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“The contributions of third-party audits to food safety is the same as the contribution of mail-order diploma mills to education. … I have not seen a single company that has had an outbreak or recall that didn’t have a series of audits with really high scores.”
– Mansour Samadpour, president, IEH Laboratories, Seattle
“No one should rely on third-party audits to insure food safety.”
– Will Daniels, food safety, Earthbound Farm
Billions of meals are served safely each day throughout the world. Much of that food is verified as safe by some form of third-party auditor. Yet when outbreaks of foodborne illness happen, the results can be emotionally, physically and financially devastating. And almost all outbreaks involve firms that have received glowing endorsements from food safety auditors.
Food safety auditors are an integral part of the food safety system, and their use will expand in the future, for both domestic and imported foodstuffs. How then to make third-party audits more meaningful, more accurate, and to fully enhance the safety of consumers?
There is a long and spectacular history of food safety failures involving third-party audits (and inspections). Many foodborne illness outbreaks have been linked to farms, processors and retailers that went through some form of certification. The U.S. Government Accountability Office noted in a 2008 report that, while inspectors play an active role in overseeing compliance, the burden for food safety lies primarily with food producers.
In late Oct. 1996, an outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 was traced to juice containing unpasteurized apple cider manufactured by Odwalla in the northwest U.S. Sixty-four people were sickened and a 16-month-old died from E. coli O157:H7. During subsequent grand jury testimony, it was revealed that while Odwalla had written contracts with suppliers to only provide apples picked from trees rather than drops – those that had fallen to the ground and would be more likely to be contaminated with feces, in this case deer feces – the company never bothered to verify if suppliers were actually doing what they said they were doing.
Earlier in 1996, Odwalla had sought to supply the U.S. Army with juice. An Aug. 6, 1996 letter from the Army to Odwalla stated, “we determined that your plant sanitation program does not adequately assure product wholesomeness for military consumers. This lack of assurance prevents approval of your establishment as a source of supply for the Armed Forces at this time.”
Five-year-old Mason Jones was one of 157 people – primarily children – who became ill in an outbreak in South Wales caused by E. coli O157:H7 in September 2005. The outbreak was traced to the consumption of cooked meats provided to schools by John Tudor & Son, a catering butcher business. A packaging machine at the business, used for both raw and cooked meats, was identified as the probable source of contamination – where E. coli O157:H7 was most likely transferred from raw meat to cooked meat that was then distributed to four authorities in South Wales for their school meal programs. The 2005 outbreak was the largest caused by E. coli O157:H7 in Wales and the second largest in the United Kingdom to date; ultimately 31 people were admitted to hospital and, tragically, Mason Jones died.
A public inquiry into the outbreak determined that William Tudor, the proprietor of John Tudor & Son, had a significant disregard for food safety and thus for the health of people who consumed meats produced and distributed by his business. The inquiry heard that there had been serious, and repeated, breaches of federal food safety regulations at the catering butcher business. William Tudor had failed to ensure that critical procedures, such as cleaning and the separation of raw and cooked meats, were carried out effectively. He also falsified certain records that were an important part of food safety practice and deceived Environmental Health Officers (EHOs) on issues such as the use of the packaging machine. The business’s Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) plan was also found to be poorly designed, inaccurate and misleading.
Although foodborne illness may not always be completely preventable, my food safety culture colleague Chris Griffith concluded that the risk of a business causing foodborne illness is, to a large extent, a consequence of its own activities (and its auditors and inspectors).
In Sept. 2006, 199 people were sickened and at least three died from E. coli O157:H7 in bagged spinach produced by Earthbound Farms of California. Samples of river water, wild pig feces, and cattle feces tested positive for the outbreak strain of E. coli O157:H7, and infected feces of nearby grass-fed cattle were found on one of the four fields where the contaminated spinach was grown, under organic production standards, in Salinas Valley. There was no verification that farmers and others in the farm-to-fork food safety system were seriously adapting to the messages about risk and the numbers of sick people, and then translating such information into behavioral changes that enhanced front-line food safety practices, especially in production fields rather than just processing facilities.
On June 28, 2007 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a statement warning consumers not to eat Veggie Booty snack food because it had been linked to an outbreak of salmonella.
In July the FDA found Salmonella Wandsworth in the snacks, reconfirming Veggie Booty was the source of the outbreak, after the Minnesota Agricultural Lab had already backed up the epidemiologic evidence with laboratory testing. At the same time, they advised consumers not to eat another product from the same company, Super Veggie Tings Crunchy Corn Sticks, because they might be contaminated as well. Preliminary investigations suggested the seasoning mix might have been the actual source of contamination. The company said the seasoning ingredients came from China, shifting the blame to a country which had failed quality and safety standards for nearly one fifth of their products at the time. A total of 23 states were affected and 69 people became sick.
The plant that made Veggie Booty had received a rating of “excellent” from the American Institute of Baking, raising questions about the efficacy of auditors, which did not extend to ingredient suppliers.
In August 2008, Listeria monocytogenes-contaminated deli meats produced by Maple Leaf Foods, Inc. of Canada caused 57 illnesses and ultimately resulting in 23 deaths. A panel of international food safety experts convened by Maple Leaf Foods, Inc. to investigate the source of the deli meat contamination determined that the most probable contamination source was commercial meat slicers that, despite cleaning according to the manufacturer’s instructions, had meat residue trapped deep inside the slicing mechanisms. The meat residue provided a reservoir and breeding ground for L. monocytogenes. An independent investigative review commissioned by the Canadian federal government provided 57 recommendations to prevent similar outbreaks in the future, reflecting the broad findings of the review: that the focus on food safety was insufficient among senior management at both the company and the various government organizations involved before and during the outbreak; that insufficient planning had been undertaken to be prepared for a potential outbreak; and that those involved lacked a sense of urgency at the outset of the outbreak.
The plant linked to the outbreak received satisfactory marks for complying with federal regulatory requirements. Employees consistently addressed instances of non-compliance when they were identified. The plant’s management maintained all required records, ensured that staff training took place, and ensured the established quality assurance program was followed. At all plants, the company conducted environmental testing that went beyond regulatory requirements. Prior to the outbreak, Maple Leaf Foods, Inc. conducted more than 3,000 environmental tests annually at the implicated plant and tested products monthly. Although no product tests revealed the presence of Listeria spp., a number of environmental samples detected the bacteria in the months before the public was alerted in August to possible contamination. However, the company failed to recognize and identify the underlying cause of a sporadic yet persistent pattern of environmental test results that were positive for Listeria spp. and was not obliged to report the results.
In January 2009, Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) was linked to a growing outbreak across the U.S. caused by Salmonella serotype Typhimurium. On January 9, 2009, the outbreak strain was isolated by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture from an unopened container of King Nut peanut butter – a product manufactured solely by PCA at its facility in Blakely, Georgia. In the ensuing weeks, all peanuts and peanut products processed at Blakely plant since January 1, 2007 were recalled. This included over 3,900 peanut butter and other peanut-containing products from more than 350 companies. PCA supplied peanuts, peanut butter, peanut meal and peanut paste to food processors for use in a wide range of products from cookies, snacks and ice cream to dog treats; to institutions such as hospitals, schools and nursing homes; and directly to consumers through discount retail outlets such as dollar stores. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 691 people were sickened and nine died across 46 U.S. states and in Canada.
Moss and Martin reported in the N.Y. Times that an auditor with the American Institute of baking, based in Manhattan, Kansas, was responsible for evaluating the safety of products produced by PCA. The peanut company knew in advance when the auditors were arriving.
“The overall food safety level of this facility was considered to be: SUPERIOR,” the auditor concluded in his March 27, 2008, report for AIB. A copy of the audit was obtained by The New York Times.
AIB was not alone in missing the trouble at the Peanut Corporation plant in Blakely, Ga. State inspectors also found only minor problems, while a federal team last month uncovered a number of alarming signs, as well as testing records from the company itself that showed salmonella in its products as far back as June 2007.
Nestlé twice inspected PCA plants and chose not to take on PCA as a supplier because it didn’t meet Nestlé’s food-safety standards, according to Nestlé’s audit reports in 2002 and 2006.
“Nestlé audited the Blakely plant in 2002 and rejected it as a supplier. Nestlé’s audit report said the plant needed a "better understanding of the concept of deep cleaning" and failed to adequately separate unroasted raw peanuts from roasted ones. Having them in the same area could allow bacteria on raw nuts to contaminate roasted ones, a risk known as cross-contamination. The plant wasn’t even close to Nestlé’s standards, auditor Richard Hutson said in an interview. Hutson, who now heads quality assurance for several Nestlé divisions, said he shared his concerns with PCA officials at the time, but "they didn’t pursue it" further with Nestlé, he says.”
Kellogg CEO David Mackay testified at a congressional hearing that PCA had been audited by AIB, "the most commonly used auditor in the U.S."
Salmonella in DeCoster eggs in 2010 lead to 2,000 illnesses and the recall of 500 million eggs. They received a superior rating prior to the outbreak from AIB.
That’s a long-winded way of saying, the system of third-party audits can work, but when it fails, it fails spectacularly.
William Neuman of the New York Times reports today the nationwide listeria outbreak that has killed 25 people who ate tainted cantaloupe was probably caused by unsanitary conditions in the packing shed of the Colorado farm where the melons were grown.
Government investigators said that workers had tramped through pools of water where listeria was likely to grow, tracking the deadly bacteria around the shed, which was operated by Jensen Farms, in Granada, Colo. The pathogen was found on a conveyor belt for carrying cantaloupes, a melon drying area and a floor drain, among other places.
This is the part that should give no consumer any confidence:
The farm had passed a food safety audit by an outside contractor just days before the outbreak began. Eric Jensen, a member of the family that runs the farm, said in an e-mail that the auditor had given the packing plant a score of 96 points out of 100.
FDA officials did not criticize the auditor directly. But Michael R. Taylor, deputy commissioner for foods, said the agency intended to establish standards for how auditors should be trained and how audits should be conducted.
The definition of crazy is doing more of the same and expecting a different result: more training will not fix these endemic food safety problems.
Jensen Farms, run by Mr. Jensen and his brother Ryan, had recently acquired a set of used machinery to upgrade the way it washed and dried its cantaloupes. The equipment had been used to clean potatoes and was not intended for use with cantaloupes, officials said. They said the equipment was corroded in places and built in a way that made it difficult to clean and sanitize.
An area used to dry the melons included a cloth cover that could easily have harbored the bacteria, according to a person who discussed the operation with the Jensens.
Officials also said that the cantaloupes had not been adequately cooled before they were placed in refrigerated storage, which could have caused condensation to form on the fruit, creating hospitable conditions for listeria. The bacteria grow well in wet or damp conditions and can also thrive in cold.
Jensen Farms hired an auditor called Primus Labs, based in California, to inspect its facility. Primus gave the job to a subcontractor, Bio Food Safety, which is based in Texas. Jensen and Primus declined to provide a copy of the audit report.
Robert Stovicek, the president of PrimusLabs, said his company had reviewed the audit and found no problems in how it was conducted or in the auditor’s conclusions.
“We thought he did a pretty good job,” Mr. Stovicek said. He said the auditor, James M. DiIorio, has been doing audits for the company since March.
He said that Mr. DiIorio had received two one-week training courses as part of his preparation and had also gone on audits with other auditors.
Asked how Mr. DiIorio could have given high marks to a facility that the F.D.A. described as a breeding ground for listeria, Mr. Stovicek said, “There’s lots of variations as to how people interpret unsanitary conditions.”
Trevor V. Suslow, a professor of food safety at the University of California, Davis, said auditors may give farmers, processors and retailers a false sense of security.
“There needs to be training, certification and auditing of the auditors,” he said.
If third-party auditors and inspectors are part of the food safety solution, then what can be improved? Third-party audits are only one performance indicator but need to be supplemented with microbial testing, second-party audits of suppliers and the in-house capacity to meaningfully assess the results of audits and inspections. Any and all suppliers should be a key focus.


