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Solley’s special half term opening
UPDATE – Due to the ongoing rain, we have unfortunately had to take the decision not to open on Friday 30th October. Apologies for any inconvenience and thank you to all who have braved the weather and visited this week.
Our home delivery continues, and we’ll have more Christmas news coming soon too!
We are delighted to announce that we will be open for ice cream cones and takeaway ice cream tubs daily from Monday 26th October to Friday 30th October, 11am – 3pm.
If you’re looking for a way to treat the kids over half term, then why not pop down and see us at The Dairy, Church Lane, Ripple, Near Deal, CT14 8JL.
Please note, activities such as tractor rides will not be running. We will be taking card payments only, selling cones & tubs.
We look forward to seeing you at the parlour!


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ESPN on Xbox 360: A tipping point for cable workarounds?
- Todd Bishop
One of the most obvious lessons from the recent Consumer Electronics Show was that options are expanding rapidly for people itching to sidestep traditional cable television -- particularly as companies find new ways to bring Internet video to the living room.
In that way, it's no surprise that Microsoft is reported to be talking with Disney about piping live ESPN sports content through the Xbox 360, building on the existing (and coincidentally named) ESPN 360 online service. But if the deal comes together, it seems like the type of arrangement that could cause a lot more people to consider dropping their cable service -- contributing to a groundswell that should force cable companies to rethink their approach.
Imagine this budget-minded setup.
2) Xbox Live Gold subscription for about $50 a year, accompanied by a basic Netflix plan for about $9 a month, with the ability to stream selected content directly to the Xbox 360. (The PlayStation 3 also offers Netflix streaming, and the Nintendo Wii will be getting it later this year.)
3) Boxee Box from D-Link, due out out in the first half of this year, $200 one-time cost, offering Hulu and other Internet video services directly on the television. Or PlayOn, the $40 PC software from Seattle's MediaMall that routes Hulu and other Internet video services to the television through game consoles.
Add live ESPN sports to the list, throw in a few TV and movie downloads a month, and really, what more does the average person need?
The New York Times, which broke the news of Microsoft's ESPN talks, cautioned that a deal was not imminent. The popularity of the service will depend largely on the price, with the Times saying only that the content would be available based on "a per-subscriber fee."
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The Internet retail juggernaut that is Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) continues to get stronger and it’s doing so in a way that should worry other players in the consumer electronics sector. In late June, a Deutsche Bank analyst note was issued pointing out the magnitude of Amazon’s increased dominance of consumer electronics. In 2015 there was an increase of $5.6 billion in the consumer electronics sector and Amazon was responsible for $5.1 billion of that increase. That corresponds to a 90 percent share of the 2015 increase in the consumer electronics sector. Deutsche Bank’s Mike Baker also noted that Amazon now commands a 17 percent share of the consumer electronics market, which puts them in second-place behind only Best Buy (NYSE:BBY).
Amazon’s dominance in the e-commerce world is well known and that’s being compounded by a surge of electronics purchases, which are moving to the Internet. Trade publication Twice also recently reported on market research showing that 70 percent of shoppers surveyed purchased consumer tech gadgets from Amazon or its third-party online affiliates compared to 51 percent of shoppers who purchased tech items at brick-and-mortar stores. This data comes from the Walker Sands’ 2016 Future of Retail Study. Reports of 54 million subscribers to Amazon’s Prime service is another sign that the company has a strong hold over the e-commerce channels.
The first quarter earnings report for Amazon also reflects the company’s continued growth despite its already massive size and a market capitalization that exceeds $356 billion. Year-over-year, net sales increased for Amazon by 28 percent from $22.7 billion in the first quarter of 2015 up to $29.1 billion in this year’s first quarter. Electronics and other merchandise continue to be the strongest of Amazon’s sales divisions, delivering more than $20 billion of combined sales in North America as well as in international markets.
Amazon has certainly helped itself by finding ways to use the consumer electronics it produces to promote its retail platform. In early July, the company began issuing deals on consumer electronics to shoppers who placed orders through Alexa, Amazon’s personal digital assistant platform. Sales of the Amazon Echo, the voice-controlled speaker which runs Alexa, has reached 3 million units according to recent market research reports. Along with other popular consumer products like the Kindle and the Fire TV stick, Amazon is able to profit twice by selling its own gadgets through its own e-commerce platform.
On July 12th, Amazon will also launch what it’s calling its largest sales event ever with the 2016 Prime Day promotion. The event caters mainly to Amazon Prime subscribers who have access to more than 100,000 deals which are exclusive to them. Those who don’t currently have Prime can sign up for a free 30-day trial prior to Prime Day so the event could be a boon to both Amazon’s consumer electronics sales as well as its Prime subscription platform.
Amazon’s digital streaming services should also be recognized as a valuable spoke in Amazon’s corporate wheel. The recent addition of PBS Kids show titles such as Odd Squad and Wild Kratts as exclusive content for Amazon Prime Video is another step forward for a video streaming platform which already includes popular series like The Man in the High Castle and Transparency, the latter of which has garnered Golden Globes, Emmy Awards and industry recognition from other shows. Media reports have also recently pegged Amazon Music as having the second-largest subscriber base among paid digital music subscription services behind satellite music subscriptions. Whereas competitors like Spotify and Netflix offer consumers access to a wide swath of streaming media, the ability that Amazon Prime subscribers have in accessing different types of multimedia through a single subscription seems to be resulting in a good deal of success for Amazon’s digital products.
Improvements to speech recognition platforms like Alexa, which power devices like the Amazon Echo. The technology behind Alexa is on display in U.S. Patent No. 9324322, titled Automatic Volume Attenuation for Speech Enabled Devices. It claims a method of modifying operation of a device which involves generating audio outputs, receiving an audio input through a microwave, performing echo cancellation on the audio input and determining that an audio input signal includes a sound which is not speech directed at the device. This technology is designed so that speech-enabled devices can respond intelligently to background noise, like a doorbell or ringing phone, in such a way which naturally improves the listening experience by increasing the volume or stopping playback without requiring a manual input from users.
The Echo and other devices with speakers developed by Amazon should offer better playback to listeners thanks to the invention discussed within U.S. Patent No. 9351073, issued under the title Enhanced Stereo Playback. It discloses a computer-implemented method which involves receiving position information of a listener, generating left and right cancellation signals based on position information and orientation information of the device and modifying left and right output audio signals with the cancellation signals. This innovation is designed to reduce sound distortion based on a listener’s location, right down to a person’s head position, to enhance stereo playback while the listener changes position.
Virtual and augmented reality technologies were a big focus at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and we’re seeing an Amazon innovation in related consumer tech devices in U.S. Patent No. 9383831, entitled Powered Augmented Reality Projection Accessory Display Device. It protects a method of generating an augmented reality (AR) environment by identifying a projection surface for the AR environment, associating the projection surface with an AR functional node, projecting that node onto the surface, transmitting a signal to an active device coupled to the surface and modifying the AR environment based on that signal. The projection accessory display device of this invention can be provided within a tablet, a countertop, a tablecloth or some other surface. The fixed projection accessory can communicate with an AR functional node in a computer or a projector to ensure that the orientation of the projection remains readable based on the orientation of a viewer.
Amazon continues to improve upon its e-book reader devices as is evidenced by the issue of U.S. Patent No. 9384672, titled Handheld Electronic Book Reader Device Having Asymmetrical Shape. The patent claims a handheld electronic book with a wedge-shaped housing in which one side of the device is thicker than the other side of that device. The thicker device side allows a user to more easily grasp the reader device as he or she would a paperback novel while the internal components can be configured so as to achieve a uniform weight throughout the device.
 Much of the data relied upon by Deutsche Bank is found in the 2016 Top 100 CE Retailers Report produced by consumer electronics trade publication Twice.


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During a presentation taking place during Women in Flavor and Fragrance Commerce’s “Latin America: 360 Degrees” conferencea, Juan Jose Garcia Vilches of Bell Flavors & Fragrances explained that the region comprises 26 countries and 614 million people, 75% of which live in urban areas. By 2030, 609 million people will live in the region’s cities. The opportunities for flavor and fragrance suppliers are significant.
However, products will have to be developed for unique cultural and economic dynamics. Vilches noted that 400 million people, or 65% of Latin America’s population, live on less than $10/day. Still, that makes this group worth hundreds of millions of dollars to consumer product companies. Despite the low wages, some 70% buy top brands because security and trust is a top concern. These consumers are wholly willing to pay more for top brands. Meanwhile, new middle classes are emerging. For instance, in Brazil, there are 100 million middle class people, of which 61% have access to credit.
Latin Americans spend about 32% of their income on food, including 17% on dairy, according to Vilches. They spend 14% of their income on household products and 10% on personal care. Ninety percent of their purchases are conducted by cash. About 75% of sales are driven by preference or tradition, as opposed to price point.


