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I have read numerous articles and I think that Corporate Social Responsibility and Apple are hot topics at the moment. When it was found that European firms were cheating on their emissions reports it was a great scandal and the European and German automotive industries took a financial hit. Their cheating cost them billions. In the US people were financially compensated whilst as one article put it Europeans got a plastic tube.
We should look at the Apple Back taxes story within the context of Brexit, the rise of the far right in a number of countries and the emerging popularity of Trump within certain sectors of the American voting public. The group anonymous is defending the rights of the 99 percent. They protest against Wall Street and the abuses of corporations and the wealthy.
When houses in the US were foreclosed because of the bubble bursting because of complex dividends those who suffered were the poor and the middle classes because they borrowed money at a rate that they could not pay it back. A number of documentary makers have explored this issue and there have been talks at the Graduate institute and other places.
Apple is currently making billions per quarter and that money is being stockpiled in offshore accounts so that neither the US government nor the European union can get to it. Other writers and journalists have written about this extensively. The perspective that I want to take is a moral one.
Apple products are expensive, they can cost twice as much as their android equivalents. People in the European markets are paying for these products. They pay the country’s VAT along with the product’s cost. They are contributing to the local economy.
Tim Cook argues that what the European Commission is doing is a “load of crap” and that it is abusing of its power. From an ethical and moral point of view though it is Apple that is being unethical and amoral. They are part of the economy. When they sell products they make huge profits that are taxed at less than one percent. 12 billion dollars could do a lot of good within the European Union if and when it is recovered because it could contribute to the road networks and transport infrastructure. It could contribute to housing, education and much more. In contributing to the economy those billions that Apple owes in back taxes could improve the quality of life of millions.
They hide behind the mask of job creation. They believe that because they contribute to the creation of 6000 jobs in Ireland that their corporate social responsibility stops there. It does not. Apple must be ethical enough to pay taxes like every other business is expected to do.
In effect Apple is providing a concrete example of what Brexiters voted against, the corporations syphoning off money to the detriment of living conditions of many populations around Europe. If corporations are allowed to make billions in profits without paying taxes because of creative accounting then society as a whole suffers. It also ferments resentment and encourages people to vote for the right.
In my opinion, based on the reading of numerous articles and watching many documentaries Apple should agree to pay the 14 billion as a gesture of good will and as a Public relations exercise. Imagine what a positive effect those billions would have for the European Union as a whole. Imagine how much social good having that money re-invested would do.
I believe that Tim Cook and Apple need to pay these back taxes to diffuse the tensions caused by austerity movements acrossÂ Europe. A wealthy, rather than austere Europe could buy more Apple products. Other corporations would also benefit directly from people’s increased disposable income. A few weeks or months ago I watched a documentary about how the United States benefited from corporations paying their fair share of taxes.


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Furnishings giant Dunelm fails to pay its 7,000 staff their salary after 'human error'
Thousands of staff at Dunelm suffered a nervous start to the new year as the home furnishings giant failed to pay them their salaries, the Mail has learnt.
The retail chain, which posts its Christmas trading figures on Tuesday, left up to 7,000 staff without their monthly earnings at a crucial time of the year when many have bills to pay.
Deputy executive chairman Will Adderley, whose family built the firm from a market stall in Leicester, said he would offer staff short-term loans and cover any charges following what he described as human error.
'Human error': Deputy executive chairman Will Adderley said he would offer staff short-term loans
‘This has nothing to do with cashflow – it’s business as usual for us,’ he told the Mail. ‘Someone in finance, not payroll, has keyed in the wrong pay date.
‘It is hugely embarrassing and impacted a large proportion of our workforce.
‘It’s the first time this has ever happened and it is totally unacceptable. We have offered to give staff loans and will cover any fines – we will do the right thing for our people.’
Adderley said staff will receive their salary on Monday and are taking steps to ensure the problem never happens again.
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The latest Newsweek Green Rankings showed that seven of the top 10 U.S. companies are from the technology and telecommunications sectors: IBM, HP, Sprint, Dell, CA, Nvidia, and Intel. It seems curious at first — after all, these companies make products that contain toxic materials and unrecyclable plastics, whose use consumes ever-increasing amounts of electricity, and whose disposal has become problematic for communities around the world. Oh, and are made by low-wage workers, often under suboptimal conditions.
So, why all the green love? It’s the supply chain, stupid.
Over the past few years, infotech firms have been engaging their supply chains as never before, at least on the environmental front, which is what Newsweek assesses. It has become a necessity for companies to do this — to reduce risks, but also to ensure efficient, cost-effective operations in a global marketplace. And while supply-chain scrutiny and transparency isn't a cure for all environmental and social ills, it is moving companies toward more successful outcomes.
“The majority of IT companies’ environmental and social impacts are not within their own operations, but instead are spread out across their supply chain,” explains Zach Goldman, a partner at Malk Sustainability Partners (MSP), a management consultancy focusing on this sector. “For many of these firms, their actual Scope 1 and Scope 2 impacts are almost negligible, relative to the size of their balance sheets.” That means environmental and social impacts reside almost entirely within their supply chains.
It is important to note that not all such companies outsource all their dirty work. One example is IBM, which continues to manufacture semiconductors and “package” them — that is, encapsulate and mount them on substrates — which are among the most environmentally sensitive aspects of electronics manufacturing. But IBM, which ranked first in Newsweek’s U.S. rankings and fourth in its global rankings, is an admirable outlier in this regard.
A study published today by MSP (download-PDF) sheds light on sustainable supply-chain management across the value chain in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector. It examines why companies in the sector are focusing on these issues, which issues they are concerned about, and how they are addressing them. The study was based on interviews with supply-chain managers, including those from Akamai, AT&T, Cisco, Dell, EMC, Facebook, HP, Sony, Sprint, and 20 other companies.
The study found that supply-chain issues are growing rapidly among ICT companies, with nine in 10 companies now having a sustainable-supply-chain policy. Seven in 10 supply-chain and sustainability managers believe sustainable supply-chain management strategies create business value in their firm. They are driven almost equally by stakeholder concerns, regulatory pressures, and issues related to risk and cost management. And, of course, nobody likes to see their name in the news, as Apple and other customers of Foxconn have recently.
You can read insights about the study by Michael Shoemaker, one of its authors, here.
“This is our industry’s ‘Nike moment,’” Tim Mohin, Director of Corporate Sustainability at AMD, is quoted saying in the study. He’s referring to the footwear and apparel company’s reputational challenges related to their alleged use of sweatshop labor in the 1980s and 1990s. “We are heading for continued upward awareness and scrutiny on supply chain behavior,” said Mohin.
Next page: Coming out of a black box
“To a degree, the supply chain in this space is just coming out of being a black box,” Goldman told me recently. “We see greater transparency facilitated by technology, facilitated by greater stakeholder interest, facilitated by regulation. There’s more clarity into what’s happening in these supply chains, so there’s an imperative to take action as well.”
Much of this imperative is driven by the social side of sustainablity, where such issues as conflict minerals and working conditions and overtime have become hot-button issues for ICT companies. Nearly 20 percent of respondents cited labor hours and “difficulty finding the middle ground between fair hours and worker desire for overtime” as key concerns. Child labor, an issue in other industries, wasn’t considered highly relevant in the ICT supply chain.
One challenge is the web of relationships within the industry, where companies can simultaneously be competitors with and customers of one another. “These issues have fostered a complex environment which frustrates some efforts toward greater transparency and sustainability,” writes MSP. ”Cross-industry coordination is attempting to address this issue.”
ICT companies will have no choice but to confront this complexity head-on. Demands for increased transparency in the ICT sector, like most other sectors, aren't going away. Indeed, they're growing. “Between regulation, customer inquiries, and the wide dissemination of camera phones, companies’ supply-chain operations will become increasingly public,” says MSP. “Supply-chain managers should prepare for this and the growing public stance that firms are responsible for the activities of their overseas suppliers.”
He might have added one of my oft-asked questions: In an age of radical transparency, will you be transparent, or will others be transparent for you?
Which is to say, that megapixel smart phone your supplier is manufacturing isn’t just a cool consumer product. It’s also a potent weapon, able to capture high-definition evidence of environmental and social misdeeds in far-away factories. With that in mind, you’d be wise to get your supply chain in sharper focus, and make sure it captures a picture you are proud to share with the world.
Image by Kathathep for Shutterstock


