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March 14, 2011
You Still Don’t Need To Worry About Fragranced Consumer Products
By Michael D. Shaw
The title of this piece sure sounds a lot like the sequel to I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997), and there’s a good reason why. Last Fall, the fear entrepreneurs unleashed a campaign to scare the public regarding fragrances used in common household products. And now, just like a bad sequel to a mediocre horror film, the same campaign is being fired up yet again.
At the time of the first scare rollout, this column criticized the less than stellar science cited in the campaign, as was originally published by one Anne C. Steinemann, PhD—an environmental engineering professor at the University of Washington. Steinemann’s work did little more than catalog a number of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that could be found in these products, and indeed stipulated that “[T]his study did not seek to assess, and makes no claims regarding, whether product usage would be associated with any risks.”
The study noted that most of the VOCs she detected were not disclosed on the product labels, while grudgingly admitting that they do not have to be disclosed unless they are harmful—which they are clearly not.
The foolishness, sloth, and malice behind this endeavor is truly astonishing. In the first place, few things can be easier than simply having a number of products analyzed—no doubt by a graduate student. Yet, this information, unencumbered by any common sense, is dutifully reported in Table 1 of Steinemann’s article.
Wouldn’t a real scientist have commented in the article that limonene, the first compound listed, occurs naturally in citrus fruits, and that peeling an orange is likely to give off more of the chemical than using the household products tested? Wouldn’t a real scientist have stated that alpha-pinene, the second compound listed, is the fragrance of pine trees? Perhaps Steinemann is afraid of live Christmas trees, as well.
At least the editorial board forced her to include the stipulation quoted in the second paragraph, along with the statement that “Because our study did not analyze exposures or effects, it can draw no conclusion regarding possible risks from product usage.”
But, this is bad faith writ large. Steinemann, her university, and the journal that published her work knew only too well that such caveats would be ignored by fear entrepreneurs such as The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and the David Suzuki Foundation. Suzuki, a toe-tag Greenie and gifted fund raiser, has posted an article that Steinemann wrote last month, hyping her pathetic findings.
Perhaps in a prior life, Suzuki—who is influential, and boasts a prestigious background—knew better, but one wonders what convinced him that Steinemann’s material was worthy of inclusion.
Never mind that she again promotes fear by merely naming compounds, and implying health effects, without reminding her lay audience that the dose makes the poison. Consider instead one of her clueless recommendations:
What can consumers do? They can use basic products to clean, such as baking soda and vinegar, and use products without any fragrance or scent.
Vinegar is nothing more than a solution of acetic acid, a compound with far worse potential health effects than the chemicals listed in her journal article. Moreover, occupational users of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) are advised to wear respiratory protection.
As to using “products without any fragrance or scent,” inquiring minds want to know: Does this include food and beverages? Is it OK to have fragrant houseplants? Is aromatherapy evil?
Movie buffs will remember that I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998) was followed by a direct-to-video sequel in 2006 entitled I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer. Should we be expecting the fear entrepreneurs to return with a third installment of “Fragrances Are Dangerous”?
I guess it depends on the anticipated revenue.


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A California court has sentenced the owner of the bitcoin-ATM network, Kais Mohammed, to two years in prison for running an unlicensed business in the field of virtual currencies and laundering up to $25 million.
According to investigators, in the period from December 2014 to November 2019, Mohammed owned the company Herocoin. When meeting with clients in person, he exchanged bitcoin for fiat, charging a 25% commission.
The prosecutor’s office claims that the convicted person knew about the illegal origin of some of the user funds. At least one client of the company engaged in illegal activities on the darknet.
Muhammad also purchased several bitcoin ATMs, placing them in shopping malls, stores, and gas stations. He independently replenished the terminals with cash.
Users could perform operations without identifying their identity. They had the ability to make multiple consecutive transactions worth up to $3,000 each.
Ciaran McEvoy, a spokesman for the California Central District Attorney’s Office, said that Mohammed had previously worked in the banking sector, and therefore knew about the need to register his business with the US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).
“Instead of using his knowledge to create a robust compliance program, Mohammed ignored it, turning the business into an effective, uncontrolled and almost anonymous channel for money laundering and other crimes,” prosecutors said.
According to McEvoy, the convict understood that his activities fell under the regulatory rules KYC and AML, including reporting on foreign exchange transactions and suspicious transactions worth more than $2,000.
In 2018, FinCEN required Muhammad to register the business. He complied with the order, but continued to ignore the broader regulatory requirements.
In 2020, the man pleaded guilty to three charges. He faced up to 30 years in prison.
Mohammed agreed to hand over 17 bitcoin ATMs, $22,820 in fiat currency, 18.4 BTC and 222.5 ETH to the government.
Recall that in the first quarter of 2021, the number of cryptomats worldwide increased by 21.8%. New terminals are installed at a rate of more than 36 units per day, and most of them are located in the United States.
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MP apathy attacked
MPs representing more than a dozen constituencies where 40,000 workers face massive cuts to their pensions are being criticised for doing too little to help.
The workers at several plants owned by troubled US engineering giant Federal-Mogul belong to the T&N pension scheme. This looks set to be wound up with a massive shortfall, stripping workers yet to retire of as much as 75% of their promised income.
The firms fall into 17 constituencies, and many workers have called on their MPs for help. Several MPs have met with Pensions Minister Malcolm Wicks, yet the meeting appeared to involve just a 'discussion of constituents' concerns'.
T&N members are becoming impatient. 'I'm underwhelmed by the support we've had,' said Nigel Foster, an employee at the Federal-Mogul plant in Bradford, where 380 workers face the loss of their pensions and jobs. Nigel is circulating a petition demanding Government action.
Last Monday he e-mailed his own MP, consumer affairs minister Gerry Sutcliffe, asking him to sign the petition - or explain why he wouldn't.
'As one of many hundreds of your constituents currently affected by the Federal-Mogul pension scheme collapse, I feel disgusted that one month after this situation came to light your website still has no information regarding what actions you are taking on our behalf.'
By Friday his e-mail had not been acknowledged. Financial Mail was told that Sutcliffe was not available for comment.
Nigel, a representative for factory workers' union Amicus, said: 'A number of MPs say they are working behind the scenes. We need them to make public statements.'
Ros Altmann, leading pensions policy adviser and campaigner, said she had been contacted by T&N scheme members whose MPs appeared to have told them their pensions may be protected by legislation currently going through parliament.
'This is absolutely not the case,' she said. 'It is increasingly clear that the scheme will have to be wound up.'
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J&J Buys Scios to Boost Biotech Position
AP Business Writer
Johnson & Johnson, the health-care giant the public knows for its baby, skin and wound-care products, is boosting its biotech might with the acquisition of Scios Inc. in a $2.4 billion cash-for-stock deal announced Monday.
Buying Scios, a 22-year-old biotech company with one product on the market, gives J&J a new, likely lucrative heart drug and a possible future blockbuster, while Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Scios should get sales and research support that will help it grow quickly, analysts say.
The deal, expected to close in this year's second quarter, would be the third acquisition of a biotechnology company in less than four years for the New Brunswick-based maker of No More Tears shampoo and Band-Aids.
It would give Johnson & Johnson biotech sales approaching those of industry leader Amgen Inc. of Thousand Oaks, Calif., about $5 billion last year, said Glenn Reicin, hospital supply analyst at Morgan Stanley.
"Psychologically, I think that's important to them," Reicin said, adding it confirms J&J still prefers acquiring much-smaller companies and giving them sales and research resources to help them grow quickly, rather than buying "large, ugly companies where they have to grow revenues by cost-cutting."
Under terms of the acquisition agreement, Scios shareholders will receive $45 for each outstanding Scios share _ a 30 percent premium over the trading level Thursday, before talks between the two companies were reported. Scios will retain its name, management team and other resources.
In trading Monday, Scios shares rose $1.72, or 4.1 percent, to close Monday at $43.92 on the Nasdaq stock market, adding to a 22 percent gain Friday when the talks were first reported. J&J shares rose 20 cents to $52.04 on the New York Stock Exchange.
The purchase would help J&J boost its shrinking drug pipeline, giving it the Scios heart drug Natrecor, was approved in 2001 for acute congestive heart failure and mainly used in hospital coronary care units. Reicin estimated J&J's huge marketing staff could boost sales from around $100 million last year to $600 million by promoting it in more hospitals and particularly in emergency rooms.
The deal also would block potential competition to J&J's rheumatoid arthritis drug, Remicade, which was developed by Centocor, the Malvern, Pa. biotech company J&J bought in late 1999 for about $5 billion.
Scios is in early human testing of several related compounds that block substances cause inflammation and progression of arthritis, including a lead compound dubbed SCIO-469. It would be part of a class of genetically engineered arthritis drugs, including Enbrel, that are considered more effective than standard anti-inflammatories but whose use is limited because they must be injected. If Scios is successful, it will produce the first drug in the class in pill form.
"It has a potential to be big," said independent pharmaceutical analyst Hemant Shah of HKS & Co. in Warren.
The transaction is subject to approval by federal regulators and Scios shareholders. J&J will take a one-time charge of about $700 million, or 23 cents per share, for the value of certain research and development work by Scios.
"This is a terrific opportunity," said Richard B. Brewer, Scios president and CEO. "Not only do our products and resources complement each other but … this transaction make sense financially, strategically and culturally."
Brewer noted that technology developed by drug-delivery specialist Alza Corp., which J&J bought in 2001 for $12 billion, might be used to improve the effectiveness of Natrecor. Scios also is in early human testing to see whether that drug could be used outside the hospital to prevent repeated exacerbations in patients with congestive heart failure, in which the heart gradually loses its ability to pump blood effectively.
However, Shah said promoting that use probably wouldn't produce much revenue, given that older heart drugs such as diuretics and ACE inhibitors, mostly available as generics, do at least as good a job at low cost.
On the Net:
Johnson & Johnson: http://www.jnj.com
Scios Inc.: http://www.sciosinc.com


