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In a sign that the rare book trade is heading up again, Scholium Group recently announced that the company has turned a profit again for its most recent half-year. Scholium is the parent of Shapero Rare Books, which is the largest of the three businesses they own. Business was brisk for Shapero, which accounts for most of the group's turnaround.
Scholium had been struggling the past few years but had finally turned the corner again heading into 2020 when Covid disrupted their, and just about everyone else's, plans. Losses mounted up as they had to close their London showroom and book fairs, an important part of their business, shut down. The good results are perhaps somewhat surprising because the time period for which the company returned to profitability was the six months running from April 1 through September 30, 2021. While Covid-related restrictions were reduced, and many people took to letting it less affect their lives, it has hardly disappeared, and live book fairs remained closed during that period. This was an excellent report and good news, though we now await more word on this latest variant of Covid recently to emerge from South Africa.
Scholium reported that sales for the six month period were up 35% over the same period a year ago. This was primarily due to “significantly higher sales at Shapero Rare Books,” where the increase was 40%. Sales for the six months at Shapero were £3,814,000 (US $5,089,000). This was up from £2,730,000 for 2020, and also up from £2,898,000 in 2019 before the pandemic. The result was the Group made a pre-tax profit of £135,000 (US $180,000) vs. a loss of £158,000 last year.
Scholium also reported a small increase in its inventories, up £155,000 from last year, attributable to purchases slightly exceeding sales. They now stand at £8,895,000 (US $11,862,000). They added that Shapero “has continued a re-balancing of its stock between rare books and prints to enable it to increase its sales of prints in the future.” It also looks to reduce inventories “as part of a process towards its business towards consignments from third parties for either retail or auction sales.”
Commenting on the firm's performance, recently appointed Chairman David Harland said, “We are pleased the Group has traded profitably, despite the cancellation of books and other trade fairs and the enforced closure of the shop for some of the period. The Group has recovered well from the restrictions imposed by Covid 19. The Group remains focussed on maximising sales through online and other channels as well as its premises, and is welcoming the return to London of visitors from overseas, in particular the United States.”
Looking to the future, Scholium said, “The Group is continuing to focus its efforts on its various online platforms, as well as maintaining contact with clients remotely via email and telephone. This has now been augmented with face to face contact in the Group's premises and at trade fairs with clients now able to travel with fewer restrictions. Looking forward, the Group is viewing its trading for the second half of the year with optimism.”


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Every major automobile manufacturer offers models that support CarPlay, or is planning to introduce them
"Chevrolet" news, interviews, and features
News about Chevrolet
GM today announced it will be rolling out a "Teen Driver" system that will allow parents to see data about their teens' driving time, from ...
Audi claims to be first automaker to offer 4G in its cars
The next model in the in iconic range will feature an advanced telemetry system from Cosworth

domain: news


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Overall Australian retail turnover in March 2018 was relatively unchanged (0.0 per cent) in seasonally adjusted terms, following a 0.6 per cent rise in February 2018.
Ben James, ABS Director of Quarterly Economy Wide Surveys, said: “While there was a rise in food retailing of 0.7 per cent in March 2018 all other industries fell – cafes, restaurants and takeaways (-0.8 per cent) led the falls, but other retailing (-0.6 per cent), household goods retailing (-0.3 per cent), department stores (-0.5 per cent) and clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing (-0.2 per cent) also fell.”
In seasonally adjusted terms, there were falls in New South Wales (-0.1 per cent), Queensland (-0.2 per cent), Western Australia (-0.1 per cent) and Tasmania (-0.3 per cent). Retail trade in Victoria (0.2 per cent), the Australian Capital Territory (1.5 per cent), South Australia (0.2 per cent) and the Northern Territory (0.1 per cent) rose.
The trend estimate for Australian retail turnover rose 0.3 per cent in March 2018, following a rise (0.3 per cent) in February 2018. Compared to March 2017, the trend estimate rose 2.6 per cent.
Online retail turnover contributed 5.1 per cent to total retail turnover – up from 3.7 per cent a year ago – in original terms in March 2018.
In seasonally adjusted volume terms, turnover rose 0.2 per cent in the March quarter 2018, following a rise of 0.8 per cent in the December quarter 2017. The rise in volumes was led by food (0.7 per cent), household goods (1.2 per cent) and clothing, footwear and personal accessories (1.1 per cent).


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The U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission today dinged an outside investor relations executive with insider trading charges, accusing Kevin McGrath of Cameron Assoc. of "trading on confidential information he learned about two clients while he helped prepare their press releases."
The Limerick, Pa.-based medical device company said its "preliminary financial goals" for 2013 are for sales growth of 11%-13% and adjusted EPS of $4.70-$4.90.
Farmingdale, N.Y.-based Misonix posted profits of $366,000, or 5¢ per share, on sales of $1.7 million for the 12 months ended June 30 – for a 26.7% top-line gain that helped Misonix swing from a $3.5 million loss during its last fiscal year.
The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based radiosurgery device maker reported losses of $14.9 million, or 21¢ per share, on sales of $101.8 million during the 3 months ended March 31.
Globus Medical filed for an initial public offering yesterday, saying it’s planning a reverse split of its existing stock just before the IPO launches.
The Audubon, Pa.-based orthopedic device maker, which ran afoul of the FDA last month, said it hopes to trade under the "GMED" ticker on the New York Stock Exchange.


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Hapag Llyod Installs 7,00,000 Tracking Devices in The Global Smart Container Fleet
Hapag Llyod, a leading global shipping company, marks a significant moment in creating the world's largest smart container fleet by installing its 700,000th tracking device.
This digitalization of the fleets will help track the containers, transmit data on a timely basis, and monitor any sudden container activities, making the supply chain more accessible and transparent.
"We are proud to be at the forefront of the digitalization of container shipping," said Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd.
Our "Smart Container Fleet" initiative aims to revolutionize the sector and establish new benchmarks for customer service and supply-chain transparency.
Dr Volker Wissing, the federal minister of digital and transportation, installed a device on a Hapag-Lloyd container on Monday to commemorate the occasion.
"It is our vision to build the world's smartest container fleet and provide valuable information to our customers at the frequency they need", states Olaf Habert, Director of Container Applications at Hapag Lloyd.
The tracking device, designed with the latest energy harvesting technology, will ensure a longer lifetime and high-frequency data transmission.
The company plans to install tracking devices on its fleet of 1.6 million dry and reefer containers by the beginning of 2024.


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February 5, 2015 – Today the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission approved a notice of intent to establish the Louisiana Catch and Cook Program, a program where permitted retail food establishments will be able to prepare certain recreational fish caught by properly licensed fishermen. Rules and regulations, penalties, terms, conditions and requirements will apply to those food establishments and fishermen participating in the program.
To view the Notice of Intent, as passed by the LWFC in its entirety, click here:
The Department of Wildlife and Fisheries is charged with managing and protecting Louisiana's abundant natural resources. For more information, visit us at www.wlf.louisiana.gov on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ldwffb or follow us on Twitter @LDWF.