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Tuesday, Oct. 27
Posted 8 a.m. EST
Bankrate reporter Leslie McFadden contributed this entry.
Yesterday, Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., who authored the Credit CARD Act of 2009, introduced a bill that would immediately freeze interest rates on existing balances. The CARD Act became law in May but most of the provisions don't take effect until February.
From his press release:
"We worked long and hard to enact the safeguards included in the Credit CARD Act," said Dodd, who had introduced the bill in 2004, 2005 and 2008 before successfully passing it this spring. "But as soon as it was signed into law, credit card companies were looking for ways to get around the protections this Congress and the American people demanded. This bill would end those abuses and further protect customers today."
"At a time when families are struggling to make ends meet, jacked-up rates can quickly create crushing debt. People need to be responsible with their money, but they shouldn't be taken to the cleaners by outrageous rates."
House panel approves billLast week, the House Financial Services Committee approved legislation that would expedite the implementation date for the remaining provisions of the CARD Act to Dec. 1.
The new bill doesn't add any new protections to the plethora that consumers will receive next year, such as fairer payment allocation and rate hike restrictions. It simply pushes up the compliance date.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke argued against moving up the deadline, and said in a letter last week that issuers need time to "allow for an orderly transition and to avoid unintended consequences, compliance difficulties and potential liabilities."
Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., who co-sponsored the House bill, praised its advancement on her Web site. "The card companies brought this on themselves, by using the time between when the bill was signed by President Obama and when it goes into effect to 'get in under the wire' with a last gasp of unfair practices," she said in a statement. "Today's action shows Congress can act with speed when necessary to provide consumers the protection they need."
About 45 percent of consumers have seen a negative change to their terms, such as rate or fee increases, according to a Credit.com survey conducted in October. The same survey also found that 56 percent of consumers want the law to take effect in December.
If the law does kick in this year, consumers could charge their holiday purchases without fear that the rate on the balance would increase. The law prevents rate hikes on existing balances except in limited circumstances, such as promotional rate expiration or 60-day delinquency. With 45-days' notice, however, credit card providers can change the APR and apply it to new transactions.
The accelerated effective date would not apply to issuers with less than two million cardholder accounts, or to gift card provisions included in the original CARD Act. In both cases, the Feb. 22 implementation date applies.
Your thoughtsReaders, do you care if the majority of the CARD Act provisions go into effect two months sooner than scheduled? Would it make any difference to you if a rate freeze was imposed?
On a separate topic, I'd like to hear from you if your credit card offers tools or features to help you manage debt or spending. Which services do you like or dislike? Your comments may be used in an upcoming article. E-mail me at email@example.com.
Read all of the Plastic Rap blog entries.

domain: news


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Squashing Yahoo’s hopes of renewing the bid talks with Microsoft, Steve Ballmer, Microsoft’s CEO, stated that the company is simply “not interested” in making new offer to acquire Yahoo, in spite of the fact that Yahoo’s share prices have fallen to less than half of what Microsoft had offered initially.
Addressing a Committee for Economic Development of Australia, Microsoft’s chief said, “Look, we made an offer; we made another offer. It was clear that Yahoo didn't want to sell the business to us, and we moved on”.
He further stated that the other deals with Yahoo had also ended in failure, as Microsoft tried to pen an agreement around Yahoo’s search business, but it also didn’t materialise at all.
A couple of days back, Yahoo’s CEO Jerry Yang signalled to refresh the acquisition talks with Microsoft, and while speaking at Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco, he said in a statement, “To this day, I have to say that the best thing for Microsoft to do is to buy Yahoo.”
Earlier this week, Yahoo stocks have soared in price owing to the rumours of a fresh deal with Microsoft; however, the stock is currently sitting below USD15, which is less than half the price offered by Microsoft, when it quoted the price of USD33 per share.


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When people think of Nollywood – Nigeria’s film industry – they think of the stereotypically shitty, low-budget films with terrible acting and unoriginal storylines. Compared to the more developed film industries of the Western world, it’s treated as a joke, but there’s more to the industry than the stories of random white people and the exorcism films they star in:
It’s Bigger Than Hollywood
By sheer volume, Nollywood’s film output leaves Hollywood in the dust. According to a UNESCO report, the industry surpassed its American counterpart to be recognised as the 2nd largest film industry in the world (after Bollywood) with an average of 1,000 – 2,000 films a year!
It’s Worth $5 Billion
Despite each film costing a thousandth of a typical Blockbuster, the industry was estimated to be worth $5 billion in 2014. However, while thousands of unauthorised video tapes and DVDs are sold on market stalls around Africa for a couple of dollars each, only a small fraction of this makes it back to the film’s producers.
It’s Driving Innovation
It’s this fight against piracy that’s driving Nigeria’s tech industry to innovate. The physical media-based distribution methods of old are being replaced by online streaming services such as iROKOTV and Netflix Africa. While home internet still has a long way to go, these platforms have adapted for the country’s 92 million mobile users through the development of Android apps.
It’s Built By Rebels and Entrepreneurs
While older film industries are subject to a deeply-entrenched studio system, Nollywood is still dominated by independent filmmakers. What began in the 90s as a small industry in a country where most of the cinemas had closed down has become a market flooded with home movies and maverick directors.


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And today (21) cross game Between Steam and Epic. This is thanks to the introduction of a tool that will allow developers to connect the two platforms in a simple and functional way.This action was mainly launched by fall guy Free, except the game finally arrives Nintendo switch and Xbox series consoles, One and Series S|X.
Cross-play between Steam and Epic
In the past, it was impossible for players from both stores to play together, even if the players had the same game, such as Fall Guys itself. But now, after a long wait, Epic Games has released a new tool that has finally put that hurdle behind.
Developers will be able to establish connections between games across the two stores in a simplified way, such as syncing friend lists and more. That’s not the case for consoles and mobile players, however, but Epic promises it’s already working on a solution and an update will be released soon.
Crossplay gives friends a chance to come together and create fond memories through interactive experiences. We are privileged to lead the industry with cross-play tools for all developers, and we believe that connecting friends and communities will lead the gaming industry to its next big boom with billions of players.
Simon IslaySenior Director of Online Services at Epic.
fall man success
As mentioned above, Fall Guys is finally available for all platforms: Plaka, game console 4 and 5home game console Xbox This is Nintendo switch, but now it’s free. The launch was so successful that the server couldn’t take the pressure and went offline.
A post on the game’s official Twitter says they baked a cake to celebrate the launch, but unfortunately it crashed on the servers. Check:
from now on, fall guy will be available for Plaka specifically in epic storewho has passed steam Normal access will continue. Anyone curious about the new development tools that make this work possible can watch Epic’s video in English:
To stay on top of the gaming world, like this list of the best remakes and remakes for Nintendo Switch, and to learn everything about the tech world, keep an eye on Showmetech.
Source: Niche Gamer, Game Industry


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Costa Rica imports coffee as rains reduce crop
Monday, April 23, 2012
Costa Rica, traditionally a producer of coffee, has stepped up bean imports over the past three years to meet local demand as rainfall reduced the country’s output, according to broker Escritorio Carvalhaes.
Coffee output in Costa Rica was below the 1.87 million bags produced in the 2007-08 season in the last three seasons, data on the website of the US Department of Agriculture show.
Production may be lower again this year, with the USDA forecasting a crop of 1.64 million bags. The Central American country’s coffee imports may be 150,000 bags this season, up from 15,000 bags in 2008-09, the department’s data shows.


