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Pickup trucks are finally getting an official stamp of approval.
The United States Postal Service is issuing new Forever stamps on July 15 adorned with classic American pickups.
The images of the four “rugged and reliable work vehicles,” as the agency calls them, span 27 years of models.
The oldest is the 1938 International Harvester D-2, which was among the first pickups to shift from purely utilitarian design to a more luxurious, stylish look. International Harvester was known for its agricultural equipment, but the D-2 boasted chrome trim in addition to a six-cylinder engine and its ability to carry half a ton of weight.
The 1948 Ford-F1 was the automaker’s first truck produced after World War II. The vehicle had a sizable “Million Dollar Cab” in addition to more sophisticated detailing and suspension. In its first year, it sold more than 300,000 units.
The F-series has been the country’s best-selling truck since 1977 and vehicle of any type since 1982, according to Ford Motor Co.
The 1953 Chevrolet 3100, with its distinctive wavy grille, also stars on the stamps. It’s part of the Advance-Design line, which debuted in 1947 and remained the top-selling pickup in the country for nearly a decade.
Finally, there’s the 1965 Ford F-100. This model had a brand new Twin-I-Beam independent front suspension, which improved ride smoothness and stuck around in some form until 1996. The vehicle also introduced an 18-slot grille.
“We’re proud that two F-Series trucks are featured as part of the USPS tribute to American pickups,” said Ford spokesman Michael Levine.
The USPS has often had wheels on the brain, releasing several series of stamps focusing on vehicles and transportation, according to William J. Gicker, the agency’s creative director and manager of stamp development.
In 2014, the agency issued limited-edition Hot Rods Forever stamps featuring two 1932 Ford “Deuce” roadsters. Earlier, in 2008, USPS celebrated five popular cars from the 1950s. Two years before that, four classic American motorcycles were depicted on stamps.
But the pickup truck stamps are “a rare find,” said Scott D. English, executive director of the American Philatelic Society.
English said he knows of only six truck appearances on U.S. stamps, none of them pickups. The first was a postal mail truck in 1925, and the last was a 1994 stamp featuring a 1930s tractor-trailer.
By comparison, 29 U.S. stamp issues have featured space vehicles, including satellites.
The upcoming truck stamps were designed by Pittsford, N.Y.-based artist Chris Lyons and Alexandria, Va.-based art director Antonio Alcala. Gicker said Lyons was given “quite a bit of flexibility” in choosing the four featured trucks, being told only to look for vehicles in four colors and distinct shapes.
“Our vintage pickup trucks are true Americana and we love them,” Gicker said.
Pickup trucks first emerged in the early 1900s but were common by the Great Depression.
The stamps will be issued as a first-class mail Forever booklet of 20 stamps for $9.40. Forever stamps can be used to mail first-class letters regardless of the current postal rate. Even if the cost of sending a normal 1-oz. letter rises in 2017 or 2027, a Forever stamp purchased in 2016 will still do the trick.


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Christmas to see flood of Google Android phones
Been waiting for a decent Android phone? The number of Android handsets due out in 2009 could swamp the market.
This Christmas will see the market "knee deep" in Google Android handsets as it meets a point where software, hardware, marketplace and user expectations finally meet.
This was according to Android Academy software development manager Carl Whalley, with Motorola "betting the farm" on Android, Samsung bringing out the i7500 by the third quarter, HTC already out with its models and expecting more, and LG bringing out a device in 2009.
Whalley said that Apple had done the hard work in getting people interested in touch screen handsets, thanks to its iPhone, and that Android phone makers would benefit from the "education" they were giving about smartphones, such as with high profile advertising.
Whalley said: "So far, smartphones have been for geeks or high-end business users."
Manufacturers could also charge less for Android mobile phones as they were open source. It also meant that they did not have to worry about maintaining their own operating systems, as Android would take care of any upgrades needed.
This still benefited Google, as although its profits were based on adverts it could encourage Google web application use by having more handsets in the market.
Whalley said: "You have Gmail, Google Maps, all the other services that you're used to from a desktop browser.
"It's all going to integrate with Android," he added.
Whalley also talked about how the Android platform was also moving to other areas now and in the future, such as set-top boxes, netbooks, navigating systems and digital photo frames - and said that Android would be used by enterprises in the near future.
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Our top line: Podcasting in the US will cross the $1 billion mark this year, and its ascent will continue. Per our latest forecast, podcast ad spending will exceed $2 billion by 2023. We upgraded our growth estimates due to the 36.8% spike in ad spending during 2020, which will be followed by growth of 38.7% this year and 31.1% in 2022. We previously expected 10.4% growth in 2020.
Driving the update: Podcast advertising in H2 2020 recovered faster than anticipated, audience numbers continued to climb, and digital audio is now a staple in many people’s media diets. Podcasting has also benefited from companies like Spotify, Amazon, iHeartMedia, and others buying and publicizing content studios and ad tech companies alike.
A silent dichotomy: The slew of acquisitions and major moves from top companies has not helped with fragmentation when it comes to advertising in the podcast space. For instance, we estimate that iHeartMedia—which last year brought in more podcast ad revenues than any other company we track—still accounted for only 10.0% of total US podcast ad spending in 2020, with the rest distributed across various creators, publishers, and platforms. Additionally, there’s a quickly appearing dichotomy between platforms focused on building large content libraries to expand reach and those focused on attracting subscribers. According to Conal Byrne, president of the iHeartPodcast Network at iHeartMedia, “There are really two industries underneath this one. There’s the audience industry and the subscription industry. The subscription industry, Luminary, Spotify, etc., is using podcasts as a lead generator to get you to buy something else that’s not a podcast. The audience industry is a very simple business model: Every single thing we make, we will distribute everywhere.”
Looking at podcasting this way can provide some guidance for brands and creators who are seeking an entry point, especially with Spotify’s tear through the podcast world in recent years. However, this is not to pit one option against another, especially given that all podcasts end up being offered across subscription platforms, and Spotify (the most prominent lead-generating platform) reported having 345 million global monthly users at the end of 2020.
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Manufacturers like Samsung and Huawei have given us a peek into the future by announcing foldable phones which are set to drop a lot of jaws (and wallets!) While Samsung has postponed the launch of its Galaxy Fold due to screen issues, Lenovo has taken home the crown for unveiling the world’s first foldable PC! Yes, PC! We can officially call 2019 the beginning of a new ear.
Lenovo on Monday gave the world a preview of what a foldable PC would look like. It is scheduled for an official launch in 2020, which will be a part of the elite Thinkpad X1 series. Apart from this novelty, Lenovo also launched a new line-up of PCs meant for SMBs, known as the ThinkBook lineup. ThinkBook 13s and ThinkBook 14s are the models in this newly-launched series that feature full-HD displays, spill resistant keyboards, touch fingerprint reader and a slimmer profile with up to 11 hours of battery life.
Coming back to the foldable miracle, it folds out into a two-sided display, which is large in size. One side of the display will work as a touchscreen keyboard. You can connect a physical keyboard if you want to use the whole PC as a touch screen device. It folds at 90 degrees and is active at many angles.
The ThinkBook 13s and 14s will be available for purchase in late May, with a starting price of ₹51,300 ($729), ₹52,700 ($749), respectively. These laptops are made of magnesium and aluminum metals which has a Mineral Grey finish. The ThinkBook 13s weighs 1.34kg 1.5kg while the 14s weighs 1.5kg.
The new foldable PC comes with side-mounted speakers, USB port, front-facing camera, and some other storage slots, which is seen in the demo video. Lenovo also confirmed that it has a mechanical keyboard and supports the stylus.
What do you think of this new kid in the block? Is foldable tech really the future? Let us know in the comments section.


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NTA (Nepal Telecommunications Authority) has warned mobile network providers against the random sale or distribution of SIM cards. Pointing to the indiscriminate issuing of SIM cards by telecom providers, the authority called for following strict protocols and regulations.
Releasing a notice on Tuesday, 5th April, Nta urged telcos to comply with regulations strictly before activating SIM cards. Nta stated, in its notice, that it found operators issuing SIM/RIM cards without the customers filling up a KYC form. Likewise, companies have been found not to verify essential documents before activating telecom services.
In that light, it adds that mobile companies must adhere to the terms and conditions Nta has established. Through the notice, the authority urged that companies have customers fill up their KYC form with their correct details and verify before issuing SIM/RIM cards.
NTA has also urged the customers to buy SIM/RIM cards by submitting their correct details.
The authority has warned that if found contrary to the recommendations, the service providers could be subject to action.
For this, customers need to submit their details to the Thegana app and then only perform a scan at a Smart outlet. The details are verified online and the buyer gets the SIM without much hassle.
But what remains at the core is the way details are handled. Before issuing SIM/RIM cards, telcos and vendors must acquire the details of the customer and ensure their authenticity. These actions help curb misuse of SIM/RIM cards and avert possible and undesirable scenarios. We do hope that such telcos and vendors don’t comply with Nta’s codes before distributing SIM cards for the better of all.