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Retail demand for safer products is not only here to stay – it’s now a source of competition in the evolving marketplace. Amazon is the latest retailer to join Walmart, Target, CVS Health, Home Depot, and Rite-Aid by publishing a chemicals policy and a public Restricted Substances List. Amazon and several of the above-mentioned retailers represent half of the top ten retailers in the US. Amazon’s new policy is a big deal: not only is Amazon the third largest retailer by sales in the US, it is the first primarily ecommerce retailer to create a chemicals policy. Ecommerce represents a challenge in terms of implementing such a policy, but as shoppers increasingly turn to online retailers for many of their purchasing needs, this also presents a major opportunity to increase the availability of safer products.
Oh what a week it has been!
Trying to turn away from the political polarization and fracturing civility in this country, I looked elsewhere in the news and found something even worse…dire warnings for our planet.
Two reports in the news this week ring the alarm bell on climate change. The first report is from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), written and edited by 91 scientists from 40 countries. As the New York Times reports, it “describes a world of worsening food shortages and wildfires, and a mass die-off of coral reefs as soon as 2040 — a period well within the lifetime of much of the global population.”
As a kid, one of my favorite things was a Moon Cake, which I'd get to eat during the Mid-Autumn Festival in China (taking place next week). It's a day of celebrating family reunion and harvest, where the entire country throws parties, comes together and gives homage to the full moon. I’ll always jump at the opportunity to eat a Moon Cake, but this time there’s something else worth celebrating this year: the progress being made on corporate sustainability in China.
This year marks the 5th year anniversary of expanding EDF Climate Corps into China. What started as 6 fellows in 5 companies, has grown to nearly 60 fellows into over 20 companies. With that we’ve seen tens of millions of dollars in potential savings from energy efficiency improvements. But before I jump into how corporate sustainability in China has advanced, let me tell you why we made the decision to expand there.
EDF Climate Corps: welcome to China
As the world’s two largest greenhouse gas emitters, China and the U.S. are receiving increased attention on their cooperative efforts to save energy and curtail climate pollution. EDF has set a goal to help China with its rising CO2 emissions. So we thought: what better way to do this than enlisting the help of bright, young, talented graduate students?
In the five years since we first brought EDF Climate Corps to China, I’ve watched as the scope and breadth of projects – by both multinational and Chinese-owned companies – has evolved alongside the nation’s sustainability efforts. I’ll show you how.
The evolution of corporate sustainability in China
In our first year, the companies we worked with were for the most part after one thing: energy audit projects in factory settings. It was about plucking the low-hanging energy fruit at one specific site (upgrading lighting or air compressor systems, etc.). And I should note, it was only multinational companies we were working with – headquartered in the U.S., with factories overseas.
Fast forward to today, while factory-based energy efficiency projects are still in our pipeline, they’re no longer the main focus. More companies are making larger sustainability goals, looking to pursue projects beyond energy efficiency.
I’ve identified a few trends in China’s corporate sustainability landscape:
- Improving energy efficiency and scaling solutions. Energy efficiency remains and important and effective way to reduce carbon footprints. But instead of one-off projects, it’s about scaling opportunities both across portfolios of factories and sharing with other companies in similar industries. The results bring enormous ROI, and give a competitive advantage to companies. Pacific Market International (PMI) hired an EDF Climate Corps fellow to improve the energy efficiency of one of its glass suppliers. The fellow developed an energy management strategy, which included recommendations to reduce energy use, such as optimizing washing and dying processes, that can be scaled across the entire manufacturing industry.
- Setting ambitious targets. More companies are concentrating their efforts around data collection, analysis, verification, and reporting. More data is critical for identifying reduction opportunities, managing suppliers and communicating sustainability efforts. This year, MAHLE hired an EDF Climate Corps fellow to build the framework for its first-ever sustainability report, which included specific energy reduction goals, covering categories such as: product innovation and development, energy saving and green production, employee care, and social responsibility.
- Complying with China’s environmental policies. In recent years, China’s political landscape around climate has become much more stringent, giving companies a choice: work with it, or be fined. Working with policies can reduce costs, avoid risk, demonstrate leadership, and attract stakeholders. This year, an EDF Climate Corps fellow recommended an environmental engagement plan for IKEA’s suppliers to mitigate regulatory risk – mainly around areas such as coal burning, GHG emissions, wastewater treatment, and solid waste – across its entire supply chain in China. We also hosted two webinars on environmental law interpretations and corporate compliance that garnered a lot of interest from our hosts (a recording for this year’s webinar can be found here for those that are interested in learning more).
- Adopting green supply chain initiatives. Companies are looking to reduce the emissions of their global supply chains, and they’re working with their suppliers to do so. This is true for both small and medium-sized manufactures, as well as multinationals. As part of its Project Gigaton (reducing GHG emissions in its supply chain by one gigaton), Walmart enlisted two EDF Climate Corps fellows in its Global Sourcing division to identify products that have the potential to reduce significant GHGs. Walmart now has a better understanding of what products need to be upgraded, how to reach its reduction goals and how to incentive more suppliers to participate in the effort.
As I enjoy my Moon Cake next week for this year's Mid-Autumn Festival, I'll be celebrating the long way we've come in corporate sustainability over these past five years. But, I'll also be thinking about the long road ahead of us.
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Walmart and Unilever made big news at this week’s Global Climate Action Summit. With forest loss still on the rise (the highest levels of tropical tree cover loss occurred in the last two years), these two consumer-product giants just committed to taking big, concrete steps toward addressing the complex reality of global deforestation.
At the center of their commitments are critical actions in support of jurisdictional approaches, which encourage companies that source deforestation-related agricultural commodities to collaborate with local governments, communities, and producers in their sourcing region. Through these collaborations, jurisdictional approaches ensure that local laws, regional efforts, and corporate policies work in concert to reduce deforestation across entire landscapes.
Companies with forest goals coming due – and there are hundreds of them – should take note, for three big reasons:
Recent research on corporate sustainability indicates that companies still have a long journey ahead in order to meet their sustainability goals. Only four percent of companies recently surveyed by Bain & Company feel that they’ve succeeded in achieving their sustainability goals, while 47% feel that they’ve failed altogether.
These numbers might seem discouraging to some, but not to me. I’ve been in the sustainability space for over five years, working primarily in supply chains, and over this time, I’ve learned that the first step to success is acknowledging where you’re starting from. I’m also encouraged by EDF+Business, which has been helping companies meet their supply chain goals for over 25 years. These numbers show me that more and more companies are doing the hard work of evaluating and reporting on their own operations and supply chains. If you’re a sustainability officer at a large multinational corporation, we know that this can be a daunting task. However, you should relish the fact that you have the opportunity to make meaningful change on a huge scale. It just takes some focus, and the right business strategy.
As a working mother, I often have to multi-task. Recently, as I watched my toddler push his food around his plate, I caught up on last week’s news that Fortune had released its annual “Change the World” list of top companies using the profit motive to help the planet and tackle social problems.
About 10 percent of this list consists of corporate leaders who are thinking critically about the challenge to feed our world in a sustainable way without destroying our planet, including companies like Kroger (#6), Walmart (#16), Tyson Foods (#44), McDonald’s (#50) and PepsiCo (#57). These companies know that a thriving community requires a fed community.
While I’m thankful to Fortune for sharing best practices from these incredible, game-changing companies, I’m also painfully aware that the corporate sector at large has a lot more work to do: a recent survey by Bain & Company found that only four percent of companies feel that they’ve succeeded in achieving their sustainability goals, while 47 percent feel that they’ve failed altogether.
Speaking as both a mother and a sustainable supply chain specialist, that’s simply not good enough. We are already facing the massive challenge of producing even more food with fewer inputs. We are already facing increasingly variable weather. And in just a few decades, our planet will be home to 2 billion more people to feed.
What’s my point? Next year, food and agriculture companies, I want to see more of you on Fortune’s list. So to help you on this quest, I’m officially issuing you a two-part challenge:
Over the last 15 years, an impressive number of companies have set ambitious forest targets in their supply chains. As of September 2017, more than 470 companies in the food and agriculture sector have pledged to eliminate deforestation from their supply chains. The Consumer Goods Forum – a group of 400 global companies with over $3.1 trillion in assets – for example, pledged to achieve zero net deforestation by 2020.
I spend my days thinking about how companies can use their market power to improve our environment and health. Companies are motivated to lead on sustainability for a number of reasons including cost savings, risk management and improved reputation. Additionally, the stakeholders companies most want to impress are their customers and shareholders, which studies show care deeply when it comes to sustainability. In fact, in a 2017 Morgan Stanley survey, 75 percent of investors said they are interested in sustainable investing and 71 percent believe companies with leading sustainability practices may be better long-term investments. Given this, companies are increasingly talking about their sustainability efforts.
An example of such a company is Walmart, who recently hosted its annual shareholder meetings in the form of a formal business meeting and an event for associates and shareholders. As a sustainability professional, I was pleased to see both meetings highlight sustainability as a key strategy for Walmart moving forward.
In a rare move by two fierce competitors, Walmart and Target brought together stakeholders from across the U.S. beauty and personal care (BPC) industry in 2014 to drive safer, more sustainable products. This was bold considering that there was no consensus on the basic definition of product sustainability in an industry estimated at over $80 billion. After three years, a core group of eighteen organizations across the BPC value chain, including the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), released the first science-based scorecard of 32 key performance indicators (KPIs), marking the most sweeping market demand signal for safer and more sustainable beauty and personal care products yet.
Why does this matter?
Beauty and personal care consumers increasingly care about the health and environmental impacts of the products they buy. A vast majority of 87 percent of consumers globally prefer products with “no harsh chemicals or toxins.” Millennial women are also driving demand for more sustainable products. To address this gap, Forum for the Future worked together with The Sustainability Consortium to facilitate the three year mission to “shift the beauty and personal care product sector into a more sustainable, thriving and resilient industry that serves the needs of people and planet both now and in the future.”
Last week The Home Depot published an update to their Chemical Strategy that expands their commitments to now cover household cleaning chemical products. They are asking suppliers to remove and exclude nine chemicals from these products by 2022. This commitment builds on their strategy first published in October 2017, which targeted chemicals of concern in flooring, carpet, insulation, and paints. Adding cleaning products to that portfolio builds on The Home Depot’s commitment to tackle products that impact the quality of indoor air. This commitment is important considering we spend 80% of our time indoors and many of the chemicals we are exposed to inside are linked to the development of asthma, among other health issues.
The Home Depot’s updated strategy is a move in the right direction for cleaning products. While they previously highlighted environmentally preferred products through the Eco Options® certification program, this commitment will impact all cleaning products sold in stores and online. This means more consumers will be able to bring safer products into their homes.
Retailers are increasingly aligning to eliminate or reduce these 9 harmful chemicals