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Universal 3D Touch: ForcePhone Allows Any Smartphone To Get 3D Touch Capabilities [VIDEO]
With a frame practically identical with its predecessor, Apple's current flagship, the iPhone 6S and 6S plus, was arguably not as successful as the tech giant might have hoped. Despite this, however, critics and users alike were unanimous in the notion that Apple's 3D Touch technology, the one feature that is truly unique to the device, was a very innovative feature.
Using a special layer placed on top of the device's display, 3D Touch allowed users to access additional menus and shortcuts when different amounts of pressure are applied to the phone's screen. As great as the feature is, however, it has so far been exclusive only to Apple's premium devices.
That is, of course, until now. Thanks to efforts of engineers from the University of Michigan, it is now possible to give any smartphone, regardless of brand and specs, 3D Touch features. The engineers even gave the technology a name, ForcePhone.
Unlike 3D Touch, however, ForcePhone uses ultrasound technology to determine the amount of pressure a user is putting on certain parts of the screen. ForcePhone's approach is actually quite simple. The smartphone's speaker is programmed to emit sounds covering the 18 to 24 kHz range (no need to worry, though, since this frequency is far beyond what humans of even dogs can hear). Once an area of the screen is pressed, the program detects the changes in the sound.
Different types of pressure on the screen would translate to different changes in the ultrasonic sound being emitted by the speaker. The ForcePhone software then translates the changes in sound to input.
In a press release, Kang Shin, Professor of Computer Science in the University's Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, stated that ForcePhone has the capability to augment the interaction between users and their mobile devices.
"You don't need a special screen or built-in sensors to do this. Now this functionality can be realized on any phone. We've augmented the user interface without requiring any special built-in sensors. ForcePhone increases the vocabulary between the phone and the user," Shin said.
Yu-Chih Tung, a doctoral student who co-created the software, is also very optimistic about the applications of the technology.
"I think we're offering a natural interface, like how you turn a knob. It's the next step forward from a basic touch interface and it can complement other gestured communication channels and voice," Tung said.


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GoodRx, a company that provides prescription price transparency and discounted prices on medications, has agreed to pay a $1.5 million civil penalty as proposed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for its unauthorized sharing of users’ personal information with big technology corporations.
On Wednesday, the FTC filed a legal complaint against GoodRx, alleging the company shared its users’ personal and health data with big technology firms like Facebook, Google, Criteo, Branch, and Twilio.
The FTC complaint notes that GoodRx has promised, since 2017, that it would share its users’ personal information, including personal health information, with limited third parties. GoodRx had promised this data sharing would be for limited purposes and would come with restrictions on how those third parties used the GoodRx user information. The complaint states GoodRx also promised that it would never share personal health information with advertisers.
Despite these promises, the FTC complaint states GoodRx gave other companies information on its users’ prescription medications and personal health conditions, personal contact information, and unique advertising and persistent identifiers. The complaint states GoodRx shared this information without seeking their users’ consent or even providing notice of the move.
According to FTC about 55.4 million consumers have visited or used GoodRx’s website or mobile apps since January 2017.
GoodRx’s alleged violations of its consumer privacy policies first came to light on Feb. 25, 2020, when Consumer Reports published an article reporting that GoodRx was sharing health information with Facebook, Google, and other third parties. GoodRx issued a public response to the Consumer Reports article on Feb. 28, 2020, stating, the Consumer Reports article “led us to re-examine our policies. In the course of our review, we found that in the case of Facebook advertising, we were not living up to our own standards. For this we are truly sorry, and we will do better.”
Despite this Feb. 28, 2020 statement, the FTC said GoodRx continued to share certain user health information with Facebook for several thousand GoodRx users between April 2020 and November 2020 without notifying its users of this continued transmission of health information.
In addition to paying the $1.5 million penalty, a proposed court order would permanently bar GoodRx from sharing user health information with third-party organizations for advertising, and require GoodRx to obtain users’ affirmative consent before it discloses their health information to any third parties. The proposed court order would also have GoodRx direct third parties to delete the consumer health data that it wrongfully shared in the past and have those third-party companies inform consumers about the breaches and the FTC’s enforcement action against GoodRx. The proposed order would also seek to impose a timeline for how long it can retain users’ personal and health information.
GoodRx Agrees to Settlement but Disputes Allegations
In a Wednesday statement, GoodRx confirmed it had agreed to settle with the FTC over the complaint, but disputed the allegations raised by the regulatory agency.
“We do not agree with the FTC’s allegations and we admit no wrongdoing,” the company said. “Entering into the settlement allows us to avoid the time and expense of protracted litigation. We believe that the requirements detailed in the settlement will have no material impact on our business or on our current or future operations.”
GoodRx insisted it had begun addressing issues three years ago, “before the FTC reached out to us.”
“While we had used vendor technologies to advertise in a way that we believe was compliant with all applicable regulations and that remains common practice among many health, consumer, and government websites, we are proud that we took action to be an industry leader on privacy practices,” the GoodRx statement continued.
GoodRX also insisted it did not share any medical records with third party organizations and said the information it did share “was primarily IP addresses and web page URL information related to looking at content.”
GoodRX said it has saved its users $45 billion in medical expenses since launching in 2011 and it remains a leader in data privacy.


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News this week: Earlier this week, Shenzhen-listed Zhejiang Netsun announced its first quarter results for 2011. Revenues were US$6.0 million – an increase of 14% compared with the same period of 2010. However, Netsun’s net profit decreased 29%, dropping down to US$1.7 million. Earnings per share were RMB 0.08 (US$0.012).
The Hangzhou-based company operates a number of online domestic sourcing platforms covering industries such as chemicals, pharmaceuticals and textiles. The company’s 2010 full-year revenues were US$26 million with a net profit of US$7.8 million.
This post is excerpted from BSG's weekly e-newsletter which is part of our subscription research service, BSG Tracker. Visit our website to find out more about this service. You can also follow us on Twitter for all the latest updates.


