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The lingerie market in the UAE has seen a considerable growth in the past few years and is looked upon as a fast burgeoning one in the future too. Several factors contribute to this increase in the market and we look at a report put together by research agency TechSci about the same.
Factors contributing to the growth
According to the report, the UAE lingerie market growth is attributed to various factors such as rising women participation in workplace, expanding product portfolio of the major companies, changing consumer preferences, and the emergence of online retail market.
Women’s buying and spending power over the years has been one of the major factors that has resulted in the growth of lingerie in the UAE. Over the recent years, rising women participation in workforce has increased women’s spending power on personal and luxury apparels. Women’s buying behavior has also changed and the focus has shifted to personal image and appearance, states the report.
In this too, the premium segment scores well as it is most sought after in the UAE. As per the report, in the UAE, the focus is more onto the products from premium players, which are increasing their reach towards customers by expanding the product portfolio. Besides, it states, availability of lingerie on online portals as well as companies’ captive online portals is further aiding growth of the UAE lingerie market.
The high market share of bra is attributed to increasing women participation in workforce which has increased women’s spending power on personal and luxury apparel. Women’s buying behavior has changed in recent years and the focus has shifted to personal image and appearance, states the report.
The major players in UAE like
L brands Inc., Triumph International, PVH, etc. have expanded their portfolios to introduce various new products to meet the demand for innerwear. The companies have even started to provide strapless bras and even ones with removable straps.
Indian brands in UAE
The brands that sell are a mix of global and Indian ones. But, it seems Indian brands enjoy lesser popularity than international ones. As per TechSci, the companies such as Lux Industries Limited, Zivame, Bodycare Creations Pvt. Ltd., PrettySecrets, Clovia, Gokaldas Intimatewear Private Limited (GIPL), Dixcy Textiles Pvt Ltd, and Rupa & Company Limited have presence in the Gulf lingerie market.
However, these Indian brands are comparatively less popular in the Gulf lingerie market as the American brands like Victoria’s Secret, Jockey, Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, Hanes, Playtex, and European brands such as Triumph, Agent Provocateur, La Perla, and Cosabella. These international brands already have a strong foothold in the market owing to their strong distribution channel and a vast product portfolio in the region.
The top 10 men’s and women’s brands from Indian subcontinent that are popular in the UAE:
10) Dixcy Scott
Impediments in their growth
Indian brands do face hurdles in growth compared to their global counterparts and the major impediments in their growth is the high competition from well-established European and American brands and the consumer’s preference of premium products. In the Gulf market, demand for premium brands like Victoria’s Secret, La Perla, etc., is high as compared to the Indian brands like Bodycare, Lux, Zivame, etc. Thus, distribution channel, wide product portfolio and strong hold of European and American brands pose a challenge for expansion of Indian lingerie brands in the Gulf lingerie market, states the report.
So, would Indian brands, in future, enjoy a bigger market share in the UAE market or stay where they are? According to TechSci, Indian brands are not expected to acquire a bigger market share in the coming years due to weak distribution channel and less brand visibility. Also, consumers prefer American brands such as Victoria’s Secret, Calvin Klein, Hanes, and European brands such as Triumph and Cosabella due to quality assurance and high retail presence. Indian brands usually cater to consumers from low and middle-income group while brands like Calvin Klein, Jockey, Triumph, etc., provide lingerie at various price points, catering to consumers from low and medium-income group as well as those with a preference for premium products.
Future growth and factors that contribute
The UAE lingerie market is projected to hit USD651 million by 2024 due to several factors contributing to its growth such as increasing number of products offerings, changing buying habits of consumers, and shift in favor of e-commerce shopping.
Consumer preferences are changing in the UAE, and the young generation women have a strong focus on health and hygiene. Thus, the companies are coming up with new designs and innovative products to meet rising consumer demand.
Companies are coming up with new innovative technologies with benefits such as weight loss, improved muscle tone, organic, chemical free, etc. Additionally, companies are also designing new fabrics which are softer, more breathable, and other features to target specific consumer requirements.
Increasing income level and sedentary lifestyle pattern is driving the purchase of products online, leading to a shift in favor of e-commerce shopping, from traditional shopping formats.
Overall, according to the TechSci report, the UAE lingerie market is forecast to grow at the CAGR of 5.8 per cent during 2019-2024 and reach USD651.10 million by 2024.
The reason for this growth is rising women participation in the workforce, expanding product portfolio, technological advancements in products, changing consumer preferences, and emergence of online retail market.
Frederick’s of Hollywood launches its first international store in UAE
It’s known for curve-cinching corsets and sexy push-up bras besides the overall offering being sexy. And, the lingerie retailer that styles itself as ‘the original sex symbol’ recently opened its first international outlet in conservative Abu Dhabi, the Emirati capital. Another store will be opening soon in Dubai as well.
In just few years, the desert nation has become a much-preferred choice of retailers to test their brands globally. The venue thus, reveals about the demand for saucy lingerie in the conservative nation as well as UAE’s retail space.
Thomas Lynch, Chairman and CEO of the brand said that this was a very fashion-conscious market despite the outward conservative culture and that they were quite interested in what the brand had to offer. Safeer Establishment, the brand’s Abu Dhabi-based partners are mainly responsible for paying for the brand’s Gulf expansion, said Lynch while financial details are private. He added that the brand was basically offering ‘brand support’ for an arrangement that visualised 10 outlets in the next three years across UAE.
Besides, the UAE has many retail spaces, which are high-quality and very few of the local brands that are popular and that can dissuade retailers expanding into other mature markets such as Europe. Emirates, the nation’s flourishing airlines has turned the USE into global crossroads with its guest workers that include westerners and innumerable tourists in the nation’s shopping malls every year.
This is exactly what appealed to Bloomingdale, which, last year opened its first international store in the biggest shopping mall in Dubai.
Many American retailers find it difficult to translate their brands to Europe as they are for European chains that are trying to penetrate the US market. However, the UAE, it seems has much to offer in terms of a fertile environment and people do have a opportunity to build something here.
According to a recent report by real estate firm CB Richard Ellis, there’s a rise in new retailers, especially from the US, which has taken Dubai to the number one slot along with London when it comes to market penetration for major retail brands. The UAE is in the second spot globally, on the national level, which is only behind England and ahead of the US.
Dubai, being the UAE’s most liberal as well as internationally-connected city, it has traditionally been the first choice of chains wanting to expand in the region. However, due to its increasing saturation, the CBRE expects the international retailers to look at the other nearby markets such as Abu Dhabi, Kuwait City, Qatar, and Doha.
Also, Mr Lynch believes that the customers in Gulf won’t be any different from the one the US as they too are young, fashion-conscious and keep an eye on the happenings and red carpets of Hollywood.
The brand’s Abu Dhabi store offers offers racy lingerie like the ‘Exxtreme Cleavage’ bra including a pair of rhinestone-covered handcuffs, Lynch states that the brand has loads more to offer that also includes shoes and swimwear.


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PROUD TO BE CLEAR – KEY DOCUMENTS
PROUD TO BE CLEAR – LATEST NEWS
Brewers celebrate 10 years of the EU Beer Pledge with delivery on commitment to ingredients and energy labelling
Brewers celebrate 10 years of the EU Beer Pledge with delivery on commitment to ingredients and energy labellingThe Brewers of Europe last night...
Brewers back better labelling on International Day for the Universal Access to Information (IDUAI)
PROUD TO BE CLEAR Brewers back better labelling on International Day for the Universal Access to Information (IDUAI)Brussels, September 28, 2021 -...
Brewers sign new EU Code of Conduct on sustainability in the food and drink industry
PROUD TO BE CLEAR Brewers sign new EU Code of Conduct on sustainability in the food and drink industryBrussels, July 5, 2021 – The Brewers of Europe...
1.Others talk the talk,
but Brewers walk the walk
Brewers believe in empowering people with facts to make informed decisions. Since the initial decision in 2015 to voluntarily state what’s inside their beers on the outside, Brewers have advanced and expanded on this goal, resulting in a Memorandum of Understanding signed by The Brewers of Europe, national brewers’ associations and leading companies, in September 2019, whereby they pledged to label ingredients and nutritional information per 100ml on bottles and cans.
The Brewers of Europe have developed toolkits to make EU legislation more accessible to brewers and to decode the jargon. We help breweries understand the commitment and explain how nutritional values can be calculated and presented.
We led the way by supporting the implementation of this commitment by brewers; through the dissemination of guidance tools and using detailed monitoring to report annually on progress.
2.Brewers exceeding expectations with better ingredients and calorie labelling
Brewers have been voluntarily rolling out ingredients listing and calorie information in full accordance with EU law, on-label and online, since 2015. In July 2018 the commitment was bolstered with a recommendation to all breweries to list ingredients and calories on the labels of pre-pack containers. In September 2019, The Brewers of Europe, together with national associations and leading companies, then signed, in the presence of the EU Health Commissioner, a Memorandum of Understanding and a Brewers’ Ambition to roll out the commitment across the EU by end 2022.
We’re more determined than ever to meet consumers’ expectations.
95% of our pre-packaged beer in the EU now labels ingredients and 88% labels calorie information.
3.Respecting EU law
EU law currently exempts alcoholic beverages over 1.2% abv from the legal obligation to label ingredients and energy values.
However, it does set clear rules for any company wishing to respond to consumer expectations and how to voluntarily do this.
Ingredients must be listed in descending order of weight, as recorded at the time of their use.
Energy values must be provided (just as they are for non-alcoholic beverages) in kj and kcal per 100ml to allow a like-for-like comparison amongst all beverages
As the European Commission drafts proposals for new mandatory labelling requirements, it is clear that ingredients lists and energy values per 100ml are amongst the essential, clear, objective, comparable facts that should appear on the labels of all alcoholic beverages.
4.Leading by example
75 percent* of Europeans agree that ingredients should be listed on the labels of all alcoholic beverages, whilst 69 percent* agree energy values should be labelled per 100ml, the well-known and understood legal reference volume that also applies to all non-alcoholic beverages.
Two thirds* of European also agree that priority on the label should be given to ingredients and calorie values, whilst the other nutrition information should still be easily accessible.
Our commitment is about meeting consumers’ expectations. We believe that we have the right approach – implementing the horizontal rules in Regulation (EU) 1169/2011 – and we encourage other sectors and the European Commission to follow our lead.
* 2022 IPSOS survey of 9,000 adults across 9 European countries.
4.Committed to clarity
Consumers like clear, consistent, honest communication. That’s why European brewers are delivering on our responsibility to promote responsible alcohol consumption by voluntarily providing consumers with the list of ingredients and nutrition information in full accordance with EU law, a decision welcomed by policymakers and NGOs alike.
Commenting in May 2019, the EU’s Health Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis stated: “I welcome brewers’ commitment to provide the full list of ingredients and the energy values per 100ml on the labels of all pre-pack beers. The EU Regulation sets the rules to follow and I’m delighted that brewers are fulfilling these high standards. This is in the interest of public health and consumers information”.
In his letter to The Brewers of Europe on 27 September 2019, Commissioner Andriukaitis added: “I encourage you to become the gold standard when it comes to industry commitments to labelling”.
Commissioner Andriukaitis’s successor as the EU’s Health Commissioner, Stella Kyriakides, addressed The Brewers of Europe on 11 June 2021, welcoming the brewers’ progress and stating: “Industry has a key role to play in protecting the health of our citizens and empowering them to choose healthy lifestyles.”
Monique Goyens, Director General of the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) states that, “It is crucial that nutritional information and ingredients listings are provided for the consumer on the label of alcoholic products and in conformance with the Food Information to Consumers Regulation (1169/2011).” *
* Published letter from Monique Goyens to the EU Health Commissioner on the alcohol industry self-regulatory proposal, 12 April 2018
Brewers’ Pledge Reporting
The decision to provide this information is just one of the many responsibility commitments made by Europe’s brewers under the Beer Pledge. This pledge is our promise to support EU Member States in reducing alcohol related harm by taking concerted and measurable actions.
Discover how Europe’s brewers take their responsibility to help in Brewers’ Pledge Reporting.