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Washingtonians are proud of our great outdoors. Perhaps that’s why 72 percent of us dedicate an average of 56 days a year to recreating outside. And when we venture out, we generate significant economic activity – visiting destinations and restaurants, hiring guides, visiting Main Street, and gearing up. All that activity keeps us healthy. It also keeps our state coffers healthy, to the tune of $2 billion in state and local taxes annually.
Nationally, Americans contribute over $125 billion in taxes off the back of outdoor recreation. Some of the costs come in the form of embedded tariffs on products that can reach 20 percent of wholesale or more. Given the size of the contributions, it should come as no surprise that the taxes outdoor enthusiasts pay are multiples more than what government reinvests in our public lands and outdoor recreation infrastructure.
Unfortunately, to fill current funding gaps some lawmakers in Olympia are defaulting to more taxes instead of reviewing budget priorities or seeking broad stakeholder support for a more sensible path forward. Without much of any stakeholder consultation, a small group of state legislators recently introduced House Bill 2122 to establish a new sales tax on items utilized for “recreational activities” that retail for over $200.
The bill is rife with intractable problems. According to the Department of Revenue, this tax could be applied broadly – and oddly – to such things as swimming pools, telescopes and playground equipment for children. At the same time, DOR says the bill will raise minimal new dollars. There are carve-outs for indoor and team sports; for certain products like firearms, snowmobiles, ATVs, bicycles and watercraft; and for those who can demonstrate they have a hunting or fishing license.
Small businesses remain the backbone of the outdoor recreation economy. In many towns, they represent economic lifeblood and contribute substantially to a sector that statewide supports 200,000 jobs. They and their customers would be hurt most by the added burden of such an ambiguous, gerrymandered excise tax. The small business community doesn’t need the government to add more challenges to their well-being.
More broadly, the point of designing, developing and selling outdoor gear and apparel is to encourage and make it easier for Washingtonians to get outside and enjoy our state’s natural wonders. Our industry is helping Americans build memories, refresh their spirits and strengthen their family bonds and friendships.
As a country where mental health and broader health care costs are approaching 20 percent of GDP, where we are concerned about a weakening social fabric, and where many are concerned that new generations are growing up disconnected from nature, the outdoors can be healing in so many different ways. Tax structures and revenue generation should be conducive to positive behavior like enjoying the outdoors, not deterrents.
Once the legislative session ends, we’d suggest a restart to the funding conversation, this time inviting in the breadth and creativity of the state’s outdoor recreation stakeholders.
Eric Artz is interim president and CEO of REI; Dan Nordstrom is CEO Emeritus of Outdoor Research; and Paul Fish is president of Mountain Gear.


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The economic calendar in the U.S. Thursday includes Automatic Data Processing's employment report at 8:15 a.m. EST, jobless claims from the Labor Department at 8:30 a.m., and the Institute for Supply Management December index of regional business activity for New York at 9:45 a.m.
U.S. stocks on Wednesday soared as global risk appetite surged on the first trading day of the year after the House managed to pass the Senate's 11th-hour agreement on averting the "fiscal cliff." The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 308 points, or 2.4%, to 13,413. It was the biggest single-day gain for the Dow since Nov. 19. The S&P 500 gained 36 points, or 2.5%, to 1,462. The tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 93 points, or 3.1%, to 3112.
Apple ( AAPL) has set its first-quarter earnings release for Jan. 23, with a conference call the same day to discuss the results.
Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD) appointed Devinder Kumar as its chief financial officer after a four-month search.
Mellanox Technologies ( MLNX), the data-storage company, on Wednesday reduced its revenue forecast for the fourth quarter.
Costco Wholesale ( COST), the warehouse retailer, posted a same-store sales increase of 9% in December, higher than analysts' expectations.
Automakers, including Ford ( F) and General Motors ( GM), are expected to post December sales results on Thursday.
Earnings are expected Thursday from Family Dollar Stores ( FDO) and Worthington Industries ( WOR).
-- Written by Joseph Woelfel >To contact the writer of this article, click here: Joseph Woelfel >To submit a news tip, send an email to: email@example.com.


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GMB Calls For Ofgem To Be Scrapped And For Government To Take Over As Regulator Accountable To Parliament
Government cannot duck taking the decisions needed to keep the lights on and ensure the decarbonisation of the sector says GMB
GMB, the union for energy workers, has commented on proposals from Ofgem announced today that it claims will deliver “a more competitive and fairer energy market.” The UK energy regulator released the proposals in response to a report from the Competition and Markets Authority in June (Friday, 24th June 2016).
Justin Bowden, GMB National Secretary for energy, said "Here we go again with more Ofgem tinkering over the pretence that a free market is possible in this sector.
Ofgem should be abolished and the Government itself should take over responsibility for regulating the industry so both are accountable to Parliament.
Government cannot duck taking the decisions needed to keep the lights on and ensure the decarbonisation of the sector. Government should also have powers to cap prices and limit profit levels and, where necessary, to finance and run power stations."
Contact: Justin Bowden on 07710 618909 or GMB press Office on 07970 863411 or firstname.lastname@example.org
Notes to Editors
1 OFGEM press release dated Wednesday, 3rd August 2016
Ofgem has today outlined our approach to the remedies the Competition and Market Authority (CMA) has recommended. We will implement these to deliver a more competitive and fairer energy market for all consumers.
The CMA’s two year investigation, which concluded last month, confirmed that two thirds of households are disengaged and paying over the odds for their energy compared to those who have switched tariff.
The remedies are aimed at freeing up competition and innovation in the market to drive down bills and improve service for all consumers not just a minority.
Those on pre-payment meters, who are among the most vulnerable and least likely to switch, will be protected by an interim price cap which will save them around £75 a year from next April.
Ofgem will work closely with suppliers to help disengaged customers, who remain on expensive standard variable tariffs, to shop around and save money. In particular it will trial more effective prompts on customers’ bills to encourage them to compare tariffs. Next year Ofgem will pilot the database service, which will allow suppliers to offer disengaged customers better value deals. Protecting the privacy and security of consumers’ data remains a priority.
Ofgem has published a separate consultation today on the CMA’s proposals to remove parts of its Retail Market Reforms so consumers can enjoy a wider choice of innovative good value deals. Ofgem has also consulted on its approach to the CMA’s recommendation to remove the requirement on price comparison websites to display all the tariffs on the market.
Combined with other changes already happening, such as smart meters and faster switching, these remedies provide an opportunity to transform the energy market. Ofgem will be continuing our Be An Energy Shopper marketing campaign this autumn encouraging consumers to save around £300 a year by shopping around.
Ofgem’s annual review of the retail energy market, also published today, confirmed that the majority of consumers who do not engage in the market are losing out. It also found that the proportion of people on expensive standard variable tariffs has dropped from 69% last year to 66% in March this year as switching rates increase.
Ofgem Chief Executive, Dermot Nolan said: “The CMA’s final report is a watershed moment for industry and consumers and points the way to a fairer and more competitive future. I call on energy companies and consumer groups to seize this opportunity.”
2 GMB press release dated Monday, July 29, 2013
GMB Calls For Ofgem To Be Scrapped And For The Government To Take Over As Regulator Accountable To Parliament
It is clear OFGEM have been a miserable failure in terms of looking after the interests of customers.
GMB the union for energy workers commented on the Energy and Climate Change Committee report on OFGEM published today 29th July 2013. See notes to editors below.
Gary Smith, GMB National Secretary for energy said, “This report shows that OFGEM must go and a different regulatory framework put in place. The government its self should take over as the regulator and be accountable to Parliament for that role.
The Committee is right to be "astonished at OFGEM's failings". It is clear OFGEM have been a miserable failure in terms of looking after the interests of customers. But given their failings the answer isn't to give them more responsibility but to scrap them.
OFGEM have put bureaucracy in the way of delivering energy efficiency measures like the Energy Company Obligation (ECO). The committee wants to see money spent on energy efficiency measures. The fact is there are hundreds of millions of pounds that have gone unspent because of OFGEM. This is money that could have been spent reducing the poorest people's energy bills this winter.
The Committee registers concern at the projected increase in wholesale electricity prices for those who depend on electricity only for heating. The fact is OFGEM have slashed investment in the replacement of gas mains by nearly 20%. The big cuts OFGEM are imposing on the gas industry are bad for customers, they won't reduce bills by a penny and they are bad for safety and jobs.”


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Apple is making a big push to turn HealthKit into a diagnostic tool, Bloomberg reports. The app currently collects fitness data from a user’s devices, but people familiar with Apple’s plans said the company has scores of health-care experts building improved software to analyze and understand the implication’s of patient information. The team is also working on new apps for the Apple Watch, including one that tracks sleep patterns and another that gauges fitness levels by measuring the time it takes a user’s heart rate to fall from peak to resting levels.
The sources said the company’s ultimate goal is improving diagnoses, allowing data to be transferred from hospital to hospital across multiple databases, making it easier for physicians to pick useful information out of the mountains of collected data. Apple recently purchased health-data startup Gliimpse, which built its own software platform to allow people to collect, personalize, and share a picture of their health data. In May, CEO Tim Cook laid out Apple’s vision for how the Apple Watch and other potential devices would use all the data collected to serve a single purpose. “The holy grail of the watch is being able to monitor more and more of what’s going on in your body,” Cook said. “If you could have a device that knew so much about you, it would be incredible, and would extend life and extend quality. I’m not saying one device will do all of that.”


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By: Jason Woosey
Albeit good value, the current Kia Cerato hatchback looked bland and dated from the day it went on sale. But its successor - unveiled at the Chicago Auto Show on Thursday - has an eye-catching design that may even shake things up in the segment if the price is right.
What you see here is the US-market version, which goes by the name of Forte, yet the global version is unlikely to be very different to this. Kia South Africa has already confirmed that the new hatch will reach our shores in the third quarter of this year, following hot on the heels of the new Cerato sedan in May and trailing the year-end introduction of the new Koup.
THE HOT ONE
Yet if there's one thing that interests us more than the design of the new Cerato hatch, it's what's under the bonnet of the US flagship version - the same 150kW/264Nm 1.6-litre turbopetrol engine that was recently announced in the Pro_cee’d GT.
Although this engine has yet to be officially confirmed for the local Cerato models, we're certainly holding thumbs and we'd be surprised if it didn't at least find its way into the new Koup - which has yet to be revealed.
We expect that standard versions of the new Cerato five-door will mirror the sedan in offering a choice between two normally aspirated petrol engines - a 95kW/157Nm 1.6 and 118kW/194Nm 2-litre. Manual and automatic gearboxes will be on offer, both with six forward ratios.
Local spec levels are also unconfirmed as yet, but the US range-topper offers a neat range of high-end features like HID headlights, 10-way electrically-adjustable driver's seat, heated front and rear seats and dual-zone climate control.
Interestingly, one of Kia's design aims with the Forte/Cerato five-door was to give it a "distinctly European appearance" yet Europe will not be receiving this model as those markets already have the newly-launched, second-generation Cee'd and Pro_cee'd.
Is this the 'wannabe European' model then?
Not that we're complaining.


