text:
Empowering the new generation of micro-entrepreneurs and small businesses in Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia has hit an inflection point. Driven by technology, more than 200 million people are expected to join an exponentially growing middle class by 2030. For the first time in their lives, these people will have disposable income, and will aspire towards a better tomorrow.
Technology sits at the intersection of daily life, business, innovation, and change in Southeast Asia. Having gone mainstream; the potential of technology is tremendous, impacting all sectors of the Southeast Asian population, from the street-side food vendor in the bylanes of Jakarta to the micro-entrepreneur who runs a foodtech business in Bangkok.
The pace at which the region is evolving means that a one-shot innovative transformation project is an idea whose time is over. With the time to market for innovative ideas so much shorter, the future for developing countries is in bite-sized innovation that creates sustainable impact.
However, there are struggles; with a remarkable lack of financial accessibility across the region being a cause for concern. A ‘thin’ credit file is the primary reason for this. Inadequate access to working capital often prevents businesses and micro-entrepreneurs from being able to leverage growth opportunities, forcing them to reach out to friends, family or even worse, to informal lenders, in a bid to raise the required funds.
We also understand that the solution gaps being encountered differ according to the size of the business. Micro and nano businesses typically face acute credit gaps, while established SMEs, though largely covered by formal financial services providers, require financing on flexible terms to manage their dynamic working capital requirements in today’s volatile marketplace. So, what does the future hold for them?
Albert Einstein once said that “We cannot solve a problem by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them”. That’s exactly what we need to change; our thinking and the way we approach problem-solving. We are now seeing the region warming up to more sustainable solutions that bring the ‘credit invisible’ into the mainstream fold; a solution that combines data analytics and mobile technology.
While the ability to analyse financial data of the credit invisible was difficult in the past, traditional and non-conventional data points can be easily leveraged to create reliable alternative credit scores in today’s highly digitalised economy. These alternative data points come from varied sources such as payment histories, social media, online ratings, etc.
From digital banking to online disbursements, the lending paradigm is moving to mobile devices as a core channel. With 63% internet penetration in Southeast Asia and with more smartphones than bank accounts, services such as nano-financing, micro-insurance and working capital loan disbursements are going mobile, lowering barriers to access across Southeast Asia.
Innovative new-age companies are leveraging the power of mobile and data analytics to deliver these everyday utilities and more, in a manner that businesses and consumer want to be served. For example, while you and I still use different apps for different services or purposes, we are seeing a growing shift towards one-stop shops that span mobility, delivery and financial services. The rise of these hyperlocal ‘super apps’ is taking innovation mainstream and in several cases, aiding better financial inclusion by providing micro-entrepreneurs and small businesses better access to financial services and empowering them to dream bigger.
At Experian, we understand the importance of creating a better tomorrow. To make that vision sustainable, we partner for purpose with like-minded partners to drive innovation at scale. Over the years, we have made strategic investments in partners that we believe will help us promote greater financial inclusion and entrepreneurship in the region.
We recently made an investment in Grab as part of its ongoing Series H funding round. Grab has been striving to level the playing field by helping SMEs and micro-entrepreneurs in Southeast Asia to innovate, grow their business and improve their earnings by providing easy payment technologies, affordable micro-insurance and micro-loans. Across developing countries in the region, these innovators are creating jobs and boosting economic development, becoming agents of positive change and sustained prosperity.
Read more about our investment in Grab here.
Managing Director, SEA & Emerging Markets
Read full article
Businesses are competing in an increasingly globalised environment today more than ever before.Learn more
Experian’s SME Network Score is one credit risk scorecard developed to address the issue of the lack of rating models for thin-file micro-SMEs.Learn more
Global supply chain disruptions have exposed critical vulnerabilities in how you interact with suppliers and customers across the globe.Learn more
By Dev Dhiman 08/22/2019


text: Esnafi 500 thousand TL credit EDA light Economy News Date of entry: 18.10.2017 Prime Minister Yildirim, tradesmen and artisans from arts to tourism, gave a lot of comfort. The upper limit of business loan was 200 thousand liras. A 10-year term 500 thousand TL loan to tradesmen and artisans to be given a business credit limit of 150 thousand to 200 thousand lira to use to indicate that . N AK party deputy chairman and Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, which is also located in workplace or at work to buy vehicle Esnafi, low-rate interest to 500 thousand pounds will be given loans, he said. Speaking at AK Party Parliamentary group, Yildirim Esnafi said y saw growing, strong Turkey's backbone. This high interest has no explanation Underlining that high interest is not something that can be sustained, Prime Minister Yildirim pointed out that Turkey is in better shape than ever in last 3 years in terms of country risk premiums. Prime Minister Yildirim, while growth is over 5 per cent, while global and local investments are increasing from day, stressed that interest of high rates, economic rules is not possible to explain. The upper limit is 200 thousand TL, "The new Gospel of tradesmen," Yildirim, trades and artisans to use business credit limit of 150 thousand to 200 thousand has been announced. If artisan wants to buy workplace where artist is located, 500 thousand pounds of credit can be received for 10 years, Yildirim said, if workplace wants to buy a new vehicle, vehicle could also be using download credits. Yildirim, said that it would be 500 thousand lira for 5 years maturity. Some municipalities have squandered budget on ir hands and are looking at citizen's property and a hundred pounds of value to place of five thousand pounds of lightning, "This is mountain head? No one will increase more than 50%. They're going to pay for this. It's so ' I've done it '. Now y're going to give back money y took, "he said. In public sector, şır AA, endingin 2018, underlining year of savings, Prime Minister Yidirım, said: "We will begin government before design. No new car purchases, we closed shop. There is no way to get a new vehicle to state, municipalities, except for security and urgent issues. We are limiting use of high-cylinder volume vehicles. We're going to implement a lot of austerity measures, start from ourselves first. It's a bit of a surprise. Everyone will be more busy with work of citizens. " 49 years of news Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, tourism regions of hotels, pointing to presence of, "during late Özal period of coasts of upper use was given for 49 years. To eliminate uncertainty, we increase lease time of facilities to 49 years. If anyone wants to be here, he will be able to pay and take m. " Prime Minister Yildirim also reminded that y dropped taxes on mobile and home phone, " phone companies, even if taxes fall, we will drop m," he said. The Prime Minister's Gospel package- Esnafi, who wants to buy workplace, will be given a 10-year maturity and a low interest rate of 500 thousand pounds.-5-year term 500 thousand lira loan will be provided to those who want to buy a car in business.- operating credit limit 150 was increased from $200 thousand to TL.-25 per cent of cell phone call goes to tax 7.5.-The rent time of otels is increased by 49 years.-The vehicles of handicapped will not be taxed in 150 thousand lira. It's down to 7.5.-Real estate taxes will not be increased by more than 50 percent.-in 2018, re is no new vehicle acquisition in public sector.-interest can be drawn to acceptable limits. The buildings in IR fields will be sold to citizens.

domain: news


text:
ASEM – TOUGH TIMES DON’T LAST (T.T.D.L) ALBUM ON ITUNES
Los Angeles, CA – The highly-anticipated “Tough Times Don’t Last (TTDL)” from breakthrough hip hop artist Asem is now released to e-tailers and retailers worldwide. This third studio album “Tough Times Don’t Last” from the man known as “punchline king” marks Asem’s first US release and the end of a personal journey. “I had stopped believing in myself,” Asem said in a statement, “I endured a lot of betrayal, back stabbing and people turning their backs on me whiles recording this album. I learned others were just trying to use me to see how much they could take from me. A lot of people I considered friends and business partners burned me badly. I ended up having to spend another year rewriting the album.” “Tough Times Don’t Last (TTDL)” features the singles “Wasted,” “Crisis,” “TTDL (Intro),” and “Big Johnny” . It also includes Asem’s tribute single to Nelson Mandela, “46664 (Madiba).”
The album is on sale now through MTV, iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, Google Play, Rdio, Xbox Music, Rhapsody, Sony Music Unlimited, and other online stores. It will also be available through Target, Best Buy and other big box retailers.
Asem came on the scene in 2008 with the release of his first official single, “Give Me Blow”, which quickly became the most shared song by Ghanaian youths leading to his current ability to draw crowds in the tens of thousands in Ghana. Since then, he has released 3 albums (more coming soon), toured internationally, including dates in Africa, Europe, and the US, has performed with Ja Rule, Fat Joe, Rick Ross, Omarion, and many other very established artists, and has earned sponsorships from The World Bank and Glo Mobile.
Asem: ASEM – TOUGH TIMES DON’T LAST (T.T.D.L) ALBUM NOW ON ITUNES Music, videos, and more info can be found here: http://www.mtv.com/artists/asem/


text:
This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them.Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 8860726.
Everybody talks about blockchain, but is anybody really doing it? Here's a look at five use cases across industries.
6 of 6
Who owns the rights to a photograph, to an online article, to a downloadable software app? What about music and video. Intellectual property has experienced an era of theft and piracy since the internet made it easy for people to share digital files. Can blockchain help protect intellectual property rights? A number of companies are investigating its use for just that purpose. For instance, Eastman Kodak Co, the company with its roots in cameras and film, has worked with a technology startup to develop a blockchain-based system called KODAKOne to protect the copyright of images and photographs registered on the platform. News service company, The Associated Press, has forged a deal with Civil Media Company. The deal is designed to help AP execute blockchain-based content licensing and track content usage and consumption trends, according to an announcement from Civil in August. The Civil technology enables proven authorship and ownership of content including photos, smart contract licensing terms, and incentives for ethical behavior, according to the announcement.
"AP has been pushing into new digital territory for more than two decades, and Civil is opening up another new space with interesting technology to explore and a commitment to good journalism," said Jim Kennedy, AP's senior VP for Strategy and Enterprise Development. "We're eager to help cultivate the space and demonstrate our value to a new set of digital publishers."
Jessica Davis has spent a career covering the intersection of business and technology at titles including IDG's Infoworld, Ziff Davis Enterprise's eWeek and Channel Insider, and Penton Technology's MSPmentor. She's passionate about the practical use of business intelligence, ... View Full Bio
We welcome your comments on this topic on our social media channels, or [contact us directly] with questions about the site.
Getting Started With Emerging TechnologiesLooking to help your enterprise IT team ease the stress of putting new/emerging technologies such as AI, machine learning and IoT to work for their organizations? There are a few ways to get off on the right foot. In this report we share some expert advice on how to approach some of these seemingly daunting tech challenges.


