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Sunday, December 20, 2009
"More to Love"
Thirty-one contestants took to the stage on late Saturday (December 19) to compete for the popular Miss Jumbo Queen beauty pageant in Thailand's ancient city of Ayutthaya.
The contestants, all weighing at least 80 kilograms(about 175 lbs.), wore traditional Thai costumes, performed in a talent contest, answer questions about health and social issues.
The organizer said the contest aimed to promote a healthy lifestyle and well-being for the overweight women.
Prior to the pageant, the contestants had to take slimming and beauty course. Those who lost some weight would get a higher score during the contest.
See the full story here


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Kanoo Group is set to expand its travel agency business in Saudi Arabia with plans to open 10 new outlets across the kingdom.
The family-run Bahraini conglomerate hopes to tap into recovering demand for travel and is even offering trips to the edge of space for more adventurous tourists from the region.
"The feeling is that the recession is over, everyone is going ahead with the projects previously on hold," said Tuan Burah, a Kanoo spokesman.
"There are new economic cities being built on the western side of the kingdom and for us, we want to be able to attract the corporate market there and specifically the industrial sites."
The Gulf tourism industry is showing signs of recovery with regional airlines and hotels benefiting from a pick-up in economic activity that is encouraging people to spend more on their holidays.
Kanoo hopes this renewed economic confidence may even tempt some adventurous tourists to pay $39,550 (Dh145,255) for the ultimate trip to the edge of space.
The group has struck a deal with STA Travel to offer excursions on a Russian military jet, which is capable of flying at an altitude of 60,000 feet.
"We signed an agreement to offer the service to Middle East customers because, for this region, $40,000 is not a lot of money for [those] who would like to take the opportunity to go into space," Mr Burah said.
Kanoo is not the only regional group to have shown an interest in space tourism.
Aabar, the Abu Dhabi investment company, is a major investor in Sir Richard Branson's start-up Virgin Galactic.

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Viewing blog posts written by Gino DiCaro
Tipping point for California manufacturing investmentPosted by Gino DiCaro, VP, Communications on April 18, 2013
These days, it seems like states are figuring out how important manufacturing is to healthy economies. The competition is picking up, as states move to reduce costs or create incentives for manufacturers. After all, companies put investment capital in locations with the most attractive business climates.
This could be good news for California. We have state-of-the-art advanced manufacturing facilities employing thousands of California workers. These companies could grow here if conditions are favorable. But there is one key issue that needs to be fixed if California is going to compete for its share of manufacturing growth.
A sales tax exemption on the purchase of manufacturing equipment is a policy most other states have adopted. This gives them a competitive advantage for their campaigns to grow high-wage manufacturing jobs. California had a similar tax rule, but it expired in 2003. We could catch up by reinstating the exemption, which would put California back on so many lists for future investment and growth. For many manufacturers, the sales tax exemption could be the 'tipping point' for a decision to invest in California.
In the 1990's, when the tax credit was in place, California attracted on average almost 6 percent of the country's manufacturing investment dollars. Manufacturing investment in California has now slowed to an average 1.9 percent of the country's, since that credit expired.
The credit helped Intel grow its wafer fabrication plant in Santa Clara and it helped Northrop Grumman grow in part to more than 27,000 employees. Because the exemption still exists in specific enterprise zones, it helped Fontana-based California Steel recently pay for a $100 million expansion. Imagine if this powerful tool were available to every manufacturer again in California.
CMTA had its lobby day this week on the issue to start informing the legislature of the tremendous economic benefits, including new net revenues to the state. Large employers, Intel, California Steel, Kimberly-Clark, International Paper, and Northrop Grumman joined to educate legislators why it is important to eliminate the tax on manufacturing investments.
Economist, Bill Watkins put it perfectly last week when he urged the state Legislature to "Create an opportunity economy." This manufacturing sales tax exemption would do exactly that and create the particular opportunity that California so badly needs.
(There are two sales tax exemption bills. Assm. Kevin Mullin's AB 486 will be heard in Assm. Revenue and Taxation Committee on Monday, April 22 and Sen. Lou Correa's SB 376 will be heard in Sen. Governance and Finance Committee on Wednesday, April 24)
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Apple has announced that its safety service Emergency SOS via satellite is available starting today for customers in France, Germany, Ireland, and the UK.
Available on all iPhone 14 models, the technology enables users to message with emergency services while outside of cellular and Wi-Fi coverage. Additionally, if users want to reassure friends and family of their whereabouts while traveling in an area with no cellular or Wi-Fi coverage, they can now open the Find My app and share their location via satellite.
Every model in the iPhone 14 lineup — iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro, and iPhone 14 Pro Max — can connect directly to a satellite through a combination of custom-designed components and deeply integrated software.
Emergency SOS via satellite builds on existing features vital to iPhone users, including Emergency SOS, Medical ID, emergency contacts, and Find My location sharing, offering the ability to connect to a satellite to share critical information with emergency services, family, and friends. This service connects users to relay centers staffed with Apple-trained emergency specialists who are ready to contact Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) — or emergency services call centers — on the user’s behalf to get them the help they need.
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Here we are in the new business year. I am sure that enthusiasm is present as well as the wish of all of us for better business results and bigger challenges, and not just surviving in business. We are continuing where we stopped. Our idea is still to promote business of primarily domestic companies and successful businessmen and businesswomen that are everyday proving themselves on the market, regardless of the years of experience.
In the new issue we bring you a series of interesting interviews and the results of the latest research of our office, CEO Survey, which really became recognizable by GMs as a unique tool of communication with head people of companies that operate in Serbia. The great number of responders testifies in favor to this. You can find more detailed information on everything on our LinkedIn group Stanton Chase Belgrade.
We don’t want to spread false optimism, but we hope that the content of our magazine can motivate every one of us, give us new ideas and encouragements to go forward, think positive and look into the future.
Enjoy the reading!
Please read the whole newsletter here.


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Hyatt Hotels has introduced a new no alcohol cocktail programme at many of its hotels around the US. Its new ‘Zero Proof, Zero Judgment’ programme sees cocktails prepared using Ritual Zero Proof and Fever-Tree products at many of Hyatt’s US hotels including Alila, Andaz, Destination by Hyatt, Hyatt Centric, JdV by Hyatt, The Unbound Collection by Hyatt and Thompson Hotels.
‘Zero Proof, Zero Judgment’ which launched in August 2021 in response to travellers’ changing alcohol consumption habits and increased focus on their wellbeing, with many beverages featuring products from Ritual Zero Proof and Fever-Tree.
The approach comes as 52 per cent of Americans are actively trying to drink less alcohol (source: Beverage Daily, Circle Up Growth Partners, Oct. 2020) and nearly 50 per cent of travellers surveyed in October 2021 said they’re likely to choose a non-alcoholic beverage over a beer or cocktail (source: Hyatt Travel Pulse).
The programme sees restaurant and bar teams at the Hyatt hotels create inventive non-alcoholic cocktails, many created with Ritual Zero Proof and Fever-Tree products. Examples are ‘The Hoodwink’, a Ritual Zero Proof Rum Alternative, blueberry, honey, lime, and Fever-Tree Ginger Beer at the newly opened Thompson Savannah’s Lobby Bar (pictured above) and the team at Hyatt Centric Times Square New York’s Bar 54 which has created a Ritual Zero Proof Gin Alternative, basil, cucumber, lime, and ginger.
This program was inspired by sober bar manager Anna Welker of Topside at Revival Baltimore, a JdV by Hyatt hotel, who launched a local zero proof cocktail menu following a successful dry January menu in January 2020 to ensure non-drinkers visiting the hotel, like herself, were met with understanding and a variety of delicious beverage options.
“We’re seeing travellers increasingly prioritising their mental and physical wellbeing, so we are thrilled to offer this new beverage program that provides delicious and flavourful non-alcoholic cocktails,” said Miranda Breedlove, national director of bars, lifestyle operations, Hyatt. “Ultimately, it’s about providing an incomparable hospitality experience that’s reimagined with intentional options for guests who choose not to drink or to drink less.”
With a continued commitment to prioritising colleague wellbeing and in conjunction with this new beverage program, Hyatt is introducing virtual Zero Proof, Zero Judgment seminars for restaurant, bar and event colleagues at several properties to start. Focused on destigmatising the conversation around mental health in the service industry and highlighting tools for creating a more mindful, considerate work environment, seminars will be led by Spirits Educator, Licensed Professional Counsellor and Founder of Healthy Pour, Laura Green, MEd, LPC.
“Considering the hardships hospitality workers inevitability encountered during the pandemic, I look forward to working with Hyatt colleagues to address mental health and wellness challenges regularly faced by those who work in or around alcohol,” said Green. “The goal is to empower colleagues to foster a transparent and supportive working environment that promotes mental and physical health.”
The following are the list of all participating Hyatt hotel properties across the US offering a Zero Proof, Zero Judgment menu, with more hotels expected to adopt the new programme in the coming months:
Alila Napa Valley (Napa Valley, California)
Ventana Big Sur, an Alila Resort (Big Sur, California)
Andaz San Diego (San Diego, California)
Destination by Hyatt
The Seabird Resort (Oceanside, California)
Hyatt Centric Atlanta Midtown (Atlanta, Georgia)
Hyatt Centric Beale Street Memphis (Memphis, Tennessee)
Hyatt Centric Times Square New York (New York)
JdV by Hyatt
Revival Baltimore (Baltimore, Maryland)
Mission Pacific (San Diego, California)
The Unbound Collection by Hyatt
Chicago Athletic Association (Chicago)
Hotel Kansas City (Missouri)
The Confidante Miami Beach (Miami, Florida)
Thompson Dallas (Dallas, Texas)
Thompson San Antonio (San Antonio, Texas)
Thompson Savannah (Savannah, Georgia)