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PayPal Is Said to Be in Talks to Buy Pinterest in $45 Billion Deal [NYT]
PayPal has offered around $70 a share for Pinterest, the people said, a 25 percent increase from Pinterest’s opening share price on Wednesday.
If completed, the deal would be the largest in the consumer internet industry over the past decade, topping Microsoft’s $26 billion purchase of LinkedIn in 2016 and Salesforce’s $27.7 billion acquisition of Slack last year, according to the data service firm Dealogic. It would also be among the largest deals for PayPal, which was spun off from eBay in 2015 and has snapped up payments companies globally.
Barclays profits double as CEO brushes off inflation and supply chain fears [Guardian]
The British bank’s profit before tax in the three months to September rose from £1.1bn a year ago, taking its year-to-date profit to an all-time high of £6.9bn…. Jes Staley, the chief executive, said: “While the corporate and investment bank performance continues to be an area of strength for the group, we are also seeing evidence of a consumer recovery and the early signs of a more favourable rate environment….”
“The recovery from the pandemic has been quite robust,” Staley said, adding that annual inflation running at up to 4% would be manageable. “If it’s driven by economic growth that could be positive. A level of inflation driving a response from the bond market and interest rates moving up would be quite positive for Barclays.”
Chinese Regulators Nudge Didi Toward Hong Kong Listing [WSJ]
The Cyberspace Administration of China, which in July started data security reviews into apps operated by the three companies, broached the idea in recent conversations with executives from Didi, logistics platform Full Truck Alliance Co. and online recruitment firm Kanzhun Ltd., the people said. The three companies went public in June after raising nearly $7 billion in total…. The cybersecurity reviews, which were launched days after Didi went public in the U.S., are part of a broader crackdown on China’s internet industry, one that has swept up technology giants Alibaba and Tencent Holdings Ltd.
JPMorgan Says Bitcoin’s Record Run Is Being Driven by Inflation [Bloomberg]
“By itself, the launch of BITO is unlikely to trigger a new phase of significantly more fresh capital entering Bitcoin,” wrote strategists including Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou, referring to the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF. “Instead, we believe the perception of Bitcoin as a better inflation hedge than gold is the main reason for the current upswing, triggering a shift away from gold ETFs into Bitcoin funds since September.”
Crypto Exchange FTX Reaches $25 Billion Valuation [WSJ]
FTX Trading Ltd., the exchange’s parent company, said Thursday that it had raised just over $420 million in the new round. The news came three months after FTX closed a previous round at a valuation of $18 billion…. Singapore’s sovereign-wealth fund Temasek Holdings Pte. Ltd. joined the new funding round, along with Silicon Valley venture-capital firms Sequoia Capital—an existing investor in FTX—and IVP. Other investors included New York-based Tiger Global Management and Iconiq Growth, an affiliate of Iconiq Capital LLC, which has managed money for Mark Zuckerberg and other tech billionaires.
Fed Ethics Office Warned Officials to Curb Unnecessary Trading During Rescue [NYT]
Officials might want to avoid unnecessary trading for a few months as the Fed dived deeper into markets, the Board of Governors’ ethics unit suggested in an email, a message that was passed along to regional bank presidents by their own ethics officers…. The recommendation, which was confirmed by a person who saw the email, did not go far enough to prevent a trading scandal that is now engulfing the Fed and being leveraged against its chair, Jerome H. Powell, as the White House mulls whether to reappoint him before his leadership term expires early next year.


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Two variants of the new energy drink will launch in July
The new functional energy drink will roll out in two flavours – Sugar and No Sugar – from 1 July.
Although AG Barr made a much-publicised decision to cut the sugar in its original Irn-Bru drink, the new drink will contain higher sugar levels in line with the rest of the energy category.
AG Barr commercial director Jonathan Kemp stressed that the firm was not returning to a full-sugar Irn-Bru, but instead launching a brand-new drink.
“We believe it is right to have what people expect from an energy drink,” he told Scottish Grocer, “and the majority of drinks in this market are full sugar.”
But, although the energy drinks category is still somewhat skewed towards high-sugar drinks, a no-sugar version will also be available for consumers who are concerned about their health.
AG Barr had previously launched an energy drink in the shape of Irn-Bru 32 – but Kemp said that Irn-Bru Energy was a very different product.
“The energy market then was different to what it is now, now it is a much larger category.
“And while Irn-Bru 32 had quite a sharp taste, this is a much smoother drink.”
Energy is an exciting and fast-growing part of the soft drinks market, delivering high profit per litre.
Unlike Irn-Bru 32, Irn-Bru Energy will be sold in taller, thinner cans that more closely resemble other energy drinks on the market.
And Kemp advised that it should be merchandised as part of an energy section rather than alongside other varieties of Irn-Bru.
This could place Irn-Bru Energy next to Barr’s existing Rockstar energy brand in the chiller.
But according to Kemp, the two products are designed to complement, rather than compete with, one another.
He pointed out that Irn-Bru Energy had a “unique flavour” and was clearly set apart from Rockstar due to the former’s higher price point: £1.19 RRP or 99p PMP for the Sugar variant and £1.09 RRP or 89p PMP for the No Sugar.
Kemp recommended that retailers stock both the full sugar and no sugar versions of Irn-Bru Energy, as well as making full use of the POS materials that will be made available by AG Barr representatives.
“We’re confident that demand for both of the new Irn-Bru Energy products will be high, as four out of five energy drinks bought currently are regular and the low-calorie energy market is growing 16 times faster than the full sugar sector.
“Energy is an exciting and fast-growing part of the soft drinks market, delivering the highest profit per litre for retailers, with over four in 10 soft drinks sold in Scottish convenience stores being an energy drink.
“Scottish consumers spend 40% more on energy drinks than the rest of the market and 70% of Scottish energy consumers already drink Irn-Bru.”
The launch will be supported by nationwide advertising, running from the end of July.


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Are you ready to embark on a new era of eco-friendly transportation? We certainly are! RapidEVcharge is excited to announce the installation of our state-of-the-art EV charging station at the prestigious Le Meridien Coimbatore. And what's even more exciting? The grand inauguration ceremony was led by the esteemed Mr. Ramachandran P, General Manager of Le Meridien, Coimbatore.
At RapidEVcharge, we believe in driving a greener future, one charge at a time. Our cutting-edge charging infrastructure is paving the way for a sustainable revolution in the world of electric vehicles. With our latest installation at Le Meridien Coimbatore, we are making electric vehicle charging more accessible and convenient than ever before.
At RapidEVcharge, we are dedicated to expanding our charging network across the country, providing accessible and efficient charging solutions for all. For more exciting updates, stay tuned as we continue to revolutionize the EV charging landscape
Charge up with RapidEVcharge and drive towards a sustainable future!


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Jaguar’s new design boss, Julian Thomson, is committed to the firm continuing to make sports cars and saloons, and not simply creating more and more SUVs.
Thomson, who recently took over from Ian Callum, told Autocar at the Frankfurt motor show that the company will not “go full bore into SUVs – we will do cars in the future, too”. The firm has invested heavily in SUVs in recent years because of their strong sales, while its saloon models have struggled.
“Cars [non-SUVs] are an important market to us,” he said. “We now have lots of competent SUVs in our showroom but we need to satisfy all customers with different powertrain and body choices.”
Jaguar will replace the XJ with a more dramatic and electric-powered saloon, which will be seen by the end of 2020 and in production soon after. That machine was teased at the firm’s Frankfurt press conference.
“It’s more challenging to do standout products in that market but Jags need to be different and new,” said Thomson. “The world’s not all turning SUV and we will need cars. I believe that.”
Although replacements for the XE and XF aren’t due for some years yet, the XF is due an imminent overhaul similar to that seen recently on the XE, Thomson confirmed.
The F-Type is also set to undergo revisions of its own in the coming months and Thomson confirmed that the car will also continue in future generations.
“With sports cars, you’ve got to have them,” said Thomson. “They’re flag waving for a premium brand and the dream still exists for people. Whether or not they’ll go electric, the jury is still out.”


