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Superintendent of the New York Department of Financial Services Ben Lawsky revealed a draft proposal on Thursday of regulations governing virtual currencies like Bitcoin, making New York the first state in the country to grapple directly and openly with the issue. If passed, they would be the first regulations on virtual currencies anywhere in North America to carry the full weight of the law.
The rules say that anyone conducting “virtual currency business activity” needs to have a BitLicense. That sort of activity includes things like buying and selling virtual currency as a customer business, storing virtual currency on behalf of others, or issuing a virtual currency. Merchants and customers who use virtual currencies exclusively for the transactions of goods and services, however, are exempt.
If you want to start a virtual currency exchange or operate an online wallet service in the state of New York, you’re going to need a BitLicense, but if you just want to buy or sell a pizza with virtual money, it’s still possible to do so without first getting government approval.
Applying for a BitLicense involves disclosing personal and financial information for top company officials, undergoing a background check, paying a fee, and providing details about the structure and business goals of the company. If the regulators see any shady behavior, licenses can be either suspended or revoked entirely following a hearing.
The proposal also introduces capital requirements, which are rules that nearly all financial institutions are required to follow requiring them to have a certain amount of cash (or other assets) on hand to ensure that a market downturn or bad business decision doesn’t suddenly sink the whole company and its customers’ investments with it. The minimum amount of capital each virtual currency financial firm will be required to carry will be determined by regulators on a case-by-case basis.
In addition, all firms applying for BitLicenses will be required to comply with a set of policies— including the preservation of all financial records for at least a decade, the submission of quarterly financial statements, the verification of customers’ real-world identities, and the logging all user transactions—which are designed to combat fraud and money laundering, as well as rules designed to ensure against data breaches and protect customers’ privacy.
Interesting, the rules appear to technically prohibit virtual currency firms from taking the revenue they earn from virtual currencies and then investing that money back into virtual currencies. Earnings can only be sunk into “high-quality, investment-grade permissible investments … denominated in United States dollars.” This is a category that includes investment vehicles like money market funds, state or municipal bonds, and government securities. Notably absent from this list: virtual currencies like Bitcoin.
One of the most appealing aspects of virtual currencies like Bitcoin for many early adopters was that they could be traded in relatively anonymity. However, as regulators around the globe have worked to incorporate virtual currencies into the traditional financial system, there’s been a push for companies operating in the virtual currency space to collect the same type of information about their clients as is required for those operating with government-backed money.
Even in New York, under these regulations that people will still be able to transfer bitcoins back and forth without revealing their real names,. But if they want to utilize the services of an online wallet service, a degree of anonymity will have to sacrificed
The regulations cover ?any type of digital unit that is used as a medium of exchange or a form of digitally stored value or that is incorporated into payment system technology,” but exclude digital units used solely for online gaming. In other words, the rules cover Dogecoin but not World of Warcraft gold pieces.
?In developing this regulatory framework, we have sought to strike an appropriate balance that helps protect consumers and root out illegal activity – without stifling beneficial innovation,” Lawsky said in a Thursday morning post on Reddit’s r/bitcoin forum. ?These regulations include provisions to help safeguard customer assets, protect against cyber hacking, and prevent the abuse of virtual currencies for illegal activity, such as money laundering.”
Lawsky has become a fixture on Reddit, hosting a well-regarded AMA on the social news site in February of this year.
?We recognize that not everyone in the virtual currency community will be pleased about the prospect of a new regulatory framework,” he added. ?Ultimately, though, we believe that setting up common sense rules of the road is vital to the long-term future of the virtual currency industry, as well as the safety and soundness of customer assets. (We think the situation at Mt. Gox, for example, made that very clear.) Moreover, given that states have specific regulatory responsibilities in this area, we also have a legal obligation to move forward on this framework.”
Marco Santori, chair of the Regulatory Affairs Committee at the Bitcoin Foundation, told the Daily Dot that he appreciated the sincere effort Lawsky’s office is making to accommodate virtual currencies.
?First and foremost, New York is giving us an opportunity as an industry that the federal government never really gave us,” he explained. ?They want to engage in a dialog, that’s not something that FinCen or the IRS [federal agencies that have also issued guidelines on virtual currencies] never did—they just put out their opinions without first getting feedback. New York, on the other hand, seems very serious about about becoming a hub for virtual currencies.”
However, Santori did have some reservations about the actual substance of the regulations.
He argued that these rules impose heavier regulations on businesses that work in the world of virtual currencies than are placed on firms dealing in traditional ones. Santori said the new rules would, for example, sweep in the producers of software allowing people to manage their own bitcoins, while not holding other people’s money—which is typically considered the line separating regular businesses from the type of money transmitters subjected to harsher governmental scrutiny. ?It would be like holding Microsoft responsible for the content of a manifesto I wrote in Microsoft Word.”
The draft regulations will be formally published in the New York State Register on July 23, after which there will be a 45-day window when the public can comment. Regulators will then review the comments, make any changes they deem necessary, and then finalize them. Santori said that the Bitcoin Foundation will be actively engaging in that commenting period and beleives New York officials will be receptive to indsutry concerns.
New York isn’t the only state that’s working to incorporate virtual currencies into its formalized regulatory structure. Late last month, California Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill legalizing the use of virtual currencies in the Golden State by striking down an older bill prohibiting the use of any currency in the state other than the U.S. dollar.
Update: The story has been updated to include comments from the Bitcoin Foundation.
Photo by Hakilon/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)


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I tested several browsers for uploading photos to WordPress, IE, Firefox and Google Chrome. I found that “Google Chrome” is the fastest and easiest to use….
Posts Tagged With: IE
BOSTON (Reuters) – Microsoft Corp urged Windows users on Monday to install a free piece of security software to protect PCs from a newly discovered bug in the Internet Explorer browser.
The security flaw, which researchers say could allow hackers to take remote control of an infected PC, affects Internet Explorer browsers used by hundreds of millions of consumers and workers. Microsoft said it will advise customers on its website to install the security software as an interim measure, buying it time to fix the bug and release a new, more secure version of Internet Explorer.
The free security tool, which is known as the Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit, or EMET, is available on Microsoft’s website: http://bit.ly/Kv497S
Eric Romang, a researcher in Luxembourg, discovered the flaw in Internet Explorer on Friday, when his PC was infected by a piece of malicious software known as Poison Ivy that hackers use to steal data or take remote control of PCs.

domain: news


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Think abolishing a free and open Internet is a win for business? Think again.
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Ajit Pai is pushing to revoke net neutrality regulations passed in 2015 by the Obama Administration. The public has just three weeks to react before Pai’s rollback on internet freedoms will be put to a vote.
Facebook, Google, and Netflix have all issued statements on their support for the existing regulations. However, it’s Internet service providers that would gain the most from killing net neutrality because of the opportunity to throttle and monetize page-load speed. Consequently, Verizon, Comcast, and AT&T have been the most outspoken on deregulation.
What is ‘Net Neutrality?’
Net neutrality is the principle that ISPs and the government must treat all data on the Internet equally. This means not discriminating based on content, website, user, platform, application, or method of communication. Ranking factors for Google, for example, are then set according to relevancy and quality to provide the best user experience.
Existing legislation treats the internet as an essential service or a “common carrier” like electricity and telephone service. This designation means the internet is essentially a right of every American to have fair access.
Killing net neutrality would thus have an opposite effect by creating overregulation set by the private sector – primarily ISPs.
If Comcast and AT&T get their way, they will slow the loading speeds of websites that do not pay an exuberate fees for a “fast lane” and even block outside services they don’t agree with — called throttling. It also opens the possibility of creating partnerships with other corporations to bury their competitor’s ranking regardless of quality and relevancy of the content.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin told CTV News that it’s “essential to keep the freedom associated with the internet alive.”
“The idea of throttling certain sites or charging extra for certain services just does not make sense and if we’re going to continue to ensure that … digital technology and use of the internet is the lever to create economic growth and opportunities for citizens right across this country, we need to continue to defend net neutrality and I will.”
Proponents of net neutrality, like PM Trudeau and Silicon Valley, argue that these regulations preserve the fundamental internet standards and international consensus authority. What Pai is proposing is bit-shaping the transport of application data in order to undermine the transport layer’s design flexibility. This would allow for corporate censorship online with no benefit to companies large and small other than leading ISPs.
For Marketers, Advertising Costs Will Skyrocket
Joshua Lowcock, chief digital and innovation officer at UM, told AdWeek that repealing net neutrality is going to kill competition and innovation.
“It’s going to fundamentally change the way (marketers) can approach digital media, the ROI they can extract for it and even what partners they should be looking to and considering,” he said.
It all comes down to the user experience provided to consumers.
Marketers and agencies will find slow load speeds extremely frustrating despite following best practices for landing page optimization because analytics are likely to be skewed due to an inevitably higher bounce rate.
For smaller brands, the challenge is obvious. Enterprise-level companies will have the capital to move up and stay ranked in the top of search, while small brands would be relegated to the second and third page of SERP.
This is bad news for startups, but enterprises will inevitably suffer too. The marketing budgets of large companies are going to take a big hit for online visibility, something they already excel at. Advertising costs take another 1-2 if ISPs make deals with each other on what industries they “specialize” in.
Jascha Kaykas-Wolff, Chief Marketing Officer at Mozilla, sees the availability of online lead generation deteriorating in the age of a corporate-controlled Internet.
“Without net neutrality, creators and brands could struggle to reach new users and investment to ideas will struggle and dry up over time,” he said.
Kaykas-Wolff says the Internet might start to look more like cable TV.
“Clients should be outraged, and some of them are, at the prospect of ISPs as toll booths limiting access to a free and open internet,” one exec at a major media buying agency told AdWeek, who wished to remain anonymous. “It’s one thing to complain about a duopoly of Facebook and Google dominating digital dollars, but this action has the effect of strengthening them while adding to cost and complexity and reducing choice and information. ISPs win, but consumers, advertisers, and agencies all lose out.”
The Argument in Favour of Repeal
Despite backlash from the leading tech companies and the public, FCC chairman Pai and ISPs say this new revenue stream will actually drive innovation that expands and improves quality of service.
Pai is pushing for light-touch regulations and removing the Internet’s common carrier status in favour of the designation of information source. He says this is necessary to take control of the Internet away from lawyers and bureaucrats and back into the hands of entrepreneurs. Pai also argues that the regulations in place during the Clinton administration were ideal and was what propelled the internet’s exponential growth in its early stages.
The FCC is set to vote on repealing net neutrality in December.
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|ID thieves steal lives.
John Montroy doesn't collect dolls.
So the former Port Arthur resident was shocked when he discovered that $4,000 in VISA bills had charged in his name to a company that sells collectible dolls.
Someone had used his identity and credit card to purchase the expensive collectible dolls and had them shipped to Canada.
"Not only did they have my credit card number but all of my personal information, my codes, Social Security number, date of birth; all of it," Montroy said in a telephone interview from his Houston home.
Montroy is one of 40 million credit card holders who may be the victim of fraud after computer hackers breached MasterCard and VISA's security system last week.
Luckily Montroy was able to clear the charges, but was told to snip his cards because he would be receiving new ones.
"I've told everybody I see to check their statements," he said.
Identity theft is quickly becoming a major nuisance. On average, 1 million Americans have their identity stolen and each victim spends about 175 hours correcting the damage, Steve Savoy, Groves city marshal, said.
Identity thieves don't always hack into computers, sometimes they go "dumpster diving," sifting through garbage for others' identities.
Full story at:


