former deputy editor of St. Joseph Media's Wish magazine. Ceri Marsh, the former editor-in-chief of Fashion is the health editor, Janine Falcon, former beauty editor at Canadian Living is the beauty editor, Chantal Simmons, who was editorial director of Sweetspot.ca is the hair editor and the fitness or body editor is Deborah Fulsang, once style editor at Chatelaine, fashion and deputy style editor at the Globe and Mail and style editor of Flare. The art director is Caroline Bishop, who was previously associate art director at Fashion and art director of Fashion18 before becoming art director of the ill-fated
RogersTorstar startup Weekly Scoop in 2005.
The magazine is scheduled to publish 6 full issues between now and next November and 11 e-letters. The magazine is being cagey about page rates and specs, requiring anyone to contact Bigioni or associate publisher Michelle Kalman to receive a media kit or make enquiries (which we will do; about which more later). In an earlier post we reported that advertisers were being offered a full page with an active web link in each of the fall and winter issues for $10,000 and that the magazine was targeting 200,000 unique viewers over those two issues.
President and publisher Bigioni says in the release:
"There really isn't a Canadian magazine for women that focuses on beauty inside and out. Women are searching for helpful, easy-to-follow advice that's current but realistic. The Kit brings together some of the best editors in the country and they have produced a gorgeous, uncomplicated and authoritative digital magazine."


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[September 06 12:10 GMT] Following reports of ‘ethical and legal’ violations, both Apple and Jabil have started investigations of their own to weed out the violations and bring everything in order. Apple has sent out a ‘team of experts’ to investigate and look into the claims made by CWL. On the other hand Jabil said that it was ‘troubled’ by the allegations and it has also started its own investigations by sending out an audit team to the facility.
Following an investigation China Labor Watch (CLW) has accused Jabil Circuit, which is believed to be involved in manufacturing Apple’s soon-to-be-released budget iPhone, of a “series of ethical and legal violations.” According to the report, violations have occurred at Jabil’s Wuxi-based factory.
Among the violations uncovered by CLW, major ones include unpaid overtime wages in tune of millions of dollars; more than 100 hours of monthly mandatory overtime, which is three times that of the legal limit; standing work of over 11 hours every day without rest apart from 30 minutes meal break; illegal and inadequate pre-work training; and hiring discrimination.
Some of the other violations observed by CWL include violations of Jabil’s own standard operating procedures; no breaks outside of meal breaks; mandatory worker signatures on list of punishments before signing up for work; lack of grievances channel; less pay for some overtime hours; insufficient training hours; lack of safety related training among others.
Earlier Apple claimed that its supply chain complies with China’s maximum 60-hour work week, although CLW has disputed the fact stating that 60 hour work per week is a direct violation of China’s 49-hour statutory limit.
Jabil may have won the contract as a part of Apple’s strategy of diversifying manufacturing of its low cost, legacy iPhones.
Apple has been under limelight because of reported labour violations in its supply chain. Foxconn, one of the major Apple suppliers was accused of a series of safety violations including suicides, safety, working hours and conditions and also hiring interns of below fourteen years of age which is below the legal working age of 16 years in China.


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- Epic Games to feature J Balvin in Fortnitemares with brand new Halloween cosmetics Sportskeeda
- Fortnitemares 2020 enter Fortnite according to leaks Esportz Network
- Fortnite invisibility glitch lets players cause absolute chaos Dexerto
- Fortnite leak suggests Zombie Husks could return in Fortnitemares 2020 FortniteINTEL
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Brought to you by Google News. Read the rest of the article here.