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South Surrey clothing stores targeted by thieves – Peace Arch News
Malicious buyers caused significant damage to two businesses in South Surrey this week.
According to an Instagram post by officials at Howard Clothing Co., the store at 112-15850 26 avenue was broken into early Thursday morning (December 2).
“Looks like a car backed into the store, tearing off the doors and the security gate,” the post said. “A number of items have been taken.”
Coastal Riders, at 40-2443 161A St., was also affected.
Surrey RCMP Police Officer. Sarbjit Sangha confirmed that the two incidents occurred between 2 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. on December 2.
âIn both incidents, a vehicle was used to break down the company door and clothes and other items were stolen,â Sangha said.
“This incident is very alarming because it not only caused financial damage, but the force used to enter the two companies is of great concern.”
Coastal Riders also shared their damage on Instagram, noting that officials “grabbed what they could in the time they had.”
âIt’s been a long day for us and we just wanted to share this information with you and ask for your patience during this time,â the post read.
Howard Clothing Co. also remains open for business, “and will continue to be open despite this setback.”
Both companies appealed for patience during the repairs.
Sangha said an investigation is underway and anyone with information that can help police identify and locate those responsible is urged to call the Surrey Detachment at 604-599-0502.
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Business Crime Surrey


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SABMiller Mulls Options For $1.04 Billion Tsogo Sun Stake
Published on Apr 15 2014 8:31 AM in Drinks
SABMiller Plc (SAB), the world’s second-biggest brewer, said it’s considering options for its $1.04 billion stake in hotel and casino operator Tsogo Sun Holdings Ltd. as it reported beer revenue that missed estimates.
The 39.6% holding in the Johannesburg-based company is “not considered to be core to the beverage operations of SABMiller,” the maker of Peroni, Grolsch and Castle Lite said today in a statement. There’s no certainty any action will arise from the strategic review, SABMiller said.
The possibility that the brewer may consider selling its stake in Tsogo Sun increased after SABMiller merged the company with Gold Reef Resorts Ltd. in 2010, a transaction that reduced its stake from 49%. Tsogo Sun’s other main investor is Hosken Consolidated Investments Ltd., which owns about 41%, according to the company’s website.
“It’s unlikely that one single entity will take up all those shares, as there’s not a lot of buyers around with that kind of cash and empowerment credentials in place,” said De Wet Schutte, a Cape Town-based analyst with Avior Research (Pty) Ltd. He has a neutral recommendation on Tsogo Sun.
SABMiller’s revenue increased 3% in the year and 2% in the fourth quarter, missing the median estimate of analysts for a 4% increase for both periods. The brewer is seeking to offset sluggish consumption in Europe and the U.S. with sales in faster-growing parts of the world.
“The miss is bigger than we expected,” Jonathan Fyfe, an analyst at Mirabaud in London, wrote in a note, citing a market slowdown in Africa as a concern. “We suspect our full-year 2015 earnings forecasts probably need to come back a bit.”
SABMiller fell 2% to 3,063 pence at 9:09 a.m. in London trading. Tsogo Sun eased 0.2% to 2,535 rand in Johannesburg, valuing South Africa’s biggest hotel and leisure operator at 30 billion rand ($2.9 billion).
Tsogo Sun has more than 90 luxury hotels in seven African countries including Nigeria and the Seychelles. Its interests include Montecasino, Johannesburg’s Tuscany-themed hotel, theatre and casino complex.
“This is a legacy thing for SAB,” said Schutte. “They’ve never been very active in Tsogo Sun, but there’s been a change of leadership at SABMiller and maybe with that there’s been a change of approach to these non-core assets.”
Alan Clark became chief executive officer a year ago, succeeding Graham Mackay, who died in December. The brewer announced this month that Norman Adami is stepping down as chairman of its South African unit in July.
SABMiller was formed in South Africa, which is now the second-biggest provider of the company’s revenue after Latin America. The brewer said March 31 that a slowing economy, social instability and the weakening rand were weighing on improvements in its drinks business in the country.
“We continued to deliver top-line growth for the year, despite a number of headwinds and a challenging fourth quarter,” CEO Clark said in the statement. The company has “confidence in our ability to deliver higher revenue growth in the longer term.”
SABMiller also repeated today that the depreciation of key currencies against the U.S. dollar, its reporting currency, will “adversely impact reported results.” The company has the largest exposure to emerging markets of any global brewer.
Organic lager volume rose 1% last year, the brewer said, in line with the median estimate of 12 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. Volume fell in Europe and the U.S. Lager volume in Africa rose 5% in the year, compared with a 9% increase during its first half.
Organic revenue measures exclude acquisitions, disposals and currency fluctuations.


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“We wanted it to feel like a family room,” explains Jack Scarangella, president of Mercatto Restaurant Group and part of AlterEgo, a restaurant partnership that includes Harding and his wife, designer Alexandra Hutchison.
Initially, the hotel team had aggressively courted Mercatto to handle the food program at Anndore. They weren’t initally sure it was the project for them, Scarangella said — but when his nascent partnership with Harding flourished with the opening of Dundas West’s La Palma last year
, they began to reconsider.
To flesh out the Constantine concept, Scarangella, Harding and co. travelled to Istanbul, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, picking up new flavours to bolster Harding’s existing repertoire of Italian dishes. They borrowed the restaurant’s name from the ancient Roman ruler whose empire spanned from northeastern Europe to north Africa to the middle East.
“The core is still Italian — it’s what Craig does well, it’s what we know,” Scarangella says. “But there are flashes of dishes from Israel, from southern Greece.”
Harding’s menu is broad, with ample veg, meat and fish options; pizzas and grilled proteins make excellent use of the kitchen’s wood-burning oven. Diners of many stripes will no doubt find something that suits their palate and dietary preferences, but the usual lowest-common-denominator hotel fare is absent from the menu. (Heck, even the house burger is made of lamb.)
“We definitely didn’t want to have to change our philosophy or food aesthetic just to cater to a certain clientele, as some people are forced to do in certain hotel environments,” Harding says, noting that the adjacent Scarlet Door cafe picks up some of that slack with uncomplicated eats like paninis, breakfast sandwiches and yogurt parfaits.
“I think we’re an edgier concept — ‘here’s what we are, take it or leave it’. And the hotel owners were very supportive of us.”


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LOS ANGELES (PRWEB) October 06, 2021
Day One CBD Sparkling Water returns this Fall as it debuts a new line of drinks with a recharged executive team under new ownership. Day One is a refreshing sparkling CBD water meant to add some clarity to daily routine and will be available in a variety of retail locations across Texas, Ohio, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Kansas, Illinois, and California. In addition, Day One is available for purchase with nationwide shipping via DrinkDayOne.com. Day One Lemon, Lime, and Grapefruit round out the brand’s first flavors available this Fall, with additional offerings planned for 2022.
Day One offers clarity in a can, designed to get consumers ready for whatever they want to accomplish next. Each 12oz can includes 20mg of CBD, zero calories, 0% sugar and 100% natural fruit juice, to deliver a balanced and refreshing sparkling citrus drink for any occasion.
“We are thrilled to bring Day One back. Over the last year, the team and I have been working tirelessly to make this brand available to the masses yet again. It is rare you get another shot at relaunching an incredible product and we are back stronger than ever with an improved formulation and best-in-class team of beverage veterans. With Day One, our goal is to create an accessible offering from top to bottom, which includes everything from our formula to our messaging, to the price point,” says Chris Clifford, CEO of Day One. “The aim is not only to make a delicious and holistically refreshing drink, but also to bring the wellness benefits of CBD to all. We believe CBD beverages can become a new classic category, a part of millions of people’s daily routines, and think that beverage is an accessible product format to do just that.”
Chris Clifford originally launched the brand in August of 2019 but, due to some internal issues within the brand’s former parent company, was forced to take the brand offline. In 2021, Clifford purchased Day One from its former owners, resetting and restructuring the brand on his own terms and with new financing. To support his efforts, he has brought on a variety of industry veterans including Chris Alfieri, COO, and Andy LaRocca, VP of Sales and Distribution, both previous Red Bull vets (18+ years). Alfieri and LaRoca will serve on Day One’s executive team, alongside other key hires who will support the brand’s rapid expansion nationwide. Day One will be supported in the market by a robust marketing spend, including elements featuring print and digital advertising, out of home, in-store POS & Trade Marketing, social media influencer marketing, events, and traditional public relations support.
The idea behind Day One was to create two things: a next-level sparkling water using natural ingredients like CBD and fruit juice, and a dynamic brand which reminds people that starting doesn’t have to be daunting. Now, Day One serves as a vehicle to help consumers turn CBD into an everyday wellness habit. The CBD space at present seems more focused on capitalizing on hype than trying to make connections with consumers, while Day One is meant to become a part of the routine of people determined to get things done. The result is a refreshing drink that facilitates a balanced mindset and gets you ready for your next beginning -- whether it’s making it through Monday or getting that side hustle off the ground.
CBD is non-intoxicating and is legal throughout the United States. CBD is a hemp-based extract adaptogen with several potential health benefits, including increased energy levels, pain relief, improved focus, and anxiety relief. While CBD is effective in inhalable and edible forms, Day One believes that beverage consumption is a more approachable product format and provides greater consistency in terms of CBD dosage and overall efficacy. Day One tests its’ products rigorously and test results are transparently displayed at DrinkDayOne.com/Pages/Test-Results.
Day One will be available with a SRP of $2.99 per 12oz can. This retail pricing stands out given that Day One is $1-$2 less than leading brands in the market. Clifford justifies this pricing by saying “in order to reach a broader market and introduce CBD products to mainstream canna-curious consumers, CBD beverages need to be priced accessibly.” The brand will also offer 12-packs at $35.99 & 6-pack variety cases at $17.99 through its’ direct-to-consumer website DrinkDayOne.com
For additional information and to purchase, please visit DrinkDayOne.com and be sure to follow Day One on Instagram @DrinkDayOne.