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PayPal reports 62% of South Africans bought online from overseas retailers in the past year
PayPal estimates South Africans will spend more than R45bn online this year, with clothing the most popular item and the US the most popular place to buy from
Clothing‚ footwear and accessories are the items South Africans mostly buy online from abroad‚ according to online payments company PayPal.
About 62% of South African online shoppers purchased something from an overseas retailer in the past 12 months‚ compared to 43% the previous year.
Clothing‚ footwear and accessories came in as the most common cross-border purchase (68%)‚ with jewellery and watches (62%) the second most popular, and consumer electronics — computers‚ tablets‚ mobile devices and peripherals — the third purchase of choice (54%).
In its annual cross-border e-commerce report‚ which examines the online and cross-border shopping behaviour of 34,052 consumers‚ PayPal and market research company Ipsos, say online shopping is expected to increase over the next 24 months‚ with a forecasted total spend of R61.9bn in 2020. The reason: 75% of adults interviewed highlighted the convenience of shopping online.
"Advances in technology‚ such as mobile technology and access to data‚ have made it easier for South Africans to shop online‚" said Efi Dahan‚ GM for PayPal Russia‚ the Middle East and Africa. "South African online shoppers have realised that buying from overseas is not the hassle it once was‚ and that they can purchase must-have items‚ often at a better price."
According to the report‚ South Africans are likely to spend more than R45bn online this year‚ with more than 60% making a purchase from an overseas retailer.
South African online shoppers purchasing from overseas chose the US as their shopping destination of choice (34%) due to better prices‚ availability and variety of styles‚ followed by China (28%) and the UK (16%).


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Ally Bank has added two more TV spots to its wildly popular ad campaign that subjects unsuspecting kids to the evil whims of a fictional-yet-no-less-diabolical market researcher. The latest spots add a bit of a twist, where the smarmy corporate jerk steals the scenes instead of the unscripted reactions of children who feel cheated.
The Ally’s campaign, which mocks the tricks, policies and asterisks of rival bankers, has been running since May 2009 when the bank rose from the ashes of GMAC Financial.
In the first of two additional spots, the evil market researcher taunts a little girl with a miniature replica of himself. He tugs the doll’s string, triggering an “interactive voice response” system (a.k.a. IVR to bankers or “phone tree from hell” to consumers).
“Say 1 for broccoli. Say 2 for toys,” the mini-market research doll says.
The little girl, quite naturally, says “toys” instead of “two” as the doll demands.
“The system can’t process your response at this time,” the doll responds. “Please call back between 8 and 5 Central Standard Time… Goodbye.”
In the second spot, a boy collects chocolate, foil-wrapped eggs hidden around the room. The dirty, rotten, sneaky researcher tries to steal and eat each egg as the boy puts them in the basket.
“You took my eggs,” the boy accuses.
“Egg management fee,” the jerk mumbles through a mouth filled with chocolate eggs.
“The nice thing about kids is they’re honest. They tell it like it is.”
— Sanjay Gupta, CMO/Ally
Reality Check: Even if it irks you that Ally Bank isn’t entirely forthright about its bailout resurrection, you have to admit Ally’s ads really strike a chord with consumers. Secretly, you’re probably irritated that your bank or credit union didn’t take this approach.
MyBankTracker.com reports that Ally Bank was awarded the top position as the best online bank website. Data also indicates that 86.5% of Ally customers are “satisfied” or “extremely satisfied,” which aligns with MyBankTracker.com’s own data showing customers give the bank a 4.5 star rating.
People love Ally Bank ads, bankers hate them
“You didn’t say I could have a real one.”
“Well you didn’t ask.”
“But it’s a piece of junk…I want the red truck!”
These punchlines to popular Ally Bank commercials are like fingernails on a chalkboard for some bankers.
“It’s irritating for the community banking industry to see someone who has failed in their business dealings now turning around and saying they are so smart,” Paul Merski, chief economist at the Independent Community Bankers of America, told Bloomberg.
“The hypocrisy of Ally Bank’s ad campaign is dramatic given the company’s true history and the exceptional governmental assistance given to its parent company,” added Christopher Nunn, CFO/Security Bancorp of Tennessee.
After enduring hours of Ally ads while holed up during Snowmaggedon, Kevin Lynch, a 20-year banking veteran, had finally had enough. He turned to his blog for catharsis. “I felt it was time to get something off my chest,” he said. “I am really put off by Ally Bank commercials.”
“For those of us out here in the ‘real world’ of financial services, who didn’t get TARP funds, don’t have the luxury of a new start, and struggle with a myriad of confusing regulations, give us a break,” Lynch wrote on his blog. “We really are trying to do the right things for our customers.”
Bankers may have a bone to pick (perhaps even a big- and even legitimate bone), but that means nothing to consumers who can’t seem to get enough of Ally’s campaign.
Take a look at this sampling of comments on Ally TV commercials uploaded to The Financial Brand’s YouTube account:
- “These ads are really clever. Nice work by Ally.” — alexbulluk
- “This series of ads are masterpiece!! They create a buzz, and that’s what it’s all about.” — joe1977poland
- “I can’t make up my mind which I like better.” — tunenut122
- “I love these commercials…the kids, their faces and the jerk.” — leashlee
- “I run to the TV set every time these commercials play.” — charrua007
- “This commercial never gets old.” — Ac3bo0gie914
The praise keeps pouring in. “Pure gold.” “Precious.” “Priceless.”
“The shifty executive on the Ally Bank commercials is awesome,” wrote Robert Coffman on Twitter. “Whoever thought him up has struck advertising gold.”
Ally’s previous four TV spots have been viewed nearly one million times on YouTube. It’s quite an impressive accomplishment when you remember that people don’t often hop online specifically to watch TV commercials.
- Truck – 359,421 views
- Pony – 329,283 views
- Bike – 156,445 views
- Hide – 81,762 views


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Online direct marketing company Cleverbug.com has raised US$2.5m in venture funding from Delta Partners, its founder and angel investors.
Cleverbug.com provides an online marketing service for small businesses. It offers a range of free customisable design templates such as logos, business cards and flyers, printed and delivered to the customer’s door. In addition, it is developing a range of complimentary digital products for smaller business owners, such as websites, email marketing and social media tools.
Delta Partners invested US$1.8m from its Delta Equity Fund III Limited Partnership, with the remainder of the funds provided by Cleverbug.com founder and CEO Kealan Lennon, and other angel investors.
Maurice Roche, chairman of the Irish Venture Capital Association and general partner at Delta has joined Cleverbug.com as a non-executive director.
Cleverbug.com has an experienced management team. Lennon has extensive experience in the design, print, publishing and media sectors. Chief operating officer Mark Brophy was a former retail director with Hotels.com, a subsidiary of Expedia, and has extensive experience in building companies in the e-commerce space.
Cleverbug targets US$30bn opportunity
“There are more than 50m small businesses in North America and Europe that have a potential need for Cleverbug.com services,” Lennon explained.
“Our estimate is that this represents a market size of approximately $30bn. We have big global ambitions for Cleverbug.com and securing this initial funding allows us to launch our service in 2012. Our plan is to create 50 new jobs, as we further develop our technology, marketing, product development, customer care and user experience teams, with world-class talent, and I am delighted to be establishing our international headquarters here in Dublin, Ireland.”
Taoiseach Enda Kenny, TD, attended the funding announcement.
“The Government wants to develop Ireland as a ‘digital island’ and the presence of internet companies, like Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Zynga and Twitter, setting up international headquarters in Dublin, is a significant vote of confidence in our country. It is really positive to see e-commerce companies like Cleverbug.com establish and create jobs here and I particularly welcome such an innovative service, which is focused on helping small businesses.”


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U.K. Stockpiled Imported Goods Ahead of Brexit Deadline
(Bloomberg) -- Stockpiling rose in December before the U.K. left the European Union’s single market and customs union -- just as it did before two Brexit deadlines in 2019. The spike in imports was compounded by border disruption when France blocked travel to stop the spread of coronavirus, as well as shipments of medicinal and pharmaceutical products to deal with the pandemic. Across the fourth quarter, the total trade deficit excluding non-monetary gold and other precious metals widened by 10.9 billion pounds ($15 billion) to 14.3 billion pounds.
©2021 Bloomberg L.P.