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Americans are dependent on bites, and sustenance specialists are giving nearer consideration to what that may mean for wellbeing and weight.
Dietary patterns in the U.S. have changed essentially in ongoing decades, and bundled bars, chips and desserts have spread into each side of life. In the late 1970s, around 40 percent of American grown-ups said they didn’t have any snacks during the day. By 2007, that figure was only 10 percent.
To show signs of improvement handle on the ramifications of contrasting eating designs, U.S. wellbeing authorities are checking on logical research on how eating recurrence influences wellbeing, including weight increase and corpulence. The investigation is planned to check the more extensive range of conceivable outcomes, including fasting. Be that as it may, eating, touching and “mini meals” are probably going to be among the elements considered, given how they have overturned the three-suppers daily model.
Discoveries could possibly be reflected in the administration’s refreshed dietary rules one year from now, however any complete suggestions are impossible.
For general wellbeing authorities, some portion of the test is that eating is a wide term that can mean a 100-calorie apple or a 500-calorie Frappuccino. How individuals change what they eat the remainder of the day additionally fluctuates. Tidbits may help diminish appetite and indulging at dinners, however they can likewise simply push up the all out calories somebody devours.
While there’s nothing amiss with snacks as such, they have turned out to be considerably more open. It likewise has turned out to be all the more socially worthy to nibble more places: at work gatherings and keeping in mind that strolling, driving or looking for garments.
“We live in a 24/7 food culture now,” said Dana Hunnes, a senior dietitian at UCLA Medical Center.
To empower better decisions as worldwide heftiness rates climb, general wellbeing authorities have progressively thought about government mediations, including “lousy nourishment” charges.
In Mexico, which has among the most elevated corpulence rates on the planet, unique charges on sugary beverages and different sustenances including a few bites and confections became effective in 2014.
A week ago, an examination in the restorative diary BMJ said saddling sugary snacks in the United Kingdom could biggerly affect stoutness rates than a duty on sugary beverages that became effective a year ago. While sugary beverages represent 2 percent of normal calories in the United Kingdom, sugary bites like cakes and treats represent 12 percent, the examination said.
Entangling matters, nibble alternatives are likewise proceeding to expand past the standard chips and treats.
“Manufacturers have tried to tap into Americans’ concern for health,” said Paula Johnson, custodian of sustenance history at the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.
Past sustenance, wellbeing authorities ought to likewise think about what enthusiastic or psychological wellness advantages may be lost when individuals move away from suppers, said Sophie Egan, who expounds on American nourishment culture. Suppers can be a period for socially network, she stated, while tidbits are typically eaten alone. She additionally noticed the development in eating might be filled by the worry of busier lives.
“Who knows how much food is a Band-Aid for those issues,” Egan said.
As far as concerns them, sustenance organizations have moved to exploit Americans’ adoration for tidbits and extended the meaning of the word. Dunkin Donuts’ previous CEO has said the chain’s sandwiches ought to be viewed as bites, not lunch. At the point when Hershey purchased a meat jerky organization, the treat organization said it needed to grow its contributions over the “nibbling continuum ” to incorporate progressively nutritious choices.
Wellbeing specialists’ suggestions on nibbling change. Youngsters may require more tidbits and to eat all the more as often as possible. For grown-ups, numerous dietitians saying what works for one individual may not for another.
Hunnes, the UCLA dietitian, prescribes adhering to negligibly handled alternatives like natural product or nuts while eating. Yet, she recognized the exhortation could seem like it’s originating from an ivory tower, given the commonness of bundled snacks.
“They’re just there, and they have a great shelf life,” she said.
The Associated Press Health and Science Department gets support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is exclusively in charge of all substance.
Disclaimer: The views, suggestions, and opinions expressed here are the sole responsibility of the experts. No Emerald Journal journalist was involved in the writing and production of this article.


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What happened: A NY grand jury has ordered two companies that had partnerships with Facebook to hand over records.
According to the Times, Facebook's deals with more than 150 different companies let them "see users' friends, contact information and other data, sometimes without consent".
Manufacturers of mobile devices got an especially sweet deal, according to internal Facebook documents seen by the Times.
APFederal prosecutors are investigating data-sharing deals struck between Facebook and makers of mobile computing devices
"We've provided public testimony, answered questions and pledged that we will continue to do so", it said in a statement. The Department of Justice began probing the Silicon Valley company after a report showed Cambridge Analytica, a political consulting firm, used the platform to improperly obtained data on 87 million people to help President Donald Trump's campaign.
Federal prosecutors are investigating data-sharing deals struck between Facebook and makers of mobile computing devices.
The grand jury inquiry was on behalf of the United States attorney's office for the Eastern District of NY. Facebook said in July it had received questions from USA agencies including the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Trade Commission and the FBI, and was cooperating.
The deals sparked outrage - and have come under sharp scrutiny - since they were revealed in a investigation by the Times a year ago. Numerous partnerships ended years ago, the Times noted, but the deals with Amazon and Apple were ongoing at the time of the story. Facebook did not respond to questions about the focus or nature of the investigation.
Eight killed, 37 rescued, in Lagos building collapse
The building was in the Ita-faji area of Lagos island, the original heart of the lagoon city before it expanded onto the mainland. About two dozen people have been rescued so far, said freelancer Anna Cunningham, reporting from the scene for CBC News.


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Perry Ellis expands Original Penguin to southern Africa with Sector Apparel
Perry Ellis is expanding its Original Penguin brand to new markets in southern Africa through a new licensing agreement with Sector Apparel Group.
The company on Monday announced a new agreement with Sector Apparel for the distribution of Original Penguin men’s apparel at department stores, independent retailers and online in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, and Swaziland.
Founded in 2000, Sector Apparel distributes branded apparel clothing in southern Africa. The company currently distributes for Lee Jeans, Wrangler, The North Face, Fox Racing, Volcom, and O’Neill.
"We are delighted to welcome Sector Apparel Group to the Original Penguin family,” stated George Feldenkreis, Executive Chairman of Perry Ellis International. “Working with Sector Apparel Group will not only leverage the equity of this powerful brand but also continue our strategic initiative to expand our global reach."
The expansion of Original Penguin to the new countries is part of Perry Ellis’s plan for fiscal 2018. The company announced in March that it will focus on Original Penguin and its high growth brands, as well as strengthen its menswear business through wholesale, retail and licensing and continue its international distribution expansion.
Copyright © 2023 FashionNetwork.com All rights reserved.


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A quick peek at the lineups of new laptops
Posted October 5, 2009on:
Call it the Netbook halo effect: small and cheap is infectious. A quick peek at the lineups of new laptops slated for an October 22 roll-out from Hewlett-Packard and Toshiba make it clear that the prices of mainstream and higher-end laptops are diving, even as the technology gets better.
“There’s a new reality in laptop pricing,” said Bob O’Donnell, an analyst at market-researcher IDC. “It’s getting harder and harder to sell anything over $800.” O’Donnell cited a data point that showed the average selling price of notebooks falling below desktops briefly in retail. “That may have been an anomaly, but the fact that’s it’s even close is indicative of this phenomenon.”