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A preliminary assessment by the National Employment Relations Board (NLRB) has recommended that workers at Amazon’s warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, hold new elections to determine whether they would join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Association (RWDSU). The recommendation comes from the hearing officer appointed to the case, and is only a preliminary ruling, but still gives the union a surprising victory in the battle that many of the labor movement had lost.
Employees of the Amazon Service Center in Bessemer, Alabama, did not vote for the alliance in April over a 2: 1 margin. But after the outcome, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Association (RWDSU) claimed that Amazon had contributed to the illegal driving and appealed to the NLRB to annul the result. RWDSU in particular raised questions A USPS mailbox installed in the parking area of the refill center while driving, which the federation claimed gave Amazon inappropriate access to ballot papers sent by mail.
RWDSU’s loss opened the door for other unions to announce plans to unite Amazon employees. June 24 Teamsters announced a nationwide campaign to organize Amazon’s sprawling workforce. The groups committed to using “all the necessary resources” to make the campaign a success.
Now it looks like RWDSU is getting a new opportunity. “Throughout the NLRB consultation, we heard convincing evidence of Amazon trying to illegally harass and intimidate employees in their efforts to exercise their right to form a union,” RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum said in a statement. “We support the Hearing Officer’s recommendation that the NLRB overturn the election results and direct the new elections … Amazon’s conduct throughout the election process was despicable. Amazon betrayed them, they got caught and they are held accountable. “
Amazon did not respond immediately to the request for comment.
The recommendation of the Hearing Officer is only a preliminary assessment of the allegation and does not in itself have the force of res judicata. A full decision will only come when the acting regional director makes a decision on the matter, which is unlikely to happen in weeks. The parties still have the possibility to make exceptions in the interim.
As the case progresses, Amazon’s labor issues have spread far beyond Bessemer. In June, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters voted to prioritize the organization of efforts Amazon for delivery carriers and will create a task force focusing on the company’s operations over the next five years. “Amazon workers are demanding safer and better working conditions,” said the project manager at the time, “and with today’s resolution, we will activate the full force of our union to support them.”


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SAN DIEGO (CN) – A $5 million class action disputes the link Dean Foods has tried to fasten between Horizon organic DHA-fortified milk and purported improvement to “brain health” in adults and children. The consumer complaint says that Dean and its subsidiary, Whitewave Foods, sell a line of four Horizon organic milk products with DHA Omega-3, a “highly processed fermented algae.”
According to the federal complaint filed in San Diego, Dean and Whitewave make “false, misleading and deceptive” brain-health representations in print, radio and TV ads, and on the labels of milk cartons.
“Front and center and prominently featured by itself in a white banner running across the front of each and every milk carton, defendants state ‘DHA Omega-3 Supports Brain Health,'” the complaint says. “The brain health representation also prominently appears on the top, the back and the left side panel of every milk carton.”
“However, the DHA-fortified milk products do not support brain health in children or adults,” lead plaintiff Evereth Barrera claims. “Defendants also do not have competent and reliable scientific evidence to support their brain health representation. Clinical cause and effect studies have found no causative link between DHA algal oil supplementation and brain health.”
Barrera, a resident of El Centro, Calif., says he purchased Horizon Reduced Fat Milk Plus DHA Omega-3 every week for roughly two months.
Whitewave Foods spokeswoman Sara Loveday said the suit was “without merit.”
“Horizon does not discuss details of pending litigation,” she told Courthouse News. “However, we plan to vigorously defend ourselves against the allegations about the labeling and marketing of our Horizon’s DHA Omega-3 enhanced milk products.”
The suit says Horizon milk lines the shelves of “virtually every major food, drug and mass retail outlet in the country,” and that consumers like Barrera pay a “premium” price of between $5 to $6 for a one-half gallon of the milk.
But, according to the lawsuit, the DHA-fortified Horizon products, which include whole, reduced-fat, fat-free and chocolate milk, do not “perform as advertised.”
“DHA is a long-chain omega-3 fatty acid typically found in cold water fish,” according to the complaint. “The DHA in defendants’ milk products is not derived from fish oil. Instead, the DHA oil found in defendants’ milk is an immature short-chain omega-3 fatty acid made from an extract of mutated and fermented algae. An 8 oz. serving of the DHA-fortified milk products contain approximately 32 mg of DHA algal oil. Contrary to defendants’ representations made on each and every milk carton, DHA algal oil does not support brain health, especially in the relatively small amount found in a serving of defendants’ products.”
The class seeks damages for violations of the unfair competition law, The Consumers Legal Remedies Act and breach of express warranty. It is represented by Phoenix-based attorney Patricia Syverson with Bonnett, Fairbourn, Friedman & Balint, who declined to comment.


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According to reports from China, the H670 series has not been canceled at all. The pictures of next-gen motherboards from ASUS have been leaked.
The pictures of four motherboards featuring H670 and B660 chipsets have been released. It is understood that H670 is better than B660, but the differences are not very prominent, which is perhaps the reason that previous reports claimed that Intel might drop the X70 chipset altogether.
However, the H670 motherboards shown in this leak are DDR- based. According to reports, the B660 ROG STRIX boards with DDR5 memory seem a lot more feature-rich. It is expected that those B660 boards may be priced higher than the H670.
Reportedly, the H670/B660 are expected to be announced by Intel at CES 2022 on January 4th. Moreover, the retailers have already started stocking up as reports by leakers indicated that the launch will be limited in number.


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The REDARC Group is incredibly proud to congratulate CEO & Managing Director, Anthony Kittel, on being inducted into the Australian Automotive Aftermarket Association Hall of Fame at the 2022 Australian Automotive Aftermarket Awards.
This award recognises the creativity, industriousness and accomplishments of outstanding individuals who have contributed to the ongoing success of the Australian Automotive Aftermarket Industry.
“It has been a wonderful 25 years of owning REDARC with my wife, Michele and developing a business from eight people in Adelaide to a business of more than 300 people today,” said Anthony, upon his induction into the hall of fame.
“It has been an exciting journey. As everyone knows you have to have a great team of people and a great family to support you in this journey and I really appreciate everyone that has backed me and given me this opportunity to succeed.”
“A belief in manufacturing in Australia is my passion and I believe this country can do and can continue to do much better than we have in the past. I have been glad to see a lot more focus on manufacturing, particularly during COVID, and a lot can happen in this country, commercialising IP and taking products to the world, and that’s what REDARC’s aim is.”
Speaking on what’s next for REDARC, Anthony said, “I have always had a goal to have the REDARC brand be known internationally, and we are slowly but surely succeeding by breaking into the North American and European markets which is really pleasing, and while we still have a long journey to go, I hope to see many years of success to come.”
Stuart Charity, Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Automotive Aftermarket Association said, regarding Anthony’s Hall of Fame induction, “Anthony is one of the true industry pioneers and his commitment to Australian manufacturing is inspiring. He is a truly deserving winner of our industry’s highest individual honour.”
“This industry supports us, and we are very thankful for what you have done for us and thankful for the results we have been able to achieve,” said Anthony, “I am just amazed and delighted to be a recipient and to be in such great company and I am very, very humbled to be accepting this award.”
The AAAA has recognised individuals whose vision, work ethic, integrity and character have made a positive and measurable impact on the ongoing development of Australia’s Automotive Aftermarket Industry since 1977. Anthony joins recent inductees John Blanchard Snr of CoolDrive and Bob Pattison of GUD.
For more information on the awards and the AAAA visit www.aftermarketawards.com.au.


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Fuelled by the Internet, venture capital investments nearly doubled in the second quarter compared to a year ago, according to a new study. The National Venture Capital Association and Venture Economics reported that investments increased to $24.5bn up from $12.5bn in the second quarter of 1999.
While the number of new companies receiving funding rose slightly from the first quarter, from 1,627 to 1,695, the percentage of e-commerce investment plunged down around 44 percent.
"What has changed in recent months is the shift of interest from e-tailing to other technologies that will help move the new economy to the next level," Steve Lazarus, NVCA Research chairman and managing director of ARCH Venture Partners said in a release.
While e-tailing is losing steam, the tech market is still hot, with Internet-related investments accounting for more than 81 percent of dollars in the second quarter. Online specific, communications, and computer software and services were the biggest categories for investment during the quarter.
The communications/infrastructure category saw the greatest growth, jumping from 20.1 percent in the first quarter to 26.9 percent in the second quarter of 2000.
Companies based in northern California and the northeast of the US grabbed the most money, but the biggest gains came in the southeast and the midwest regions.
See ZDII for US tech investor news.
See techTrader for more technology investment news, plus quotes and research.


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Common in the financial industry, blockchain is a tamperproof digital ledger that records each player and action throughout a process, making transactions safe and trackable. The transparency inherent in the system also makes each entity involved more accountable.
The Seam, a commodities trading and agribusiness software provider, sees an application for this technology in cotton trading and tracking along the supply chain. The solution? IBM’s Hyperledger Fabric blockchain technology.
“This new technology will be transformational for the cotton industry,” said Mark Pryor, chairman and CEO of The Seam. “There are numerous organizations, processes, systems and transactions involved from field to fabric. Situated at the intersection of agriculture, finance and technology, The Seam with the help of IBM, is uniquely positioned to introduce blockchain technology to cotton-affiliated businesses worldwide.”
Initially used for digital currency like bitcoin, blockchain is gaining in popularity in other industries. Last month, Walmart announced it would test blockchain as well, specifically in the Chinese pork and U.S. produce markets. Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it may use the technology to help securely transfer patient data between sources like researchers and developers.
For such a system to work though, it needs to be widely adopted; the more entities involved, the more robust and useful the system becomes. Seam is relying on IBM’s reputation and connections to build a consortium that spans cotton producing and consuming regions.
The ownership group of The Seam includes renowned cotton leaders Calcot, Cargill, ECOM Agroindustrial Corporation Ltd., EWR, Inc., Louis Dreyfus Company, Olam International, Parkdale Mills, Plains Cotton Cooperative Association and Staple Cotton Cooperative Association. In 2000, The Seam launched the first online, neutral trading exchange for cotton, and has since expanded into other industries.