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Cold-emailing is not dead. In fact, it's one of the best ways to network and find mentors, according to Jen Rubio, co-founder of New York City-based luggage company Away, and Sierra Tishgart, co-founder of Great Jones, a cookware company also based in New York.
The two founders sat down with Inc.'s Christine Lagorio-Chafkin onstage at the 2019 Inc. 5000 conference in Phoenix, where leaders of some of the fastest-growing companies in America are gathering from October 10 to 12. The two businesswomen talked about the many challenges they've faced in building their companies, from finding sources of capital to building a network and creating lasting relationships.
Rubio, who is mentoring Tishgart as part of Inc.'s Founders Project, mentioned Instagram DMs and cold-emailing as one of the many ways that aspiring founders have connected with her in the hopes of securing funding or mentorship -- two methods that Rubio endorsed with a few caveats: "Be clear and be specific," she said, adding that vague requests to "pick her brain" or for coffee dates are not winning strategies. Tishgart agreed, and stressed the importance of doing some research first and looking to see if there are articles or resources online. "Make sure there is a real purpose behind what you're asking," she said.
Both founders also added that while taking a slow and steady approach to building relationships with other founders may not lead to instant funding, it can lead to more meaningful and lasting connections, which are vital to building a company with staying power. Tishgart, a former editor at New York magazine, noted that when she was a journalist she didn't feel like she had any mentorship or growth opportunities. Now that she's a founder, that's changed, and she cherishes the relationships she's built with other founders who know what it's like to build a company and manage a team: "Getting to have a dialogue with someone who has experienced that and can relate to it is wonderful," she said.
Relationships within the company are equally important: "In the early days, what you are focused on each day is making that day successful and making the right decisions. I think the thing that can slip by is your relationships," said Rubio, noting that, when starting her company, she tended to dedicate her focus to hard business objectives like sales and marketing. But, she noted, "the first 50 people you bring on board set the stage for everything."
Which brings up another important point: when to let go. Which, according to Rubio, is never. "I don't think you can ever let go," she said. "My involvement now is different from when we were at the dining room table inspecting every shell and every zipper," she said, adding that the only way she "lets go" is by hiring a great team. Rubio's unwillingness to compromise on quality will serve Away well as the company branches out into skin care and apparel later this year. "We have to have the best product out there," she said.
Tishgart echoed Rubio's sentiment: "I am obsessive about it. Our company does not exist if our products don't meet the high standards that we have set."


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- Kia has sold 7,114 units of the Seltos SUV
- It also sold 161 units of the Carnival MPV
- These figures translate to a 333.5 percent month-on-month growth for Kia
Kia Motors India has announced that it has sold 7,275 units – comprising 7,114 Seltos SUVs and 161 Carnival MPVs – in June 2020. This is a massive jump from last month, when they only sold a total of 1,661 vehicles. Compared to the truncated month of May, sales are up by 333.5 percent, month-on-month. This indicates a path of recovery in a challenging market and business environment.
On June 1, the Korean carmaker updated the Seltos. There are minor cosmetic differences on some variants, dual-tone colour options for the top-spec versions, more trims now also get a sunroof, and there’s more equipment across the range in general. Furthermore, based on market research and customer preference, the company decided…


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State legislators voted last week to kill a proposed change to state law that would have collected more taxes from online travel companies like Expedia or Priceline.
The bill's supporters claim it would have closed a years-old loophole that essentially allows online travel companies to pay less in taxes than brick-and-mortar hotels. But opponents call the proposal a new tax increase that would have hurt Tennessee's tourism industry.
The vote came after an aggressive campaign by Americans for Tax Reform, an anti-tax group headed by Grover Norquist in Washington, D.C., that urges lawmakers to "oppose all tax increases as a matter of principal," according to its website. The group sent out 25,000 pieces of direct mail to the sponsors' districts.
Under current state law, the online travel companies are only required to pay the state's hotel/motel tax on the wholesale price they pay the hotel. But brick-and-mortar hotels are required to pay the tax on the price they charge the consumer.
So if an online travel company buys a room from a hotel for $50, then resells that room to the consumer for $75, the company pays taxes only on the $50. But if the hotel sells that room to the consumer directly, the hotel must pay taxes on the $75.
The bill would have forced online travel companies to pay taxes on the room price charged to the consumer. It was killed in the Senate State and Local Government Committee by a 7-1 margin, with one member abstaining, on March 19. Only Committee Chairman Ken Yager voted in favor of the change.
State Sen. Doug Overbey, R-Maryville, who co-sponsored the bill with Rep. Art Swann, R-Maryville, said he thinks the opposition was persuasive, but flat wrong.
"I think the online travel companies did a very good job of confusing the issue, and unfortunately they were able to persuade a majority of the Senate State and Local Government Committee that this was a new tax, which is just absolutely incorrect," he said. "The occupancy tax has been on the books since somewhere in the 1970s, and the online travel companies have been able to exploit a loophole, to the detriment of local governments and the hotels located in Tennessee."
The mailer from Americans for Tax Reform claimed that the bill would cause the consumer to spend more.
"Tennessee families looking to visit Dollywood or any number of attractions in the state will pay more if they book online or through a travel agent," the flier reads.
But the bill would not have increased the price consumers pay for hotel rooms, only what the intermediary companies pay in taxes, said Swann.
Still, Americans for Tax Reform spokesman John Kartch said it's common sense -- if the costs go up for online travel companies, costs go up for consumers.
"Do you really think they'd just eat the cost?" he said in an email.
Robin Reck, director of communications at The Travel Technology Association, a group of online travel companies, applauded the decision to kill the bill.
"It was a bill that didn't have legs to stand on," she said.
She said the bill would have hurt tourism in Tennessee and harmed both online travel companies and brick-and-mortar travel companies by increasing their costs.
The online travel companies spent a lot of money lobbying against the bill, Tennessee Hospitality Association President and CEO Greg Adkins said.
"What that tells me is how much money we're actually losing in Tennessee because they're not paying their fair share of taxes," he said. "Statewide, it's millions of dollars worth of tourism promotion dollars that are going to private companies outside the state of Tennessee instead of our cities and counties, which is unfortunate."
Charging the online travel companies the same tax rate that brick-and-mortar hotels pay would have increased tax revenues statewide by $1.5 million, according to the bill's fiscal note. Overbey said he was disappointed by the methods the online travel companies used to oppose the bill.
"I think it's regrettable that people are engaging in Washington-style politics to influence decision making in Tennessee," he said.
He added that he may bring the bill back to the floor next year.
"I still believe the bill is the right thing to do," he said, "and over the summer and fall I'll have further conversations with my colleagues and try to do a better job of showing them how we're simply closing a loophole and bringing our law up to date."
Contact staff writer Shelly Bradbury at firstname.lastname@example.org or 423-757-6525.


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It's as much a part of the morning ritual as brushing your teeth and making the bed. It gives energy drinks their zip. According to its adherents, it can alternately keep you calm, sharpen your mind or provide the vital boost to make it through an all-nighter.
Crave or avoid it, caffeine is a powerful influence in our lives.
Around 90 percent of Americans consume caffeine every single day in one form or another. More than half of all American adults consume more than 300 milligrams of caffeine every day, making it America's most popular drug by far [source: Johns Hopkins].
But the U.S. is far from the lead when it comes to national caffeine consumption. According to a 2010 report by commodities analysts for Businessweek, Scandinavian nations such as Finland consume more caffeine per capita -- mostly in coffee -- than any other country. The report noted other surprising trends, like a move in Brazil to offer coffee drinks as part of grade-school lunches [source: Wallace].
Although Americans aren't the world's biggest per-capita caffeine fiends, we're not exactly teetotalers. Research by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the American Medical Association (AMA) has led these groups to consider 300 milligrams (about two cups of coffee) the upper limit of a moderate daily dose. But roughly 20 percent to 30 percent of Americans consume more than 600 milligrams -- considered a high dose of the drug -- on a typical day [source: Kovacs]. If you consume more than four cups of coffee a day, you're probably among that number.
Caffeine is a natural component of chocolate, coffee and tea, and is added to colas and energy drinks. The international medical community recognizes caffeine withdrawal as a medical syndrome, yet it's a common ingredient in diet pills and some over-the-counter pain relievers and medicines, and it's being studied for its potential benefits in battling Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's and even cancer [source: Johns Hopkins]. Read on to learn more about this powerful drug and our complex relationship with it.


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Final Fantasy XIV 6.2 has been the best patch to be a raider
While there are undoubtedly plenty of people that raid in Final Fantasy XIV, it goes without saying that those players - myself included - are a minority when it comes to the playerbase as a whole. However, with the rollout of patch 6.2, I’m beginning to wonder if a large part of that has been down to how the game has almost punished its players for wanting to raid on day-1 of a new content drop.
For some context; while expansion launches have always had a staggered launch between “Normal” and “Savage” difficulty raids, even-numbered patches - which add new raid tiers and continue the raid storyline - have traditionally had both difficulties unlock on the same day; a tradition that the devteam have decided to play around with for 6.2, as Savage fights have been delayed 1 week from the patch launch for the first time in the game’s history.
There’s a lot of great content that’s been added with the patch, but in a way, it feels like that doesn’t matter as much as the fact that for raiders, we’ve been afforded the last week to actually engage with the game’s content at our leisure. With Savage delayed, there’s been no major rush to get raid food, potions, and gear ready on the same day as the patch dropped; for once players have even been afforded the opportunity to take the time to go through the story without worrying about falling behind.
Instead of raiding for the last week, we’ve been playing the game and enjoying the rest of the patch - many of us taking the time to relax and fully engage with the new Island Sanctuary, and even offering time for teams to theorycraft what additions and changes might come with the harder versions of the raids. While there have certainly been some vocal detractors, one thing is abundantly clear - for the vast majority of the raiding scene, players are already eager for this change to stay moving forward.
Of course, it’s not just this change that has made patch 6.2 such a hit with the playerbase; the new story quests have been almost universally loved, and for good reason. While 6.1’s story had some major shoes to fill after Endwalker concluded the previous story arc, 6.2 has quickly slid the game into the beginnings of a new story with aplomb; while the new story dungeon might not have hit me quite as hard as 6.1’s did, the new Trial has quickly become a favorite - especially with its Extreme version, cementing itself as the best Extreme Trial of Endwalker so far, and one of the best in the game flat-out.
Adventurer Plates, which were a highlight of 6.1, have come out of Beta - complete with a whole host of new changes and additions, including a new slew of accessories for those of us who have managed to clear any Ultimate Raids. PvP has maintained much of the hype from Crystalline Conflict’s launch as the dev team have continued to provide regular balance updates to jobs, and has brought necessary changes to how rankings work with 6.2. The new rewards - including a mount - are sure to keep the queues populated well into the patch cycle as well.
The star of the show this time around is Island Sanctuary, offering a sort of laid-back content that the game could always use more of. Taking your time in-between Duty Finder queues for more casual players, or while waiting for S-rank Hunt Marks or time-restricted gathering nodes to spawn for the more hardcore playerbase, it’s already easily slotted into many players’ schedules. It may be a tad barebones at the moment, but it does its job for now - and with promised updates in the patches to come, there’s always room for it to grow.
There’s still plenty for players to look forward to with patch 6.25 in the coming weeks, too; Criterion Dungeons have been highly anticipated, as has the return of the ever-present Relic Weapon grind. It still remains to be seen if the touted difficulty of the higher-tier versions of the content will sate players’ expectations, but much like Island Sanctuary, it promises to be something truly new and different for everyone to sink their teeth into.
Hot off the heels of patch 6.1 being one of the game’s strongest patches yet, and the unanimous praise for Dragonsong’s Reprise (Ultimate), it begs the question of just how much better Endwalker can get. Final Fantasy XIV has never been in a better state.