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Martinsville Bulletin, Inc.
P. O. Box 3711
204 Broad Street
Martinsville, Virginia 24115
Toll Free: 800-234-6575
Bassett optimistic about 2014
Despite slower start than 2013
Carter Underwood, plant manager for Bassett Plant No. 11 in the Patriot Centre, stands in an area that will be enclosed by the expansion. The project is about a month behind schedule and may be completed at the end of April, Bassett President/CEO Rob Spilman said Wednesday. (Bulletin photo by Mike Wray)
Thursday, March 13, 2014
By GINNY WRAY - Bulletin Staff Writer
Following a “great year” in 2013, Bassett Furniture Industries is optimistic about its prospects in 2014, its president/CEO said Wednesday, following the company’s annual meeting.
“We had a great year in 2013. 2014 has not gotten off to as robust a start as 2013, but we still feel good about the year,” R.H. “Rob” Spilman said after the meeting at the company’s headquarters in Bassett.
Severe weather in the first quarter of 2014 has delayed work on the expansion of Bassett’s Plant 11 at the Patriot Centre industrial park by about a month, Spilman said.
That expansion, to handle growing demand for casual custom dining furniture, likely will be complete at the end of April, he added. It is adding 5,000 square feet in the upholstered chair work area of the 90,000-square-foot plant, officials have said.
That plant’s 111 employees are working 40-hour weekly schedules, according to Jeb Bassett, senior vice president-wood. The 500 employees at Bassett’s Newton, N.C., plant also are working 40-hour schedules, Spilman said.
At the meeting, Spilman focused on the company’s performance in 2013, when it posted 16.9 percent “normalized” revenue growth; enhanced operating profitability by 97 percent (3.1 percent of sales); distributed $6.4 million to shareholders ($4.6 million in dividends and $1.8 million in share repurchase); and noted 23 percent appreciation in its stock price.
Consolidated net sales (for retail and wholesale sectors) for 2013 were $321 million, compared with $270 million in 2012, Spilman said. Income from operations doubled to $10 million. Net income fell to $5.1 million from $26.7 million in that period.
Wholesale net sales rose 30 percent to $215.5 million in 2013 from $185.2 million in 2012. Income from operations was $10.9 million in 2013, compared with $7.5 million in 2012. Upholstery sales accounted for 57 percent of the wholesale sales, and wood sales accounted for 43 percent.
Sales of domestic upholstery and wood rose more than that of imported upholstery and wood. The upholstery increase was 21 percent for domestic and 1 percent for imported sales, and for wood, the increase was 23 percent for domestic and 7 percent for imported sales.
Spilman described the company’s custom upholstery program, which offers the consumer thousands of choices and two-week delivery. He said that is “best of class in the industry,” and added that it “drives the store concept” in which designers work to tailor customers’ purchases to their individual preferences.
The wood furniture Bassett imports comes from 12 partners worldwide, but mostly from those in Vietnam, he said.
On the retail side, there are 93 Bassett stores — 59 company owned and 34 operated by licensees — and 600 multi-line furniture stores, Spilman said. As a percentage of sales, that breaks down to 42 percent from company-owned stores, 22 percent from licensee stores and 36 percent from furniture stores.
The company’s “retail team has been enjoying great success” with 13 consecutive quarters of increases, he said. “Keeping up with that is going to be challenging.”
He attributed the comparable stores’ success to quality designers in the stores; in-home consultations, which account for one-third of the sales and those of the biggest ticket items; personalized solutions in a short amount of time; better communication of the company’s “makeover” strategy through its relationship with HGTV; and design centers that have been remodeled into HGTV Design Studios at Bassett.
The company’s contract with HGTV will expire at the end of 2016, Spilman said in response to an audience question.
Bassett plans to open and/or reposition 10 stores this year, a volume Spilman called unprecedented. It opened five in 2013 and three in 2012.
There are costs to that, he noted. For instance, for each new store there are pre-opening costs, such as rent, of $100,000 to $200,000 and losses in the first two or three months as deliveries ramp up. As a result, he said, total startup losses typically range from $300,000 to $400,000 per store.
Bassett has had retail stores for 15 years, and “we are still looking for our first year of retail profitability,” Spilman said. Still, retail drives so much of Bassett’s wholesale business that “it’s a good use of capital.”
In 2013, the corporate stores posted operating losses of $1.5 million. That is down from $2 million in 2012, $4.5 million in 2011 and $7.4 million in 2010.
In response to a question from the audience, Spilman said depending on how the 2014 openings go, it is possible Bassett could open five to eight stores a year “indefinitely.”
Bassett’s open market sales — through a gallery program of independent dealers that emulate Bassett stores in displays, marketing and custom capabilities; furniture stores; design/contract, such as independent design firms and local designers; and specialty channels, such as exports, the military and juvenile furniture — rose 36 percent in 2013.
Spilman added that he thinks there is more room for growth in that area.
The company’s long-term strategy to create shareholder value includes leveraging wholesale costs with increased open market and store network sales; improving retail comparable store financials; investing in new high ROIC (return on investment capital) retail store properties; and disciplined capital allocation.
Spilman noted the company’s strong balance sheet, with $40.9 million in cash and short-term investments. Most of its capital spending is for new stores ($5.9 million in 2013 and an estimated $5.5 million in 2014), he added.
Its capital allocation projected for 2014 totals $19.2 million, down from $19.4 million in 2013. For 2014, that includes $13 million in capital expenditures (compared to $14.3 million in 2013), $4.8 in dividends ($2.9 million in 2013), $1 million for store repurchase ($1.7 million in 2013), and $400,000 in debt repayment ($500,000 in 2013).
According to Spilman, Bassett’s near-term goals are continuing its growth trend; further improving corporate retail financial metrics; leveraging growth to improve operating performance; and providing shareholders with short-term returns while building long-term value.
In response to a question from the audience, Spilman said 2-3 percent of Bassett’s sales are online. It does such sales where it has a store or someone who can deliver furniture to a customer’s home, he said.
The company would be doing more online sales if it were not for delivery issues, he said, adding that Bassett will look at how it can do more online sales in the future.