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From Green Right Now Reports
McDonald’s has cut ties with one of its egg suppliers after an outside investigation showed numerous incidents of cruelty against laying hens and chicks.
Undercover video of the facility and the mistreatment aired on ABC programs yesterday, after which a McDonald’s spokesman said “based upon recent information” it would no longer be accepting eggs from Cargill-owned Sparboe Farms.
(Reader warning: The video posted below shows acts of cruelty and is not suitable for viewing by children.)
“Regarding the undercover videos, the behavior on tape is disturbing and completely unacceptable. McDonald’s wants to assure our customers that we demand humane treatment of animals by our suppliers. We take this responsibility – along with our customers’ trust – very seriously. It’s important to note that the most alarming actions on video did not occur at Sparboe’s Vincent, Iowa facility that supplies McDonald’s. Nonetheless, our extremely high standards for our suppliers prohibit this conduct,” said Bob Langert, McDonald’s vice president, sustainability in a statement.
Langert went on to note that “this is not a food safety issue for our menu items,” but that McDonald’s does care about “how our food is sourced” and has a history of supporting improvements for animal welfare.
Mercy for Animals targeted McDonald’s because it sees the company as falling behind in trying to secure better conditions for laying hens and chicks, but it believes the fast food giant would lead on the issue, if customers would speak up.
The group wants McDonald’s to stop using any eggs from hens confined in battery cages in the U.S., as it has already in the European Union, where people have been more vocal about animal cruelty issues.
Creating better conditions for laying hens, would likely require a major overhaul of a system that places the birds in “battery cages” where they have no room to stretch or even open their wings. Typically, each battery cage contains several chickens with enough room for every chicken to one occupy a space about the size of a piece of notebook paper.
Battery cages “are so cruel that the entire European Union and the states of California and Michigan have banned their use. Additionally, leading food retailers, such as Whole Foods, Hellmann’s, Wolfgang Puck and Subway, and hundreds of colleges and universities refuse to use or sell eggs from hens subjected to the inherent abuses of battery cages,” Mercy reports on its web page detailing the “McCruelty” campaign.
Sparboe, whose workers were caught on tape mistreating chickens as well as simply tending to over-crowded and injured animals, announced it had already investigated the abuses and imposed management changes and terminated employees caught mistreating the birds.
“Acts depicted in the footage are totally unacceptable and completely at odds with our values as egg farmers,” Sparboe Farms president Beth Sparboe Schnell said in a statement. “In fact, they are in direct violation of our animal care code of conduct, which all of our employees read, sign and are expected to follow each day.”
Mercy for Animals has enlisted several animal experts to assess the situation faced by caged chickens and quotes several on its website denouncing the practice. Dr. Sara Shields, who has an animal behavior doctorate from University of California, Davis, says:
The effects of battery cages on the health and welfare of hens have been studied extensively over several decades by veterinarians and ethologists (scientists specializing in the study of animal behavior) … Hens in these cages cannot engage in the extensive natural behavior that is essential to their welfare, such as foraging, nesting, dustbathing, perching, scratching, short-distance flying, fully stretching their wings or even walking more than a few steps. While hens can be kept alive in battery cages, their quality of life is inherently poor, and the scientific evidence is very clear that battery cages cause distress and suffering …
Battery cage operations are inherently cruel. The barren, restrictive environment offers no hope for an acceptable quality of life, and such severely overcrowded confinement would be unthinkable for any other farmed species. World-wide, there is increasing recognition that battery cages are simply not appropriate housing.


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Keeping Up With: Diets, Restaurants and Summer Pies
Best Pies For The Summer
Pies are a staple of any student in pastry school. These treats are loved across the country and can be fruity, creamy, sweet or tart. In fact, Americans love pie so much, that in a pie survey of 14,000 participants, apple pie only managed to take first place [Read More…]
Chipotle Launches New Asian Restaurant Chain
Culinary school students looking for something fast to eat in Los Angeles while working on their studies now have a new option. Chipotle has begun the expansion of its Asian restaurant chain, ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen. The first ShopHouse is located in Washington, D.C., and was opened in 2011. [Read More…]
Competition For The Mediterranean Diet
If you’ve been looking into international culinary schools, you probably also keep an eye on global food trends. A new dietary habit to be aware of the following of a Nordic diet for heart health. The Mediterranean diet, which features plenty of olive oil, fruits, veggies, nuts and seafood, is well known by now for significantly lowering [Read More…]
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WHEN the summer 2003 Bliss catalog, full of lip plumpers and wrinkle-fighting serums, arrived in the mail a few weeks ago, it seemed an artifact of another time, specifically a pre-bubble moment four years ago when the appearance of a skin cream costing nearly $200 for a single ounce might have seemed almost an inevitability.
That product, developed in 2000 but reformulated two months ago, is Re-Storation Deep Repair Facial Serum. Its ingredients include extracts from soybeans, kelp, lemon grass and rose hip, and the antioxidants alpha lipoic acid, green tea and grapeseed extract. Its manufacturer is called Z. Bigatti, a name that might conjure images of Milanese scientists and laboratories in the Dolomites even though its founder, Dr. Jennifer Biglow, is a dermatologist based in St. Paul, Minn., who speaks with an accent few would mistake for Continental.
''My business partner made it up,'' Dr. Biglow said of the name. ''I thought it was kind of sexy. It could be a car, it could be leather, it could be anything luxurious.''
Deep Repair Facial Serum is one of a new breed of radically priced so-called anti-aging skin care concoctions that have made the legendarily expensive Crème de la Mer -- at $90 an ounce -- seem a meager extravagance. Earlier this year, for instance, the Swiss company La Prairie introduced Crème Cellulaire Radiance, which it says will improve skin's elasticity through a combination of plant-based estrogens derived from soybeans and wild yams, among other things. The cream costs $500 for a 1.7-ounce jar. It lists 62 ingredients on the side of the packaging, the first being water.
Also new to the counters of stores like Neiman Marcus is Intensité Crème Lustre at $375 for two ounces, from Ré Vive, a company started by a plastic surgeon named Gregory Bays Brown. (Ré Vive ''is just a contrived name, a bogus French name,'' Dr. Brown said from his office in Louisville, Ky.) The product is so costly, he said, because its primary ingredient is a protein called Insulin-like Growth Factor (IGF), which, he said, stimulates collagen production in order to plump up the skin and diminish the appearance of lines. IGF costs Dr. Brown $30,000 a gram, he said, with one gram enough to produce about 200,000 jars (which works out to 15 cents of IGF per $375 jar, but the company says hundreds of thousands of dollars of research went into IGF's formulation). A secondary ingredient in the cream is Metalloproteinase inhibitor (MPI) which, Dr. Brown said, costs $25,000 a gram and works to block a collagen-destroying enzyme.Continue reading the main story
Intensité's price-to-quantity ratio does not seem to strike some women as lunacy. Gilda Smith, a 50-year-old New York interior designer, said she has used it and recommended it to at least 25 women who are, she said, ''all crazy about it.''
''I think the economy is poor,'' she remarked, ''but people are looking for products that will help them postpone plastic surgery. After all, a face lift will be $20,000, and this product will tighten your skin and put off a face lift for at least five or six years.''
Leslie Baumann, chief of cosmetic dermatology at the University of Miami, cautioned that growth factors of the sort in Intensité have not been extensively studied. ''What if they cause cancer? Long-term data needs to be gathered,'' Dr. Baumann said.
Those who predicted the onset of a more pragmatic-minded consumer culture after the trauma of 9/11 would not have foreseen the emergence of a market for skin creams that cost as much as some household appliances. But since 9/11, as Allan Mottus, editor of the Informationist, a cosmetic-industry trade publication, pointed out, ''there's been a whole movement toward more therapeutic, more expensive skin care products based on the idea that people want to take better care of themselves.'' In fact, a recent report from NPD, a market-research firm in Long Island, showed that in 2002 luxury skin care products (which NPD defined as products priced over $70) resulted in $169 million in sales at department stores, a 47 percent increase over the year before.
Typically, the products occupying the upper reaches of the market draw their appeal in part from the fact that they are not nationally advertised. This is an effective marketing strategy, said Marian Friestad, a consumer psychologist and professor at the University of Oregon, ''because it makes the creams feel like a very special secret only a few people know about.''
Certainly, the products seem to have found an audience. At Bergdorf Goodman in New York, Patricia Saxby, vice president of the cosmetics division, said that creams costing more than $100 per ounce usually account for 25 percent of their manufacturers' revenues at the store. In April, La Prairie introduced a larger, 3.4-ounce version of its Caviar Luxe Crème for $550, because the product had become La Prairie's best-selling one worldwide.
That women continue to invest money and faith in over-the-counter creams for which no scientific testing is required is a source of astonishment to some physicians. ''Do I think any of this is better than a bottle of Purpose?'' said Dr. Robyn Gmyrek, assistant clinical professor of dermatology at Columbia University. ''No.'' (Purpose, a moisturizer, costs about $10 at drug stores.) ''There is not a single moisturizer on earth that will get rid of wrinkles,'' she said.
''I feel very strongly that this is all such a lie,'' said Dr. Cheryl Thellman-Karcher, a Manhattan dermatologist. ''When my patients ask me about this stuff, I tell them, Save your money or give it to someone who needs it.''
At issue is not necessarily that the foundation ingredients in these products fail to perform in the way manufacturers claim -- their makers are careful not to say the creams eliminate wrinkles. At most, the products make skin ''look luminous from the instant of application'' (Radiance), or ''rejuices the skin while plumping wrinkles for a healthier appearance'' (Intensité Crème Lustre).
The issue is that the same ingredients can often be found in far less expensive creams. Soybean extracts, which play a major role in some of the high-end products, do in fact prevent the development of brown age spots and diminish the appearance of existing ones, Dr. Baumann said. ''Soy is a good thing but it can be found in Aveeno,'' Dr. Baumann said, referring to Aveeno Daily Moisturizer, a cream available at drug stores for $15.49 an ounce. ''The only exception I can think of -- when something might be worth the money -- is if it contains green tea, because green tea is very expensive,'' Dr. Baumann said. ''But I tell my patients just to drink green tea,'' an antioxidant.
''There is a certain kind of woman who obviously believes that if some product is more expensive, it has to be better,'' Dr. Thellman-Karcher said. ''And, of course, what Upper East Side woman wants to go into a Duane Reade and be seen buying Purpose or Vaseline?''Continue reading the main story