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VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Governor Ralph Northam announced on Tuesday that a company will invest $12.2 million to expand further into Virginia Beach.
InMotion Hosting, Inc., a provider of business web hosting services, will purchase and work out of a 61,000-square-foot facility where the majority of its technical support and customer service operations will be conducted.
Virginia competed against California and Colorado for the project, which will create 50 new jobs in the area.
“InMotion Hosting has become a global provider of web hosting services for businesses of all sizes, and there is no better location than the City of Virginia Beach to support the company’s continued growth,” said Governor Northam. “Helping small businesses like InMotion Hosting thrive is an important part of our efforts to expand and diversify Virginia’s economy. We thank the company for choosing to invest significant capital and create new jobs in our Commonwealth.”
The business was founded in 2001. It is dedicated to technological innovation and helping small-to-mid-sized businesses achieve online success. InMotion Hosting currently employs 280 people at its office in Virginia Beach and will double its square footage through the expansion.
“InMotion Hosting is honored to have an opportunity to expand our footprint in the City of Virginia Beach,” said InMotion Hosting’s co-founders Sunil Saxena and Todd Robinson. “Over the past 15 years, the greater Virginia Beach region has provided us with extraordinary talent who are dedicated to providing exceptional support and service to our customers worldwide. It is also particularly rewarding to see that the majority of our senior management are comprised of local residents that joined us as entry-level employees, and through their hard work and dedication, are now in high-level leadership positions."
Click here to learn more about the company.


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Thomas Cook India, the largest integrated travel and travel-related financial services company in India having the largest network in the world, recently announced its partnership with the Indian Postal..
Travel industry’s franchise trail had not only been rough and bumpy, but challenging too. Hence, achieving success in this industry has its own high. Cox & Kings is one such name that achieved..
Travo, an initiative of I-Nova group has recently entered the franchise bandwagon to cash in on the increasing demand of travel and tourism services. Debmalya Banerjee, Vice President, I-Nova..


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One of Japan's largest financial institutions will soon launch a new application for consumer payments backed by Ripple technology, which marks an important milestone in the search for the adoption of the mainstream blockchain.
Presentation of MoneyTap
SBI Ripple Asia, a joint venture of SBI Holdings and Ripple, Inc., based in San Francisco, is preparing to launch the "MoneyTap" mobile app on Android and iOS .
MoneyTap is the first consumer-oriented application launched on the Ripple protocol in Japan. The app allows consumers with national current accounts to send money 24 hours a day, seven days a week, using a QR code, a phone number or a bank account.
The new platform is powered by Ripple xCurrent, a solution that allows banks to settle cross-border payments immediately. Sources have yet to confirm whether XRP, the cryptocurrency launched by Ripple, can be used on MoneyTap.
As reported by Hacked in March, the initial launch of the application will be accepted by various financial institutions, including SBI Net Sumishin Bank, Suruga Bank and Resona Bank. These companies are part of a larger consortium of financiers representing more than 80% of Japan's banking operations.
Ripple to expand commercial application
In addition to MoneyTap, Ripple is planning to launch a commercial application of its focused cryptocurrency as early as next month, according to Sagar Sarbhai, head of department regulatory framework of the Asia-Pacific and Middle East. According to Sarbhai, the new product will focus on xRapid, which offers low-cost liquidity for payment service providers and other financial institutions.
"I am very confident that in the next month or so you will see some good news coming up when we launch the product live in production," said Saraphai of xRapid in an interview with CNBC.
xRapid technology is based on XRP for currency bridges, which allows payment providers to process faster cross-border transactions.
Despite addressing multiple XRP-related causes is security, Ripple is riding a wave of momentum from several high-profile partnerships with leading payment providers. The main ones are American Express, Western Union, Money Gram and Santander. Ripple also has collaborations with over 120 banks and financial institutions, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region. Although not directly related to XRP, these developments add value to Ripple's blockchain technology, which could drive wider adoption in the currency.
The XRP, which was little changed on Monday morning, is trading at a fraction of its all-time high. One unit of XRP is currently valued at just over $ 0.28, according to CoinMarketCap. The currency reached $ 3.29 on 3 January, according to CryptoCompare.com.
XRP has a total capitalization of $ 11.2 billion, placing it in fourth place among the active cryptocurrencies in terms of value
Disclaimer: The author owns bitcoin, Ethereum and others criptovalute. It holds investment positions in the currencies, but does not carry out short-term or day trading activities.
Featured image courtesy of Shutterstock.


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Posts filtered on Category
Super Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi on steroids. WhiteFi.
Stephen Elop is jumping right into his new role as CEO of Nokia after leaving Microsoft last week. On stage at the Nokia World conference in London, Elop — who was up until Friday president of the Microsoft Business Division — echoed his former boss, Steve Ballmer.
NBC and the NFL are being awesome and broadcasting tonight’s Vikings-Saints game on the Web for free. As All Things Digital reports, don’t get used to it — the online stream is a bit of an experiment, and it will only be happening once a week (for NBC’s Sunday Night Football, and not during the playoffs). Why am I writing about this? Because NBC’s online video player runs in Microsoft Silverlight. I wonder how many new users Silverlight will get tonight…. (Watch the game at 5:30 p.m. PDT here …
Craigslist’s removal of its adult-services section could increase crime rather than curb it, an influential Microsoft researcher said today.
Research firm Gartner has cut its PC-shipment outlook for the second half of the year, but still expects worldwide PC sales to grow 19.2 percent over last year — from 308.3 million in 2009 to 367.8 million in 2010. That prediction is down from earlier this year, when Gartner said it expected 376.6 million PCs to ship in 2010. “Recent dramatic shifts in the PC supply chain were in no small part a reaction to fears of a sharp slowdown in mature-market demand,” Ranjit Atwal, Gartner research director …
You don’t have to major in computer science or electrical engineering to work at Microsoft. In fact, there are a number of nontraditional areas within tech that Microsoft’s recruiters are scoping out right now.
Microsoft has been demonstrating prototypes of the “natural user interface” by producing videos with nothing but paper cut-outs and stop-motion animation. And they’re cool.
Hewlett-Packard and Dell Computers each posted good financial numbers Thursday, reporting profit increases of 6 percent and 16 percent, respectively, during the recent quarter. But with HP’s CEO woes and the news that Dell’s gross profit margin dropped, Thursday’s results were a bit of a mixed bag. Read more about the HP earnings here and the Dell earnings here, at seattlepi.com.
I remember sitting on the tarmac of Chicago’s Midway airport, ready to take off and fly past an abstract city of polygons in my Sopwith Camel. I was probably 6.
Having reached a $200 million settlement with Microsoft after two patent-infringement lawsuits, VirnetX has sued Apple, Cisco Systems, NEC Corp. and NEC of America with similar allegations. The Scotts Valley, Calif.-based firm of 12 employees claims those companies use virtual private network (VPN) technology that violates VirnetX’s patents. More information is available here from Bloomberg.