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Enercon Industries has launched the latest generation of the world’s best-selling induction cap sealers - Super Seal™ 300, 400 and 600 - designed to bring new features and benefits to packagers and manufacturers.
Enercon Industries has made a festive donation to its charity of the year.
Few packaging technologies can truly claim to have benefited almost every household in the United Kingdom. However, induction heat sealing is one of them.
As statistics show that women comprise roughly a quarter of the industry’s workforce, the Aylesbury-based company is hoping to highlight the importance of more women joining the sector.
Enercon has donated £500 to MacMillan Cancer Support, in order to contribute to the charity’s continuous efforts in supporting people affected by cancer.
The 2015 Package of the Year Award was presented to Unilever and its nominated vendor Enercon Industries for the new and innovative Hellmann’s Mayonnaise Squeeze bottle.
A contract packer has helped a customer clean up his packaging by switching to induction sealing and eliminating leaks.
Enercon shortlisted for prestigious customer service award Enercon Industries Ltd, the global leader in induction heat sealing, has been shortlisted for a prestigious customer service award.
A flavoured coffee company has switched to induction sealing after deciding its former sealing method was ‘outdated’ and ‘messy’.


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Clarus (NASDAQ:CLAR – Get Valuation) was downgraded from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating by equity analysts at TheStreet in a report published on Thursday, reports TheStreetRatingsTable.
CLAR has been the subject of a number of other reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered his price target on Clarus to $24.00 from $27.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 20. Raymond James downgraded Clarus from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a report Thursday, August 18. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one with a hold rating and four with a buy rating. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.20.
Clarus shares down 0.8%
NASDAQ:CLAR shares opened at $12.37 on Thursday. Clarus has a 52-week low of $11.93 and a 52-week high of $31.19. The company has a market cap of $462.39 million, a P/E of 17.42, a P/E of 0.56 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $19.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $20.80. The company has a debt to equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.41 and a current ratio of 3.63.
Clarus (NASDAQ:CLAR – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 1st. The company reported earnings per share of $0.25 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.31 ($0.06). Clarus had a return on equity of 14.84% and a net margin of 6.07%. The company had revenue of $114.93 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $110.10 million. In the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.15 per share. As a group, equity analysts expect Clarus to post 1.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Insider buying and selling
In other news, Director Donald House sold 10,000 shares of Clarus in a transaction that took place on Tuesday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.24 for a total transaction of $282,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 150,000 shares of the company valued at $4,236,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed at this hyperlink. In other Clarus news, on Tuesday, August 23, Director Donald House sold 10,000 Clarus shares in one transaction. The shares sold at an average price of $28.24 for a total value of $282,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 150,000 shares of the company valued at $4,236,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC’s website. Also on Wednesday, August 17, Director Michael A. Henning sold 25,000 Clarus shares in a transaction. The stock sold at an average price of $28.56 for a total transaction of $714,000.00. Following the closing of the transaction, the Director now directly owns 142,500 shares of the Company valued at $4,069,800. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 24.10% of the shares are currently owned by company insiders.
Hedge funds rely on Clarus
Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares in CLAR. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. increased its stake in Clarus by 19.5% in the fourth quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 4,063 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 663 shares last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Clarus stock valued at $228,000 during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings of Clarus shares by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 646,709 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,927,000 after purchasing an additional 1,622 shares last quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA increased its holding in Clarus shares by 83.9% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA now owns 7,918 shares of the company, valued at $219,000, after purchasing an additional 3,613 shares last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Clarus stock valued at $639,000 during the fourth quarter. 89.69% of the shares are owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Clarus company profile
Clarus Corporation designs, manufactures and distributes outdoor gear and lifestyle products with a focus on the outdoor and consumer markets in the United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Africa and South America. The outdoor segment offers activity-based apparel such as shells, insulation, mid-layers, trousers and logowear; climbing shoes and equipment including carabiners, protective devices, harnesses, belay devices, helmets and ice climbing equipment; technical backpacks and daypacks; walking stick; searchlights and lanterns; gloves and mittens; skin care and other products; and skis, ski poles, ski skins and snow safety products such as avalanche airbag systems, avalanche transceivers, shovels and probes.
This instant news alert was generated by MarketBeat’s narrative science technology and financial data to provide readers with the fastest, most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by the MarketBeat editorial team prior to publication. Please send questions or comments about this story to [email protected]
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How fluid fashion could shape our future
Updated: Dec 1, 2020
A dress on the cover of Vogue? Groundbreaking. Well apparently, it was!
Last week former One Direction star and all-round-heart-throb Harry Styles graced the cover of the American magazine in a custom Gucci gown.
Not only did Harry make history as the first ever solo male to appear on the fashion mags front page - he also sparked a conversation around modern masculinity and gendered dressing.
Looking beyond the binary
There’s currently a growing exploration of gender-fluid and non-binary retail taking place around the world.
Sam Cheow, head of innovation and product development at Estee Lauder points to Gen Z for the way the needle is moving stating “traditional male/female ideology is obsolete to this generation of customers”. This is echoed by broader cultural research showing that 35% of Gen Z’ers know someone who prefers to go by gender-neutral pronouns compared to just 12% of baby boomers.
The genderless shopping experience
Like most fashion trends, what starts with high-end designer brands tends to trickle down to the high street.
We’ve already seen big names like Stella McCartney and Gucci go live with gender neutral collections. This also extends to their online stores with ‘gender neutral’ navigation sitting alongside the traditional ‘shop men’ and ‘shop women’ categories on the homepage. While in London, Adidas altered their in-store setup to allow customers to shop by function, sport and aesthetic rather than gender.
Blurring the lines of beauty
Beauty is another arena challenging cultural norms at a rapid rate. Rihanna’s Fenty Skin have staked a claim in gender inclusivity by effortlessly incorporating men and women into its marketing. We’ve also seen a surge in influencer-led beauty brands such as Patrick Starr’s One/Size step onto the scene, proving there’s demand for brand’s that are willing to bend the rules.
Bonus environmental benefits
In Wunderman Thompson’s 2020 trend report, they outline how the pandemic has provided incentive for retailers to swap their traditional methods for a process that’s more streamlined and sustainable.
For retailers, the possibility of one inclusive collection means cutting down on space, materials and costs – shrinking the size of their footprint. “If you’re gender neutral, you make one sample, one fitting, and one production line. It’s a lot more efficient for operations...and the environment” – Rob Smith, founder of the Phluid Project.


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“Although the FCA are still intent on the deferred opt-in remedy for the GAP market, it is encouraging to see that they have listened to the NFDA by reducing the length of the pause for 30 days to four”, said Sue Robinson, Director of the National Franchised Dealers Association which represents commercial vehicle and franchised car retailers across the UK and Northern Ireland.
The Financial Conduct Authority has today announced a new consultation on proposals to limit point-of-sale offer of GAP insurance. Feedback on its plans is required by 13 March 2015. The FCA intends for the new rules to come into force in September 2015.
Robinson continued, “The NFDA lobbied the FCA stating that the opt-in would actually be bad for consumers rather than help them, as it risked vehicle buyers leaving dealer forecourts under insured if they were to have an accident in their ‘new’ car.
“The NFDA will be analysing the consultation and responding shortly.”
NOTES TO EDITORS:
The Retail Motor Industry represents the interests of operators in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man providing sales and services to motorists and businesses. The RMI has a formal association with the independent Scottish Motor Trade Association which represents the retail motor industry in Scotland.


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Every once in awhile we get reminded of the issue of non-competes - this week is one of those weeks. Amazon vs Target this time around, here's your level set:
Amazon.com is suing to enforce a noncompete agreement involving former logistics executive Arthur Valdez, who recently was hired by Target, a key rival in the retail market.
In a lawsuit filed Monday in King County Superior Court, Amazon says it wants to keep Valdez, who until recently oversaw Amazon’s international supply-chain expansion operations, from using the “confidential strategic knowledge” he possesses at Target.
Amazon argues that Valdez, who is set to become Target’s chief supply chain and logistics officer starting March 28, is in breach of an agreement that binds him to an 18-month timeout in which he cannot compete against his former employer.
The lawsuit underscores Amazon’s competitive streak — and the oversight it exerts over its intellectual property as rivals encroach on fields it helped develop. In 2014, Amazon sued Zoltan Szabadi, who left a job with Amazon Web Services for Google’s cloud-computing unit. It’s not clear whether these legal broadsides always work: Szabadi’s LinkedIn profile shows he has worked at Google uninterrupted since May 2014.
You're either yawning at this point, or you're interested - so I'll make it quick. Dig deep into this article from the Seattle Times and you'll see some key things we all should remember (or learn if you don't have a lot of experience with these things). Lessons include:
1. Non-Competes are there to DARE you to go to work for a competitor. Who's a competitor? Hell, we're not going to tell you that. We're daring you, after all. Better than you think we'll frame anyone under the sun as a competitor. That's enough to keep most of our talent from jumping ship, even for a better offer.
2. You can still hire a person under a non-compete, and there are ways to mitigate your risk. One of the best ways to protect your company after hiring someone under a non-compete is to put them in a role that won't use the IP under the agreement. If you're hiring a sales person, it's to let the former company know that the sales pro in question won't be calling on former customers for the duration of the Non-Compete. Target claims to have tried to do that:
Target spokeswoman Molly Snyder said in an email: “We have taken significant precautions to ensure that any proprietary information remains confidential and we believe this suit is without merit.
3. If both companies are hard-headed about their positions related to the Non-Compete, the company with a significantly bigger checkbook wins. Always remember this kids. Amazon vs Target is a couple of heavyweights who will spend what they need to, and a judge will ultimately decide. But, if you're a small company and you decide to pick off key talent from a bigger company, get ready to get drained. The company with the bigger checkbook will win, because they'll just bleed you dry on legal fees. Eventually, your C-level folks in a smaller company are going to say, "enough", and you might even be in the position of terminating someone you hired that had a non-compete - which is probably the worst position you can be in.
Can you hire someone under a non-compete? Yes! If you think the company in question might balk at it, you need to be prepared.
Optics related to the role they're going in at your company matter.
So does the size of your checkbook. Lawyers cost money. Film at 11.