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Huawei, one of China’s largest smartphones makers shipped a whooping 153million smartphones in 2017 alone, according to a Bloomberg report. This came as reports are suggesting that the smartphone maker is in talks with some major US carriers to penetrate the US market so as to compete favorably with Apple and Samsung.
The disclosure came in a letter to the company’s staff by its current CEO Ken Hu. The huge shipment did not however reflected on the company’s overall revenue in a considerable manner, as the report said that Huawei’s revenue rose by 15percent as against 32percent recorded in 2016. The 15percent rise amounts to $92billion in 2017.
With a fairly wide range of smartphones in its library, majority of which are high-end but affordable, the company will need much more to be able to compete with the iPhone X, which as a matter of fact has performed even better than their flagship in China. Even though the Chinese brand is steadily moving deeper into higher-end phones, selling devices priced as high as 8,999 yuan, the question still remains, can it compete with Samsung and Apple any time soon, in a market where Apple and Samsung has lots of stakes?
In the report, CEO Hu didn’t discuss profitability or give division specifics in his memo, which precedes a more comprehensive results report. But it’s said it wanted to keep a closer eye on the bottom line.
Counterpoint Research estimates Huawei may have grabbed a 4.9 percent of global handset profits in the third quarter, ahead of its Chinese rivals but still lagging Apple and Samsung, as expected. More so, with such huge shipment, which might be an indication of higher demands, the company has certainly rode past its local rivals and poised to higher competition.
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. is a Chinese multinational networking and telecommunication equipment and services company headquartered in Shenzhen, China. It is the largest telecommunications equipment manufacturer in the world, having overtaken Ericsson in 2012.
Huawei was founded in 1987 by Ren Zhengfei, a former engineer. At the time of its establishment, Huawei focused on manufacturing phone switches, but has since expanded its business to include building telecommunications networks, providing operational and consulting services and equipment to enterprises inside and outside of China, and manufacturing communications devices for the consumer market. As of the end of 2014, Huawei’s products and services are available in more than 170 countries, and are used by a third of the world’s population, ranking third in the world in mobile phone shipments in 2015


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An Electronic Tag You Activate With A Phone Call
The tag actually powers itself by harvesting cellphone signals.
Bzzz bzzz! Who are researchers calling in this video? It’s not a person. It’s a thin little electronic tag. The call activates the tag’s display, which then shows some graphics. The tag’s makers think it’s the first all-printed electronic label that’s able to communicate directly with a cellphone.
Several research groups are working on making electronic tags like this. Researchers hope that in the future, tags equipped with sensors would send data about what they sense to the cloud.
For now, however, electronic tags like this are still in their earliest stages of development. This new tag, developed by researchers in Sweden and the U.K., doesn’t do much more than turn on. It’s slow to respond—it takes about 10 seconds—and it practically needs to touch a cellphone to do just that. Still, the tag has a couple of impressive features. It’s durable, lasting for more than two years, the researchers reported in a paper published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. In addition, while it’s always a challenge to power small electronics with equally small batteries, this tag has a unique solution for that problem. The tag actually captures a portion of nearby cellphone signals and powers its display with that signal.
The tag is made of plastic, with a printed aluminum-foil antenna and a special diode that the U.K.-Swedish researchers developed. The antenna picks up standard, Global System for Mobile signals cellphones produce when they make a call. The diode converts that signal to DC voltage. The voltage then goes to an experimental display, called an electrochromatic display, that requires little power. The lab that made the tag pioneered electrochromatic displays, too.


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The number of start up businesses created by young entrepreneurs is on the rise in North Wales.
Here we look at six of the region's most successful entrepreneurs to see how they have built up their firms.
They include a sportwear exporter, a clothing line, a video production company, two jewellers and a make-up retailer.
Siôn Emlyn and Siôn Owen- Arfordir
2018 NWYBA's New Business of the Year award finalists, Siôn Emlyn, 19, and Siôn Owen, 18, have been running their community committed business Arfordir since 2017, when the two entrepreneurs were students of Ysgol David Hughes and started their t-shirt enterprise as part of a Welsh Baccalaureate assignment.
"We called our business Arfordir because Anglesey is our home and it's surrounded by coastline." Sion Emlyn explained.
"We feel that the name represents who we are as a business and also symbolises the island's importance to the making of the business too because the clothing line is designed and made on the island."
The business first began creating and selling t-shirts, but has since moved on to creating and selling shorts, sweat shirts and hoodies, which are all designed with the words 'Arfordir'- meaning 'coast' in Welsh.
Arfordir mainly caters to a younger generation and has been a success due to the business' strong online presence.
The business does not have a website, and focuses entirely on promoting and selling their brand on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.
Since its development, it has garnered the support of over 1,000 followers, as well as TV chef and presenter Chris Roberts and Wales' rugby player Rhys Patchell.
"The support has been great, especially by our friends and families who have kindly helped out with promotion by wearing our clothes as advertisement.
"We have been inspired by the people that buy our clothing- they keep us going and help us create new ideas."
Dewi Fôn Evans- Dewi Fôn Evans Videography
Dewi Fôn Evans started his video production company specialising in wedding films, commercial, corporate videos and aerial drone services, when he was struggling to find work in the increasingly competitive media industry.
The Bryngwran entrepreneur said: "After graduating from a Film course at Bangor University with a 2:1 in 2012, my goal was to work in TV production as a camera operator.
"I instantly started sending CVs and showreels out to all of the TV production companies that I knew of with the hope of getting an interview or at least catching their eye.
"In the meantime I really needed a job, so I started working as a sales assistant at a tile shop in Bangor. Almost four years later and with a number of TV production rejections under my belt, I decided that it was time to try a different route as I definitely wasn't going to give up that easy.
"I had been rejected at every TV production interview and I was never given an opportunity to show them what I could do. I had a chip on my shoulder and a point to prove. I decided to start my business simply because I had to.
"I started spending every spare penny of my wage from the tile shop on cameras, audio equipment and lighting. Just six months after the release of my first video, I was able to leave my job as a sales assistant in Bangor to start working on 'Dewi Fôn Evans Videography' full-time."
Since starting his business in September of 2017, Dewi has worked on multiple projects with different clients, and won 'New Business of the Year' and 'Business of the Year' at North Wales Young Business Awards' ceremony in 2018. As a result, Dewi credits his home for helping him develop his business:
"The main benefit of starting my business in North Wales was the opportunity to utilise my Welsh language skills. As a fluent Welsh speaker, I have found that there is a huge market for Welsh speaking videographers in Wales, especially in the North. I work alongside a number of clients in North Wales and others all over Wales, all of whom have stated that my Welsh fluency is a huge advantage for them on their projects.
"I feel an immense pride in being a business based on Anglesey. Over the past few years, Anglesey has seen a boom in homegrown successful business and that's something that's been really inspiring as a younger entrepreneur. Seeing so many fantastic businesses gain success on the island gives you the belief that it is possible to be based on such a small island but still have a wide reach."
Alex Lovén- Net World Sports
Thirty-one-year-old entrepreneur Alex Lovén is the CEO and Founder of Net World Sports- a leading sports equipment retailer manufacturing and supplying an expanding range of own-brand products to customers worldwide.
Alex first began his business as a teenager selling cricket bats online from his bedroom. Now, he is a multi-award winning Sunday Times Fast Track 100 company and offers more than 5,000 different products to customers in over 100 countries via 13 international websites.
Although he grew up in Shropshire and now lives in Cheshire, he has relocated his business in Wrexham.
"As a business, one of our key things is control and we wanted to bring the warehouse and office together at one new site, so moving to Wrexham allowed us to do this.
"Whilst in Wrexham, we've been able to purchase our 120,000ft site outright and our headcount now sits at 100+ having employed people from the Wrexham, Chester and Shropshire area.
"With strong transport links from Wrexham Industrial Estate to Manchester and Liverpool, relocating to North Wales has allowed us to boost our offering to customers and we now offer next day delivery to the UK, one-day shipping to America and two-day shipping to Australia- a service that's virtually unheard of in our industry."
Lora Wyn- Gemwaith Lora Wyn Jewellery
Lora Wyn has been handcrafting and selling contemporary jewellery from copper, silver and enamel for nearly eight years. From gift shops in Gwynedd to giant online emporium Etsy, Lora Wyn has received widespread recognition for her pieces.
The 29-year-old jeweller, who lives in her native Groeslon in Dyffryn Nantlle, describes herself as a 'proper home bird' and is one of the reasons she decided to start her jewellery business in North Wales.
"I had an unhappy time at Loughborough University," she revealed.
"So I knew that I wanted to stay at home, which now looking back, was the best decision I ever made."
Lora worked at various jobs in North Wales, including at Beaumaris' Jewellery Gallery and at a yard shop in Pwllheli, before deciding to start her own business handcrafting and selling jewellery in 2011.
She first began working from her mum's walk-in-wardrobe in Groeslon, and has since created one off pieces for well-known figures such as actress Dervla Kirwan, as well as S4C presenters, including Nia Roberts and Daloni Metcalfe. In 2015, Lora worked with BAFTA Cymru as a gifting partner for a few nominees.
She said: "I worked really hard and took every opportunity that was presented to me- collaborating with other local business and networking with people that were able to support me and my business.
"I think that I have been tremendously lucky to reach the success that I am at today, and don't think I would have reached that same level of success if I had moved away.
"It is incredibly advantageous to start your business in North Wales because the region is always looking to support local businesses and its people. The food and tourism industry has been especially popular here, which is promising and interesting to see."
Sara Lois- Gemwaith Sara Lois Jewellery
Sara Lois, the founder of the Sara Lois Jewellery also credited North Wales as part of her success.
The 29-year-old said: "There is an incredible sense of community in North Wales and I find that the support local people offer local businesses is incredible."
The Llyn Peninsula based entrepreneur started creating jewellery items from the finest quality precious metals, natural rock such as Welsh slate and precious gemstones a few years ago. She started her business during a time when the jewellery industry in North Wales was "pretty much non existent", but felt it was the only option she had in order to pursue her passion.
"Due to this sense of community and support I believe that its much easier to get your name and brand out there than if I were based in a larger city. This then acts as a strong, stable platform to extend your reputation further. There's also plenty of support available in the area for anyone who wants to start their own business such as the new Hwb Menter/ Enterprise Hub at M-SParc in Gaerwen."
In November 2018, she was awarded 'Creative Business of the Year' at the North Wales Young Business Awards.
She added: "Winning the award has been a big confidence boost and showed me that the business is developing in the right direction."
Poppy Johnson- NWYBA, Faces by Poppy and POISE Academy
The founder of the NWYBA, Poppy Johnson is a successful entrepreneur in her own right and last year took the Judges Choice Award at the prestigious Daily Post Business Awards.
Businesswoman Poppy, 27, started her make-up business on the side of her full-time marketing job back in 2015 - becoming a near instant success.
"Whilst everyone else in the area was offering the 'natural make up look', I opted to create adventurous and 'instragrammable' make up looks that certainly turned heads in the local area of Bangor."
Four years on, Faces by Poppy is now a fully operating business alongside POISE Academy- a luxury salon and a facility to teach individuals who want to get into the creative industry with trend-driven courses. Poppy is also in the process of designing and creating her own make up brush collection that will be launched this year.
"North Wales has amazing businesses which are worth shouting about, and North Wales has given me this opportunity to give these businesses a platform. We are a community who thrive to succeed and together we can."