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Brits have spent £15m on gadgets in 5 years
Wednesday, 10 August 2011
In the past five years, UK adults have spent £15 billion on gadgets, yet a third of these gizmos are no longer being used.
We recently conducted research which found that in the same period Brits have thrown away around £684 million worth of their digital devices.
Our report also revealed that on average every UK adult has bought around six electronic products, and over a third have bought more than this.
James Barclay, our home insurance manager at swiftcover.com, said: "Having the right insurance in place is essential otherwise the risk of losing thousands of pounds worth of gadgets and their content is very real."
He added that the lifespan of gizmos are getting shorter and shorter with many people replacing the devices with more up to date and expensive models.
Moneysupermarket.com recently revealed that it is important people make sure their home insurance covers their property if they go on an extended holiday this year.
Posted by Rebecca Mellor
Copyright Adfero Ltd


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With the shortage of N95 masks amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, Tommye Austin and other health care professionals have feared for their safety.
Tommye is the senior vice president and chief nurse executive of University Health System in San Antonio, Texas. While they had plenty of personal protective equipment when the outbreak began, Tommye knew they might eventually run out. So she took it upon herself to design an alternative!
Tommye said she felt compelled to do something when the CDC announced that doctors and nurses should use bandanas or scarves if N95 masks weren't available. "Our nurses were up in arms," she said. "And I was alarmed as well."
She knew she had to protect her staff — and all the other frontline health care workers across the nation. So in April, she stopped by a local hardware store and bought some air conditioner filters.
Following long shifts at the hospital, she put her sewing skills to good use. She experimented with various mask designs, placing filters between their layers. Then she added a small piece of metal to ensure her masks would fit snugly over the nose.
A little over a week later, Tommye perfected the TM 2020 or "Tommye Mask."
Not only is her design more comfortable than N95 masks, but it also has better filtration! A test by Southwest Research Institute found that her TM 2020s remove 96.5 percent of airborne particles, while N95 masks remove 95 percent. Plus, their air pockets allow carbon dioxide to escape more easily.
Requests for her brilliant PPE came flooding in, and while she isn't selling the masks, she has released instructions so everyone can create them. She has also shared the design with other hospitals and even sent masks she made to others in need, including a friend's daughter who had used the same N95 mask for close to two months.
Way to step up for the heroes of the pandemic, Tommye! You're certainly one of them!
Learn more about these masks in the video below, and share this story to spread the word about this lifesaving design.
My passion for storytelling grew out of a childhood obsession with reading any book I could get my hands on. I love losing my… Read More
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Daily Provisions expansion talk
The Washington Business Journal reports that Union Square Hospitality Group appears to have two restaurants in mind for the Capital Crossing complex. The first is the new Union Square Cafe headed this way some time after 2018; The latest is a 20-seat spot dealing in breakfast sandwiches, gourmet coffee, and rotisserie chicken — a line-up others noticed is similar to Daily Provisions, the quick-service eatery restaurateur Danny Meyer introduced earlier this year in New York.
More Peruvian fare for Rockville
It’s months later than expected, but a server at parent restaurant Latin American-themed La Limena tells Eater that Peruvian-focused sibling, La Limena Grill will begin serving customers this morning. Status: Opening at 11 a.m. 1093 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Md.
Tour Crystal City
ARLnow reports that homegrown coffee shop Commonwealth Joe is offering free drinks to customers that get promotional “passports” stamped at a handful of neighboring businesses. Food and beverage vendors participating in the week-long push (now until Sunday, August 13) include salad chain Sweetgreen and Crystal City Wine Shop. [ARLnow]
So long, froyo
PoPville reports that U Street froyo and smoothie shop Lovely Yogurt has closed. [PoPville]


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Nuremberg, Germany, 29th March 2023 – SPREE Interactive, a leading provider of virtual reality gaming experiences for location-based entertainment, and Amusement Services International (ASI), a leading and award-winning supplier of amusement arcade attractions and games, are pleased to announce the successful partnership in selling multiple systems at the recent DEAL Show 2023.
The partnership between SPREE Interactive and ASI was formed to enable and empower Location-Based Entertainment centers (LBEs) across the Middle East with VR gaming experiences suited for kids under the age of 10 demographic. At the recent DEAL Show in Dubai, a renowned B2B leisure and entertainment tradeshow in the MENA region, the companies showcased SPREE’s latest VR attraction — the VR playground, which will now be installed across various FECs, LBEs in the MENA region.
The VR Playground’s newest VR shooter game, Splish Splash, debuted and was met with great enthusiasm from attendees at the show. The immersive experience of the VR technology combined with the nostalgia of classic arcade games proved to be a winning combination for customers.
“We are thrilled with the success of our partnership with Amusement Services International,” said Jonathan Nowak Delgado, CEO of SPREE Interactive. “The response from customers at the DEAL Show was overwhelmingly positive, and we are excited to continue bringing our family-friendly gaming experiences to people around the world.”
Prakash Vivekanand, Managing Director of Amusement Services International (ASI), echoed Nowak Delgado’s enthusiasm. “The partnership with SPREE Interactive has allowed us to offer our customers something truly special and super fun, specifically catering to the younger audience in the region,” said Vivekanand. “The newest addition, ‘Splish Splash’, to the growing library of games for the SPREE VR Playground, was very well received by FEC and Playscape Operators attending DEAL 2023 — they see the experience as a perfect offering for kids and parents, within their locations. We look forward to continuing to work together with SPREE Interactive to bring innovative VR gaming solutions that Middle Eastern customers will love.”
SPREE Interactive and Amusement Services International (ASI) are excited to collaborate to offer new and exciting gaming experiences to customers in the MENA region and beyond.
ABOUT SPREE INTERACTIVE: SPREE Interactive, is a pioneer and leader in delivering turn-key large-scale, multiplayer, free-roaming commercial VR attractions to the location-based entertainment industry. The company offers complete solutions that can be installed quickly and operated efficiently. SPREE is a one-stop shop that makes it easy for owners and operators to offer innovative virtual reality attractions to their visitors.
+49 1512 3622035
UK +44 7970 798113
US +1 646 233 4406
ABOUT AMUSEMENT SERVICES INTERNATIONAL: Amusement Services International LLC, ASI is a leader in supplying and supporting the Leisure, Attraction and Entertainment Industry. With 23+ years of experience, ASI’s award-winning Supply division offers carefully-curated arcade attractions and games to top leisure operations in the MENA region and the Indian Sub-continent. ASI is the Winner of MENALAC’s Best Supplier of the Year in 2020, 2022, and 2023.
Ms. Rosanne Fernandes
General Manager – Amusement Division
+971 4 454 2929