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A gun and pawn shop owner in Florida received what he was told is “one of the gun letters” from his bank last month informing him that his business is no longer welcome.
Steve Champion, who opened American Gun & Pawn in Brooksville last year, received a letter from SunTrust on March 20, stating that he’ll have to close his accounts by April 20.
The letter matches others sent to pawn shops and gun store owners across the country. Though banks and the federal government have remained tight-lipped about the closures, they are believed to be related to Operation Choke Point, a Department of Justice initiative ostensibly aimed at ending bank fraud. Choke Point has identified nearly 30 types of businesses as being at “high-risk” for fraudulent and illegal activities. The “high-risk” list includes gun shops, pawn shops, coin dealers and payday lenders.
“SunTrust continuously reviews its products, markets, and client relationships to ensure that we are able to provide the best possible client services,” reads SunTrust’s letter to Champion.
“As a result of a recent account review, we regret to inform you that SunTrust is no longer able to provide some of the financial services you require. We respectfully request that you immediately begin closing all of your SunTrust deposit accounts, safe deposit boxes and credit cards by 4/20/2015,” the letter continues, noting that the decision cannot be reversed.
While Operation Choke Point does not explicitly force banks to end relationships with “high-risk” companies, it is believed that maintaining those relationships opens banks up to more scrutiny. Rather than deal with more oversight, some banks seem to have chosen to stop doing business with such companies altogether.
Naturally, Champion is not happy with the decision and has vowed to spread word of SunTrust’s actions.
“I’ve worked my whole life to open a business,” he told WFLA. “I have a near-perfect credit score. I have zero debt.”
“There is no reason other than they don’t want to do business either with a gun store or a pawn shop, period,” he said. “So they’re discriminating.”
“We’re a legitimate business that’s licensed through the federal government so why am I being singled out and why is my account being canceled?” he continued. “It’s just unacceptable, and I told them I will tell everyone that wants to listen.”
A spokesman for SunTrust told WFLA that the bank began severing relationships with pawn shops last year. He said that gun stores are not being targeted. Many pawn shops across the U.S. also sell guns.
But Champion questions the accuracy of that statement, given what a SunTrust customer service representative told him.
“Oh, you got one of the gun letters,” the employee said, explaining to Champion that gun stores across the country are receiving the same correspondence.
SunTrust was in the news last year for a similar crackdown on a South Carolina pawn and gun shop owner.
Morris Williams, the owner of Inman Gun and Pawn, had been doing business with the bank since 2006 when he was informed in a letter last August that he’d have to close all of his accounts. A SunTrust representative told The Daily Caller then that the closure was related to Inman’s pawn business. (RELATED: Store Owners Says His Bank Accounts Closed Because He Sells Guns)
“It doesn’t matter if this business is a pawn shop, sells guns, or cashes checks, as long as they are operating within the law their bank shouldn’t be pressured to cut off their account,” Brian Wise, the president of the U.S. Consumer Coalition, which is fighting Operation Choke Point, told TheDC then.
While SunTrust claims that Champion and Williams were targeted because of the pawn shop side of their businesses, there have been other cases in which stores that sell only guns have fallen victim to Choke Point.
Last year, Mark Cohen, the owner of Powderhorn Outfitters, a gun retailer in Hyannis, Mass., said that an executive at his bank, TD Bank, told him directly that it would not extend a line of credit “because you sell guns.” (RELATED: Gun Seller Dropped By Bank Rejects Their Offer ‘To Kiss And Make Up’)
And in November, Mike Shuetz, the owner of Hawkins Guns in Wisconsin, recorded a conversation he had with an executive at Heritage Credit Union after he was told that his bank accounts would be closed. The executive explained that federal regulators had recently inspected the credit union and targeted Shuetz’s business because he sells guns. (RELATED: Audio Tapes Reveal How Federal Regulators Shut Down Gun Store Owner’s Bank Accounts)


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Toll Group has announced it has entered into a formal agreement to sell its Global Express business to Allegro Funds, as the Japan Post owned transport group sort out a mire of issues and problems since the Japanese bought Toll several years ago.
Allegro Funds is a Sydney-based Australian private equity company which was founded by Chester Moynihan and Adrian Loader 16 years ago. Allegro currently has investments across a wide range of industries including healthcare, retail, industrial, education, food manufacturing, oil and gas, quick service restaurant, mining, flooring and tourism.
The sale of the Global Express business is expected to see Japan Post record net less than $10 million for the unit, while Allegro will assume the liabilities That is a mere fraction of the massive multi billion price Japan Post paid for the Toll Group.
The Allegro deal is astounding since Toll Global Express occupies such a prominent spot in the Australian logistics sector with revenues of $3.2 billion for the 2020 financial year and a fleet of trucks, trailers and planes along with depots and operations around the country that would it is estimated cost more than $AUD1 billion to replace.
The transaction will almost certainly result in another major write down for Japan Post in a litany of sorry following its buy in to Toll.
Since Japan Post bought the Toll Group stories have circulated about the many issues and problems the buyers found within Toll once they took control. The Australian Financial Review ran a series of stories last year about many of the issues the Japanese found and questioned the level of due diligence they carried out before purchasing the Australian transport company.
Toll Global Express includes Toll’s courier and express parcels arms, as well as its palletised, intermodal and shipping operations, and its New Zealand business. The biggest contributor is express parcels, which include same-day delivery and next-day delivery which generates better than $AUD1 billion in revenue each year.
Allegro was one of two bidders to lob a final offer for Toll Global Express at the end of March and is expected to inject around $AUD500 million into the Toll business, including debt funding as part of the transaction. Allegro has specialised in turning around difficult businesses.
The statement from Toll says that day-to-day operations will be unchanged, with customers continuing to work with existing Toll teams throughout the separation of Global Express from Toll Group.
Completion of the sale will be subject to regulatory approvals and other conditions, but is targeted to be completed by 30 June 2021.
Toll Group Chairman, John Mullen, said the sale marked an “exciting opportunity to build a profitable, sustainable company for the long term” by re-orienting around its key strengths and competitive advantage.”
“As an international business with a strong Australian heritage and significant Asian operations, the sale affords us the opportunity to invest in growing our operations across the Asia region while continuing to build on our strong competitive position in Australia – where it all began.”
Toll Group managing director, Thomas Knudsen, said the team would seek to create an even more compelling offering for customers by drawing on the “strength, scale and expertise we’ve built over 125 years through new and innovative solutions that help us grow with our customers in what is a very different world.”
“In undertaking the sale, we’ll retain the scale and expertise to manage complex supply chains across diverse markets in our key markets in Asia-Pacific.”


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The number of places where coffee lovers can recycle their disposable cups has rocketed in the past 12 months, according to an update published by the Paper Cup Recovery and Recycling Group (PCRRG).
The PCRRG estimates that there are currently 4,017 collection and recycling points in the UK, whereas a year ago there were “very few”. The likes of Costa Coffee, Starbucks, McDonald’s and a number of outlets in London’s Square Mile have all put bins in place.
More firms, including Pret and Paul, have also started offering discounts for customers who bring reusable cups.
The PCRRG – a voluntary body comprising foodservice companies, waste contractors and packaging firms – also said that progress “is being made in reprocessing systems”. Paper cups are recyclable but the laminate layer fused to the fibre makes reprocessing “technically challenging”.
An investigation by celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall last year highlighted that just 0.25% of the 2.5 billion cups used every year are recycled. PCRRG was formed following that campaign, but its progress report has no details of current recycling rates.
A number of new projects are expected in the coming 12 months, including research that will look at the possibility of separating out cups at Materials Recycling Facilities. “We know there are still challenges that we need to address in terms of the growth of the market, infrastructure restrictions and consumer behaviour change, but we are determined to impact these,” said the group’s chairman, Neil Whittall.
The PCRRG used its update to reinforce its opposition to deposit return schemes and charges. With a plastic bag tax proving so successful, there have been calls to extend the concept to single-use cups.
“The PCRRG believes that the concept of a proposed charge on paper cups cannot be compared like-for-like with the imposition of the carrier bag charge. A key reason for this is that the majority of coffee consumption out of the home is spontaneous.”


text: NexTV LatAm daily news reports that Brazilian operator Global Village Telecom (GVT) plans to start selling direct-to-home (DTH) services separately from its hybrid DTH-IPTV offer, which it is currently offering on a commercial basis in the country. It is understood that the carrier’s new DTH product will be ‘simpler and cheaper’, although it concedes that users will not be able to take advantage of interactive applications such as video-on-demand (VoD), YouTube, or its catch-up service ‘Outra Chance’. The basic package costs USD29.4 per month, including internet access and voice telephony, while the premium Ultra HD DTH plan costs USD42. GVT says that it is not dropping the hybrid offer totally, which will still be offered – albeit with the restriction that it will be limited to subscribers with a greater than 25Mbps connection. Hybrid packages cost between USD42.0 and USD56.7 per month.