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- Special Features
Blogs & Columns
- Fun & Games
Facebook’s most recent update for their iPhone and iPad apps is said to be one you don’t want to miss.
Mark Zuckerberg posted on his Facebook Thursday saying that Facebook has just released a newer, faster version of the app.
“We just released a new Facebook app for iPhone and iPad and it’s a lot faster. Our team completely rewrote it from the ground up to focus on speed. It’s a big step forward,” Zuckerberg posted.
When downloading the new Facebook app upgrade, the first noticeable change is the way in which the home screen appears on your phone. While Facebook made some minor changes to appearance and settings, the main change was the ability to increase the speed at which users receive information. When new status updates are added to the users news feed, a pop up message appears saying how many new updates the user has. The user can then press the message and be automatically taken to the new statuses posted just seconds before.
While Facebook users had many positive things to say about this new upgrade, comments have been made on the post about further upgrades they desire. Many people want there to be a way to share posts from your phone and the ability to tag people while writing a mobile post without saying you are with them.
In recent Facebook news, Zuckerberg has also posted news that he will be working with Frank Gehry to design a new campus for the Facebook office. His idea is to design a giant room that fits thousands of people who will be able to collaborate easier and work all together.
Included in Zuckerberg’s new floor plans is to incorporate a roof that has a park on top of it with a walking trail, a field and places to sit. He wants his office to appear to be a hill in nature when looked at from the outside.


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Shaoching Bishop is taking on an unlikely challenge for a former Goldman Sachs investment banker: finding new markets for caviar.
Over the past six months, Bishop has crisscrossed the world for Sterling Caviar, meeting with distributors and fine food execs in no fewer than 15 countries. “My job is to shake hands and find out who’s buying. I go to open doors,” she says, describing her role at Sterling Caviar as broader than a CEO, also managing 30 employees at the company’s sturgeon farm near Sacramento.
Since taking the job last year, Bishop has already forged relationships with some of this country’s best chefs at big-name restaurants like Per Se in New York and The French Laundry in Yountville, Calif. Having a sensitive palate has helped immeasurably with chefs, she says. “I have a good nose, and when people tell me something (about what they like) or I taste caviar, I have a photographic memory. That’s really worked to my advantage for selling.”
So has her boundless energy, which has enabled her to respond to intense competition spawned by a 2006 ban on wild sturgeon harvesting due to overfishing and pollution. Supplies of fine Caspian caviar like Beluga dried up in the U.S., and Sterling, the country’s first farmed sturgeon business, suddenly had new global rivals trying to take advantage of the ban. “New farms were coming in like crazy,” says Bishop, noting the market has been flooded with caviar from Europe, Israel, and China.
Still, Sterling is firmly planted in the industry. Over 20 years, the company has grown from a hobby among its owners, who loved sturgeon (“They’re playful and smart,” Bishop says), to a sustainable aquaculture business near Sacramento that produces 12 tons of caviar a year ranging in cost from $70 to $117 an ounce.
But caviar is just one of the unusual directions that Bishop’s career has taken. After graduating from Haas, she worked 16-hour days in San Francisco as a financial analyst in Goldman Sachs’ venture arm, helping firms build equity, go public, or sell.
With the arrival of her second child, she decided to scale back and landed a job helping Skyy Vodka founder Maurice Kanbar with his various inventions at MK Enterprises. “I worked with the engineer to turn a concept into a prototype,” Bishop says. The wide-ranging products included everything from the Fuzz-It sweater comb to sticky notes called Zip Notes.
After nine years, Bishop grew restless as VP of project management and took on a new challenge: Kanbar’s caviar business, Tsar Nicoulai Caviar. She stayed for a year and a half, turning the business around as general manager. “For the first time in 10 years we made money,” she says. “That’s when I discovered I could sell.”
Bishop, who grew up near Shanghai, says Haas Lecturer Steve Etter, BS 83, MBA 89, has inspired her throughout her career because he urged students to question everything. “Even though my English was not good and I had no idea about finance, his class just registered,” she says. “It was very open. It was freedom every single day.”
While passionate about her job, she already has a semi-retirement plan: to open a preschool, teaching kids to be just as curious as she is about everything from business to cooking to poetry.
“I want to raise kids to have Steven Etter’s method,” she says. “I want to cultivate minds.”


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THE Highland Food & Drink Forum announced today that the deadline for entries to the 2011 Highlands & Islands Food & Drink Awards has been extended until Sunday 24 July.
The organisers decided on the extension after feedback from a number of companies suggested that an already busy time of year had been more hectic than usual given the major events taking place in the area recently.
Quintin Stevens, chair of the Highlands & Islands Food & Drink Awards, said: “Many companies let us know that the last few weeks had been particularly busy for them, given the beginning of the holiday season combined with major events taking place in the area. The extension to the closing date for entries will give some extra time to those intending to enter this year.”
Quintin continued: “The Awards are a great way to benefit your company through an improved profile for the business or a particular product, with the potential to contribute to marketing and sales. Other winners from previous years have found that it has given them confidence to carry out business and product development. By encouraging and rewarding high standards and innovation, the Highlands & Islands Food & Drink Forum help to encourage our industry to be ahead of the game.”
Celebrating excellence and achievement in the food and drink industry, the Awards are organised by the Highlands & Islands Food & Drink Forum, and supported by Highlands and Islands Enterprise.
Entries are invited for categories recognising healthier food and drink, innovation, new products, new businesses, and businesses working in collaboration with each other. The best entries shortlisted for each Award category will be announced at the beginning of September.
The Awards will be presented to the winners at a spectacular dinner showcasing delicious, top-quality food and drink from the region taking place at the Drumossie Hotel, Inverness, on Friday 21 October 2011.
More information on the Awards is available at www.hifoodanddrinkawards.com
MEDIA RELEASE posted by Small Creek Communications. You too can post media releases (aka press releases) on allmediascotland.com. For more information, email here.


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Get trading recommendations and read reviews on Hacked.com for just $ 39 a month.
Despite the rise in the value of bitcoins, digital currency is becoming increasingly difficult to spend Don Pittis.
In 2010, Laszlo Hanyecz goes into history by becoming the first to buy two Domino pizzas for 10,000 bitcoins. At the time, the value of coins was worth very little. Now, however, a bitcoin is trading around $ 6,600.
According to Pittis, a CBCNews reporter, although Bitcoin may seem like a success, he thinks he's derailed from his original purpose.
In all respects, a bitcoin has become the currency that is hard to spend.
Pittis claims that in a wage economy, the purpose and value of money have two factors, one of which is a store of value. Regarding this factor, Pittis declares that digital currency has fulfilled its function. However, when it relates to a price and exchange measure, he believes that cryptocurrency has failed.
Trying to price your goods or services in bitcoins is a crazy race.
The solution would be to have a bitcoin value in fiduciary money, writes Pittis. According to him, it is the US dollar and gold that remain relatively stable, saying that bitcoin is "only a speculative investment".
"It is well known that a stable pricing is essential for a health economy," he writes, the effect of price developments having affected many companies across the globe. world. One of the most famous is the Dutch mania tulip of the seventeenth century, which Pittis speaks in his article.
One must ask, however, whether he actually gets digital currency. He writes that cryptocurrencies only retain their value where anonymity is paramount. Yes, they can be used on the black web to escape the identity, but the same goes for those who want to escape an electronic track.
But, the use of bitcoin also helps those who are facing an economic crisis. Take Venezuela, for example. Hyperinflation and government policies prevent most people from having access to foreign currencies. As a result, they are turning to crypto-currencies such as bitcoin and dashboard to buy food and groceries overseas. Western Union and PayPal not being active in Venezuela, thousands of people rely on platforms such as Cryptobuyer, a Venezuelan-based cryptocurrency brokerage company that has more than 10,000 registered users.
They then use their bitcoins to acquire gift cards that they can use on online marketplaces like Amazon, allowing them to buy goods overseas.
For the Venezuelan people, the use of bitcoin does not become harder to use. For them, it's a lifesaver.
Image from Shutterstock.