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Imagine going to a theme park and, in addition to boarding the classic rollercoasters and buying shockingly overpriced junk food, being able to enter a virtual game where you can see and play against a host of other people.
This isn’t an image of the far future; it’s a technology that exists right now, and in a few short months it will become available to the public at several major theme parks.
The beauty of the Holodeck is that you can explore large areas with many users
Dubbed Holodeck VR, it’s a system that can put up to 120 people in one virtual reality experience, occupying the same space and seeing each other in the form of avatars that they can interact and even do battle with.
“The beauty of the Holodeck is that you can explore large areas with many users, so it’s a massive multiplayer location-based VR experience,” explains Jonathan Nowak Delgado, managing director and co-founder of Holodeck VR .
The first iterations, set for installation in time for Halloween this year, are likely to host up to 20 people at a time on a 20m x 20m grid, but if demand is as high as it looks set to be, it won’t be long before there is significant demand for larger Holodeck setups.
The case for massive multiplayer VR
Virtual reality is generally considered a solitary experience, cutting you off from the world and people around you, and when it comes to home-based VR, this is likely to be mostly the case for a good while to come.
However, Nowak Delgado considers the loneliness of VR to be something Holodeck can tackle, turning a virtual world into a highly social experience.
“Nobody wants to be lonely, so we have the social VR experience where we can technically cover up to 120 users at the same time and they can see each other as avatars,” he says.
What’s more, by allowing users to move around freely – aided by the use of smartphone-based Gear VRs rather than graphically superior systems tethered to a desktop computer – Holodeck does away with many of the motion sickness concerns associated with the format.
“You have this notion of freedom to explore, so you’re not bound to a desktop, which is really unhuman and unnatural, so you can move around,” says Nowak Delgado. “This is one thing which we believe is hindering mass market adoption, that sometimes there’s a disconnect between what you see and hear and what you feel, so by having this virtual and physical world laid over we believe that is actually fighting the motion sickness.”
And while you can play alongside a host of friends or family members, you don’t even need to be playing the same game.
“You can have different experiences at the same time, so for example a family at the theme park could go there, and the guys could play a different game,” he explains. “They could still see one another and perhaps even interact with one another, but they’re in different games.”
Theme parks’ VR hunger
For theme parks, virtual reality is something of a next big thing. Six Flags, for example, already offers virtual reality rollercoaster experiences, which Nowak Delgado considers “very neat, actually, because the G-forces match with what you see”.
However, VR-infused rollercoasters are just the start. The theme parks want more virtual reality, and Holodeck is more than happy to oblige.
“They want Holodecks. They articulated this, and that’s a great thing, so now we are working with many of them to get the Holodecks for the Halloween season, which is the busiest season of the theme parks,” says Nowak Delgado.
We are working with many theme parks to get the Holodecks for the Halloween season
But it’s about far more than just providing a virtual reality experience. Holodeck VR has been careful to tailor its product to theme park operators’ needs; a move that is paying off significantly with the first paying customers already including heavyweights such as Six Flags and Universal Studios.
First and foremost, this means providing experiences that the user couldn’t have in their own home, but it also means creating VR content that large numbers of people can enjoy, and which people will want to play again and again. And one of the first games developed for Holodeck VR, Maya Temple, is designed for just this purpose, providing a 20-user experience where players can fire glowing balls of light at each other in a Mayan setting.
“Think about it as virtual paintball, so you can throw colourful balls towards each other and get some points,” says Nowak Delgado.
Perhaps a bigger pull for theme parks, however, is the fact that compared to the installation of a major ride, a Holodeck is very affordable, and can easily be added to through the company’s offering.
“The business model is quite straightforward, so there’s a hardware and a software package to begin with, and then there’s additional games, and then we have a franchise model for the laser tag-type operators,” he explains.
“We have a proprietary tracking technology, it’s a radio frequency and optical hybrid system, we then have some software behind it to make it feel smooth, and we have an operator software to manage all the smart phones at the same time, and in the long run we have this value generation machine, which is the content distribution.”
Beyond The Void
For fans of the emerging VR multiplayer entertainment industry, there is likely to be an elephant in the room, in the form of The Void.
Also a location-based multiplayer VR experience, albeit one that focuses around a story and requires physical objects for players to interact with, it has been nothing short of a sensation since the opening of its first location in New York’s Madame Tussauds last year.
But while The Void is undoubtedly a competitor to Holodeck VR, Nowak Delgado regards the company’s success as a very positive sign.
“We have competition, which is great, because it shows there is a market,” he says. “The Void is the most fierce competitor, they are scaling in Madame Tussaud’s type environments: inner cities, smaller [locations], but we are more for Legoland-type setups and even larger.”
Poised for success
With so much interest in multiplayer VR experiences, Holodeck VR has the distinct vibe of a company on the precipice of significant success, which has been helped by a number of high-profile supporters.
Nowak Delgado and his co-founder started developing the company through the prestigious research organisation Fraunhofer, and have attracted advisors in the form of Electronic Arts founder Jeff Burton and former Microsoft tech evangelist Robert Scoble, the latter of whom is helping the company set up a Holodeck party in San Francisco’s Bay Area for would-be investors.
And that’s probably going to be needed: HoloDeck VR is currently raising seed round funding and has “soft circled” a target of €1m.
However, with the first setups already in the process of being installed, it’s certainly a company on the way up.
“The technology has been developed over years; now we’re honing it in with this 20 x 20m setup that we believe is just preparation for the larger one, which we can already do, however we need to co-create and educate the market,” explains Nowak Delgado.
“We are currently installing three systems, one of them is in Europa-Park Rust, the second largest theme park [in Europe] after Disneyland Paris, the other one is in Deutsche Museum, so it’s going into edutainment and the third one is going to be in another theme park.”
The future of entertainment
With the first installations just months away from opening, Holodeck VR has big plans for the future of entertainment.
The technology has applications far beyond theme parks, covering everything from professional sports tracking – the first application of which is already installed in New York’s Prudential Centre – to architecture, and unsurprisingly Holodeck has received several enquiries from numerous business-focused industries.
But in the long run, it could be cinemas that truly see an impact from the technology.
“Within the gaming industry we picked theme parks and laser tag to begin, however the market for cinemas is a bigger one to be disrupted,” says Nowak Delgado. “We believe that in some years there’s going to be more interactive places and cinemas where it’s not so much a lean back experience, but has a bit more involvement.”


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China has launched an antidumping investigation into US-origin polyvinyl chloride imports, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said Sept. 25.
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The ministry said the investigation should "normally" be finished in a year's time on Sept. 25, 2021, but could be extended to March 25, 2022.
The announcement did not say why China launched the investigation.
The probe comes nearly a year after China formally withdrew antidumping duties on PVC from the US, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan as of Sept. 29, 2019. China, which first added the duty on PVC in 2003, levied a rate of 11%-83% on US PVC.
However, costs of receiving those flows from the US could be recouped by exporting products made with it, so the duties did not deter importers. China is the No. 2 export market for US PVC behind Canada, according to the US International Trade Commission data.
PVC is a construction staple used to make pipes, window frames, vinyl siding and other products.
Chinese PVC producers
In April, Chinese PVC makers revived their demand to impose antidumping duties on US PVC imports as the two economies battled financial ramifications of the coronavirus pandemic.
Asian market sources had said at the time that Chinese PVC manufacturers were concerned that a large influx of US PVC may hurt local producers, particularly the carbide-based PVC sector, which was facing high coal feedstock prices.
USITC data showed US PVC flows to China reached 169,181 mt in the first seven months of 2020, down 11.8% compared with the same span in 2019. Overall US PVC export flows were 14.8% lower in the January-July period of 2020 compared with the year-ago period at 1.5 million mt, the data showed.
Monthly USITC data showed US PVC flows to China in January-April 2019 reached 121,440 mt, sharply higher than 68,494 mt during those four months in 2020, reflecting China's widespread pandemic-related shutdowns in the early months of the virus' spread. US producers also reduced rates in April when shutdowns crushed domestic and global demand, and buying appetite plunged.
However, that trend flipped in May-July when shutdowns eased and demand strengthened. China received 100,687 mt in those three months, up 43% from 70,376 mt in the same span of 2019, when the duties were still in effect.
PVC prices in China and the US reached 11- and 12-year lows in April, respectively, amid the crash in PVC demand. The CFR China price hit $620/mt, while the US FAS Houston marker hit $520/mt.
Since then, prices have roared back amid strong demand and tight supply. S&P Global Platts last assessed the CFR China price at $970/mt Sept. 23, up more than 56% from that April low. The FAS Houston price was last assessed on Sept. 23 as well at $1,050/mt -- more than double the April low.


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Instead of leading in fashion education, Paris has historically dawdled behind its greatest rivals. Though that seems very likely to change, and quickly, thanks to a major new project launched in Paris with the IFM.
Few luxury brands have been as quietly busy as Chanel, which has strategically bought stakes in three new businesses and, just this week, unveiled the structure of its new center for artisanal excellence, called 19M.
Running 23 September to 1 October, the nine-day calendar announced for Paris Fashion Week on Friday promises new creative directors, big name brands and fresh talent, with highlights including Patou's relaunch by LVMH.
The Indian designer, who has been showing his collections during Paris Fashion Week for the last five years, is preparing to make his couture debut in the French capital during this season's Haute Couture Week.
After five years of runways in the French capital, Yolanda Pérez's brand channelled its hometown of Barcelona at its first couture show in Paris as it hopes to be accepted into the exclusive Haute Couture club.