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A scam, known as Classiscam, is leading users to fraudulent merchant sites or phishing pages using fake tailored advertisements. The Cybercriminals use brands that are extremely popular in Europe including, LeBoinCoin, Allegro, OLX, Sbazar, FAN. Courier, Lalafo, Kufar and DHL. Anyone tricked by the scam falls victim to payment data theft.
Security Researchers at Group-IB watched it grow from 280 scam pages to about 3,000 in less than a year. First discovered in Russia in 2019, it is now also operational in countries such as Bulgaria, France, the Czech Republic, Poland and Romania.
Commenting on the news, Tim Helming, security evangelist at DomainTools, stated:
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! There is no incentive for cybercriminals to abandon a technique that still offers them substantial rewards with relatively small effort. The premise of Classiscam is fairly simple, but some groups have gone to the length of appointing fake customer service representatives to add credibility to their operations, which attests their determination. We can expect that Classicscam cybercrime operations will try to replicate their success in the West, given the consistent monetary returns that they seem to be yielding for the cybercriminals behind them.
The best thing users can do to protect themselves from this kind of fraud is to follow the principle that whenever something seems to good to be true, it probably isn’t. It would be best to validate special offers by searching for them manually, rather than trusting a promotion appearing on a website ad – especially if the page it appears on is not particularly secure. Just like phishing scams, these ad-based operations have a strong social engineering component, and the increased recognition of security awareness training as a defence tool is bound to make it a lot harder for attackers to trick users.
Andy Renshaw, VP of payment strategy and solutions at Feedzai, added:
“These groups operate in plain sight: their ads are genuine, but victims are later directed to a malicious site where their credit card details are harvested. The reason why this type of scam continues to proliferate is that it can yield substantial returns and has a level of credibility – it is not just a matter of stealing victims’ money once, but to store their payment details and continue to steal funds until the fraud is detected. The scale of the operation is certainly concerning, but there are tools that banks can deploy to identify suspicious transactions, flag them as such, or even block the funds from leaving the victim’s account in the first place.
There is a vital layer of information that lies between what the customer sees and what the payments tells fraud analysts and systems, and where there is a solid AI algorithm in place, malicious activity can be spotted quickly and efficiently. Increased fraud detection efficiency should also be complemented by ongoing customer education, which can also dramatically decrease the number of clicks on malicious ads. Ultimately, the goal of organisations should be to make operations like Classiscam unprofitable, which is the strongest deterrent for fraudsters looking for a quick gain.“


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SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Times have been hard for Fairfield Valley Shopping Center, with most of its retail stores going out of business over the last few years. According to sources, all vacant spaces are now occupied by either Spirit Halloween or Starbucks.
"We are proud of our thriving shopping center, home to the most Spirit Halloween stores per square mile of any establishment in the country," said the owners. "Over 300 of the finest seasonal costume superstores give Fairfield Valley a bustling and spooky vibe! Also, you'll run into a Starbucks every 30 feet or so."
Economic experts say that both Starbucks and Spirit Halloween will soon be the only two remaining brick and mortar establishments in the country after they have finished feasting on the hollowed-out carcass of a crumbling America. "Soon, people will no longer leave their homes, unless they need overpriced coffee or Chinese-made Halloween costumes," said one economist. "Amazon will provide all the rest of our needs."
At publishing time, Fairfield Valley Shopping Center had added 2 more Spirit Halloweens and a little bodega that sells cell phone cases for iPhone models they don't make anymore.
World, meet Travis. Travis, meet the world. In this first episode of our new show Travis Interviews the World, we interview some guy named Jordan Peterson.