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Understand The Key Priorities In A Post Pandemic Response
Over the past three weeks, Constellation Research, Inc. has fielded hundreds of calls from CXO’s about what to consider in the business and technology response to the coronavirus and Covid-19 fall out. In fact, on Friday April 3rd, Constellation convened a conversation with more than 40 CXO’s on strategies during the Constellation Executive Network Office Hours call. (The next one will be May 1st, 2020 at 7:00 am Pacific Time).
The conversations with clients and the analysis from the research team have resulted in a Post Pandemic Playbook that considers the context of public health and economic health with (see Figure 1):
- People and process
- Business models and economy
- Politics and legislation
Figure 1. The Post Pandemic Playbook
Source: Constellation Research, Inc.
Building off of Constellation’s PESTEL frameworks, the result is an actionable playbook of what’s required for success for executives seeking guidance in Constellation’s business themes (see Figure 2)
Figure 2. Constellation’s Business Themes
Source: Constellation Research, Inc.
PEOPLE and PROCESS
Leaders in the human resources, communications teams, business operations, and other related areas have identified these areas for prioritization:
- New leadership models. Decentralized models will emerge as well as a shift to both a responsive and responsible approach. These new dynamic leadership models adjust as conditions change.
- Trust is THE currency. A scarcity of trust for institutions, media, and politicians have exacerbated public policy efforts to control the virus. Brands and enterprises must guard their brand security and continue to earn the trust of stakeholders.
- Work from home policies. While many organizations may have had policies for a fraction of the workforce, recent shelter in place policies place the majority of workers at home. Organizations must help their team mates understand how to work in this new environments, protect their mental health, and find balance between work and home.
- Reskilling and retraining. As market conditions evolve, teammates may want to take the time to invest in new skills. Organizational teams may want to share new techniques in the future of work.
- Perception and communications. Decentralized management and a distributed workforce requires strong internal communications and brand management. New means of communications from internal messaging apps to collaboration spaces will facilitate internal communications requirements.
- Crowdsourcing. One area expected to pick up in adoption is crowdsourcing as organizations cast a wider net in their search for talent to rapidly respond to business challenges.
- Gig economy capacity. Concerns about adding to headcount will lead to broader inclusion of gig economy workers to adjust for increases and decreases in capacity.
- Mental health support. Leaders should consider deployment of mental health programs to address the additional stress created by work from home policies. The combination of limited connectivity, economic uncertainty, additional people in cramped home environments, and PTSD from media sensationalism will place massive stress on team members.
- Safety. Predators and hackers will attack the new environment. Policies should consider how to address added safety requirements on home networks as well as physical safety in the event of riots and other potentially political instability.
Chief information officers, chief digital officers, chief technology officers, chief information security officers, and other business and IT related disciplines have ranked the following areas as key investments in the post pandemic playbook:
- Business continuity planning. Almost every technologist has been asked by their executive team how to plan for security outages, power failures, natural disasters, and now pandemics. Both process and technology playbooks need to be created to consider how to service the core business and key stakeholders during the pandemic.
- Resiliency. Organizations must think of creative approaches to provide continuous availability, workforce mobility, and flexible access to compute and storage for both planned and unplanned events.
- Cloud push. Projects to support hybrid cloud, multi-cloud, and private clouds will accelerate. Clients investing in self-reliance and redundancy where possible may consider adding mainframe capabilities to their private and public cloud environment.
- Analytics and precision decisions. The push for accurate and rapid forecasting has placed analytics and precision decisions in the spotlight. Business planning, forecasting, and analytic investments have risen in most enterprises as they plan for all possible business scenarios.
- AI, automation and autonomous. Worsening economic conditions, the need to reduce FTE’s, and the shift away from redundant and repetitive processes hasten automation efforts. AI projects that improve scale have received accelerated investment. The shift to an autonomous enterprise will accelerate post pandemic.
- Cybersecurity. To add insult to injury, hackers have stepped up phishing and DDoS attacks during the pandemic. CISO’s have upped security efforts to protect work from home access as well as other attack surfaces.
- Privacy. A war on privacy has emerged in the interest of public health. Organizations must refrain from infringing on privacy rights of the individual afforded by the 4th amendment in the US Constitution, European GDPR rules, as well as other privacy regulations. Protecting client privacy builds trust in today’s chaotic and apocalyptic environment.
- Digital acceleration. Most CXO’s have expressed an push to digital business models. From contact less ordering, to buy online to pick up in store, to subscription business models, the post pandemic environment will see digital acceleration as a key priority.
- Remote employee tool kits. Enterprises must build easy to use tools to enable employees and team members to succeed at work. Like crash kits in healthcare, IT teams are building tool kits that include software, hardware, processes, and access to improve the work from home experience.
BUSINESS MODEL AND ECONOMY
- Massive M&A environment. Historical low valuations will lead to acquisitions of talent, intellectual property, customer base and markets, as well as removing competition. Companies with the most cash on hand will lead this M&A cycle. A quick look at the top 10 organizations with the most cash on hand shows over $.700 trillion in cash on hand.
- Microsoft $136.6B
- Berkshire $126.2B
- Google $121.B
- Apple $100.6B
- Amazon $47.3B
- Facebook $45.2B
- Ford $37.3B
- Oracle $35.7B
- Cisco $33.4B
- Bristol-Myers Squibb $32.5B
- Market consolidation. Massive winner takes all models will accelerate. The bigger will get bigger, the smaller will continue to decline. For example, retailers will be replaced by commerce giants who can deliver end to end on the digital journey. Content, network, technology will aggregate around the consumer as value chains collapse for telecom, entertainment, media, and consumer technology firms.
- Subscription business models. Organizations will push for acceleration in subscription business models to improve access and distribution of digital goods and services as well as provide recurring revenue for physical goods and services. Most consumers and enterprises have hesitated to cut subscriptions in the current environment for these upfront annual and month-to-month agreements
- US vs China War. The battle for global dominance of standards, equipment, and business models will continue as the US and China duke it out. Enterprises may have to make decisions based on spheres of influence and find ways to bridge the two models of open and decentralized (US) vs closed and centralized (China).
- Shift from global outlook to nationalism. Business models will reflect a new outlook towards nationalism. Closed borders, self-sufficient supply chains, and trade wars will continue in the post pandemic landscape.
- Strategic reserves for medical equipment and care. Leaders can expect greater stockpiling of medical equipment and other areas for national security. Businesses may also plan for their own strategic stockpiles as part of their budget.
POLITICS AND LEGISLATIVE
- Continued lack of trust in institutions. From media, to politicians, to government institutions, the lack of trust by the populace exacerbates. This political climate will continue to create divisive governments and inability for countries to mobilize responses to critical issues. Organizations must find a way to create a centrist approach amidst such division.
- Supply chain shift of critical industries away from China. China will face punitive responses from global governments. Insurance companies will penalize organizations for leaving their supply chains eggs in one basket. Expect more diversification and regulatory requirements to expand supply chain sources as well as protect national interests.
- Privacy vs public health. A continued debate of privacy and public health will arise. Calls for contact tracing, quarantine and isolation enforcement, and sharing of health data will test limits on privacy policies.
The Bottom Line: Plan For Your Post Pandemic Response Now
Over the course of the next few weeks, the research team will provide specific details for each business theme. The need to create a response and playbook have never been greater. Learn from the current best practices and share your thoughts. Enclosed is the high level overview for guidance in creating your post pandemic playbook.
(Cross-posted @ A Software Insider's Point of View)


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A hefty end to the fiscal year for ServiceNow with substantial growth, strong customer wins and a potentially lucrative tie-up with IBM that sees its Multicloud Management Platform integrated with ServiceNow's IT Service Management (ITSM) tools.
All told, CEO John Donohoe calls it the company’s strongest fourth quarter to date. Some stats:
- Revenue of $715.4 million, up 30% year-on-year.
- Subscription revenues up 33% year-on-year to $666 million.
- Net income of $7 million.
- Full year revenue of $2.61 billion on narrowed loss of $26.7 million, down from $149.1 million.
- 51 new customer deals worth more than $1 million a year.
Donohoe points to the customer growth numbers:
We are now helping to enable the digital transformation of almost 5,400 enterprise customers, including almost 75% of the Fortune 500. We now have 678 customers doing more than a $1 million in business annually with us, and we have 74 customers, who are doing greater than $5 million, up 54% year-over-year. And the number of customers doing greater than $10 million has more than tripled year-over-year to 18, including three above $20 million. Our renewal rate for the quarter was a strong 98%.
From a product perspective:
Both our HR and customer service products for example, now have more than 20 customers doing more than a $1 million, and 19 of our top 20 deals in the quarter included three or more products. Even more important, net new business in our core IT workflow products reaccelerated in 2018. This underscores the strength of our flagship product, the strategic partners we’re building with CIOs and the continued market opportunity to expand the impact of our core IT workflow products.
The “partnership” with CIOs is what’s driving growth, argues Donohoe:
In the fourth quarter, I had an opportunity to meet with 50 of the world’s most respected CIOs. They reiterated common themes…[that] I continue to hear in my customer conversations worldwide - the business imperative for digital transformation, the need for trusted technology partners, and the challenges of driving cultural change. These leading CIOs understand the power of our Now platform and products.
They view ServiceNow as a strategic partner. But as one CIO put it, he doesn’t view us as just another cloud partner. He sees ServiceNow as the platform that creates a multiplier effect in his cloud ecosystem. Our enterprise capabilities link together other systems and platforms enabling seamless digital workflows that create great experiences and unlock productivity and that’s what every C-suite executive I speak with is looking for.
Donohoe says he detects more cross-functional thinking going on at C-level, citing end-to-end employee experience as a case in point:
Everyone wants to digitally connect with their employees in a world where we got to – recruit Millennials and retain them and everyone wants productivity. That requires an employee experiences [that is] by definition cross functional, where an employee doesn’t really care if they’re dealing with IT or HR or finance or facilities. And so we’re seeing more and more customer initiatives, where they’re looking for cross functional support to drive a better employee experience. So IT’s involved, but they’re partnering with their CHRO or HR. They’re partnering with facilities or partnering with finance.
I was at major Fortune 100 customers and all those people were in the room and they’re turning to us saying, ‘We want to build an end-to-end employee experience and we believe your platform connects effectively in with many of the other core systems of record, be it a Concur for T&A or an AFE for payroll or Workday for an HCM, or many others’. And they look to us to stitch the workflow together…It’s not like we’re only in IT or only in HR or only in customer service. Increasingly, you’re seeing a kind of a shared services mindset.
Looking ahead at 2019, Donohoe suggests that ServiceNow’s proposition is one that can ride out any macro-economic bumps in the road, such as Brexit - ServiceNow has a big international expansion push - or another shutdown of the US Federal Government, a market that's a big focus:
Most of our customers are under the gun to be honest, to deliver strong digital transformation results and digital transformation results include better employee and customer experiences and productivity. As we look into 2019, we can’t really forecast macro-economics and we’re not going to try too, but we see companies continuing to invest in technology as a core enabler of digital transformation.
Our focus is very much on demonstrating business value, demonstrating economic value. The fact is, we automate workflows. In automated workflows, he has to provide better experiences, but they also drive productivity. So even in an environment if spend gets tougher over time, we want to be at the top of the list as a productivity enhancer.
A blow out quarter by any standards. ServiceNow pushes into 2019 in a very strong position and with a compelling story to tell the C-suite. It’s interesting to note that the firm is launching its first brand marketing push to raise the company’s profile at boardroom level. That’s an important tipping point in any tech firm’s growth - CEO name recognition. Oracle has it. Salesforce has it. So do Microsoft, SAP, IBM etc etc. 2019 could be the year when ServiceNow follows suit.