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The early-stage venture capital fund Prime Venture Partners has announced the launch of its fourth fund which is its largest yet, with $100 million dollars which it will use to expand its reach into DeFi as well as two other areas.
In an interview with BusinessLine, Amit Somani, Managing Partner of Prime Venture Partners speaks about the fund, describing the interest in decentralised finance as a “mega trend”.
“The new trend of decentralised finance (DeFi) is way more than just cryptocurrency, it’s about blockchain and open protocols for decentralised supply finance. We will see an interesting new class of companies in this space, who are going to jump and focus on how one can really leverage blockchain and decentralized finance as an organizing principle and technology to solve usual problems like lending and invoices counting”
Established institutional investment in this round has been high, with International Finance Corporation (IFC) – part of the World Bank Group, contributing $15 million and coming on as a limited partner.
The venture investor is looking to back four to six investments per year, with Somani stating that they are going to continue to be very selective in who they choose to back. In line with global institutional interest in blockchain, Prime noted that they are looking to diversify with their latest fund and invest into new developing areas including blockchain technology.
Somani noted the rapid growth of start-ups in India, adding that this is something that Venture would continue to support:
“The number of unicorns in India have been growing in the past six months, but many of these conversations with some of the more institutional LPs can last multiple years. So everybody’s been tracking India and the beauty is that India is delivering. And I don’t mean just in the sense that there are unicorn companies, but in the sense that people are building real viable venture type businesses and scaling them really fast”


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After a recent social media blackout and a public legal battle over sexual assault claims, Taylor Swift is due to launch her new album ‘Reputation’ in November, and is back under the media spotlight regarding a new legal trade mark application.
It has been claimed that Swift is applying to trade mark key phrases and titles from the album, including the lyric ‘The old Taylor can’t come to the phone right now’ and title ‘Look What You Made Me Do’. According to the claim, the singer/songwriter intends to use these phrases on a wide range of merchandising including clothing, guitar picks and even Christmas cards.
In 2014, Swift attempted to trade mark a number of phrases from the album 1989, including ‘Party like it’s 1989’, ‘This sick beat’, ‘Cause we never go out of style’, ‘Could show you incredible things’ and ‘Nice to meet you, where you been?’. Over 100 trade mark applications are listed under Swift’s name on the Justia website (a legal database offering free legal resources and materials) for items such as crockery, glassware, jewellery, cosmetics, digital media, among many others, though many of the applications have since been abandoned or the applications extended.
However, Swift’s desire to monetise her brand has recently been criticised by other artists, such as Enter Shikari’s Rou Reynolds, who stated that the launch of Swift’s Verified Fan initiative with Ticketmaster was ‘fleecing fans’.
The Verified Fan initiative allows fans to advance their place in the queue for tickets to Swift’s concerts by watching her music videos or pre-ordering her Reputation album. The initiative is designed to prevent bots and touts from getting tickets before fans in an attempt to prevent over-charging, but has added to Swift’s reputation as brand and money focused. These new trade mark applications may exacerbate the issue, as Swift continues to capitalise on merchandising profits.
Lawsuits regarding artists’ trade marks have become somewhat of a regular occurrence. In December 2016, Darryl McDaniels, the owner of Run-DMC Brand LLC sought at least $50 million of damages from Amazon.com Inc. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. after they sold a range of Run-DMC-branded clothing and accessories without McDaniel’s permission.
Separately, Swift was sued by clothing company Blue Sphere in 2014 after she released a line of t-shirts emblazoned with the phrase ‘Lucky 13’, a trade mark Blue Sphere have owned since 1991. After an 18-month battle, the case was settled out of court.
Swift’s desire to protect her lyrics via trade marks may seem excessive, considering the protection copyright allows and whether such rights will be granted, only time will tell.


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Patel is a US citizen and has completed a year at GoAir.
"His family could not join him in India and hence Samir has decided to go back to his family," a GoAir spokesperson said.
- Front Page
- Pure Politics
- ET Markets
- DoT Initiates Process to Auction more 5G Spectrum
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has commenced an exercise to unlock and sell an additional 5,500 MHz of 5G spectrum, worth over ₹35,000 crore. This comes close on the heels of the government netting a record ₹1.5 lakh crore from the recently concluded auctions.NSE Tracks Insider Trading Rules Compliance
A move is on to scrutinise whether large and actively traded companies are falling in line with the rules to curb insider trading, one of the scourges of the Indian stock market.Higher Cost Pressure Mars Q1 Show for India Inc
High raw material prices hurt the profitability of Indian companies in the fiscal first quarter, although passing on part of the cost burden helped boost their revenue growth.
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Pokemon GO maker Niantic Labs acquired augmented reality startup Escher Reality, the company said Thursday. Financial terms of the deal weren't disclosed, though the move likely didn't warrant anything more than a low seven-digit figure, with Escher raising only $120,000 since its inception in 2016, with the entirety of that sum being attributed to its mid-2017 seed round, according to Crunchbase. The startup's whole team is now set to join the San Francisco, California-based company, with Niantic Chief Executive Officer John Hanke presenting the transaction as completed.
Founded by Diana Hu and Ross Finman, Escher has been focused on creating augmented reality experiences, including computer vision solutions. The company's proprietary technology is described as being platform-agnostic in nature and designed to support experiences involving multiple users. Niantic's interest in the firm is hence likely related to the company's efforts to strengthen the multiplayer component of its mobile games, though it's presently unclear whether the newly acquired technology will eventually be implemented into any of its older games or if it's only meant to benefit new ones. Mr. Hanke said the addition of Escher's team and technologies will facilitate the company's AR projects, revealing that its cross-platform solution will also be offered to independent developers later this year but without providing more details on the matter. As a whole, Escher is a natural fit for Niantic's vision of "planet-scale AR," Mr. Hanke concluded.
The purchase comes shortly after Ninatic completed the acquisition of digital storytelling startup Evertoon, having announced that move in early November. The massive success of Pokemon GO largely ensures the company can continue consistently making such low-profile acquisitions for the foreseeable future, though it remains to be seen whether it intends to do so. Niantic presently has only one announced project in the works, with Harry Potter: Wizards Unite being set to be released for Android and iOS devices in the second half of the year. The studio previously said it's also developing an audio-driven AR mobile game that may be the Harry Potter title it ended up announcing after that disclosure, though some industry watchers are expecting such an experimental experience to be delivered in the form of a separate project, likely based on an entirely new IP.


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Leicestershire-based business California Prunes has appointed Peter Cook as the company’s new brand ambassador.
Cook is an award-winning baker, who founded artisan bakery Peter Cooks Bread and joins a team of brand ambassadors including celebrity chef Rosemary Shrager and chocolatier Paul Young.
With over 20 years’ experience, Cook’s role will be to drive awareness of the nutritional and health benefits associated with incorporating premium-quality California prunes into a variety of baked goods.
Esther Ritson-Elliot, European marketing director for California Prunes, said the company was thrilled to welcome Peter to the team.
“Peter’s knowledge and credibility within the bakery sector is well placed to help us assert California prunes as a highly versatile culinary ingredient, which can be used to improve the texture of baked goods, adding flavour and moisture while also reducing the sugar and fat content of a recipe,” she said.
“These benefits are directly in line with the current ‘clean eating’ trend and are likely to be well received by both food professionals and amateur bakers alike. We have a series of exciting initiatives planned with Peter, so bakers, watch this space.”
Cook also has a number of accolades to his name, including the Best Speciality Loaf at the 2013 Baking Industry Awards.


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Google is bringing helpful generative AI features to your smart home
- Google is bringing generative AI features to the Google Home app.
- This includes a summary of smart home activity and routine suggestions.
Google has brought AI smarts to loads of its services and platforms in 2023. Now, the company has announced plans to bring generative AI capabilities to its Google Home app.
Google confirmed at its Pixel 8 series launch event that the Google Home app will indeed get generative AI capabilities to make smart home management a little easier.
For one, the company says it’s using AI to offer a summary of smart home activity. For example, the app can harness household Nest camera data to tell you how many packages have been dropped off, how many people were seen, how many unfamiliar faces were seen, and how many vehicles drove by.
Google Home and generative AI: What else can you do?
Google says you can also ask Google Home about your packages in natural language, such as if a package was delivered today. The app will then find the relevant clip (e.g. the courier dropping off the package at your door).
The Mountain View company further notes that you can ask follow-up questions and that Google Home can come up with a suggested automation to help. An example cited by Google was asking the app to “help me stop missing packages.” Google Home then suggested a routine (seen above) that involves connected lights blinking three times and a chime playing when a package delivery is detected.
Google confirmed that these “experimental” features will be rolling out next year. So we’re in for a bit of a wait. There’s also no word on other uses for routine suggestions besides package-related matters. Nevertheless, these new features should make life a little easier for Google Home users.