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Fintech Startup Pickright Technologies Raises $200,000 In Funding Led By JITO Angel Network
AI-enabled fintech startup Pickright Technologies has raised $200,000 in a funding round led by JITO Angel Network (JAN).
The funding round also saw participation from Mumbai Angels and a consortium of other angels.
As per the startup, it plans to use the funds for marketing, creating tech, and specifically, to create awareness on the importance of investing right and early for maximum returns in a structured organised fashion.
Started by Namandeep Bhatia and Archana Elapavuluri in 2019, Pickright Technologies is a financial platform to help people grow and manage money across Mutual Funds, Equities, Gold, etc., in a single click.
The startup was launched with the aim to position itself as “a financial assistant in your pocket.”
Talking about the platform, Archana Elapavuluri, Co-founder of Pickright Technologies, said,
“Our tech platform is ready, and within the launching of the platform, we have early adaptors. We are working with different discount brokers and other partners on how we can partner and scale the same. With 30K users on the platform and doubling MoM, we are quite excited and ready to enjoy our journey of wealth creation.”
Using AI/ML-based algorithm, the fintech startup creates curated diversified portfolios for every user based on user profiling while allowing them to invest what they are eligible for month-on-month across asset classes.
Need legal assistance for your startup? Just contact us.


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Census 2000 Releases National Statistics on Foreign-Languages Spoken in US Households: Chinese Now Ranked #2 in the Nation after Spanish, up from #4 in 1990. Four of Top-10 Languages Now Spoken in US are Asian.
In late September, the Census Bureau published national statistics highlighting the prevalence of foreign-languages spoken in US households by persons age 5 years and over. While Spanish remains the most prevalent foreign language spoken in the US, Chinese is now ranked #2 in the nation, overtaking French and German since the last Census in 1990. 81% of Chinese-Americans now report that they speak Chinese at home.
"The dramatic increase in Chinese as a foreign language spoken in US households is completely consistent with the strong growth of the US Chinese population which has already been documented by Census 2000," says Saul Gitlin, Executive Vice mPresident of Strategic Services at Kang & Lee Advertising. "As Chinese-American population growth since 1990 has been predominantly driven by new immigration to the US, it follows that Chinese language usage in the country should increase correspondingly. It is also interesting to note that four of the top-ten most prevalent languages spoken in US households are now Asian, and each has improved its national ranking since 1990," Gitlin notes. Besides Chinese, Tagalog - the language of the Philippines - is now ranked #5, up from #7 in 1990; Vietnamese is now ranked #6, up from #12 in 1990; and Korean is now ranked #8, up from #9 in 1990.
In the corporate arena, the increased prevalence of Asian language usage in US households has obvious implications for the way marketers communicate with Asian consumers across the country. "Asians have one of the most attractive demographic profiles of any audience in the US. Not only are Asians the fastest growing racial group in the US (49% population growth in the last 10 years), but they also boast the highest median household income ($9000 ahead of Caucasian households), the highest level of educational attainment, and one of the highest rates of entrepreneurial activity. Furthermore, the bulk of the Asian market is concentrated in just a handful of DMAs, allowing for highly targeted and cost-efficient outreach to this audience," says Gitlin. As marketers seek to tap these demographics, they will now need to pay even more attention to the role that Asian language communications and media strategies must now play to achieve maximum reach to, and relevance for, Asian consumers. "The good news is that with the growth in Asian language usage reported in the Census, we have seen a corollary explosive growth of Asian language media vehicles in the United States that serve the informational and entertainment needs of the Asian population. There are now more than 500 distinct Asian media outlets available across the country which marketers can avail themselves of to reach the Asian population," Gitlin notes.
While categories such as telecommunications and financial services have been very active in the Asian American market and media arena for the last 15 years, there are still enormous opportunities being quietly left on the table for a wide variety of marketers in the US. One example is evident from abundant research which demonstrates that Asians have the highest home computer penetration of any group in the US and are the most mature and active users of the internet. Such data points to tremendous opportunities for marketers of personal computers, software, internet access services such as DSL, and web-based products and offers. Similarly, the notably strong consumption by Asians of a broad range of packaged goods products, combined with the emergence of major Asian supermarket chains in key regions of the US, presents new opportunities for a wide range of packaged goods categories - from food, to beverage, to household products. "These categories and many others still remain largely inactive in targeting Asians," says Gitlin. "However, as they begin to turn their attention to this market, careful consideration and development of linguistically and culturally meaningful communications will give them the best chances for success."


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2015: TWP Receives The 2015 Enterprise 50 Award
Posted On Mon, 26 October 2015
The Wok People is proud to be the recipient of the 2015 Enterprise 50 Award.
This award, first establish in 1995, is jointly organised by The Business Times and KPMG, supported by the International Enterprise Singapore, Singapore Business Federation and SPRING Singapore.
It recognises local, privately-held companies who have contributed to economic development in Singapore and abroad.
We would like to share this joy with all and express our heartiest thanks to all Vendors and Clients for your great support, to make this possible.


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For over 80 years, Kohler has been delivering exceptional quality
power, performance and continued innovation, and its Small Frame
Engine range is no exception.
The Kohler Command PRO 7-14 range offers performance
enhancing features including heavy duty air cleaners, forged steel
crankshafts, advanced ignition module, and cast-iron cylinder bore
liner, making the Command PRO family of engines the standard for
professional-grade power and
These powerful all-rounders
are available in 7, 9.5 and 14
Horsepower and comes with gear
reduction options which provide
higher torque with fewer RPM’s,
making these engines suitable for
a wide range of applications and
OUR FRONT COVER SHOWS…
Volume 37No. 3 June - July 2016www.power-equipment.com.au
Tropical Forestry Services'Operations
Quinta do LagoGolfCourseMaintenance
GALABAU 2016 SET FOR
From September 14 -17 this year, GaLaBau, the leading
International Trade Fair for Urban Green and Open Spaces
will once again be exhibiting the latest products and services
for the industry. Based in the exhibition centre inNuremberg,
Germany, the trade fair is for all those who plan, build and
maintain gardens, parks, open spaces, sports grounds, play
grounds and golf courses.
Preparations for GaLaBau have been encouraging for
organisers, with almost twice as many companies registered
to exhibit than the previous fair in 2014.
“Of course, the exact number of exhibitorswill not be known
until the fair takes place, but we are expecting around 1400
international companies,” said event organiser, StefanDittrich.
Attendees of the 2016 fair can expect to see a few new
features in response to growing trends and developments.
For example, in response to the trend of the horticulturalist/
landscaper acting as a lifestyle adviser for clients, GaLaBau
will be running a smaller presentation of individually
designed garden set ups for the industry to explore.
As always, the popular Meeting Point Gold will remain
as a key feature of the trade fair to act as a meeting place
for greenkeepers and golf course managers. There will also
be presentation areas showcasing maintenance and soil-processing
machinery including lawnmowers, excavators, shredders and small
construction machines on real lawns and soil.
“For many years GaLaBau has been the leading trade fair in
Europe,” Mr Dittrich said.
“The European industry is continuing to do well and we are
feeling this through the increasing internationalisation of the event.”
With a high quality of both exhibitors and visitors alike and
preparations well under way, GaLaBau looks set to continue its
success as one of the industry’s best trade fairs.
QUEENSLAND GARDEN EXPO 2016
The Queensland Garden Expo will be held from July 8-10 this
year. The three day expo expects to attract over 35,000 visitors
across Australia and New Zealand and will display plants and
gardening innovations from over 360 exhibitors. A full program
of free lectures and demonstrations will take place on eight ‘live’
stages every day to educate attendees on a variety of gardening
topics and problems. Held at Coronation Avenue, Nambour,
the Queensland Garden Expo is designed for professional and
novice gardeners alike.
Queensland Garden Expowww.qldgardenexpo.com.au/
KUMHO TYRE WINS RED DOT AWARD
Kumho Tyre has announced that the Australian tested Road
Venture MT51, and K-Silent Tyre have received Red Dot
Awards in the product
design category for
2016. This is the fifth
year in a row that
Kumho Tyre have won
Held by the Design
Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen in Germany since 1955, the
Red Dot Design Award honours winners in three categories;
product, communication and concept. It is recognised as one of
the world’s top three design awards.
Stefan Dittrich and his team of organisers expect around 1400 international
companies to attend GaLaBau 2016.
JUNE - JULY 2016 |
POWER EQUIPMENT AUSTRALASIA