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EA Sports spend nearly £500m on English Premier League for first non-FIFA game
FIFA 23 was the final game by EA Sports in their deal with FIFA.
Back in 2022, it was confirmed that EA Sports and FIFA would be parting ways, officially making FIFA 23 the final outing in their partnership.
Reports at the time suggested that FIFA had been looking for "at least double" the €142 million it received annually from EA Sports to use the licence.
The New York Times says it "quickly became clear there were different expectations" regarding what a new deal should constitute, and rumours began circulating that FIFA were actually looking for somewhere in the region of $1 billion.
This week, Sky Sports reports that EA Sports have spent £488 million/€552 million on a new six-year deal that will allow them to retain the rights to the English Premier League.
This will be for EA's first non-FIFA game in quite some time, with their upcoming new game, EA Sports FC, having no access to the World Cup.
On the flipside, EA has signed deals with hundreds of teams and athletes, as well as more than 30 leagues, allowing it to retain real-world names and venues. A spokesperson for EA Sports stated the following: "Everything you love about our games will be part of EA SPORTS FC – the same great experiences, modes, leagues, tournaments, clubs and athletes will be there. Ultimate Team, Career Mode, Pro Clubs and VOLTA Football will all be there.
"Our unique licensing portfolio of more than 19,000+ players, 700+ teams, 100+ stadiums and 30 leagues that we’ve continued to invest in for decades will still be there, uniquely in EA SPORTS FC. That includes exclusive partnerships with the Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A, the MLS – and more to come."
- New PlayStation 5 ad may have just teased top secret Uncharted 5
- The first reviews for Hogwarts Legacy are absolutely stellar
- Deliver Us Mars needs some course corrections


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Activision Blizzard Announces World Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft 2016
The well-known video game publisher seems to be serious about the development of e-sports, and this also applies to the mega-popular title Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft. The American company announced the details of the 2016 Hearthstone Championship Tour, and it will be seriously different from the event that took place this year.
According to The Verge, much more money will be allocated for the championship next year than before. The prize pool of the 2016 championship finals will be $ 1 million, which is four times the prize money of the current year.
Along with an increased budget, the series of tournaments, which will be held throughout the year, also received a new, more structured format. Gamers from the Asia-Pacific region, Europe and America will compete in a series of seasonal tournaments throughout the year, and winning them will bring them a place in the final. The World Championship will be attended by four gamers from the above regions, as well as four participants from China. Oddly enough, in the Middle Kingdom qualifying rounds will be held in a slightly different way. For each regional championship, 100 thousand dollars of prize fund were allocated.
Recall that the final of the championship of 2015 was held recently - in November in Anaheim. And the new competition, in fact, will begin today - with the DreamHack Winter 2015 event in Sweden. By the end of the year, the best 16 players who will enter the final battle for the main award will be known.
Activision Blizzard is the parent company of Blizzard. Recently, she has made a major leap in the world of electronic sports, and the Hearthstone Championship is only one of the evidence of recent times.
In September, the company announced a new competitive league for Call of Duty, with an event prize pool of $ 3 million. Earlier this month, the World Heroes of the Storm Tournament was held, which also had a huge prize pool of $ 1.2 million. The publisher has also set up a separate e-sports division, led by former ESPN CEO Steve Bornstein. “I’m sure that e-sports can become a serious competitor to traditional sports in terms of future opportunities,” said Bornstein, explaining this decision.


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DWF's real estate team has advised Local Pensions Partnership Investments (LPPI) and their investment managers, Knight Frank Investment Manager, on the sale of Princes Mead Shopping Centre in Farnborough, to Sovereign Housing Association, in a deal which will help deliver regeneration plans in Farnborough town centre.
The 7.77 acre site offers significant development potential with a masterplan to deliver 362 new homes. The site sits at the heart of wider regeneration plans for Farnborough town centre brought forward by Rushmoor Borough Council and the Hill-Rushmoor Development Partnership, which include a new leisure centre, a new restaurant, food and beverage areas, and 1,000 new energy efficient homes.
DWF's real estate team has managed the shopping centre since LPPI purchased it in 2011, during which time they advised on the substantial redevelopment of part of the centre to construct two new retail warehouses and subsequent letting.
The deal was led by Miles Sinclair, a Senior Associate in the real estate team, and included colleagues from the real estate litigation, tax and employment teams.
Miles commented, "It has been a privilege to support LPPI on this transaction. I have been dealing with matters at Princes Mead Shopping Centre throughout my whole career, and I was delighted that we were able to successfully complete the sale of the shopping centre in what is a very challenging market."
The deal will help deliver wider town centre regeneration plans as well as meeting local housing demand.


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Fanatics scores $27 billion valuation
Fanatics has raised $1.5 billion in a new round of funding that now values the company at $27 billion, Axios has confirmed. The investment was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Why it matters: Fanatics' valuation is the proverbial hockey stick, up more than four times in the past 18 months.
- In August 2020, the company was valued at $6.2 billion. A year later, its August 2021 funding valued the digital sports platform at $18 billion.
- Investors in this round include BlackRock, Fidelity and MSD Capital.
- This has only increased speculation about a potential IPO.
The big picture: The company, which was founded in 2011, has been gobbling up the sports memorabilia market lately but is looking to expand beyond its core business of merchandise and memorabilia.
- Last June, Fanatics launched an NFT business called Candy Digital, which was valued at $1.5 billion in October.
- In January, the company bought the trading cards and collectibles business of Topps for around $500 million.
- Just last week, Fanatics, along with Jay-Z and other celebrities, purchased iconic throwback retailer Mitchell & Ness in a deal that valued it at $250 million.
- Recent hires include former FanDuel CEO Matt King, who is leading Fanatics' sports betting and iGaming division.


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Our columnist uses the “first-ever blockchain-based auction of fine art” to throw cold water on an overheated art-tech space. Tim Schneider,
June 25, 2018 Every Monday morning, artnet News brings you The Gray Market.
The column decodes important stories from the previous week—and offers unparalleled insight into the inner workings of the art industry in the process. This week, dissecting one subject to put an entire system in view Maecenas logo. Image courtesy of Maecenas.
On Wednesday, art investment startup Maecenas opened online registration to participate in an event it is billing as “the world’s first ever blockchain-based auction of fine art.” But in my opinion, slicing into the details lays bare a number of deficiencies that also apply to much of the overheated art and blockchain space. (If you’re not familiar with that space yet, check out my primer from earlier this year.) Presented in partnership with Dadiani Syndicate, which brands itself as the first British gallery to accept cryptocurrency payments, the Maecenas auction in question will feature only one work: Andy Warhol’s 14 Small Electric Chairs (1980).
The painting will be divided into fractional shares collectively amounting to as much as a 49 percent ownership stake. These minority shares will be distributed to winning bidders paying in Bitcoin, Ether, or Maecenas’s own cryptocurrency, the ART token.
Sale and subsequent Wall Street-style trading of these shares will be tracked on a blockchain, allegedly creating what Maecenas calls a “transparent marketplace.” To Maecenas and Dadiani’s credit, would-be bidders can only participate in the auction after submitting some basic “Know Your Client” and “Anti-Money Laundering” details, including proof of identity and current residence. In theory, this requirement at least prevents the auction from being converted into a washing machine for dirty cash—a legitimate possibility that dogs many crypto-ventures seeking an air of legitimacy and wider adoption. Read more from news.artnet.com…
thumbnail courtesy of artnet.com


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In Italy, consumers who buy electronic products and other durable goods have the right to get two years of free assistance, irrespective of other warranties offered by a manufacturer.
The AGCM competition and market authority has already imposed fines of 900,000 euros (Rs 6.28 crore) on divisions of Apple, which offers a paid technical support service, for failing to tell customers about their rights to free assistance.
Photos: Alia Bhatt, Sunny Deol at an event in Mumbai
Photos: Akshay Kumar, Taapsee Pannu promote 'Naam Shabana'
Flashback: When sexy models sizzled in bikinis at Tokyo fashion show
Photos: These Indian cities top the list in online purchase of sex products
In pictures: Indian-origin artistes in Hollywood