domain: news


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"Get the monkey off your back and relocate to Las Vegas", barks a new ad trying to lure hard-working small businesses away from California. If legislators don't listen, small businesses that have already been hit hard by the effects of a fragile economy and the billions in taxes that were passed earlier this year will go under. A struggling economy and a legislature that already passed $12 billion in taxes this year isn't enough to keep even more new taxes off the table. Instead of considering billions more in new tax proposals, lawmakers should be focusing on creating jobs and growing the economy to get California out of this downward spiral.
The Legislature is back and up to its old tricks. The budget that was passed in February and revised in July will need to be "fixed" again this fall. If history is our guide, we all know that it will be an uphill battle and an unpleasant environment for small businesses. There are currently $2 billion in tax hikes being proposed, including taxes on everything from gas, internet purchases and vehicle license fees. One very regressive tax proposal increases tobacco levies and would have a devastating impact on California's small business retailers. Another proposal that targets oil and energy companies could, according to the state's non-partisan Legislative Analyst's Office, cost the state up to 10,000 well paying jobs. Lawmakers need to be reminded of the burden they have placed on taxpayers and the real cost of additional taxes on California's job creators.
Small businesses are the workhorses of the California economy. They make up 99 percent of all employers, and they create three-quarters of all new jobs. We need small businesses in order to get Californians back to work and that in turn will drive our economic growth and lead us out of our current financial landslide.
California's unemployment rate of 11.6 percent is one of the highest in the nation and is projected go even higher. More taxes would only make it worse. Instead of putting small businesses out of business and eliminating jobs, we need to keep them open and get people back to work. If people are working, they have money to feed their families, pay their mortgages and utilities and put money back into their communities. Oh, and that includes state taxes that pay for valuable social programs.
The impact of new taxes on small businesses is severe. New, unanticipated costs will force small business owners to make some very tough decisions. Small businesses will have to scale back on employee benefits, cut wages and hours and worst of all – lay off employees.
The Legislature is not the only threat to California businesses when it comes to talk of taxes. The oddly-named Commission on the 21st Century Economy is preparing to release a set of recommendations to modernize California's tax system, but the commission's lack of transparency with regard to its proceedings has unnerved small business. . . and nervous small businesses do not create jobs. Of particular concern is the imposition of a new tax on business, known as the Business Net Receipts Tax, that unduly impacts the very businesses who employ the majority of Californians.
Businesses already pay a hefty amount in taxes and California is ranked as the 6th most expensive state to do business. We cannot allow ads like this to attack our state and be our reality and our future. The Legislature needs to create a friendly and profitable business climate or we will see businesses fleeing to other states just to remain open.
With the Legislature back, taxpayers need to strike a chord with lawmakers and reinforce that job creation is the best way to get our economy back on track. We need our economy to grow and new taxes are not the way to do it. New taxes will further damage California's economy.
John Kabateck is the executive director of the California office of the National Federation of Independent Business.


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GM says Hummer only brand under review for sale
Published 5:30 am, Monday, July 7, 2008
General Motors said Hummer is the only one of its eight U.S. brands being formally reviewed for a possible sale or shutdown as the automaker's domestic market share falls to an 83-year low.
The Wall Street Journal reported today that the biggest U.S. automaker may sell or scrap more brands and its directors will likely approve the elimination of thousands of additional salaried jobs at next month's board meeting.
GM spokesman Tony Cervone wouldn't comment on possible job cuts and said no brands are under "strategic review" beyond Hummer. Detroit-based GM said June 3 it's studying all options for the Hummer sport-utility line, including a sale.
"It's still a huge expense to get rid of a brand," said Alan Baum, an analyst for Planning Edge in Birmingham, Mich. "There are dealer issues and legal issues."
The automaker's U.S. sales dropped 16 percent in the first half as record gasoline prices eroded demand for Chevrolet and GMC pickups and SUVs. The carmaker's shares fell to a 54-year-low last week after Merrill Lynch & Co. said bankruptcy is "not impossible."
GM advanced 49 cents, or 5 percent, to $10.61 at 8:50 a.m. CDT in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock had plunged 59 percent this year before today, the most among the 30 companies in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.


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Despite the increase in data, researchers are still unclear about the effects of combining cannabis and caffeine. However, some evidence suggests there may be risks in mixing these substances.
As more countries legalize cannabis, doctors and researchers are discovering its many effects. They are also learning about the impact of mixing the drug with other substances, including caffeine.
Keep reading to learn more about the risks and effects of mixing cannabis and caffeine.
Research published in 2014 notes that 85% of the United States population consume at least one caffeinated drink per day. However, beverages are not the only source of caffeine available on the market. Chocolate, dietary supplements, and some plants used as flavorings, such as guarana, also contain the stimulant.
Manufacturers may also add caffeine to food products. To find out how much caffeine a food or beverage product contains, people can check the label on the packaging. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) state that healthy adults may safely consume 400 milligrams (mg) of caffeine per day.
Although this amount is unlikely to cause side effects, some people may be more sensitive to caffeine. Those affected should consume less to avoid potentially dangerous symptoms.
Caffeine acts as a stimulant, which can make people feel more alert and awake. When someone consumes too much caffeine, they may experience the following symptoms:
Some people consume caffeine for the beneficial effects it may have on concentration, memory, and physical performance.
Epidemiological reports also show a link between chronic caffeine consumption and a lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease or other neurodegenerative diseases.
Other reports suggest caffeine could help prevent motor symptoms and the loss of neurons in people living with Parkinson’s disease.
Experts suggest about 20 million people in the United States use cannabis, with around 1.2 million using medical cannabis.
Cannabis is a complex substance that contains more than 400 compounds, including flavonoids, terpenoids, and cannabinoids. The active ingredient that triggers therapeutic or harmful effects is the cannabinoid family. Each may have a different impact on human health.
One such cannabinoid, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), is responsible for the psychoactive and therapeutic effects of cannabis. Since THC is the primary psychoactive component within the plant, manufacturers evaluate a cannabis product’s strength according to its THC concentration.
Cannabidiol (CBD) is another cannabinoid found in cannabis. Studies show CBD in small doses may have some stimulant effects. However, at medium to high doses, it may act as a sedative or depressant.
Learn more about CBD and THC here.
A 2016 review suggests acute and chronic cannabis use consistently impair verbal learning, memory, and attention. Further studies are necessary to determine whether people can develop a tolerance to these damaging effects.
Cannabis and caffeine are popular psychoactive compounds, so people likely consume both substances.
In an older preclinical study, researchers demonstrated that THC in cannabis could negatively affect short-term memory in rats. In contrast, caffeine may help enhance short-term memory.
The preclinical study also looked at the combined effects of THC and caffeine in rats. The researchers note that caffeine worsens the memory deficits caused by low doses of THC.
Mixing caffeine and low doses of THC in rats caused similar memory deficits with those produced by higher amounts of THC. In addition, caffeine does not seem to reverse the memory deficits in rats induced by THC.
However, whether combining cannabis and caffeine affects human memory is unknown, and further humans studies are necessary.
Since caffeine acts as a stimulant and cannabis can cause stimulation or inhibition, the immediate effects of mixing cannabis and caffeine may vary between individuals.
Depending on the dose of CBD in a cannabis product, a person may experience a depressive or stimulant effect. Cannabis may, therefore, increase or decrease caffeine’s stimulant effects.
Although there is research looking at caffeine, cannabis, and their individual effects on Parkinson’s disease, studies that evaluate their combined effects are lacking.
Researchers have little experience studying the combined effects of cannabis and caffeine together. Researchers suggest mixing these substances may have significant effects due to the interaction of the adenosine and cannabinoid systems, where caffeine and cannabis act in the body.
These researchers propose that the interaction between cannabis and caffeine may occur in the hippocampus, where receptors for both the adenosine and cannabinoid systems are located. These receptors regulate cognition and memory.
Caffeine may promote cognitive impairment caused by THC found in cannabis. This mechanism may explain the risks of combining cannabis and caffeine. However, further studies are required to confirm these negative effects.
Cannabis and caffeine seem to have opposite effects on memory. People may experience different results when mixing the two substances. Currently, researchers only have theories about their combined effects on humans, as there are not enough studies investigating this.
With the further legalization of cannabis, researchers may have more opportunities to study the risks and effects of cannabis and caffeine.