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Adelaide courier company Aceit Transport Solutions has more than doubled its turnover in the past three years using state-of-the-art technology developed by Australian transport specialist JAIX Software.
Aceit uses the JAIX MetroLink software, which includes GPS (Global Positioning System) and digital communications technology, to manage its fleet of more than 90 couriers. This has allowed the company to boost deliveries by more than 20 per cent in the past year.
During 2007, JAIX has provided Aceit with a new generation of smart software that integrates satellite navigation and digital communications technology into a system that makes life easier for Aceit, its couriers and their customers. The GPS version of MetroLink provides:
Customers with self-service via the Internet for placing bookings and job “track and trace”
Couriers with handheld computers that seamlessly record every delivery detail, and
Dispatchers with GPS map-based tracking of every courier, customer and booking.
Australian oil and gas exploration and production company Santos has signed a two-year licensing agreement that extends its 15 years of using the Petrosys mapping software suite.
Petrosys is an Australian company that develops internationally successful mapping software for oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) companies. Petrosys’ average 97 per cent customer retention rate is a strong measure of its customers’ satisfaction.
Santos’ new two-year agreement builds on a long-term strategic relationship with Petrosys. It provides all Santos employees with full access to Petrosys exploration and production software. Petrosys provides Santos with a reliable and comprehensive mapping and data management system, covering well, seismic, lease, culture, spatial and prospect information.
Petrosys is riding a wave of investment in technology as a key enabler to help the global oil and gas industry meet the surging demand for energy.
Leading broadband router brand, Billion, has launched an Australian first, a “mobile hotspot” that blends ADSL2+ broadband connectivity with backup Internet access through mobile phone networks.
Billion's BiPAC 7300GX dual-interface firewall and router provides broadband access via 3G mobile phone networks in case ADSL on a phone line drops out or is not available.
With four Ethernet ports and 802.11g wireless networking, the BiPAC 7300GX stands out through its ability to act as a “mobile hotspot” for road warriors. The compact unit even comes with a 12-volt car adapter to let you charge it from your car's cigarette lighter when you’re on the move.
Billion’s Australian distributor PC Range has tested the BiPAC 7300GX device with Australian 3G networks. Customers can buy a 3G data card, which plugs into a PCI card slot in the unit, from their preferred mobile phone service provider.


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WASHINGTON, July 8 (Reuters) – U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren on Thursday warned of the rising dangers posed to shoppers and monetary markets by the “extremely opaque and unstable” cryptocurrency market and blasted its lack of regulation as unsustainable.
Warren, a Democrat who chairs the Senate Banking Committee’s Subcommittee on Financial Coverage, additionally raised her issues in a letter to Securities and Change Fee (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler on Wednesday, in an effort that might assist lay the groundwork for laws to manage the fast-growing market.
The previous presidential candidate stated she wanted solutions from Gensler by July 28 on the SEC’s authority to guard shoppers investing and buying and selling in cryptocurrencies, and decide what future congressional motion was wanted.
Cryptocurrencies reached a document capitalization of $2 trillion in April, however U.S. oversight of the market stays patchy.
“Whereas demand for cryptocurrencies and the usage of cryptocurrency exchanges have sky-rocketed, the shortage of commonsense rules has left peculiar traders on the mercy of manipulators and fraudsters,” Warren stated in an announcement.
“These regulatory gaps endanger shoppers and traders and undermine the security of our monetary markets. The SEC should use its full authority to handle these dangers, and Congress should additionally step as much as shut these regulatory gaps.”
Spokespeople for the SEC and Gensler didn’t instantly reply to a request for touch upon Wednesday night.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen have warned that cryptocurrencies pose dangers to monetary stability and steered better regulation could also be warranted.
Officers from the Group of 20 main economies are additionally anticipated to debate the difficulty once they meet in Venice this weekend. read more
Gensler, who grew to become SEC chair in April, has stated prior to now that cryptocurrencies must be included into the monetary regulatory system, however has but to suggest new guidelines.
In her letter to Gensler, reviewed by Reuters, Warren stated cryptocurrency platforms lacked the identical fundamental protections as conventional exchanges and famous that just about 7,000 individuals reported a mixed $80 million in losses from cryptocurrency scams within the six months to March 2021.
Demand for cryptocurrencies has surged over the previous 12 months with Coinbase, the most important cryptocurrency change in the USA, reporting 2021 first quarter buying and selling quantity of $335 billion, a tenfold enhance on the identical interval a 12 months in the past.
Warren requested Gensler to stipulate the methods through which cryptocurrency exchanges could also be undermining the SEC’s mission to make sure that markets are working in a “truthful, orderly, and environment friendly method,” whether or not extra protections have been wanted for traders, and whether or not worldwide regulatory coordination was required.
“The dearth of regulation to supply fundamental investor protections is unsustainable,” she added.
Reporting by Andrea Shalal; extra reporting by Chris Prentice; modifying by Michelle Worth and Richard Pullin
Our Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.


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Within the first two months of 2022, 1817 bitcoin ATMs were installed in the world. Last year, over the same period, 2,435 crypto machines were launched.
The number of installed crypto ATMs in the world continues to grow, but the pace of this growth in 2022 slowed down significantly. In January and February 2022, 618 less crypto ATMs were installed than in the same period in 2021.
At the same time, the pace is still at a high level. For comparison: 760 bitcoin ATMs were installed in January and February of 2020, and only 250 bitcoin ATMs were launched during the first two months of 2019.
One of the main reasons for the slowdown in growth is the lack of new jurisdictions with friendly cryptocurrency legislation. North America remains the leader by the number of installed bitcoin ATMs (95%). The US accounts for 88% of all machines (more than 32,000) operating in the world.
In Europe, the distribution of bitcoin ATms is more even. Spain became the leader with 182 crypto ATMs installed, followed by Switzerland and Austria with 141 and 130 bitcoin ATMs, respectively.
The main growth in the number of bitcoin ATMs coincided with the second half of 2020 and 2021. If on July 1, 2020 there were 8640 bitcoin ATMs in the world, then by January 1, 2021 their number reached 14,031, and by January 1, 2022 there were 34254 crypto ATMs on the planet.


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Providence Mutual updates its rating process to better reflect company’s focus and long-term financial strength
WARWICK, R.I. (June 30, 2023) — Providence Mutual has made the decision to withdraw from…
Over 300 Local Businesses Participate in the Chamber Gift Certificate Program
Middletown, RI (September 29, 2016) – The Newport County Chamber of Commerce announced that Walgreens Pharmacy is now selling Chamber’s gift certificates in its Middletown location at 12 East Main Road. The Chamber’s popular gift certificates are redeemable at over 300 local businesses across Newport County, and the program is generously sponsored by People’s Credit Union.
By distributing Chamber gift certificates, the Newport County Chamber continues to do business with and support local companies that also support the community. Since the certificates began circulation, the free program for members has led to sales of over $1.5 million. In 2015, the program saw a 24% increase in growth, and 2016 sales are currently performing at an additional 11% over 2015.
Along with Walgreens Middletown, Chamber gift certificates can also be purchased at the following locations: The Newport County Chamber of Commerce, Middletown; The General Store, 19 Long Wharf Mall, Newport; and Clements’ Marketplace, 2575 East Main Road, Portsmouth. They are also available online at www.NewportChamber.com.
The Newport County Chamber of Commerce is one of the state’s largest business advocacy organizations. With over 1,100 members representing over 50,000 employees, the Newport County Chamber’s goal is to find solutions for quality jobs, quality growth and quality of life. As a trusted and reliable source of information for nearly 100 years, the Newport County Chamber connects members with success while encouraging the development of the community.
Members wishing to join this program can contact Sara Walker Thomson at sara@Newportchamber.com or at 401-847-1608.


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The Mozzarella Foundation’s “do not track” features on its Firefox browser are getting the thumbs up from some of the big names in the industry.
Writing in the Mozzarella Bog, a company spokesman said that Mozilla introduced the Do Not Track (DNT) HTTP header approach in January and launched the feature in Firefox 4.
So far more than 50 leading leading companies and trade groups are working to run the software DNT and offer users more control over how their browsing behaviour is tracked and used online.
The bog said that Mozilla is working with W3C and IETF organisations to standardise the DNT header, and the outfit was pleased to see Microsoft subsequently include the mechanism in Internet Explorer 9.
Now it seems that the AP News Registry, run by the Associated Press, implemented the DNT header across 800 news sites looking after 175 million visitors each month.
The Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA), which includes the five major media and advertising agencies, is is also looking at how it can incorporate the DNT header, as proposed by Mozilla, into its Self-Regulatory Program for Online Behavioral Advertising (OBA). The DAA represents more than 5,000 leading media and technology companies that span the entire marketing-media ecosystem.
Mozilla said that AP is the first company to deploy DNT on a large scale, and it only took a few hours for one engineer to implement.
Now that DNT is merged into Firefox, users can now check a “Do Not Track” box in the “Advanced” screen of Firefox “Options”. When DNT is enabled, a signal sent via an HTTP header tells websites and third parties that the user wishes to opt-out of online behavioural tracking.
* EyeSee David Icke has given the thumbs up to the plan which he said would protect people from being spied on by lizard groups like the Masons and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.