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Special to WorldTribune.com
Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
Iran is cracking down on Valentine’s Day celebrations in an effort to fight “decadent Western culture.”
Iranian police have told shops not to display or promote Valentine’s Day items.
The police directive also said that coffee shops and juice bars should prevent gatherings in which boys and girls exchange Valentine’s Day gifts, including flowers, chocolate, and stuffed animals.
Despite similar warnings and crackdown attempts, the annual February 14 Valentine’s Day celebrations have in recent years become increasingly popular among young Iranians.
The romantic holiday is being celebrated even among the residents of Iran’s holy city of Qom, Iranian conservative media have reported.
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Facebook has taken a significant step forward, ushering their Spaces app as well as their social media platform into the new era of virtual reality videos by giving the ability to Facebook Spaces users to live stream their VR world experience onto the Facebook timeline.
Facebook Live videos have gained considerable popularity since its global launch and coupling it with Spaces VR — another popular tech interface in the present — seems like a valid step since they’re also trying to increase the sales of its Oculus Rift VR headsets.
Users on Facebook Spaces app will soon receive Facebook Live functionality and will be able to stream their virtual reality experience with their friends and a wider audience on the 2-billion strong social media platform.
“By going live from Facebook Spaces, you can share a whole new kind of moment with friends and family directly from VR. Whether you’re touring exotic locations across the globe in 360, collaborating on a virtual marker masterpiece, or riffing on a viral video, the people who matter most to you can now follow along in real time on Facebook,” the company stated.
The Facebook live interface on Facebook Spaces will provide users with a virtual camera that can be positioned anywhere in their space to capture what’s going on.
Your friends on Facebook will be able to comment on these Live videos and ask you questions in real time which will be displayed as a stream in your Space.
“Live from Facebook Spaces opens up the fun of VR and lets everyone join the experience. Along with Messenger video calling and selfies, it’s an easy way to share your VR experiences and create lasting memories with everyone you care about,” Facebook added.


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Your tax-deductible gift today powers our reporters and keeps us independent. We rely on you, our reader, not paywalls to stay funded because we believe important news and information should be freely accessible to all.
For vendors working in the Flower District of downtown Los Angeles, Valentine's Day is one of their major business days. But today has been a mixed bag.
Some vendors, like Lucrecio Hernandez of Gabi's Flowers, said they were barely holding on, due to the rising costs of flower prices and the drop in public demand. But Hernandez added that he'll keep at it as long as he makes enough to feed himself.
Juan Negrete of So Cal Wholesale Flowers said that typically, by 9am, they would have been sold out.
"At this time, we'd be done, closed, at home, but if you look around, we're still full," he said. "We're scared. Today is over for us; now it's the arrangement seller's turn."
While many flower vendors agreed with Negrete and Hernandez's outlook, folks in the arrangement business said today hasn't been much different from previous years.
Estella Rodriguez, a pop-up arrangement seller, said her business seems the same, if not better, than previous years. She thinks that may be because people are exhausted and are looking to celebrate something. By 10:30am, her stall was almost completely sold out.
This is what Valentine's Day looked like in 2021 at the Flower District.


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Ferrari World Abu Dhabi’s latest additions have put tickets on sale for the opening on 5th November.
We had previously announced that Ferrari World Abu Dhabi will be launching the zip line and the roof walk for the first time ever in Abu Dhabi.
The zip line track is structured through one of the rollercoasters, Flying Aces and has two-tracks where people can race against each other. The roof-walk will be the slower options where people can enjoy the skyline as they get through the experience at a more relaxed pace.
The zip line ticket is AED 95 and the roof walk ticket is AED 125 and you’d be able to get the combo ticket at AED 175. All these tickets can only be purchases alongside a standard entry ticket or a valid annual pass. As a part of the 10th anniversary celebrations, the tickets can be bought at a 50% discount for all UAE residents until 31st December of 2020.
For unlimited fun, you can buy the 2020 pass and visit the park countless times at AED 310. Make sure you and your friends enjoy these discounted adrenaline opportunities at Ferrari World Abu Dhabi before they finish.
For more information and to make your bookings, visit: ferrariworldabudhabi.com


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- Uber is ending its free Uber Rewards program, which grants users points for using the Uber and Uber Eats apps, per an email sent to customers over the weekend. Users will stop accruing points at the end of August, but can use their benefits through Oct. 31.
- Rewards members can access a free month of Uber One, which totals roughly 10 million global members as of the end of the second quarter.
- Uber One made up 23% of overall gross bookings during the second quarter, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said during Uber’s Q2 earnings call.
Uber One has been focused on delivery offerings as of late, Khosrowshahi said, as 32% of gross bookings for delivery come from members of the program. Uber One users in general also post about 2.7 times more gross bookings than non-members, he said.
To sweeten the program’s value proposition, Uber also plans to increase benefits for ride share users, Khosrowshahi said. Uber One currently offers members $0 delivery fees, 5% off rides and 10% off delivery orders for $9.99 per month. Members on average save about $22 per month, according to the company. These bundled ride and food delivery perks could encourage more engagement and give Uber Eats an edge over rival offerings like DoorDash’s DashPass, which also costs $9.99 per month but only offers food delivery and pickup benefits.
Uber has also been expanding its platform in a bid to attract new members. This week, it added a partnership with Office Depot, less than a month after it enhanced its grocery delivery program. Uber Eats customers who order via new verticals tend to have higher frequency, Khosrowshahi said.


text: The Marvel series had Disney+'s most-watched premiere after the streaming service decided to shift its premiere date from Friday to Wednesday of last week. So Disney+ has decided to apply the Wednesday release date to all its original TV series (but not movies), including The Mandalorian and other Star Wars shows. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the shift is designed to accommodate the increased volume of original content on Disney+. "The change means that Disney+ TV series and original films will no longer have to compete with one another for subscribers’ attention," says The Hollywood Reporter's Lesley Goldberg. "It also moves Disney+ original series away from Netflix, which historically has launched entire seasons of shows on Fridays. Disney+ continues to focus on a weekly release schedule vs. Netflix’s binge model." With the news, Disney+ shifted premiere dates for several series, including Monsters at Work (from July 2 to July 7) and Turner & Hooch (from July 16 to July 21). As Goldberg points out, "release schedule patters have begun to emerge now that the major media conglomerates each have a streaming service up and running." Netflix and Amazon have staked a claim to Fridays, Hulu releases original shows on Wednesdays and HBO Max and Peacock launch new shows on Thursdays.


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Microsoft cutting about 14% of workforce in next year
Updated 6:31 pm, Thursday, July 17, 2014
Number of the day
About 14 percent
That's how much of Microsoft's workforce will be reduced over the next year, the largest round of job cuts in the company's history. Satya Nadella, the software maker's new CEO, says eliminating as many as 18,000 positions will help it compete with nimbler rivals offering mobile and Internet-based software and services. The cuts include 12,500 jobs at the recently purchased Nokia phone unit.
"Alibaba is raising so much money, for the market to support that, it's logical that it provides some discount to investors at the time of the IPO. It has a lot of potential, but investors want to see a few quarters of results and also see how the company will strategically place itself."
Latest business videos
Li Yujie, an analyst at RHB Research Institute, on Alibaba potentially pricing its U.S. initial public offering about 22 percent below analyst estimates. The move could help China's biggest e-commerce company avoid repeating the IPO flop of Facebook. Alibaba may set the valuation at $154 billion, according to five analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Those same analysts see the company's post-listing market capitalization as $198 billion.
General Electric reports quarterly earnings on Friday, and Wall Street estimates that net income will increase 13 percent to $3.66 billion. The world's largest maker of jet engines and diesel locomotives wants to boost growth at its industrial units. Sources say GE is in talks to sell its home appliance business more than a century after inventing the electric toaster.