text:
Even though this week's weather has been less than ideal for spending time at the pool, it's been great for Palisade peaches. New Marc Fisher Newbia Floral Brocade Ankle Booties Boots Size 6.5Sexy Women's Over The Knee Boots Flat Suede Leather Pull On Knight Winter Y402
The billboard reads, "Welcome to Colorado, where you can get a safe, legal abortion."
We are less than a week away from the JUCO World Series, and some businesses say they are ready.
Graduates from Central High School were up bright and early at Stocker Stadium.
More than 2,000 Western Slope elementary students learned the importance of water Monday at the annual Children's Water Festival.
A local record store took advantage of the Downtown Music Festival this weekend.
NEW Clarks Mint Aqua Gtx Ladies Dark Tan Leather Knee High Boots D
You might think of the Grand Junction Motor Speedway as a go-cart track, but this weekend it was part of a national...
The Golden State Warriors advanced to the NBA Finals for the fifth straight year with a 119-117 victory to sweep the Portland...Rieker women Forro Cálido sin Cordones Tacón bajo Invierno Botines Chelsea L6090Irregular choice boots, size 42
Currently undergoing rehabilitation, the 63-year-old hopes toKurt Geiger Patchwork Leather Ankle BootsALBANO WOMEN'S BROWN PATENT LEATHER ZIP UP ANKLE BOOT. SIZE VGC get a prosthetic leg and return to farming as soon as...
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue says theMilwaukee Accelerator Womens Leather Motorcycle Boots - no box SAVE Size 7 Department is working 'feverishly' on a...
A local foster parent was honored earlier this month in Denver for her work in foster care.
Sutton Calahan, 17, couldn’t believe a recent message EDL PRESENTS POP Frauen Peep Toe Wildleder Fashion Stiefel brown Groesse 10 US he got on Snapchat. He says it came from an unknown account.Leather Over The Knee Hidden Platform Boots
Federal prosecutors say a man has agreed to Cole Haan ZERØGRAND Grand OS Waterproof Hiker Boots Women US 9.5Wumen Suede Ankle Boots Zip Creeper Platform Wedge Heels shoes Oxford Square ToePajar Alice Women's Waterproof Lined Cognac Brown Snow Boot Size 38 USplead guilty to stealing a ring-tailed lemur from a Southern California zoo.
U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta said Trump cannot block a House subpoena of financial records.Womens Suede Ankle Boots Emu Of Australia Pioneer Shearling Size 7
Pear Park Elementary hosting “Culture Day” to help teach students about different countries. Friday,...
The U.S. government says a 16-year-old GuatemalanWomens Fashion Leather Lamb Fur Camouflage Lace Up Winter Warm Snow Boots shoesAp627 BRACCIALINI schuhe brown wildleder damen stiefeletten died Monday at a Border Patrol station in South Texas, the fifth death of a...
One of the men accused of burying Kyle Free’s body up shoes NATIVE Woman BORDEAUX 21103919-6117Kenneth Cole New York Women's Kam-NYC Fashion Sneaker - Choose SZ coloron the Mesa last year pleaded not guilty in court Friday.
The baby joins 5-year-old sister North, 3-year-old brotherWomens Sexy Stilettos High Heel Pointy Toe Over Knee High Boots shoes US 5-12 SZJessica Simpson Frauen Stiefel black Groesse 8 US 39 EUDamen schuhe BIBI LOU 41 stiefeletten grey wildleder AJ484-C Saint and 15-month-old sister Chicago.
|Condition:||Pre-owned : |
An item that has been used or worn previously. See the seller’s listing for full details and description of any imperfections.See all condition definitions- opens in a new window or tab
|Seller Notes:||“Like new condition. minimal wear. Soles insoles are in excellent condition. Leather is in excellent condition. Factory distressing. Shaft Height Measures: 12"”|
|Country/Region of Manufacture:||Unknown||Width:||Medium (D, M)|
|Boot Shaft Height:||12"||Euro Size:||n/a|
Does Not Apply
|Heel Height:||Low (3/4 in. to 1 1/2 in.)||Brand:|
|US Shoe Size (Women's):||US 8.5||Heel Type:||Block|
Does not apply


text:
Pod2g Shows How Apple’s iMessage Can Be Decrypted on Camera [VIDEO]
Earlier this morning Apple responded to a previous story about its iMessage platform, saying the company cannot read your messages, based on researched revealed yesterday by Pod2g and his security firm QuarksLab at a conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Looks like that statement was released too soon, as a newly released video shows a different story.
ZDNet, which attended the conference, now posts a video showing Pod2g demonstrating in real-time how iMessages were able to be decoded and read on the fly. Check it out below:
The hackers said any device that uses iMessage is affected and the team will release a fix for jailbroken iOS devices after the presentation:
“Basically, nearly all current Apple products: iMac, Mac Pro, MacBook Pro, MacBook Pro Retina, iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad. We will release a tweak for jailbroken iOS devices and an application for OS X just after the presentation.”
But regular consumers need not worry, as Pod2g and his team explains it’s a sophisticated hack that requires skill and physical control of your device at least once:
The researchers explained that to break iMessage encryption (AES, RSA, and ECDSA algorithms) in the manner shown would require the attacker to get physical control of the device — once.
Then, the attacker would install fraudulent certificates on it, and run spoofed servers tricked out to mimic Apple servers. The flaw’s essence, as QuarksLab described it, lies in the protocol’s lack of certificate pinning.
Even though performing this man-in-the-middle attack is quite a lot of work, and can only be done under limited circumstances, QuarksLab told the security conference’s attendees that if they needed a secure message system, they should choose a different one. Especially, they jokingly cautioned, if the messages contain discussion of Apple related zero-days or exploits
QuarksLab released a tool for skilled and advanced users with jailbroken devices called “iMTM Protect” to allow users to plug the iMessage flaw. You can read the entire QuarksLab security presentation here.
In summary, here’s what Pod2g and his team have to say about this iMessage flaw:
So, yes, there is end-to-end encryption as Apple claims, but the weakness is in the key infrastructure as it is controlled by Apple: they can change a key anytime they want, thus read the content of our iMessages.
The flaw, as stated will require considerable work for someone to hack your iMessages. The facts are this one was discovered by Pod2g but you can bet Apple is already working on fixing this security hole.


text:
With Windows Azure and Office 365, Microsoft is hoping to sell cloud services to the enterprise. One of Microsoft’s biggest challenge is the problem of pushing significant upgrades to these products. Since they’ve been implemented and the administrators don’t exactly like to fix something when it isn’t broke, Microsoft has introduced a new concept in their product lifecycle.
Referred to as “Disruptive Change” Microsoft will notify clients about changes that require significant intervention from the administrators. According to Microsoft, these changes will include:
- Changes to the user experience
- Data migration
- Required updates to client software
In case of these upgrades, Microsoft will send out directives 12 months before implementing these changes. This however does not include security updates – those will be pushed I’d assume asap.
There are two ways to look at it, one would be Microsoft streamlining their upgrades and keeping the clients in the loop, the other would be slow upgrades. An yearly cycle to roll out an upgrade would mean quite a bit of time working on the set of upgrades. In the consumer market this does matter but from what I understand enterprises are always apprehensive. Part of what holds Microsoft back. While the old idea of breaking Microsoft into two entities is utterly stupid, Microsoft internally needs to find a way to address the consumer and enterprise market.
The enterprise is a big chunk of Microsoft revenues. They certainly can’t afford to introduce “Disruptive Changes” which is what Apple’s iPad is.
Mary Jo (if she wasn’t a journo she’d be an awesome detective) came across a slide deck showing Microsoft’s plans for the tablet market. Enterprises don’t like disruptive changes. This is not to say the people don’t like the iPad. But if asked, the same people would choose interoperability over UI. That’s the problem Microsoft is dealing with. I wrote about Microsoft’s tablet dilemma a while back where the basic premise was the multiple operating systems Microsoft has. The slides however show a different picture, one that has Microsoft split to the core. On one side is addressing the enterprise requirement of the boring features and the other is making sexy tablet.
The features listed in the slides are all present in Windows. Microsoft spends considerable time and effort on Windows, now introducing these features in another platform and have a different UI, sounds like an extra effort. Quite a bit of it. This would explain why Microsoft continues to foster dreams of having Windows – the desktop version, on tablets. Same set of features, keeps enterprise administrators happy and Microsoft doesn’t need to invest in another platform.
Windows for touch (and tablets) isn’t a bad idea but the UI needs to be rethought and we’ve already read about different UIs and experiences Microsoft plans for their next version of Windows.


text:
Affiliated to IME Pay, Kalti and Prabhu Pay NepalPay QR
NepalPay’s leading digital wallets IMEPay, Khalti and PrabhuPay have also joined NepalPay QR.
Along with this, now the customers can use these wallets and make payments by scanning the QR at NepalPay QR merchants.
Nepal Clearing House Limited Chief Executive Officer Nilesh Man Singh Pradhan, IME Pay Chief Executive Officer Pravin Regmi, Khalti Chief Executive Officer Vinay Khadka and Prabhu Pay Head of Operations and Finance, Ravi Sigdel along with representatives of banks and financial institutions and representatives of various media outlets jointly launched these services. It has been declared public.
Under the National Payment Switch, NepalPay QR has been launched in order to maintain QR interdependence as per Nepal-QR standard.
Images mentioned above related to are either copyright property of ICT-Samachar or respective image owners.