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ActiveCampaign, the leader in Customer Experience Automation (CXA), closed out 2021 with 200% employee count growth, a significant milestone for any global company. Heading into 2022, the company is investing heavily in expanding its employee, partner and customer ecosystem in LATAM by establishing its physical presence in the region.
ActiveCampaign is opening its first hub in Latin America in Florianopolis, Brazil this quarter, which follows the company’s commitment to investing in both Brazil and the greater LATAM region. Florianopolis was selected because of the combined high concentration of talent, entrepreneurs and strong tech ecosystem. The hub will be at Primavera Office, where many local tech start-ups are based. ActiveCampaign anticipates hiring up to thirty employees during the first half of 2022 that will report into this hub.
Part of ActiveCampaign’s physical expansion includes a strong commitment to creating jobs for Latin Americans this year. In 2021 alone, the company celebrated surpassing 1,000 employees worldwide, with the new LATAM team envisioned as a large part of ActiveCampaign’s continuing growth. ActiveCampaign’s hiring boom in general can be attributed to the company’s dynamic package of total perks and benefits, which includes equity for all employees, open paid time off, a quarterly work from home stipend, a one-month sabbatical for employees approaching their five year anniversary and more.
ActiveCampaign has experienced tremendous growth in other areas across LATAM this year as well, with highlights including:
- Localizing the platform and content beyond English to the most widely-used languages in LATAM, Portuguese and Spanish. This investment in localization speaks to ActiveCampaign’s commitment to customer success around the world.
- Saving customers an average of 20 hours per month using ActiveCampaign’s automations tools, which means these customers can spend more time building 1:1 relationships with their customers and ultimately powering their growth, which proves the power of ActiveCampaign CXA.
- Securing $240 million in funding at a valuation of over $3 billion, making it one of the most valuable private SaaS companies in the world.
“We continue to expand in LATAM because of the incredible talent, growing businesses and strong partnerships the region holds,” said Jason VandeBoom, founder and CEO of ActiveCampaign. “Putting down physical roots in Brazil was important to us this year in order to provide both our regional employees and customers with additional support.”
“ActiveCampaign has played a key role in our sales processes, thanks to automations. In the last twelve months, ArTea’s sales have increased by 300%,” said Gabriel Moreno, Co-Founder of ArTea. “ActiveCampaign is like an extension of me because it simplifies the work of clients a lot while still being personalized. I still feel that I am the one who sends the emails.”
“We’re thrilled to support the continued growth of ActiveCampaign in the LATAM region as a key agency partner because we see first hand how valuable customer experience automation is to the businesses we both serve,” said Felipe Malgero, founder of InboxAcademy. “We look forward to helping more businesses grow in the region by partnering with ActiveCampaign.”
- The CXA Platform
- Partner Programs
- Tomorrow’s Business is Yours to Create
- The Secret to ActiveCampaign’s Growth
- Customer Success Commitment
- Growth Decoded
- Customer Stories
- Open Positions
- Ambassador Program
ActiveCampaign’s category-defining Customer Experience Automation Platform (CXA) helps over 150,000 businesses in 170 countries meaningfully engage with their customers. The platform gives businesses of all sizes access to 750+ pre-built automations that combine email marketing, marketing automation and CRM for powerful segmentation and personalization across social, email, messaging, chat and text. Over 70% of ActiveCampaign’s customers use its 870+ integrations including Microsoft, Shopify, Square, Facebook, and Salesforce. ActiveCampaign scores higher in customer satisfaction than any other solution in Marketing Automation, CRM, and E-Commerce Personalization on G2.com and is the Top Rated Marketing Automation Software on TrustRadius. Pricing starts at just $9/month. Start a free trial at ActiveCampaign.com.


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The revolutionary Ferrari FF has made its New Zealand and Australian debut in Queenstown, with prospective owners driving the car for the first time on challenging roads around the South Island city.
Kevin Wall, general manager of Ferrari in New Zealand and Australia - and a Kiwi - explained that Queenstown had everything that was needed to demonstrate the $635,000 Ferrari FF's prodigious abilities.
"Queenstown was an easy choice as the launch venue for the Ferrari FF for both our New Zealand and Australian clients," he said.
"We had a superb choice of venues from which to base our launch programme, with good links for flights to and from both New Zealand and Australia, the roads are some of the finest places to drive in the world and the ... scenery is remarkable.
"But more than that, we were able to show that the Ferrari FF offers not just supercar performance, it is able to do so under a range of road and weather conditions that would have been previously unthinkable.
"At the same time, its spacious and luxurious interior means that the Ferrari has the ability for two people to take a long holiday and have room for all their luggage, or four people may go away for a long weekend.
"No other car can offer this range of abilities and Queenstown demonstrated clearly and unequivocally to our valued clients that the Ferrari FF is a new benchmark for a supercar."
The first deliveries of the Ferrari FF will start in January and, no doubt, the new owners will be looking at Queenstown as a likely holiday destination.