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Unions have stopped trying to use Walmart's day-after-Thanksgiving 'Black Friday' sales to launch public relations blitzes against the corporation, effectively conceding that the once-high profile efforts were making little headway toward organizing a union at the nation's largest employer.
"We actually don't have any events planned for Black Friday," said Amy Ritter, spokeswoman for Making Change at Walmart, a nonprofit activist group funded and run by the United Food and Commercial Workers.
Ritter said the union had determined that Black Friday — traditionally the kick-off of Christmas shopping season and a major event for retailers — was no longer as big of an event due to the growth of online sales. The union was still planning a campaign directed at Walmart, she added, and will be airing national TV ads highlighting Walmart's holiday pay policies for its workers and this will run through Christmas.
"We feel that Black Friday is changing with the adoption of online commerce," she said. "We are still intent on getting the message out."
A Walmart spokesperson said the retailer was still holding major in-store sales starting on Thanksgiving Day, and said the store sent out "the usual circulars laying out the deals" for consumers. The spokesperson declined to comment on the union's activities.
It is a stark contrast from previous years when the union claimed that it would hold protests at hundreds of Walmarts across the country and that this was part of a rising movement of workers. In 2014, for example, the union announced it would hold events at 1,600 locations. 2017, however, marks the third year in a row that UFCW wasn't mounting such an effort, a tacit concession that Walmart had outlasted the union.
UFCW, whose members work for Walmart competitors such as Giant and Kroger's, has long sought to organize the Arkansas-based retail chain, which has more than 1.3 million employees. The union created and ran several nonprofit groups over the last decade and half with names like Wake-Up Walmart and OUR Walmart, in addition to Making Change At Walmart, as part of a campaign to force the retailer to agree to a union.
The various groups presented themselves as a grassroots network of workers upset over Walmart's pay levels and other workplace policies. For years, the signature event of these groups was to hold much-hyped Black Friday protests at Walmarts. The intention was to embarrass the company with stories of workers walking out and protesting on one of the busiest shopping days of the year and a day when there is usually little other news.
The groups struggled, however, to attract actual Walmart workers, and most protest events featured non-Walmart union members and other activists bused in by UFCW. A 2013 post-Thanksgiving press conference call by OUR Walmart turned awkward when the group was repeatedly unable to say how many Walmart employees had joined in the group's events. Walmart itself put the figure at just 20.
"It was astroturf. The Walmart employees were not buying what the UFCW was selling," said F. Vincent Vernuccio, senior fellow with the libertarian Mackinac Center.
The union was hampered in part by its own protest-heavy strategy. Under the National Labor Relations Act, a union cannot protest an employer for more than 30 days at a time before it must cease and attempt to organize the workers. Walmart sued the union on that basis in 2012. In an unusual decision the following year, the NLRB allowed the union’s nonprofit arms like OUR Walmart and Making Change at Walmart to continue to protest but only as an independent worker rights groups that could not make any effort to organize the workers.
This allowed UFCW to continue its anti-Walmart campaign indefinitely. However, not being allowed to organize workers meant the union’s campaign could only work if it forced management to agree to negotiations. Despite some rough PR moments, Walmart never did.
In 2015, UFCW's newly-elected President Anthony Perrone sharply cut back on the funding for the events and fired the two main organizers for the events. He was reportedly frustrated that union had failed to organize a single Walmart. The cutbacks caused the size and scope of the events to shrink as well.
Making Change at Walmart's official Twitter posted pictures of Walmart protests this Thanksgiving at Chicago, New York City, Phoenix, and Dover, Del., showing one to two dozen participants at the respective events.
UFCW's current campaign is highlighting a change to Walmart's holiday leave policy: "Up until 2015, Walmart workers were eligible for holiday pay equal to the average daily wage in the 12 weeks leading up to the holiday, but in 2016, Walmart changed its policy and eliminated holiday pay."
In a statement to the Washington Examiner, Walmart said the change was to give workers "control and flexibility" over their time off. "At the end of the year, hourly associates can rollover some unused (paid time off) and can cash out the remainder to use as they please. Those who work on Thanksgiving this year will also receive an additional 15% off an entire basket of goods, for a total of 25% off."
Ritter characterized that as forcing to the employees "to work extra for what they previously got for free."


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For decades, Ritter Sport has marketed its chocolate bars on their unique, square shape.
So when rival brand Milka challenged its German monopoly on square chocolate, the battle lines were drawn.
Milka achieved an initial victory in 2016 by getting the trademark deleted but that ruling was overturned.
Finally, the case ended up in the Federal Court of Justice, where judges have now thrown out Milka’s complaint and ruled in favour of Ritter Sport.
First, the history
The square bar dates back to 1932, when Clara Ritter came up with the idea, according to company legend. «Let’s make a chocolate bar that fits in everyone’s jacket pocket without breaking and weighs the same as a normal long bar,» she is supposed to have said (although in German).
By 1970 it had come up with the slogan «Quadratisch, praktisch, gut» – quality, chocolate, squared, as the company likes to translate it.
The family company registered the shape with the German patent and trademark office in 1993, so when Milka began marketing a square bar in 2010, the case went to court.
Milka, now owned by Mondelez, won round one in the federal patent court but that ruling was later thrown out and the patent court decided the following year that Ritter could keep its three-dimensional monopoly.
Milka’s final challenge in the Federal Court of Justice has now also failed.
What the judges said
Normally a brand cannot claim protection in Germany if its shape gives the product «an essential value». But the judges in this case said Ritter Sport was different.
Consumers considered the square nature of the chocolate bar as an indication of both where the chocolate came from and its quality, they concluded.
They said there was no artistic value to the shape and it did not lead to differences in price.
Their ruling means that the incumbent bar can remain the only top-brand square chocolate bar on the shelves in German shops.


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Marlborough dairy farmers found guilty of permitting their cattle to be milked in breach of an Environment Court order.
On the surface, the Chinese stockmarket and Greek concerns look worrying when our largest food export, dairy, is struggling.
Banks will be reluctant to force indebted dairy farmers to sell up, Finance Minister predicts.
The first signs that banks are calling on dairying couples to reduce their debt levels by selling up assets are making farmers nervous.
Environmental spending could go on the backburner as dairy payouts drop.
Upcoming Fonterra director elections are not "a popularity contest", says the new chairman of the company's shareholder council.
Everyone knows rats and mice can navigate mazes, but cows?
Farmers have worked hard at improving their environmental impact, and plenty of others have chipped in to help. But there's still a way to go.
North Canterbury's dairy farmers resigned to a second low payout year are unlikely to break even let alone make a profit in a difficult season ahead of them.
DairyNZ offering one-on-one support to help dairy farmers grow and harvest an extra tonne of pasture which could boost income by an extra $30,000.
Plans to expand two South Canterbury dairy factories are progressing.
China is sitting on "mountains" of excess dairy product, Bill English says.
There is air of calm around NZ's largest dairy enterprise despite all the gloom currently surrounding the industry.
Cows leased out to other farmers while grass seed gets established on hard-hit flood farms.
Dairy farmers told to keep an eye on their dairy bulls to see how they are performing.
Big sending to reduce dairy effluent behind a drop in enforcement action.
NZ's second biggest milk processor has slashed its milk payout forecast by more than $1kg for the season as industry pessimism deepens.
Beleaguered dairy farmers more concerned about probable cut in early season advance rate than a season milk price forecast update from Fonterra.
Heifers need to be 60 per cent of their final body weight to get the maximum mated.
It's heads down on Waikato farms, despite tough times.
Head of Fonterra’s cooperative affairs (Canterbury) Stu Gray, is frank when he says he never thought dairy prices would drop so far.
Falling dairy prices will spell the end for some farmers, Federated Farmers president William Rolleston says.
Low dairy prices will force some farmers out of the industry, Labour's agriculture spokesman says.
The 54-year-old was disqualified from owning or being in charge of animals for two years.
OPINION: Most of you reading this now will be getting ready for calving and lambing in the next month
As the price of dairy continues to dive the country's economic development minister says farmers have dealt with this kind of challenge before.
Struggling with falling dairy prices, Fonterra hopes to save up to $60m a year through staff cuts.
Dairy farmers will close chequebooks as prices fall again at the global auction.
Farmers would frown on Fonterra carrying out its scrapping of 523 jobs as a knee-jerk reaction to low milk prices.
The Marlborough District Council has been accused of "relentlessly pursuing" Marlborough’s biggest dairy farmers.


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Crocs Inc. rose as much as 18% on Monday after saying Chief Executive Officer John McCarvel will retire and Blackstone Group LP will invest US$200 million in the maker of colourful plastic clogs.
Crocs shares jumped US$2.34 to US$15.67 after the announcement. Niwot, Colorado- based Crocs had slid 7.4% this year through Dec. 27.
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Crocs has been trying to revive its fortunes after consumers tired of its trademark clogs, knockoffs cut into sales and U.S. consumer spending slumped. The Blackstone stake comes after Crocs attempted to find a buyer for the whole company, people familiar with the situation said in November.
The company said in a statement Sunday that it will use the funds from Blackstone’s investment in convertible preferred stock to increase share repurchases to US$350 million. McCarvel will step down on or about April 30.
“We’ve been unable to repurchase stock while negotiating this transaction, but we now expect to do so beginning in the first quarter of 2014,” Chief Financial Officer Jeff Lasher said in the statement. The buybacks will reduce publicly traded common stock by about 30%, Lasher said.