text:
How the recent achievements of two of Borough’s ethically-minded entrepreneurs will help them expand their businesses—and embolden the Market’s mission to support innovative start-ups
Words: Ellie Costigan
Portrait (above): Joseph Fox
The term ‘award-winning’ is bandied about so much these days it has almost lost all meaning: without context, for all we know the winner in question was the only one that entered said awards, or it was something given to them by their mum. The recent awards won by Borough Market traders Change Please and nibs etc. are decidedly more global in scope—and legitimately awe-inspiring. Reaching the finals and semi-finals of the WeWork Creator Awards, respectively, meant pitching to an audience of thousands and a stern panel of judges (including Ashton Kutcher, for whose involvement there’s a logical explanation, but to explain it would ruin the fun) and battling off competition from hundreds of creative businesses from across the world.
It’s a thought most would find intimidating to say the least: but these two are veterans. “It was fun—it’s always great telling people about the organisation and showing that there is a way to tackle a problem that we all see on our streets,” says Cemal Ezel, founder of the Change Please social enterprise, which provides homeless Londoners with training and employment through its coffee stands. “I want to do it all again,” agrees Chloe of nibs etc., purveyor of crackers, cakes and granola made from juice pulp, a food industry waste product. Indeed, she’s already done it twice, having been crowned the winner of the WeWork ‘Incubator’ award in 2017.
As overall semi-finalist (and winner of the Business Venture category in the UK) for this year, nibs etc. pocketed £55,000—which has huge implications for the business. “It’s going to enable me to do so many things, but the priorities for me are production and people,” Chloe continues. “I would love ultimately to have my own kitchen space, hire more people—it’s just me and a part-time baker at the moment—and work with other social enterprises such as Luminary Bakery. But first and foremost, I am going to put it towards a manufacturer.”
Scaling up doesn’t mean moving away from nibs etc.’s ethical roots, though: “We’re definitely going for organic growth. I see a lot of food start-ups pitching for several hundred thousand pounds from the get-go and launching into big supermarkets, but that’s not the path I want to go down,” she continues. “It’s important to me that I work with someone small, who believes in our story and ethos. At the moment, I have to give my all just to get things done; I know I could do better. This money will help take it to the next step.”
Cemal too is hoping to expand Change Please’s operations: “We are looking to roll out sites nationwide and also open new sites in New York later this year,” he says. “The ultimate mark of success is the number of people that we can support and, through it, the number of lives we can change.” Cemal’s WeWork accolade came as part of a run of successes for Change Please, having been named “start-up of 2018” by Richard Branson in The Sunday Times, and having recently launched a partnership with the Mayor of London. This new initiative see two new sites open up in the capital as a result of a successful bid for the Mayor’s Rough Sleeping Innovation Fund.
The benefit of these awards goes beyond the much-needed cash injection: it puts these businesses on the world map—and gives the teams behind them a much-deserved morale boost. “You almost get used to what you are doing. You see it as your day-to-day and rarely take a step back and look at it objectively,” says Cemal. “These kinds of things are great to let the team know that we’re actually doing something really amazing.”
The big challenges
It’s these kinds of initiatives—the ones that take the big challenges society is facing and make them their everyday mission to tackle—that the Market actively seeks to support and encourage. “It’s one of the main reasons the Market is here,” says Darren Heneghan, Borough’s managing director. “Our job is to create the backdrop to enable those artisans, innovators and entrepreneurs to create their magic.” Indeed, at the moment the Market remains nibs etc.’s only shop front—and it’s proved a valuable stepping stone in the establishment of the business. “This was my first weekly market and it’s helped me systemise production,” says Chloe. “Having a regular point of sale every week has enabled me to get in front of new audiences and really build a customer base, which is one of the nicest things for us: having locals come back and become regulars. The Market’s also been a really supportive network: as a voice of sustainability, it chimes with what we are trying to promote and in terms of marketing and PR, it’s been very helpful—especially as that’s something start-ups often don’t have the resources to invest in.”
For both businesses, commercial success comes with having the business nous to take products we all know, love, and regularly buy—that is, good coffee and crackers—and utilise that existing market to do some good. “When Cemal started out he had a really, really good idea, but importantly it came at the right time: 20 years ago, it perhaps wouldn’t have resonated so much, as fewer people bought coffee and more people bought the Big Issue,” Darren continues. “Similarly with nibs etc.—people are increasingly concerned about and interested in food waste reduction, therefore it’s a product of the time and fits perfectly with the mood of a lot of customers who come to Borough Market. Ethics are great, but if you want something to really have traction, it must be something that people relate to and want to buy. It’s about putting ethics and commerce together.”
In other words, if the product wasn’t great, it wouldn’t have worked half as well—and for Cemal, a site at Borough has helped prove that. “It is well known that to be in the Market, the quality and provenance of your offering needs to be incredibly rigorous. That has meant that new partners have instantly been happy to work with us,” he says. “Further, the revenue generated from our outpost at the Market has directly led to us being able to fund the opening of new sites and, therefore, support new people. Without Change Please having the support of Borough Market, there is no way we would have grown so quickly.”
It’s these success stories that spurs the Market on—and why it has teamed up with Southbank University to bring even more young and inspiring innovators to join its ranks, with a pitch dedicated to a rotating roster of businesses coming to the Green Market this spring. “It’s going to be really great,” enthuses Darren. “We’re working with a very highly regarded academic institution with fantastically creative people. Our job is to help them make it happen and we will do our bit to offer support. It’s the next step in helping more people bring brilliant, ethical products to the Market.”


text:
The Untouchable Hunter Biden
Conveniently, Amazon has blocked negative reviews of Hunter’s new memoir.
White males, it’s generally understood, are the sum and source of all that’s wrong in the world — from the ChiCom Virus to the border non-crisis to baseball’s designated hitter. And, as such, we tend to come in for a lot of opprobrium.
Except one of us. One single white male among us has managed to avoid the day-in, day-out attacks on our white privilege and our toxic masculinity. His name? Hunter Biden. And his protectors? Big Tech.
It began back on a date certain: October 14, 2020. That morning, the New York Post published a bombshell story on Hunter Biden that threatened to derail his dad’s presidential campaign with just over two weeks until the election. And had Big Tech not circled the wagons and censored that story from distribution on Twitter and Facebook, Donald Trump would likely be three months into his second term.
Of course, with the election safely in the rearview mirror, Twitter now admits that banning the Post’s reporting for two weeks was “a total mistake.” And yet the rest of the media still has no interest in holding Hunter Biden accountable, even as he peddles his self-serving memoir.
As for that memoir, we’re not even allowed to speak ill of it on Amazon. As Matt Margolis at PJ Media writes, “My book, The Worst President in History: The Legacy of Barack Obama, is routinely targeted by the Left for bogus negative reviews. Roughly 25 percent of the book’s reviews have always been bogus one-star reviews that are not tagged as a ‘verified purchase’ that simply accuse me of being racist, claim the book is poorly researched (it has over 1,000 endnotes), or involve some other attack. Since its original publication in 2016, the percentage of these bogus reviews appears virtually unchanged. I’ve made many complaints to Amazon over the years for the incredible number of undeniably bogus reviews that make it through the company’s screening process. So, I was incredibly shocked to discover that while Amazon took no interest in protecting my book from bogus reviews, that it has chosen to protect others.”
What other books might those be? Well, Hunter Biden’s memoir, Beautiful Things, for one. But if you want to zip over to Amazon and neg the book, don’t bother. You’ll be met with this message: “Amazon has noticed unusual reviewing activity on this product. Due to this activity, we have limited this product to verified purchase reviews.”
So, to summarize, “unusual reviewing activity” refers to negative reviews of certain favored books.
“That must be nice,” Margolis continues. “I wish my book could have been protected from bogus reviews, too. I wonder why it wasn’t, despite my complaints. Now, let me be clear, I do not condone posting bogus negative reviews on Amazon. But, if Amazon’s policy is to allow reviews and ratings from people who haven’t purchased a particular product on its platform, there’s something wrong with the company protecting some books from reviews from people who haven’t bought it, while not protecting others.”
Why, if we didn’t know better, we’d swear Amazon were playing favorites.
We’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: Big Tech is corrupt, even evil, and it’s the enemy of conservatives, libertarians, Republicans, and honest liberals everywhere.
Start a conversation using these share links:


text:
In their recent announcement, Westpac, the oldest bank in Australia, has revealed its decision to implement a transaction block on all activities involving Binance, the popular cryptocurrency exchange. With a focus on investor protection, WestPac aims to shield its customers from potential scams and fraudulent schemes, as stated in its official Press Release.
To corroborate the same, the Australian division of Binance also announced that specific customers would experience limitations on their ability to deposit or withdraw funds. This restriction arose due to a third-party service provider terminating services.
Binance took to social media to announce that users would no longer be able to deposit Australian dollars via bank transfers due to the actions of payments provider Cuscal, effective immediately.
Additionally, Binance indicated that withdrawals would be temporarily suspended without providing specific information on the timeline for resumption.
Westpac previously had maintained a crypto-friendly stance and justified this move by highlighting some of its findings. It revealed that accounts associated with investments are allegedly particularly vulnerable to scams, and an alarming one-third of all payment transactions are directly routed to crypto exchanges.
Scott Collary, Westpac Group Executive of Customer Services and Technology, stated,
Digital exchanges have a legitimate role to play in the financial ecosystem. But since the rise of digital currency, we’ve noticed that scammers are increasingly using overseas exchanges. Often our customers only discover they’ve been scammed after the money has left the country, making recovery extremely difficult.
Setback For Crypto Exchanges Operating In Australia
Coupled with the ban imposed by Westpac, there have been warnings from the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) regarding fraudulent activities, reflecting a heightened and coordinated effort by Westpac to combat exploitation on a broader scale.
The bank’s securities team has demonstrated a significant detection rate of up to 60% for attempted scams, and Westpac is actively exploring system upgrades to enhance these capabilities further.
After confirming that it implemented measures to block certain cryptocurrency payments to minimize losses from scams, Westpac did not disclose specific details or identify the exchanges involved.
This development marks another setback for Binance’s Australian operations following the surrender of its financial services license in April amid an ongoing regulatory investigation.
The combination of regulatory scrutiny and the recent curb on payments adds to the challenges faced by Binance in the Australian market. This move by WestPac to block transactions with Binance could significantly impact other exchanges operating in Australia.
With Binance already having a strained relationship with ASIC in the past, this serves as a strong cautionary message for the exchange and other prominent crypto service providers in the country. The crypto exchanges will now need to reassess their business strategies to ensure their sustainability in the future.
Featured Image From UnSplash, Chart From TradingView.com