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For just a few years now some automobile corporations have been experimenting with an concept ripped straight out of video video games. Somebody, someplace figured that hey, if individuals are prepared to pay for a sport then spend extra money inside the sport they already purchased then they may do the identical for vehicles—a much more costly and profitable enterprise—as properly.
BMW, for instance, gives a subscription service the place for $18 a month you may get heated seats, or pay to unlock adaptive cruise management. Tesla has a dear ($99-$199 a month!) subscription service for its self-driving software program in some vehicles, and Volkswagen, Toyota and GM have all trialled related subscription-based unlocks or options as properly.
Making headlines this week, although, is an instance that’s probably the most outrageous since Tesla used to lock battery vary behind a paywall. Mercedes has introduced a digital buy for its all-electric autos known as an “Acceleration Improve”, which prices $1200 a yr and when purchased “can enhance an EQ car’s acceleration by 0.8 to 1.0 seconds.”
Whereas vehicles have at all times featured costly add-ons—it’s a pillar of the entire enterprise mannequin—these have beforehand been tangible purchases. In case you paid for greater wheels you bought greater wheels. Parting with just a few additional thousand for leather-based seats obtained you fancy leather-based seats.
What’s taking place with these automobile subscription companies, although, is much extra ominous. You’re not likely getting something. As a substitute, due to advances within the working methods and communications present in fashionable vehicles, what you’re shopping for is a car with sure options restricted or locked off, which might then be then enabled remotely.
It’s the identical argument video video games went by means of over a decade in the past—and which we’ve got collectively simply shrugged and moved on from—when folks came upon the DLC they have been shopping for was already on the disc they purchased. It’s the identical story right here; the motors in these Mercedes autos might at all times go that quick, and locking sure parts of their efficiency away behind a digital paywall is taking absolutely the piss.
One frequent issue amongst all of the very worst of those examples is that they’re restricted to costly, luxurious autos, concentrating on wealthy individuals who in all probability don’t give a shit about spending (what’s for them) just a few additional bucks a month after they’ve dropped $100,000+ on a automobile. The hazard, after all, is that if these wealthy folks begin shopping for these items and it turns into a profitable enterprise mannequin, then it gained’t be too lengthy earlier than we begin seeing it in a Toyota Corolla and…oh. Nice.


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BAY CITY -- President of the Fireworks Festival Doug Clark is breathing a little easier at work this morning as the committee's annual telethon raised $15,600 to put toward this year's fireworks celebration on June 30, July 1 and July 2.
"We did good," he said. "With the way the economy is, we're happy with the way everything turned out. People realized this is going towards a good cause and really stepped up."
Clark said he did have a moment of concern around 4 p.m. Sunday when the telethon had only raised about $10,000 with two hours remaining.
Fortunately, he said, several of their "big ticket items" were left to bid on, bringing the group to $600 past their original goal.
Clark said some of the big ticket items were a professional massage chair that sold for just $500 short of its retail value of $2,000. Sleep doctor donated a queen size bed that sold for $1,000, and Old Town Gym gave vouchers for a choice of trips to Las Vegas, Cancun or a cruise.
Clark estimated it will cost around $200,000 to put on this year's festival.
"We can't thank the businesses enough for all their support and the community for calling in and giving their support," said Clark.
The committee will begin planning the festival today, booking entertainment and calling vendors. At least two more fundraisers are planned for the festival, which include a golf outing in May and a Texas Hold 'em poker-style tournament at area poker rooms.
For more information, including contact information for donations, visit the Bay City Fireworks Festival website here.


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NEW YORK — “I am really excited because I am wearing the first Cradle to Cradle certified dress,” said actress Alysia Reiner of “Orange is the New Black.”
“And the reason Fashion Positive is so important is that I am very outdoor furniture fabric right now. I wish I were kidding, it’s a little itchy. But next year thanks to you all, I’ll be wearing something absolutely fabulous.”
“And just as short,” added her husband, actor David Basche.
Reiner and Basche were among the award presenters for the second annual Cradle to Cradle Innovation Celebration at Gotham Hall Friday night, emceed by Thomas Roberts, host of MSNBC’s “Way Too Early.”
The organization administers the Cradle to Cradle Certified Product Standard, a systematic approach to continual improvement that looks at a product through five categories — material health, material reutilization, renewable energy and carbon management, water stewardship and social fairness. A product receives an achievement level in each category — Basic, Bronze, Silver, Gold, or Platinum — with the lowest achievement level representing the product’s overall mark.
New this year was Fashion Positive, bringing the fashion world into the group’s large umbrella of product sectors, from packaging and building supplies to interior design and health and beauty, as well as apparel, shoes and accessories.
As Reiner noted, future outfits will be much more fashionable thanks to several collaborators participating in the launch — Stella McCartney, Loomstate, Saitex, G-Star and Under the Canopy/Portico with Michael Stars. Each will create a capsule collection within Cradle to Cradle’s gold-level category and work with a consortium of suppliers approved by the initiative.
“I guess this falls into the area of be careful what you wish for,” said Marci Zaroff, president and chief merchandising officer of Under the Canopy/Portico. “But I’ve been working toward this for 20 years.”
Amber Valletta, who is on Fashion Positive’s advisory board, said, “We’ve all heard the terms sustainable fashion and eco fashion, but what does it all really mean? Tonight we are learning how Cradle to Cradle design methods can truly define what we mean when we envision a world where stylishly, responsibly made fashion is the norm. I am committed to the mission that Cradle to Cradle is putting forward. I’m proud to be joining a remarkable group of people who are leading our Fashion Positive initiative tonight.”
Fashion Positive’s aim is to pave the way for a “healthy” fashion future, using high-quality materials, products and processes that make a positive impact on the environment, the economy and society.
McCartney, addressing the crowd via video, said she was proud to be part of the “pioneer brands” in Fashion Positive.
“We’ve always thought this way from day one,” McCartney said of her company and the group’s mission. “It’s all about being responsible in what we do in luxury.”


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After shutting down operations in 9 cities in January, online grocery delivery startup Grofers is now laying-off 10% of its work-force while retracting job offers given to fresh graduates, reports Livemint. The company’s Human Resource head notified its employees through an email that most lay-offs would take place in the customer support and content teams; exiting employees will receive a one-month severance package, the report added.
The company cited “general slowdown in activity” within the grocery delivery business as one of the reason behind the lay-offs, in the email circulated among the employees. MediaNama contacted Sharad Harjai, Assistant Vice President, Marketing at Grofers for a comment, however Harjai refused to comment on the story.
“The primary driver of this decision is our changing growth trajectory. We grew at an insane pace last year but given that as of April this year, we have effectively reduced marketing spend next to nothing. We don’t foresee the same growth rates to continue,” said the email, which was reviewed by Mint.
Job-offers revoked: The company has retracted 67 job offers in total issued to students from National Institute of Technology, Birla Institute of Technology and Science and Indian School of Mines in, according to Mint. Earlier on Tuesday, the company revoked job-offers given to 8 students from MNNIT, just 2 days before their joining dates, as indicated by YourStory.
Yesterday, Grofers said in a blog post that it has been making some strategic changes within the company, which is intended to benefit customers. The positions for which job offers were issued turned out to be “redundant” after the changes, added Grofers in the post, while apologizing for the move.
“However, these (strategic) changes have made the new roles redundant and therefore, we are no longer able to continue with the offers we made a few months back” Grofers said in the post
Services shutdown in 9 cities: In January, Grofers had shut down its services in 9 cities citing low acceptance. The company had expanded to these Tier II cities, including Ludhiana, Bhopal, Kochi, Coimbatore and Visakhapatnam in September 2015. Grofers now operates in 17 cities.
Grofers funding: In November, Grofers raised $120 million in a round of funding from SoftBank, Russian entrepreneur Yuri Milner, with participation from existing investors Tiger Global and Sequoia Capital. Note that the company raised funding worth $35 million from Tiger Global Management and Sequoia Capital India in April, less than two months after it had raised series A funding of $10 million. It had also raised an undisclosed amount in seed funding from Sequoia and Zomato founder Deepinder Goyal.
Acquisitions: In September, Grofers acquired the B2B logistics service provider Townrush for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition was essentially an acqui-hire with Townrush ceasing to exist as an independent company. Around the same time, Grofers also acqui-hired SpoonJoy for an undisclosed amount. In April, it acquired mobile grocery My Green Box. At the time, the company said that 60% of its business came from the grocery vertical.
Recent shutdowns in online grocery delivery:
–In April, online grocery delivery service PepperTap, which raised $51.2 million in funding since inception, had shut down operations across the country, and planned to pivot its business into logistics.
– Last month, Ola shut down its food and grocery delivery businesses Ola Cafe (launched in March 2015) and Ola Store.
– In February, Flipkart shut down its grocery delivery service Nearby five months after its launch.
Our online grocery coverage.