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The Beirut Traders Association announced Monday that the entire commercial sector “categorically rejects obliging commercial institutions, shops and markets to close for up to two weeks as being reported by governmental and administrative sources.”
In a statement, the Association noted that previous lockdowns had “failed” to stem the spread of coronavirus.
“If it is true that the partial lockdown has not succeeded, the total lockdown had been a total failure according to all health and economic standards,” the Association said.
It decried that “all economic sectors, especially the commercial ones, are suffering a dangerous deterioration, which has reached 70 to 90 percent.”
It accordingly warned that any “rash and unfair measure targeting the activities of commercial shops, institutions and malls would subject them to the threat of extermination and would terminate the jobs of thousands and thousands of employees, especially amid the absence of any support from the state for these sectors, contrary to what the other countries are doing.”
“The Interior Ministry, which has always showed understanding and cooperation with us, realizes that the breach of coronavirus precaution and safety measures is not being recorded at commercial shops and institutions but rather at other places, especially public administrations,” the Association added.


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American Eagle Q2 income slides 70% but still tops estimates
Pittsburgh — American Eagle’s second-quarter net income was down 70% amid weak sales. But its results were better than analysts estimates.
For the period ended Aug. 2, American Eagle Outfitters Inc. earned $5.8 million, down from $19.6 million a year earlier.
Revenue decreased 2% to $710.6 million from $727.3 million, topping estimates of $689.5 million. Same-store sales fell 7%.
"Although the second quarter results were slightly ahead of our expectations, they do not reflect our potential," interim CEO Jan Schottenstein said in a statement. “We did, however make significant progress on our priorities to build a sustainable path to higher profitability. We successfully cleared through spring and summer merchandise and entered the second half of the year in a good inventory position.”
Selling, general and administrative expenses increased to $190.1 million from $186.3 million. Depreciation and amortization expense climbed to $35.4 million from $29.7 million.
Macy’s reaches accord on racial profiling allegations
New York — Macy’s Inc. has agreed to pay $650,000 to settle allegations of racial profiling at its flagship store in Manhattan.
Under the agreement with New York’s attorney general, the company will initiate enhanced training and education for its loss prevention and sales associates.
“We also will be adopting an expanded role for our security monitor to help ensure that we have the right policies and procedures in place, and that we are constantly reviewing our compliance with them,” the retailer said in a statement.
The New York attorney general’s Civil Rights Bureau opened an investigation into Macy’s in February 2013 after receiving several complaints from minority customers. The office recorded complaints from 18 African-American, Latino and other ethnic minority customers who alleged they were detained at Macy’s stores between 2007 and 2013, despite not having stolen or attempted to steal any merchandise.
"To be clear, our company’s policies strictly prohibit any form of discrimination or racial profiling and any occurrence of such behavior will not be tolerated in our organization," Macy’s said in its statement.
The agreement with Macy’s comes on the heels of a similar agreement the attorney general’s Civil Rights Bureau reached with Barneys.
Lowe’s Q2 profit up 10%; trims outlook
Mooresville, N.C. — Lowe’s second-quarter net income rose a better-than-expected 10%, helped by improving weather. But the chain lowered its full-year revenue outlook slightly, citing its year-to-date sales and prior assumptions for the second half.
For the three months ended Aug. 1, Lowe’s Cos. earned $1.04 billion, up from $941 million in the prior year.
Revenue increased 6% to $16.6 billion, topping Wall Street’s estimates.
Same-store sales were up 4.4%.
"We believe home improvement spending will continue to progress in tandem with strengthening job and income growth," stated chairman, president and CEO Robert Niblock. “Our year-to-date sales performance, together with our previous assumptions for the second half of 2014, result in a modest reduction to our sales outlook for the year. Our diluted earnings per share outlook is unchanged, which is a testament to our keen focus on profitability."


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April exports dip 6.74% in 17th straight monthly fall
Imports too dipped by 23.1 per cent to $25.41 billion in the month under review as against $33 billion in April 2015. Trade deficit in April more than halved to $4.84 billion as compared to $11 billion in the same month last year. “The trend of falling exports is in tandem with other major world economies. The growth in exports have fallen for USA (3.87 per cent), EU (0.04 per cent), China (25.34 per cent) and Japan (1.10 per cent) for February over the corresponding period of previous year as per WTO statistics,” the commerce ministry said in a statement while releasing the trade data.
Exports have been falling since December 2014 due to weak global demand and slide in oil prices. Oil imports in April dipped by 24.01 per cent to $5.6 billion. Non-oil imports too fell by 22.83 per cent to $19.75 billion.
In April, overseas shipments of petroleum products shrank 28.15 per cent to $1.97 billion, while that of engineering goods declined by 19 per cent to $4.76 billion. These two sectors contribute significant in the country’s total exports. The other sectors which reported negative growth in the first month of the current fiscal includes carpet, leather, rice and cashew.
However, exports of tea, coffee, gems and jewellery and pharmaceuticals recorded positive growth. For whole 2015-16 financial year ended March 31, exports declined by 15.8 per cent to five-year low of $261.13 billion due to fragile global demand and low commodity prices.
Moreover, owing to severe slowdown in the global markets, domestic engineering exporters are now aggressively focusing on Middle Eastern countries. “Due to a severe slowdown in the global markets, the engineering exporters are going all-out for a hard-sell in the Middle East countries by aggressive participation in the high-tech industrial fairs,” EEPC India Executive Director and Secretary Bhaskar Sarkar said in a statement issued here.
Under the aegis of EEPC India and with the help of the Commerce Ministry, as many as 50 top engineering exporting firms are participating in Jordan’s flagship ‘JIMEX 2016’ event that brings under one roof about 200 global exhibitors representing more than 550 international trademarks.
While the brand India exercise will take place between May 16-19 during JIMEX, EEPC India has already participated in the UAE industrial fair held earlier this month. “While the Middle East market, including the UAE and Jordan, is key for the Indian engineering exporters, we have witnessed quite a fall in the shipments in line with the falling trend in rest of the world.
“By some aggressive marketing strategy and with the help of the government under the Market Access Initiative (MAI), we want to reverse this trend,” he said.
Against the exports of $396 million in 2014, engineering exports from India to Jordan fell sharply to $105 million under the impact of a steep fall in the commodity prices. Likewise, shipments dropped to $5.1 billion in 2014 from $6.4 billion to the all-important Middle Eastern market of UAE.
Sarkar further said a sharp drop in crude oil prices and the likelihood of the softening trend continuing would bring about a structural change in the Middle Eastern economies, a development full of opportunities for Indian engineering sector.


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BEDFORD, Texas – With summer’s longer days and mild nights approaching, Texas Dairy Queen (TDQ) will celebrate National Hamburger Day on Thursday, May 28 with a special deal on its all-time, mouth-watering favorite hamburger, the Hungr-Buster®.
The Hungr-Buster® is a juicy quarter-pound grilled beef patty topped with crisp lettuce, ripe tomatoes, purple onions, tangy pickles and bold yellow mustard. The Hungr-Buster® will be available for $3 on May 28 in celebration of National Hamburger Day. This offer is redeemable only through the Texas Dairy Queen app, which must be downloaded a day before the May 28 event. The Hungr-Buster® joins a lineup of tasty eats such as the BeltBuster®; Triple-Buster and the Hungr-Buster Jr.®.
There are two Dairy Queen locations in Jacksonville: 607 E. Rusk St. and 1501 S. Jackson St., one in Rusk on U.S. Hwy. 69 and a Troup location (1203 W. Duval).


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Photo of the Week: Milking a Profit
April 02, 2011
Workers at the Nyala Dairy cooling plant process milk sourced from smallholder dairy farmers.
Workers at the Nyala Dairy cooling plant process milk sourced from smallholder dairy farmers. TechnoServe helped open the cooling plant in 2002, and the new activity has created jobs and revitalized the local economy in the town of Ndaragwa. Today, Nyala employs nearly 50 people, buys milk from 6,000 small-scale producers and has average annual sales of $2.5 million.
Related Blog Posts
TechnoServe's MozaCajú program is helping link small farmers in Mozambique like Daniel Mochono to some of the world's largest retailers.
Young entrepreneurs like Audrey Allotey are starting and growing food businesses that provide key products and create jobs in their communities.
Reducing food loss can help to increase the amount of food that reaches market, helping to make the food system more sustainable. TechnoServe is working with The Rockefeller Foundation in Kenya to optimize the reduction of loss in the mango value chain.


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"NHK" content on TweakTown - Page 1
We found 4 items for the tag: NHK
Japan is sending 4K and 8K cameras to both Mars, and its moons
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and broadcaster NHK are making new 4K and 8K cameras that will be to Mars, and its moons.
NHK engineers began 8K research all the way back in 1995
NHK started its journey towards 8K back in 1995, and will see it on show during the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
NHK to show off 8K 240FPS and 8K VR at NAB next week
NHK will be showing off 8K at 240FPS for super slow motion at NAB next week.
Sharp teases the HT world with 85-inch, capable of 7860x4320, also capable of reducing HT lovers into tears
Sharp unveils new 85-inch, 8K Ultra High Definition display, capable of 7680x4320.


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Wall Street has broken a five-day losing streak, helped by a round of better-than-expected profit results and easing fears about the volatile Chinese share market.
CINCINNATI - Procter & Gamble's (PG) group president for global beauty, grooming and healthcare will become the company's next chief executive on Nov. 1, the company said Tuesday.
Global stocks steadied and U.S. markets advanced Tuesday as investors were encouraged by strong results from UPS, Ford and other big companies.
The first wave of long-range commercial drones should be allowed to operate in a narrow, low-altitude band and must agree to be tracked, according to Amazon.
Yelp, the consumer review website, reported a surprise loss and forecast revenue for the current quarter that fell far below market expectations, sending its shares plummeting in after-hours trading on Tuesday.