text:
ACharlie Brown Thanksgiving has been essential holiday viewing for people who like their children’s cartoons with a streak of existential melancholy ever since the special first aired in 1973. Though the Charlie Brown holiday specials usually air on ABC during the season, this year the specials have moved with the times and are going to a streaming service, allowing viewers to watch the special at any time during Turkey Day.
The 1973 TV special A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving is as traditional as turkey and stuffing. Many fans, therefore, were unhappy to learn in October that the Peanuts holiday specials– including It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown; A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving; and the classic A Charlie Brown Christmas, were moving from CBS to Apple TV Plus.
Fans gave thanks, however, when Apple later announced a deal with PBS to air ad-free broadcasts of A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving on both PBS and the PBS Kids website. But if you missed out on those showings, read on for ways you can still enjoy Snoopy’s not-so-traditional popcorn-and-toast dinner. And if you’re already looking ahead to December, A Charlie Brown Christmas will air for free on PBS and its website on Dec. 13 at 7:30 p.m. local (6:30 p.m. Central).
Over on Apple TV Plus, just like the Halloween special, the Thanksgiving and Christmas specials will all be viewable free for a few days each, according to Apple. While no special Apple equipment or subscription is required, viewers must have a decent internet connection, Snoopy Thanksgiving T-Shirt be tech-savvy enough to seek out the specials via browser or app during their brief window of free availability, and have a device that can show them. Even in 2020, those conditions don’t apply to everyone– and before the PBS broadcast offering was announced, some fans were unhappy.
” I live in the country and have pretty crappy internet service,” one Twitter user wrote back in October. “I do have DirecTV but no streaming apps. I’ve been a fan of the Peanuts holiday shows for years. Watched them as a child and with my kids but the tradition has died for my grandkids. So sad. Thanks no thanks Apple.”.


text:
So, we knew the Galaxy Tab 10.1 was coming
, but it looks like some shoppers eagerly anticipating the tablet's arrival will go home empty handed today. We just received word from a Samsung rep that there have been "shipping delays to some stores in certain regions." They went on to say, "We expect most retail locations to have inventory by tomorrow while supplies last." That's all we have at the moment, but we'll keep you posted as soon as we know more.


text:
NVIDIA has recently posted record revenue numbers with a mind-boggling 1259% increase in net income year-over-year, with the CEO of TSMC now saying that NVIDIA will be the leader in the semiconductor business.
The news from NVIDIA and its revenue of $18.18 billion for Q3 2023, representing a 206% increase from the same quarter last year, and a 34% over Q2 2023. NVIDIA is an AI-focused company at this stage, dominating the AI GPU business with its H100 and upcoming H200 AI GPUs.
But now NVIDIA has the blessing of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and its CEO, Mark Liu, who recently said during a lecture by the Chinese National Association of Industry and Commerce that NVIDIA will soon lead in revenue in the semiconductor industry against its competitors like Intel, Samsung, and more.
TSMC is evolving its business model because of the AI industry surging so hard, working with customers and industry chain partners to both establish and expand ecosystems and alliances and how it deploys globally to face the complexity of international and regional political interactions (which is a serious thing, look at what's happening in China and other countries with US sanctions stopping AI GPUs in their tracks).
TSMC also said that AI is helping the company streamline its operations, and helping out in research and development. TSMC chairman Mark Liu also added that the company is focusing on "TSMC in the AI Era" according to a report by the Central News Agency (CNA).


text:
KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 1): The challenging conditions faced by businesses currently are expected to continue into the second half of 2021 (2H2021) as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to cast uncertainties on the economy and prospects of businesses, according to the findings of the FMM-MIER Business Conditions Survey 1H2021 released today.
All the other current and forward-looking indicators in the latest survey registered lower than 2H2020, a sign that 1H2021 had posed to be a very challenging period for manufacturers and this is expected to continue for the rest of 2021 as well.
Adding to the challenges, the respondents are expecting the cost of production to climb higher.
"Business activity for 2H2021 is expected to remain as slow as in 1H2021. The index for expected business activity fell to 60 from 87 points previously, with 55% of the respondents anticipating their business to be equally slow for the rest of the year.
“Only 15% (of the respondents) are positive that their business will pick up soon," said Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) president Tan Sri Soh Thian Lai in the statement.
The poll also revealed that business activity plummeted in 1H2021 amid a tightening of the Covid-19 lockdowns which put further strains on the manufacturing sector.
The survey is a bi-annual collaboration between the FMM and the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (MIER), which drew 687 respondents nationwide and was conducted from July 16 to Aug 16, 2021.
According to the survey, the expected indexes for both local and export sales declined to 51 and 68, respectively, an implication that domestic and external demand will likely remain weak in the coming months as well.
More than half of the respondents, 59%, are forecasting poor local sales in the second half of the year, with the same expectations from half of those who export.
It added that weak sales are dampening the outlook for production and capacity utilisation. Both the expected indexes for production and capacity utilisation fell against the level in the previous survey to 62 and 60, respectively, suggesting that a decrease in production and capacity utilisation can be expected in 2H2021.
"The expected index for cost of production has risen again. At 166, it infers that production will be costlier soon, with 72% of the respondents projecting this for 2H2021.
“A slowdown in capital expenditure (capex) is in the pipeline for now, as shown by the expected index for capex which dipped to 81 in the latest survey. While 37% of the respondents are contemplating cutting back on their capex soon, 18% are considering increasing theirs," Soh noted.
The survey findings also showed that employment is expected to remain flat in the coming months, as indicated by the index for expected employment which, at 87, had sunk below the optimism threshold this time.
This implies that jobs in the manufacturing sector will be harder to come by in the coming months. A quarter of the respondents intend to reduce their workforce, while 12% are planning to increase their headcount and the remaining 63% will maintain their workforce.


text:
Budweiser Introduces First NBA Virtual Reality Experience
This week, the Philadelphia 76ers became the first team to introduce ads on jerseys. Now, the Cleveland Cavaliers have participated in another NBA first as part of the team's playoff series. Budweiser sponsored the league's first virtual reality (VR) experience in partnership with the Cavaliers, according to Adweek.
The Cavaliers melded the team's official app with a VR experience to give their fans a handful of first-person experiences, including a tour of the Cavaliers' locker room and a courtside view of the player introductions. The team gave away the headsets, created to be used with the app videos, at last night's playoff game in Cleveland.
"As a company, we are always looking for new ways to bring fans closer to the teams they love, and virtual reality is a big part of that," said Lucas Hersovici, vice president of consumer connections at Anheuser-Busch InBev SA, the parent company of Budweiser, in a statement. "The Cavs have been great partners in helping us activate this technology in the NBA, and we look forward to continuing to evolve this activation."
"We're always looking for new ways to connect with our fans by leveraging emerging technologies that deliver unique experiences," added Mike Conley, vice president of digital for the Cavaliers, in a statement. "VR was a logical next step and an area we're excited to explore."
The VR headsets also double as drink-carriers, making them the ideal promotion for basketball game attendees.
What do you think of the Budweiser and Cleveland Cavaliers' promotion?


text:
- Subscribe NowLimited Time Offer
Sign Up for the Nashville Business Journal Afternoon Edition Newsletter
Send this story to a friend
Majority of Americans think it's still a buyer's market
- Jeff Clabaugh, Broadcast/Web Reporter- Washington Business Journal
Despite rising home prices, most Americans still think the housing market is a buyer's market, according to a new Fannie Mae survey.
The percentage of those surveyed who say it is a good time to buy a house increased to 73 percent in June, the highest since Fannie Mae began the monthly poll two years ago. The percentage who think it is a good time to sell was unchanged at 15 percent.
The survey also found 35 percent think home prices will go up in the next 12 months, the highest since Fannie Mae (OTC BB: FNMA) began the survey.
More consumers are willing to buy, with 69 percent of respondents saying they would buy if they were going to move, up 6 percent from May and the highest since the survey began.
- Most popular
- Beretta moving all of its U.S. manufacturing to new Gallatin facility
- What’s keeping the big national banks from taking over Nashville?
- Here's what Mike Curb thinks about saving Studio A and preserving
- Nashville's most-underpaid CEOs: slideshow
- Boutique hotel coming to Printers Alley, displacing businesses
- Cigna-HealthSpring adding to MetroCenter presence
- Nashville's most-overpaid CEOs: slideshow
- NBJ announces 2014 Healthiest Employers
- Activity picking up for Emery's new Cool Springs office building
- Million-dollar luxury homes planned for new Brentwood community
Work For: Capital Financial Group Capital Financial Group | Brentwood, TN
Executive Director The Bluegrass Sports Commission | Lexington, KY
Customer Service - Immediate Hire! #entrylevel OLN | Nashville, TN
Data Mining Analyst AIG Corp | Nashville, TN
Retail Sales Representative Verizon Wireless | Smyrna, TN


text:
By George Leong, B.Comm. for Profit Confidential
Social media stocks appear to be sizzling on the charts once again in what has largely been an on-again, off-again trading pattern.
Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ/FB) proved this after surging 30% on July 25, following its reporting a blow-away second quarter in which the social media giant beat on earnings (36%) and revenue growth (53%) year-over-year. The company’s 1.15 billion monthly active users as of June 30 was impressive. Better yet, of this amount, about 819 million of these users were mobile, up 54% year-over-year.
The numbers are excellent. I continue to like Facebook. But more importantly, I see major growth going forward for Facebook in the critical mobile market, from which the company derived 41% of its total advertising revenue. The company remains a buying opportunity, especially if it can monetize its massive subscriber base.
A highflyer in the Internet space, Yelp, Inc. (NASDAQ/YELP) operates local business sites across many cities and countries and links consumers to local businesses. Yelp’s valuation is high, but revenues are estimated to grow 59.7% this year and 43.0% next year, according to Thomson Financial. Yelp is also estimated to turn a profit of $0.18 per diluted share in 2014.
On the speculative side is social games developer Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ/ZNGA), which holds some promise in spite of it being down from its $14.00 level in May 2012, when Facebook dropped games from its offering. Zynga is at best extremely speculative and only for traders.
- Will Yelp Inc (YELP) Become the Next $10 Billion Social Media Company? (insidermonkey.com)
- Zynga’s a Razor-Sharp Falling Knife (fool.com)


text:
AT&T announced today that it launched the Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean software update for Samsung's original phone-tablet hybrid, the Galaxy Note.
The update, which includes Android 4.1 features like Google Now, better notifications, and a new keyboard, can be installed through Samsung's Kies desktop software via Windows or Mac. Users can download the application from Samsung's website and then connect their device to prompt the software download. Once it's complete, Samsung says that the Galaxy Note will register with the Baseband version I717UCMD3. For more information, you can check out the phone maker's website for handsets on AT&T.
Verizon Wireless users may also be interested to know that the carrier has pushed out Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean for Galaxy Note 2 users as well. The update began rolling out this morning. It features updates to Verizon's applications that are included with the phone-tablet handset, as well as Multi-Window View functionality and several bug fixes. You can learn more about the update at Verizon's site.