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Tesla has released Master Plan Part 3, its proposed path towards a sustainable global energy economy through end-use electrification and the sustainable generation and storage of electricity. Here, the American electric vehicle maker has teased a couple of upcoming vehicles which remain under wraps.
Under the section termed ‘Global Electric Fleet’, the first appears to be of an MPV silhouette, positioned in the same column as the Cybertruck.
The first of the two vehicles under wraps, the MPV-shaped vehicle could be the EV maker’s upcoming delivery van for commercial applications, however this could also be an autonomous robotaxi.
Meanwhile, the second model appears to be a smaller vehicle, and its projected volume as implied by being placed under the 700 million-unit heading makes it a much larger-volume model, and therefore likely to be a much more affordable model than what Tesla has produced so far, thus ruling out the Tesla Roadster as the second of the two concealed future models for the immediate future.
Tesla’s approach to autonomous driving sees the application of its Full Self Driving (FSD) assisted driving software which it rolled out to customer cars -albeit stopped in February pending a firmware update – and differs from that of other autonomous vehicle operators such as Waymo, which has been focused on developing systems which do not require human intervention.
Separately, a compact vehicle the size of a Honda Fit (Jazz) positioned below the Model Y is in the works, reports Torque News, citing an unnamed insider source from CN Wire.
According to Chinese tech website 36Kr, Tesla aims to produce up to four million units of the new compact model annually from four gigafactories in Texas, Mexico, Berlin, Germany and Shanghai, China. The report does not mention whether or not the sub-Model Y compact car is the one teased in the illustration by Tesla.
The website cited Tesla CEO Elon Musk as saying that the Mexico factory will adopt a manufacturing method of assembling a car in six sections separately before coming together as one car, which will improve space utilisation efficiency by 30% and reduce the production line area by 40%, leading to a reduction in production cost for the Model Y by 50%.
The post Tesla affordable car, delivery van teased in master plan appeared first on Paul Tan's Automotive News.
* This article was originally published here
For Feedback & Comments, please write to us on firstname.lastname@example.org


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Ecu-Line expands in Central Europe
Non-vessel-operating common carrier Ecu-Line said it will add an office in Sofia, Bulgaria, on January 1.
The new office will be responsible for consolidating containers that arrive at the Bulgarian port Varna out of Shanghai, Shenzhen and Ecu-Line hubs in Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai.
Imports from other regions, such as North and South America, and exports will use existing services via Antwerp and Hamburg.
Ecu-Line also plans to continue to expand in Central Europe opening new offices in Budapest and Prague next year. Ecu-Line said that like existing branches in Poland and Romania they will offer direct import services and export- and import less-than-containerload services via Hamburg and Antwerp.
Ecu-Line has 145 offices in 74 countries.