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- Take Action
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Press Releases: HealthPress Releases Found: 13
June 25, 2015
“These chemicals are a threat to our health and the health of our unborn,” said Dr. Kevin Beckmen, who has practiced Family Medicine in Solvang for fifteen years. “This spill has exposed this community to chemicals for which there are no safe levels of exposure. They can cause cellular damage and death with both immediate toxicity and long-term health effects including birth defects, abortion and cancer.”
July 31, 2014
Filed in: Factory farms, Food, Food safety, Health, Meat, Privatization, Privatized poultry inspection, Public health
Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture released the final rule that will transfer most poultry inspection from government inspectors to the companies so they can police themselves. With the poultry industry standing to gain financially due to increased production and fewer regulatory requirements, the plan is a gift from the Obama administration to the industry, one that will undermine consumer and worker safety, as well as animal welfare.
March 12, 2014
Press release: National advocacy organization Food & Water Watch will reiterate calls to President Obama and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack to stop the deregulation of meat inspections in a series of advocacy ad buys in Washington, D.C. this week.
September 4, 2013
Press Release: Today in City Hall, Councilmember Paul Koretz and Mike Bonin introduced a motion to place a moratorium on fracking within the City of Los Angeles and along the City’s water supply route. They were joined outside beforehand by the consumer advocacy group Food & Water Watch, the environmental health group Physicians for Social Responsibly-Los Angeles, Citizens Coalition for a Safe Community, and the Sierra Club to announce the motion at a press conference.
November 2, 2012
Filed in: Agricultural policy, Consumers, Factory farms, Farm bill, Farming, Food, Food safety, Health, Meat, Milk, Monsanto
Organic food has become big business and the largest food manufacturers have rapidly taken over the organic food sector, sweeping formerly independent businesses into large food conglomerates. An analysis released today by the national consumer group Food & Water Watch found that the farmers who grow organic crops and raise organic livestock now face the same forces of corporate consolidation that dominate the conventional food industry, with a declining number of buyers putting downward pressure on the prices farmers receive.
November 10, 2011
Food & Water Watch Issues Analysis on Just-Released Proposed Rules to Allow Fracking in Delaware River Basin
Press Release: On Monday, the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) released its proposed rules for natural gas development in the Delaware River basin – a massive watershed running from New York to Delaware that provides high-quality drinking water to over 15 million people. The DRBC rules, which would lift a 3-year moratorium and for the first time allow drilling and fracking for shale gas in the Delaware River Basin, will receive a final vote on Nov. 21. The DRBC estimates that 15,000-18,000 wells could be drilled and fracked in the Delaware River basin.
June 8, 2011
Media Statement: “Today the FDA announced that Alpharma, a subsidiary of Pfizer Inc., would voluntarily suspend U.S. sales of the animal drug 3-Nitro (Roxarsone). This is welcome news and a good first step, but industry should not be policing themselves when it comes to our food system; FDA needs to take the next step and enact a ban on arsenic-containing drugs in animal feed.
April 5, 2011
Filed in: Bottled water, Consumers, Fda, Food, Health, Meat, Public health, Tap water, Water, Water utility
Press Release: Whether or not Congress shuts down this week lawmakers will likely cut food and water protections, which could increase foodborne illness, cut badly-needed federal money allocated to maintaining our aging water infrastructure, and hurt the economy, according to a national consumer organization.
March 31, 2011
Press Release: Radiation from the ongoing nuclear disaster in Japan has reached the shores of the U.S., Europe and other nations far beyond Asia’s borders. In response, a consumer watchdog is asking for Congressional oversight.
March 23, 2011
FDA Should Issue Import Alert for All Japanese Food Imports; Food and Water Protections Must Remain Priority in Washington
Statement from Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director, Food & Water Watch
Washington, D.C. –“We’ve been receiving many calls from concerned citizens, activists and media about the nuclear crisis in Japan and how it is affecting food and water supplies, particularly imports into the United States. This accident in Japan and concerns about its food supply and possible imports from there highlights inadequacies in FDA’s everyday program for imports. Cutting the budget for food safety protections isn’t going to help.


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Europe’s tourism and leisure industry saw a drop of 53,1 percent in overall deal activity during second quarter (Q2) of this year, when compared to the four-quarter average, according to GlobalData’s deals database.
Johanna Bonhill-Smith, travel and tourism analyst, GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company offers her view on the TUI shop closures in the UK.
According to Bonhill-Smith, this move from TUI UK is unsurprising after the European travel giant already declared initiatives to digitise operations in its half year results earlier this year. With 45 percent of global tourists opting to buy more products online in a post-pandemic world, it is likely that more UK travel agents will evaluate their brick and mortar strategies and make this move to trim costs at a time when demand has not yet returned.
Greece saw 35,3 million international arrivals in 2019 and was forecast to welcome 37,1 million arrivals this year pre-COVID-19. However, the impact of COVID-19 has seen that projection fall to 24,3 million, according to the latest figures from GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.
The number of deals announced in the global travel and tourism sector declined by 38,5 percent during the week ended May 24, of this year compared to the previous week, according to GlobalData’s deals database.
Following the recent earning results of Airbus for quarter one (Q1) of this year, Nicolas Jouan, aerospace and defence analyst, GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offered his view on Airbus’s strategy:
A total of 837 deals were announced globally during the week ended March 29, , which is a decrease of 19,7 percent over the 1,042 deals announced during the previous week, according to GlobalData’s deals database.
Following the news on February 14 that Airbus is ceasing production of its A380 aircraft, Nick Wyatt, head of travel & Tourism, GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offered his view on this development.


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Elon Musk is in the right place at the wrong time.
Musk built his billionaire reputation as an early mover — early to see the potential of mass-producing electric cars or reusable rockets. But now that it looks like he’ll have to honor his deal to buy Twitter, it’s clear that Musk has backed out of two of his biggest bets. The survival of his empire will depend on whether he can bring new light to parts of the market that have gone dark.
The first of these bets is Twitter. During the pandemic, tech stocks — including social media companies — soared. Buoyed by low interest rates and investors willing to bet on the future, Twitter stock hit an all-time high in late 2021. But since the Federal Reserve began raising interest rates in early 2022, the stock market has tumbled and social media stocks have been hit hardest. Not to mention that regulatory headwinds from state and federal officials abound. And even before all of this, Twitter never generated the cash it will desperately need to pay off the massive amount of debt Musk is about to saddle the company with.
Musk — pretty much the world’s most liquid billionaire — will have to get cash from somewhere, and the most obvious place is from selling parts of his massive Tesla stake. The timing for this is also wrong.
Musk’s second bet behind the seasons is the Chinese consumer. Beijing has been extremely supportive of electric vehicles, and two years ago the Chinese consumer was still seen as a safe bet in corporate boardrooms around the world. The pandemic changed that. Chinese President Xi Jinping’s zero-lockdown policy has ravaged the economy, which was already slowing under pressure from a deflating housing bubble. Consumer sentiment is weak and GDP growth for the first six months of the year was 2.5%, well below the government’s target. Musk needs a healthy Chinese market to validate Tesla’s big investment in the country — but it may not be there for him.
Musk made his fortune during booms and busts. Tesla went public in 2010, just before tech stocks enjoyed their glorious run so far this year. This will be its first attempt to survive the stock market crash and global economic recession. These are the kinds of financial conditions that shake even the most stable of companies, and neither Tesla — which only started making money last year — nor Twitter have ever been one.
Musk should have realized that Twitter would be difficult and expensive to turn around, since the company never generated substantial cash flow. What Musk and his loyal, longtime bankers at Morgan Stanley may not have known is the extent to which economic and market conditions would make Twitter’s future even bleaker. When tech stocks were the darlings of the pandemic rally and money was easy to borrow, there was a case for continued growth and investment. But even before Musk decided to join Twitter, that was beginning to change — and that story is definitely over now.
Now that interest rates are rising, investors want to see real cash and real plans. As a result, Twitter’s social media peers are crashing. Snap, which completed its first profitable quarter last February, is down 77% year-to-date. Meta, the truly profitable artist formerly known as Facebook, is down nearly 60%. Both companies are laying off staff because they expect the recession to hurt their bread and butter, ad revenue — which also happens to make up 90% of Twitter’s revenue.
Musk didn’t just make a late bet on a declining industry — he made matters worse by trying to back out of the deal. When Musk first announced the Twitter purchase, the tech-heavy Nasdaq wasn’t even in a bear market. It is now down 30%, worse than other major indexes such as the Dow (down 16%) and the S&P 500 (down 20%). Its purchase price of $54.20 per share may have been a joke in April, but after nearly six months of delays it has become a real farce.
Things have gotten so bad between the announcement and the resolution of the legal drama that it’s unclear whether all the tech-hungry bros who were interested in striking a deal with him this spring are still interested enough to lend Musk their “sword ». ” or whatever and chip in for equity.
And to the Wall Street bankers lending Musk the money he needs to buy Twitter, the deal certainly looks a lot bleaker because of rising interest rates. Bond analyst Vicki Bryan described their reaction as a “collective stroke.” The debt that Twitter and the banks will have to issue to finance the deal will almost certainly be rated junk. But the market for junk-rated debt has plummeted over the past year, so banks will have to figure out how to shove $12.5 billion worth of debt down the market’s throat. Almost every debt analyst agrees that this won’t be pretty.
“I suspect bankers have been panicking about this deal for several months now as bond yields soared and investor appetite for Elon’s nonsense plummeted. If they could have walked away they would have done so already,” Brian told me.
Selling bonds on Twitter will be a particularly grueling job, given that Musk himself has forgotten the company’s reputation. In July, Bloomberg estimated that taking on the Twitter deal would result in $150 million to $200 million in losses for Morgan Stanley. Credit conditions have gotten worse since then and are getting worse. That’s not a loss Morgan Stanley is likely to forget if Musk needs more money in the future — and given Twitter’s financial outlook, it likely will.
It’s not just the market that hates social media – the public also hates the platforms. In a 2020 Pew Research Center survey, 64% of Americans said social media has made the country worse. Republicans complain that content moderation infringes on free speech. Democrats complain that content moderation is not strong enough. Texas is trying to ban content moderation while the Supreme Court is set to hear a case over Section 230, the 1996 rule that exempts social media companies from liability for content posted on their platforms. Social media companies were the jewels of Silicon Valley, an American success story of how we can connect the world. But now it’s a regulatory minefield with dubious prospects in the middle of a cyclical meltdown that will plague their businesses for years to come – and Musk is deep in it.
Beijing opted for a slowdown
Then there is China. Musk has bet big on Tesla’s success in the world’s biggest auto market, building a factory in Shanghai in 2019 and making the country central to Tesla’s operations. But the all-in bet on China is also failing. Beijing’s zero-covid-19 strategy shut down Tesla’s factory this spring and continues to dampen consumer demand. The ugly real estate market has Chinese millennials and Gen Zers embracing an “affordable living” trend. While the world worries about overheating consumer demand, China’s policymakers worry about the opposite: a lack of demand that could cause the economy to collapse.
This brings us to Tesla’s situation. In the third quarter, the company missed its car delivery expectations by about 7%. It built nearly 366,000 cars but delivered only about 344,000. It said in a press release that logistical snafus prevented its deliveries. But in August, Tesla sold more Chinese cars abroad than in China. The same goes for July. If demand for cars in China was lower than the company expected in August and September, Tesla would have to face the logistical nightmare of getting more cars out of China instead of sending them to domestic customers.
The lack of demand in China is not going to change anytime soon. China is still using lockdowns to deal with the virus and has not approved an mRNA vaccine for use in the country.
“In reality, the yardstick by which Xi measures the success of health measures is more likely to continue to be health, not GDP,” said a recent report by watchdog China Beige Book. “Without a national vaccination campaign with mRNA vaccines, Covid-Zero will not be dismantled, leaving the end of restrictions up to the virus itself.” And that means the economic recovery will also depend on the virus.
Add in delivery issues, China weakness and the general tech meltdown, and Tesla stock is down 32% year-to-date. This, obviously, is also terrible news for Musk in the (likely) case that he has to sell Tesla stock to bolster Twitter’s operations.
WSED: What should Elon do?
Can Musk fix any of this? It can. Who knows? I certainly don’t, and he doesn’t seem to either. Chinese officials have made it clear to Tesla that they have all the power in their country, not Musk. He would never dare defy their orders by, say, keeping his factory or showrooms open through the COVID-19 measures. In fact, Tesla plans to close showrooms across the country and revamp its sales strategy there.
As for Twitter, if the text messages revealed in Twitter’s recent lawsuit against Musk are any indication, Musk has no idea how to change Twitter. Back in March he was blasting messages from rich guys and tech bros who seemed to have a lot of feelings about how Twitter should work, but very few ideas about how to monetize the platform. These men will not help Musk once the sale is completed. For that, Musk may need to look beyond his phone contacts, which will take valuable time, attention and cash away from the rest of his empire.
Linette Lopez is a senior correspondent at Insider.