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* FTSE 100 up 2.3 pct, best day in 8 months
* FTSE 250 up 2.2 pct
* Oil majors biggest boosts
* All sectors close in the black
* Music retailer HMV to enter administration
By Muvija M and Shashwat Awasthi
Dec 28 (Reuters) - British shares leaped off multi-year lowson Friday boosted by initial relief spilling over from theUnited States, where stocks sprang back on Thursday followingsteep losses as a turbulent 2018 neared its end.
The FTSE 100 .FTSE was up 2.27 percent and the FTSE 250 .FTMC was up 2.19 percent, with just one more trading day leftin the year. All sectors bagged gains with the FTSE 100recording its best day since April.
Both indexes had sunk to their lowest in more than two yearsin the previous session with the mid-cap bourse closing just shyof confirming a bear market over concerns about the globaleconomy.
The UK indexes defended most gains on Friday, despite theWall Street turning sour again by 1530 GMT.
Oil majors BP BP.L and Shell RDSa.L were among thebiggest boosts to the FTSE, up 3.5 percent and 2.3 percentrespectively as oil prices rebounded. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1YX110
Shares in exporter companies also climbed, led by BritishAmerican Tobacco BATS.L which rose 4.3 percent.
Pharmaceutical giants AstraZenecaAZN.L , GlaxoSmithKline GSK.L and financial heavyweights HSBCHSBA.L , Prudential PRU.L all added between 1.9 and 3.4 percent.
Britain's mid-cap index, which is more exposed touncertainties at home, was aided by strength in industrials andbank shares.
In single moves, the biggest support to the index was a 6.3percent surge in shares of CYBGCYBGC.L , the owner ofClydesdale Bank and Yorkshire Bank.
The United States and China are locked in a trade war thathas disrupted the flow of hundreds of billions of dollars ofgoods, but while trade relations between the U.S. and China werestill fraught, some saw signs of progress in recent days. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1YW216
"The Chinese have liberalised, they've set up for morediscussions in January. It's not going to be a straight road butI think there's a little bit of cause for optimism there," ChrisBailey, Raymond James analyst, said.
Persisting worries over a slowdown in the global economycompounded by the trade spat have put U.S. bourses and their UKcounterparts on course for their worst yearly losses since the2008 financial crisis.
With a U.S. government shutdown also ongoing and Brexituncertainties remaining unresolved, the FTSE 100 was on trackfor its worst quarterly fall since 2011, when Europe wasbattling a sovereign debt crisis.
It was down 10.3 percent this quarter.
Among a handful of stocks in the red, XaarXAR.L , whichmakes ink jets for printers, hit its lowest in over eight years,underperforming the rest of the small-cap index .FTSC with an8 percent fall after a disappointing trading update. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nASP00049S
In more bad news for the retail sector's already subduedfestive spirit, entertainment retailer HMV Retail said it wouldappoint administrators, with Sky News saying that would putabout 2,200 jobs at risk.
Data had separately showed sales on Boxing Day - a key dayfor the retail industry - dipped. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1YW1XS
HMV, among Britain's best-known high street names, said itwas calling in the administrators for the second time in sixyears, and it blamed a worsening market for CDs and DVDs. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1YX27Q
HMV joins the likes of Toys R Us, House of Fraser andMothercare MTC.L on the list of high-profile household namesthat have gone under this year amid Brexit jitters, lowerconsumer spending and rising labour costs.(Reporting by Muvija M and Shashwat Awasthi in Bengaluru,Editing by Helen Reid) ((mailto:firstname.lastname@example.org; within U.S. +1 646 2238780, outside U.S. +91 80 6749 3638; Reuters Messaging:rm://email@example.com))
((For related prices, Reuters users may click on - * UK stock report .L FTSE index: 0#.FTS6 techMARK 100 index: .FTT1X FTSE futures: 0#FFI: Gilt futures: 0#FLG: Smallcap index: .FTSC FTSE 250 index: .FTMC FTSE 350 index: .FTLC Market digest: .AD.L Top 10 by vol: .AV.L Top price gainers: .NG.L Top % gainers: .PG.L Top price losers: .NL.L Top % losers: .PL.L
* For related news, click on - * UK hot stocks: [HOT and GB] Wall Street: .N Gilts report: GB/ Euro bond report GVD/EUR Pan European stock report: .EUTokyo stocks: .T HK stocks: .HK Sterling report: GBP/ Dollar report: USD/
* For company prices, click on - * Company directory: UKEQ By sector: FTAX
* For pan-European market data, click on - * European Equities speed guide................ EUR/EQUITY FTSE Eurotop 300 index........................... .FTEU3 DJ STOXX index................................... .STOXX Top 10 STOXX sectors........................ .PGL.STOXXS Top 10 EUROSTOXX sectors................... .PGL.STOXXES Top 10 Eurotop 300 sectors.................. .PGL.FTEU3S Top 25 European pct gainers.................... .PG.PEUR Top 25 European pct losers..................... .PL.PEUR ))
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.


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SINGAPORE - An initiative to deepen international links not just with countries but also provinces, states and cities will make it easier for local companies to tap on overseas opportunities, said Minister for Trade and Industry (Trade) Lim Hng Kiang on Friday (Mar 3).
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) keen on expanding abroad will also be encouraged to partner larger companies and take advantage of the digital economy, Mr Lim told Parliament during the debate on the Ministry of Trade and Industry(MTI)'s budget.
Mr Liang Eng Hwa (Holland-Bukit Timah GRC), Ms Cheryl Chan (Fengshan) and Mr Saktiandi Supaat (Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC), had asked what mounting anti-trade sentiment globally means for Singapore, and what support companies will receive to tap on overseas opportunities.
Trade and external demand are key drivers of Singapore's economy, accounting for two-thirds of gross domestic product, said Mr Lim.
"Small and open economies like Singapore are especially vulnerable to global developments, but our external linkages can also make us more resilient," he added, noting IE Singapore's 2016 Internationalisation Survey showed companies' overseas revenue grew 4.2 per cent year-on-year, faster than total revenue growth of 1.3 per cent.
Mr Lim outlined four key ways to help firms tap on international opportunities.
One involves Singapore continuing to take advantage of the 21 free trade agreements and economic partnership agreements it has with 32 trading partners in multiple regions. These agreements helped companies benefit from tariff savings of over $900 million in 2015 and also lower non-tariff trade barriers, said the minister.
Two, the country will also deepen international links with provinces, states and cities. For example, the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park projects are spread across six provinces in Vietnam and cater to the priorities of each province, taking into account local skillsets and investors' demand, Mr Lim noted.
There are also opportunities in developed markets - Singapore has hosted delegations from American states like Texas, Alabama and Washington, "all of whom have been eager to find new markets for their exports and welcome new investments", said Mr Lim.
The third way will see the Government ramp up support for companies keen on going global - for instance, by helping SMEs take advantage of the digital economy to access new markets.
Singapore firms can also partner larger companies to venture abroad, he noted.
Companies can benefit from greater economies of scale by going abroad together, and trade associations and chambers can help foster such collaborations.
The final measure to support companies venturing abroad is the Global Innovation Alliance, which was announced in last month's Budget.
Economic agencies will work with institutes of higher learning to establish connections with technology and innovation hubs globally, Mr Lim said.
During the debate, Minister for Trade and Industry (Industry) S. Iswaran also said "Singapore Centres" will be set up in key markets to strengthen coordination of agencies' overseas operations.
They will serve as the key point of contact for Singapore-based companies entering overseas markets, as well as for overseas investors keen on learning more about Singapore.
These centres have been set up in nine key markets so far and will be extended to all 36 overseas locations where the Economic Development Board and trade agency IE Singapore have a presence, he said.


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The May 22 issue of the Sunday Star Tribune had an opinion page commentary by former Star Tribune business reporter Mike Meyers: Downtown Minneapolis: Spreading seeds, getting weeds.
Meyer cited the problems with City Center, Riverplace, Gaviidae Common, Dain Plaza, LaSalle Plaza, and Block E, which were all backed with public subsidies.
He cited a successful one—the downtown Target store—which for him, raises some questions:
In at least one case, city officials got what they expected — when they backed a downtown Target store. For a decade, downtown dwellers and workers have had a place to buy socks, dinnerware and toilet paper at discount prices. And, by all accounts, Target is satisfied with the traffic.
But the success of the Target store raises the paradox of public subsidies. If retailers cannot survive without public aid, why is the city investing in potential failure? If, on the other hand, customers flock to a downtown store, was the public subsidy really needed?
Public subsidies for the Mall of America (MOA) in Bloomington became an issue in 2007 when the Mall of America requested state money for a parking ramp as part of its planned Phase II development.
Then Gov. Pawlenty vetoed the subsidy in 2007 but, according to the Wikipedia entry for the Mall of America:
On May 18, 2008, the Minnesota State Legislature passed a bill granting the city of Bloomington the right to raise property and sales taxes to pay for the MOA expansion. The expansion was originally scheduled to begin to take place in 2007, and open in 2012, but no construction has yet to begin, due to the economic recession.
The pros and cons of subsidies for development (MOA and others) was discussed on MPR’s Midmorning show in March of 2007: The lure of subsidies (Real Audio player required). Guests included:
- Ann Lenczewski: DFL representative from Bloomington and then chair of the House Tax Committee
- Gene Winstead: Bloomington Mayor
- Art Rolnick: Then Senior vice president and director of research for the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
- Bill Griffith: attorney for the Mall of America
Via the blog comments feature below, chime in with your reaction to Meyers’ opinions, as well as your comments about the pros and cons of public subsidies for retail development.