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MANILA - The Philippine Embassy in Paris on Thursday issued an advisory for Filipinos traveling to France to be extra vigilant and alert to avoid being victims of break-ins, robberies, snatching, and pickpocketing in the capital.
Filipinos are urged to remember the following reminders:
- Be wary of pickpockets and snatchers. They are rampant at metro stations, trains, shopping areas, and tourist spots. Always secure your personal belongings such as your bags, wallets, phones and other personal items when visiting tourist spots, walking around, and riding public transportation.
- Theft may also occur in hotels and apartments. Make sure that your briefcases, bags, and other valuables are secure.
- Some thefts were reported even in airports. Make sure to keep an eye on your belongings, to avoid losing your passport and other valuables. This is also to avoid inconvenience prior to your flight.
- Be wary of people asking you to participate in petition signing or strangers who try to divert your attention by telling you that your wallet or jewellery is on the ground. These are just some of the methods used by pickpockets.
- Do not carry a lot of cash. Most stores accept cards. Should you use your card, cover your hand discretely when typing the pin.
- Keep your bags out of sight when inside the vehicles. Robberies may sometimes occur during traffic jams. If you use a rental car, do not leave your valuables inside the car as rented vehicles are always targets of thieves.
- Be alert and vigilant when visiting different areas in France. Make sure to follow the instructions of police and military personnel in case of any incident.
Filipinos who may need urgent assistance can call the 24/7 emergency hotline of the Philippine Embassy in France at +33 6 20 59 25 15.
They may also visit 45 Rue de Ranelagh, 4 Hameau de Boulainvilliers, 75016 Paris, or call at +331-44-14-57-00.
Travelers can also send a message at the embassy's email address, "email@example.com" or at its website "www.parispe.dfa.gov.ph."
They can also ask for help in Facebook or Twitter, using hashtags #PHinFrance.
- With a report from Willard Cheng, ABS-CBN News


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For video gamers, cognitive supplements have an edge over energy drinks
According to a report by CPG market research firm Packaged Facts, energy and sports drink marketers have forayed beyond the usual endorsements from athletes to “recruit celebrities from the growing world of gaming and positioning their products as performance enhancements for gaming activities.”
It’s a move that makes sense, as video gamers are more likely to be consumers of energy and sports drinks than consumers overall, according to Packaged Facts’ survey results.
Video gamers—what’s the size of the prize?
This consumer segment of video gamers, both the professionals and the hobbyists, is still in its infancy, and market researcher and analysts have yet to track the size of the group—and their wallets.
But there are indicators that marketers can refer to. For example, big firms are flocking to the community—energy drink giant Redbull is as ubiquitous in the gaming community as it is in Formula One racing or other non-digital sports, and so is Monster. Major soft drink brand Mountain Dew has its own product targeted for gamers, and meal replacement brand Soylent is expanding its mark in the community rapidly.
And while getting a US visa as an eAthlete has been difficult, it’s not unheard of.
“eAthletes and eSports come up a lot in the social media tracking that we do,” Dominic Leung, senior director of strategy at InterbrandHealth, told NutraIngredients-USA. Professional eAthletes can make seven figures (The highest paid gamer, according to Business Insider in 2015, was Saahil Arora with $,19m from 39 tournaments), and they have loyal followers, paving the way for sponsorship and ambassadorship for brands, Leung added.
Where cognitive supplements fit in
It’s a space where cognitive supplements can fit in squarely, observers opine, and companies in the space should act fast.
“The growth of eSports has been exponential, and its going to be cheaper now than it will be five, 10 years down the road,” said a spokesperson for supplement company VitalFuse, which sponsors a professional eSports team called Team Allegiance.
Its product Fused Focus contains 300 mg bacopa extract, 150 mg caffeine anhydrous, 65 mg theacrine, as well as bilberry fruit powder and gingko biloba. The spokesperson said that the combination of ingredients designed for mental clarity, such as theacrine and bacopa, is what gives cognitive supplements an edge over energy drinks.
“It’s the focus part of it—when you’re competing [in video games], your brain is moving at such a fast pace and the reaction time is so important,” he said. “Having the focus element to it and not just energy really helps capture the gaming market.”
Not just energy: Supplements have more room to make substantiated structure/function claims
Another cognitive function supplement brand targeting gamers directly is the stary-up Mynd Kandy, marketed as a nutritionist-formulated supplement in the shape of gummies to help boost mental bandwith.
It contains ‘full clinical doses’ of TeaCrine—a branded theacrine ingredient by Compound Solutions, as well as astaxanthin, wrapped in six different flavoured capsules. Compared to the energy drink companies, “we have a lot more room to make substantiated structure/function claims,” founder and CEO Chad Frankos told NutraIngredients-USA.
“Fast and heightened cognition is the obvious component of any product like this,” he said. “We needed to deliver on that, but in our flavored format, we did not want to take the easy way out with caffeine. Our customers are already using caffeine. TeaCrine adds to that without added jitters.”
Additionally, the use of astaxanthin, frequently studied for its eye health benefits, means Mynd Kandy can throw in an eye fatigue reduction claim as well.
Frankos said that though prolonged screen time and quick brain reaction make the video gaming community distinct, these benefits aren’t isolated to the group. “What we are finding is that the product is being used pre-gaming, but also pre-work,” he said.


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Roadwork plagues Montreal Main merchants
Another Main landmark store has closed down because of sluggish sales, as major construction work continues to strangle Montreal's storied St-Laurent boulevard.
Twist Encore made its last official sale last Saturday before calling it quits, 13 years after owner Serge Bilodeau first opened his shop a few doors south of Duluth Street on the Main.
Bilodeau enjoyed a solid following of fashionistas who flocked to the hardwood-floored store where he showcased an eclectic collection of funky local designer wares and vintage clothing.
But Bilodeau couldn't weather the dramatic drop in sales that followed the start of major construction work last fall, roadworkthat has left the street a tangle of steel barricades, orange pylons and deep trenches instead of sidewalks.
Bilodeau'ssales dropped 25 per cent during last holiday season, then slipped by 50 per cent last spring and continued to flatten over the summer.
He's livid to see his livelihood swallowed up by the city's refurbishing efforts.
"It was hell for a year," he told CBC Montreal. "From all the lies the city told me, all the dust."
The experience has drained him, and Bilodeau said he's too burnt out to sue the city for damages and lost revenue.
Deadline for completion pushed back numerous times
The city has pushed back the project deadline several times and construction work has been delayed regularly because of nicked gas lines and other problems.
The delays have left the Main in a perpetual cloud of dust, with a long, ant-like line of cars snaking up the boulevard in a perpetual traffic jam.
Merchants have complained regularly about the financial hit they've taken as pedestrian traffic dwindled and on-street parking spotsdisappeared. Bilodeau said he frequently showed up at his boutique to find no plank spanning the wide trench in front of his store.
City of Montreal spokesman Darren Becker said while it's unfortunate to see businesses go under, he hopes merchants hold on until November, when he said the work should be completed.
"Once the work is finished, the end product will be so magnificent, I think it will have a spin-off effect. We're so close to the end, we're asking other merchants to be patient."
Bilodeau said he hasn't got a straight answer from city officials since they announced the work, and still doesn't believe the renovations will be done by November.
About a dozen businesses on St-Laurent Blvd. have shut down in the last year, including the burger and fries restaurant Mondo Fritz.


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Horror sequel The Evil Within 2 hits store shelves this week, and publisher Bethesda Softworks has released a red band launch trailer for the game.
In the sequel, which was again developed by Tango Gameworks, Sebastian once again must fight through unspeakable horrors as he searches for his long lost daughter. Continue below to read more about the game and check out the new trailer […]
The post ‘The Evil Within 2’: Watch The Red Band Launch Trailer appeared first on Geeks of Doom.
Source:: Geeks of Doom – News


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Eating cheese before bed may no longer be the stuff of nightmares as a new study has found that eating cottage cheese before you go to sleep could aid weight loss.
The findings, published in the British Journal of Nutrition, suggested that eating just two tablespoons of the low-fat, protein-rich dish 30 minutes before bedtime could speed up your metabolism and have a positive effect on your overall health.
For the small study, the US scientists asked 10 active women in their 20s to eat 30g of cottage cheese two hours after their dinner and 30 to 60 minutes before going to bed.
When they woke between 5am and 8am, the amount of energy burned during their sleep was similar to when they were given a casein protein shake to drink before bed.
‘These data suggest the metabolic response from whole-food protein do not differ from the metabolic response of liquid protein,’ explained Associate Professor of Nutrition, Food and Exercise Sciences Michael Ormsbee, from Florida State University.
‘While protein supplements absolutely have their place, it is important to begin pooling data for foods and understanding the role they can play in these situations,’ added Samantha Leyh, a research dietitian who was part of the research.
However, Nutritional Therapist Sonal Shah of Synergy Nutrition, who is also a Nutritionist Resource member, says that making a link between cottage cheese consumption before bedtime and its weight loss benefits is a significant claim to make.
Speaking to Prima.co.uk, she said: ‘Other foods and drinks consumed in the women's diet along with physical activity and metabolic rate variances have to be considered.
‘The sample size of 10 is very small to be extrapolated to the wider population.’
Sonal adds: ‘Furthermore, the women were in their 20s, with their mean age being 23, and led active lifestyles. So their resting metabolic rate would naturally be higher than a woman above 40 who is inactive.’
However, the nutritionist said that cottage cheese can be eaten as part of a healthy, balanced lifestyle with exercise.
Given that 100 grams of cottage cheese (roughly six tablespoons) typically contains 11g of protein and 90 calories, ‘it can help you to get to your goal weight,’ adds Sonal.
The protein balances your appetite and keeps you fuller for longer, so instead of reaching for a high-sugar snack or something with sugar and fat, like ice cream or doughnuts, a few spoonfuls of cottage cheese is a healthier alternative.
Sonal adds that it can be eaten anytime of day and is ideal as a topping on bread, jacket potatoes, in salads, or on its own as a snack with fruit.