text:
There has been a flurry of press about China’s Indigenous innovation policy, which will threaten US intellectual property rights. The policy requires companies to develop their intellectual property in China if they want to qualify for preferences under that country’s government procurement program. U.S. companies are concerned that they will lose big, and President Obama has even stepped in to work with Chinese officials to come to some sort of agreement. He also plans to address the piracy taking place against US filmmakers and musicians, which has been happening for many years, with little success by US officials to stop the criminal activity.
Google and GoDaddy have abandoned their business in China due to the government’s strict regulations. Are we going to see more US companies abandoning China? Is the Chinese government pushing foreigners out to allow domestic companies more success? Here is a great piece from CNN about Microsoft’s battle in China. Microsoft has often said that their business in China has brought them tremendous revenue and the growing economy has paid off for the company. The battle was tough but worth it in the end.
While many companies are worried about the increasing regulation and changes brought forward by the Chinese government, the opportunity to invest in a growing economy like China, is too good of an option, and has not stifled their intentions to invest in the county. Like Microsoft, the road may be a bumpy one with many hurdles, but pay off in the end. It will interesting to see if Google put its tails between its legs and goes back to China, and conforms with censorship requested by the Government. Hopefully, President Obama and his team will be able to hash out an agreement that will not prevent foreign companies from investing in China and will also put a damper on piracy.
Software vendors are well aware of the issue, as is the BSA, who has been very busy in China, cracking down on piracy!
One thought on “China indigenous innovation policy could stifle innovation, foreign investment”
great post as usual!


text:
you are viewing a single comment's thread.
And its like there are no catalysts in the immediate future.
- a rebound in retail numbers this morning, yoy expected growth in holiday sales numbers
- a new console that is sold out until April that is yet to release any amazing games
- developers hiring and releasing footage of next gen games
- and for the first time I can remember a stronger 1st half slate of games to release compared to the holiday and fall schedule of prior year
- and the wild card, spawn labs to launch 2 Q or 3 Q


text:
Thousands of Derby residents have rushed to take up the city council's free garden waste collection since charges were dropped.
The authority had charged £40 per year to collect brown bins since 2014.
After the charge was brought in, around 14,000 people registered for the collection service.
But now the fee has been scrapped, and just over 50,000 who kept their brown bins have opted back in.
And Derby City Council said that if it can get another 30,000 to sign up, it will up the recycling rate so much it will actually save the authority money.
When the charges were introduced, it had been hoped 20,000 households would sign up and the council was looking to save £1.2 million a year and to encourage home composting and to avoid unnecessary landfill charges.
Earlier this year, under a new recycling project, people were invited to sign up for the free scheme and because 28,000 customers already had bins from previously, it has saved the council buying new ones at a cost of £562,040.
People without a bin can register to have one delivered and their collections will start in August. Every household is entitled to one free bin but additional bins will cost £40.
Grass, leaves, flowers, small twigs and food waste can be put in the brown bins, which will be collected all year round on the same day, largely as blue bin collections would be due.
The council has created 17 new refuse collector jobs with the free scheme and is having to hire or purchase an extra seven bin lorries so far.
A council spokesman said: "Initially, it may cost the council additional money for new bins, staff and vehicles but the more people that sign up to the scheme the more money can be saved in the long-term.
"A total of 80,000 customers would be our break-even point. We need to reduce the amount of rubbish which goes into black bins and into landfill and this will then cost less for that rubbish to be dealt with."
The council has also managed to save an estimated £167,000 on the cost of new brown bins after sourcing a supplier in the UK, instead of previously in Germany.
The spokesman added: "The new supplier is providing bins of equal quality at a price one third cheaper than the council has been previously paying, which is a bonus."
In its first year, the scheme was expected to cost around £774,000. It has been estimated that this figure will reduce to £589,000 in subsequent years.
People can still register for the scheme by accessing derby.gov.uk/gardenrecycling


text:
Inventories at new-vehicle stores dropped across multiple brands in January because of strong purchases prior to the lunar New Year holiday that began on February 11.
The average backlog at new-car dealerships declined to 46 days in January, from 54 days in December, according to the China Automobiles Dealers Association.
Inventories at stores stocking locally produced, foreign mass-market brands averaged 46 days, as compared to 57 days the previous month.
Dealerships marketing Chinese brands saw their average supply dip to 52 days, from 62 days in December.
Average stockpiles at stores distributing luxury brands and imported foreign brands also slid to 40 days, from 42 days a month earlier.
In January, the highest average backlog, at 78 days, was reported by Kia dealerships. It was followed by 71 days at Skoda stores, and 69 days at Infiniti stores, according to CADA.


text:
NEW YORK — Bread, a consumer purchase finance technology company that builds customizable payment solutions for online merchants, has completed $126 million of equity and debt financing.
Menlo Ventures led the equity round, with participation from Bessemer Venture Partners, RRE Ventures, and others. The debt facility was provided by Victory Park Capital.
Bread improves conversion and raises average order value for retailers. For instance, an online furniture store could use Bread’s technology to offer its consumers the ability to pay for a sofa in easy-to-understand monthly installments.
Unlike products offered by other online-focused purchase finance companies, Bread’s unique technology allows each merchant to white-label the offering and optimize the experience for its customers. The Bread technology is not a credit card, but its approach reimagines the $100 billion offline private-label credit card industry, where finance companies allow merchants to extend their brands to the experience of financing and payment, strengthening the bond of loyalty with their customers.
Bread’s technology does not treat financing as a one-size-fits-all experience. With Bread’s solutions, different payment plans and different experiences can be tailored to a merchant’s product set. That functionality is innovative for a digitally-focused product. Other companies in the space focus on creating their own branded payments methods that work in standardized ways across merchants. Bread, on the other hand, is not just a branded checkout button.
“We are building online-focused, next-generation solutions,” said co-founder and CEO Josh Abramowitz. “Current private-label options were built for an offline world. They don’t speak the interactive language of e-commerce and don’t work well on the web. Bread’s technology offers a different type of solution. It is optimized for the web, and designed to bring purchase finance into the online era.”
Unlike with credit cards, Bread’s solutions are designed to be easy for consumers to understand. The cost of an item becomes a straightforward series of payments (e.g., perhaps $42 dollars a month for 24 months) without tricks. For merchants, this means customers feel they have been treated right.
The company has grown its volume by five times over the past year as bigger merchants have begun to use Bread’s systems.
“What impressed us most is Bread’s intense devotion to its consumers and its merchants,” said Tyler Sosin, a Menlo partner. “When we speak with them, they simply rave about the product.”
Bread loans are made by Cross River Bank, a New Jersey state-chartered bank and Member FDIC.


text:
Save. Share. Connect.
Tuesday, May 23, 2017
VOLUME -24 NUMBER 9
Publication Date: 09/1/2009
Front Page News
People in the News
Electronic Mfg. Services
Electronic Mfg. Products
Special Features: PCB and Assembly
Product Preview: ATE and IPC Midwest
September 2009 Issue
Front Page News
Breakthrough May Bring New Gen PC Boards
Syracuse, NY — Circuit boards may get a whole new pedigree and production methodology because of an amazing discovery by PCB veteran Robert Tarzwell working in his laboratory at DMRPCB — literally a cottage industry site. It's the stuff of Silicon Valley garage startups: Tarzwell has made a momentous
discovery that can revolutionize the way printed circuits are fabricated. At the same time, this new ...
New Hydrogen Storage Brings Fuel Cell Autos Closer
Los Alamos, NM — With every announcement of another automobile manufacturer's fuel cell initiative come wonderful pronouncements and forecasts that are still far from being fulfilled for a number of reasons. One of these over-arching stumbling blocks has been the lack of a suitable fuel storage system for pure ...
IPC Study: Industry Gaining Strength
Bannockburn, IL — IPC has released the results of its latest Fast Facts survey, "Survival Strategies and Success Measures in the Electronics Industry". With data from a representative sample of electronics OEMs, EMS companies, PCB manufacturers and suppliers, the survey reveals the strategies companies are ...
Indium Corporation’s Mackie to Present at IMAPS ATW on Advances in Semiconductor Packaging
CLINTON, NY - Indium Corporation’s
Andy C. Mackie, PhD, MSc
, Senior Product Manager for Semiconductor and Advanced Assembly Materials, will present at the
IMAPS Advanced Technology Workshop and Tabletop Exhibition on Advances in Semiconductor Packaging
on June 15 at Binghamton University in Vestal, N.Y.
Dr. Mike Bixenman Discusses Non-Standard Test Methods at ICSR
NASHVILLE, TN - KYZEN is pleased to announce that Mike Bixenman, DBA will present at the International Conference on Soldering & Reliability (ICSR) held in conjunction with the Toronto SMTA Expo & Tech Forum.
© 2015 USTECH. All Rights Reserved. |
Contact Us: 610-783-6100 |
powered by GIM