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El Salvador became the first country in the world to adopt Bitcoin as a legal tender on September 7, 2021, after the approval of the new Bitcoin law by the ruling party and allies of the President Nayib Bukele in the Legislative Assembly.
El Salvador Putting Bitcoin Infra In Place
El Salvador has roped in U.S.-based cryptocurrency unicorn BitGo to provide Chivo’s wallet infrastructure which incldes Chivo Bitcoin ATMs and security platform for its Bitcoin rollout.
El Salvador has installed over 200 Chivo Bitcoin ATMs in the country and 50 such ATMs in the U.S.. These ATMs allow users to top up their Bitcoin Chivo Wallet app balance with zero commission fees. Los Angeles, San Francisco, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, El Paso, El Doral, Laredo, and McAllen all have working Chivo ATMs installed.
Apart from BitGo, the country has also partnered with several other players in the crypto industry for the smooth roll out. However, the details are not public.
Salvadorans Adopting Chivo Wallet
El Salvador began to implement Bitcoin as a legal tender parallel to the US dollar, which has been used for two decades as its legal tender.
Within two weeks of Bitcoin officially becoming a legal tender in El Salvador, the official Chivo Wallet has penetrated 17 percent of the population.
Over 1 Million Salvadorans Using Chivo wallet
El Salvador President Nayib Bukele took to Twitter to share how the Bitcoin adoption is growing in the country.
“1.1 million Salvadorans already use Chivo wallet (and we haven’t enabled 65% of phone models yet). It seems that we will be able to bank more people in 1 month than they did with nationalizations and privatizations of traditional banking in 40 years.”President Nayib Bukele on Twitter
So, the official Bitcoin wallet is now used by over 1 million or 17 percent of the country’s population. This is remarkable as 65 percent of smart phone models in the El Salvador are currently not supporting the Chivo wallet.
The adoption is growing at around half a million per week. As per earlier announcement, over 500,000 people signed up for the Chivo account in the first week of launch.
The initial uptake may be driven by the incentive to use the Chivo Wallet. Each citizen gets $30 worth of Bitcoin after downloading the wallet.
Nayib Bukele Expects Bitcoin To Bring Financial Inclusion Faster Than Banks
President Nayib Bukele again mentioned in his tweet the advantage that Bitcoin brings for faster financial inclusion. He is confidant that the new system would be able to bring banking facility to more number of people in just one months than the country was able to achieve with nationalizations and privatizations of traditional banking in forty years.
Businesses Starts Accepting Bitcoin In El Salvador
The usage of Bitcoin as a payment option is currently optional for Businesses. But, many mainstream global businesses operating in El Salvador have quickly started allowing payment with Bitcoin since day one.
Big brands accepting Bitcoin as payment in El Salvador currently include McDonald’s, Starbucks, Wendy’s, Dollar City, China Wok, and Pizza Hut. Even a local bank, Banco Cuscatlán, has already integrated Bitcoin with its services.
El Salvador Bitcoin Adoption To Make A Dent In MoneyGram Revenue
According to reports, international payment firms, like MoneGram, and Western Union, have been annually earning around $400 million in El Salvador on remittance fees – 1.5 percent of the country’s GDP.
Remittances in El Salvador are received by over 70 percent of the population. In 2020 alone, locals received a total of $6 billion from abroad. Now, Nayib Bukele is certain that Bitcoin will help Salvadorans to avoid these mammoth fees.
Bitcoin Price Volatility Is A Barrier In ‘Real Adoption’
Looking at the developments so far, it seems that Salvadorans have started this new change. However, analysts, world economic authorities and citizens themselves are concerned about the economic instability that its implementation may generate. The clearest example of the high volatility of cryptocurrencies is that the price of Bitcoin crashed in 2021 after touching an all-time high of around $65,000.
In September 2020, this cryptocurrency was trading at around $10,000 and in April it reached a high of $63,000. Since then, it has suffered strong ups and downs that have it in just over $45,000.
The Salvadoran government was the first to venture to buy bitcoins and already has 550, according to what was expressed on social networks by President Bukele himself.
The President has not detailed the criteria used to make the purchases, the ways in which they were acquired or if the purchase was made on an exchange platform or a large holder of the cryptocurrency.
Despite being used by millions of people, the digital currency is easily influenced by statements of prominent personalities like Elon Musk. This can be one of the biggest drawbacks, which may discourage small businesses and majority of Salvadorans to adopt Bitcoin for all their banking and payment requirements.


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“Some girls like superheroes, some girls like princesses, some boys like superheroes, some boys like princesses. So why do all the girls have to buy pink stuff and all the boys have to buy different color stuff?” ~Huffington Post (Riley Maida)
We absolutely loved her and thought she was adorable and extremely intelligent for asking this. Her question is now the center of a debate that’s increasing everyday, and is mainly centered around the new Lego Friends, which if you haven’t heard of it yet, is Lego that’s targeted towards girls. Are you for or against this? Read this article and decide!
Image: Huffington Post


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While hosting live radio shows from locations away from the studio is now common, hosting one from a car on the move is certainly a novel idea.
Nissan Motor India has launched a unique promotional campaign for its new hatchback, Micra, in association with Fever 104 FM, where a four day initiative will involve well known radio jockeys (RJs) Anurag Pandey and Karan Singh conducting live shows from a Nissan Micra on the move.
The entire campaign will take place in two phases - teaser and revealer. In the teaser phase, promos of the Nissan Micra will be aired, along with RJ mentions, on July 20 and 21. The teaser will involve the RJs saying things such as 'My life sucks, the traffic is a pain, how can I commute more comfortably?' and the boss offering the Micra as a solution for daily office commute.
They will also ask listeners to call in and suggest how they can commute more comfortably. The revealer phase will entail the actual airing of the shows live from a Micra being driven around the city.
Neeraj Chaturvedi, chief operating officer, Fever FM, tells afaqs!, "While there is a technical challenge in terms of getting the quality of sound right, we don't foresee any other challenges. The RJ will travel across the city in the car doing his regular show but will tie in the Micra every now and then and discuss its style and comfort."
The Micra boasts of category first features such as keyless entry, push button engine start/stop system and electric foldable mirrors, among other unique features.
Pandit adds, "I'm convinced that the recent price announcement will encourage more people to opt for the Micra as their car of choice."
Nissan Motor India recently announced the pricing for the Micra. The ex-showroom (Delhi) prices for the Nissan Micra are INR 3,98,000 for XE (entry); INR 4,69,500 for XL (mid) and INR 528,800 for XV (top) variants respectively. Furthermore, the car will be offered at a uniform ex-showroom price across the country.
Nissan also carried out a few BTL (below-the-line) activities prior to the launch in the past few months. Specially created pavilions were set up in malls, with interactive LCD display kiosks, where trained Nissan promoters guided visitors and encouraged them to participate and learn more about the car. Additionally, a unique wire frame design of the Micra was on display, providing curious customers an opportunity to 'touch and feel' the car before they got to see the real one at dealer showrooms.
For the record, the existing range of Nissan India's products include the X-Trail (SUV model), the Teana (luxury Sedan) and 370Z (iconic sports car) - all three imported from Japan as CBU (completely built units). The launch of the first locally made global compact hatchback (Nissan Micra) in July 2010 marks Nissan's serious foray into the mass market in India.