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In a bold move, news publisher Gannett has filed a lawsuit against Google and its parent company, Alphabet, accusing them of monopolizing advertising-technology markets and engaging in deceptive commercial practices. Gannett claims that this monopolistic behavior restricts competition, depresses prices, and hampers the availability and quality of news content. With substantial damages sought, this legal battle could have far-reaching implications for the tech giant.
Gannett’s lawsuit asserts that Google and Alphabet have a stranglehold on the tools used by publishers and advertisers to buy and sell online ad space. By maintaining these monopolies, they allegedly limit competition, leading to adverse effects on pricing and the accessibility of news content. Gannett, in particular, highlights the detrimental impact on local news operations, which are vital sources of information for communities.
Gannett is determined to hold Google accountable for its alleged misconduct. The publisher states that a thorough examination of Google’s behavior and the damage it has caused is necessary to fully understand the extent of the issue. Seeking substantial damages, Gannett is poised to challenge the tech giant in court.
This lawsuit is not an isolated event in Google’s legal battles. Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google, aiming to dismantle its dominant position in brokering digital advertising across the internet. The Justice Department’s case challenges Google’s acquisitions, including the purchase of ad-serving company DoubleClick, and calls for divestiture of its ad exchange.
Executives at Alphabet have staunchly defended the company against the allegations, asserting that the Department of Justice’s case is flawed. They maintain that Google operates within the bounds of the law and will vigorously defend itself against these legal challenges. The pending trial scheduled for September will be a crucial juncture for Google, determining the course of its future.
This is not the first time Google has faced legal action related to alleged monopolistic practices. In 2020, the Justice Department filed a separate lawsuit against Google, accusing the company of maintaining a monopoly in online search and related advertising. Google’s chief legal officer at the time vehemently criticized the lawsuit, and the case is now set to go to trial.
The outcome of Gannett’s lawsuit against Google could have significant reverberations throughout the digital advertising and news publishing industries. If successful, it may lead to increased competition and innovation in the ad-tech space, benefiting publishers and advertisers alike. Conversely, a victory for Google would solidify its position, potentially further consolidating its dominance.
Gannett’s decision to sue Google and Alphabet marks a pivotal moment in the ongoing battle against monopolistic practices in the digital advertising industry. With the outcome of this lawsuit still uncertain, the implications for competition, pricing, and the availability of news content remain to be seen. As the legal proceedings unfold, the industry eagerly awaits a resolution that could reshape the future of online advertising and news publishing.
First reported on: Mint
Image and article originally from readwrite.com. Read the original article here.


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There were calls from the floor for the resignation of chairman, Sir Bob Reid, and a claim from one investor that the board was not telling the truth. But despite the evident dissatisfaction of many at the meeting with management following the latest in a series of profits warnings earlier this month, the proposal to sell Freemans to Littlewoods won overwhelming support from shareholders. Proxy votes covering 60 per cent of the share capital returned a 99.8 per cent vote in favour of the proposed sale.
Sir Bob said shareholders could expect to be returned the pounds 410m proceeds from Freemans and the recent sale of the St Enoch's Centre in Glasgow later this year.
He said later that the board had "no plans" to spin off the Selfridges department store. He refused to be drawn on the future of Liam Strong, chief executive, who has faced calls for his resignation.
Justifying the sale of Freemans, Sir Bob said they had reviewed the future of the group against the background of a "maturing" mail order market. Keeping the business was an unattractive option, given its number three position in the market. They needed to cut costs, but that would prove difficult without consolidation in the market, he said. Expansion had also been ruled out because of the unwillingness of rivals to sell or merge "on a sensible basis for us."
That left selling the business as the only option, which would allow the rest of the group to concentrate on department stores and speciality retailing, while reducing head office costs.
But Sir Bob's explanations failed to pacify Frank Gisborne, 72, a Sears shareholder of over five years' standing, who said previous directors had been "somewhat somnolent and disinterested.
"But however bad that management was, the present management is much, much worse. It is absolutely dreadful."
The present incumbents were "erratic and on a runaway train", he said, and addressing Sir Bob added:
"This situation is hopeless and you should go."
But the former British Rail chairman riposted: "When the train runs away, the driver doesn't jump off. He tries to stop it."Reuse content


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For every Facebook page administrator who has ever thought to themselves, “I wish this thing had a manual,” Facebook application creator ShortStack just came through with its release of the Facebook Maintenance Manual.
Facebook’s annual Hacker Cup competition is kicking off a little earlier this year, as the social network announced on its Facebook Hacker Cup page that the online qualification round will be held Nov. 21 through 24.
Two panels at the PhoCusWright business-to-business travel conference in Hollywood, Fla., later this month will feature Facebook executives discussing travel marketing.
Facebook updated its Brand Resource Center, where advertisers and the media can download official logos, icons, screenshots, and other brand assets for use with marketing materials or editorial content.
Social marketing platform PromoJam rolled out the latest tool to take advantage of Facebook’s recently relaxed guidelines on promotions, Timeline Manager, which allows page administrators to manage contests, sweepstakes, and promotions directly via their pages’ Timelines.
European and Asian social media agency KRDS officially launched its PromoFactory product for Facebook page administrators earlier this week, after introducing it last month, and the Facebook Preferred Marketing Developer marked the launch with an infographic comparing the performance of posts by brands on the social network and Timeline contests and promotions.
Following the announcement by Facebook in August that it relaxed its guidelines on promotions, companies including ShortStack, Woobox, KRDS, TabSite, Offerpop, and Comment Game have taken advantage with products that enable page administrators to run contests and promotions directly on the social network’s News Feed, but what about branded games that are fully playable in News Feed? That’s where Stick and Play comes in.
Nostalgia site DoYouRemember and developer Rokk3r Labs are creating an iOS application that allows Facebook users to organize that murky time period between when they were born and when Facebook was born, announcing plans to release The Timeliner in the iTunes App Store prior to the holidays.


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Professional services firm Accenture has partnered with global trade finance blockchain startup TradeIX, becoming an onboarding partner for the Marco Polo Network.
The agreement comes alongside an undisclosed investment by Accenture Ventures in TradeIX, the companies announced Tuesday. Accenture will help TradeIX create new use cases beyond banking for buyers and sellers within trade finance.
“As we talked to more corporates it became apparent there was more that we could be doing,” said Robert Barnes, CEO and co-founder of TradeIX. “We’re looking to enhance the data between buyer and seller … including inventory information, invoice and purchase orders, advance and shipping orders and working with contracts on the chain.”
Accenture is a strategic partner with Marco Polo ahead of the network’s launch in 2020 and will help corporations integrate their legacy technology with the blockchain system.
“We’re processing many of these transactions already, leading the way with AI, analytics and automation to get to a more streamlined processing,” Melanie Cutlan, managing director of blockchain services for Accenture Operations said. “With DLT, Accenture has been focused on financial services infrastructure, supply chain and digital identity – this hits the core of all three of those.”
Last week, TradeIX announced that the Marco Polo network completed its largest open-account trade finance trial to date with more than 70 organizations. Since its unveiling, the network has added a number of major names in finance and related industries, with Bank of America, Mastercard and automaker Daimler joining the network in September. In November, Bank of New York Mellon became the 28th bank to join the network.
CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by the Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, digital assets exchange. The Bullish group is majority-owned by Block.one; both companies have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary with an editorial committee to protect journalistic independence. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive options in the Bullish group as part of their compensation.


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Despite a dramatic drop in the number of new titles published, the e-book market should have double-digit sales growth for the third year running in 2004, according to the industry trade group the Open eBook Forum.
OeBF, which has been collecting data on the e-book market since the first quarter of 2002, reports that retailer unit sales for the first nine months of 2004 were 1.2 million, a 14% increase over the same period in 2003. Retailer revenue for the first nine months of 2004 was $9.5 million, a 20% increase over the same period in 2003. "We don't see any reason why growth will tail off any time soon," said Nick Bogaty, Open eBook Forum's executive director. Retailers' numbers bear that out. Scott Pendergast and Stephen Pendergast, owners of online e-book retailer Fictionwise.com, told PW that their unit sales in 2004 are almost double those of 2003. Still, total sales for e-books is small compared to the print industry, between $12 million and $15 million a year, estimated Bogaty.
Sales numbers have been increasing even as e-book publishers have been slowing the release of new titles. The number of new e-books fell 57% in this year's third quarter, Bogaty said, due in part to "publishers understanding better what sells in e-book format and what doesn't." Bogaty described earlier years of e-book publishing as a time of "a lot of experimentation. Increasingly publishers, at least trade publishers, realize that trade fiction, genre fiction, romance, science fiction, mystery and reference are what sells in electronic form. "
There's been tremendous growth in the library market as well. OverDrive, an e-book wholesaler and e-vendor, for example, launched its library service in April 2003, "and in the past six months, we've done 500 public libraries," said OverDrive president Steve Potash. Meanwhile, at Fictionwise, "slightly slower consumer growth was made up for in library growth," said Steve Pendergast. Libraries offer a large number of categories for e-books to fill: foreign language, children's, young adult, picture books, scholastic materials, classics and tweens, Potash noted.
The growth in e-books sales is tied to expanding use of handheld devices, but retailers did issue a note of caution due to slowing sales of PDAs. Fictionwise sales are "just doubling instead of tripling, because the PDA market is slowing," Pendergast explained. Fictionwise is reintroducing the Gemstar reading device, which was pulled from the market in 2003, later this month. The GEB 1150 device will now be called the eBookwise-1150. Fictionwise is giving the device a soft launch this month with 8,000 titles available to start and "several thousand coming online in the next month or so," Steve Pendergast said.
Other devices to watch are the Sony Librie EBR-1000 EP, introduced in Japan in April, with a price point under $400. Also growing in popularity is Mobipocket, a cross-platform reading software format that displays e-books on PDAs and smart phones. "While the PDA market has been here for some time and growth has flattened somewhat, the smart phone is through the roof," Potash said. The phone screen, however, is very small, about the width of a single newspaper column.
From a content standpoint, 2004 has been a big year for romance. "That tells me that more and more women are reading e-books," said Bogaty. Bestsellers, which are released simultaneously in print and e-book format, are predictably popular. Then there are the entirely new categories poised to make an impact in 2005, according to Potash. Foreign language material should be a big area for growth, Potash said. "We just loaded 1,000 manga titles in Japanese." Education is another area to watch, Potash said.
And the mighty iPod is making ripples in the e-book market. Fictionwise has only a few dozen audiobook titles available, "but occasionally those titles hit our bestseller lists because of the iPod. We're already talking to some suppliers and could have hundreds of titles by the first quarter," said Scott Pendergast. "It's not an e-book, but it's digital content, downloadable. For us it's just another format—although one that takes considerably more bandwith. In our surveys of our members, that's been the number one new thing that they want."
Fishman is a freelance technology writer.