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The stresses of modern living drive more Americans to seek wellness activities, products and services to stave off the long-term effects of ageing and deteriorating health.
Table of Contents
Three out of four Americans admit they frequently feel negative physical or mental symptoms like stress, anxiety and fatigue, leading many to improve the condition of their minds and bodies.
According to a study by Wakefield Research, a market research firm based in Arlington, Virginia, USA, two out of three of 2,000 adults interviewed would rather curtail their social lives and limit outings for meals, drinks or concerts than cut their spending on health and wellness.
The Wakefield survey focussed on consumers buying into hyper wellness, which is based on preventative care involving oxygen, hydration, nourishment, cold, heat, light, movement, rest and connection.
Just over half of those spoken to (54 per cent) confirmed they already include preventative measures in their health routines, while 85 per cent said they were willing to try new wellness activities, products or services.
One in four confessed they could not last a week without suffering adverse mental and physical effects if they could not carry out their wellness regimes.
Who Is Hyper Wellness Fit For?
Two out of three believed investing in preventative care would save them money in the long term, while 83 per cent considered skimping on wellness spending would cost them more later in life.
So who takes part in hyper-wellness activities? On average, researchers found that consumers considered their health and well-being around 30 years old. Still, nearly half of those asked (47 per cent) accept ageing and illness are inevitable and cannot be prevented, just slowed.
One in four complained they could not easily participate in wellness programs due to lack of time, where they lived, lacked local facilities, or did not know how to get started.
The report was commissioned by hyper wellness business Restore.
“As part of our ongoing commitment to providing accessible proactive care methods to the nation, we wanted to better understand how consumers are viewing health and wellness and how they integrate it into their lives,” said Jim Donnelly, Restore’s CEO and co-founder.
“We not only learn those behaviours through the report, but also categorise those modalities and introduce hyper wellness as an extension and complement to the traditional healthcare industry. We are excited to continue this report and use it to ensure that we are providing the best, most effective experience to our members that reflects consumer trends.”
Hyper Wellness FAQ
What is hyper wellness?
Hyper wellness is a system that balances several disciplines and activities that improve health and mental well-being. The elements can include breathing, cold, diet and exercise.
What are health, well-being and wellness?
Health, well-being and wellness are related terms that are often interchangeable. Health does not only involve how your body feels but includes a person’s emotional and mental state. Well-being is how you consider your life, while wellness covers how you look after your mind and body.
Where can I find out more about wellness?
Many health services have wellness clinics and programs. Plenty of information is free and online. A recent Google check by media firm Gallop uncovered 1.9 academic articles on “wellbeing” and 2.7 million on “happiness” – many more than anyone could read in a lifetime.
Is wellness just a money-making opportunity?
Undoubtedly, many participants feel better from participating in a wellness activity, but most of the products and services are offered by private firms charging for their expertise. In America, the wellness industry is thriving and is slowly moving to Europe.
How does WEIRD research impact wellness?
Most market research involves college students not representative of the rest of the population. So WEIRD comes into play. WEIRD stands for Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich and Democratic. Researchers actively avoid WEIRD interview subjects to get a broader and more accurate picture for their studies.
Here are a selected few articles that are related and maybe of interest:


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The annual IFA trade show in Berlin is always a good time for device manufacturers to show off their latest wares as the Christmas season approaches, and everything from laptops to smartwatches and washing machines is on the agenda.
V3 was in the German capital to see what the great and the good of the tech world had up their sleeves, and has put together a top 10 of what we think were the biggest announcements from the show.
Let us know what you like the look of in the comments box below.
10. Huawei Watch
Smartwatches continue to be the all the rage in the wearables market, if those on display at IFA are to be taken as an industry measuring stick.
And wading into this arena is Huawei with its take on the smartwatch. Not dissimilar to the Moto 360, the Huawei Watch features a circular design like traditional analogue watches that some people may still recall and even sport on their wrists.
Running Android Wear, Google’s reimagining of its smartphone operating system for wearable devices, the Watch comes pre-loaded with 40 watch faces for people with New York Minute attention spans.
These faces are displayed on a 1.4in AMOLED display at a resolution of 400×400 and with a 286ppi, giving it the highest pixel density of any smartwatch to date.
Huawei boasted that it is the slimmest smartwatch on the market at 11.3mm supporting a diameter of 42mm.
A Qualcomm 1.2GHz processor and 512MB of RAM power the watch, while 4GB of storage helps support Android Wear apps.
To protect its innards the Watch has scratch resistant glass and a cold-forged stainless steel unibody design. Battery life appears to be an Apple Watch-beating 1.5 days and it can charge to full in 75 minutes if Huawei it to be believed.
The Huawei Watch is likely to be a rival for the Samsung Gear S2, also revealed at IFA.


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SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY VISITORS & CONFERENCE BUREAU LAUNCHES
ANNUAL RESTAURANT MONTH PROMOTION JANUARY 2 - 31
30 Cities Across California Participating in California Restaurant Month
(San Luis Obispo, CA) - The San Luis Obispo County Visitors & Conference Bureau announces its 2012 Restaurant Month Promotion January 2-31. Visitors and locals may choose from more than 35 San Luis Obispo County restaurants offering special three-course prix fixe menus and promotions during January.
The countywide promotion celebrates the region's culinary diversity and includes restaurants from area communities: Arroyo Grande, Avila Beach, Cambria, Cayucos, Morro Bay, Paso Robles, Pismo Beach, San Luis Obispo and Shell Beach.
"San Luis Obispo County Restaurant Month is an opportunity to try a new restaurant or support one of your favorites," said Stacie Jacob, Executive Director of the San Luis Obispo County Visitor's and Conference Bureau. "Hotels are offering unique packages to encourage visitors to experience this special offering in January."
Here's how it works. Participating restaurants will serve three-course prix fixe menus for $30 for 30 days in January. Menus may be paired with award-winning wines from Paso Robles and San Luis Obispo wine country for an additional charge. Check out the full list of restaurant menus and follow Restaurant Month happenings on Facebook, Twitter and the county blog giving insider tips about the tasty menus and dining experiences across the county. www.sanluisobispocounty.com
San Luis Obispo County Restaurant Month is part of a statewide promotion, California Restaurant Month, designated by Visit California. Upwards of 30 destinations across California, from the desert and coast to wine country and High Sierra, are hosting restaurant weeks and other value-driven food programming this January.
"Last year's inaugural California Restaurant Month was a huge success, with 23 participating destinations and over 20 million media impressions. We're thrilled to see the program grow to include even more destinations so we can continue to tell California's amazing culinary story," said Caroline Beteta, Visit California President & CEO. "As the top U.S. destination for culinary travel and one of the leading agricultural producers in the country, there is such a vast array of culinary experiences to be found here. And what better time to visit than during this special program that treats visitors to offers they won't see any other time of the year."
Last year travelers in California spent $23.1 billion on food and beverages, more than for any other spending segment and constituting 26 percent of all visitor spending last year (Source: Dean Runyan Associates), Beteta said. For more information about California Restaurant Month, visit www.visitcalifornia.com/restaurantmonth.
Listen to KRUSH Radio and KSBY for more announcements about Restaurant Month in San Luis Obispo County. Make your reservations now.
About San Luis Obispo County Visitors & Conference Bureau: The San Luis Obispo County Visitors and Conference Bureau promotes San Luis Obispo County through advertising, marketing, public relations and group sales. Its member base is comprised of over 500 tourism industry-related businesses including lodging properties, restaurants, wineries, golf courses and retail stores. We invite you to visit the website at: www.sanluisobispocounty.com. For more information on the VCB, please contact Brittany Garcia at 805.781.2530 or firstname.lastname@example.org.
About Visit California: Visit California is a non-profit organization with a mission to develop and maintain marketing programs - in partnership with the state's travel industry - that keep California top-of-mind as a premier travel destination. According to Visit California, travel and tourism expenditures total $95.1 billion annually in California, support jobs for 873,000 Californians and generate $6.1 billion in state and local tax revenues. For more information about Visit California and for a free California Visitor's Guide, go to www.VisitCalifornia.com.