text:
While details are a little thin, it appears that hit sitcom “Friends” is still popular with fans after HBO Max revealed it was the most-watched show on the burgeoning platform.
It is always best to take announcements regarding viewership from online streaming platforms with a grain of salt because they always come with claims but never any actual viewership numbers.
However, one thing that is less obscure is the popularity of the sitcom “Friends”. It was genre-defining in its original run from 1994 and 2004 and saw a huge resurgence in popularity when it was re-released on Netflix.
It is so popular, rumours of a possible reunion for season 11 and even a movie concept garner near riotous reactions from fans. Friends-inspired restaurants and wine bars can be found all over the world, like the Friends House in London. And board games like the one Ross invented are still being played by fans.
The show’s influence can even be seen in the iGaming industry, where industry-leading uk casinos like 888 feature the official Friends slot game that allows players to take a trip to Central Perk and reunite with their favourite characters.
So it comes as no surprise that “Friends” is top of the pops on HBO Max, considering its massive impact on popular culture over the years. The streaming service is playing their cards close to their chest, though, in terms of viewership figures.
Despite this, there is reason to believe HBO Max is not on the way to becoming a major player in the streaming service industry. According to app store intelligence firm Sensor Tower, HBO Max was downloaded 87 000 times between the Apple App Store and Google Play on its release day and continues to attract around 16 000 new users every day.
While that pales in comparison to the hundreds of millions of downloads for Netflix and Hulu, it is important to note HBO Max is not an entirely new product and is merely an extension of HBO Now. Together, Sensor Tower estimates they have been downloaded a total of 33 million times. Not bad for an industry disruptor.
The value proposition is solid, even though the $14.99 price tag is more expensive than both Hulu and Netflix. It is still a good deal because it is the same price as a regular HBO subscription but comes with a whole bunch of bonus content. It’s probably also worth noting that it could not cost less because that would violate an agreement between Warner Media, HBO and their cable providers.
Ultimately, it is no surprise that a classic and influential show as timeless as “Friends” is number one on a newly-launched streaming platform. Even though exact figures aren’t available, it appears HBO Max is doing an excellent job of making streaming industry stalwarts look nervously over their shoulders and forcing them to think outside of the box to stay ahead


text:
Table of Contents
AutoFutures Tom Fogden has a rich first person interview with AEHRA’s CEO and Co-Founder, Hazim Nada.
MY TAKE-As AEHRA’s Global Chief Marketing Officer I’m always happy when the media takes time to cover our early stage electric vehicle company. The article is accurate, on point and brings to light what AEHRA is all about.
The Sun in the UK has some commentary on the new Mercedes-Benz EQXX and theorizes that it’s not really coming.
MY TAKE-Hype. Dreams. Not reality. Too many concept cars are shown off by manufacturers that get the media and influencers all excited. What is exciting is the potential that’s being shown off. Longer battery life and greater mileage are two solutions to range anxiety, which is one of the biggest impediments to more rapid EV adoption.
This is Money has a report and infographic describing the slowdown in deployment of electric vehicle charging stations across the UK.
MY TAKE-Muy problema. Yes, it’s a big problem and the reason is that the UK is one of the more rapidly adopting nations for electric vehicles as EV sales represent nearly 15 percent of the new vehicles sold in 2021 according to EVAdoption’s report on the State of EV Adoption (The report is free if you sign up for the authors’ newsletter). What the slowdown means is a more communities see an uptick in EVs on the road, the need for charging points will increase. But the slowdown could also signal something else. The companies that supply power to them haven’t built up their infrastructure to get the type of power to the charging stations at the speed they will need them to keep the EVs powered up.
Sales of EVs in China has taken a 57 percent market share of sales worldwide according to a study by Canalys that was reported by ZDnet.
MY TAKE-26 percent of the vehicles sold in China were EVs. This is explosive adoption with home grown BYD leading by a nose over TESLA. What’s more, SAIC and Geely combined represent another 15 percent of the EVs sold in Mainland China showing that at least 30 percent of the buyers are buying local.
Reuters tells us that the fleet management companies that supply vehicles to many of the larger corporations are being asked to start to lease them EVs.
MY TAKE-This is expected, especially as more companies move towards much needed environmentally responsible behavior (or at least give it lip service.) Let’s face it environmental, social and governance (ESG) is a big deal. Younger buyers think and investigate a company’s behavior in this area more than any other group to date, and its something we all need to pay attention to as all this plays into a company’s sustainability efforts.
Urban Courtier has put together an interesting video about how to make a decision to buy or not to buy and EV.
MY TAKE-The video is voice over by a text to speech engine and stock video and images that’s well done. The way the pros and cons are presented is very balanced to help people make decisions covering many of the decision making points needed to reach a decision.
ZapMap has a series of tips for EV owners who are dealing with the heat wave that’s hitting many parts of the globe.
MY TAKE-I love tips and tricks articles and content as they are very useful especially the one about moving the car into a shady spot. If you’ve ever had your iPhone overheat from sitting in the sun, you’ll know that it shuts down. Well, think of your EV as a giant iPhone and how the same type of effect could occur. Sure, EV batteries are insulated, but prolonged exposure to high temperatures and blazing sun are not a good combination that your EV battery system is going to enjoy.


text:
PRE-ORDERS NOW ACCEPTED EXCLUSIVELY THROUGH PANDA AMERICA
For the first time since 1997, China is issuing an official set of gold & silver medals to commemorate a prestigious coin fair. The 2012 Singapore International Coin Fair, taking place March 30th to April 1st, 2012 at the Marina Bay Sands Resort, will be honored with official Chinese Panda gold & silver medals. Four new official Panda medals commemorating the Singapore International Coin Fair will be released:
The 2012 Singapore International Coin Fair gold & silver Panda medals carry on a long tradition of China issuing Panda medals commemorating prestigious coin fairs. The first coin expo to be honored with a Panda medal was the 1984 Hong Kong coin show. The last coin fair to have an official Panda medal was the 1997 Munich International Coin Show. Many other coin fairs were honored with official Chinese Panda medals, & these coin fair medals are amongst the most popular Panda issues from China, with low mintages & high premiums. We expect the new 2012 Singapore International Coin Fair Panda medals to sell out fast.
Official 2012 Singapore International Coin Fair Panda Medals can be pre-ordered exclusively through official distributor Panda America, by calling USA: 1-310-373-9647, Singapore: +65-6547-5586 or visiting our website, at www.PandaAmerica.com. Advance orders require payment in full, with delivery expected after March 30th. The medals will also be made available, while supplies last, at the Marina Bay Sands Casino during the days of the coin fair.


text:
Mumbai: A benchmark index for Indian equities markets Tuesday was up 248 points following healthy buying in consumer durables, bank, metal, capital goods and fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) stocks.
The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 18,616.55 points, was ruling at 18,785.81 points around 2.00 p.m., up 248.80 points or 1.34 percent from its previous close at 18,537.01 points.
The benchmark index touched a high of 18,805.77 points and low of 18,616.55 points intra-day. The BSE midcap index was up 84.37 points, the smallcap index was higher by 53.88 points.
The wider 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange was up 70.40 points or 1.25 percent at 5,706.30 points.
The consumer durables index was up 235.39 points, while the bank index edged higher by 216.27 points, followed by metals index, up 149.49 points, capital goods index, up 120.91 points and FMCG index, up 96.45 points.
Among other Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.37 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.08 percent. China’s Shanghai Composite Index was down 1.30 percent.


text:
Posted on 05/08/2019 by guidetocamera
According to latest rumors from LR, the upcoming Leica SL2 will be announced later this year, around 3rd of 2019. Leica SL2 will feature with Leica Q2‘s 47MP full frame CMOS sensor. And there will be no Leica M11 in 2020, instead, a new camera called Leica M10X will be announced in 2020 with the 47MP sensor.
Leica is also rumored to announce a new Leica M mount camera with EVF: 24MP sensor, body similar to the M240. The camera will have a native M mount and will be offered as an alternative to the M10.
Follow us on Facebook!