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Date: Thursday, September 8th, 2011, 06:42
Category: iPhone, Rumor
The iPhone 5: it’s probably on the way.
Per DigiTimes, Foxconn Electronics has ramped up production of Apple’s fifth-generation iPhone to 150,000 units per day, with shipments expected to reach 5-6 million in September.
The report released on Thursday states that Apple’s iPhone 5 suppliers have geared up production and will soon begin volume shipments of the new device. Industry sources provided the publication with the 150,000 unit per day production figure for OEM Foxconn.
Meanwhile, sources also said lens maker Largan Precision, touch panel maker TPK Holding, reinforced glass supplier G-Tech Optoelectronics and battery vendors Simplo and Dynapack “are all operating at full swing currently,” according to the report.
iPhone 5 shipments are expected to be in the range of 5-6 million this month and top 22 million in the fourth quarter as Apple reduces shipments of the GSM and CDMA models of the iPhone 4.
The report also echoed an earlier claim reportedly from a Chinese source that Pegatron has received orders to produce a 15 percent share of Apple’s new smartphone. However, DigiTimes’ sources said the company may not begin shipping until 2012.
Apple is now believed to be planning to launch the iPhone 5 in October. Recent leaks from retailer Best Buy point to next month, though there is some disagreement about the specific timing of the release.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.


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Long time Mustang tuner Saleen looks to be taking a different route. With the announcement of the S8 supercar at the LA Auto Show, Saleen now tells us that engineers are hard at work on an electric vehicle. Yup, an EV.
The new Corvette Stingray is one of the biggest, baddest rides of the year. But that doesn’t mean it won’t get any bigger or badder. For instance, there’s the forthcoming Z06, set to make its first world appearance at the Detroit Auto Show in only a month’s time (January, 2014).
Yamaha is back in the business of building cars, at least, somewhat. With famed designer Gordon Murray at the styling helm, the MOTIV.e concept we saw in Tokyo could get a whole lot cooler. According to Autocar, Yamaha is planning a sportscar based on that cute little EV.
Wait no longer pony car faithful — the 2015 Ford Mustang has arrived (at least we think). According to a number of sources originating from SVTPerformance, this is the new Mustang in the flesh on the upcoming issue of Autoweek. And it looks handsome, sort of.
Apple, one of the most powerful brands in the world, has nearly done it all. Computers, iPods, iPads, TVs — you name, it they’ve done it. But there is one thing that former ceo Steve Jobs never got around to — a car.
That’s where design student Shane Baxley comes in, previewing what could have been with his futuristic Apple iGo concept car. Of course, this isn’t your average concept. Power is conceptualized in the form of an electric motor, with a 0-60 mph time of only five seconds and an mind-boggling 300 mpg. Welcome to the future, indeed.
famous infamous for adding a touch of insanity to some of the world’s most capable sportscars. Like the Lamborghini Aventador, Ferrari F12, and many others before it, the McLaren MP4-12C was the latest in a long lineup to get the DMC treatment. But insanity isn’t always a bad thing.
That’s it folks, we just named our first-ever Bold Ride of the Year, and believe us, this selection was not easy. While there were many worthy contenders, the Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 inched out the competition and earned the top spot. And here’s why:
The much-anticipated Acura NSX hasn’t even hit the market yet, and rumor has it Honda planning a drop-top. How’s that for forward thinking? Autocar sat down with principal designer Jun Goto, who said an NSX convertible is planned to hit the market sometime in 2017:
Some love affairs just aren’t meant to be, like Liz Taylor and her seven husbands. Then there was Ford’s on-again, off-again romance with two-seat vehicles. They tried to make it work in the 1950s with the T-Bird. But, while the car sold well in its original configuration, by 1958 it had gained a back seat in an effort to widen its market appeal.
Ever heard of the term “paradigm shift?” It refers to a fundamental change in thinking about a particular subject. Such an event occurred in 1970 at the Turin Motor show, when Stratos unveiled their concept car known simply as the “Zero.”
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EXHIBITION INFO BELOW:
Africa is on the move – 6 of the 10 fastest-growing economies in the world are in Africa
With 50% of the population under 34 years old, providing banking and payment solutions is one of the biggest opportunities.
Central banks are huge drivers of the deployment of electronic acquiring devices and are looking for ways to incentivise the adoption of electronic payments. This, in an effort to move away from more expensive and high risk cash payments. The African payment opportunity is significant. And it is being driven by both bank and non-bank players.
The future of payments is now. Banks, retailers and merchants alike are rapidly adapting to the new payments landscape.
“The African eCommerce market is expected to be worth US$50 billion by 2018, compared to US$8 billion in 2013, providing a significant opportunity for entrepreneurs and investors.” -Africa Powers of Retailing report, Deloitte
Some markets like Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya are fast-growing markets in terms of e-commerce.
In South Africa alone, it has been reported that the total e-commerce spend by consumers is growing annually by almost 30%. By contrast, Western European markets are only growing by around 10% year on year.
Africa is open for business!
Bringing together entrepreneurs and innovators from across the entire ecommerce value chain. From storefront creation to digital marketing, and from payment to fulfilment and delivery.
Africa’s economic performance has shown significant improvement over the last decade.
These gains are also evident when considering household consumption spending growth. It has been reported that annual household spending growth in Africa is easily exceeding the corresponding global figure over a similar period.
Also, the continent’s rising middle class is a massive contributing factor to the modernisation of retailing and greater consumer market opportunities. This bodes very well for the African retail sector.
The connected shopper is changing the face of retail. Seamless retail will enable African retailers to adapt, grow and thrive in this new world of connected commerce.


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Microsoft Being Sued Over Surface Advertised Storage Claims
Well that sure didn’t take long at all. A lawsuit was just filed in Los Angeles over the storage claims of the Microsoft Surface tablet and that there’s really not that much space available. Well sort of, it’s basically claiming that too much space is being taken up by the operating system. I sort of have to agree, I buy a 16gb tablet and find I can only really use 12gb of that space, but that’s my Android tablet. Apparently it’s much worse with the Surface, a 32gb Surface only has 16gb of real storage you can use, that’s pretty bad. Something is wrong with the whole system really. Just like all advertised storage sizes annoy me, like I just got a 64gb microSDXC card but that’s only 59gb of usable space. I’ve always been one who has thought the system needs changing for truth in advertising, and maybe a lawsuit is the way to go.
You can read all about it over on Consumerist: http://consumerist.com/2012/11/15/lawsuit-aims-to-call-bs-on-microsoft-surface-memory-size-claims/
The real problem with a lawsuit like this is that anyone who feels ‘wronged’ can just return the damn thing…


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NEW YORK (Aug. 22, 2008) — Standard & Poor's Ratings Services has downgraded its outlook on Cooper Tire & Rubber Co.'s financial risk profile to negative from stable because of reduced tire demand in North America and volatile raw material prices, the securities company said.
It affirmed its “B+” corporate credit rating and other ratings.
Standard & Poor's said that although the company has been introducing premium products, reducing costs and expanding its presence in Asia, it expects the company's credit measures to worsen during the remainder of 2008.
“Cooper faces significant challenges that will impede its financial performance for the near term,” said Lawrence Orlowski, Standard & Poor's credit analyst. “Although revenues in the second quarter of 2008 increased by 6 percent compared to those of a year earlier, unit sales declined, and the company reported an operating loss of $15 million.”
Despite Cooper's price increases on tires in February, July and for October, Standard & Poor's said it didn't expect the price hikes to completely cover rising raw material costs that are expected to be up 25 to 30 percent vs. 2007 costs.
“We could lower our ratings if Cooper is unable to pass along raw material costs to consumers or if end-market demand softens further as a result of higher oil prices or slowing economic activity that leads to leverage of five times or higher, including our adjustments or weaker liquidity,” according to Standard & Poor's. “On the other hand, Cooper's strategy of diversifying its production and sales could enable it to counter cost pressures and tap sales growth in emerging markets.”