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Photo by Scott Elgart
As far as senior living selling points go, dining is a major one. And by nature of all of the moving parts involved, it is an area of operations that can be prone to inefficiencies. Add to that the rising costs of food being felt by both institutions and households nationwide, and providing a dining program can become a major challenge.
Food costs are rising at a slightly higher-than-average pace, as projected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Based on its findings and projections on household food costs, the consumer price index for food is expected to rise between 2.5% and 3.5% in 2014, and 2% and 3.0% in 2015—compared with a 20-year average of 2.6%.
But for some categories, meats and poultry in particular, the anticipated uptick is much higher, according to the Department of Agriculture. For beef and veal, for example, price increases this year are expected to surpass 10% or even 20% in some areas—a shift attributed largely to a drought-induced supply shortage.
The market is already feeling these stresses, but the increase is likely to make its way to households and other organizations in the coming months, analysts told the Wall Street Journal in a recent report.
Food costs don’t have to derail a community’s menu offerings, however. Operators are finding new ways, and they’re going back to old ways, when it comes to driving food efficiencies while still offering top-notch dining plans.
Back to Basics
First, there are some age-old approaches that dining program managers are working into their plans to address costs.
“It’s important to be reactive to it in a timely manner,” says Kevin Early, director of dining for WindsorMeade of Williamsburg, Va. “If there’s a freeze and tomato prices go up, try to do a menu minimizing higher-cost items. Go local.”
Going local, while trendy in its own right, can also mean big savings, dining managers say. For WindsorMeade and its location near coastal Virginia, that means more seafood and less beef.
“We may use flounder versus beef tenderloin,” Early says. “We’re not only using fresh local seafood, but the residents love seafood so we sell a lot of it.”
WindsorMeade also sources herbs from a garden on-site, contracts with local purveyors of produce and has applied to be a “Virginia Green Restaurant” through the state of Virginia, already having achieved the minimum core requirements of eliminating some glass bottled items.
Going local forces the menu to follow the seasons, providing more variety for residents. That means steering away from asparagus in the winter, and instead looking to winter vegetables like rutabaga and cauliflower.
“When your costs rising, you want to have your high-volume items be your low-cost items,” Early says.
Crunching the Numbers
Other operators take a very technical approach to management of food costs in the current environment—an approach that began as a mere Excel spreadsheet.
Pedestal Foods, based in Ballwin, Mo., contracts with schools, universities and senior living communities to provide dining services. Its restaurant-style approach to senior living called for a cost-controlling solution, says Scott Elgart, Pedestal Foods’ area manager for senior living.
“I came from restaurants, and when I came to senior living with no point of sale system, it threw me for a loop for how I controlled everything except portion,” Elgart recalls. “I really had to set pars, usages and depletions. It’s hard to project cost if you are changing the items every day.”
Pedestal looked to a simple technology to help crunch the numbers and direct staff as to managing their costs. The concept, Digital Nutritional Database, is a program Pedestal’s two senior living communities now use to account for — and project — food costs, down to the ounce. It also tracks nutritional information that can be provided to management, nurses or family members, and drives consistency among food offerings.
“We wanted to be able to integrate what we knew was happening on the inventory side with what we knew on recipes and menu planning,” Elgart says.
The system keeps tabs on what dining planners think they know. While in the past they portioned fruit plates each morning based on careful estimates, they didn’t have an exact measurement for how much the fruit cost per serving. The new systems allows them to track it.
“Years ago, we realized food costs would expand beyond our control,” Elgart says. “We figured out we could stop using processed foods, and serve everything from scratch. We’d have a better product, and reduce food costs. But even when doing that on the big things, we were still losing on the little things.
“Just like in a restaurant environment, now we have the ability to see what 2 ounces of sour cream costs on a plate. That translates into savings,” he says.
Savings Meets Satisfaction
Just because food costs less, doesn’t mean its any less appealing to residents.
“We have discovered that in senior living, the advantage is that residents connect with homemade flavors,” Elgart says. “That allows our teams to take more time with less expensive proteins. We have learned that tender for the residents has less to do with mouthfeel than being able to get a fork into the meat.”
At WindorMeade, implementing cost-cutting measures goes a long way for its 8,000 meals per month, including a menu that rotates monthly to include two soups, two salads, a variety of appetizers, eight entrees and four desserts. Each day also brings a seafood special, an entree special and a 5:30 p.m. special.
The meals are planned around the seasons, which means less transportation of ingredients, less storage, and a variety of choices for those who are dining.
“Our residents appreciate the seasonal menus,” Early says. “Proper management and creative menus really help out with the food costs. We are not over-preparing but not under-preparing. We want to be local, creative, and changing with the seasons to accommodate residents’ wishes.”
Written by Elizabeth Ecker


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The popular Vanced YouTube app is about to be discontinued. The creators of Vanced have revealed that the project will be shut down in the coming days and download links are set to be removed. Although the app will continue to work for anyone who currently has it installed on Android, it will probably soon stop working at some point with no future updates. Vanced owners say they have had to cancel the project “due to legal reasons.”
Vanced is a popular third-party YouTube app for Android, especially because it allows YouTube users to block all video ads on YouTube without a Premium subscription. Vanced also includes a true black theme and customizations not offered in the official YouTube to Android app.
Vanced has been discontinued. In the coming days, the download links on the website will be removed. We know this is not something you wanted to hear, but it’s something we need to do. Thank you all for supporting us over the years.
– Vanced Official (@YTVanced) March 13, 2022
It’s not immediately clear if Google was involved in the Vanced interruption, but it is highly likely. Google-owned YouTube forced two popular Discord music bots offline last year before testing ad-supported YouTube integration in Discord just weeks later. The popular Rythm and Groovy Discord music bots also avoided ads on the service, allowing Discord users to listen to music together.
“Vanced is out,” one reads Telegram message from the Vanced owners. “We know it’s not something you wanted to hear, but it’s something we need to do.” We have contacted Google to comment on the termination of Vanced and we will update you accordingly.
“BINDING UP THE ADVANCED PROJECT
Vanced has been discontinued. In the coming days, the download links will be removed. The Discord server, Telegram chat and subreddit remain for the time being. We know it’s not something you wanted to hear, but it’s something we had to do. We would like to thank you all for your support over the years.
Edit (1): The existing version will continue to work.
Edit (2): This was done for legal reasons. “