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The U.S. Justice Department agreed to clear CenturyLink Inc.’s $25 billion takeover of Level 3 Communications Inc. if the telecom providers shed some of their fiber-optic infrastructure, moving the deal one step closer to closing.
NYS Entity Status
NYS Filing Date
MARCH 06, 2014
NYS DOS ID#
NYS Entity Type
DOMESTIC BUSINESS CORPORATION
2014 - OPTICS OF TICONDEROGA, INC.
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- NY AG presses TransUnion, Experian for cybersecurity details
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ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is pressing TransUnion and Experian to explain what cybersecurity they have in place to protect sensitive consumer information following a recent breach at Equifax that exposed the data of 143 million Americans.In letters to executives at the two credit monitoring companies, the Democratic attorney general asked them to describe their existing security systems as well as what changes they've made since the Equifax cyberattack."The unprecedented data breach experienced by Equifax Inc.


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EU governments have agreed a phase-out timetable to remove from the market all incandescent light bulbs and low-efficiency halogen bulbs by 2012 at the latest. The restrictions will be introduced as "implementing measures" under the energy-using products (EuP) directive and will begin to bite from next year.
EU governments have agreed a phase-out timetable to remove from the market all incandescent light bulbs and low-efficiency halogen bulbs by 2012 at the latest.Â The restrictions will be introduced as "implementing measures" under the energy-using products (EuP) directive and will begin to bite from next year.
"It's a groundbreaking measure that will change the way we consume energy," EU energy commissioner Andris Piebalgs said after the decision was taken by a committee of member state representatives in Brussels on Monday.Â The move should be formally approved by the EU in early spring, following a three-month scrutiny period in the European parliament.
Under the measure, all light bulbs will eventually have to be rated to at least C-class efficiency under the EU's energy labelling system, a requirement that will exclude traditional incandescent technology and less efficient types of halogen bulb.Â
The requirement will begin in September 2009 for bulbs that have a light output equivalent to an incandescent bulb of 100 watts (W) or more.Â All other bulbs will have to meet E-class efficiency by the same date.Â The C-class requirement will then apply to these lower-wattage bulbs in stages until all are covered by September 2012.Â
The restriction will prompt a shift towards the use of compact fluorescents lamps (CFLs) and higher-efficiency halogen bulbs.Â Officials expect this to save households up to â‚¬50 annually in energy costs, despite the higher price of alternatives to incandescents.Â It should also save 15m tonnes of EU carbon emissions annually.Â
The commission says some existing EU-based incandescent bulb plants will convert to halogen bulb manufacture, but CFL production is expected to remain overwhelmingly concentrated in China.Â Overall the commission expects "at most" EU 3,000 jobs to be lost through the changes.
"The fact that the measure appears to have been adopted relatively smoothly shows that the right level of ambition was reached," Gerald Strickland of European lighting industry group ELC told ENDS.Â "We'll now do our utmost to make sure we support the measure and put it into practice".
But Greenpeace complained that the EU hadÂ "watered down" its ambition level. Â "This decision is only a half-hearted attempt at improving energy efficiency in European households," it said.Â In October energy ministers had called for the sale of "the worst-performing domestic lighting products" to be "prohibited from 2010".
There are also new requirements on bulb functionality and consumer information.Â Some special-purpose incandescent lamps, such as in fridges and ovens, are exempt from the ban. EU officials expect that later revisions of the standards will phase out halogen bulbs as new LED technologies are refined.Â The measure is the fifth to be agreed under the EuP law.


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Givenchy has recently opened its first flagship store in Shanghai's ICC Mall. The new store offers the brand's latest ready-to-wear collection for men and women, as well as luxury bags and accessories. The boutique was patterned after the Paris Flagship store located on 28 Faubourg Saint-Honoré.
This is Givenchy's third store in Shanghai, two shops are situated on City Square and Nanjing Road, the newest being the largest and has the latest items. The idea of the shop pays homage to the Givenchy boxes that are being used to deliver their Haute Couture Garments. Givenchy's Fall/Winter 2013 Collection is now available in this boutique.
GIVENCHY SHANGHAI IAPM
L116-L117, NO.999 MIDDLE HUAIHAI RD
SHANGHAI ICC MALL
Opening Hours: 10AM-10PM
Source: Fashionunited.co.uk / Givenchy.com


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What do you think? Here's the press release:
More than one in three people (38%) would recommend their bank to a friend, according to new research from banking technology specialist Misys. Despite recent reports of banks struggling to keep customers and evidence of a lack of sophisticated cross-selling strategies, a significant number of consumers seem to be more loyal towards their banks than to other organisations with whom they interact.
The research comes on the heels of the FSA’s Treating Customers Fairly paper, which encourages UK financial services to put customers’ interests at the heart of their business structures. The FSA paper notes a commonly held perception that the financial services sector is greedy and sales-oriented.
The Misys research findings should therefore come as a refreshing change for UK retail banks. It found that more respondents would recommend banks to their friends than would recommend lawyers, estates agents or car dealers. However, customer satisfaction in this sector is far from complete. Britons are still more loyal to doctors, insurance companies and Internet stores than to their banks and only half of people in the UK are confident that their banks offer them the best deal available.
Interestingly, men are more likely to recommend a bank to their friends than women.
Peter Anderton, Head of Marketing for Retail Banking at Misys Banking Systems, comments on the findings: “Many in the industry will be pleasantly surprised that retail banks rate this highly in the collective minds of UK consumers. However, the majority of people still would not recommend their bank so there is no room for complacency. Banks in the UK have traditionally benefited from consumer inertia, but the marketplace is becoming increasingly competitive. New entrants to the market, like Tesco, are proving to be slick operators, bringing their knowledge of retailing to the financial services industry. Customers’ loyalty will diminish as these new entrants arrive.
“Banks are definitely facing up to this new era of competition, but cannot always act to safeguard their existing business because of a lack of appropriate technology. In our survey, the biggest reason for not recommending a bank is that consumers do not feel they are receiving the best deal. As in every market, poor targeting (‘junk mail’) has caused increasing numbers of people to opt out of receiving or reading direct marketing. This creates a situation where their bank cannot contact its customers – even when it may be to suggest a different product better suited to the individual’s needs! This is a technology-led problem driven in part by a reluctance to embrace technology change and in part by the fact that some of the important IT elements are only now becoming available. The latest service oriented systems enable banks to align their most appropriate products and services with each customer whenever they contact the bank in the branch, at an ATM, by telephone or online – making advice more welcome and helping to meet the needs of both the bank and the consumer.
“In its ‘Mystery Customer’ research, Datamonitor found that the world’s top 300 retail banks had room for improvement in aligning business processes and technology solutions to drive customer loyalty and revenue generation.
To date, there have been few large banks that have successfully changed their systems and processes to maintain their customer base effectively.
But with the right tools they will be able to ensure that customer churn falls as the experience they provide to their customers improves.”