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Asda is set to slash its flat-rate calls from 16p to 8p from September 1, and will lower the price of text messages from 5p to 4p.
The move follows a recent announcement by furniture store Ikea that offers its loyalty card members a mobile phone package with calls costing 9p a minute.
Lowest PAYG tariff in UK
Which? technology editor Matthew Bath said:’Asda now offers the lowest pay-as-you-go (PAYG) tariff in the UK, and uses Vodafone’s network to deliver its service.’
Asda Mobile offers low start-up costs, Which? mobile phone experts have found.
Customers who already own a handset can buy a Sim card from Asda for £2.48, including £1 of calling credit.
The supermarket also offers a range of mobile phones from £20. Existing Asda customers will be switched over to the new plan automatically.
Best for occasional mobile users
Matthew Bath added: ‘Asda Mobile’s flat rate certainly is appealing. But while it’s a clear pricing scheme, it might not be for everyone.
‘Flat-rate tariffs are best for occasional users who make short calls to other networks at peak times – and Which? research shows that you’d be better off switching to Asda’s PAYG tariff if you are on a Vodafone Anytime, Orange Racoon or T-Mobile Everyone tariff.’


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NAIROBI, KENYA, NOVEMBER 17 — A local alcoholic beverages manufacturing firm has stepped up plans to meet the growing local demand for quality locally manufactured spirits in Kenya.
Thika based, Africa Spirits Limited (ASL) has disclosed that enhanced enforcement action by the government, against illicit and contraband alcoholic drinks has opened up a vast market for local manufacturers.
It is estimated that the alcohol industry contributes over 100 billion in taxes to the exchequer, with previous government reports indicating that illicit trade controlled half of the market.
According to ASL Brand Portfolio Manager, Ascah Ogara, local consumers have embraced locally manufactured products and are increasingly demanding for flavored brands.
As part of the firm’s plans to meet market demands, ASL, the manufacturers of BlueMoon Vodka, has launched a new Coconut flavoured Bluemoon Vodka variant to meet the evolving taste preferences.
This brings to four, the flavours under the popular Bluemoon vodka brand including Hot Ginger, Crisp Apple and Juicy Mango flavours.
“The launch of BlueMoon Coconut flavor is part of a market strategy to meet the evolving consumer needs,” said Ogara, adding that, “As part of our research and development programme, we have invested heavily in the development of flavoured BlueMoon variants.”
The alcoholic drinks manufacturer was the first local company to roll out new non-refillable closures for its product in 2014, a technology that ensures that bottles cannot be refilled after sale.
Established in 2004, ASL offers alcoholic beverages across the consumer value chain.
Besides Bluemoon Vodka, ASL’s other brands include Legend Brandy, Glen Rock Whisky, Furaha Vodka, Furaha Brandy, Gipsy King Gin among others.