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Position last year: 50
The intriguing Fenwick family are well known for being publicity averse, but few could doubt their influence. The 11-strong department store chain has a devolved power structure, eschewing the centralised buying its competitors have adopted. This localised approach, it could be argued, is what keeps it one step ahead.
The man in charge is fifth generation chairman Mark Fenwick, flanked by his cousins Adam and Hugo, who are group managing director and group trading director, respectively.
Sales may have fallen by 1.6% to £426.6m and profit before tax from £35m to £32m for the year ended January 31, due to the mild autumn last year and aggressive discounting in the market in the final quarter, but that isn’t stopping this retail dynasty. The refurbished and expanded Fenwick Colchester has now partially reopened ahead of a full launch next year, its Bond Street flagship is undergoing a £20m revamp, and it will open a new Fenwick at the Lexicon Bracknell in 2017.


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Abu Dhabi plans to launch a price index for building materials in a move aimed at curbing price manipulation asconstruction costs soar in the UAE.
The Department of Planning and Economy (DPE) said the index will include 22 products that make up 90 percent of basic construction materials.
“The building materials' price index will expose traders who manipulate prices in this vital sector amid the current economic boom in Abu Dhabi in particular and the UAE in general,” the DPE said in a statement carried by state news agency WAM.
“Soaring fuel prices and international high transport cost also contributed in increasing prices of many basic construction material prices.”
The DPE said some building material prices fluctuated in June, with iron pipe rising by 19 per cent compared to the previous month, spiral iron up by 17 percent and round bar iron climbing 4 percent.
Other prices of building materials were stable in June compared to May, it said.
Building materials make up around 30 percent of a developer’s costs, with labour and plumbing, electro-mechanical and interiorFinishing (PEM&I) making up the remaining 70 percent, according to HSBC.
The DPE last week launched its first consumer price index (CPI) comprising 53 food items, which make up around 15 percent of family spending in Abu Dhabi.
The increased emphasis on monitoring price trends comes as the UAE is battling to control soaring inflation, which hit a 20-year high of 11.1 percent in 2007.
The DPE said last month that inflation in the UAE capital hit 11.7 percent in 2007 and held at 11.5 percent in March.
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15 titles disappear from Apple Arcade
Apple has announced that more than a dozen titles that are currently part of its Apple Arcade game subscription service will be discontinued. This was discovered by users who discovered a new category called “Leaving Arcade Soon” in the App Store. Among other things, “Atone: Heart of the Elder Tree”, “Don’t Bug Me!”, “Dead End Job” or “Towaga: Among Shadows” are affected.
Deleted without replacement?
The iPhone maker did not initially explain why the titles are being dropped. Apparently the contracts concluded with the developers are about to expire. Apple apparently closed these for three years at the start of Apple Arcade in 2019 and this period is now expiring. This is supported by the fact that most of the games are titles available at the start of the subscription service.
Apple charges a relatively moderate 5 euros per month for access to Apple Arcade. In total – with the titles that are now to be deleted – more than 200 games are available. These are distributed via the App Store and can be downloaded and played after completing the service without in-app purchases and additional fees. There is also no advertising within the games. It was initially unclear whether there will be a replacement for the 15 titles that have now been deleted.
Developers retain rights
The developers of the titles retain the rights to them and are apparently only tied to Apple Arcade for a certain period of time. However, it is unclear whether this applies to all games – Apple sometimes invested large sums in the creation of exclusive games. If the games are deleted from Arcade, they should no longer be playable, as reported by MacRumors, citing insiders. This means that even if the titles were previously downloaded, users can no longer use them. It remains to be seen what this will look like in practice – an error message could appear, for example.
Developers should be able to publish their titles again on the same day in the App Store – or on other platforms that were previously excluded by their contracts with Apple. However, games should receive a new bundle ID for the App Store, so a new download (and possibly payment) is mandatory. Nobody knows yet whether scores can be transferred.


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Crypto asset startup founded by ex-BNY Mellon banker raises $8 million
Trustology, a startup that secures cryptocurrency investors’ holdings, has raised $8 million in a seed round led by Two Sigma Ventures and ConsenSys, the blockchain company founded by Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin. Both investors will be joining Trustology’s board of directors.
Besides the marquee investors, two things are notable about this fund-raise.
One is that Trustology’s founder and team are former bankers. Founder Alex Batlin led blockchain innovation work at UBS and BNY Mellon and was an early member of the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, Trusted IoT Alliance, Utility Settlement Coin and R3 consortium. Other team members include former executives from ADIA, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays, BNY Mellon, Curve, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, RBS, Starling Bank and UBS.
The biggest difference between working for a large bank and working at a startup is the ability to move quickly, Batlin said in a phone interview at midnight London time.
“That’s the nature of a very large institution,” he noted. “When I worked for UBS and BNY Mellon, those are hugely responsible organizations with so much fiduciary pressure on them. You absolutely want to make sure they take their time in providing solutions, whatever they do. The cost and systemic risk of failure is scary to comprehend.”
Startups can take risk without systemic impact and therefore can move quicker.
“I loved working for large banks; I learned huge amounts,” Batlin said. “In a startup there’s no support. You have to think on your feet, but there’s an ability to move.”
Trustology is also the latest entrant to the growing industry of crypto custody. Banks, the basic business of which is storing customers' money and providing services, have been slow to offer those same services for digital currency. So a bevy of new entrants including Coinbase have been filling that void (though Fidelity and Citi both recently announced crypto custody initiatives).
Trustology safeguards the private keys to investors’ digital currency the way a valet holds on to car keys. The company uses the secure enclave in the user’s iPhone, a dedicated hardware chip that is hard to break, to store the private key.
“When we install a mobile app on a phone, we go through an onboarding procedure where we capture your face, your ID and we create a private key inside the secure element,” Batlin explained. These pieces are linked together so that if a consumer lost his phone, Trustology could go through a recovery procedure using the customer’s biometrics and government ID.
When a customer creates an account, Trustology sends a digitally signed account creation instruction to the company’s hardware security modules in its data centers. Trustology licenses its technology to banks as well as individuals.
“When you move tokens or assets onto the address managed by the private key inside hardware security module, the only way you can move those assets out of that is by sending an instruction signed by the key inside your phone,” Batlin said. “The code that verifies the instruction, proprietary code in a programmable HSM, is extremely hard to hack. There are no known use cases of anyone being able to hack it.”


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OEMs continue to choke systems with shovelware. Microsoft doesn't give a hoot as long as they get their cut. In fact, Microsoft has made the situation considerably worse by refusing to give out Windows install discs along with new computers. It used to be that you could at least re-install a clean version of Windows to get rid of the adware and spyware. Now, all they give you is essentially a restore-from-ISO tool that has all the crap on it.
The restriction on dual-boot computers was never about helping users; it was always about killing the competition. Enforcing trademark law would have been enough to ensure that users didn't blame Windows for Linux's (or BeOS's) failings.
> More recently we've seen what happens when Microsoft's OEM negotiators let
> the OEMs bully them - that's what led to the Vista debacle
Bad project management led to the Vista debacle. If your new operating system can't run on the newest hardware that's coming off the production lines, maybe you ought to delay shipping it until it can.
Don't get me wrong-- there's a lot of things that Microsoft has done well (Xbox comes to mind). But Vista wasn't one of them.
Comments and public postings are copyrighted by their creators.
Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds


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The first batch of Sega Ages titles will be available this summer and consists of five classic games: the Master System versions of Phantasy Star and Alex Kidd in Miracle World; the Genesis versions of Sonic the Hedgehog and Thunder Force IV; and the arcade version of Gain Ground.
SEGA Ages is a series of classic SEGA titles being released on the Nintendo Switch. While The Big N continues to drag its feet on any sort of Switch Virtual Console, Sega has revealed it will be reviving the Sega Ages series on the system. The section about the Pokemon Nintendo Switch game suggests that the upcoming game will feature brand new generation eight Pokemon.
Some additional details about some of the games to be featured in SEGA AGES were revealed at SEGA Fes 2018 in a panel after the announcement. Meanwhile, Sonic the Hegdehog, Gain Ground, and Thunder Force IV are SEGA Genesis titles; Sonic the Hedgehog and Gain Ground came out in 1991, while Thunder Force IV hit store shelves in 1992.
Some of you may remember that SEGA AGES originally launched on the SEGA Saturn in 1996 in Japan, bringing enhanced arcade ports of Puzzle & Action: Tant-R and Quiz Shukudai wo Wasuremashita to home consoles.
The last time Sega released new hardware was 2001 with the Sega Dreamcast, but after the successes of the NES Classic, the Famicom Mini, and the SNES Classic, Sega's COO has said they want to get back into releasing hardware. These will be released on the Switch eShop individually.


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Married dating chat Free mobil fuck buddys
Ashley Madison employs guerrilla marketing techniques to advertise its site.
One such technique has been the creation of fake criticism websites filled with ads for Ashley Madison and anonymous testimony that the site is legitimate. Ashley Madison Scams.com" was registered to Ashley Madison owner Avid Life.
The site allows users to hide their account profiles for free.
On August 24 the Toronto Police Department spoke of "two unconfirmed reports of suicides" associated with the leak of customer profiles along with extortion attempts, offering a $500,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the hackers.
CEO Rob Segal said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that the company is making ongoing investments to enhance privacy and security safeguards, including a partnership with Deloitte’s cyber security team.
The data disclosures in 2015 revealed that this "permanent deletion" feature did not permanently delete anything, and all data was recoverable.
Trish Mc Dermott, a consultant who helped found Match.com, accused Ashley Madison of being a "business built on the back of broken hearts, ruined marriages, and damaged families".
Also in 2009, NBC refused an ad submitted by Ashley Madison for the network's broadcast of Super Bowl XLIII.
In 2012, the company was sued by former employee Doriana Silva, who stated that in preparation for the launch of the company's Portuguese-language website, she was assigned to create over a thousand bogus member profiles within a three-week period in order to attract paying customers, and that this caused her to develop repetitive stress injury.
In the same month, the company changed its signature tagline from "Life is Short.
Have an Affair." to "Find your moment," and updated its brand imagery to replace the image of a woman wearing a wedding ring with a red gem-shaped symbol as its logo.
Have an affair." The company received attention on July 15, 2015, after hackers stole all of its customer data—including emails, names, home addresses, sexual fantasies and credit card information—and threatened to post the data online if Ashley Madison and fellow Avid Life Media site Established were not permanently closed.
By July 22, the first set of customer names were released by hackers, with all of the user data released on August 18, 2015.
She had previously released an analysis purporting to show that only a minuscule proportion (12,000 out of 5.5 million) registered female accounts were used on a regular basis, Newitz noted a clause in the terms of service which states that some accounts are for amusement purposes only.Tags: Adult Dating, affair dating, sex dating