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Indian technology companies are eyeing a coming wave of U.S. spending to digitize health-care records. But sensitivity over outsourcing and resistance by American hospitals to sending medical information overseas could thwart efforts to win big contracts.
The U.S. government next year will begin to dole out billions of dollars to health-care providers who adopt electronic medical records. Doctors also face a federal mandate to upgrade software as the U.S. switches to a new system of insurance billing codes.
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Poland's economic situation in September similar to August - report
The indicator measuring the condition of the economy in most areas of Poland's economy remains at a similar level or is better in September than in August, the Central Statistical Office said in a report released on Tuesday.
In the manufacturing sector, the indicator stood at minus 6.2, a similar level to those recorded in August (minus 6.6).
In construction, on the other hand, this indicator is minus 15.0 in September, up from minus 15.4 in August, GUS said.
According to the report, September's wholesale trade index is at the level of minus 4.5, similar to August (minus 4.6).
The situation has improved in retail trade, as the general economic climate indicator is at the level of minus 6.5, higher than a month ago (minus 9.8).
Also, a higher level than in August was recorded in transport and storage, which reached minus 8.7 against minus 12.7 a month earlier.
In the accommodation and gastronomy sectors, the general economic climate index in September stands at minus 21.2 against minus 19.3 in August. At the same time, entities operating in accommodation services show more unfavourable assessments of the economic situation (minus 31.3) than those in the catering sector (minus 12.6).
In the information and communications sector, the general economic climate indicator in September is at the level of 9.5, higher than a month ago (5.4).
Also in finances and insurance, the general economic climate index in September is at the level of plus 5.6, higher than in August (plus 2.7).


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Daily-deal service Groupon (GRPN) might be looking at a slide in revenue, but it is expected to post a profit jump as it announces its fourth-quarter 2018 results on Feb. 12.
However, how the results stack up to the estimates would be the main focus when the numbers are out. The Street now expects 13 cents a share on revenue of $785.13 million.
In the previously reported third quarter, Groupon reported a jump in earnings of 8 cents a share from nil profit a year ago. This came about due to a benefit related to the IBM settlement as well as lower costs and expenses. The bottom line surpassed analysts’ expectations, sending the stock higher following the announcement.
Revenue for the third quarter then dropped by 7% on lower customer traffic, falling short of consensus estimates.
Gross billings also shot down 9.3% to $1.22 billion in the past quarter, while active customers on the site slipped to 48.8 million from 49.1 million during the prior-year period.
Back then, Groupon announced that it expected FY 2018 adjusted EBITDA to be $280-290 million.
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Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX) reported first quarter 2023 earnings results today. Consolidated net revenues increased 8% year-over-year to $8.7 billion, in line with projections. Global comparable store sales increased
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL, GOOG) on Thursday reported a 1% increase in fourth-quarter 2022 revenues, with strong contributions from the cloud business. The company, which owns the largest internet search
Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE: HOG) reported fourth quarter 2022 earnings results today. Revenue increased 12% year-over-year to $1.14 billion. Net income attributable to Harley-Davidson, Inc. rose 94% YoY to $42 million,


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Thu, 22 Jan 2015 10:35:09 GMT
Global marketing and technology agency DigitasLBi has today announced a long-term commercial partnership with Liftshare, the UK’s largest car-sharing community.
The deal will see DigitasLBi partner with car-sharing service Liftshare, one of the UK’s first ‘sharing economy’ brands, to transform its business model using digital. Liftshare enables drivers and passengers to share a ride whenever they need to travel, allowing them to save money, help the environment and make amazing connections with people. Under the agreement, DigitasLBi will receive a portion of any revenues generated through consumer bookings.
DigitasLBi’s commercial partnership with Liftshare is the latest example of the agency’s continued drive to find new ways of working with clients and to go beyond the traditional client-agency relationship model.
Liftshare CEO Ali Clabburn set up the company in 1998 after using a car-sharing service in Germany, and has since built the brand to become a 400,000-strong community.
Ali Clabburn, CEO at Liftshare, said “Our vision for Liftshare is to solve transport poverty by being first to mind for anyone looking to go on a trip or journey. We’re delighted that we’re now working in partnership with DigitasLBi in order to move closer to achieving that ambition.”
Anil Pillai, UK CEO at DigitasLBi, said: “We’re always looking for new ways of making our commercial framework more flexible in order to add value for our clients, and over the years we’ve been involved in a number of performance-based deals, but never to this level. That’s why we’re truly excited to be embarking on this partnership with Liftshare. As one of the first ever ‘sharing economy’ brands, we believe Liftshare has real potential to become a household name. We’re looking forward to working with them to transform the way people travel.”view more - Hires, Wins & Business
Categories: Travel, TourismDigitas, Thu, 22 Jan 2015 10:35:09 GMT


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Relations between the two countries date back to the period of the Malay sultanate and the Ottoman Empire.  From the 19th century on, relations between the Malay sultanates and the Ottomans remained intact, supported by close personal relations between Sultan Abu Bakar of Johor, who made several visits to Istanbul.  On the occasion of Sultan Abu Bakar`s visit in 1890, he and his brother Engku married Turkish women.  These marriages further strengthened bilateral relations and gave mixed Malaysian-Turkish descendants such as Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas, Ungku Aziz and Tun Hussein Onn.  Today, modern relations between the two countries began in 1964.  Prime Minister Najib Razak visited Turkey on 17 April 2014 to expand bilateral trade between the two countries and sign a free trade agreement.  A number of economic agreements have been concluded between the two countries, such as the Strategic Framework Agreement and the Free Trade Agreement.   In addition, the visa requirement for visits by both countries has been abolished.    However, to take advantage of this, Malaysian companies must establish a production site in order to obtain a rule of Turkish origin, in accordance with Article 5 of the trade agreement.
In Turkey, raw materials (refined palm oil) from Malaysia could be processed into industrial food ingredients or cooking fats and margarines for reallocating to these markets. Reconditioning in branded products is also an alternative that deserves to be considered, but it must be in accordance with the rule of origin. Further assessment of eligibility would require further country-based study, as each could be deferred with respect to the tariff lag, regional value content and de minimis threshold. The agreement comes after the two countries began examining the feasibility of establishing a free trade agreement between them at the end of 2009. In early 2010, negotiations between the two countries began. The MTFTA`s preferential tariffs on Malaysian palm oil give Malaysian palm oil a competitive advantage over other vegetable oils arriving in Turkey. Under the agreement, Malaysian palm oil is subject to a 21.8% lower import tariff than other competing oils, with an import tariff of 31.2%. Malaysia – Free Trade Agreement with Turkey (MTFTA) was signed by YB. Dato` Sri Mustapa Mohamed Minister of International Trade and Industry, Malaysia, and Hon. Nihat Zeybekci, Minister of Economy of the Republic of Turkey, on April 17, 2014 in Ankara, Turkey, after nine rounds of negotiations.
The agreement came into force on August 1, 2015. It was Turkey`s second free trade agreement with an Asian country after South Korea and the first country in Southeast Asia. According to Bernama, Malaysia`s national news agency, the free trade agreement is expected to boost bilateral trade to $5 billion by 2018. Currently, bilateral trade between Malaysia and Turkey is $1.1 billion. Last year, bilateral trade increased by 86%, reflecting the increase in economic relations between the two countries. The agreement is Malaysia`s seventh bilateral free trade agreement after its agreements with Japan, Pakistan, New Zealand, Chile, India and Australia. On Thursday, Malaysia and Turkey reached a free trade agreement between the two countries in Ankara.


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Uber has officially lost its London operating licence in a major blow to the 3.5 million passengers and 45,000 licensed drivers who depend on Uber in the capital.
The decision to strip the popular ride-hailing service of its London licence comes after Transport for London (TfL) claimed that the company had “placed passengers and their safety at risk” after several breaches in which Uber “had allowed passengers to get into minicabs with drivers who are potentially unlicensed and uninsured”.
According to TfL, there were 14,000 fraudulent trips carried out in London in late 2018 and early 2019, this was partly due to a change to Uber’s systems which allowed unauthorised drivers to upload their photos to other Uber driver accounts. It was also found that dismissed or suspended drivers had been able to create Uber accounts and carry passengers.
Uber have denounced the decision to suspend their licence in London, saying that the verdict was “extraordinary and wrong”, and claimed that it had fundamentally changed its business model and improved its security procedures over the last two years.
What happens next?
Uber now has 21 days to challenge the decision and have released a statement in which they have confirmed that they plan to appeal TfL’s verdict to strip them off their operating licence in London. While Uber have been officially stripped of their existing licence by TfL to operate in the capital, both passengers and drivers can still continue to use the app service during the appeal process.
How will this affect passengers?
Passengers were quick to offer their views on Uber having their licence suspended in London, with many criticising TfL for the decision. While many who support the move to ban Uber in the capital see this as a win for black cab drivers who have seen business decline since the arrival of the popular ride-hailing service, many angry social media users have highlighted the extraordinary price difference between hailing a black cab and using Uber, with one user blasting the verdict: “Black cabs are simply not affordable for the majority of Londoners. It once cost me £115 for a ride from West London to East London and the cabbie was demanding a £20 tip on top of it. How is that fair pricing!? Couldn’t care less about their difficult navigation courses.”
Another frustrated user picked fault with Mayor of London Sadiq Khan claiming that the decision to revoke Uber’s licence in the capital was purely a political move: “Once again, the Mayor of London puts political posturing before the people of London with the ridiculous decision to refuse Uber an operating licence. ”
Speaking of the London Mayor, Mr Khan went on to release a statement on Twitter, stating: “I know this decision may be unpopular with Uber users, but their safety is the paramount concern. Regulations are there to keep Londoners safe.
While Uber is currently challenging the decision of revolving its licence in London, this is not the first time that Uber and TfL have come to blows, with the rail-hailing app losing its licence in 2017 only to be granted a further two-year extension.
How will this affect drivers?
Uber still remains the most popular ride-hailing app for drivers to earn a living in the UK, with Uber drivers earning approximately £15 per hour.
With Uber’s licence in London now suspended, many drivers who use the ride-hailing app will now find themselves in a difficult position as they find alternative means to earn an income. While drivers will still be able to use Uber as the company begins its appeal to challenge the decision by TfL, many drivers may now be considering their options in the lead up to Christmas. And what are those options? While Uber may face a permanent ban in the capital pending an appeal, it isn’t the only ride-hailing app in London.
Bolt arrived in London in 2017 and has already over 30,000 drivers on its books, where an average full-time Bolt driver in London can earn over £1,200 a month.
Kapten is a French start-up that has now become a popular alternative to Uber in London with over 16,000 drivers in the capital alone. Drivers of Kapten can expect an average hourly rate of around £19.
ViaVan is a joint venture between ride-sharing start-up Via and Mercedes-Benz Vans. Drivers of this new car- pooling app on average can expect to make £17 £25 per hour.
A new ride-hailing app available in London, Manchester, York and Luton, Xooox allows cab companies and drivers to remain independent, where drivers can earn between £3 to £5 per mile.
What Get Licensed Says
Uber losing out on its licence in London is not only a blow to customers in the city, but to the 45,000 licensed drivers who use the popular ride-hailing app as a means of full-time employment or extra income. While there are other alternative means for drivers to make a living, we hope that Uber can win its appeal and continue getting passengers from point A to point B and providing the opportunity for vehicle owners to earn a living in the capital.