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On September 10th, Apple announced the newest iPhones and the release date for the new operating system. iOS 7 is slated for release September 28th, which gives developers and game makers a little less than a week to ready their apps and games. But what does this mean for new developers and mobile gamers? Will iOS 7 add new features for developers and players alike? After looking through Apple’s website, I have found a few new things that will usher in a new generation of mobile gaming.
The first real big news about iOS 7 and gaming is the new MFi controllers. Back in July, it was rumored that Apple was working with Logitech and Moga to develop controllers for mobile games. Apple has since put a video and info packet on their developer website explaining to developers how to program and app to support a controller. Here is what 2 of the rumored controllers might look like:
As you can see, the form fitting turns the iPhone or iPod into a PSP-like device, enabling the player to see the screen without fingers getting in the way. The stand alone controller reminds me of the old Sega Genesis shape wise, but is set up like an Xbox controller. It also looks there are 4 lights above the pause button. This could be the battery level or does it mean that multiplayer games have taken a step up on mobile devices? Hopefully with these new controllers, more hardcore gamers will migrate to iOS, launching the platform further into the gaming world.
Another thing Apple released was the new Sprite Kit and updates to the Game Center. The Sprite kit allows developers to make sprites, simulate physics and more in an all-in-one, easy to use API set. The updates to the Game Center include more leader boards, a more secure way to authenticate players and more modes for turn-based games. To me, it seems like Apple is encouraging more multiplayer games to move to their devices. By making it easier for developers to make games and achievements, we could easily see a rise in games after the release day. The added controllers will probably attract more gamers and developers, possibly giving other mobile gaming platforms a run for their money.
Stay tuned for more iOS gaming news and reviews.


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With its shared economic and high profit strategy, Huella works towards elevating business performances through fundamental shifts in the go-to markets and revenue strategy and related fields.
Prrincey Roy, a forerunner of the digital media industry has recently announced her own start-up Huella Services. Prrincey has over two decades of experience, out of which she has spent the last 14 years in shaping digital sales for leading companies such as Times Internet and Network 18.
Her new company, Huella Services intends to be a strategic growth partner by enabling businesses to improve their efficiency & driving growth with their marketing & sales expertise. A number cruncher and a passionate sales professional, her focus at Huella Services will be digital ad sales and revenue boost for her partners.
Huella Services successfully develops efficient and productive revenue generation processes working with teams for businesses across India. With its shared economic and high profit strategy, Huella works towards elevating business performances through fundamental shifts in the go-to markets and revenue strategy and related fields.
Commenting on the launch, Prrincey Roy, founder, Huella Services, said, “I am looking forward to embarking on this new journey. At Huella, we aim to be strategic partners to our clients, pushing the boundaries of performance and excel in creating high profitability strategies and processes that are measurable and result oriented. We work with some of the best in the industry to deliver optimum results. Newsroom AI, Accelerate, AdOnMo and Jukin Media are some of our key partners who have embarked on this journey with us.”
Prrincey Roy is one of the most respected and senior members of the digital ad sales world, and is no stranger to leadership roles. Her expertise lies in sales and she has an impeccable track record of leading innumerable revenue teams. With over two decades of experience creating new revenue streams, she has displayed strong analytical and leadership skills.
Prrincey is passionate about digital media and has evolved as a digital pioneer in the industry, with numbers to prove.


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Ford is celebrating the production of its 500,000th EcoBoost-equipped vehicles. The milestone car is a 2013 Ford Escape that rolled off the line at Ford’s Louisville Assembly Plant. EcoBoost engines entered production about three years ago, and quickly became a hit for their balance between performance and fuel economy.
The EcoBoost family includes a wide range of engines, from the award-winning 1.0-liter three-cylinder unit, to the more popular 1.6-liter and 2.0-liter four-cylinder engines, and the powerful 3.5-liter V6. It is even used in Ford’s hybrid models such as the C-Max, in which it returns 47 mpg combined.
In fact thanks to the magic of EcoBoost, by the end of next month, customers will be able to choose eight Ford-built vehicles that deliver 40 or more miles per gallon. And it’s like Hyundai’s fake 40 mpg. It’s genuine!
By 2013, more than 90 percent of Ford’s North American lineup will be available with an EcoBoost engine. Today, Ford offers EcoBoost engines in 11 North American nameplates, with four more coming in 2013.


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Stormzy could be creating his own fashion and cosmetics line to build on his already growing success.
Stormzy could be creating his own fashion and cosmetics line.
The 'Big For Your Boots' hitmaker has filed a trademark application registering his name across Europe and a source claims there is ''scope'' for him to have a go at a clothing line.
A source told The Sun newspaper: ''Stormzy has become a massive star in the past 18 months so he and his team think this is the perfect step to turn his popularity into a booming business.
''They are considering lots of different options, all reflected in the trademark document they have registered. There is scope for him to design clothing and also beauty products.''
It comes after the 24-year-old grime star admitted he feels more comfortable in trackies than a suit.
He said: ''Usually I just fling a tracksuit on. But it's good to step out of my comfort zone.''
Stormzy catapulted to fame with his debut album 'Gang Signs & Prayer', which was released in February 2017.
Speaking about his success, he shared: ''That's the beauty of my story: the fact that it's backwards. I'm the total opposite of where I should be. I'm releasing my debut album after touring the world! Everyone around my pedestal is at least two albums and 10 years deep. I'm a prominent member of my scene.
''I feel like the whole country has noticed they've missed something. They're thinking: 'How could this have been going on all this time?' It'll never be ignored again.''


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(TheDailyHorn.com) – Did you know that prior to 2012, it wasn’t illegal for Congress members to buy stock while passing legislation that positively impacted companies? It was perfectly legal for them to game the system. There was no one better at it than House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). Now, her husband’s recent purchase of Tesla stock may pay off handsomely because of her actions in Washington, DC.
Awfully convenient investment in Tesla for Nancy's husband 🤔https://t.co/HRoUsdsryj
— Deedle (@deedledoors) April 6, 2021
In the $2 trillion infrastructure proposal, $174 billion is marked for electric vehicles and charging stations. In December, Pelosi’s husband bought $500,000 and $1 million in Tesla stock shares in two transactions, and Tesla may end up one of the biggest winners in the government spending spree.
Spouses of representatives can buy stock of companies affected by legislative proposals as long as they don’t act on knowledge given to them by their powerful significant other. In this case, we’re expected to believe that Mr. Pelosi bought the stock on a hunch.
Pelosi is known to dabble in the stock market. In 2008, she lined her pockets to the tune of $5 million, manipulating VISA’s stock by withholding legislation as her husband bought 5,000 shares.
It appears it pays well to be a powerful member of Congress.
CopyRight 2021, TheDailyHorn.com


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From X-bit Labs: Nvidia Corp. decided not to support GDDR4 memory standard since it was heavily inspired by ATI Technologies, now graphics products group of Advanced Micro Devices, and has been utilizing GDDR3 memory for more than four years instead. But the GDDR5 is the standard that Nvidia cannot ignore and a post on a social network web-site revealed that it will support the spec with a new graphics chip.
According to Zhenggang Cheng, a senior signal integrity hardware engineer, he is currently working on “frame buffer simulation” of GDDR5 for “various boards” for Nvidia’s code-named GT214 graphics processing unit (GPU). Besides, he indicated on his page on LinkedIn network (which was discovered by a Beyond3D forum member), he created package and board design for the GT214 graphics chip.
The information not only reveals a code-name of a future graphics chip from Nvidia, but also points to its GDDR5 support. It is highly likely that the GT214 is aimed at mainstream market, based on the fact that Mr. Cheng used to work on code-named G84 (GeForce 8600) and G96 (GeForce 9400) products.
The fact that Nvidia wants to support GDDR5 with potentially inexpensive graphics processing unit may mean that the standard will quickly become widespread and the chips will get inexpensive enough to get installed onto mainstream products, which will inevitably drive their performance considerably up.
View: Article @ Source Site


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Paycode initiates social grant payment system with offline biometrics
Following a partnership with the country’s social services agency, Instituto Nacional de Acção Social (INAS), Paycode has created a biometric identity for some 18,000 citizens, data used for social grant payment authentication in areas that don’t have internet connectivity.
“The combination of biometric authentication and the ability to make payments offline in real time is a winning solution which meets all the criteria for successfully paying social grants in remote locations,” said in a prepared statement Rob Bakker, project manager for INAS.]
Last week, trucks distributed social grants to villagers.
Paycode’s CEO Ralph Pecker emphasized the company’s determination to leverage technology in facilitating financial inclusion. Paycode’s solution is used to pay more than four million government salaries, social grants, pensions and agriculture loans.
In 2018, Paycode partnered with Ingenico Group to support the roll-out of a secure biometric solution in Zambia which had been used to distribute $22 million in subsidies to rural areas within three months.