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Virtual Reality Can Change Lives, According to Tech Analysts
We have seen virtual reality employed in so many sectors and with a lot of success to back it up. It has found so many uses that range from cutting down on errors during medical procedures, in education, tourism, and shopping. The technology has gone far beyond gaming, and according to experts, virtual reality it is changing lives.
Analysts Talk About How Virtual Reality Is Changing Lives
VR is the buzz industry at Asia’s largest tech fair, Computex, held in Taipei, Taiwan, which hopes to become a development hub for virtual reality technology. But while VR is currently aimed at gamers, experts predict it will eventually be about much more than entertainment.
Scroll down for the video
“We know that gaming will be the first wave of revenue and gamers the first wave of consumers, but our vision is larger than gaming,” said Raymond Pao, vice president of VR New Technology at Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC, which recently released its first VR headset, Vive. Pao says any industry that could use 3D may well end up exploiting the technology.
There are a lot of big names behind the VR movement, including HTC, Samsung, and Facebook—each with its own immersive experience platform. This alone is enough to make experts believe that virtual reality is changing lives and that this market is only going to get bigger. Some of these tech companies have branched into the health care sector and we now have virtual reality–assisting surgeons in complicated procedures. It is also finding applications in other sectors like education and tourism.
“What we learn from textbooks or labs can be really dull, but VR and AR will greatly enhance learning abilities,” Zhu Bo, founder of InnoValley, a Chinese start-up investor based in Shenzhen, told AFP. “It can also be used in e-commerce. In the future, you will step into a real scene, you can see the products on the shelves, touch and feel them. So our shopping experience will totally change.”
Where It’s All Headed
It is estimated that the worldwide market for virtual reality will hit the $5.1 billion this year, and it is estimated to hit twice that in 2017 according to Taipei-based market intelligence provider TrendForce. Sony is also unveiling its PlayStation headset this year, and Google is developing a new platform called Daydream. ARM, a British firm, also made their plans public for their new processors, which will allow smartphones to run virtual reality and augmented reality.
The current VR products in the market are capable of immersing the user in a movie or a game on their won and this could limit the technology from catching on with consumers according to experts.
“A lot of times with the demos, they are single user experiences. You just kind of go, ‘Oh, that was fun,’ and walk away,” said Justin Hendrix, executive director of NYC Media Lab, an academic research group funded by tech companies.
“VR and AR is not hype, it’s an era,” said Zhu. “In another three to five years, it will affect everyone’s life.”


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SingTel Group's results for the second quarter and half yearWednesday, November 12th, 2008
SINGAPORE — Singapore Telecommunications Limited (SingTel) [Singapore: SGX; Australia: ASX] announced its unaudited results for the second quarter and half year ended 30 September 2008.
As at 30 September 2008, there were 87,000 customers on mio plan. The number of mio TV customers was unchanged at 46,000 in the quarter as net customer additions were offset by the expiry of the waiver periods introduced during the initial launch.
mio TV unveiled its pricing for its Season Pass, on 1 September 2008, allowing customers to catch on-demand the latest season of Hollywood hit TV shows as well as brand new shows from as low as S$16.05 per series. mio TV is an integral part of SingTel’s initiative to transform the residential fixed-line services.
More: Earnings Releases


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Xpeng CEO He Xiaopeng stands subsequent to the company’s P7 electric powered sedan as he addresses media at the 2020 Beijing vehicle show.
Evelyn Cheng | CNBC
In July 2020, area branches for four of the “significant five” banks extended 10.4 billion yuan in credit rating to Nio for the begin-up’s China operations centered in the city of Hefei in close proximity to Shanghai. Individuals in this deal included China Design Financial institution, Industrial and Industrial Bank of China, Financial institution of China and Agricultural Bank of China, according to an announcement from Nio.
In China’s state-dominated system, the banking companies favor to lend to state-owned enterprises. That would make it tricky for privately owned corporations to get funding, unless they can encourage the point out-owned banking companies of their ability to repay loans.
Xpeng’s credit history line announcement arrives just after the organization raised much more than $4 billion past calendar year in its first general public providing on the New York Inventory Trade in August and a adhere to-on presenting in December.
Shares have soared more than 195% considering the fact that the IPO.
Where is the dollars likely?
The start out-up did not disclose details on credit rating conditions Tuesday. The arrangement will enable the Guangzhou-centered enterprise broaden its manufacturing, sales and providers and other operations, in accordance to a launch.
Xpeng reported it commenced creating a 2nd manufacturing facility in November. The company mentioned it has opened 116 retail storefronts and 50 company centers, as of Sept. 30. And Xpeng uncovered in September it is investing in the development of flying cars.
Deliveries totaled 27,041 past 12 months, with a lot more than half coming from a new P7 sedan that started mass deliveries in late June. The corporation additional it sent 100 models of its G3 SUV to prospects in Norway in December.
Despite the fact that total deliveries a lot more than doubled from a year in the past, Xpeng’s figures fell short of Nio’s extra than 43,700 deliveries. Nio’s motor vehicles have qualified the increased conclusion of the marketplace, while Xpeng’s value selection has been lessen.
In the previous two months, both firms introduced options for new sedans. Nio’s is envisioned to arrive in the first quarter of up coming year. Xpeng statements its sedan will get started deliveries later this 12 months.


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Published on : Monday, December 23, 2013
Revenue from Malaysia’s tourism sector is expected to rise 12.5 per cent to RM76 billion next year with 28 million tourists featuring in Visit Malaysia 2014, according to Pekan Artisan, a tourism resort and high-impact attractions developer.
Chief Operating Officer Saifful Azhar Sabaruddin said Visit Malaysia 2014 was an excellent pull factor for the country’s tourism industry. “We believe the tourism industry should remain resilient despite the challenges such as haze, floods and landslides, encountered over the past few years.
“The Minister of Tourism Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz has also has been going around the globe to further promote Malaysia,” he told Bernama.
Saifful Azhar said the RM2 billion allocation announced during Budget 2014 by the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak would help the tourism industry better cater to the growing number of tourists.
He said the weaker Ringgit to the US dollar might also prove beneficial in luring foreign travelers to Malaysia.
Saifful Azhar also highlighted that Pekan Artisan was committed to developing high impact tourism attractions to generate a higher income contribution to the Gross National Income as well as create employment opportunities for locals.
He disagreed with the view that Malaysia’s tourism industry was only focused on high-end travelers.
“Tourism Malaysia created the Cuti-Cuti 1Malaysia pogramme, which is one of the efforts to promote domestic tourism, while the growth of low cost carriers such as AirAsia and Malindo Air offers affordable airfares, which can boost it as well,” he added.
Tags: Airline News


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Dover (DOV) was started with a Neutral rating at Goldman Sachs, and shares nosed down less than 1%. Goldman placed an $88 price target on the shares of the diversified manufacturer. In afternoon trade, DOV was off 0.33% to $81.20.
Insulet (PODD) was started with a buy rating at Sterne Agee. Shares fell less than 1%. vSterne Agee set a $61 price target on the medical device maker. PODD was down 0.70% to $49.83 in afternoon trading.
Keryx (KERX) was started with a buy rating at Mizuho Securities, and shares declined slightly. Mizuho put a $25 price target on the stock. In afternoon trading, KERX was off 0.60% to $14.92.
ConAgra Foods (CAG) received a downgrade to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs, which also cut its price target on the food producer to $31 from $33. In mid-day trade, CAG was up 0.20% to $30.05 in a 52-week range of $28.09 – $37.28.
Blackberry, the secure mobile phone and data company, was raised to Underperform from Sell on Friday by Credit Agricole. Shares in the company were last down 0.2% at $9.39. The 52-week range remains $5.44 to $16.82.
Earlier, the Wall Street Journal reported the White House is testing smartphones from Samsung and LG for internal use, which could take away some of the last high-profile accounts for Blackberry. The company also said Friday that it’s selling the majority of its real-estate holdings in Canada.
Source: Equities Focus


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BURNLEY people will get the chance to win a new car and raise money for Pendleside Hospice.
The charity’s annual car raffle, to win a Mini, was launched at the Charter Walk Shopping Centre on Saturday.
One lucky winner will get the chance to choose between the red car, which has a Diamond Jubilee-themed Union Jack roof, or £8,000 in cash.
Tickets are £1 and organisers hope to beat last year’s car raffle total of £30,342.
Supplied by Lloyds of Colne, the car has been bought with the support of Alderson and Horan Funeral Services, Charter Walk Shopping Centre, SFN Solicitors, Burnley and Pendle Freemasons and John Macadam Garages.
Hospice fund-raising manager Mrs Kaye Bartle said: “Our annual car raffle is always very popular particularly as one lucky person really will win a car for just £1.
“And, as the costs of the car are covered, people can be reassured that their donation to the hospice in buying a ticket will go directly where it’s needed – patient care.”
People wanting to buy tickets can contact the hospice on 01282 440120 and anyone who can take tickets to sell to friends, neighbours and work colleagues is being urged to get in touch with the fund-raising team.