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Microsoft announced several upgrades and new products this week, including the new Surface Book, its first foray into laptops. It looks outstanding, but at $1,500, it’s not for the weak of wallet. We discuss the motives behind it, and whether Microsoft’s newfound love of hardware is a promising new direction or a tragic misstep. There was also a demonstration of the HoloLens and a new game called Project X-Ray, which got us amped about the tremendous potential of augmented reality.
With nearly 1 million drones estimated to be sold around Christmas this year, those buzzing eyes in the sky are about to become an even bigger story. The FAA is rapidly attempting to reign in use of drones over restricted areas, and has dropped a $1.9 million fine on a company that violated existing rules. However, is there any real way to control them? We discuss some possible solutions.
Finally, MIT has created an AI that has the comparable brain power of a 4-year-old. With the Singularity so clearly on it’s way, we have to ask the question; Would you rather try to miserably fight the robot overlords, or just bow down and hope they build you a sweet Matrix to live in?
Today’s episode features Nick Mokey, Brad Bourque, Marie Pardo-Garber and Greg Nibler. We also broadcast the show live on Periscope. Follow @DigitalTrends to be alerted when we go live or send in questions ahead of time to firstname.lastname@example.org.


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In 2001, when economist Jim O’Neill coined the term BRIC in his paper, it signalled the emergence of new possibilities for political and economic ecosystem. Close to two decades later, we are witnessing a similar shift in balance for mobile advertisers towards these countries.
Since the dawn of mobile advertising in 2012, the developed economies of North America and Europe have been the key focus for app advertisers, dominated by a strong shift from desktop to mobile that evolved into mature mobile markets for global advertisers. While these regions still continue to hold the lion’s share of the worldwide mobile ad spending, in the last two years emerging developing economies of the BRIC nations have caught up. According to a recent report by App Annie on the emerging app economy, the BRIC countries together posted approximately 80% year-on-year growth in combined iOS and Google Play downloads in 2015. In addition to the BRIC countries, the ad tech industry is also witnessing dynamic developments in the app economy in the APAC regions of Indonesia and Vietnam, as well in the Middle East and Africa.
The growth and penetration of smartphones in these regions has been a crucial factor for this boom. Gartner’s report on the market for smartphone sales shows that in Q3 2015 compared to Q3 2014, smartphone sales in emerging markets rose 18.4%, while sales in mature markets saw growth of just 8%. India, for instance, overtook the U.S. in 2016 to be the world’s second-largest smartphone market by users. For Latin America, especially, the last two years have seen dramatic growth in mobile engagement, second only to sub-Saharan Africa in terms of overall new smartphone activations. A research report by Ericsson also suggests that by 2021, smartphone subscriptions will double, and regions of Latin America and APAC will lead that expansion.
The proliferation of the smartphone market is also due to the availability of affordable devices that has led to higher penetration in these regions. This increased competition, has, in parallel, helped for people to access mobile internet data at lower costs, leading to better connectivity and creating mobile-first users for whom the smartphone becomes a first-screen. These regions are also tied together by the increasing social media usage, dominated by their young population size. Such mobile-first users present a unique opportunity for the app advertisers. Looking at the mobile ad spending by country (chart below), while U.S. is still the leader of the pack, the projected year-on-year numbers are encouraging for the emerging economies.
Emerging economies are creating vast opportunities for app advertisers, opening up channels for growth and monetization. What does this mean for the app advertisers? Where should they focus their resources and efforts for user acquisition?
China, as an app market, has already shown matured growth in the last couple of years. The app economies of Brazil, India and Russia, on the other hand, are still on an upward curve of growth along with Indonesia, the other rising giant in APAC. In this series, over the coming weeks, we will focus on the aforementioned 4 key regions to throw spotlight the main trends shaping the app economy. For each region, we will elaborate on the main trends in the mobile market, get insights into the acquisition costs, as well as, dive deep into the key growth app verticals. Through this series, we hope our readers will be able to put the trends into perspective to better understand the prospects of growth and challenges, as well as, decode what these trends hold for the future of app advertising both in these regions and globally.