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There are many applications for 3D printing in the US Navy, from making small components like bolts to parts for large warships. Now, the Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division (NSWC PCD) in Florida has adopted some new metal 3D printing technology in its Additive Manufacturing Laboratory (AML). By expanding its AM capabilities, the NSWC PCD can help lead innovation for the rest of the Navy.
“There are many advantages to having access to a metal 3D printer. Major advantages include reduction in time to complete prints, reproducibility, and the complexity of parts available for print. NSWC PCD’s goal is to produce efficient and quality products to the warfighter, and this printer will allow our engineers and scientists to create strong and complex products in a shorter time frame,” said Chuck Self, NSWC PCD AML head.
The 3D printer added to the AML is an EOS M290 Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS) system. This industrial 3D printer, which has been used to make products like airplane runway mats and rocket engines, features a 250 x 250 x 325 mm build volume and uses a 400-watt fiber laser, with an excellent beam quality, inside a nitrogen atmosphere to make accurate, complex, and fully dense parts out of powdered metal.
According to NSWC PCD mechanical engineer Halie Cameron, NAVSEA acquired the printer in an effort to increase fiscal year ’18 capabilities.
“The printer is capable of building highly complex geometries that are unable to be fabricated by traditional machining,” Cameron said. ” A benefit of the printer is part reduction, by combining parts that would have been fabricated separately with traditional machining. As the capabilities grow, metal 3D printers will likely become irreplaceable.”
Other members of NSWC PCD, such as its machine shop project manager Nicole Waters, are also happy with the new addition. Waters explained that having the metal 3D printer onsite makes it possible to set up an internal, collaborative innovation network for 3D printing.
Self said that adding the M290 is “a big step for NSWC PCD,” as it will allow the division to quickly deliver 3D printed solutions to help enable warfighting dominance. The metal 3D printer makes it possible to efficiently create parts and prototypes that would be difficult to fabricate through conventional methods of manufacturing. This efficiency, combined with repeatable accuracy, also helps drive down time and costs when working on an important project.
“Having the metal 3D printer in-house at NSWC PCD allows us to make parts that are customizable to the customer’s needs vice lengthy ordering lead times. This gives our scientists and engineers the opportunity to work one on one with the AML personnel to get their product built exactly the way they want,” Waters said. “We encourage the One Team motto in the AML and want to create the highest quality parts for our Fleet projects and research prototypes.”
Discuss this story and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts in the Facebook comments below.[Source: NAVSEA]
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In an operating room in rural Idaho, doctors prep a patient for surgery. They make a tiny, thumb-sized incision into the patient and insert a small robot while across the country a surgeon puts on a virtual reality headset, grabs their controllers and prepares to operate.
While this scene may seem like science fiction now, a Charlestown, Mass.-based startup called Vicarious Surgical is developing the technology to make that vision a reality.
The company’s co-founders, Adam Sachs and Sammy Khalifa, have been developing and refining the technology almost since they met at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as undergraduates.
The 27-year-old Sachs said that he and Khalifa formally launched the company roughly five years ago when they graduated from MIT, and have been working on it ever since.
“We’ve been working on ways to miniaturize robotics and put all of the motion of surgery into the abdominal cavity,” says Sachs. “If you put all of the motion inside the abdominal cavity you are not confined to motion around the incision sites.”
What really set the founders’ brains buzzing was the potential for combining their miniature robots with the ability to see inside the body using virtual reality headsets like the Oculus Rift.
“It wasn’t a ‘Eureka!’ moment, but more like two-or-three weeks as the vision came together,” says Sachs. “We can make robotics more human-like and virtual reality would give you that presence in the body.”
The two founders initially bootstrapped their startup and then raised a small seed round, then began steadily closing larger tranches of a rolling round from luminaries like Bill Gates through his Gates Frontier fund, Khosla Ventures, Eric Schmidt’s Innovation Endeavors, AME Cloud Ventures (investment firm from Yahoo founder Jerry Yang), Singularity Holdings investor Neil Devani and Salesforce founder Marc Benioff.
In all, the company has raised some $31.8 million to support the development of its technology.
For Sachs and Khalifa, even though the technology was broadly applicable in areas that would yield faster results than healthcare, tackling the health market first was important, Sachs says.
“A lot of people pointed out that our technology has a lot of applications. [But] healthcare for all of the reasons that people talk about really is meaningful to us,” says Sachs. “I have the luxury of being able to work on a project that’s fascinating from a technology standpoint and meaningful from a social good aspect.”
Science and entrepreneurship runs in the Sachs family. Adam’s father, Ely Sachs, is a professor at MIT and one of the co-founders of the revolutionary 3D-printing company, Desktop Metal .
According to Sachs, a number of innovations in robotics has led the company to develop what Sachs calls tiny humanoid robots.
“Picture a very robotic version of two human arms and a human head,” says Sachs. “Two robotic arms that have the same degrees of freedom and proportions of a human arms and a camera that is placed above the shoulders of the robot… it’s a few inches across.”
Using the motorized robot a surgeon can remotely control the robot’s movements to operate on a patient. “They can be in another room or they can be hundreds of miles away (with an excellent internet connection,” says Sachs.
For surgeons using Vicarious’ technology, the primary feedback is virtual, Sachs says. They look through the “eyes” of the robot and can look down and see the robot’s arms. “We track the surgeon’s arm motion and mimics their arms and hands. The primary feedback is to create the impression of presence of the surgeon as if they’d been shrunk down.”
The mission of Vicarious Surgical’s founders and its investors is to drive down both the cost of higher impact surgeries and access to the best surgeons through remote technologies.
The market for medical robots is highly lucrative. Earlier today, Johnson & Johnson announced the $3.4 billion acquisition of Auris Health — a maker of robotic diagnostics and surgical tools. In all, estimates put the robotic surgery market at somewhere around $90 billion, according to a report from Allied Market Research.
“We like to invest in things that if they work they truly change the industry. Minimally invasive surgeries and surgical robotics is definitely the future and it’s just getting started,” says Dror Berman, a managing director with Innovation Endeavors.
“There were 900,000 surgeries done using surgical robotics out of a total of 313 million surgical procedures. It’s a low percentage and it’s very expensive to buy those… In general that’s not offered to the vast majority of patients. Vicarious is about democratizing that access… if it works it will open a huge market for people who can use much better procedures for much better surgeries,” Berman says.
“One of the problems with that is that smaller hospitals can’t afford these $2 million robots,” says Sachs. “By making the devices tiny and fitting the motion inside a patient we can expand access long-term and in smaller hospitals where a surgeon might be able to start a procedure.”
Later, as Vicarious is able to build up taxonomies of different surgical practices and methods, the hospitals could begin to automate more aspects of the procedures to the point where many of these surgeries may just be handled by the robot.
The company is currently testing its miniature robots in laboratories and would not comment on whether it was using animal subjects. Vicarious is also modeling the human abdomen and conducting as many virtual tests as possible.
The new funding, Sachs says, will take the company through its applications for the Food and Drug Administration.
“A lot of our long-term vision is about growing and scaling our technology to the point where it’s accessible not just to big cities and major hospitals in the U.S. and also the small cities and towns in the rural U.S. and around the world as well,” says Sachs. “Long-term it’s about the democratization of surgery that can come from surgical robotics.”[ + ]
It was a tough week. Journalists around the U.S. were hit hard by layoffs, from HuffPost to BuzzFeed News to Verizon Media Group, which owns this very site. The government entered day 35 of the shutdown before President Donald Trump agreed to a short-term deal to reopen it for three weeks. And in the startup world, a once high-flying, venture-subsidized food delivery startup crashed and burned, leaving a cluster of small businesses in its wreckage.
Some good things happened too — we’ll get to those.
In an email to customers on Monday, Munchery announced it would cease operations, effective immediately. It, however, failed to notify any of its vendors, small businesses in San Francisco that had supplied baked goods to the startup for years. I talked to several of those business owners about what they’re owed and what the sudden disappearance of Munchery means for them.
If you haven’t read John Carreyrou’s “Bad Blood,” stop reading this newsletter right now and go get yourself a copy. If you love to read, watch and listen to the Theranos saga as much as I do, you’ll be glad to hear there’s some fresh Theranos content released to the world this week. Called “The Dropout,” a new ABC documentary and an accompanying podcast about Theranos features never-before-aired depositions. Plus, TechCrunch’s Josh Constine reviews the Theranos documentary, “The Inventor,” which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival this week.
Confluent, the developer of a streaming data technology that processes massive amounts of information in real time, announced a $125 million Series D round on an enormous $2.5 billion valuation (up 5x from its Series C valuation). The round was led by existing investor Sequoia Capital, with participation from other top-tier VCs Index Ventures and Benchmark.
Jonathan and Joshua Viner, the founders of the SoftBank-backed dog walking startup Wag, launched Wheels this week, an electric bike-share startup with a $37 million funding from Tenaya Capital, Bullpen Capital, Naval Ravikant and others.
Indonesia-headquartered Go-Jek has closed an initial chunk of what it hopes will be a $2 billion round after a collection of existing investors, including Google, Tencent and JD.com, agreed to put around $920 million toward it, according to TechCrunch’s Southeast Asia reporter Jon Russell. The deal, which we understand could be announced as soon as next week, will value Go-Jek’s business at around $9.5 billion.
There’s been a lot of chatter around direct listings since Spotify opted to go public via the untraditional route in 2018, but what exactly is a direct listing… We asked a panel of six experts: “What are the implications of direct listing tech IPOs for financial services, regulation, venture capital and capital markets activity?”
Here’s your weekly reminder to send me tips, suggestions and more to email@example.com or @KateClarkTweets.
Through telemedicine and direct-to-consumer sales platforms, startups are streamlining the historically arduous process of accessing contraception. The latest effort to secure a significant financing round is The Pill Club, an online birth control prescription and delivery service. This week, the consumer-focused investor VMG Partners led its $51 million Series B.
Sunil Nagaraj spent years investing in startups at Bessemer Venture Partners, but he was itching to meet with younger companies and strike out on his own. So in the summer of 2017, he did, and now, Nagaraj said he’s closed Ubiquity Ventures’ debut fund with $30 million. March Capital Partners, the Los Angeles-based venture capital firm, raised $300 million for its latest fund. Plus, Zynga founder Mark Pincus is reportedly raising up to $700 million for a new investment fund, called Reinvent Capital, that will focus on publicly traded tech companies in need of strategic restructuring.
A mental health startup, a construction tech business and a fintech company, among others. Take a quick look at the startups that just completed Alchemist’s six-month accelerator program.
If you enjoy this newsletter, be sure to check out TechCrunch’s venture-focused podcast, Equity. In this week’s episode, available here, Crunchbase editor-in-chief Alex Wilhelm, TechCrunch’s Silicon Valley editor Connie Loizos and I chatted about Munchery’s downfall, The Pill Club’s mission to make birth control more accessible and the VC slowdown in China.
Want more TechCrunch newsletters? Sign up here.
Wed, 23 Jan 2019 14:07:55 +0000
Startups Weekly: Is Munchery the Fyre Festival of startups?
Facebook has agreed to plough more resource into combating the use of its advertising platform by scammers, saying it will do more to tackle scam ads that use well-known public figures to try to trick consumers.
It plans to launch a dedicated scam ad report button in the UK, slated to go live in around three months’ time, as well as set up a specialist, locally-based team to monitor ad reports, keep an eye on scammer trends and generally work on getting celebrity-exploiting scam ads taken down more quickly than its current AI-aided ad review systems have been doing.
The new measures were announced in a joint press conference with UK consumer advice personality, Martin Lewis, who launched a defamation lawsuit against Facebook in April, saying the social network giant had failed to stop scammers using his image on scores of ads that aimed to swindle consumers, thereby damaging his reputation.
Some of the ads had tried to use Lewis’ image to promote crypto scams.
Lewis filed suit after becoming frustrated by the scale of scam ads bearing his image and Facebook’s tepid response to the problem its platform has created — telling the Guardian last year: “What is particularly pernicious about Facebook is that it says the onus is on me, so I have spent time and effort and stress repeatedly to have them taken down.”
He confirmed today that he’s dropped the lawsuit after Facebook agreed to make changes.
“There were over 1,000 on Facebook in a year. And the way that the company acted then wasn’t good enough, so I had to resort to [taking legal action],” he said during the press conference, adding that he had wanted to see “tangible real change to the number of scam ads on the platform”, so was happy to drop the lawsuit because he believes the new report button will do that.