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Consumers in the Middle East are more likely to engage with companies using digital channels in 2022, with 67 percent saying this is how they communicate with brands, according to a survey by MoEngage.
Open Rates (OR) were higher for personalised emails (19.34 percent) than for broadcast emails (7.91 percent).
When email communications were personalized, there was a 28.63 percent increase in click-through rates (CTR) for broadcast emails from 1.44 percent, the research company said.
MoEngage sent 7,500 email and push notification campaigns to 2 million users, for its report titled, Winning Millennial Engagement in the Middle East in 2022.
Regarding communications sent to their phones, MoEngage found that the CTR for push notifications was 7.73 percent, with personalised notifications achieving 8.17 percent.
The conversion rates of broadcast push notifications were 5.58 percent, with personalisation CTR reaching 21.12 percent, the company said, showing that customers look forward to receiving personalised notifications on their phones.
The Middle East and Asian market is one of the fastest-growing regions when it comes to digital content, with a young, digitally savvy population, MoEngage said.
For example, in the UAE, internet penetration is expected to be 96 percent by 2025.
Online retail sales are poised to grow by 20 percent in 2022, outpacing brick-and-mortar sales, the company said.
(Writing by Imogen Lillywhite; editing by Seban Scaria)
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. The content does not provide tax, legal or investment advice or opinion regarding the suitability, value or profitability of any particular security, portfolio or investment strategy. Read our full disclaimer policy here.
© ZAWYA 2021


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Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are two technologies that Apple is taking seriously, one of which is a rumored behind-the-scenes effort while the other has already seen a big platform push with ARKit out in the wild.
Meanwhile, other companies like the Facebook-owned Oculus have been hard at work in their own VR efforts for quite some time, and now the company has just unveiled its newest headset called the “Quest”. The biggest new feature here is that it’s a standalone unit that manages to match the company’s Rift headset in terms of experience. The Rift headset is a full rig that requires a connection to a PC, while the Quest headset is completely standalone, so no smartphone or PC connection required to work.
The new Quest will arrive sometime this spring, and when it does it will cost $399. The headset supports six degrees of freedom, and will support the Oculus Touch controllers. The display resolution per eye is set at 1600×1440, and the company says the audio on the device will deliver “high-quality, immersive sound with even deeper bass”.
The new Quest headset is designed for games, and below you can watch a trailer for one of the titles heading to the headset. It’s entitled Vader Immortal: A Star Wars VR Series, and the trailer is just below.
Oculus is certainly one of the leaders when it comes to VR headsets, but this is a market that is primed to see Apple’s eventual arrival. Rumor on the street is that the company is currently building its own standalone AR/VR headset, its own custom operating system called “rOS”, and that the device could support a pair of 8K displays. Rumors have also suggested Apple’s AR glasses could arrive sometime in 2019, so next year may be pretty exciting for this type of device if the rumors are actually true.
Tim Cook has not been shy about his love for augmented reality, seeing it as the next major feature for the end user. Virtual reality, however, hasn’t really earned his praise in the same way. Does that mean Apple isn’t working on a device that takes advantage of the technology? Not at all. In fact, it may mean Apple is trying to find new ways to invigorate it. But at least for now it looks like Apple is focusing more on AR for products than VR.[via Polygon]


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Letter writer Jane Sprando is spot-on to ask how an electric car owner would deal with last winter’s power outage (“Electric cars’ Achilles heel,” Oct 21). If we are serious about encouraging people to go electric, we also need to give people affordable tools to make their own energy at home. Part of the answer is to make it easier for people to put solar panels on their roofs and batteries to store their extra solar. This includes single- and multi-family homes, schools and businesses. Solar works even on cloudy days. Community solar arrays located nearby our densest areas, along with larger-scale batteries, also are key. This isn’t the only solution, but it is an important one that allows people to become more self-sufficient and help the environment at the same time. Disclaimer: Our household has both solar and an electric car.
Dave Rosenfeld, Portland


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Want to crush your challenges and kill scores in the games you play every day? Try these dexterity games to improve your speed and coordination. Read more →
Former Gears of War Writer Joins Zynga
Joshua Ortega, whose writing credits include the Gears of War franchise, has begun working at Zynga as a “senior narrative designer” overseeing massively mulitplayer online games as reported by VentureBeat.
Ortega, a former journalist who has also worked on Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica spin-offs, has been confirmed as working for the social game company which has made it’s name with popular titles such as FarmVille on Facebook. Today Zynga has nearly 3,000 employees now among which are 150 veteran game designers.
There was a time of course when Zygna was looked down and the consensus was that the company’s titles didn’t need a story such was there simplicity. Ortega’s move however demonstrates the progress the company has made and we will likely see a more sophisticated kind of experience coming from the San Francisco based game maker.
This is also likely an indication of the direction of the industry as senior developers and studios move towards social and mobile.
Ortega once said he entered the games industry for “my love for the medium and the art form. Video games, interactive entertainment, dynamic storytelling … whatever term we use to describe this medium, I’m just really excited that we’re finally being recognized as a legitimate art form.”
Though this news has only been confirmed now Ortega left Microsoft Games Studios in April and has been working for Zynga since.
Zynga has confirmed his appointment.


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Plymouth popcorn maker Portlebay says young women are becoming its key consumers – because, as Beyonce sang, they rule the world, economically at least.
The Langage-based artisan popcorn manufacturer is to target social media because it says Millennial women are now an important, and highly influential, audience.
The firm said “fashion conscious, socially savvy, 18- to 25-year-old females” are so important it has brought in Exeter-based creative advertising agency Chalk + Ward to work on a social media plan.
This will “push engagement and awareness” to what it calls a “highly influential audience”.
Indeed, research in the USA shows women control 65 per cent of global spending and 85 per cent of all consumer purchases in the States.
Millennial women – whether they be techsplorers, zine queens, mobile mavens, social butterflies, shopportunists or pinfluencers – are now seen as vital brand influencers because they share their opinions with friends, family and online communities.
Most social media outlets are predominantly for female users, research shows.
And Portlebay Popcorn is recognising this.
Chalk + Ward will be working with the food manufacturer on branding, design work and social media.
Jonty White, founder and chief executive of Portlebay Popcorn, said: “I was really impressed with Chalk + Ward and it’s great to have a South West based agency on-board to help us drive business ambitions.
“We’ll be doing lots of exciting projects together this year.”
The popcorn-maker’s name was inspired by Sunny Cove in East Portlemouth, near Salcombe, and all the popcorn remains handmade at its “Poppery” in Plympton.
The firm currently has the capacity to produce 900 tonnes a year – that’s enough to fill 14 jumbo jets.
Portlebay Popcorn is already sold in a number of independent retailers as well as multiples such as Tesco, Lidl, Sainsbury’s, The Range and Budgens.
In 2017 the company signed a deal to sell its handcrafted kracklecorn in Denmark.
The manufacturer inked a contract with international convenience retailer Circle K which takes its products almost 1,000 miles out of Devon and into the homeland of hygge.
The deal came hot on the heels of the firm signing an agreement to supply four flavours in its premium popcorn range to 70 Co-op stores in the South West of England.
Now the company hopes to increase sales amongst food aficionados in the region by promoting flavours such as Crispy Bacon & Maple Syrup as well as seasonal flavours such as Cinnamon Swirl (winter) and Lemon Sherbet (summer).
Portlebay has become one of Plymouth’s food manufacturing success stories since its launch in 2013.
Mr White was previously associated with another Plymouth snack-maker Burts Potato Chips, which he acquired with Nick Hurst in 2000 and grew into an international success before selling up in 2012.
Robert Chalk, managing director of Chalk + Ward, said: “We’ve wanted to work with Jonty for years and we’ve finally won him over.
“It’s a lovely FMCG (Fast-moving consumer goods) brand and we’re very much looking forward to doing some great activity with Jonty and his team at Portlebay Popcorn throughout 2018.”