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SEATTLE – April 26, 2022 – Today, Amazon.com, Inc. (“Amazon”) (NASDAQ: AMZN), announced that its Counterfeit Crimes Unit (CCU) worked closely with Salvatore Ferragamo S.p.A. (SFER:IM) to report a counterfeiter of Ferragamo’s iconic Gancini belt to the Market Supervision and Administration (MSA) authorities located in Yiwu City, Zhejiang Province, China. Following an investigation by the MSA and Amazon’s CCU, officials raided the criminal’s warehouse, seizing hundreds of counterfeit belts and buckle accessories that may otherwise have been sold through retail channels around the world. Amazon and Ferragamo will continue to assist law enforcement in investigating counterfeiters and preventing their products from entering the global supply chain, to help stop this illicit trade at the source.
“Amazon is grateful for the collaboration from Ferragamo and the MSA in protecting customers from these counterfeit products,” said Kebharu Smith, head of Amazon’s Counterfeit Crimes Unit. “This should serve as a reminder that bad actors will be held accountable, as Amazon collaborates with both brands and law enforcement agencies around the world to stop inauthentic products from being sold across the retail industry.”
The case originates from a worldwide investigative effort against certain bad actors, which Amazon and Ferragamo identified as trying to sell in Amazon’s store. In February 2021, Amazon and Ferragamo jointly filed two lawsuits in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington and alleges the defendants conspired to use Ferragamo’s registered trademarks, without authorization, to deceive customers about the authenticity and origin of the products and the affiliation with Ferragamo.
Over the years, Salvatore Ferragamo has implemented a series of offline and online anti-counterfeiting measures to protect its customers and its brand. Thanks to these actions, in 2021, more than 22,000 infringing products and pieces of illicit content were removed from social media platforms and more than 130,000 listings related to counterfeit products were identified and removed from marketplace service providers. In 2021, Salvatore Ferragamo also carried out regular controls on physical stores launching several in-and out-of-court administrative and criminal proceedings, with a specific focus on China. Thanks to the increasing cooperation from local authorities, almost 450,000 counterfeit products were seized worldwide.
Amazon strictly prohibits infringing and counterfeit products in its store and, in 2020, Amazon invested more than $700 million and employed more than 10,000 people to proactively protect its store from fraud, counterfeit, and abuse. Amazon uses industry-leading tools to verify potential sellers’ identities and ensure product listings are authentic, and Amazon’s proprietary systems analyze hundreds of unique data points to verify information provided by potential sellers. In 2020, only 6% of attempted new seller account registrations passed Amazon’s robust verification processes and listed products for sale. In addition, fewer than 0.01% of all products sold on Amazon received a counterfeit complaint from customers.
Amazon launched the CCU in 2020 to help hold counterfeiters accountable through the courts and law enforcement. This global team—which is made up of former federal prosecutors, former law enforcement agents, experienced investigators and data analysts—pursues targets around the globe. Amazon’s CCU supports law enforcement efforts to bring justice to those attempting to sell counterfeits to protect customers, brands, Amazon’s stores, and the retail industry.
Amazon has an extensive history of protecting brands and taking action to hold bad actors accountable:
- Amazon and Weber File Joint Lawsuit Against Counterfeiters
- Amazon Counterfeit Crimes Unit Reaches Settlement with Influencers Who Ran Social Media Counterfeiting Scheme
- Amazon and GoPro File Joint Lawsuit Against Counterfeiters
- Amazon and Asmodee File Joint Lawsuit Against Counterfeiters
- Amazon and HanesBrands File Joint Lawsuits Against Infringers of Champion Trademarks
- Amazon Published Comprehensive Brand Protection Report Demonstrating Progress Toward Driving Counterfeits to Zero
- Amazon Establishes Counterfeit Crimes Unit to Bring Counterfeits to Justice
- Amazon Launches IP Accelerator in Europe to Help Small Businesses Protect Their Brands and Tackle Counterfeit
- Amazon and YETI File Joint Lawsuit against Counterfeiters
- Amazon and Salvatore Ferragamo File Two Joint Lawsuits Against Counterfeiters
Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Amazon strives to be Earth’s Most Customer‑Centric Company, Earth’s Best Employer, and Earth’s Safest Place to Work. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Career Choice, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, Alexa, Just Walk Out technology, Amazon Studios, and The Climate Pledge are some of the things pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews.
About Salvatore Ferragamo
Salvatore Ferragamo S.p.A. is the parent Company of the Salvatore Ferragamo Group, one of the leaders in the luxury industry, and whose origins date back to 1927. Salvatore Ferragamo is renowned for the creation, production and worldwide distribution of luxury collections of shoes, leather goods, apparel, silk products and other accessories for men and women, including also eyewear, watches and fragrances under license. Embedding the spirit of its Founder, Ferragamo reinterprets its heritage with creativity, innovation and sustainable thinking. Uniqueness and exclusivity, along with the blend of style and exquisite 'Made in Italy' savoir-faire, are the hallmarks of all Ferragamo's products. www.ferragamo.com


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Hubble spies distant, dusty galaxy
NASA might still be waiting for its next-generation planet spotting telescope to get off the ground, but the aging Hubble is still doing a fine job in the meantime. The telescope, which was originally launched way back in 1990, has spent the last 28 years delivering some truly breathtaking images from space, and one of its latest photos is yet another entry into its long list of achievements.
The image you see above is a galaxy known as NGC 4036. At around 70 million light-years away, it would be a bit of a trip to actually make it there, but Hubble is capable of delivering a pretty fantastic glimpse at it from Earth orbit.
BGR Top Deals:
- It’s not too late for Prime members to get a Fire TV Stick for $25
- Today’s best deals: $24 Bluetooth headphones, $25 Fire TV Stick, Instant Pot, Samsung Chromebook, more
Trending Right Now:
- Biggest ‘Infinity War’ leaker says ‘Avengers 4’ ending hasn’t been decided yet
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On Friday, Blatter—who has led soccer's governing body since 1998—won re-election as president amid an ongoing corruption probe.» Read More
Lately the dollar has been strong relative to foreign currencies, such as the euro and yen. Is that a good thing?
Technology is changing how we spend and save, and banks are adapting to keep up.
Thieves with stolen usernames and passwords broke into customer accounts at American and United airlines and booked free trips or upgrades.
Instacart has confirmed its giant $220 million investment led by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. Now the real work begins.
Wisconsin Republican Rep. Paul Ryan told NBC News in an interview Monday that he will not seek the presidency in 2016.
Salus Capital offered Radioshack $500 million in turnaround financing, Dow Jones reported Monday, citing sources close to the matter.
Nike will release a new line of Nike MAGs, the sneakers worn in the sci-fi flick 'Back to the Future Part II.'
The average price of gas in the U.S. fell to its lowest level since April 2009, according to the Lundberg survey released Sunday.
Missed out on rock-bottom chicken nugget prices? You're in luck...
While 2014 featured the biggest growth in 15 years, Friday's jobs report left at least one key constituency unimpressed.
Tiffany cut its full-year profit outlook, hurt by a stronger U.S. dollar and some weakness in the Americas and Japan.
Tiffany cut its guidance after reporting flat global holiday sales, but one pro says that doesn't mean there's trouble in high-end retail.
When top technology companies "lock out" diversity, they limit creativity and growth in their businesses, the Rev. Jesse Jackson said.
A deal between 3G Capital and either Pepsi or Coca Cola is not impossible, according to Ali Dibadj, consumer analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein.
It looked like a happy holiday for workers looking for retail jobs during the industry's busiest time, but reality didn't live up to the expectations.
Not since the late 90's has the North American International Auto Show buzzed with the kind of optimism industry leaders are showing in Detroit.
SanDisk said it expects revenue to be lower than it had forecast, citing weaker-than-expected sales of retail products and NAND storage chips.
Google plans to update its translation app with the ability to turn spoken popular languages into translated text, according to The New York Times.
CNBC.com asked private equity experts for key themes to watch in the new year.
Lower prices could make oil unprofitable to pull out of the ground. But we're not there yet, according to energy consultant Wood Mackenzie.
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In a relatively a rare move for Chipotle Mexican Grill, Chipotle began testing a new menu item Tuesday.
Big banks are spending on futuristic branches, but it's all a waste of time and money, say financial technology experts.
Nouriel Roubini explains how and why more economic liquidity may have led to "severe market illiquidity."
Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Yale School of Management, discusses how corporate America is addressing the key challenge of protecting information from cybersecurity threats.
Wall Street is looking for a bounce after stocks fell for a third time in four sessions Tuesday and as Greece nears a repayment deadline amid tense debt negotiations with its European creditors.
"Mad Money" host Jim Cramer is down to tango with this company.


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The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India vide Gazette notification nos. S.0.4379(E) to S.0.4706(E) dated 07.09.2018 has prohibited 328 Fixed Dose Combinations (FDCs) for manufacture, sale or distribution with immediate effect under Section 26A of Drugs & Cosmetics Act,1940. It has also restricted six more FDCs subject to certain conditions. The said publication is the continuation of the earlier notification of 10th March 2016 in the Gazette of India prohibiting 344 FDCs. Pursuant to the said notification the matter was appealed by pharmaceutical manufacturers and finally based on the decision of Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in its judgment of December 15, 2017, in Union of India and Anr. v/s Pfizer Ltd. and Ors. Civil Appeal No. 22972 of 2017 (Arising out of SLP (c) No.7061 of 2017), the matter was directed for examination to the Drugs Technical Advisory Board (DTAB) constituted under section 5 of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 for providing its report to the Central Government.
After examination DTAB opined that the ingredients of these drugs have no therapeutic rationale and are risky for consumption to human beings. The Central Government has received the similar recommendations by an Expert Committee appointed earlier to examine these FDCs. The Central Government, on the basis of recommendations, has now prohibited the manufacture for sale; sale; and distribution of the notified FDCs for consumption by human beings, in public interest.
FDCs are the combination of two or more active pharmaceutical ingredients in a fixed ratio packed in a single dose. The rationale behind the therapy is primarily patient compliance and to simplify the dosage regimen and therapy. It is expected that this ban could impact the sales figures as FDCs make up a major portion of the overall sales and around 6,000 brands with the market potential of approximately 2500 crore worth are likely to be affected.
The copies of said notifications are available on the website of CDSCO.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.


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Apple’s services business, which includes the App Store, Apple Pay and iCloud, recorded an 18.4 percent growth in revenue, helped by the popularity of games such as Pokemon Go and Super Mario Run and higher revenue from subscriptions.
The company forecast total revenue of between $51.5 billion and $53.5 billion for the current quarter. Analysts, on average, had expected revenue of $53.79 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
The company’s net income fell to $17.89 billion, or $3.36 per share, in the quarter from $18.36 billion, or $3.28 per share a year earlier. Analysts on average had expected $3.21 per share, according to Thomson Reuters.
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Revenue rose 3.3 percent to $78.35 billion in the quarter, compared with the average estimate of $77.25 billion.