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Chart: The Netflix Generation
Millennials, streaming platforms, and the slow death of cable television
The Chart of the Week is a weekly Visual Capitalist feature on Fridays.
Since launching in the United States in 1948, cable television quickly emerged as the media consumption method of choice for families around the world.
Cable brought to us some of the most memorable and noteworthy events in history. People saw the fall of the Berlin Wall from their living rooms in 1989 – and many even remember being inspired by Neil Armstrong taking his first steps on the moon twenty years earlier.
And although television is still a vital medium today, it is also stuck in an inevitable quagmire. Digital already generates more ad revenue than television, while more people switch to streaming platforms every day.
Make no mistake – even though there is still plenty of money to be made in television, cable is experiencing a slow death, just like other traditional media channels. It might not yet be reduced to the more niche territory of radio or print, but cable is treading the same path.
The Digital Natives
Why this is the case is very simple math.
Even just six years ago in 2011, the average 18-24 year old millennial consumed about 25 hours of traditional television per week – today, they consume closer to 14 hours.
That said, it’s no surprise that the first generation of digital natives skews heavily towards digital content, but what will be even more interesting is the behavior of the next generation on deck: Gen Z (born in 2000 and onwards). This cohort was born into a world of screens and iPhones, and will not be aware of a prior era. To them, flipping through channels on cable television seems even more antiquated and arbitrary than it does to older generations.
Gen Z watches between two and four hours of YouTube and less than an hour of traditional television per day. They’re also twice more likely to use YouTube than Millennials, and a lot less likely to use Facebook.
– Shireen Jiwan, chief brand experience officer at Lucky Brand
Less than an hour per day is not very conducive to the cable business, especially when there are hundreds of channels in existence today. And while insights on Gen Z are still fluid and evolving, it’s highly doubtful that the generation will do a 360 on video anytime soon.
In the meantime, cable’s survival as a dominant medium rests squarely on the shoulders of older generations. While it works as a business for now, cable can’t fight the demographics forever.
Ranked: America’s 20 Biggest Tech Layoffs Since 2020
How bad are the current layoffs in the tech sector? This visual reveals the 20 biggest tech layoffs since the start of the pandemic.
Ranked: America’s 20 Biggest Tech Layoffs This Decade
The events of the last few years could not have been predicted by anyone. From a global pandemic and remote work as the standard, to a subsequent hiring craze, rising inflation, and now, mass layoffs.
Alphabet, Google’s parent company, essentially laid off the equivalent of a small town just weeks ago, letting go of 12,000 people—the biggest layoffs the company has ever seen in its history. Additionally, Amazon and Microsoft have also laid off 10,000 workers each in the last few months, not to mention Meta’s 11,000.
This visual puts the current layoffs in the tech industry in context and ranks the 20 biggest tech layoffs of the 2020s using data from the tracker, Layoffs.fyi.
The Top 20 Layoffs of the 2020s
Since 2020, layoffs in the tech industry have been significant, accelerating in 2022 in particular. Here’s a look at the companies that laid off the most people over the last three years.
|Rank||Company||# Laid Off||% of Workforce||As of|
Layoffs were high in 2020 thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, halting the global economy and forcing staff reductions worldwide. After that, things were steady until the economic uncertainty of last year, which ultimately led to large-scale layoffs in tech—with many of the biggest cuts happening in the past three months.
The Cause of Layoffs
Most workforce slashings are being blamed on the impending recession. Companies are claiming they are forced to cut down the excess of the hiring boom that followed the pandemic.
Additionally, during this hiring craze competition was fierce, resulting in higher salaries for workers, which is now translating in an increased need to trim the fat thanks to the current economic conditions.
Of course, the factors leading up to these recent layoffs are more nuanced than simple over-hiring plus recession narrative. In truth, there appears to be a culture shift occurring at many of America’s tech companies. As Rani Molla and Shirin Ghaffary from Recode have astutely pointed out, tech giants really want you to know they’re behaving like scrappy startups again.
Twitter’s highly publicized headcount reduction in late 2022 occurred for reasons beyond just macroeconomic factors. Elon Musk’s goal of doing more with a smaller team seemed to resonate with other founders and executives in Silicon Valley, providing an opening for others in tech space to cut down on labor costs as well. In just one example, Mark Zuckerberg hailed 2023 as the “year of efficiency” for Meta.
Meanwhile, over at Google, 12,000 jobs were put on the chopping block as the company repositions itself to win the AI race. In the words of Google’s own CEO:
“Over the past two years we’ve seen periods of dramatic growth. To match and fuel that growth, we hired for a different economic reality than the one we face today… We have a substantial opportunity in front of us with AI across our products and are prepared to approach it boldly and responsibly.”– Sundar Pichai
The Bigger Picture in the U.S. Job Market
Beyond the tech sector, job openings continue to rise. Recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) revealed a total of 11 million job openings across the U.S., an increase of almost 7% month-over-month. This means that for every unemployed worker in America right now there are 1.9 job openings available.
Additionally, hiring increased significantly in January, with employers adding 517,000 jobs. While the BLS did report a decrease in openings in information-based industries, openings are increasing rapidly especially in the food services, retail trade, and construction industries.
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The LG KP500 Cookie mobile phone has bucked the downturn in demand for new mobile phones.
Carphone Warehouse has recorded 350,000 unit sales of LG’s KP500 Cookie smartphone since the start of the year, it has been revealed.
Sustained demand for the handset meant that the LG KP500 Cookie is now the retail chain’s second best-selling handset ever, behind the Motorola V3 Razr.
Graham Stapleton, chief commercial officer at Carphone, told Mobile Today: “By developing a close partnership with LG we identified the Cookie in June last year and it has been a tremendous success.”
News of developments comes after LG recently confirmed that the KU 990 Viewty had sold seven million units since it was launched in November 2007.
A follow-up to the Viewty, dubbed the LG GC900 Viewty Smart, will arrive later this year and is to be equipped with an eight megapixel camera, innovative 3-D touchscreen interface and Dolby sound enhancement technology.
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Beam Global to use innovative mobile and illuminating technologies to engage consumers
Beam Global Spirits & Wine, Inc., owner of the Jim Beam brand and the fourth largest premium spirits company in the world , and Hornitos Tequila (a Sauza brand, which is owned by Beam Global) have proclaimed new technology partnerships will enable the company to evolve with consumers ever changing needs.
Hornitos believes they have found new ways to connect with consumers on-premise and in their daily lives through mobile and product technologies.
Buy Your Amigo Hornitos
As of August 1, 2008, legal purchase age consumers will be able to use their mobile phones or the Hornitos website, www.BuyYourAmigoHornitos.com, to send a personalised note and prepaid gift card to friends. Hornitos partnered with www.BuyYourFriendADrink.com to build this innovative program which allows gift recipients to receive their drink gift via email, gift card or text message. The mobile program is, according to Beam Global, the first ever mobile site that allows consumers to buy their friends drinks.
With the text messaging capability, users can access their gifts via mobile phone even while at a participating bar or restaurant. Gift recipients can find out which bars and restaurants in their area accept the gift cards/codes either through the website or mobile site.
The program launched with 115 participating bars and restaurants in 14 markets across the US. “We’re pleased to help consumers share good times with friends through BuyYourFriendADrink.com,” stated Antonio Portillo, brand manager, Sauza. “This exciting technology allows consumers to buy their friend a drink from across the bar or across the country. It will be sure to engage our technologically savvy consumers and increase brand awareness.”
Lighting Up the Bar
The company is also seeking to illuminate their beverages to create a number of exciting effects and make their brand stand out at bars and clubs.
Developed by Cognifex Ltd, the “LightPad” will provide attention to the Hornitos brand with branded stickers placed at the bottom of the bottle. The stickers are motion-activated to light up the entire bottle when the bartender pours a drink and adjusted for a variety of illuminating effects including flashing and strobe-light effects.
The innovations by Beam Global highlights the increased focus in the industry to engage with consumers and the improved capabilities of technology to enable greater connection with customers. It also creates another form of differentiation in the increasingly competitive spirits marketplace.
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Indie hip-hop label Babygrande Records has inked
a multi-year distribution with Koch Entertainment. The label was founded by
Chuck Wilson, the former A&R executive at Priority Records. Babygrande is
preparing to release albums by Jedi Mind Tricks, The Mountain Brothers and Canibus.
"While most major labels are downsizing
and consolidating, Koch is enjoying astonishing growth," Wilson told AllHipHop.com.
"We are delighted to have them as our distribution partner and look forward
to releasing real hip-hop."
Wilson is also behind an upcoming the upcoming
MGM urban comedy, "Soul Plane." The movie is described as as an urban
version of "Airplane." Wilson says he plans to create a "unique
conceptual connectivity between music and movies, with soundtracks to be released
"We don’t have the quarterly financial pressures
that major labels face and we don’t have to rely on the traditional, over-priced
marketing and promotion tools to sell records which is the essence of being
independent," Wilson continued. "This gives our roster of uniquely
talented artists extraordinary freedom and the potential for far greater economic


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- February 23, 2022
Test makers including Abbott Laboratories, Quidel Corp and LumiraDX Ltd are scaling up production to meet rising demand. However, significantly boosting test output will take weeks to months, half a dozen industry executives told Reuters, making the tests harder to procure in the near term. “Employer demand has gone crazy,” said Quidel Chief Executive Doug Bryant. “We won’t be able to meet all the requests that we’re having.” Nearly a dozen state governments said they are grappling with shortages of rapid tests, which provide on-the-spot results within minutes and are crucial for COVID-19 surveillance programs.
In Missouri, limited supplies of Abbott’s Binax Now rapid test, which typically sell to states for around $5 each, have forced it to consider other, more expensive options, a spokesperson for the states’ public health agency said. “We are exploring other rapid antigen tests and finding most are at least three (3) times higher than Abbott’s rapid antigen test,” the spokesperson said, adding that Missouri has not yet had to purchase the pricier tests.
Oklahoma has begun to pay higher prices for tests in recent weeks, said Michael DeRemer, the state’s Director of Emergency Preparedness and Response Services. State governments have been struggling to aquire enough rapid tests for several months after a surge in COVID-19 cases fueled by the more contagious Delta variant. And U.S. employers in September 2021 have been rushing to stockpile tests after the White House in September said it plans to mandate weekly testing for unvaccinated staff at businesses with more than 100 employees.
Emerald Packaging Inc, a plastic bag factory in San Francisco with 250 workers, sees the cost of complying with the government’s testing mandate as a burden and is urging employees to get vaccinated. Emerald may require vaccination once the federal rule goes into effect, said CEO Kevin Kelly. He said Emerald has spent about $50,000 testing its employees so far and is concerned weekly tests will further drive up costs.
Quidel has had to decline more than half of requests from employers seeking to stock up ahead of the mandate, which took effect in October 2021, said CEO Bryant. It has also had to postpone exports of rapid tests to some foreign governments until early 2022, Bryant said. Quidel is delivering on existing contracts with countries including Canada.
BIDDING WARS, SIGNIFICANT MARKUPS
U.S. test makers manufacture more than 50 million rapid COVID-19 tests each month, not enough for regular surveillance testing at schools and workplaces across the country, said Evercore ISI analyst Vijay Kumar. Rapid antigen tests can cost as little as $2 each to make, according to Mologic, one of the largest British test makers. However, in the United States, bidding wars between health systems, state governments, and employers have contributed to much higher prices.
South Carolina, for example, is paying as much as $130 each for some of its rapid tests, a state spokesperson said. That contrasts sharply with the UK and European countries. In Germany, large government purchases allow it to offer rapid tests to residents for less than $1 each, and it is not experiencing severe shortages.
Abbott and Quidel said they do not plan to raise test prices for customers. However, retailers and test providers often purchase tests and resell them at significant markups.
Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc and CVS Health Corp sell Abbott’s Binax Now rapid tests – which Abbott lists for around $5 – for $12 per test at pharmacies. Walmart Inc, Kroger and Amazon.com Inc charge nearly $8 per test even after they slashed prices temporarily to cost.
States largely have been using the $10 billion the White House set aside primarily for school testing programs. Some states including Missouri said their federal aid is running out. Meanwhile, employers and consumers must pay for rapid test purchases themselves.
In an effort to ramp up production, Abbott re-opened a plant in Illinois it had shuttered earlier this year, putting it back on track to produce upwards of 50 million Binax Now tests per month by the end of October 2021, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Quidel is building a new plant that will boost its rapid test output from around 20 million per month to as much as 70 million; however, it will not be operational until year-end, Bryant said. LumiraDX is planning to nearly double its test production by year end.
In early October 2021, U.S. regulators authorized a rapid test made by ACON Laboratories, which plans to produce as many as 100 million per month by the end of the year. “There’s definitely a supply chain squeeze on the rapid antigen side,” said Matthew McKnight, an executive at Ginkgo BioWorks, which manages surveillance testing programs for employers. “It will take a couple months (before) production catches up.”
REFERENCE: Ruters; 05 OCT 2021; Carl O’donnell