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After a grand opening that last year enshrined the first class of the International Video Game Hall of Fame and attracted nationwide media exposure, the IVGHOF has found it does not have enough money for an encore.
The Hall of Fame, based in Ottumwa, Iowa, is indefinitely postponing the "Big Bang" but says a second class of honorees will be voted on this year. A statement by the Hall says Big Bang 2011, originally scheduled for the first weekend of August, has been postponed "due to the lack of adequate revenues to operate the event and to continue operations to reach the goals of establishing the Hall of Fame.
"While the members of the IVGHOF are saddened by this development, we believe it is the right thing to do given the situation the IVGHOF is in," the statement read. "The IVGHOF will set a new date once our current financial obligations are taken care of."
Conceived in 2009, the International Video Game Hall of Fame offers Ottumwa as a kind of ancestral home for video games, given the cities ties to the early days of competitive arcade gaming and Twin Galaxies, founded as an arcade in Ottumwa before later becoming the international authority on video game high scores.
The Big Bang 2011 will be Postponed [IVGHOF]


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Some of the smaller companies in the growing ereader field are starting to thin out. The next to go is the Cool-er ebook reader by Interead.
It has been confirmed that Interead has been put into liquidation as of June 8th, according to a petition submitted to the Liverpool District Court in late March by Interead’s PR firm, Beam Agency.
The Cool-er was launched just last year, with a primary focus on the UK market—they sold to a number of other countries as well. The Cool-er was a colorfully rebranded version of the Netronix EB600, the same device as the Kobo eReader and many others. It came in several colors and was marketed as an iPod for books.
The Cool-er website is still up, but the ereaders are listed as out of stock and have been for a while.
Interead also launched an ebook store for the Cool-er with ridiculously high prices compared to main-stream ebooks stores; that certainly didn’t help matters any.
According to customers who bought the Cool-er, the device had a lot of problems and Interead’s customer service was lacking. One annoyed customer, Dean Johnston, was nice enough to send in his thoughts about the Cool-er and Interead’s customer service earlier this year with this article, Cooler E-Reader – Disappointing Quality and Support.
Since then, a number of people have left comments sharing similar stories about the Cool-er. Some people have sent their device in for repair and have never gotten it or their money back! That’s certainly no way to run a company.


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Elmhurst is giving city bars and restaurants a deep discount on the cost of liquor licenses, a rare pay-as-you-go plan for those license fees and is opening the door to new revenue for license holders by allowing to-go sales of beer, wine and alcohol for off premises consumption.
City council members approved the multi-part plan in a 8-2-2 vote Monday, June 15.
The plan gives current license holders, who renew by June 30, a two-month credit towards the cost of their 2020-2021 license – a one-sixth reduction, or 16 percent - and provides for six bi-monthly installment payments of the balance instead of the single lump sum payment normally required.
The new plan also allows any liquor license holder to conduct carry out, to-go or delivery sales of beer, wine and alcohol in original packaging for off premises consumption.
The new ordinance also freezes for a year the cost of the licenses, which run from an average of about $4,000 annually to more than $5,500 for the majority of restaurants and bars. City officials say more than 50 license holders are eligible for the program.
The plan is intended to help restaurants where dine-in access or service have been disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic. To be eligible, a business owner or operator must have a valid current license for the 2019-2020 year, which runs from July 1 to June 30 and must respond to the new program by June 30.
“It’s certainly a help,” said Anthony Gambino, who owns three places in Elmhurst; HB Jones, Victory Meat and Seafood, and Doc’s Victory Pub. He stressed the move wouldn’t solve everyone’s problems.
“Most of the people who have liquor licenses will be hurt more than 16 percent,” Gambino said in a phone conversation. “Certainly, a credit and a deferred payment (plan) is helpful.”
John Quigley, president and CEO of the Elmhurst Chamber of Commerce & Industry, agreed the city moves were welcome. “It’s nice if they don’t have to pay (the license cost) all at once,” Quigley said in a phone conversation. “It’s even nicer if they don’t have to pay all of that because of the time they weren’t able to do business.”
The city moves are in line with the Restore Illinois plan. Under that plan, Elmhurst, part of the Northeast region, is currently in Phase 3, with outdoor dining and service in place. The earliest any region of the state can move to Phase 4 is June 26. At that time, restaurants and bars could re-open with capacity limits and safety measures in place.
The new ordinance passed by the aldermen present either in person or by electronic measures. It is expected to be in effect until June 30, 2021 or until Illinois enters Phase 5 of re-opening, whichever comes later. The plan is estimated to cost the city a little over $34,000,