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Latest Food energy Stories
No one is surprised when they hear that eating at a fast food restaurant is bad for their health. It might surprise you to know, however, that full service restaurants aren't much better.
Max Muscle Sports Nutrition’s InBody 230 was recently showcased as a feature segment by a local news station.
A revolutionary system emerges for delivering energizing vitamins and boosters directly through the skin.
With New Calories Burned at the Movies Calculator by HealthStatus (PRWEB) July 09, 2014 HealthStatus.com creates innovative calorie tracking calculator
An elite 3% of men in the U.S. eat the daily recommended amount of fiber.
Top health and nutritional supplement company Metabolic Nutrition has announced its upcoming rerelease of leading fat-loss supplement Synedrex, which will be available for purchase starting May
Our taste in food is an intimately personal thing. Some foods we savor, and some we despise. Tastes, texture and temperature are just a few things that can make a difference.
“Natural Ways To Boost Metabolism To Lose Weight,” a new report on the website HealthReviewCenter.com uncovers simple and easy ways to get a faster metabolism. Seattle,
People eat more breakfast cereal, by weight, when flake size is reduced, according to Penn State researchers, who showed that when flakes are reduced by crushing, people pour a smaller volume of cereal into their bowls, but still take a greater amount by weight and calories.
The top 5 fat burning thermogenic foods to increase metabolism and lose weight are revealed in a new report published by HealthNewsWires.com. Boston, MA (PRWEB)


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As Indians are growing tech savvy, the fraudsters are also getting savvier. There seems to be a substantial increase in the number of cyber frauds as increased customers have started using mobile banking, RTGS and NEFT, reveals a new study carried out by ASSOCHAM and PwC.
Regarding this, the report – Current Fraud Trends in Financial Sector stated, whether it is financial transactions, marketing of new products, customer experience or channel distribution, the technology is the biggest driver of change in the sector of financial services. Most of the financial institutions are insisting on the paperless and cashless transactions.
As per the Reserve Bank of India, 2.2 crore bank account holders of the 58 crore total band account holders use mobile banking applications. They carry out transactions that have jumped from Rs 1,819 crore in the fiscal year 2011-12 to Rs 10,000 crore in the fiscal year 2014-15. Similarly, the mobile fraud has increased from less than Rs 10 crore in the fiscal 2011-12 to Rs 70 crore in the fiscal 2014-15.
The biggest frauds that happen in the banking sector are diversion of funds, documentation frauds, cyber related theft targeting the customers and identity theft. In the cyber frauds, the customers are deceived by means of hacking, site cloning, social engineering, debit card scheming and computer viruses among the other methods.
The report further stated that mobile banking applications are mapped to an incorrect mobile number. For instance, in the case of the bank customers who do not make use of mobile banking, a bank employee can attach an associate’s mobile number to the account and install a mobile application on the device. The account of the customer is comprised by the associate and there will not be any notification regarding the same.
As per the report, the heavy reliance on the telecom operators for the services and the prevention and detection of frauds in the mobile banking segment have become more complex.


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Technologies are converging as never before and high tech gadgets such as the iPhone are a lot more accessible than in the past. Advertisers are now re-structuring themselves in order to make the best of these converging technologies. One of Indias leading fast moving consumer goods companies Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) has set up a digital media lab in Mumbai to train its digital managers better. A big trend in the area of digital advertising is branded content. Whether it is Idea, Cadbury, Surf, theyve all developed short films for the internet. Hindustan Unilever is expected to launch its Be Beautiful project in India where it gets prominent bloggers to do online videos. This will help them leverage their brands in the beauty space, says Atul Hegde, chief executive at digital firm Ignitee. According to him, a lot of multinational companies such as Reckitt Benckiser, Unilever, Dabur, Airtel and Procter & Gamble have incorporated chief digital officers as part of their marketing teams, in order to understand the medium better.
The size of the digital advertising market is estimated at R2260 crore for financial year (FY) 2012-13 by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and is expected to touch R2,938 crore by the end of FY 2013-14. Ad spending on social media went up from R94 crore in FY 2011-12 to R300 crore in FY2012-13; according to IAMAI. Video advertising on the internet has been growing at over 30% in the past one year as per industry estimates. IAMAI, in another report released a month back, says that the number of internet users in India has reached 20.5 crore as of October 2013, registering a year-on-year growth of 40% over last year and by December 2013, it is expected to reach 21.3 crore. What is interesting is that by June 2014, India will have 24.3 crore internet users, at which point of time, it is expected to overtake the US as the second largest internet base in the world.
A lot of the initiatives for digital are in the area of branded content and social media. In many cases, the two conjoin to offer accelerated results. Fast food company KFC has launched what it calls the first ever user generated graphic novel in India, Krushers Komics, that allowed consumers to input their pictures, names, and a couple of favourite catchphrases into the storyline. This campaign was primarily designed for Facebook and the brand saw more than 17,000 consumers creating their own Krushers Komics within seven days of launching the application. Philips India Lighting Solutions launched an online music video with Ranbir Kapoor, which was a remake of the 1981 classic Bachna Ae Haseeno and the video generated more than 5 million views within a week of its launch. Glaxo SmithKline organised a unique online anthem for its brand Boost. Boost's brand ambassadorcricket star Sachin Tendulkarwas closing in on his hundredth century in international cricket. The brand leveraged its association with Tendulkar by releasing an anthem in partnership with actor Dhanush.
The song honoured Tendulkar and boosted sales for Boost by 45%. Altogether 5.5 million views were achieved in two months and Boosts brand mentions grew 145 times, reports Mindshare. Another initiative by Mindshare was for Axe deodorant called Chickipedia. The campaign was created around the insight that Axes target group (16- to 24-year-old males) spent most of their time online, and devoted a significant part of it to the comedy genre on YouTube. So the brand decided to create funny content (shows) with the theme of the male being able to woo his love interest. The brand created several videos which brought in 24,45,696 minutes of viewing time in six months.
Intel devised a unique Twitter campaign called My PC journey which was designed to elicit nostalgia for the devices owned, such as the personal computer. The campaign was devised in three stages. The first was with the hash tag My first PC and the second was with the hash tag without my PC. The third was about the future My Next PC. The campaign trended amongst the top three nationally for most part of the campaign period and increased the follower base by more 7,500 in the week-long period, reports Intel.
In its latest social media campaign, compact sports utility vehicle Nissan Terrano asked, Who is the one person in your life with the most powerful presence and why. The brand has created a very successful presence on social media and got bookings of more than 6,000 Terranos during the pre-launch phase.
LOral Paris introduced a music video called Jad Se Judein sung by Mohit Chauhan. Satyaki Ghosh, director, consumer products division, LOreal India says that the video has generated more than 3 million views within a few days of its launch. In addition, it began a blog this year called the Garnier Man blog, targeted mainly at males in the younger age groups. The blog is written by an anonymous Garnier Man, who people assume to be John Abraham, The mysterious Garnier man talks about his experiences with people and places, and also doles out information about hair care and product usage. The blog is a success because its interactive. People relate to him and his experiences, says Ghosh, We also do a lot of myth busters and How to do videos on YouTube which people watch inadvertently when they are searching for something. These give valuable information. But we dont want to start an exclusive LOreal channel online because then people will dismiss it as branded entertainment. They will view it in the same way, as they view advertising.
Garnier Men also initiated a corporate social responsibility initiative called PowerLight A Village campaign in collaboration with Project Chirag with an aim to light up hundreds of rural households in India. This was executed by digital agency FoxyMoron. There are over 600 villages in India with no power. We partnered with an NGO to offer solar lamps and panels in some of these villages. Users can pledge their support online, and if they hit Like, it adds to the number of watts, says Ghosh. He adds that the companys efforts online have not sprung from the ad cap that lies in wait. The restrictions on television advertising have not been implemented properly as yet. We are in digital because this is the shape of things to come.
Wasim Basir, director - integrated marketing communications, Coca-Cola India said that beverage brand Sprite launched a nationwide contest driven by social media called Teen Till I Die. This was a digital-experiential campaign targeted at the youth. Participants needed to shoot a video showcasing their skill in one of the four genres - music, comedy, dance or art on a web platform created for this initiative. The campaign targeted 250-plus colleges across 24 cities and was promoted through Facebook and Twitter, he said. Basir added that there is a lot of graphic novels and games uploaded on the Fanta drink website which gets them a lot of online traffic. We have a lot of content in the pipeline that feeds into our digital platforms. One of our biggest online properties continues to be Coke Studio. The property has a dedicated channel on YouTube and sees more than 2,00,000 subscribers. If you have great content out there, it will be shared and people will post about it.
There is a fundamental shift in audience behaviour, says Tushar Vyas, managing partner (South Asia), GroupM. Digital is becoming a way of life, and is no longer a novelty. Mobility has fueled the adoption. Among the younger demographics we are now seeing the rise of the Screenagers who spend time across screens and more so, on digital screens. Time spent on digital screens was always high for working demographics, but we are seeing higher adoption from mature audiences also. Today the mobile screen has become one of our most valued companions across age groups. Technology is becoming simpler. Today a 60-year-old is comfortable talking to her daughter in another city on Skype on her mobile.
Vyas believes that digital is finally moving from the side of the plate to the center of the plate. Marketers are becoming digital savvy. They now have realistic expectations and relevant benchmarks and they are asking the right questions to arrive at the best answers on how digital medium can add value to their brands. The brands that have successfully leveraged digital are the ones that have been honest, data driven and open to listening to their audience so that the content is relevant and topical, he says. The future as per Vyas is SoLoMo, or rather, social-local-mobile. Future consumers will consume content, such as movies, music and games from the cloud and pay for it either through subscription on a platform such as Apple or Vodafone, or by giving the content full attention.The latter will be enabled by precise targeted advertising powered by data mining, explains Vyas.
Advertisers are also looking for newer inroads into this dynamic medium. Auto maker Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) has kept up its ante on digital. Earlier in the year, Ford India released a campaign, Urban Discoveries to promote its latest sports utility vehicle (SUV) Ecosport. As part of the campaign, the auto company handed over the car keys of this new model to 31 teams consisting of three people each across 12 cities. The participants could keep the car for three weekstake it to work on weekdays and discover the city they live in on weekends. The participants were the first to drive an Ecosport. In 2011, the company had launched a campaign called The Fiesta Experience, featuring four young individuals from different walks of life. The individuals shared their experiences as they drove the new Fiesta across a 10-day, 1,310 km-drive from Delhi to Diu. The reactions of the individuals were recorded on a camera fixed in the car and were fed into video platforms.
Vivek Nayer, chief marketing officer, automotive division, Mahindra & Mahindra, says that digital works very well for high involvement and passion invoking categories and auto was definitely one of them. We are the largest automobile brand on Facebook and YouTube. We have used each of these channels strategically and gradually to build our brands amongst the youth, fans, prospects and customers. In fact, we now debut all our TV ads on digital and social media first as we can run longer versions of the same out here and amplify the buzz around our brands, he says. XUV500 online film festival was one campaign which took forward our digital marketing. We collaborated with a 48-hour film festival to create multiple films around the XUV500 memorable stories theme using their network of casual and professional filmmakers. We received huge response from the community. The films were high-quality with seamless integration of our brand in it, he adds. Nayer says that M&M has a dedicated digital team which strategizes and implements campaigns by working closely with brand teams. The overall spend on digital has gone up significantly over the last three years, as per him. Look at the trend globallyautomobile companies are one of the highest spenders on digital and it will not be different in India as well.
Prasanth Mohanachandran, founder, AgencyDigi says that the firm is looking to put up an online soap on Youtube, which will integrate five different brands. There will be a lot more things that will release first on the web and these offer great opportunities for brand placements, according to him. A lot of the content will be created at the behest of brands, he says. Globally, the web-first strategy is already gaining traction. For instance, Orange Is the New Black, an American comedy-drama series that first released on Netflix.
Unilever has recently embarked on an ambitious social project called Project Sunlight which drives sustainable living and is targeted around Brazil, India, Indonesia, the UK and the US. Project Sunlight has gone live on an online hub www.projectsunlight.com which brings together the social mission stories of Unilevers brands across the world, and invites consumers to get involved in doing small things which help the planet. Among the brands featured are Lifebuoy soap, which helps protect millions of children in Asia, Africa and Latin America from pneumonia and diarrhoea, which kill 2 million children under five each year; Dove, which helps girls across the world improve their self-esteem; Omo, Persil and Surf, which help families cut their utility bills and CO2 emissions.
Hindustan Unilever is optimistic about its new digital lab in Mumbai and says that the progress has been good. Atit Mehtahead, media, South Asia, Unilever says that the big benefits are that all ad campaigns are now digital lab certified and digital assets can be tested before rolling out the campaign in the market. Work done on digital at Unilever is now available for marketers to take inspiration, he said.
We have called out digital as our key strategic thrust area and have started our journey on digital. We are turbo-charging digital. One example which instantly comes to my mind is the launch of the Toni&Guy hair products brand which delivered more than 1 million views on YouTube. Irrespective of the ad cap regulation, we are investing where the consumers are present, added Mehta.