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A cashier in Pennsylvania convicted of stealing nearly $13 million from the monuments and engraving firm where she worked has been sentenced to 8 years and 4 months in prison, per the AP. Cynthia Mills, 56, took the money from Matthews International Corp. from 1999 to 2015. She pleaded guilty in March to mail fraud, wire fraud, tax evasion, and money laundering. As cashier, Mills' job was to deposit checks made out to Matthews and to make wire transfers to pay the company's vendors. While she did that, she also moved money from company accounts into her own bank accounts, then covered up the thefts by forging bank statements and creating fake invoices.
Mills' attorney, Phil DiLucente, told the judge the thefts weren't driven by greed but by Mills' addiction to gambling at the Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh and the Meadows Racetrack & Casino in nearby Washington County, where he said the bulk of the money was lost. As part of Mills' plea deal imposed Thursday, Mills also agreed to forfeit three homes, a yacht, two other boats, at least eight cars, and other items including jewelry and expensive designer handbags bought with the stolen money. But Assistant US Attorney Shardul Desai noted the casinos weren't even open when Mills began stealing the money: Rivers Casino opened in 2009, and the Meadows casino opened in 2007. "This theft didn't start with gambling," Desai said. "This theft started with greed." (Read more embezzlement stories.)


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Last month Lamborghini’s CEO, Stephan Winkelmann, hinted of something special for Geneva Motor Show as tribute to celebrate 50th anniversary of the company. And it seems that the outrageous new car (true to Lamborghini traditions) has leaked on webosphere ahead of its official debut.
This one will be called the Lamborghini Venono – Spanish for Venom. The leak suggests that this one will be priced at equally outrageous USD 4.6 million (Rs 25 crore) with production limited to just three units. It borrows the carbon fiber monocoque chassis from the Aventador and the design theme of some futuristic spacecraft. The snap from the unpublished magazine suggests that it will be available only in colours of Italian flag – Green, White and Red.
The Veneno will use the Lamborghini’s flagship V12 engine with power substantially bumped up to 740bhp. Also they will be making only three of these and knowing the way Lamborghini works, we won’t be surprised if these are already sold-out.


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Hospitality leaders have opposed the new tax and many locals have also expressed discontent with the council's decision.
Edinburgh now joins cities such as Barcelona and Venice in an attempt to manage a growing number of tourists via taxation. The cost for tourists: approximately £2.50 per person at a mid-range hotel in Paris, Venice is £3.50 per tourist.
Edinburgh's City Council believes the new tax could raise over £29 million per year, it is estimated that visitors spend over £1.4 billion each year in Edinburgh.
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) surveyed 124 businesses in the city, with 76% saying they were against the new tax on tourism and 73% saying they thought it would have a negative impact on the local economy.
Willie Macleod, of the British Hospitality Association, said:
"In the vast majority of these destinations, VAT is levied on tourism services including hotel rooms at around half of the 20 per cent rate applied here, including France and Italy where it is ten per cent. Edinburgh council is singularly determined to push this through and we are determined that this is a bad thing for the industry. To suggest that tourism businesses and hotels in particular are not making their contribution to public finances is misleading."
Would you like to send us your opinion? E-mail firstname.lastname@example.org
If you need marketing support for your hotel or tourism business please visit our partners tourismmarketing.agency


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(FoxNews.com) - Could this be the last straw for one California city?
Officials in Berkeley, Calif. introduced an ordinance Tuesday that would ban plastic straws at restaurants and coffee shops throughout the Bay Area city because of their "detrimental effect" on the environment, KPIX reports.
The three City Council members who co-sponsored the ordinance want restaurants and coffee shops to use biodegradable plastic-alternatives, such as corn or paper, according to KPIX.
The city has pushed for similar bans in the past, previously moving to prohibit single-use plastic bags.
The plastic straw ban is just one step as part of a larger move by the city to reach a Zero Waste Goal by 2020, according to SF Gate.
Read the full story on FoxNews.com.


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Yesterday, the NCAA announced the end of their licensing agreement with EA Sports. The end of this agreement means that if the publisher wants to release a college football game in 2014, its title cannot be NCAA Football 15.
A few hours later, Andrew Wilson, the Executive Vice President of EA Sports, confirmed that the company is working on an unnamed college football game for release in 2014. The currently untitled “College Football 15” is in development for next-generation consoles and it sounds like it will look very similar to this year’s offering:
EA Sports will continue to develop and publish college football games, but we will no longer include the NCAA names and marks. Our relationship with the Collegiate Licensing Company is strong and we are already working on a new game for next generation consoles which will launch next year and feature the college teams, conferences and all the innovation fans expect from EA Sports.
So far, the lack of NCAA branding seems to be the only real major difference between NCAA Football 14 and the in-development “College Football 15.”
[Source: The Beat – EA’s Blog]


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50,000 Bitcoins are going to be auctioned in the coming weeks. Despite the fact that Ross Ulbricht is not scheduled to stand trial until after ...
50,000 Bitcoins are going to be auctioned in the coming weeks. Despite the fact that Ross Ulbricht is not scheduled to stand trial until after the holiday season, the US Marshal’s Service is going ahead with a second round of their Silk Road Bitcoin Auction. These Bitcoins that are currently being sold through the beginning of December likely belong to Ross Ulbricht himself, not Silk Road or Silk Road users
In January, Ross Ulbricht and his lawyers signed a court order that allowed the USMS to sell Bitcoins belonging to Silk Road and all property traceable from said crime, “including but not limited to the bitcoins located on Ulbricht’s computer hardware.” This move was likely undertaken as a result of the downturn in price that winter to preserve the USD value of the seized bitcoins.
The last USMS Silk Road Bitcoin Auction was in July of 2014, 26,000 bitcoins were auctioned in the first government sale of Bitcoin, a legitimizing move for the fledgling currency. All of the BTC was bought by venture capitalist Tim Draper, who has since made additional moves in the Bitcoin space. Just in the last few weeks, Tim Draper’s VC Firm led the Series C funding round for Coinbase, and Draper-backed Bitcoin exchange service Vaurum rebranded as Mirror.
The USMS notice explained the auction:
“This sealed bid auction is for a portion of the bitcoins contained in wallet files that resided on certain computer hardware belonging to Ross William Ulbricht, that were seized on or about October 24, 2013.”
Bitcoins will be sold in one of two series, in blocks of 2,000 or blocks of 3,000. There will be 10 of each type of block available. In order to be eligible to bid on 2,000 BTC blocks, potential auction participants need to deposit $100,000 with the USMS and submit their bid by December 1st. For 3,000 BTC block bidders, the requirement is raised to $150,000. The winner(s) will be contacted on December 5th, and payment will occur on December 8th.
What do you think about 50,000 bitcoins being sold? Comment below!
Images from Shutterstock.


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On Tuesday, coffee prices went down due to favorable dry temperatures in Brazil, which sped up the harvesting process.
Coffee futures for September delivery declined by -1.44% to $157.55 per pound on July 11’s Asian afternoon session.
Due to the dry weather conditions in Brazil, costs were moderately lower since the pace of the crop’s harvest went faster.
According to experts, the Minas Gerais region in Brazil received 0.10 mm of rain last week. Besides, the region is responsible for 30.00% of the country’s arabica crop. If dry weather patterns continue, it could further quicken the pace of coffee harvest.
Moreover, lower prices were limited since the Colombia Coffee Growers Federation reported tighter supplies. They said June exports dropped by -20.00% year-on-year to 748,000 bags. Colombia is the second top producer of arabica beans globally.
Higher supplies harm prices after deliveries from Honduras, the largest producer in Central America, went higher. The increase was 37.00% YoY in June to slightly over one million bags.
On the other hand, coffee prices gained support from higher 2022/23 deficit estimates of -6.40 million bags. It was led by a 3.60 million bag cut in production forecast to 164 million bags. Additionally, lower outputs were caused by weaker production in Brazil and Columbia.
US Fair Trade Freezes Coffee Prices
Fair Trade USA made a controversial announcement that led to a freeze on their coffee prices. It affected minimum pricing and premiums under the Fairtrade Certified label in 2023.
In March, they stated that they would increase their Minimum Price of coffee from August to provide a safety net for farmers. The move was to help them deal with rising inflation, production expenses, and unpredictable market prices.
However, the organization said that it previously used the same price model as Fairtrade International. According to them, it was voluntary, meaning they were not required to follow that same path.
Moreover, over 600 Fairtrade coffee producer organizations globally asked them to reconsider their strategy. They added that the movement would push producers to sell the beans under the cost of production.


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In 1985 Coca-Cola decided to introduce to the market a "variation" of the original formula. They called the product, New Coke, with the intent that it too would take the market by storm like its predecessor had. However, according to various articles, it soon became clear that customer were in an uproar about the change to the American classic drink. Michael Ross from MSNBC.com quotes, "[S]ome likened the change in Coke to trampling the American flag." www.buildingbrands.com wrote in an article, "The launch created a public outcry', with Coke receiving 40,000 letters of complaint and over 6,000 calls a day to the company's 0800' phone number."
Customers from all over were buying supplies of the original Coke in bulk. Ross says that, opportunist ingeniously took advantage of the situation and sold cases of original Coke for as much as $30 per case as reported by Newsweek. It took less than 3 months for Coca-Cola to yank the product off the shelves after realizing that it was not going to succeed.
The different articles summarize that, "Coca-Cola had done at least two years of market research, at an expense rounding $4 Million dollars, and about 200,000 taste tests where New Coke outperformed Pepsi." So, what led to this failure in a company that makes it a priority to understand who their consumers are and what they look for in their product? Did they fail to do enough research, or did they fail to interpret the research correctly?
The marketing research involved in decision-making is much more than answering survey questions or taking polls from consumers. It is essentially the process of collecting data, analyzing it, interpreting the results, and finally reporting those findings in a manner that can be interpreted by the marketing manager and


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Despite the continued momentum of online media consumption, live sports is one area where linear television continues to dominate. And the Rugby World cup is no exception. Across the Top 5 rugby-loving nations tracked in our chart, linear broadcasts dwarf the figures drawn to online viewing. In South Africa, for example, 56% are watching live broadcasts compared to a mere 6% watching online.
As might be expected, TV also plays a major role in how this audience discovers new brands – almost half identify TV/radio ads as the most likely means to find products and services. But there is also a clear opportunity to engage these viewers via their connected devices. A mighty 91% say they use another device to access the internet while they watch TV. Mobiles are the key device here – almost two thirds of the RWC TV viewers say they use a mobile while watching TV. And brands should be interested in these second-screeners – around 4 in 10 viewers say they are searching for products while watching TV.
What’s more, 35% say they are checking social networks while watching TV. Beyond this, social media also promises to be a key engagement point between RWC viewers and brands. Over a quarter from this group say they find new brands via social media and almost a third asked a question to a brand or posted a comment on their page on a social network last month.
So, TV may remain the dominant medium for viewing the Rugby World Cup but it’s clear that important opportunities exist for engaging fans online.
For more insights on the battle between online and traditional forms of TV, print and radio, download our free summary report here. Alternatively, clients can access the full version here.