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Virginia Pizza Shop Offers Discounts to Gun Owners
Gun owners at one pizza shop in Virginia Beach can get a discount on their food if they bring in a gun or concealed handgun permit.
All Around Pizzas and Deli owner Jay Laze says it’s his way of showing support for firearm rights by giving gun owners a 15 percent discount.
Laze tells news media outlets that he'd planned on offering the discount for a limited time. But he says the response has been overwhelming and he might make it permanent.
Since the discount began last Friday, Laze says 80 percent of his customers have brought guns into the pizza shop. He says one customer came in with an AK-47.
Laze is a gun owner and says he's always been a supporter of the right to carry firearms.


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Toy makers Mattel and Elon Musk's rocket company, SpaceX, have inked a multi-year deal. The deal looks to develop and market items that encourage collectors and kids to tap into their inner space explorer.
As part of the deal, from 2023, Mattel start marketing toys inspired by SpaceX under its Matchbox brand. The Matchbox is best known for its action figures and toy vehicles. Concurrently, astro-themed items will also be unveiled on Mattel Creations, the company's online collector platform for collaboration and direct-to-consumer platform. “We take pride in our ability to create products and experiences that honor cultural moments and inspire humankind,” said Nick Karamanos, SVP Entertainment Partnerships at Mattel.
“As space exploration advances more quickly than ever before, we are thrilled to work with SpaceX and help spark limitless play patterns for the space explorer in every kid. At SpaceX, we believe that a future in which humanity is out among the stars is fundamentally more exciting than one in which we are not,” said Brian Bjelde, vice president at SpaceX.
“We look forward to working with Mattel to help inspire the next generation of space explorers and enthusiasts," he added.
Earlier this month, The Matchbox brand also partnered with Skydance Media to develop Matchbox into a live-action motion picture. Meanwhile, Mattel has been producing space-related toys inluding the Imaginext's Disney And Pixar Lightyear Lights and Polly Pocket's Saturn Space Explorer. In the 1960s Mattel also made Nasa-inspired toys.
Meanwhile, Mattel also sent two of its iconic 63-year old Barbie dolls to space recently. This is to encourage girls to consider a career in aerospace, engineering and STEM.
According to Mattel, the Barbie purpose has always been to remind girls they can be anything and by showing them nearly 40 different careers in STEM. According to Lisa McKnight, executive vice president and global head of barbie and dolls, Mattel, Barbie introduced an astronaut doll in 1965 - before humans had even stepped foot on the moon.
“Now, almost 60 years later and with 200 careers and counting, Barbie dolls have made it to space. It is important that we encourage girls to reach for the stars – literally – and pursue careers in aerospace and STEM. With help from the International Space Station National Lab team, we are reminding girls that not even gravity can hold them back,” McKnight said.
Elon Musk gives ultimatum to Tesla employees
Mattel pushes into movie industry amidst recent Disney win


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TechCrunch: Mobile payment startup Square has been gradually building out the products it offers to small businesses to position itself as a one-stop shop for their various front-of-house and back-office needs. Today sees the latest development on that theme: the company has launched Square Payroll, software for businesses to pay and track taxes and other costs for both hourly and salaried employees. The product, initially available only in California, is priced at $20 per month, with $5 per employee on top of that. (more…)
POS/mPOS and online acquiring
TECHCRUNCH: PayPal teamed up with Uber back in 2013 to offer the U.S. taxi-hailing service’s customers additional payment options. The world has changed a lot in those 18 months — Uber is now present in over 300 cities with China set to soon become its largest market — so, with that in mind, PayPal and Uber have extended their partnership to cover an additional 9 countries worldwide. (more…)
TECHCRUNCH: One of the biggest issues with online marketplaces is that buyers and sellers rarely know or trust one another, which often leads to disputes between the two parties. PromisePay aims to fix this issue by providing marketplaces with a payment platform to manage the entire transaction. (more…)
TechInAsia: Vladislav Solodkiy, Life.SREDA VC: Last week Jack Dorsey, co-founder and CEO of Square, the world’s third largest fin-tech company by market capitalisation, also took a role of iCEO at Twitter. On top of that, a new wave of rumours about the company to go public by the end of this year hit the media. What do the Asian markets have to offer in respond to this? (more…)
BUSINESS INSIDER: Stripe, the £3.2 billion ($5 billion) US online payments start-up, is rolling out across the Nordics, taking it head-to-head with one of Europe’s most valuable fintech businesses. Stripe’s co-founder John Collison announced at MoneyConf in Belfast today that the company is launching across Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland this week. That puts it in direct competition with Klarna, a rival Swedish online payment company valued at £650 million ($1 billion).
TECHCRUNCH: In the rush of companies crowding into the mobile payment space, a startup out of Europe has announced more funding to grow its footprint and add contactless hardware.SumUp, a startup originally founded in 2012 in Berlin that competes against the likes of iZettle and Rocket Internet’s Payleven, has raised an undisclosed amount led by Swiss backer Venture Incubator. The exact figure is not being disclosed, but SumUp’s CEO Daniel Klein confirms that the total raised by the company to date is now $45 million (€40 million) and that this latest round values the company in the “healthy hundreds of millions.”
TECHCRUNCH: As PayPal moves closer to its spinoff from parent eBay, the company continues to expand the services it will have to generate revenue as a standalone business. In the latest development, today PayPal is expanding One Touch on the web — a widget that lets people use PayPal to pay for goods on third-party websites without needing to re-enter passwords or their user IDs — outside of the U.S. The first markets for its international rollout will be the Canada and the UK. (more…)
TECHCRUNCH: Turkey’s Iyzico, which provides a platform to let e-commerce sites and other apps easily accept online payments, has raised a $6.2 million Series B. Leading the round is International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank’s investing arm, while Istanbul-based VC 212, Endeavor Catalyst, and Austria’s Speedinvest also participated. The startup has now raised $9.4 million in total since it was founded in 2012. (more…)
TECHCRUNCH: Digital commerce company PayPal is moving to establish itself as “more than just a button” to a global payments platform as it readies a split from parent company eBay later this year. “We’re coming into the market at a time when the financial services industry is going through some fundamental shifts,” new PayPal CEO Dan Schulman said at PayPal’s Commerce: Rewind event today. “We’re really thinking how do we re-imagine PayPal almost as a service. PayPal as a SaaS platform.” (more…)
TECHCRUNCH: When Square bought food delivery startup Caviar last summer, it seemed like a strange acquisition for the payments company. But over time it’s become clear that Square is committed to competing in the increasingly crowded food-delivery segment. Thanks to its recent acquisition of San Francisco-based food delivery startup Fastbite, it’s adding a whole new option to Caviar that will reduce the cost of meals and time customers spend waiting for them to be delivered. By doing so, it will compete more directly with local food delivery services like Sprig and Spoonrocket. (more…)
LifePay has launched 2 new products in its line: online acquiring and SME-lending for working capital (in a month they are launching POS-lending – when entrepreneurs sell their goods and services on credit – this model is used by FinanceIt) (more…)
TECHCRUNCH: Fundbox, a company that loans businesses money for outstanding invoice payments, has raised $40 million to grow its own business in the trillion-dollar alternative lending market. The Series B round was led by General Catalyst with participation from NyCa Investment Partners and help from existing backers Khosla Ventures, Shlomo Kramer and Blumberg Capital. (more…)
TECHCRUNCH: The Internet of Things promised us a deeper connection with our objects. We would be hugging our toasters, marrying our fridges, and sleeping with our bathroom scales. But nothing out there so far could talk back to us until the Woolet. The Woolet is a wallet that contains a small beacon that connects to your phone. When you leave (or lose) your wallet, the phone will buzz to let you know. More interestingly, the Woolet has a small buzzer built in that will notify you if you leave the house without your phone – a pretty useful feature if your Fitbit keeps making you leave the house. Finally Woolets can send out APB signals that ask other Woolet owners to report its location to you. For example, if you lose it in a crowded space other Woolet owners can pick up its signal and relay its location to you. (more…)
TECHCRUNCH: GSF India, the Bangalore-headquartered accelerator program and angel investment firm, is broadening its scope to cover young startups in India’s internet of things space. The organization has partnered global tech giant Cisco for batch four of its incubator program — and, importantly, extended the deadline for applications until March 17. (more…)
TECHCRUNCH: Amazon is taking another step into the Internet of Things. TechCrunch has learned, and confirmed, that the e-commerce and cloud services giant has acquired 2lemetry, a startup based out of Denver that has developed an enterprise-focused platform to track and manage IP-enabled machines and other connected devices. (more…)
TECHCRUNCH: Mobile payments and retail tech company Square has acquired Kili Technology, a Toronto-based startup specializing in silicon, electronic and software design for improvement payment processing. The newly-acquired company will remain in Toronto, which will now act as a second Canadian office for Square, which had previously opened its country HQ in Waterloo, home of one of the most-respected engineering schools in North America.
VENTUREBEAT: Today, Square announced a new program for merchants that protects them when customers dispute purchases. When buyers contest a charge on their credit or debit card, that money is immediately put on hold. That means the merchant loses the money generated from the sale as well as the product or service it sold. Starting today, Square is giving merchants in the U.S. and Canada access to charge-back protection, which will cover the money being held in instances of fraud. Meaning, sellers won’t lose out on sales that are being contested. Square will cover expenses related to sales disputes up to $250 per month.
WIRED: Perhaps you’re one of the many thousands of people who’ve automated some small part of their digital existence with IFTTT. Maybe you’ve instructed it to post your Instagram shots to Twitter, or to text message you whenever someone in your city puts an acoustic guitar for sale on Craigslist.
Until now, these “recipes” have been dependent on something else happening. If this, then that. But with its new trio of apps, IFTTT wants to let you start taking action yourself. (more…)