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A Winnipeg man who is the son of Holocaust survivors says he will take the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) to court if it does not reverse its decision that permits wines produced in West Bank settlements to be labelled as “Product of Israel.”
“The occupied West Bank is not part of Israel,” David Kattenburg, a university lecturer and activist, said. “West Bank settlements flagrantly violate international law. Israel shouldn’t be allowed to claim sovereignty over its illegal settlements on Canadian store shelves. Settlement products should actually be banned from Canada, outright. That’s not what I’m asking for. I’m simply asking that settlement products be labelled as such so Canadians can decide for themselves whether or not they wish to aid and abet war crimes.”
Kattenburg first voiced his concerns about Shiloh Legend and Psagot Winery wines, to the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) in January 2017. He escalated the complaint in March, taking it to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). On July 6, the CFIA directed the LCBO to instruct wine vendors to stop selling the two wines, but within 24 hours the agency reversed itself.
In announcing its initial decision, the CFIA stated, “The government of Canada does not recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the territories occupied in 1967.”
However, following protests from Jewish advocacy organizations, including B’nai Brith Canada and the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), the food agency reversed itself, saying, “In our assessment, we did not fully consider the Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement (CIFTA).”
Afterwards, B’nai Brith called on its supporters to make a point of purchasing Psagot and Shiloh wines and it ran a short interview on its web site with Psagot Winery founder Yaakov Berg, in which he pointed out that Jews have been producing wine at the site since the time of the Second Temple, 2,500 years ago.
Martin Sampson, director of communications and marketing for CIJA, said “CIFTA, in accordance with bilateral agreements between Canada and the Palestinians, treats the whole region as a single economic zone. CIFTA defines Israel’s territory for trade purposes as wherever Israel’s customs laws are applied. Both wineries in question are in areas where Israel’s customs laws apply and therefore wines produced at those wineries are correctly labelled.”
Sampson also pointed out that Palestinian exports benefit from the preferential treatment provided by CIFTA and that the PLO on behalf of the Palestinian Authority (PA) “confirmed PA approval of the application of preferential tariffs and any future concessions under CIFTA to goods produced in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.”
Kattenburg disagrees. “CIFTA does not trump Canadian food packaging and labelling law – nor international law incorporated into Canadian domestic legislation,” he said.
But for Sampson, there is more at stake than a legal dispute over labelling.
“This is not about wine. This is about attempting to set a precedent to further the cause of BDS (boycott, divestment, sanctions),” he said.
“What BDS seeks to do is achieve symbolic wins to psychologically bully and demonize those who stand with Israel. It’s a vile strategy. BDS is nothing more than discrimination based on national origin.
“Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has clearly stated that his government rejects efforts to single out Israel by differentiating between products based on where they are produced relative to the Green Line. This is the right approach. Doing otherwise pre-judges the outcome of future negotiations between the two parties on the critical issue of the border between Israel and the future state of Palestine,” Sampson added.
Dimitri Lascaris, who is representing Kattenburg in the case, suggested the case might still be in its early stages.
If Kattenburg’s appeal to CFIA’s Complaints and Appeals Office fails, he is prepared to take the case as far as the Supreme Court, Lascaris said.


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A monologist who shined a harsh light on Apple has himself come under scrutiny
“Daisey lied to me,” wrote This American Life executive producer Ira Glass Friday as he announced that his radio show was withdrawing its most popular episode — an excerpt of Mike Daisey’s off-Broadway show about Apple’s (AAPL) labor practices in China — and canceling a live presentation of Daisey’s “The Agony and the Ecstacy of Steve Jobs” that WBEZ Chicago had scheduled for April 7.
“We’re horrified to have let something like this onto public radio.” Glass wrote on his blog.
As an accompanying press release notes, the response to the original episode, “Mr. Daisey and the Apple Factory,” was significant.
Asked at a investors summit about Apple’s labor practices, CEO Tim Cook did not deny that there were widespread problems in the company’s Asian supply chain — a supply chain shared by every other major electronics manufacturer — but reiterated Apple’s commitment to improving conditions there:
So what exactly were the “significant fabrications” in Daisey’s account of his visits to Foxconn and other Chinese factories. According to the press release, some are small, some are larger.
- The number of factories Daisey visited in China and the number of workers he spoke with didn’t check out. Presumably they were inflated.
- He claimed to have met a group of workers who were poisoned on an iPhone assembly line by a chemical called n-hexane. Apple’s audits of its suppliers show that an incident like this occurred in a factory in China, but nearly 1,000 miles away from the city Daisey visited.
- Daisey told This American Life’s fact-checkers that his Chinese interpreter, whom he called Cathy in the show, was really named Anna and that her cell phone number didn’t work. But a reporter for American Public Media’s Marketplace, Rob Schmitz, tracked her down. Her professional name was indeed Cathy.
- Cathy said two of the most dramatic moments in Daisey’s story — his meeting with underage workers and with a man whose mangled hand was injured making iPads that he had never seen until Daisey showed him his — never happened.
- She also said, on air to Schmitz, that the guards at Foxconn did not carry guns, as Daisey claimed, and that he never saw the crowded dorm rooms he described.
“In our original broadcast, we fact checked all the things that Daisey said about Apple’s operations in China,” says Glass, “and those parts of his story were true, except for the underage workers, who are rare. We reported that discrepancy in the original show. But with this week’s broadcast, we’re letting the audience know that too many of the details about the people he says he met are in dispute for us to stand by the story. I suspect that many things that Mike Daisey claims to have experienced personally did not actually happen, but listeners can judge for themselves.”
“It was completely wrong for me to have it on your show,” Daisey tells Glass in the follow-up program, “and that’s something I deeply regret.” He also expressed his regret to “the people who are listening, the audience of This American Life, who know that it is a journalism enterprise, if they feel betrayed.”
UPDATE: Rob Schmitz’s Marketplace piece is available here.


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Mumbai: After a gap of eight months, ready-to-cook food brand Fingerlix has raised another tranche in its Series C round, raising around Rs 20 crore from Swiggy and some other investors.
Notably, the company has achieved a 30% surge in its valuation from Rs 337 crore in April 2020 to Rs 440 crore post the current investment.
Launched by Shripad Nadkarni, Shrikrishna Bharambe, Varun Khanna, and Abhijit Berde in 2016, Fingerlix serves a wide range of products like batters, mixes, curries, dals, parathas, and ‘fully ready accompaniments. The startup operates in Mumbai, Pune, Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Chennai, and it also provides customized dishes to its consumers.
Fingerlix is operated by Maverix Platforms Pvt. Ltd, which also runs brands such as Canteen Central, Great Indian Khichdi, HomePlate, Meal Studio, Zippy Bowls, and Happy Fix.