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SINGAPORE, 4 March 2022: Digital travel platform Agoda has signed a partnership agreement with the Singapore Tourism Board to drive a marketing campaign that will boost travel from Southeast Asia to Singapore.
The partnership will tap Agoda’s technology and travel expertise, data insights and integrated marketing capabilities to showcase Singapore’s travel experiences.
The agreement was signed 3 March in the presence of Enric Casals, Director and Board Member of Agoda; Olalla Rey, Senior Director, Strategic partnerships, Agoda, and dignitaries from the Singapore Tourism Board, including John Gregory Conceicao, Executive Director, Southeast Asia; and Nicholas Lim, Manager, Market Planning, International Group.
It marks the first direct partnership between STB and Agoda globally headquartered in Singapore to boost travel demand as border restrictions lift in the region.
“With this partnership, we are glad to lend our insights and innovative marketing to help STB optimise footfall to our home base,” said Agoda director Enric Casals.
Singapore Tourism Board executive director John Gregory Conceicao added: “Through this partnership, and with the insights and knowledge that each partner brings to the table, we can reach a wider audience and invite them to rediscover Singapore and our vibrant neighbourhoods, variety of delicious food and unique attractions.”
From its beginnings as an e-commerce start-up based in Singapore in 2005, digital travel platform Agoda has grown to offer a global network of over 2.5 million properties in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. Headquartered in Singapore, Agoda is part of Booking Holdings (Nasdaq: BKNG) and employs over 4,000 staff in 30 countries.


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Global streaming giant Netflix has stepped up its hunt for professionals as they look to move ahead in pursuit of its dream of making it big in the Cloud gaming sector taking head on some of the biggest players like Sony PlayStation Now, Google Stadia, Apple Arcade, and Amazon Luna.
According to Protocol, the leading streaming platform is open to hiring a security product manager with expertise in handling ‘cloud gaming challenges’, a rendering that can support Netflix’s ‘cloud gaming service’, and other related positions at the company.
Although Netflix’s ‘Stranger Things’ themed games have done well, their recently launched mobile games like ‘Into the Breach’ and ‘Before Your Eyes’ have garnered abysmal ratings with only 1 percent of Netflix’s subscriber base indulging in the mobile games. App analytics company Apptopia estimated an average of only 1.7 million people engaging with the games daily which is less than 1 percent of Netflix’s over 221 million subscribers.
Netflix is venturing into cloud-based gaming to expand its wings in the gaming sector
The streaming giants wish to launch at least 50 fresh gaming titles by the end of the year in a bid to relaunch themselves in the online gaming marketplace and while the mobile games have not panned out exactly as they wanted to, the cloud-based gaming service might help them grab attention, especially targeting the younger generation.
“Cloud gaming makes a lot of sense for Netflix. Not only would it allow the company to bring its games to the TV screen without having to rely on game consoles alone, the cloud is also an environment Netflix is very familiar with,” the report mentioned.
Netflix has leveled up its game in the gaming sector since November last year, rolling out games in between show releases to keep the audience engaged. The games need to be downloaded as separate apps from the play store but are only accessible to Netflix subscribers. Netflix has revealed American video game and software developer and publisher Epic Games and video hosting service TikTok among its biggest rivals.


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Over 50 % of smartphones offered in India in 2021 have been purchased on-line in comparison with greater than one-third final 12 months, as per a report. This shift in buying development is attributed to the prolonged presence of COVID-19, and excessive variety of casualties throughout its second wave in 2021. The report additionally mentioned that the shoppers purchased extra smartphones (15 %) belonging to inexpensive premium and premium segments (priced Rs. 30,000 and above) in 2021 as in comparison with final 12 months (7 %).
Based on Counterpoint Analysis’s Market Lens shopper survey, restrictions on motion throughout COVID-19 compelled many offline shoppers to buy telephones on-line. In 2020, 63 % of shoppers bought smartphones from offline channels as in comparison with 37 % in 2021. Final 12 months, 47 % purchased their handsets from on-line channels as in comparison with 53 % this 12 months.
Moreover, “The reverse migration of data employees from massive cities to smaller cities and cities additionally performed a key function in popularizing on-line channels,” the analysis agency mentioned. Moreover, particular provides, number of selections, and pricing are just a few extra causes which compelled individuals to favor on-line channels for smartphone buy.
Apparently, there was additionally a shift within the supply of data on smartphones. Shoppers relied extra on YouTubers in addition to influencers and never on phrase of mouth and buddies/household to make a smartphone buying choice this 12 months. Equally, on-line opinions and articles have been additionally neglected in favour of comparability web sites and TV advertisements whereas making smartphone buying choices.
As talked about, prospects purchased smartphones belonging to inexpensive premium and premium segments as a result of they saved extra because of make money working from home scenario. “The smartphone has turn out to be an important a part of life with the rise in digital connectivity. Consequently, there’s a motion available in the market, with a good portion of smartphone customers seeking to buy their subsequent smartphone from the next worth band,” the market analysis agency mentioned.


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The investigators at dealnews shopped the aisles of a Borders in New York City before and after the announcement that all remaining Borders stores would be liquidated. Of the 25 items on its shopping list, 19 were cheaper the week before the store posted “everything must go” prices. Five other items were listed at the same price before and after the so-called sale began.
In other words, customers would have been better off buying books like Water for Elephants and Too Big to Fail before Borders announced liquidation sales—the books cost $10.47 and $12.60 before the sale started, and $13.46 and $16.20 afterward, respectively. Other books, like Bossypants and Unbroken, were listed at the same price regardless of the timing ($18.89 and $18.90 respectively).
What’s more, none of these prices are particularly good anyway. Before and since Borders’ liquidation process began, the prices for all of these books have been cheaper at Amazon and Walmart.
Borders Can’t Even Get a Liquidation Sale Right
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HOUSTON -- Crooks broke in through the roof of a business in the 3500 block of Lockwood and it was caught on surveillance camera.
They've also been known to smash through walls and the employees at the Lockwood Shopping Center have had enough.
We're just fed up with it, the bad guys, said Regina Smith who works at Extraordinary Wear Clothing store.
In the past two years, owners estimate that there have been 15 break-ins and three in the past three months.
The guy who slithered through the roof into the Extraordinary Wear clothing store with a bag in his hand was Thursday morning.
Don't nobody wanna be here, said Chandria Gasper who also works at the clothing store. What if they come in on us.
The crooks got away with mostly merchandise and it's the mess that adds insult to injury.
What they leave behind...the damage this is the problem, said Saeed Ahmed who owns A&R Supermarket.
Scars from past break-ins are just part of the landscape and everyone wants that to change.
Out of sheer desperation, the owners of all of these businesses are pitching to hire a private security guard.
The owner of this property is going one step beyond that and is offering a $1,000 dollar reward for anyone with information that can help solve these break-ins.
Because they always strike at the same time and use the same mode to break-in, the strip mall owners believes it could be the same men.
They're simply asking you to stop by one of the shops and tell them what you know before it becomes too expensive to stay open.


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Michigan football program sells about 86 percent of its Sugar Bowl tickets
It is likely the Michigan football program will not sell out its allotment of 17,500 tickets for next week's Sugar Bowl.
The Wolverines' sales have held steady the past few days at about 15,000, a spokesman said Tuesday afternoon. They sold about 14,000 tickets in the first two days after its matchup against Virginia Tech was announced.
The game will be played at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday on ESPN.
The secondary market could be hurting sales. Tickets still can be had on StubHub for as low as $14.50. The only remaining price bracket through the school's allotment go for $125.
For as much trouble as the Wolverines have had getting rid of their remaining tickets, Virginia Tech has had it worse. After selling about 10,000 tickets, the school and the ACC announced Tuesday they had combined to purchase 4,000 "proxy tickets" — that is, tickets that will be used by others in New Orleans.
The school said the tickets would go to military personnel in the area.


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Webinar: Developing a Strong Digital Fraud Detection Strategy in 2023by Fintech News Singapore March 10, 2023
With over 41% of the top 100 global fintech innovators originating with the region, it comes as no surprise that APAC is home to the highest growing fintech industry in the world.
Unfortunately, with this proliferation and growth comes a significant surge in fraud. In 2022 alone, one in four APAC consumers fell victim to fraud – and that figure is even higher in South East Asia (SEA), with one in three consumers reporting online fraud.
Worse still, according to the Global Banking Fraud Survey, over half of respondents recover less than 25% of their fraud losses.
Protection against fintech fraud must be viewed as a form of corporate social responsibility amongst financial service providers.
Customers demand seamless onboarding and secure transactions; any hint of unnecessary friction will send them packing.
A strong digital fraud detection strategy demands striking a balance; innovative, intuitive, multi-layered technology that rewards good customers with a streamlined experience, while flagging high-risk sign-ups.
Thankfully, there are partners on hand to help. Data deployment platform Demyst and global identity insights solution provider Ekata, a Mastercard company, recently hosted a webinar outlining the challenges the financial services industry face in protecting itself against fraud in a time of ever-evolving social and economic upheaval.
Discover what Ekata’s VP in APAC, Nicholas Stipp, and Scott Albin, International and Chief Strategy Officer, Demyst have to say about mitigating account take over, phishing attacks, synthetic identity fraud, syndicate fraud and more.
Hint? It’s all about automating your verification workflows to quickly (and accurately) validate digital identities. Better still, get the low-down on how to better know your attacker; their tactics, their techniques, and their weaknesses.