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Looking back: Top natural food trends of 2014
Food Business News has published their own summary of 2014’s food trends thanks to the research of a Colorado-based consulting firm and expert opinions. Although many of the items on the list seem far-fetched, researchers are counting on them soon becoming mainstream this coming year.
The list ranges from bee-free honey to algae milk, and includes a wide range and use of ancient grains. Whole grain beverages come in fourth place, “offering on-the-go nutrition to busy consumers“. “Drinkable” and on-the-go nutrition such as quinoa smoothies and mixed-grains milk are increasingly gaining traction.
Furthermore, African ingredients, including teff, have their own category in eigth place, since the continent is gaining consideration as an “all-natural untouched hotbed of pure ingredients and pure sourcing.”
To view the complete article (in PDF format), click here.


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SR Metals Managing Director S.F. Robinson receiving the award
SR Metals is one of the leading copper manufacturers in Sri Lanka and has inherited a long and proud history in the trade. SR Metals was awarded as the most value added exporter in copper manufacturing sector in the year 2014, at the Presidential Export Awards Ceremony organised by Sri Lanka Export Development Board. This is a tremendous achievement for SR Metals since this is the second consecutive year that the company bagged this prestigious award. With a many decade-long track record in customer satisfaction and trust in business, SR Metals manufactures copper related products mainly for the export market. Utilising local raw materials and world class cutting edge technology in manufacturing high standard copper products, the company has invested largely in its state-of-the-art factories providing employment to a large number.
In the present context where businesses are heavily dependent on imports, SR Metal stands tall as a major contributor in the export market that supports local manufacturing. With a humble sense of pride over these past achievements, SR Metals Managing Director S.F. Robinson intends to increase his contribution towards building the country’s economy by expanding and improving the manufacturing of copper related products. SR Metals’ Head Office is located at No.321, Dam Street, Colombo 12.


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The ‘draft bill’ in India for banning digital assets that circulated through social media stunned the entire crypto community as the regulatory bodies are yet to clarify its stance on the matter. Under the proposed Banning Cryptocurrencies and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill 2019, mining, trading or owning cryptocurrency in India which calls for penalties of up to 10 years in jail.
The Indian cryptocurrency ecosystem is on the fence due to lack of transparency in the regulatory climate. According to a report by ET, government departments in the country were aware and very much in support of the circulated draft.
Nischal Shetty, the CEO of WazirX, a Mumbai-based cryptocurrency exchange, in a recent tweet, insisted that regulations in the cryptocurrency sector is important and not a blanket ban which would only stimulate money laundering. Shetty’s tweet comes at a time when cryptocurrency exchanges were geo-blocking/geo-fencing certain regions to comply with the native regulations, His tweet read,
BAN Crypto to PROMOTE Money Laundering
REGULATE Crypto to PREVENT Money Laundering
Any subject matter expert will agree
Regulation > Ban
Ban is the opposite of what India wants to achieve. Hence US & EU aren’t banning it#IndiaWantsCrypto
— Nischal (WazirX) (@NischalShetty) June 15, 2019
The CEO also hoped that the much-hyped Facebook cryptocurrency which, according to him, is a “game changer”, will foster mass adoption by firms globally and India would not want to be left behind. The narrative of “blockchain and not cryptocurrency” in the country is flawed, Shetty in another tweet said.
The post Cryptocurrency regulation necessary for money laundering, not ban in India; tweets WazirX CEO appeared first on AMBCrypto.


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Snap’s chief business officer is leaving to run ads at Netflix
Jeremy Gorman was leaving to join Netflix along with Peter Naylor, Snap’s vice president of ad sales for the Americas. Russ Caditz-Peck, a Snap spokesperson, confirmed the departures. Both Gorman and Naylor are leaving Snap amid a restructuring of its ads team and layoffs hitting the social media firm this week. Snap plans to cut roughly 20 percent of its workforce starting Aug 31.
Netflix has had its own rounds of layoffs this year, cutting hundreds of employees and paring back programming after reporting its first subscriber loss in a decade. Now the company is preparing to launch a cheaper tier supported by advertising that could cost between $7–$9 per month and exclude extras, like the ability to download videos.
Kumiko Hidaka, a Netflix spokesperson, confirmed that Gorman will be the company’s President of Worldwide Advertising and that she’ll report to COO Greg Peters. Naylor will lead Netflix’s ad sales organization and report to Gorman. AdAge first reported on the hires. “Jeremi’s deep experience in running ad businesses and Peter’s background in leading ad sales teams together will be key as we expand membership options for consumers through a new ad-supported offering,” Peters said in a statement.
- Genshin Impact anime project with ufotable announced
- The path to sustainable animation with Mush-Mush & the Mushables
- CAKE PARTNERS WITH FEMALE-LED STUDIO KUKUA ON YOUTUBE HIT SUPER SEMA
- The Last Worker
- Shin Ultra Fight morphs 70s-style monster suits with real-time tools
- Add-in board unit sales experience a significant correction from Q1, yet still see growth year over
- Venice Film Fest’s VR Section Rebrands As Venice Immersive
- Is the game “Sheep A Sheep” playable?


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Are Cagiva set to return? We’re in Italy to ride MV Agusta’s latest, and had a chance to have a little chat with a certain Mr Castiglioni…
Good news for aspiring racers comes on International Women’s Day as TVS Racing have announced training and selection dates for the 2018 One-make Race.
In the wake of the drop in import tax rates, Harley-Davidson India have refreshed their Touring and CVO lines, and have dropped prices by as much as Rs 3.6 lakh.
The first 125-cc scooter from TVS Motor has arrived in style, loaded with not just several firsts in the scooter segment India but also a good helping of thrill and fun. We rode it at TVS’ test track in Hosur.
UM Motors have introduced three new additions to the Renegade line-up, including the all-electric Thor.
The Flow, from Twenty-two Motors (aka 22Motors) is a new e-scooter priced at Rs 74,740 (ex-showroom).
Emflux have given India its first electric superbike, the One, in three variants, priced between Rs 6 lakh to 11 lakh (ex-showroom) at the 2018 Auto Expo – the Motor Show.
Yamaha have launched the third iteration of their 150-cc supersport bestseller, the YZF-R15 v3.0, at Rs 1.25 lakh (ex-showroom).
Suzuki Motorcycle introduce a trio spanning various segments to go on sale this year.
With the 2018 Auto Expo just around the corner, we get a sneak peek on the much talked about Emflux ONE e-superbike.