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Microsoft Pushes Its Way Into Crowded Unified Communications Market
By Juan Carlos Perez
PCWorldAug 9, 2013 7:20 am PDT
The Lync unified communications (UC) server belongs to that long list of Microsoft enterprise software products that began as a modest offering dismissed by competitors and years later evolved into a solid option for IT departments.
Largely dismissed as a nonthreat by competitors when it first arrived in 2003 with the name Office Communicator, Lync today has positioned itself as a product that demands attention from enterprises looking to upgrade or adopt a UC platform.
“In the UC landscape, Lync is absolutely a real competitor. It has a full feature set, a customer base, channel partners,” says Henry Dewing, a Forrester Research analyst. “Microsoft can deliver the UC services that businesses want today with Lync.”
The product, whose latest version is Lync 2013, includes presence, instant messaging, Web meetings, audio chat, video conferencing and IP telephony.
In the crowded UC market, it competes against offerings from vendors including Cisco, IBM, Avaya, Siemens, Alcatel-Lucent, Mitel and ShoreTel.
However, Lync isn’t being hailed as a product that stands out from the rest in any significant way nor that is blazing trails of innovation in this UC market.
“It’s a good, competitive, traditional UC tool,” says Zeus Kerravala, founder and principal analyst with ZK Research.
Mobile Access Biggest Chanllenges for Lync and Other UC Systems
For example, the UC market is hobbled by poor interoperability between products, especially at the IM and presence levels, Kerravala says.
In addition, UC systems provide access to a partial subset of the collaboration and business software people use, according to Kerravala.
Moreover, despite improvements in mobile access to their software, no UC vendor can claim to have a fully mobile-centric approach to UC today, he adds.
A vendor that makes a breakthrough in those three areas could disrupt the UC market and distance it from the competition, Kerravala says.
Until then, the adoption, engagement with and benefits of having a UC system will remain impacted.
Dewing concurs, saying that UC systems need to provide what he calls “deep business process integration” so that they are available in the context of the tools people work with on a daily basis, such as ERP and CRM applications.
“That’s where UC has to get,” he says.
Bern Elliot, a Gartner analyst, says it’s critical for UC systems to deliver an end-user experience that is intuitive, cohesive and integrated.
“The productivity doesn’t happen because now you have video and IM and presence and you can do video conferencing. The productivity is there because all those things are readily usable by your average worker,” he says.
Microsoft Says Lync-Skype Integration Will Bring Business Value
Microsoft is satisfied with its recent improvements in the Lync mobile client applications for iOS, Android, Windows 8 and Windows Phone, and says it will continue enhancing them on a rolling basis, according to B.J. Haberkorn, director of product marketing for Lync at Microsoft.
“We’ve dramatically improved those clients,” he says.
Haberkorn also touts video communications improvements in areas like image quality, device support and management of sessions.
With Lync 2010, Microsoft said it beefed up the product’s IP telephony capabilities to the point where enterprises could use it to replace their traditional PBXs, and in Lync 2013 those features were further refined, Haberkorn says.
Microsoft has also focused on providing APIs to application developers and on building partnerships with hardware vendors to port to and integrate their products with Lync.
The first phase is completed, allowing Lync and Skype users to add each other to their contact lists, see presence information, exchange text IMs and do audio calls. Video conference and other features will be integrated later.
Elliot calls this Skype integration a potentially transformational improvement for Lync.
The Lync-Skype pairing can allow Lync customers to connect with their clients, partners and other outside parties who are on Skype, which has hundreds of millions of users worldwide.
“It creates a next-generation dial tone,” Elliot says.
It’s still early to anticipate all the use cases and ramifications of this Skype-Lync integration, but the potential for real business value is there, he says.
“For example, it would let you have customers and partners included in your enterprise collaboration teams, and in your enterprise support teams, so it would let you shift from a customer support model to a customer partnership model,” Elliot says.
Microsoft is also taking steps to scale Lync up from the desktop with its Lync Room System. In partnership with vendors like Polycom and Crestron, Microsoft is aiming at bringing Lync to conference rooms and thus compete more closely with vendors that provide telepresence systems like Cisco.
Another frontier Microsoft is pursuing is the cloud. There is a version of Lync, called Lync Online, in Office 365, the public cloud suite hosted by Microsoft. Lync Online has most of the capabilities of the Lync Server, except for the IP telephony, which Microsoft has said it plans to add. However, enterprises can buy the full featured Lync Server and have it hosted in a dedicated cloud by Microsoft partners including AT&T and HP.
L.A. Fitness and Sprint Bet Big on Lync
In February, Microsoft announced that it had hit 5 million seats of enterprise voice, up from 3 million in late 2011, and that 90 of the Fortune 100 companies were Lync customers.
Among those making big bets on Lync is L.A. Fitness, the health club chain, where about 25,000 employees use Lync for every UC function—from IM to telephony.
“Lync has been a huge hit for our company,” says George Bedar, the L.A. Fitness CIO.
The company started with the product about four years ago, in the R2 version of Office Communicator, and Bedar has been happy with the way the product has been expanded and enhanced.
In the 2013 version, he highlights performance, redundancy and stability improvements on the back end, enhanced mobile clients for iOS, Android and Windows Phone, and better video quality.
Bedar also likes that Lync is intertwined in various ways with Outlook/Exchange, SharePoint and Office, which are all Microsoft products that L.A. Fitness uses broadly.
Lync is also widely deployed at Sprint, where about 50,000 use it for IM, presence and online meetings, including 25,000 that also use it for IP telephony.
Lync has helped Sprint, which began using the product in 2007, to eliminate about 500 traditional PBXs it had company-wide, according to Chris Peasley, Sprint’s manager of enterprise communications systems.
Sprint has also found great value in the improvements to the mobile clients, as well as in the back-end enhancements, and in the synergies between Lync and other Microsoft products like SharePoint and Outlook/Exchange, he says.
Is Lync Right for Your Environment?
According to Gartner’s Elliot, it’s most common for Lync to be deployed in environments that are already heavily into Microsoft.
“We see Lync being strong where a Microsoft portfolio is being advanced broadly,” he says.
Likewise, Lync may be less attractive in environments that are committed to, say, IBM’s collaboration and communication products, since IBM has its own Sametime UC component, or that are heavily invested on Cisco networking, IP telephony, video and collaboration wares like the Cisco WebEx and Tandberg products.
Lync is also a UC system that is tightly integrated with a communication and collaboration stack, which differs from other vendors whose offerings approach UC more strongly from other areas like telephony.
“The big question or criteria for choosing a UC system is which infrastructure are you better able to support? Which one will link most easily into your business apps and processes,” says Forrester’s Dewing.
IT departments should also determine the total cost of ownership (TCO) of UC systems, the difficulty in installing and integrating it and its present and future capabilities to be accessed from a broad variety of devices, he says.