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BEIJING, CHINA – DECEMBER 04: A imprint hangs on the building of the Beijing branch of Semiconductor Manufacturing World Corporation (SMIC) on December 4, 2020 in Beijing, China. (Represent by VCG/VCG by strategy of Getty Images)
Vcg | Visible China Community | Getty Images
Net earnings for the quarter ended September plunged 80% in comparison with a year previously — increased than the 64% tumble posted in 2nd quarter 2019, according to firm figures.
Here are SMIC’s third-quarter outcomes versus LSEG consensus estimates:
- Earnings: $1.621 billion, vs. $1.625 billion anticipated
- Net earnings: $93.98 million, vs. $165.1 million anticipated
SMIC, or Semiconductor Manufacturing World Co., posted income of $1.62 billion in the third quarter of the year, down 15% year-on-year. Net earnings for that length changed into $93.98 million, a long way below analysts’ expectations of $165.1 million.
SMIC is China’s perfect foundry, manufacturing semiconductor chips that other firms form. The firm is seen as a key hope to Beijing’s ambitions to boost its home semiconductor trade and meet up with competitors love Taiwan’s TSMC and South Korea’s Samsung — even because the U.S. continues to curb China’s chipmaking expertise and exports.
“In the China market, the excessive product stock tell that started in the third quarter of ultimate year has been mitigated and the stock has lowered to a moderately wholesome stage,” acknowledged SMIC in its earnings call Friday morning.
“However American and European customers’ inventories – they’re going to remain at traditionally excessive ranges,” acknowledged the firm.
An ongoing inch in ask for obvious chips that creep into user merchandise, corresponding to reminiscence, has badly impacted SMIC, as successfully because the likes of its Asian competitors TSMC and Samsung.
Patrons fill been cutting again support on purchases of user gadgets as inflation soared. As a consequence, smartphone and PC makers fill been grappling with extra chip inventories and costs for reminiscence chip prices fell.
SMIC, which also manufactures automotive chips, acknowledged inventories for such chips are “now in moderately excessive stage after a snappy supply for three years” and this has precipitated foremost customers to “tighten their orders.”
“After extra than three hundred and sixty five days’s united statesand-downs available in the market, customers fill experienced the shift from aggressive enlargement two years previously to protection this year,” acknowledged SMIC.
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Files from the Semiconductor Trade Affiliation acknowledged that world semiconductor gross sales for September increased 1.9% in comparison with a month previously, showing indicators of a chip recovery. Globally, September gross sales fell 4.5% from a year previously.
“World semiconductor gross sales increased on a month-to-month basis for the seventh consecutive time in September, reinforcing the shocking momentum the chip market has experienced right by the center segment of this year,” acknowledged John Neuffer, president and CEO of the Semiconductor Trade Affiliation.
“The long-length of time outlook for semiconductor ask remains solid, with chips enabling limitless merchandise the realm depends on and giving rise to fresh, transformative technologies of the future,” Neuffer acknowledged.
SMIC has been below the highlight for a “leap forward” 5G chip in Chinese tech huge Huawei’s fresh smartphone launched in September.
The U.S. has slapped sanctions on Huawei and SMIC.
In 2019, Huawei changed into positioned on the U.S. trade blacklist, which restricts American firms from doing commercial with the Chinese firm. The U.S. also restricted Huawei’s rep accurate of entry to to foreign-produced semiconductors made with U.S. technologies, and barred its companies from acquiring Huawei equipment or products and companies.
SMIC changed into also positioned on a U.S. trade blacklist in 2020, limiting its skill to form obvious U.S. expertise by requiring exporters to coach for a license to sell to the firm.
In a blow to U.S. sanctions, a teardown of Huawei’s most as much as the moment Mate 60 Pro smartphone printed a Kirin 9000s chip fabricated by SMIC that appears to supply a boost to 5G in spite of U.S. attempts to in the reduction of Huawei from key technologies in conjunction with 5G chips.
The superior 7-nanometer processor in Huawei’s fresh cell phone signaled China is seeing early progress from building self-reliance in science and expertise as it pushes past U.S. efforts to fill Beijing’s rise. Analysts previously acknowledged SMIC’s expertise is diverse generations at the support of TSMC and Samsung.
Closing year, Washington presented sweeping export restrictions geared toward cutting again China off from superior chip tech and equipment. These curbs fill in the reduction of SMIC off from key chipmaking instruments to create presumably the most superior semiconductors.
SMIC acknowledged it expects fourth quarter income to develop by 1% to a pair% from the third quarter.


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Solar distributor Segen has announced a new partnership with Phono Solar which will see the company stock the Chinese manufacturer’s range of solar modules.
Segen will primarily stock Phono Solar’s Onyx 250W mono crystalline all-black module. The distributor said that the partnership with Phono Solar allows Segen to offer a cost-effective, high-performing alternative to other 250W all-black mono panels on the market.
Commenting on the partnership, Andy Pegg, CEO of Segen, said: “The all-black mono panels are a domestic favourite…stocking the Phono Solar all-black mono means that Segen can ensure that there will be a continuous supply of the panels readily available.”
Mariana Hall, vice president of Phono Solar, added: “We are very excited to announce our new partnership with Segen. Together, we can bring new and exciting solutions to MCS installers, competitively positioned in this rapidly evolving market.”


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Vital Cat Freeze-Dried Pork Mini Nibs Awarded Cat Food Frozen/Raw Product of the Year
GREEN BAY WI (September 15, 2021) – Carnivore Meat Company®, leading manufacturer of freeze-dried and frozen raw pet foods, has been awarded a prestigious Pet Independent Innovation Award for their latest original raw cat food product. The newly-released Vital Cat® Freeze-Dried Pork Mini Nibs Cat Food from the Vital Essentials® brand has officially been named the 2021 Cat Frozen/Raw Product of the Year.
Presented to those who exemplify leadership and creativity, the Pet Independent Innovation Awards celebrate the best of the pet industry across the globe. 2021 marks the third consecutive year that a Vital Essentials product has been granted the distinction, continuing Carnivore Meat Company’s tradition of pioneering high quality, natural pet food products.
As the most tenured raw pet food manufacturer in the nation, Carnivore Meat Company has produced ultra premium 100% USA made pet foods and treats since their founding in 2012. The whole meat, vital organs and bones in raw pet food represent the most nutritious and natural diet possible for a pet carnivore, and Carnivore Meat Company’s Vital Essentials brand products are made from locally sourced proteins without any artificial ingredients or fillers.
Vital Essentials released a new protein–pork–to their Vital Cat Freeze-Dried Cat Food line in April. This novel protein launched in both Mini Nibs and Dinner Patties to give cat parents more options for their picky or sensitive eaters. Pork is often suggested for cats with sensitive stomachs due to its easy digestibility and high nutritional content, and it now joins chicken, duck, rabbit and turkey as the fifth single source protein option available in the Vital Cat line.
The new Vital Cat Freeze-Dried Pork Mini Nibs represent one out of over 2,000 nominations submitted from around the world to this year’s Pet Independent Innovation Awards. As the pet industry becomes increasingly competitive, so do the awards that highlight the most outstanding products, making Carnivore Meat Company’s three-year achievement even more remarkable.
“We all know cats can be notoriously particular,” says Melissa Olson, Carnivore Meat Company Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “We’ve been listening to pet parents who requested more options for fussy felines. Cats know what they like, and for many cats, that’s pork! Right now we’re one of the few raw pet food brands to offer pork as a protein source, particularly for cats. We’re proud of our healthy, premium pet food products, and are so honored to receive this award reaffirming that Carnivore Meat Company is an industry leader and innovator.”
The 2021 Pet Independent Innovation Award represents the latest in a growing list of accolades and successes for Carnivore Meat Company.
“We’re truly blessed to receive this honor recognizing our Vital Cat Freeze-Dried Pork Mini Nibs as the Frozen/Raw Cat Food Product of the Year,” says Olson. “This acknowledgement of the quality of our products only furthers our mission to provide the very best diet to pets worldwide.”
About Independent Innovation Awards
The Independent Innovation Awards program is devoted to recognizing and honoring the most innovative companies, services and products. The Pet Independent Innovation Awards provides public recognition for achievements of pet care industry companies and products including Apparel, Grooming & Cleaning, Food & Treats, Health, Retailers & Services and more. For more information visit: http://www.petinnovationawards.com.
About Carnivore Meat Company
Carnivore Meat Company is an award-winning manufacturer of ultra-premium raw frozen and freeze-dried pet food and treats. The Green Bay, Wisconsin company’s rapidly growing brands include Nature’s Advantage®, Vital Essentials®, VE RAW BAR and Vital Cat®, which are distributed to over 6,000 retailers nationwide, in 14 international markets and online to Chewy.com, Amazon, PetFlow.com and others. Long considered a raw pet food pioneer, the company’s freeze-dried products division supplies private label, co-packing and ingredients to customers globally. Carnivore Meat Company is family owned and has been recognized for its growth accomplishments and manufacturing excellence with a number of awards in recent years, including Greater Green Bay Chamber Growth Award, Wisconsin Manufacturer of the Year Award, Governor’s Export Achievement Award, Greater Green Bay Chamber Manufacturing Award of Distinction and Inc 5000 Fastest Growing Private Companies. www.carnivoremeat.com


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Will You Still Invest In Meta Even If It Gets 7 To 10 Years Until You Gain Returns?
In a recent article from Yahoo finance, the CEO of the previously called company Facebook, now known as Meta has mentioned that it will take 7 to 10 years until the Metaverse project yields returns for its investors. This statement has brought up criticisms and beliefs that the metaverse project is probably a gamble and might not bring profits to investors. So this got me thinking will you still invest in a project if it takes up to 10 years before the profits start to roll in.
The Meta company is now the parent company of the three social media giants, namely Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. The company was renamed immediately after the company's former data scientist decided to drop the bomb on the company by informing the public about the company's refusal to investigate the ways its platform is affecting children. The company is currently working on a project called the metaverse which is concerned with creating a world fully based on virtual reality. This includes everything in the world of humans, which will include things associated with well being and welfare such as lands, properties, social gatherings and others, all created in the world of virtual reality.
Although the CEO, Mark Zuckerberg has come out to openly say that the metaverse project will take a decade before it brings in revenues, I'm still amazed by the fact that there are individuals who are still standing behind him as investors. It goes to say that the billionaire has some strong supporters who believe in his ideas and vision. Even for the likes of Venture Capitalists and Angel Investors, such a statement is just an outright statement that he isn't certain that the project will bring in profit.
So let me take it down to the crypto space, will you be willing to invest in a blockchain project probably NFT related knowing fully well that it will take up to a decade before you start to cash in on your investment.
For me, I would say this is a big NO cause most investment strategies of people are hardly based on a long shot like a decade. It is mostly concerned with an investment portfolio that can be visible and profitable within 6 months, a year or at most 3 years. You will hardly find investment strategies that are fixed on a decade for returns for the individual, rather this investment strategy can be taken by wealthy corporations with multiple sources of revenue like tech companies and hedge funds.
I would say that the willingness of an individual to aim for a long shot is solely dependent on the person's financial strength. So we can only invest what we are willing to risk until the returns come in.
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta