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There' a great story in the Atlantic last week by Amanda Mull. Drinking water is easy. She talked about how we've moved away from carbonated, sugar laden drinks to water, but really it's the water enhancers that are really changing the face of how people are drinking water. They might have their own bottle of water that they fill up either tap water or bottled water from home. They're carrying them around. I see more water bottles than ever before, instead of plastic water bottles that get thrown out and stay on landfills for the rest of our lives. What she talks about is the fact that more people are using these water enhancers for one or two reasons either low calorie flavor enhancers or sports drinks or vitamin enhancers. It seems that this water enhancer business is really growing tremendously.
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Due to the lack of agreement with General Motors and Stellantis, workers of the Unite Auto Workers (UAW) union decided to extend the duration of the strike and expand its impact to an additional 38 points in 20 states. Following this increase in protests, President Joe Biden expressed his support for the strikers and promised to accompany union members to Michigan next Tuesday, September 26th.
The strike by workers from the “Big Three” US auto sector expanded this Friday at General Motors and Stellantis. More than 5,000 members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) union walked out of 38 distribution and parts centers in these two industries to join the strike that began last week.
In this context, President Joe Biden announced his participation in the workers’ strike, to which he was invited by Shawn Fain, President of the UAW.
“On Tuesday, I will go to Michigan to join the strike line and stand in solidarity with the men and women of the UAW who are fighting to get their fair share of the value they have created,” Biden wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday night. “It’s time to reach a win-win agreement that ensures American auto manufacturing thrives with good-paying jobs.”
Former Republican President Donald Trump also plans to visit the area on Wednesday and seek support from working-class voters.
In announcing the strike’s expansion, Fain said the movement now covers 20 states and factories owned by General Motors and Stellantis, with which negotiations have stalled. Ford workers ended the strike because they had been given important concessions since the protest began a week ago.
For his part, Fain said Ford had made improvements over previous proposals by reintroducing a cost-of-living measure suspended in 2009. The company also offered to improve the profit-sharing system.
“We’re not done at Ford yet,” the union leader added. However, “we recognize that Ford is serious about reaching an agreement.” (…) The story is different for GM and Stellantis.”
The week-long strike has so far had a limited impact on companies’ profits, as the three plants where the strike began produced midsize trucks, which were profitable but not the largest sources of revenue.
Analysts believe that depending on negotiations, the UAW plans to expand the strike to include the most profitable plants.


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Tesla and Panasonic will collaborate to build solar panels at a new Buffalo, N.Y., facility if Tesla's acquisition of SolarCity is approved by shareholders on Nov. 17. The components would work with the Powerwall and Powerpack, Tesla’s energy storage products. Possibly related: Elon Musk's mysterious Tesla product announcement, originally teased for today, has been pushed to Wednesday. — [The Verge]
Meanwhile, Germany has asked Tesla to stop using the term "Autopilot" for its driver-assistance system in its advertising because it might give drivers the idea that they don't have to pay attention to the road. — [Reuters]
Billionaire investor Peter Thiel, Silicon Valley's most prominent political contrarian, is contributing $1.25 million to Donald Trump's campaign. Thiel remains an outlier among tech donors, but Sam Altman, president of startup incubator Y Combinator, where Thiel is a "part-time partner," defended his right to an unpopular viewpoint. — [Recode]
Intel reports quarterly earnings on Tuesday, and the results may offer some insight into the growth of cloud computing services. Intel is counting on increased demand for its server chips in data centers as the PC market continues to shrink. — [Wall Street Journal]
On the latest episode of Recode Decode, hosted by Kara Swisher, actor Ashton Kutcher talks about the investments he's made in consumer tech companies, as well as the ones he's passed on — like Snapchat. — [Recode]
Top Stories From Recode
The iPhone 7’s missing headphone jack has turned out just fine
Apple has finally shipped a new iPhone without a “-gate.”
Watch: SNL’s skit of a Honda humanoid robot demo is spot on
Humanoids require a lot of human attention.
Drones are playing a new role in the recovery efforts after Hurricane Matthew
Insurance and telecom companies are using drones to inspect where floodwater is too high to drive.
These ‘soft robots’ demonstrate how lifelike robotic movement will become
Researchers are creating wearable devices that mimic human muscles.
Full transcript: GQ commentator Keith Olbermann on Recode Media
On Donald Trump: “If you had a tsunami every day, how good would your coverage of the tsunami every day be?”
The world’s supposed first drone delivery program is bringing blood to remote Rwandan clinics
Zipline partnered with UPS and Gavi to launch the program.
You can now be fined or prosecuted for bringing a Samsung Note 7 on a plane
Samsung’s fire-prone phones are officially banned.
You can buy a robot to plow your driveway this winter
But it won’t dig out your parked car.
WeChat made a drone that flies around and streams video to your friends
The most popular social messaging platform in China now has its own foldable drone.
These industrial robots teach each other new skills while we sleep
It takes days to reprogram an industrial robot. With artificial intelligence, it could take only a few hours.
This Is Cool
Historical GIFs from the National Archives
The Beatles, Hemingway, Elvis and Nixon, Woodsy Owl and more.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.


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While overall U.S. sales are up a whopping 22.8% to 814.5 million units from the first nine months of 2005, digital track downloads, the main configuration fueling that growth, are stagnant when viewed on a quarterly basis.
Unlike last year, when digital tracks increased steadily by 9.2 million units between the first-quarter total of 76.2 million units and third-quarter total of 85.4 million units, this year’s second- and third-quarter downloads of 137 million for each period are less than the 144 million units downloaded in the first quarter, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Yet for the nine-month period ended Oct. 1, digital track downloads totaled 418.4 million, a 71.3% increase over the 224.2 million accumulated in the corresponding period in 2005. Likewise, this year’s nine-month total also represents a 6.2% increase over the 393.9 million albums scanned during the same time period.
Album sales, including those in the digital configuration, are down 5.2% to 393.1 million units from the 414.8 million scanned in the first nine months of 2005. CD sales are down even more, 8.1%, to 368.9 million units. On the plus side, digital albums posted the largest configuration increase on a percentage basis to finish up 114.2% to 22.6 million: slightly more than double the 10.6 million units generated in the first nine months of 2005.
So far this year, 28 albums have each sold more than 1 million units. Meanwhile, only 10 songs have passed the million-unit mark—led by Daniel Powter’s “Bad Day,” which has scanned 1.8 million.
Looking at market share (including catalog), Universal Music Group remains the leader with 31.3%, even though it has slipped slightly from its 31.7% in the first nine months of 2005. UMG’s album total is 8.7 million units off of last year’s pace, with a total of 122.8 million units so far this year.
UMG also remains the leader in current market share, with a 33.9% slice of the pie. It also is the leading distributor in the classical, hard rock, jazz, R&B, rap and Latin genres.
Buena Vista Music Group, distributed by Universal Music Group Distribution, remains at the top of the heap with the top two album sellers so far this year. The “High School Musical” soundtrack is No. 1, with 3.1 million scans, followed by Rascal Flatts’ “Me and My Gang,” with 2.5 million.
Although big things are expected from Sony BMG Music Entertainment in the fourth quarter, so far this year the company’s market share has eroded to 26.8% from its 27.2% in the first nine months. Sony BMG, however, is the largest country album distributor during the first nine months of the year.
The only major label showing an increase in market share is Warner Music Group. At the end of the nine-month period, the company tallied 19.2% in market share, good enough for a nearly 5-million unit increase in scans to 75.6 million. WEA is the largest component of that increase, with market-share growth of more than one percentage point to 15.8%, although Alternative Distribution Alliance also posted a slight increase. The June acquisition of Ryko Distribution contributed another 0.07% to this year’s total.
EMI and the independent labels continue to suffer market-share erosion.
Looking at sales by store type, nontraditional outlets—which include online digital and CD album sales, concert sales, mail order and TV 800-number sales—continue to show a market-share increase, at the expense of other sectors. So far this year, nontraditional merchants have seen sales increase 49.2% to 46.1 million units.
Chains, which include stores like Best Buy, Borders Books & Music, Tower and Trans World, suffered a 13.5% decrease to 163.2 million units. While they remain the largest store sector, mass merchants keep closing the gap, even though that sector suffered a decline in a year-over-year comparison. Last year, at the end of nine months, an 28.4 million-unit gap separated the two store sectors (188.6 million units for chains versus 160.4 million units for mass merchants) while this year the gap has dwindled to 6.5 million units (163.2 million units versus 156.7 million units).
Independent stores continue to decline as well, posting the largest drop to 27.1 million units, down 22.3% from the 34.9 million units generated in the first nine months of last year.