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Huawei has taken the wraps off its new trio of flagship phones, the Huawei P40, P40 Pro and P40 Pro+. The smartphones were unveiled 2days ago via a livestream during its online global launch event, after the originally planned launch event in Paris was canceled due to coronavirus concerns.
Buy and sell smartphones on Fufatrade.ng the fastest growing marketplace
The camera boasts the ability to capture minute details even at considerable zoom distances. It also promises incredible low-light performance, and several photos were shown depicting how it performs compared to competing devices. All three phones also have a burst mode called Golden Snap, which is capable of intelligently selecting the best photo by removing imperfections like reflections from the frame. It even has the the ability to take out stray photo bombers. I mean, how cool is that?
At the top of the series is the P40 Pro+, with its penta (five) Leica camera setup. This includes a 50-megapixel standard zoom , a 40-megapixel ultrawide-angle camera, an 8-megapixel optical zoom, and a depth sensor. Like the Samsung Galaxy S20, the device can hit a 100x zoom, as well as an impressive 10x optical zoom.
The phones are powered by a Kirin 990 processor which supports 5G, 8GB RAM, 128/256GB internal storage, and a 3,8000/4,200mAh battery that supports 40-watts fast charging. As for aesthetics, the new devices have bezel-less OLED displays that wrap over the sides of the phone. They also have a glass or matte Nano-Tech Ceramic finish, water-resistant casings, and they come in a variety of colors which include classic black and ice white.
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China lauds Pakistan’s measures to uplift textile production: Prof Cheng Xizhong
BEIJING, Dec 20 (DNA): The present government of Pakistan has taken
special measures to further develop textile industry and recently
announced lucrative energy package to help recuperate from the COVID-19
shock was also commendable.
These views were expressed by Cheng Xizhong, visiting professor at
Southwest University of Political Science and Law said here on Sunday.
Recently announced lucrative energy package to help textile industry
with peak electricity rates, offers reduced tariffs on additional power
consumption and fixes power price at $ 0.07 a unit and gas tariff at $
0.065 per MMBtu, Cheng, also a senior fellow of the Charhar Institute
said in his article published by China Economic Net (CEN).
He said the present government of Pakistan has taken special measures to
gradually improve the business environment.
In order to improve the sustainability of the development of the textile
industry and have clear direction and objectives, All Pakistan Textile
Mills Association (APTMA) is formulating a long-term development
strategy for the textile industry.
It plans to attract $ 7 billion of investment in the next five years, so
as to increase the export volume of textiles and clothing by 100% to $
Pakistan is the fourth largest cotton producer, the fourth largest
textile producer and the twelfth largest textile exporter in the world.
The textile industry is the most important pillar industry and the
largest export industry in Pakistan.
In recent years, Pakistan’s textile industry has been plagued by
insecurity, high operating costs, declining competitiveness and sluggish
demand in the international market.
ALSO READ More than 2,600 new Coronavirus cases reported; 80 deaths in
past 24 hours
However, with the steady progress of the construction of the
China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Pakistan’s textile industry and
textile exports have a bright future, he added.
According to his observation, Pakistan’s textile production and exports
have the following main advantages.
First, the industrial chain is relatively complete. Pakistan is one of
the few textile countries in the world with the production capacity of
the whole industrial chain.
At present, there are 1,221 cotton ginning mills, 442 spinning mills,
124 large-scale textile and garment factories and 425 small-scale
textile and garment factories in Pakistan.
The annual production capacity of cotton yarn is about 11.3 million
spindles, with a total of 300,000 textile machines, 350,000 power looms
and 18,000 knitting machines.
The annual cotton cloth production capacity is 5.2 billion square
meters, with a total of 700,000 industrial sewing machines.
Pakistan’s annual cotton production is about 13 million bales, the
annual output of man-made fiber is about 600,000 tons, and the annual
output of terephthalic acid is 500,000 tons. All these provide a solid
foundation for the development of the textile industry.
Second, the distribution of production and research is relatively
concentrated. More than 60% of Pakistan’s textile enterprises are
concentrated in Punjab and 30% in Sindh.
Faisalabad in Punjab Province is a famous textile industrial city. It
has a textile enterprise group composed of large, medium and small
textile mills and workshops. Its textile exports account for 58% of
Pakistan’s total textile exports.
Pakistan’s main textile technology institutions and facilities are also
concentrated in the city, including University of Agriculture Faisalabad
(UAF), National Textile University (NTU), and cotton and agricultural
Third, industry organizations have great influence. The main trade
organizations of Pakistan textile industry include All Pakistan Textile
Mills Association, All Pakistan Textile Processing Mills Association and
Pakistan Knitwear Manufacturers Association.
Due to the pillar position of the textile industry in Pakistan’s
national economy, All Pakistan Textile Mills Association and its local
branches play an important role in the development of Pakistan’s textile
Cheng observed that both China and Pakistan are major textile producers
and exporters, and there is a certain degree of competition between the
However, the differences at stage of industrial development between the
two countries also create a broad space for close cooperation.
He said that official data released on December 18 shows that Pakistan’s
textile and clothing exports grew by 4.88 per cent year-on-year to $
6.04 billion between July to November this financial year compared to $
5.76 billion in the same period last financial year.
This means that Pakistan’s textile production and exports have largely
recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic shock and are back on growth
trajectory both in terms of the quantity and dollar value, he added.
Mushaal lauds PM for raising voice for oppressed Kashmiris at UNGA
Says regional peace to remain elusive without resolution of Kashmir dispute Islamabad: /DNA/ – SpecialRead More
PTI, PPP demand exact date for polls
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf on Saturday urged the ElectionRead More


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Boston VCs Grok Social Media—So Can We Please Not Tell That Facebook Story Anymore?
(Page 4 of 4)
a Dog Patch Lab-like incubator here in the Boston area. “It’s a possibility,” he says. “If there’s enough interest.” (Anyone want to answer that challenge?)
Sabet and Spark, meanwhile, have already taken several strides in this regard. Sabet is well known for pressing for the elimination of non-compete clauses in Massachusetts, which would make it much easier for entrepreneurs to do what Hirshland referred to—leave an established company to start their own. That effort has gained a lot of momentum and a bill to ban non-competes in Massachusetts is scheduled for a hearing this spring.
Spark (through Sabet) is one of several local groups that is helping bring a branch of the Boulder, CO-based TechStars startup program to Cambridge, MA. And in March, Spark announced the launch of [email protected], a program that will offer seed-stage investments of up to $250,000 to promising early-stage startups in the Boston and New York regions.
“There’s not like one silver bullet—it’s going to be a lot of stuff,” says Sabet, when referring to what might ignite social media and consumer Internet companies in the Boston Area.
Which to me means a concerted, collaborative effort. The last time I saw Hirshland and Sabet, they were at an OpenCoffee meeting (yes, Sabet helped this group get started here as well) at Andala Coffee House in Central Square. That’s where I snapped the picture of them together.
A Sampling of Social Media/Consumer Internet Investments From Spark and Polaris
5min — Internet-based “How-To” videos
8D World — virtual world focused on teaching English as a second language
Boxee — open-source software platform to enable home social media centers
Eqal — the Los Angeles studio behind the cult Web video series Lonelygirl15
KickApps — hosted application service enabling social networking capabilities for major web publishing and corporate websites
Next New Networks — micro TV meets community Web casting
OMGPOP (formerly i’minlikewithyou) — combines online gaming with social networking
OneRiot — social search engine
Tumblr — mixed media, short form blogging
Veoh — Internet TV
See my interview last year with Spark managing director Todd Dagres about the company’s media strategy.
Automattic — the company behind WordPress, the leading blogging platform
BlackArrow — ad management for viewer-controlled video
Heavy — online entertainment network for men 18-34
JibJab Media — online comedy network
Quantcast — new media measurement company
Sprout — widget makes it easy to add interactive content to blogs and other websites.


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Online sales issue finally resolved
Published 11:19 am Thursday, January 26, 2017
The Mississippi legislature needs to find money to help out the state’s struggling budget and has talked for some time about getting internet retailers like Amazon to pay its fair charge by charging sales tax.
But while at least three bills circulated through the legislature with plans of how Mississippi could make remote, online retailers like Amazon charge and pay sales tax on purchases in Mississippi, no consensus on how to get that done had yet emerged.
So Amazon did the dirty work for them, approaching Mississippi recently and voluntarily agreeing this week to start charging sales tax beginning February 1.
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The move will generate between $15 million and $30 million for the state annually.
Before you applaud Amazon for stepping up, recognize the amount of money Mississippi has lost for all the years due to sales tax not charged and collected from the retail giant. While Oxford stores like Square Books have generated sales tax and local jobs, Amazon has effectively been able to discount its goods by avoiding sales tax on purchases from this state.
We’re glad this is finally resolved, but wish Mississippi’s legislative leaders or Amazon could have solved this sooner.


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Smurfit Kappa's New Food Packaging Board Blocks Mineral Oil Hydrocarbons Migration
April 14, 2014 - Smurfit Kappa said that it has developed an innovative new solution which prevents the migration of mineral oil hydrocarbons from packaging into food products.
According to Smurfit Kappa, the patented Catcher Board MB12 uses a method that creates a blocking mechanism across the whole surface area of the packaging, including at the “cut edges” of the board unlike other so called “barrier” solutions.
Smurfit Kappa said its new offering responds fully to prospective legislation that Germany plans to introduce, which would prohibit measurable migration of mineral oil hydrocarbons into food.
The Catcher Board MB12 will be introduced as White Lined Chipboard and Solid Board, the company noted.
In a statement the company said, “In addition to blocking mineral oil migration across the whole surface area of the packaging, this new product looks, feels and reacts just like normal board during the manufacturing process. This means that our customers won't have to change any of their packaging processes. We believe that by introducing the Catcher Board MB12 we are pre-empting our customers' needs.
“If European legislation relating to materials in contact with food is introduced, at Smurfit Kappa we believe we will be in a position to offer an innovative product to our customers that will meet new regulatory requirements,” Smurfit Kappa added.
SOURCE: Smurfit Kappa