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Home Tags Apple Mac and iOS
Tag: Apple Mac and iOS
How to Recover Deleted Whatsapp Messages Without Backup on Apple iPhone with Tenorshare UltData WhatsApp Recovery
eNewsChannels NEWS: -- When iPhone user accidentally delete their WhatsApp messages, a query echoes "How can I retrieve deleted messages on WhatsApp iPhone?" appears. It must be frustrating if there is no idea how to recover deleted WhatsApp messages on iPhone. Nevertheless, Tenorshare, an esteemed smartphone solutions provider, recently launched a reliable program，Tenorshare UltData WhatsApp Recovery to fix this issue.
eNewsChannels NEWS: -- It is challenging for smartphone users who've bought a new iPhone to move LINE chat history from Android to iPhone. That is right on point, though, as LINE offers no solution to make it easier for users to transfer LINE from Android to iPhone. As hard as it sounds, it's not impossible, as shown by the Tenorshare iCareFone for LINE, an effective program to provide easy Android to iOS LINE transfer.
eNewsChannels NEWS: -- How do I factory reset my iPhone without passcode? Many iPhone users ask this common question when they have to factory reset their phone and don't remember its password. Luckily there is a way out of this predicament with an iPhone password unlocker solution, called Tenorshare 4uKey. Curious to know when and how Tenorshare 4uKey can iPhone factory reset without passcode? Let's find out.
eNewsChannels NEWS: -- HitPaw has newly released HitPaw PicCutout App for iOS V1.0.0 which can precisely and easily remove background from image, change background and resize image for E-commerce, social media, or other use with massive background templates. Please don't hesitate to personalize your images with HitPaw PicCutout APP.
eNewsChannels NEWS: -- iToolab Co Ltd (iToolab) is an innovative high-tech company to help users to solve smartphone issues. As iTooolab WatsGo has debuted for months, which has been trusted by millions of users around the world. Now, the new version V7.0.0 of iToolab WatsGo enables users to transfer WhatsApp from Android to iPhone using Google Drive. This is undoubtedly a big leap for WhatsApp data transfer. And this will motivate excitedly most of iToolab users.
eNewsChannels NEWS: -- It is noted that WhatsApp will notify older makes of iPhones and Android phones with a warning message before WhatsApp stops working on them after 31st December 2022. Luckily, a reliable solution from Tenorshare, called iCareFone Transfer, can backup WhatsApp on iPhone and Android with one click.
2023 Guide: How to Screen Mirror Phone to Laptop with Tenorshare Phone Mirror (Android and Apple iPhone)
eNewsChannels NEWS: -- Are you wanting to mirror phone screen on laptop to watch the World Cup on a larger display, but hindered by the limitations of screen mirroring applications? Tenorshare provides an easy Phone Mirror solution to mirror phone to laptop with special discounts by playing Treasure Hunt game.
eNewsChannels NEWS: -- "Is it possible to recover data from iPhone that won't turn on?" This is the most common issue that many iPhone users face when their iPhone gets disabled entirely, and they are unable to back up from iTunes. Luckily, there is an effective solution like Tenorshare UltData to recover data from iPhone that won't turn on.
HitPaw Video Converter Mac V2.6 Released with AI Vocal Remover, Video/Image Compressor, DVD to MP4 Converter
eNewsChannels NEWS: -- HitPaw, a leader in the industry, incorporates AI-enabled capabilities into its main product to help consumers meet a variety of demands quickly and effectively. HitPaw Video Converter Mac V2.6.0 is sync to the Windows version with noteworthy features, including Spotify to MP3 Converter, AI Vocal Remover, Video/Image Compressor, DVD to MP4 Converter, and etc.
eNewsChannels NEWS: -- Transferring WhatsApp from Android to iPhone is quite challenging when people are trading in a new iPhone 14 from an old Android phone. Since the data includes large files, users fear losing WhatsApp messages while moving. "To provide better software for users, Tenorshare has offered a secure tool like Tenorshare iCareFone Transfer for transferring WhatsApp from Android to iPhone 14 without factory reset," said Tenorshare spokesperson.


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SamMobile reported the other day that Samsung halted all Android 8.0 Oreo rollouts for its Galaxy S8/S8+ series of Android smartphones after approximately a week since the initial release. But only today Samsung published a statement to inform user why it stopped the rollouts, and the cause appears to be related to a limited number of cases of unexpected reboots after installing the update. At the moment of writing, Samsung is still investigating the issue that causes those unexpected reboots for Galaxy S8 and S8+ users that managed to install the Android 8.0 Oreo software update on their handsets. SamMobile reports that many of their readers reported similar issues, which makes us believe that there's a major bug in the operating system and Samsung needs to fix it.
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Coinbase Reveals Two New Upgrades
Coinbase has just made two new unveilings of an additional two perks designed simplify a few things for digital currency traders on their platform. On the 7th of August, newcomers will see the end of the five day waiting period to begin trading after registering with the exchange.
As per the news announced on a blog, the company has stated that nobody wants to endure a five-day wait before being able to purchase digital currencies and despite accepting direct transfers through wire and debit cards, the latter can take days at a time to come through.
Following the new additions, users will no instantly be issued credit in regards to any spent assets directly to the bank accounts. Through this, users will be able to purchase and sell cryptocurrencies directly from their USD although no funds will be transferred off the platform itself until incoming funds have been received.
Additionally, the 24-hour purchase limit is now $25K per day as opposed to the older limit of $25K per week. New and eager traders, as well as elite traders looking to invest more in the daily limit, will be mandated to pass the exchange’s verification protocols, including an image of a legitimate driver’s license for any US resident users to utilize any of the two new features.
Coinbase has stated in the announcement that any customers or users that not finished the verification process must complete it in order to access any of the new perks implemented including instant purchase, extended traded restrictions and more. US traders will be the first to experience the new features upon completing the required ID verification by the exchange while international users will be required to wait a bit more for global release.


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Why is world trade growth slowing?
The world’s economic funk is slowing business across borders
GLOBAL trade is in a grim state. Between 1985 and 2007 trade volumes shot up at around twice the rate of global GDP; since 2012 the rate of growth has barely kept pace. Things appear to be getting worse. On September 27th the World Trade Organisation slashed its forecast for growth in trade of goods from 2.8% in 2016 to just 1.7%, implicitly predicting that for the first time in 15 years, trade would grow more slowly than GDP. Trade lets countries specialise, it allows ideas to spread and it promotes healthy competition. Policymakers interested in economic growth should be asking why it is so weak.
Trade depends on a mix of demand and supply in different countries. It can be bunged up by protectionism, and deflated by depressed economies (exports and imports depend on demand). It also depends on more benign factors; the rapid growth of the 1990s and early 2000s was itself unnaturally high. Two forces added momentum to trade over that period: the falling costs of doing business across borders and China’s entry into the global economy. Lower costs encouraged a web of supply chains to form, so that parts that were previously manufactured domestically could be shipped and assembled in foreign countries. Now that costs are not falling as quickly, the process may have run its course. Second, China’s spectacular economic growth over the 2000s was driven by huge increases in investment, which gobbled up imports such as oil and iron. As China switches to a more consumption-led approach to economic growth, the growth in trade volumeswill naturally slow.
Analysis in the International Monetary Fund’s October 2016 World Economic Outlook, published on September 26th, tries to separate out the factors at work. China’s transition explains around a sixth of the slowing growth in Asia’s exports in 2014-15, and less elsewhere. Looking at historical relationships between trade and demand, the report finds that the world’s general economic funk is by far the biggest culprit—the IMF expects global GDP to grow at 3.1% in 2016, markedly slower than the 3.4% enjoyed two years ago. Comparing 2003-07 with 2012-15, some three quarters of the trade slowdown is explained by weak global demand. Weak investment growth is a particular drag—in both advanced and emerging economies. Other factors such as protectionism account for a smaller share of the decline in global real import growth annually since 2012.
This is frustrating for policymakers. Boosting demand sounds nice in theory, but it can be pretty hard to do in practice (as monetary policymakers have discovered). But they are not powerless. GDP growth and trade tend to feed off one another, and so pepped-up trade could start a virtuous cycle. One way is to ratify and implementinternational agreements to lower trade barriers, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership between America and 11 other countries around the Pacific Rim, or the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, a trade deal under discussion that includes India and China. But passing these deals requires political will and convincing some disgruntled electorates, at a time when anti-globalisation rhetoric is thick in the air. If politicians really want to boost trade, they could start by trumpeting its virtues.
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Government watches on while fuel theft reaches $5 million per year in Victoria
Melbourne, 19 October – The Victorian Government’s response to industry recommendations designed to curb retail fuel theft has been given a mixed reception from the Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce (VACC).
The Victorian Government Response to the Report of the Law Reform, Road and Community Safety Committee Inquiry into Fuel Drive-Offs outlined the government’s answers to eight recommendations developed by the retail fuel industry. According to VACC, it did not fully deliver.
VACC Executive Director, Geoff Gwilym, said that the Chamber, which represents almost 300 independent retail fuel business owners in Victoria, was supportive of the efforts of all stakeholders to bring about a positive outcome, but noted several concerns.
“While the retail fuel industry is pleased that several recommendations were given ‘support in full’, other recommendations were given short shrift,” Mr Gwilym said.
“VACC also notes that none of the recommendations have been given time lines, or instruments to track change or performance.”
Recommendations supported by the government include Victoria Police improving its compliance with the 2013 Instruction to investigate fuel drive-offs, which will see Victoria Police formalise this instruction in the Victorian Police Manual; and Victoria Police being asked to conduct six-monthly stakeholder forums.
“These recommendations are welcome, but VACC sees little value in manuals and talk-fests when really what is required is firm action according to Victorian law, and that is that stealing goods from a business is a crime that should be punishable by the full force of applicable laws.
“Some of our members lose up to $5000 a month through fuel theft. This is a serious criminal matter, not a civil one. But because fuel theft is considered to be a civil matter small business owners have to go through the court system every time somebody steals $70 worth of fuel. That is untenable.
“VACC understands that Victoria Police is under-resourced, but if the Victorian State Government and its police force are serious about protecting innocent business owners, why then is fuel theft not considered a crime?”
VACC has stridently called for the complete removal of the pre-payment of fuel recommendation. This action is likely to put many small fuel retailers, that local communities rely on, out of business.
VACC supports the sharing of stolen number plate data with industry security systems, but asks for tight time lines around this and other recommendations.
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