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Require Long-term Regulatory Roadmap To Increase Automobile Sector Contribution To GDP: NRI India
While the government plans to bring Indian automotive industry at par with developed nations in safety and emission regulations
Photo Credit :
A long-term regulatory roadmap is required for the automobile industry to grow and increase its contribution to GDP to 12 per cent from the current 7 per cent, according to a report by Nomura Research Institute Consulting and Solutions India (NRI India).
While the government plans to bring Indian automotive industry at par with developed nations in safety and emission regulations, the report said there is a need to study regulations in Indian context as conditions in the country are different from developed nations in many aspects.
'The Indian automotive industry has kept pace with these changes and in recent years has undergone a number of changes in the domain of passenger safety, emission control and connected technology.
'One such highlight is leapfrogging from BS-IV to BS-VI emission norms and hence achieving parity with Euro emission norms,' the report said.
In addition to the positives these changes have brought to the Indian market, they have also brought Indian automotive industry at par with the developed regions like Europe, Japan and the USA.
Further, the much needed amendments to the Motor Vehicle Act (MVA) have been commendable steps by the government of India, it said.
'However, there have been many instances where regulations are enforced without adequate lead-time and deliberations. It may be important to study the regulation formulation process adopted by global agencies and take learnings for deciding timeline and lead-time for regulation implementations,' it said.
The NRI India report further said that for fulfilling the government's GDP targets, the auto sector will be playing a pivotal role by increasing its contribution to GDP to 12 per cent from current 7 per cent.
'In this journey for ensuring growth, interests of young and aspirational consumers from various strata of the society need to be kept in mind,' it added.
The report said the government intends to implement some future regulations to keep pace with the developed countries in terms of emissions, fuel economy and safety.
'However, in absence of a clear roadmap, it becomes extremely challenging for the industry to adopt new technologies and comply with regulations at an affordable cost.
'A holistic long-term roadmap will not only help industry to prepare well for future but also help attract investments for local development of technology in India to promote #AatmaNirbharBharat mission,' it said.
Highlighting the need for study of regulations in Indian context, the report said while the government's vision to bring Indian automotive industry at par with the developed nations in safety and emission regulations is praiseworthy, it should be acknowledged Indian conditions are different to the developed nations in many aspects.
'Economic status of consumers, price sensitivity, number of cars per 1,000 individuals, technology and infrastructure development and driving behaviour are some of the areas which differentiate India from the other countries,' it added.
Despite being one of the biggest automobile markets globally, automobile penetration in India is still only around 3 per cent as compared to China with 18 per cent, Japan around 60 per cent, and over 80 per cent and 90 per cent in the UK and the US respectively.
'This low penetration indicates India's growth potential. Implementing multiple regulations at a time will increase the prices of the vehicles leading to subduing growth in the price sensitive Indian market, which can be detrimental for India's overall economic growth,' the report pointed out.
To avoid such a scenario, it said, 'A visionary roadmap with clearly laid out timelines will provide clarity to the entire automotive industry. It will provide sufficient time for infrastructure development and enable OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) and suppliers to plan the development time and costs judiciously.' With such planning, OEMs will also be able to spread the price increases gradually to prevent consumers from a price shock, allowing sales to flourish along with technological developments.
'To ensure the prosperity of the nation and the industry, it is essential that we ensure that affordability of vehicles for consumers remains intact,' the report added.


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Home kits to test for lead have been flying off store shelves since the plethora of recalls began this summer of toys, many of them made in China, that had unsafe levels of the element in paint and other components.
But the Consumer Product Safety Commission said Monday that its own testing found most of the tests are "unreliable."
"Many of the tests performed using the kits did not detect lead when it was there (false negatives); some indicated lead was present when it was not (false positives)," the commission said. "Of 104 total test results, more than half were false negatives, and two were false positives.
"None of the kits consistently detected lead in products if the lead was covered with a non-leaded coating.
"Based on the study, consumers should not use lead test kits to evaluate consumer products for potential lead hazards."
The findings, the agency said, "are consistent with previous CPSC staff test results. CPSC staff studied two common types of home lead test kits that are based on chemical reactions involving rhodizonate ion or sulfide ion.
"Most test kits were developed to detect levels of lead in household paint that are usually much higher than CPSC's regulatory maximum level of 0.06 percent. As a result, staff found that these kits may not be useful for detecting relatively low lead paint concentrations or for detecting lead in other materials, such as metal jewelry or vinyl products.
"Also, both types of kits may be affected by substances such as iron, tin, or dirt, or by paint colors that can cause the color in the test kit to change or hide the color change, thereby interfering with interpretation of the test results."
The CPSC said high-tech, X-ray fluorescence (XRF) guns fared better: Lead was found in 12 of 13 samples that contained it. But the commission noted that XRF also has its limitations and is designed for use by pros, not at home.
On Sunday, as representative of Thermo Fischer Scientific, which makes an XRF gun, visited the home of Early Show consumer correspondent Susan Koeppen to test her children's toys. All of them passed, except for her son's toy Hummer.
Koeppen noted that red and yellow paints tend to be the ones that have lead in them, and she advised that parents stick with name-brands.
Of the 3 billion toys sold in the U.S. each year, most are perfectly safe, she added.
And she cautioned that the CPSC expects more toy recalls as we head into the holidays.


text: PT. Polymindo Pratama (Virobuild) will be participating at the international industry exhibition, The Lesure Show 2019. This Show will be held on 17-19 September 2019, at DWTC (Dubai World Trade Center) is in the Middle East and North Africa region. The Leisure Show will be a part of Middle East Design and Hospitality Week 2019, which will be the biggest and most important celebration of all things Design and Hospitality. This show is The region's premier exhibition for the leisure, sports, resorts and pool & spa industry.


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A team of scientists has figured out a way to make meat without slaughtering farm animals! Instead, they're growing them in a laboratory. Here's how it goes: they take a few muscle cells from a live animal and let them grow and divide in a vat that maintains the animal's body temperature. Then it's continually stretched to keep the cells growing. A few weeks later, a sheet of meat can be peeled off and rolled into hamburger. Tada!
Sound gross? C'mon, the meat sold in stores now is already filled with so many chemicals, people would probably be better off having it grown in a petri dish. In fact, because cows are being fed corn and grains instead of grass, they have to be pumped full of antibiotics just to keep them alive. Those transfer to you when you eat them. It may not sound too bad to get your antibiotics with your meat, but remember, this is 1,200lb cow-grade antibiotics - not meant for a 150lb human.
However gross this new meat sounds, it will reduce the number of factory farm animals, which would mean a reduction in land and water pollution (1.6 billion tons of manure per year). The Dutch have invested nearly $5 million and plan to have the ground meat product in 6 years. The question is, would you eat it?
(originally posted on The Chief Source)
Tip of the day: Keep your car tuned up and proper tire pressure to increase efficiency.


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Alphabet, Inc. (GOOG)
|Net Income (ttm)||62.93B|
|Day's Range||2,832.00 - 2,854.90|
|52-Week Range||1,514.62 - 2,936.41|
|Price Target||3,106.11 (+9.2%)|
|Est. Earnings Date||Oct 28, 2021|
Alphabet Inc. provides online advertising services in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and Latin America. The company offers performance and brand advertising services. It operates through Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets segments. The Google Services segment provides products and services, such as ads, Android, Chrome, hardware, Google Maps, Google Play, Search, and YouTube, as well as technical infrastructure; and digital content. The Google Cloud segment offers infrastructure and data... [Read more...]
In 2020, Alphabet's revenue was $182.53 billion, an increase of 12.77% compared to the previous year's $161.86 billion. Earnings were $40.27 billion, an increase of 17.26%.Financial Statements
According to 45 analysts, the average rating for Alphabet stock is "Strong Buy." The 12-month stock price forecast is 3,106.11, which is an increase of 9.24% from the latest price.
The move is a concession to regulators and lawmakers, who are challenging whether the company has overcharged developers.
Google said in a press release that it would cut the service fee for subscriptions on its Google Play store from 30% to 15% from day one.
Google shut down its Health unit in August, but is still 'all in' on the health-care industry and consumer health tech, say chief health officer Karen DeSalvo.
The U.S. consumer watchdog is expected this week to query tech giants including Facebook, Amazon and Google on how they handle consumer financial data as part of a broader effort to boost consumer prote...
Google agreed to provide AI and machine learning solutions to Wendy's, the latest in a string of deals boosting its cloud business.
Move over, car and bike delivery — drones are the next mode of transportation being harnessed to deliver goods. Wing, a subsidiary of Google parent company Alphabet, is partnering with Walgreens pharmac...
Alphabet's (GOOGL) Google unveils Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro. The move is likely to bolster its position in the smartphone market.
Bill Gates expects climate investing to produce big returns for those who can stomach the risk while making the right early bets.
Alphabet Inc's Wing drone project said Wednesday that Walgreens will use its new platform to fulfill deliveries at a store in Texas.
The company said it will begin test flying a small number of drones starting next week.
A Swiss court has dismissed Google's bid to block the award of a government cloud computing contract worth up to 110 million Swiss francs ($119 million) to rival bidders.
Snap Inc (NYSE: SNAP) announced Tuesday that its “Quick Tap to Snap” feature would be available on Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOGL) (NASDAQ: GOOG) subsidiary Google's Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro smartphones. Wh...
In the latest trading session, Alphabet Inc. (GOOG) closed at $2,876.44, marking a +0.6% move from the previous day.
Alphabet Inc. (GOOG) possesses the right combination of the two key ingredients for a likely earnings beat in its upcoming report. Get prepared with the key expectations.
Alphabet (GOOGL) possesses the right combination of the two key ingredients for a likely earnings beat in its upcoming report. Get prepared with the key expectations.
You can own GOOG stock because of the search engine's popularity or for the cloud investment. Yet, there's a sustainability angle as well.
Does Alphabet (GOOGL) have what it takes to be a top stock pick for momentum investors? Let's find out.
Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) Google has asked suppliers to produce over 7 million of its upcoming Pixel 6 smartphones, double its entire phone shipments year-on-year, Nikkei Asia reports....
Alphabet Inc's Google on Tuesday announced the newest iteration of its smartphone - Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro - which will be powered by the company's first chip called Tensor.
The Google Pixel 6 starts at $599 while the Pixel 6 Pro starts at $899, and they hit store shelves Oct. 28.
Whether you're a value, growth, or momentum investor, finding strong stocks becomes easier with the Zacks Style Scores, a top feature of the Zacks Premium research service.


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So far, the delivery service sector of the cannabis industry has not been able to put the rubber to the road. A few entrepreneurs have staked out claims for marijuana delivery apps that get the “Uber-like” comparison that is so en vogue these days.
Tag Archives: Loophole
If you have been reading the news, then you have probably heard about a growing controversy regarding food stamp recipients and cannabis in Colorado. According to CBS News, recipients of welfare and food stamps can use their EBT cards to withdraw money in marijuana dispensaries and buy marijuana.
On September 16, 2014, the Colorado Board of Health will convene a public hearing on a proposed change to Colorado’s medical marijuana caregiver laws. Under current laws, caregivers are allowed up to five patients; however, if caregivers can get a special waiver, they can serve more.