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Previous Life: President, Douglas Elliman, a residential real estate brokerage that at the time had 1,200 employees, more than $120 million in revenues and a $10 million annual marketing budget.
New Life: Three years ago launched Braddock + Purcell, a Manhattan-based residential real estate company that acts as a middleman to connect home buyers and sellers with brokers.
Challenge: To make a name for his new firm by using an annual marketing budget of $120,000. "I had to be smarter; I had to figure how to spend these dollars wisely," Mr. Purcell says.
Hard lesson: Early on, Mr. Purcell and his partner, Kathy Mayer Braddock, a former Douglas Elliman general sales manager, hired an outside firm to create marketing materials, including a tagline for an ad campaign. After spending $40,000, the duo decided that most of the materials had to be shelved.
"It was hard to swallow, but we had to take the loss, because it just wasn't the right message," says Mr. Purcell.
Comeback: At his old job, more money would have been spent reworking the campaign. At his new firm, there was no more money. Mr. Purcell had to find cheaper alternatives. Instead of a print campaign he began hosting quarterly cocktail parties at his home to connect with clients.
Similarly, the company began to forge relationships with financial planners and divorce attorneys, many of whose clients are in the market for homes. The firm also depends heavily on referrals from its former clients.
Case in Point: Looking to purchase a co-op on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, Ivan Gallego, an executive at a major investment firm, turned to Braddock + Purcell to find a broker.
"I'm not a New Yorker and had no real knowledge of the real estate market and didn't want to just be in the hands of any broker," says Mr. Gallego, who purchased a three-bedroom co-op last year. "I wanted an expert, and they gave me several to choose from."
State of Play: Firm has three employees, including Mr. Purcell and his partner, but the duo hopes to add staff in the future.
Personally: Mr. Purcell feels that he "works smarter" now. "I can make decisions more quickly with no politics," he says. Curiously, he also says that in his new role he worries less. "I really felt responsible for people at Elliman, and now it's just us and the clients," he says.


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OPHI Acquires Kenactiv, Changes Name To Kenactiv Innovations
Organic Plant Health Inc. (OPHI) — a Charlotte-based manufacturer of organic-based and hybrid turf
and garden care products for residential and commercial markets — has acquired Kenactiv Innovations
Inc., Scottsdale, Ariz. — a manufacturer of kenaf-based products for applications including
nonwovens and other textiles, automotive parts, packaging, plastic composites, agriculture,
environmental management and oil drilling.
Under a Share Exchange Agreement, Kenactiv has issued 50 million shares of its common stock to OPHI, and OPHI has issued 54 million shares of its common stock to Kenactiv. Going forward, the combined companies will do business under the name Kenactiv Innovations and will be headquartered in Scottsdale. Kenactiv Chairman and CEO Christopher E. Galvin now serves as chairman, president and CEO of Kenactive Innovations. Kenactiv's David Querciagrossa and Michael J. Sinnwell Jr. have been named CFO and COO, respectively, of Kenactiv Innovations. OPHI Co-founder and President Billy Styles now serves as president of Kenactiv Innovations' Lawn and Garden division, which remains in Charlotte; and OPHI Co-founder Alan Talbert has been named vice president of operations, Lawn and Garden division.
"The demand for our natural fiber solutions from the automotive, energy and consumer products sectors has ramped up significantly over the past year," Galvin said. "We intend to rapidly scale production to support expansion of our revenue base through our DrillWall™, FiberZorb™ and other natural fiber solutions. Our two companies share important synergies and OPHI's portfolio of sustainable lawn and garden products is a great complement to our retail platform."
"The potential impact of kenaf in growing our specialty turf, garden and agricultural management products is tremendous," Styles said. "It will be very gratifying to help drive the improved sustainability of other industries through the use of natural fibers. Having access to Kenactiv's operational, financial and management expertise will also be a great asset to us as we build on our regional success bringing authentically sustainable solutions for responsible turf and garden care to a broader market."
Kenactiv owns and operates a 160,000-square-foot manufacturing plant in Snow Hill, N.C. The facility is able to process 2 million square meters per month of nonwoven natural fiber felts, as well as 2 million pounds per month of raw kenaf for various textile and non-textile products, and 1 million pounds per month of products such as sorbents derived from the inner core of the kenaf plant, according to Margaret Skriloff, vice president marketing and communications, Kenactiv.
January 29, 2013


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With Joe Fresh, what’s good for North America is good for the rest of the world.
That’s the message from the new 4,000-square-foot, two-level Joe Fresh store in the heavily trafficked Myeongdong shopping district in the heart of Seoul — the brand’s first unit in Asia. “There’s exactly the same assortment as you would see in SoHo [in Manhattan],” said Joe Mimran, president of Joseph Mimran & Associates and founder and creative director of Joe Fresh, on Wednesday. Mimran just returned from South Korea, where last weekend the company staged a fashion show at Seoul’s Beyond Museum and opened the store.
"You start one way as a baby, but why shouldn't you be able to choose your own path as opposed to culturally people telling you which way to go?" - Thom Browne at his men's spring 2018 show, where he celebrated gender fluidity. #pfw #wwdmens (📷: @delphineachard)
"I think that all anyone really wants in life is to have people understand us for who we actually are, despite everything," says Ruth Negga. The actress talks "Preachers" season 2 and more on WWD.com. #wwdeye (📷: Dan Doperalski)


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Intel's security team released a series of patches yesterday that fix a remote code execution (RCE) bug found in the Intel Management Engine (ME).
A malware infection affecting servers belonging to the Virginia State Police (VSP) has shut down the department's email system, along with its ability to update the Virginia Sex Offender and Crimes Against Children Registry (SOR).
There are over 85,000 RDP servers available for sale or rent via xDedic, a marketplace for selling or renting hacked servers that was exposed in June 2016.
The Ask.com search engine went through some sort of technical issue late last night, as its servers were exposing the internal Apache server status page, revealing recently processed search queries.
A mysterious issue is affecting the default Windows NTP server (time.windows.com), according to multiple complaints coming from Reddit and Twitter users.
Since July 2016, attackers have been using a zero-day in IIS 6.0 to compromise and take over Windows servers. The vulnerability only affects IIS 6.0, which was released in November 2010, and shipped with Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP Professional x64 Edition.
Willem de Groot, a Dutch security expert, is asking owners of defunct or soon-to-be-dead online stores to donate their domains so he can set up honeypots and track credit card stealing malware and other types of cyber-attacks on e-commerce targets.
After the ransacking of MongoDB, ElasticSearch, Hadoop, and CouchDB servers, attackers are now hijacking hundreds of MySQL databases, deleting their content, and leaving a ransom note behind asking for a 0.2 Bitcoin ($235) payment.
Both Java and Python contain similar security flaws that allow an attacker to bypass firewalls by injecting malicious commands inside FTP URLs.
Link bookmarking service Instapaper came back online today following a critical database issue that forced it offline for 31 hours over the past two days.
GitLab.com, a web service for hosting and syncing source code, similar to GitHub, has gone down last night at around 18:00 ET, January 31, and after 11 hours, at the time of publishing, the website is still down.


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Second graders from Casimir Pulaski School in Meriden got a once-in-a-lifetime treat this month during their trip to Greenbacker’s Brookfield Farm in Durham: a chance to milk a cow! For students in Connecticut’s congested Meriden area, this was a rare opportunity to visit a working dairy farm. Melissa Greenbacker hosted the tour of her family’s dairy farm, which has been in the Greenbacker family since the 1720s.
Greenbacker opened up her farm to this group of students because of her firm belief in the importance of people knowing more about their food. “I love tours,” Greenbacker says, “they are my favorite part of the job. So many people are not sure where their food comes from, and it is important to give them an opportunity to ask questions.”
There was no shortage of questions with a group of second graders.
Are all of these cows girls? Yes.
Are they friendly? Cows have different personalities, some are very friendly, some of more reserved.
How much do cows eat and drink? Cows eat about 100 pounds of food per day and drink about 30 gallons of water.
Can I bring a calf home? Well, the calves have to stay on the farm. . .
The second graders really enjoyed learning about the life of cows and what it is like to be a dairy farmer, and their smiling faces were reflected back in Greenbacker’s expression as well. Smiling, she noted, “Farming is in my blood. I knew if I was going to be getting up at 2:00 AM to milk cows, I knew I wanted to have my own farm.” Perhaps she inspired some young students to follow her path, or drink their milk, as well.
Have you been on a dairy farm? Let us know in the comments.
To learn more about Greenbacker’s Brookfield Farm visit: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbackers-Brookfield-Farm/197356840352604
To learn more about dairy farming in New England visit: http://mbtm.launchpaddev.com/


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The iPhone 5 Receives Announcement Date
Brace yourself Apple fans. The iPhone 5 has officially received an announcement date for Wednesday, September 12.
An invitation depicting the number 12 with the tagline “It’s almost here,” was sent out to the media inviting them to an exclusive press conference on that day. The event is scheduled to be held at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco at 10:00 AM PST.
Are you ready?