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Even in optimistic times, consumers experience financial anxiety. They’re worried about whether they’ll be able to properly manage debt, pay for unplanned medical expenses and prepare for unexpected events. Those anxieties only magnify under stress.
As we continue to grapple with the global economic fallout from COVID-19, consumers are understandably concerned. When consumer focus inevitably turns to financial health, their financial institution is ready to serve. That service includes offering personal financial management tools and breakthrough technologies consumers crave.
Financial Wellness: The New Digital Engagement Strategy, a May 2020 report by FIS™ and Aite Group, explores how financial institutions can leverage cutting-edge digital tools to help consumers manage their personal finances when they need it most.
PFM tools: structure to withstand disruption
Retail banking’s outlook of the financial health of their customers has evolved. Financial institutions are offering personal financial management (PFM) services that help consumers plan for the unexpected, access a financial advisor and manage credit, medical expenses and tax debt.
In Aite Group’s Q1 2020 survey of 2,413 U.S. consumers, awareness of PFM tools was revealed as a challenge. More than half of Boomers and Seniors in our survey had heard of PFM but never used it. In terms of PFM usage, 20% of young millennials, senior millennials and Gen Xers have used PFM in the last three months, compared to 13% of Boomers and 8% of seniors.
There’s clearly room to improve these offerings. Respondents suggested PFM information was good but that it wasn’t actionable, and that it was too much work to maintain budgets, review spending and track long-term goals. Financial institutions looking to help consumers manage uncertainty can start with providing PFM tools that are simple, effective and laser-focused on customer experience.
Personal financial management tools help consumers of all financial means. Simple and effective tools that help individuals better understand their finances may have been a luxury in the past, but today’s PFM tools are an essential service to helps consumers achieve clarity and build their financial future.
Engaging naturally with conversational touchpoints
Of all the ways we can interact with our customers, voice is perhaps the most intuitive of all.
Many financial institutions are reaching customers with voice at scale. Chatbots, digital assistants in mobile banking apps and access to banking functions through popular voice-recognition systems like Google Home or Amazon Alexa are helping scale engagement and deliver service in ways our customers crave.
When Aite Group’s Q1 2020 survey asked 2,413 U.S. consumers about their experience with voice, thirty-five percent of respondents used a conversational touch point overall. Among U.S. consumers surveyed:
- 28% used a digital assistant in their financial services provider’s app
- 11% used a Facebook Messenger chatbot
- 9% used a voice-activated assistant
Your institution needs to cut through the noise. Today’s voice interfaces make that possible. Voice interfaces help engage customers with personalized experiences that transcend device. Soon, conversational commerce will help financial institutions build brand with interfaces customers intuitively understand.
Meeting challenges with trusted, essential services
COVID-19 casts a long shadow of uncertainty over the financial wellbeing of our customers and our communities. Financial institutions can strengthen customer engagement by delivering exceptional digital experiences. That allows your customers to focus on what’s important: providing for those closest to them by reaching their financial goals.
Now more than ever, our customers need trusted advice and personalized service delivered in ways that are relevant to them. PFM tools and voice interfaces help customers manage their individual finances, whatever twists and turns life brings.


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August 10, 2013 |
Nicki DeMarco and Emi Kolawole/The Washington Post Jeff Bezos, the Internet mogul and Amazon.com founder, recently purchased The Washington Post in a historic shift for the newspaper. This story was reported by Peter Whoriskey, Brady Dennis, Kimberly Kindy, Holly Yeager, Cecilia Kang and Alice Crites. It was written by Whoriskey. Dennis reported from Seattle. One summer day as a kid riding in the back seat of his grandparents' car, the young Jeff Bezos , a natural at math, made a morbid calculation.
August 6, 2013 |
Dear Jeff, Welcome to The Post. I have read that the $250 million you paid for this newspaper is roughly 1 percent of your net worth, making it about as risky and consequential a purchase for you as a used 2003 Honda Civic might be for me. Still, I hope and strongly suspect you will not see it as a plaything, or, to extend the already shaky metaphor, a vehicle for promoting your bigger enterprises. I am presuming that despite the chump-change numbers, this is a big deal for you, and that you plan to roll up your sleeves and be...
August 9, 2013 |
Tricia Duryee is a former staff writer at AllThingsD , where she covered e-commerce, including Amazon. One of the biggest misconceptions about the sale of The Washington Post this past week is that Amazon is the buyer. In truth, The Post was purchased by Jeff Bezos , the e-tailer's chairman, president and chief executive. Who is this man, who lives 3,000 miles away in the other Washington and spent about 1 percent of his personal fortune on a newspaper? Let's separate fact from fiction about Bezos.
August 7, 2013 |
In the relentlessly efficient world of Jeffrey P. Bezos , Amazon employees quickly learn when they have overtaxed the attention of their chief executive. He quietly pulls out his smartphone and starts replying to e-mails. In extreme cases, Bezos will walk out. This demanding style is as much a signature of the Amazon.com founder as his famously long-term approach to developing new products or services, say people who have worked with the man who this week agreed...
November 16, 2012 |
Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos got a nod from Fortune as the businessperson of the year Thursday, topping a list full of technology and telecommunications executives. The magazine called him the "ultimate disrupter," citing the way Bezos approaches everything from executive meetings to his tendency to ignore Wall Street and focus on Amazon's long-term business goals. The cover article on Bezos also focuses on the many comparisons people have made between him and Apple's...
September 6, 2012 |
After last year's Kindle Fire announcement, there was a lot of chatter about the device, but also about Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos. Bezos, headlines told us , was the "next Steve Jobs," noting how smoothly the executive handled the launch event and how well he introduced a tablet that would put a direct Amazon buying portal into the hands of millions. So while Bezos may not have the cult-like following or showmanship of Apple's late co-founder, it's hard to argue with the success that...


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'Five Nights at Freddy's: Sister Location' News & Update: Scott Cawthon's Game Set To Arrive In Mobile? [DETAILS HERE]
Scott Cawthon's video game "Five Nights at Freddy's" is a success. This year, the "FNAF" creator and developer released the spinoff titled "Five Nights at Freddy's: Sister Location," which according to reports will soon be available to mobile gamers.
Most of the people today have mobile phones. For "FNAF" fans, your favorite horror-survival game will soon dominate iOS and Android phone as it is set for a mobile release soon.
According to the Bitbag, Scott Cawthon already confirmed that the mobile version of "FNAF: Sister Location" is already in the works. Prior to this, iDigital Times reported that a mobile version is possible after Cawthon released the title for PC.
One fan asked about the mobile version and Cawthon gave a straightforward response. "Yes, I will release it for mobile. I want to finish working on the Custom Night update first," Scott Cawthon said. Thus, "Five Nights at Freddy's" could be a tight competitor against the already popular mobile games like "Clash of Clans" and "Pokemon Go."
News Everyday previously reported that the "Five Nights at Freddy's: Sister Location" DLC titled "Custom Night" was released early this month. The update was released automatically and for free. Since the said update is out, the "FNAF" mobile version is probably in the works today.
However, some think that a mobile version for "FNAF: Sister Location" is not possible. For instance, the precise clicking in the gameplay, the faceplate trigger and the keypad segment will surely make the mobile version challenging.
But there are no bounds as to what the developers can deliver. If Scott Cawthon can develop this, why not? Also, many want to play the game on their mobile phones. So, many are waiting for the "FNAF" spinoff mobile version.
As for the fate of "Five Nights at Freddy's," fans are divided if there are more games or if it is the last. In this thread, Grammor Police things that the spinoff is the last. However, JW12345 (Exotic Butters) thinks otherwise and shares a potential list of the next "Five Nights at Freddy's" titles.
Is Scott Cawthon ending the "Five Nights at Freddy's" franchise? Do you want more "FNAF" games and do you want to play it on mobile? Share your thoughts on the comment section below.


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Many of the biggest gaming events this year will take place online due to the risks of a pandemic. Despite the fact that many companies have decided not to cancel the presentations (like, for example, E3) - Blizzard will not host their BlizzCon this year at all. This was stated by one of the producers of the company, Saralyn Smith. "We don't want to waste too much time before meeting the fans again," Smith said. According to her, the company is planning something "unifying" at the beginning of 2022, however, apparently, it will be exactly the online format.
Unfortunately, Smith's words are likely to mean that there is no "live" meeting with Blizzard, as the producer mentioned the BlizzConline format as an example. Whatever it was, the pandemic is gradually fading away and the number of vaccinated is growing, so everything may still change.
Recall that the last major event for Blizzard was the winter BlizzConline, during which the company held separate online meetings for fans of different game universes: World of Warcraft, Overwatch, Hearthstone and Diablo.