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Malaysia must take advantage of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiatives for its own economic development, Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak said Monday.
“So as the world’s economic epicenter moves east, and it becomes clear to everyone that in the 21st century Asia’s time has truly come, we must make the most of this moment,” he told a dinner with business leaders at his official residence here.
He pointed out that his country “must certainly take advantage” of the Belt and Road Initiative, “which has the potential to create the world’s largest platform for economic cooperation.”
Proposed in 2013, the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road Initiative aims to build trade and infrastructure networks connecting Asia with Europe and Africa on and beyond the ancient Silk Road routes.
As the Belt and Road Initiative covers a significant portion of the world’s population and economy, “those are the markets that Malaysia will be able to tap into even more once connectivity is enhanced,” he said.
Among the major infrastructure projects related to the Belt and Road Initiative in Malaysia, the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL), with China Communications Construction Company as the main contractor, will connect Malaysia’s industrial heartland to the less-developed east coast of Peninsula Malaysia to boost connectivity and economic growth.
Najib also mentioned Malaysia’s Digital Free Trade Zone in cooperation with China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba, saying it would benefit Malaysia’s small and medium-sized enterprises, create jobs and boost trade.


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McFeely: Not even Hollywood could come up with latest twist in Sioux saga
FARGOIf a couple of Hollywood screenwriters sat down to come up with the goofiest scenario involving a college and a nickname, they could not have dreamed up the latest twist in the University of North Dakota saga. There's no way.Well, maybe if t...
If a couple of Hollywood screenwriters sat down to come up with the goofiest scenario involving a college and a nickname, they could not have dreamed up the latest twist in the University of North Dakota saga. There’s no way.
Well, maybe if they dropped some acid beforehand.
No, on second thought, not even if they did that.
Here is where we sit in the long national nightmare that is the infamous “retired” Fighting Sioux saga:
- The university’s 2007 settlement agreement with the NCAA requires the school to protect trademarks of the controversial logo. This is so the school can keep exclusive rights to license it. The NCAA required that so UND would have control over the logo, thereby blocking others from using it willy-nilly and allowing it to proliferate freely in a hockey jersey shop near you.
- To maintain the trademark, however, UND must produce and sell merchandise bearing the logo. Sort of a use-it-or-lose-it angle to trademark law. Failure to do so could cause the school to lose the trademark, allowing others to swoop in and cause the unfettered proliferation of Fighting Sioux hockey jerseys.
- So although UND is now known by its new Fighting Hawks nickname, the school must continue to produce and sell Fighting Sioux merchandise to satisfy the NCAA’s demand that it get rid of the nickname and logo.
You can’t make it up. Not even with the use of mind-altering substances.
This is not new news, necessarily. UND announced in a 2013 news release that it was starting the Dacotah Legacy Collection, “a limited edition line of commemorative apparel, collectibles and memorabilia that celebrates the history and tradition of UND Athletics.” The news release did mention that the school’s agreement with the NCAA required them to do this.
It has sort of flew under the radar since then, however, because UND sports teams were just “UND.” There was no nickname. But now that Fighting Hawks exists, the sales of several thousands of pieces of brand-spanking-new Fighting Sioux T-shirts, lanyards and baseball caps is just, well, awkward.
“We’re the Fighting Hawks! We’re not the Fighting Sioux! That nickname is dead! We are Fighting Hawks Nation! ... But check out that sweet new Fighting Sioux sweatshirt.”
It’s enough to make a guy feel sorry for the good people in Grand Forks who are trying to make this mess go away ASAP. Or might make you laugh uproariously at the absurdity of it all.
I can’t decide if it’s more tragedy or comedy.
A number of solutions pop to mind that seemingly could solve the issue.
Could the school just make and sell one piece of Fighting Sioux merchandise every once in awhile to satisfy the trademark rules? Just order a single keychain a few times a year, throw it up next to a cash register at Ralph Engelstad Arena and call it good? That would demonstrate usage of the trademark, would it not?
“Usage isn’t defined by the law, but we’ve been advised by counsel that we need to be able to defend ourselves in court,” UND spokesman Peter Johnson said. “If somebody comes at us and says we’re not meeting the trademark requirement, we have to be able to show that we are. We don’t know what the number is that will allow us to do that, but it’s not one.”
OK. Could the university just have the merchandise made, but not sell it, to satisfy the requirements of the trademark? That way, nobody could get their hands on the new stuff.
“You have to demonstrate a good faith effort to use it in a commercial way,” Johnson said.
This is a sticky wicket.
UND wants the old nickname to go away so it can brand itself with the new nickname, yet it has to sell stuff with the old nickname on it under the agreement that forced it to get a new nickname.
Maybe the question isn’t who would write such a screenplay, but who would direct it.
Scorcese? The nickname battle has certainly been violent and bloody enough, but no.
Spielberg? This would require too much subtlety for the king of the blockbusters.
Tarantino? Now we’re getting closer.
The Coen brothers? Bingo. The kings of dark comedy, heavy on idiosyncrasies, good use of irony, twisted enough to make this work.
The obvious title?
Couldn’t you picture William H. Macy playing Ed Schafer, stuffing a box of Fighting Sioux jerseys into the woodchipper?
McFeely is a columnist and radio talk show host for Forum News Service. Email him at email@example.com .


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McDonald’s has reportedly finalised an agreement with Indian fast-moving customer goods (FMCG) giant ITC Limited for the inclusion of the company’s mixed fruit B Natural beverage in certain Happy Meal offerings.
The Happy Meal, which has been designed specifically for children, consists of a vegetarian or egg burger, a cup of hot corn, and a toy.
With this new partnership, the McDonald’s Happy Meal will now also include the ITC B Natural fruit beverage.
ITC claims that its mixed-fruit drink is a combination of six Indian fruit juices and contains fruit pulp, as well as puree.
The company further added that its beverage is a good source of vitamins A and C.
ITC Limited dairy and beverages chief operating officer Sanjay Singal said: “At ITC Limited, we are committed to delivering products to consumers that are differentiated and cater to their evolving needs.
“With consumer-led and science-based products as offerings, B Natural has been at the forefront of reinventing the fruit beverage category with the introduction of beverages that are not made from concentrate, artificial colours and preservatives.
“Such brand partnerships to set new standards for the industry are indeed encouraging and exciting. We are confident that the addition of the wholesome and nutritional B Natural mixed fruit beverage with no added sugar will make the Happy Meal more enjoyable.”
McDonald’s will be rolling out its new Happy Meal combination across restaurants in the south and west regions of India.
McDonald’s India (west and south) marketing and communications director Arvind R P said: “At McDonald’s, we have always been cognisant of the needs and demands of our ever-evolving consumers.
“Children are an integral part of the McDonald’s family, and we are excited to bring this new wholesome Happy Meal to them.”


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Developer BetSoft Gaming will be showcasing its newest slot Pinocchio at this year's ICE Totally Gaming show.
The re-imagination of the fairytale classic – the latest addition to the firm's Slots3 Interactive collection – is a five-reel, fifteen-line game featuring characters such as the eponymous Pinocchio, the beloved Gepetto and the wise and friendly Fairy.
Other games to be previewed at ICE include more additions to the Slots3 Interactive line, slated for pending future release, such as Rise of the Dragon and Money Maker, the latter of which makes the player a contestant on a popular television gameshow.
“Our booth at S6-212 will be a hot spot at ICE this year,” said Mark McKeown, Betsoft’s VP of sales and marketing.
“As our Slots3 collection continues to flourish and we improve upon our already unmatched standards, we are pleased to offer a game like Pinocchio for live demonstration.
"The quality of Pinocchio is unmatched in today’s market – the depth of playability makes this game stand out from the rest."


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A 23 year old Singaporean of unlicensed Bitcoin (BTC) traffic will be the first person to be charged under the State Payment Services Act.
On June 23, the Singapore police said the womanwhose identity has not been revealed, had provided an unlicensed digital payment token service. It is believed that he has received at least 13 fraudulent money transfersfor a total of 3,350 SGD (~ 2,400 USD), with which he then bought Bitcoin.
Money is believed to be the proceeds of victims of online fraud. The police claim that the fraudulent transactions were “in order of an unknown person” in exchange for a commission.
Singapore’s regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies
As reported The Singapore Payment Services Act came into force on January 28, 2020 and regulates payments in cryptocurrencies and trading companies under certain aspects of the state regulatory system. for traditional payment services.
Introducedamongst other things Multiple registration and licensing requirements for industrial and commercial companies.
Unlike the United States The Monetary Authority of Singapore makes no distinction between the different types of “pay”, “utility” and “value” tokens and assigns them all to a broader category of digital payment tokens. According to some, this makes it more difficult to circumvent certain regulatory requirements.
In addition to online fraud, Reports of cryptojacking trials in Singapore have reportedly increased significantly in the first quarter of this year.


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ONELAN Limited recently announced that its digital signage solution has been chosen by TalkTalk, the broadband and home phone company launched by The Carphone Warehouse, to attract and communicate to new customers.
A ONELAN NTB 5505 is installed displaying content on 40- and 46-inch LCD screens throughout TalkTalk's pilot store and a three-by-three video wall. The digital signage is fully integrated with the store's audio system.
ONELAN's digital signage is used to show a range of content, including TalkTalk's live TV channel, proprietary video advertisements and RSS news feeds. The content is managed and updated onsite.
"The ONELAN product gives us the flexibility to quickly update our customer messaging in a wide range of really engaging formats, which is a must for a leading broadband company," TalkTalk general manager Maggie Roxburgh said in the release.
ONELAN also announced that it will be showing its new TV Gateway (TVG) product at IBC2010 in Amsterdam later this month.
The TVG allows streaming over a network using a multi-unicast technique. The Omni-Server range allows recording of up to 20 TV channels and 20 radio stations, stored in a carousel mode, to be watched at anytime.