text:
Facebook reported their Q3 results on an earnings call at the end of October, with the headline being that Facebook’s Q3 performance was underwhelming versus estimates. Despite daily active users seeing a global increase of 9% year-on-year (YoY), user growth is slowing and despite a 33% increase in advertising revenue YoY, they fell short of expectations.
Shares whipsawed in the aftermath, fluctuating from 6% down to 5% up within hours.
Potential media implications:
The earnings presentation can be found here, but the salient figures and key media take outs from a media perspective are summarised below:
Global daily active users (DAUs) were 1.49 billion on average for September 2018, an increase of 9% year-over-year.
It’s estimated that more than 2 billion users use at least one of Facebook’s family of products on a daily basis (Instagram, Whatsapp, Messenger etc.).
Mobile advertising revenue represented approximately 92% of advertising revenue for Q3 2018, up from approximately 88% of advertising revenue in Q3 2017.
Whilst none of the above is surprising, it compounds the need for us to ensure we are diversify our channel mix where appropriate to mirror user behaviour, and ensure we are thinking digitally first.
One of the biggest headlines from the last month was Amazon’s announcement that they would be allowing advertisers to access their first party search data to retarget users across the web rather than just on the Amazon platform. Amazon haven’t yet commented, however the early learnings from this recent development is that the data would only be readily available through Amazon’s owned and operated DSP, Amazon Advertising Platform (AAP).
As a supplier, Amazon has always kept their cards close to their chest so the move to allow this data to be accessed beyond their own site is unprecedented. Many clients across the globe have specific, direct deals with Amazon and have only been able to retarget users when their own brand has been specifically searched for on, however this new development will open many opportunities for advertisers to grow their brands.
Having this data available will allow clients to get more of an idea of the users who are directly in-market for their specific products, this will then open up many more avenues for growth as this data can then be used to build lookalike pools for digital advertisers.
Currently there are a few suppliers who have similar targeting strands such as Captify and Quantcast, however the data that these suppliers have access to is used from websites and may not mean that the user is directly searching for specific products which could give Amazon the upper hand here.
Alternatively, this release could be down to trying to grow the Amazon Advertising Platform product, as we are beginning to see more clients shift to using DSPs such as AppNexus & DBM, and this could offer them a USP to drive more clients back into spending more budget with the Ecommerce giant.
As the product is still in the testing phase we don’t expect to see too much change in the digital space over the next few months, however it’s something to keep an eye on as this could give Amazon a bigger foothold in the market than they already have.
Shortlist Media Rebrand
Last month Shortlist Media announced they were rebranding themselves as The Stylist Group, a transformation that sees focus shift to their female ‘power brand’, Stylist. This restructure comes as a measured response to an ever-changing market. Stylist have recognised the shift in consumer interests; as print advertising remains challenging for the male sector, opportunities have arisen to strengthen their contemporary women’s brand. This restructure will see Shortlist, currently the biggest men’s magazine in the UK by circulation, moving to become a solely digital brand focusing on affiliate links and product recommendations whilst The Stylist Group plan cross platform expansion.
Within the restructure, The Stylist Group’s prominent focus is to be market leader within women’s brands. The group said that “The Stylist Group is investing in building a power brand at a time when feminism and the united force of women has never been more relevant,” indicating the strong vision for long-term growth. Key drivers of this expansion will be through their launch of a fitness brand, franchised events such as ‘Stylist Live’– with additional venues already being added to their listings within the UK. As well as continued use of female-targeted creative partnerships, these provided notable growth of 40% uplift YOY in against the same period last year. Not to mention the brand’s plan to venture into the US market, enhancing their opportunity to expand their following and fulfil their aspiration as market lead.
This rebranding provides many opportunities for media agencies to link relevant female brands with the expansive Stylists audiences in innovative and more consumer-focused methods, enabling brands to remain present and within consumer interest. From an overall market view, this reiterates the importance of audience insight to ensure that comms are executed in the most relevant way, maximising reach.
Introduction of Reach Solutions
Another prominent transformation in the publishing world is the recent acquisition of Northern & Shell titles by Trinity Mirror; a merge of national advertising teams to create Reach Solutions. Within the portfolio are over 100 regional titles, expanding the demographic reach and generating an estimated £240m a year in ad sales (not splitting out national and regional revenues).
The creation of Reach Solutions will massively expand the title’s share in the market to an estimated reach of 46 million Britons a month. However, Andy Atkinson, Reach’s chief revenue officer, suggests that the merger will add much more than just scale – citing the three key benefits of ‘identity, influence and integrity’. Titles such as the Daily Express will be softening their editorial tone through the addition of more positive content and varied front pages.
As mentioned earlier, within the current client it is vital that publishers are more attentive to the needs and progression of the market, adapting to remain relevant and in line with audience. Reach Solutions have established this new sales house to resonate more effectively with the masses through combining the identities of the individual titles into a more succinct package.
Black Friday has greatly grown in significance over the past few years, and is now one the key shopping periods of the year in the UK. Brands offer a wide range of discounted products and everyone wants to win the fight to capture consumers’ attention in an increasingly cluttered marketplace. Clients often have huge targets to hit in terms of traffic and, ultimately, sales and consumers are itching to get the very best deals they can – this is truly the time that affiliates comes into its own and can do what it does best.
The day itself is primarily regarded as discount and promotion focused. Whilst there’s no denying this is the case, data which comes out of it is often more nuanced with other important metrics coming into play.
Many brands have made new customer acquisition a key focus and Black Friday is often particularly good at capitalising on the increase in traffic and casual browsing to try and entice new consumers. With the opportunity to expand customer base, looking at lifetime value rather than just the short-term margin is essential. Cashback sites are particularly good in this manner. Another area where affiliates can help clients is around increasing revenue by pushing % discounts which encourage consumers to purchase additional basket items and increase AOV. Small incremental values here can really help drive great results across the wider Black Friday and Cyber Week period. In fact, affiliate marketing as a whole is a great way to delve into the deeper client issues and deliver strategically on their KPIs. Whether that’s focusing on pushing certain product lines to avoid issues with margins, concentrating on a segment of the audience such as new customers, or simply just driving substantial amounts of revenue, affiliates is a key tactic that can help deliver on these.
According to Springboard (shopper monitoring firm), in-store retail spending over Black Friday dropped this year with footfall in town centres and shopping centres down by 6%. However many sources cite a significant rise in overall spending. Online retailers are therefore benefitting the most and, by implementing a robust affiliate strategy, clients can capitalise on this. Results are still coming in from the period however TopCashback, one of the UK’s leading cashback sites, expected members to spend around £16 million on Black Friday alone, demonstrating the scope and rising popularity of the channel. It also shows the significance of affiliates as more than simply “discounts” with potential consequences of brand perception damage. When an affiliate strategy is implemented in the correct way, it can help brands reap the rewards at an incredibly good ROAS, and the initial results coming in from our brands clearly shows this. Whilst some may remain cynical about BF and the quality of the discounts on offer, it’s clear that there is a huge demand for lower prices and savings and there is no sign that the consumer popularity of Black Friday will dissipate any time soon.
Sky – Comcast Auction Win
The result is finally in – Comcast Corp. have won a bidding war for Sky Plc with a $39 billion offer for Europe’s largest satellite broadcaster, staving off the competition from 21st Century Fox Inc. and Walt Disney Co. to extend the U.S. cable giant’s empire abroad.
In a rare auction overseen by U.K. regulators, Comcast bid 10 percent more than Fox, all but assuring that investors in London-based Sky will tender their shares to the Philadelphia-based cable carrier. Fox, which is selling its 39 percent stake to Disney as part of a deal struck last year, is considering pledging the Sky shares to Comcast if Disney supports the move.
Should Comcast complete the transaction, Chief Executive Officer Brian Roberts will lead a global television and internet giant, helping contend with the rising threat from Netflix Inc.
But now that Comcast Corp. has won the battle for Sky Plc, Chief Executive Officer Brian Roberts faces a pressing question: What does he do with Europe’s biggest satellite pay-TV company?
Christmas is nearly here… I’m a Celebrity has returned to ITV with 11.9m audience peak without Ant
ITV achieved its biggest viewing figures this year outside the World Cup as I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! returned for its 18th series. The game show attracted a 51% viewing share on 18 November as viewers tuned in to watch Holly Willoughby’s debut as Declan Donnelly’s co-presenter.
Willoughby has replaced Ant McPartlin, who is taking time out to focus on his health after being admitted to rehabilitation in March. I’m a Celebrity… yielded an 11.9 million audience peak, the highest-rating launch episode since 2013, and averaged 11 million – up from 10.3 million last year. Against 16-34year olds, the first episode pulled in 3.8m viewers, the second biggest audience for this demographic after the England vs. Croatia WC semi-finals earlier this year.
Will I’m a Celeb continue to take the lead of the ratings as we get closer to Christmas?
Vice is now on All4
VICE is the world’s leading youth media brand and its award-winning long-form content is now available on All 4. Over 200 hours of new programming and more than 700 hours of content from VICE’s existing library, including lifestyle and cultural programming, is available to view on-demand on All 4 in a VICE branded hub.
The deal marks the first time Channel 4 has worked with a third-party brand in this way to bring programming to its on-demand service. The partners tested the waters earlier this year by launching four Vice titles on All 4 for a limited time.
Netflix looking at an ad-funded model?
Netflix has aroused speculation that it could be gearing up to introduce ads after it emerged some viewers have been seeing promos for other content in between episodes. The news prompted an inevitable backlash from many of Netflix’s 100 million-plus subscribers, who are used to an uninterrupted viewing experience.
But is it time for Netflix to go the whole hog and let advertisers in? Netflix does need to find more income, which it can only do by increasing prices or taking ads and offering subscribers the choice. Both options will be challenging for Netflix but is the provider ready to make the jump?
Global completes acquisition of Exterion Media
Radio giant Global has completed its acquisition of Exterion Media, which holds the London Underground advertising contract.
Global made a binding offer to buy Exterion Media, which has an estimated 22% share of the OOH market in the UK. The acquisition followed hot on the heels of Global’s purchase of Primesight and Outdoor Plus in an estimated near-£30m double deal in September, giving the radio group a combined share of 32% in OOH.
That makes it a strong number two to France’s JCDecaux, the world’s biggest ad group, which has about 36% share in the UK.
Acast podcasts now available for distribution on Spotify worldwide
Acast is now working with Spotify to create a new distribution channel for the 2,500+ podcasts hosted with Acast from around the world. Acast podcasters will now be able to distribute their shows to Spotify’s 180 million listeners at the click of a button within Acast’s Create podcast management system. Podcasters will automatically submit their show while maintaining the ability to monetise on all tiers of the Spotify ecosystem through Acast’s proprietary dynamic ad insertion technology.
Acast and Spotify collaborated to ensure that in addition to bringing the Acast podcasts into the Spotify ecosystem, podcasters will now also get to see crucial data and listening behaviour from the platform within Acast’s Create dashboard alongside similar data from the Acast app and other leading podcasters.
Cinema has had a bumper 2018, with forecasts for the year seeing revenue up 1% year on year and admissions once again coming in high at +3% YoY, showing the love of cinema, especially for the hard to reach 16-34 age group. The year is set to finish strongly, with JK Rowling’s wizarding world of Harry Potter franchise ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ already grossing £497m at the UK box office so far. This is being followed up with ‘The Crimes Of Grindlewald’, where Eddie Redmayne’s Newt Scamander is joined by the latest actor to take on the role of Dumblemore, Jude Law, in what is set to be one of the biggest films of 2018. We have also seen advertisers making best use of their creatives in the lead up to Christmas, with John Lewis and Waitrose bringing to life their latest school play creative by placing it directly after trailers of the ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ by accessing a series of gold spot placements. The connection between the two created the perfect brand stand out and an exciting talking point amongst audiences.
Christmas is also the perfect time for advertisers to spend on cinema, with the festive season seeing the most admissions compared to other times of the year. This is partly due to fantastic films being shown at this time of year, with 2018 being no exception with Mary Poppins Returns coming out on the 21st December. Data (TGI) also shows that cinemagoers are more likely to start planning their Christmas purchases earlier than non-cinemagoers and are more likely to spend more. Furthermore, 97% of cinemas are within a one mile radius of a retail location, so perfect for retail brands. Christmas also remains an untapped opportunity at Christmas for many sectors, meaning brands can cut through and avoid the clutter found in other media.
Many brands have used cinema to great success for Christmas campaigns.
Sky Movies – Christmas
Sky Movies saw positive shifts across all brand tracking metrics of between 6% and 22%. Intent to purchase among cinemagoers increased by +13% vs. those not exposed to the cinema activity. New Sky subscriptions exceeded targets by 8%.
River Island – Christmas Party
By using cinema, River Island were able to benefit from a close association with a hit movie (Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2) and connect with their target audience.
The appeal of the advertising helped River Island to cut through and remind consumers of their suitability during a key retail period. This led to increased brand relevance and consideration for River Island.
Lidl – The Little Present
Cinema increased advertising awareness and recognition, demonstrating how the cinema works alongside TV in delivering additional reach and creative cut-through. The ability of cinema to engage viewers led to increases in brand interest and perception. Consideration of Lidl grew as a result of the cinema activity.
Amazon has emerged as a search advertising powerhouse in 2018.
Already known for its dominance of the e-commerce market place Amazon has now set its sights on expanding into paid advertising. In fact, it’s search business is on track to generate more than $10 billion in revenue in the US over the next year – as reported in their third-quarter financial results.
In September, the global powerhouse unified its disparate Ad products and systems under one brand, Amazon Advertising. As a result we expect the search landscape to expand across all markets as new ad space becomes available, and advertisers look to diversify their digital strategy.