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Double whammy for dairy farmers
HYDERABAD: Dairy farmers in India are staring at a double whammy. Farmers, who are saddled with a payment crisis because of the demonetisation move, are also seeing the price of milk falling as is customary every winter.
Apart from the majority of dairy farmers in the unorganised sector, some in the organised sector who are also without bank accounts have been affected by the demonetisation move.
India, the world’s largest milk producer with 20% share, currently has over 75 million dairy farmers, of which only a little over 40% are in the organised sector. A majority of dairy farmers sell their produce directly to consumers.
Representatives of dairy farmers’ associations have been highlighting the problems being faced due to delayed payments. Nageswara Rao, joint secretary of Progressive Dairy Farmers’ Association, said,
“We are facing liquidity issues to clear our dues. Dairy farmers, who sell to housing societies, are the worst hit as they are not getting payments from households due to lack of currency notes which is delaying payments to feed producers and others.”
Cooperatives and private dairies that procure milk from farmers and make payments through bank accounts are taking temporary measures like cash advances and arranging animal feed on credit.
Adding to the woes of farmers, the dairy sector has started seeing milk prices falling due to higher production of milk this winter with cheaper availability of animal feed, both natural and manufactured.
Experts say milk production in winter goes up by 10-15%. Rao of dairy farmers’ body said milk procurement prices in Hyderabad fell to Rs 28 a litre from Rs 32 a litre last winter thanks to increased supplies from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra.
Amul has expanded its marketing network buoyed by strong milk procurement capabilities from cooperatives in Gujarat, he said
Source: DAIRY NEWS OF INDIA


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Fashion Notes: Diotima and Keneea Linton shine
Diotima dancehall and bespoke fusion
Designer Rachel Scott dropped her Diotima resort 2023 collection B***y Jaw last week to much acclaim. Combining the sensuality of dancehall, bespoke tailoring, bead work and signature Jamaican crochet, Scott continues to intrigue us. It also doesn’t hurt that she was able to scoop dancehall icons Carlene and Patra for the latest Diotima lookbook.
Keneea Linton-George at RFW
Representing The Designers Guild Jamaica, Keneaa Linton-George of Keneea Linton Designs, took to the motherland, wowing with a showing bedecked with the colours of our national flag at Rwanda Fashion Week that featured designs from the Commonwealth last Thursday.


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Uber Are Suffering For Being First-Movers
There was more bad news for Uber shareholders yesterday as regulators in London stripped the company of their license over passenger safety risk.
Noting “a pattern of failures”, TfL (Transport for London) said the company was “not fit and proper at this time”. Of course, this won’t affect the company immediately as they have 21 days to appeal, which they most definitely will, and they will continue to be able to operate throughout what will be a long and drawn-out appeals process.
What has worried regulators was a weakness in the Uber authentication systems, which effectively allowed unauthorized drivers to accept fares — some of these drivers had previously had their license revoked. Not only is this putting rider safety at risk, but it meant at least 14,000 journeys that TfL identified were completely uninsured.
We’ve actually been here before but in very different circumstances. Back in 2017, TfL also refused to renew Uber’s license, with one of their main issues being the use of Greyball, a piece of software that prevented law enforcement officials from identifying drivers. Greyball helped the company operate in cities where regulators had promised to crack down on any ride-hailing services by fining drivers who were caught.
From 'Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber' by Mike Isaac:
Greyball was consistent with one of Uber’s fourteen company values: Principled Confrontation. Uber was protecting its drivers while confronting what they saw as a “corrupt” taxi industry that had been protected by bureaucracy and outdated regulations. Concepts like “breaking the law” weren’t applicable, they believed, when the laws were bullshit in the first place.
When looking at the two cases, it’s clear that there has been a change in Uber’s tone. Greyball was an effort by the business to openly flout the rules, whereas yesterday’s announcement appears to focus on more of a technical mistake that the company will surely address.
I fully suspect that Uber will have its license renewed eventually, particularly because having lived in London, I’ve seen how important the company is. However, I think the more pressing issue is how regulators decide to deal with the company after years of poor relations. There are other ride-hailing businesses operating in London, but I suspect that Uber is more scrutinized than most, partly because they are the biggest, but also because regulators don’t like being messed around — which Uber did a lot.
I sometimes find myself feeling sorry for Uber in situations like these. There is no doubt in my mind that without Kalanick’s tenacity in the early days, Uber, and ride-hailing as we know it would have been dead on arrival. However, they burned a lot of bridges on their journey to this point. First-mover advantage is something we always look for in a great investment. However, being the first one through the wall can leave you pretty bloody.


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TABCORP has made a commitment to watch its punters a little more carefully in an effort to guard against allowing high-risk problem gamblers punting at retail outlets and online.
The Australian gambling operator will use new intelligence software from tech giant IBM that monitors customers who have either volunteered or forcefully-placed on anti-gambling registry.
The move could help Tabcorp guarantee that they remain in line with local licensing requirements and comes hot on the heels of significant fines in the United Kingdom, where bookmakers were caught taking bets from problem gamblers, with stolen money and a number of other breaches.
Tabcorp plans on installing the IBM i2 visual intelligence across its 9000 retail outlets throughout the country.
The software is designed to track punters in-person and their online betting activity, providing a safety net for retailers, who can be unknowingly be exposed and play a part in criminal behaviour, money laundering and fraud.
So, the immediate question that comes with this technology, which we still know little about, is the threat it poses to the privacy of Tabcorp customers.
Can Tabcorp be trusted to only implement the IBM i2 software to only protect problem gamblers and prevent crime, or will it be used to delve deeper into customer’s habits and betting patterns to facilitate and encourage run-of-the-mill punters to gamble more?
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While Maryland lawmakers have signaled they likely won’t legalize the recreational use of marijuana in the 2020 legislative session as some had hoped, it’s only a matter of time before they eventually do. A dozen other states already have, roughly two dozen — including Maryland — have decriminalized small amounts of the drug, and three dozen states (again, including Maryland) … [Read more...] about Recreational marijuana is inevitable in Maryland
Jobs For Women of Color in the Cannabis Industry In the United States, women hold just 21 percent of executive positions at companies, regardless of industry or company size — but according to a recent survey from Marijuana Business Daily, that number jumps to nearly 37 percent for women in the cannabis industry. The recreational cannabis industry in the US pulls in more than … [Read more...] about Meet 3 Women of Color Lighting Up the Cannabis Industry
Social Equity Programs are coming to Massachusetts! That's right! This is outstanding. The program has four tracks: for new entrepreneurs, people interested in managerial and executive careers, entry-level (including those reentering society after a conviction), and those with existing skills that are transferable to the cannabis business. To qualify for social equity … [Read more...] about Social Equity Programs Coming to MA
Cannabis Social Clubs: The Hottest Thing Smoking? Cannabis has been used as a social tool for thousands of years. I've met some of my best friends through cannabis. Colorado is actively working on legislation to legalize cannabis social clubs in the state. Recreational cannabis is legalized in Colorado, as well as seven other states. … [Read more...] about Cannabis Social Clubs: The Hottest Thing Smoking?


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Iogear Digital Scribe
The latest digital pens are a far cry from the earliest attempts to add a brain to the standard Bic. But the question remains: will these new devices be more than a curiosity?
This week, Irvine, Calif.-based Iogear announced plans for a digital pen that can work with standard paper. Last month, educational computer maker LeapFrog introduced the FlyFusion, its second go at the digital pen. And later this year, Silicon Valley start-up LiveScribe plans to introduce a $200 device that can not only take digital notes, but also synchronize them with an audio recording.
Iogear's Digital Scribe pen (pictured) works with any piece of paper, but requires the pen to be connected to a computer for the writing to be digitized.
August 24, 2007 3:58 AM PDT
Photo by: Iogear
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