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For the first time in 70 years, De Beers’ executives entered the United States this week to conduct business, something they had been unable to do for the past seven decades due to anti-trust issues.
On Tuesday night, the Diamond Manufacturers and Importers Association of America hosted a discussion with De Beers Group CEO Philippe Mellier, Varda Shine, CEO of Global Sightholder Sales for De Beers (formerly the Diamond Trading Co.), and Stephen Lussier, CEO of Forevermark, the company’s diamond brand.
The following evening, I had the chance to conduct a one-on-one interview with both Mellier, whom I was meeting for the first time, and Lussier.
Below are highlights from Tuesday’s discussion as well as the interview conducted with Mellier and Lussier on Wednesday.
Mellier brings an outside perspective to De Beers. When he was hired in 2011, Mellier became the first diamond industry outsider to head the company, which dates back to 1888.
At the presentation on Tuesday night, he said that the industry needs to become a “normal luxury industry,” with more transparency and normal lending practices and liquidity. I followed up on this statement in our interview Wednesday night.
“One of the biggest things we need to work on is: If you are in the luxury industry you have to be customer-driven. You have to understand your customer,” Mellier said.
He said the diamond industry needs to behave like the shoe or handbag industry, both of which produce demand among their customers.
“This is a change we would like to lead,” Mellier said, a change that already is underway per the previously announced realignment. “This is the most fundamental change we are looking at.”
It is interesting that Mellier brought up shoes and handbags, as those are the luxury products that, along with electronics, most often are mentioned as taking market share away from diamonds, possibly because the marketing to the end consumer is better. (Apple, as one example, is genius at marketing its products.)
This leads us into my next main point: the need for generic marketing for diamonds.
De Beers is filling the generic marketing void with Forevermark. Going by what Lussier said at the presentation on Tuesday it seems that De Beers, to some extent, has given up on the idea of the industry pulling together to create a global, generic marketing campaign for diamonds.
I asked Lussier about this again on Wednesday.
“Clearly we are investing significantly behind the Forevermark,” he said.
The failed attempt at creating the International Diamond Board (IDB) a few years back showed that the industry was not capable of the organization and communication required to make something like the IDB work, he said.
While another attempt at creating an international body may be forthcoming, De Beers decided to move forward with Forevermark rather than wait years for something that, in the end, may or may not be accomplished.
The advertising for Forevermark serves two purposes: it calls attention to De Beers’ branded diamond and helps to prop up consumer demand for diamonds as a whole, Lussier said.
The biggest challenge for retailers today where diamonds are concerned is margin. Lussier said this both at Tuesday’s night presentation and in our one-on-one interview. I think you would find very little argument from our readers on this point.
On the Kimberley Process … Following our discussion about Forevermark serving as a vehicle to maintain consumer demand for diamonds, I asked Mellier and Lussier if Forevermark also was a way for De Beers to protect itself should the Kimberley Process (KP)–which has been on shaky footing for the past couple of years–crumble. Even if the process failed and consumer confidence took a nosedive, De Beers could point to Forevermark and say, “We have traced the origin of these diamonds from mine to market. We know they are not conflict diamonds.”
The answer was, essentially, no. “We are strong supporters of the Kimberley Process,” Mellier said. “We believe it is important the KP works and stays alive.”
Forevermark is De Beers’ diamond brand and has “nothing to do for or against the KP,” Mellier said.
The KP, both Lussier and Mellier pointed out, only was designed to deal with one specific issue. Even though an expanded definition is on the table, the KP works to keep “conflict” diamonds, diamonds used by rebel movements to fund wars against legitimate governments, out of the trade.
What they are saying with the Forevermark is that it has been traced from mine to market and is a responsibly sourced diamond along all aspects of the pipeline. It is meant to go “further and deeper” than the KP, which, Lussier said, has been relatively adept at dealing with the issues for which it was created. “(With Forevermark) you are trying to appeal to consumers who have a greater interest,” he said.
Establishing the De Beers Diamond Jewellers chain in the United States is proving to be a greater challenge than anticipated. Without any hard numbers, it is difficult to say how the chain is performing here, where it now has 44 doors, or to make projections about the future.
The chain is a 50/50 joint venture with Moët Hennessey Louis Vuitton (LVMH), which is a public company but only provides sales figures for business groups (i.e., Watches & Jewelry or Fashion & Leather Goods) not individual brands or stores.
During the presentation Tuesday, Lussier said they were a “bit naïve” about how challenging it is to build a retail chain and establish a brand from scratch.
“We’re learning to be a bit more patient about it,” he said.
He added that they are having more success in the Far East than they are in the United States because retail brands there are less established.
“It’s going to take time to establish a brand,” Mellier added on Wednesday. “I don’t think Cartier was created overnight.”
Just for the record: De Beers doesn’t want to start selling gem-quality synthetic diamonds. Lab-grown diamonds were in the news throughout 2012 and they came up during the executives’ visit as well.
Shine mentioned them in her presentation on Tuesday night and, that same night, Mellier said that the synthetic melee screening device developed by De Beers should hit the market by the third quarter.
So, I thought, why not ask: Does De Beers want to get into the business of selling synthetic diamonds and diamond jewelry? The answer was no.
Mellier said while there are a number of innovative applications underway at Element Six, De Beers’ synthetic diamond arm, they aren’t in the realm of diamond jewelry.
“It’s a good business for us but not for jewelry,” he said.


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Merit Medical (NSDQ:MMSI) yesterday put up third-quarter numbers that beat expectations on both sales and earnings and confirmed that it’s on track to hit the midpoint of its guidance for the rest of the year.
South Jordan, Utah-based Merit posted a swing to black ink for the three months ended Sept. 30, with profits of $16.6 million, or 30¢ per share, on sales growth of 23.6% to $221.7 million, compared with losses of -$3.6 million during Q3 2017.
Adjusted to exclude one-time items, earnings per share were 47¢, a full nickel ahead of Wall Street, where analysts were looking for sales of $216.9 million.
“By many measures Merit had an outstanding third quarter,” founder, chairman & CEO Fred Lampropoulos said in prepared remarks. “All geographic areas and all reporting product groups met or exceeded our expectations. Of note were the stand-alone devices, catheters, CRM/EP and endoscopy devices.”
During a conference call with investors, CFO Raul Parra said the company is on track to hit the midpoint of its guidance for the rest of the year, with adjusted EPS of $1.60 to $1.70 on sales of $870 million to $880 million.
MMSI shares closed up 0.7% yesterday at $61.29 apiece.


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LG X5 (2018) with 5.5-inch HD Display, Android Oreo and 4500mAh Battery Announced
LG has silently announced new smartphone LG X5 2018. South Korea is the first country to get it where it has been priced at KRW 3,63,000.
LG X5 features a 5.5-inch HD display. It runs on Android 8.0 Oreo. It is powered by octa-core MediaTek MT6750 SoC with 2GB of LPDDR3 RAM. The phone has 32 GB of eMMC onboard storage with option to expand storage via microSD card.
It has 13 megapixels camera with LED flash. It also has 5 megapixels front camera with soft LED flash.
Connectivity features of the phone include 4G LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS/ A-GPS and Micro-USB. It has rear fingerprint sensor on the back and also supports LG Pay. It packs 4000mAh battery with fast charging support.
The phone will also be available in other countries in coming weeks but we are not sure if this will be available in Indian market.


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December 9th, 2020 | 1 hr 8 mins
airpods max, apple fitness+, apple music, apple one, christmas, gears of war 5, google nest, microsoft, monster hunter movie, monster hunter world, neilson ratings, raspberry pi, retro gaming, small business, the new day, toy day, ugly christmas sweater, utah jazz, video games, whatsapp, windows 95, wwe
Chatting the tech news of the week with professional wrestler and living video game boss, The Brohemoth as he joins our Awesome Crew, Michael Sorg, Katie Dudas and John Chichilla!
February 6th, 2019 | 54 mins 51 secs
5ge, airpods, alexa, alexa skill, amazon, american airlines, apex legends, apple, apple music, audible, awesome cast, awesomecast, backwards compatibility, chicken, choose your own adventure, dr. mario world, earrings, fake news, fortnite, gaming, gaming news, marshmello, mobile gaming, news guard, sony, tech, tech news, tech talk, technology, twitch, xbox, xbox live
Katie, Chilla, and Sorg are back in studio joined by John Carman this week to run down the tech news you should know about.


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An electric bike courier, also known as a “bicycle courier” is a delivery method where riders pick up items in person at a nearby bicycle shop.
The idea is to have the rider cycle across a road, pick up the delivery items and drop them off in a bike rack.
There’s also a bicycle service called The Bicycle Network that provides these bikes to individuals who want to do the delivery for free.
In the US, The Bicycle Connection has been operating since 2015.
While the bike courier business is booming, the delivery business is suffering as well.
There have been some improvements in recent years, however.
The New York City Department of Transportation recently announced that the city is rolling out the citywide pilot program to make delivery safer.
New York’s Bicycle Coalition has also seen an increase in ridership.
The Bicycle Coalition is an advocacy group for bike riders that works to reduce the death toll from bike crashes.
One of their members, Sarah T. Johnson, told ABC News that the pilot program will allow the city to get rid of the death penalty for those who deliver to bike carriers.
“I think we have a lot of room for improvement,” Johnson said.
“But that’s what we’re working on.
We’re looking to do more.”
The city is also looking to build out a fleet of bike couriers.
The Department of Motor Vehicles has also recently expanded its bike courier pilot program, with more bikes expected to be offered by the end of 2020.
There is also the possibility of an increase to the size of delivery bikes in the near future.
The bike courier industry is in the midst of an economic boom.
In 2018, The Washington Post reported that delivery bike companies, such as The Bicycle Corporation of America and Cycle-To-Home, had revenue of more than $1.8 billion.
As of September 30, 2018, there were 564 bike couters in the US and more than 1,000 bike carriers in New York.