text:
Sage 50 Accounts gets a new interface, Sage Drive support, two mobile apps and a subscription model
Newcastle-based enterprise software specialist Sage has announced that the latest version of its popular ‘50 Accounts’ software is finally making the transition to the cloud.
The company will also release two mobile apps for iOS and Android, and introduce Sage Drive, an online platform for storing financial data.
50 Accounts is aimed at Small to Medium Businesses (SMBs) and, just like the name suggests, is designed to manage up to 50 employees. All of the new software will be available later this August.
Cloud for all
Sage is the world’s third largest supplier of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software behind Oracle and SAP, and an uncontested leader in the SMB market.
The new version of 50 Accounts introduces a revamped user interface, automatic back-up and a subscription model that starts at just £25 per month. According to Sage, the new one-click navigation provides instant access to any ledger and helps to reduce the time it takes to navigate to certain tasks by 44 percent.
The company says that the move to the cloud is a single biggest change made to 50 Accounts. The new version of the accounting suite is integrated with the all-new Sage Drive, a secure online depository that helps accountants share data within their business, as well as with partners outside the company.
Sage is also introducing two mobile apps – Tracker, which enables remote monitoring of the most important financial information, and Mobile Sales, which helps staff in the field estimate quotes and submit invoices. Both rely on Sage Drive.
“For firms who have not considered cloud solutions before this presents a fantastic opportunity to foster new, more collaborative, and more flexible ways of working within their business and with partners,” said Lee Perkins, managing director for Start-up and Small Business at Sage UK&I.
“Working closely with our customers and accounting partners every new feature has been designed to make life easier for both accountants and small business users, giving them even greater insight, control and confidence. This will transform the day-to-day operation of thousands of firms across the UK.”
This is not the first cloud product released by Sage– the company already sells subscriptions to products like Sage One – a simplified, budget-friendly accounting suite for start-ups – as well as Sage 200 Online, designed for companies that employ up to 200 people.
Do you remember British IT in the Thatcher years? Take our quiz!


text:
Google News goes down; company working to fix
Google has acknowledged an outage of Google News, its highly popular news aggregation site. The company said the following about the outage:
The outage comes on the heels of another Google outage earlier this month, when Gmail went down for more than an hour after a system upgrade went awry. The Internet search company operates almost completely via the Web, so down time of any sort creates immediate problems for it because clients and consumers are unable to access affected Google sites and services.
Google News aggregates headlines from hundreds of online news sources, and the company says it said its drives huge numbers of viewers back to those sites. An outage, then, means a major artery to online news sites has been temporarily clogged.
Updated, 2:28 p.m.: The site is back up. The outage appears to have lasted around 30 minutes or less.
Updated, 3:20 p.m.: Google said the issue has been resolved. According to the company, the outage lasted a little less than two hours, beginning at 12:25 p.m. and ending at 2:20 p.m. PDT.
-- David Sarno


text:
create a hashtag with the intent to drive more customers as well as boost their sales and reputation but get entirely negative results. The same failed Twitter campaign happened to Starbucks (@Starbucks) ?recently when it created the hashtag #SpreadTheCheer in anticipation of the holiday season. The famous coffee shop franchise started by asking online users to tweet their ideas and joyful experiences during the Christmas season, but realized later that most of the conversations dealt with the company?s labor rules and low tax rates in the United Kingdom. Hundreds of netizens immediately joined and criticized other areas of the company?s operations, with some including profanity in their tweets.
Why The Anger?One of the major issues of the backfire was that Starbucks was sponsoring an ice rink at the Natural History museum in London. There was a giant screen where skaters and museum visitors can easily read the criticisms and profanities tweeted. A spokesperson for the company immediately apologized to all the people at the ice rink who read the inappropriate messages. The spokesperson indicated that the filtering system was not working properly, which allowed the wrongful messages to proceed and be displayed in large bold letters. A lot of people were very concerned after Starbucks was discovered to have paid a meager 8.6 million pounds in corporate taxes since 1998, considering how well the business is doing and the fact that there are 700 stores all over the United Kingdom. In the beginning, Starbucks was adamant, but later on agreed to pay more taxes than what was required by law in the United Kingdom in the following two years. The other major issue concerning labor standards was also attacked by online users in criticism of how the franchise allegedly treats its staff. Starbucks reportedly intends to reduce maternity benefits, paid lunch breaks and sick leaves, thus leading to a public outcry. Here's the activity on #SpreadTheCheer at its peak.
Courtesy of Hashtags.org Analytics


text:
Science Says Coffee Is Healthy, So Have Another Cup
Are you one of those people who just can’t get going in the morning without your cup of joe? Well, there’s good news! It turns out that the heavenly brew you’ve been having every morning may just be good for your health as well as your morning mood. That sounds like cause for another cup to me.
Studies have increasingly suggested that coffee and/or caffeine could be an effective therapy to treat Alzheimer’s disease. Studies done on mice given caffeine versus decaf coffee found that those given the caffeine were shown to get better cognitive benefits. Coffee has also been found to help protect the brain against developing Alzheimer’s in the first place.
Helps Your Nerves
Another disease commonly associated with aging, those with Parkinson’s disease may also benefit from drinking coffee. Studies suggest that coffee may help to protect against neuron degeneration in Parkinson’s, as well as help improve the tremors and motor deficits that are most commonly associated with Parkinson’s disease.
Keeps You Clean
A Harvard study conducted over the course of 10 years found that men who drink two to three cups of coffee a day have a lower risk of developing painful gallstones than those who don’t. Only coffee with caffeine had this effect, as it helped stimulate contractions in the gallbladder and lower cholesterol concentrations in bile.
Keeps You Strong
Researchers at Coventry University found that regular coffee consumption in the elderly could help them maintain strength in their muscles as they age. Their study on mice looked at two different skeletal muscles, measuring the strength before and after coffee was administered. “With the importance of maintaining a physically active lifestyle to preserve health and functional capacity, the performance-enhancing benefits of caffeine could prove beneficial in the aging population,” Jason Tallis, who led the study, said.
A Reason To Rejoice
A Danish study has found that a substance in coffee known as cafestol may help prevent type 2 diabetes. In studies on mice, they found that cafestol increases glucose-stimulated insulin secretion in vitro and increases glucose uptake in human skeletal muscle cells. More studies are being done to investigate cafestol as a possible antidiabetic drug.
More in Life Hacks
Researchers Paid People To Take A Facebook ‘Detox,’ And This Is What They Found
Facebook is such a dominating force in our society; it might be impossible to imagine life without it. Researchers at Stanford...March 26, 2019
5 Reasons To Love The Stress Release Trends Knows As ‘Rage Yoga’
Can you imagine if your favorite yoga class had more F-bombs than savasanas? That’s the concept that yoga instructor Ashley Duzich brought...March 26, 2019
This Crocheting Octogenarian Grandmother Has Made Over 2,000 Adorable Homemade Hats For Newborns
An elderly woman is staying busy even in her retirement. Using her crochet skills, the grandmother is helping newborns stay warm with...March 21, 2019
After 28 Days In The Wild, This EMT Refused To Give Up On Saving His Missing Therapy Dog
Often times, adopting a pet can save more than the life of the animal. Pets can be healing, comforting, and therapeutic...March 20, 2019
Starbucks China Released Cat-Paw Cups And Fans ‘Furr-eaked’ Out
People love Starbucks coffee. There are some who can’t get their days started without it. But now customers are going absolutely...March 18, 2019
Krispy Kreme Is Releasing Its Specialty Green Donuts Just In Time For St. Patrick’s Day
Krispy Kreme is going green, at least for a little while! The popular donut shop is celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, offering...March 17, 2019
Clever Texas Retiree Figures Out Why Holiday Inn Tops Nursing Home For Golden Years
Being a senior citizen can be tough on the wallet, but one Texas man knows the perfect place to spend his...March 16, 2019
The 98-Year-Old Woman Who’s Volunteered Nearly 7,000 Hours At A Hospital And Doesn’t Plan To Stop Anytime Soon
There are some stories that just make you feel good, and this is one of them. At Morton Plant Hospital, there...March 15, 2019
This Little Boy’s Response To Finding Out ‘Two Princesses’ Can Marry Left Newlyweds In Tears
A wedding should be one of the happiest experiences of a couple’s relationship. Yet, for members of the LGBTQ+ community, judgment...March 15, 2019