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SALT LAKE CITY -- Online registration is open for the 10th Annual Utah Tourism Conference to be May 14-16 at the Dixie Convention Center in St. George.
The conference is co-sponsored by the Utah Office of Tourism and the Utah Tourism Industry Coalition.
Tourism drives the state economy with jobs and tax revenues making it important for all industry partners to gather annually, said Vicki Varela, managing director of the Utah Office of Tourism, Film, and Global Branding, an agency of the Governor's Office of Economic Development.
This year's conference agenda includes sessions on domestic and international marketing, research trends, social media and a legislative update.
The conference is an excellent opportunity for businesses around the state to learn about what is new in the industry, say travel council officials.
Entries and nominations are also being accepted for the Utah Tourism Hall of Fame Awards and the new 2013 Best Ideas in Advertising and Marketing Contest.
The deadline for Hall of Fame nominations is April 26 with details available online at http://utahtourism.org/.
The awards are to be presented at the conference.


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Toyota Bz4X Electric Suv Steering Yoke Solar Roof. Its arrival will also introduce a new leasing programme designed to cover the. Toyota, a pioneer of hybrid vehicles, curiously hasn't sold a fully electric car globally until now.
It’s rather surprising that toyota, the company that helped popularize the. Including the ability to charge via an optional solar panel in the roof. Toyota, a pioneer of hybrid vehicles, curiously hasn't sold a.
The Upcoming Ev Will Get Between 286 And 310 Miles Of Range Per Charge.
Toyota, a pioneer of hybrid vehicles, curiously hasn't sold a fully electric car globally until now. Production of the bz4x is. The bz4x is one of the two fully electric models toyota plans to introduce in the u.s.
Inside, Though, Is Where Designers Worked Hardest To Make The Bz4X Feel Distinct From.
Toyota on friday revealed a whole lot more about its upcoming fully electric suv, the 2022 bz4x, which leads a lineup of “bz” evs and is described as. Toyota’s new electric suv has a solar roof and a steering yoke like tesla. The toyota bz4x is a battery electric compact crossover suv manufactured by toyota.the vehicle debuted in april 2021 as the bz4x concept.
Its Arrival Will Also Introduce A New Leasing Programme Designed To Cover The.
Toyota on friday revealed some new pieces of information about its upcoming fully electric suv, the 2022 bz4x, which leads a lineup of “bz” evs and is described as “overturning the common idea that electrified vehicles are tedious.” The company is finally going electric. Worldwide sales of the bz4x will.
Toyota, A Pioneer Of Hybrid Vehicles, Curiously Hasn't Sold A Fully Electric Car Globally Until Now.
Toyota has released new details on its upcoming bz4x electric compact suv, which includes an optional solar roof and steering yoke similar to that of the latest version of the tesla model s. It was originally unveiled in april 2021 as a concept vehicle,. Advertisement japanese multinational automotive manufacturer toyota has unveiled the bz4x, an electric compact suv with an optional solar roof and a steering yoke identical to the latest tesla model s.
Toyota, A Pioneer Of Hybrid Vehicles, Curiously Hasn't Sold A.


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Lineage 2M game draws over 7 million pre-ordersNCSoft’s Lineage 2M has drawn more than 7 million pre-orders, setting a record in the local game market, the company announced Friday.
The highly-anticipated mobile game, which will be officially introduced later this year, became the most pre-ordered game in Korea, just 57 days after pre-orders began on Sept. 9. The former record holder was Lineage M, also from NCSoft, which attracted 5.5 million pre-orders in 68 days.
Linege 2M is a multiplayer online role-playing game.
In celebrating the milestone, NCSoft said it will select 77 people who posted congratulatory remarks on social media and may send them prizes such as a Samsung Galaxy Note 10 smartphone or a Google Play gift card worth 10,000 won ($8.57).
By Kim Byung-wook
More in Industry
[SHORTCUT] Is 2021 the year electric vehicles go mainstream?
Lobby groups call for leniency for Samsung's Lee
Thousands claim fraud after buying items via social media
No dial tone for 2G services on LG U+ starting in June
Ironing out an air corridor took decades


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TransUnion Selected to Participate at FinovateFall 2016
Prama Analytics Environment to be featured among Emerging Fintech Solutions
The Finovate series of global events showcases an elite group of the most cutting-edge Fintech products and services, helping decision makers in the financial services industry, including banks, credit unions and online lenders, understand emerging technologies.
“Being selected to participate at FinovateFall is an honor that is a testament to the tremendous momentum that Prama has established within the financial services marketplace in a very limited time. Prama allows our customers to gain meaningful insights needed to make better decisions at the speed their business requires through a dynamic self-driven toolkit.”
The recently launched Prama Insights includes two modules – Market Insights and Vintage Analysis. Leveraging a seven-year historical view of depersonalized credit data, Prama’s groundbreaking suite of solutions provides lenders with dynamic, actionable insights that can translate into clear consumer benefits at every touchpoint.
"We are delighted to have TransUnion as a presenter at FinovateFall 2016. We are excited to showcase Prama analytics and the capabilities it brings to lenders," said Greg Palmer, Sr. Event Director of Finovate.
Additional information about Prama can be located at https://www.transunion.com/prama.
FinovateFall is a demo-based conference for innovative startups and established companies in the fields of banking and financial technology. Held in Manhattan, the event offers an insight-packed glimpse of the future of finance via a fast-paced, intimate, and unique format. FinovateFall is organized by The Finovate Group. For more information on the event or to view videos of previous demos, please visit finovate.com.
About TransUnion (NYSE: TRU)
Information is a powerful thing. At TransUnion, we realize that. We are dedicated to finding innovative ways information can be used to help individuals make better and smarter decisions. We help uncover unique stories, trends and insights behind each data point, using historical information as well as alternative data sources. This allows a variety of markets and businesses to better manage risk and consumers to better manage their credit, personal information and identity. Today, TransUnion has a global presence in more than 30 countries and a leading presence in several international markets across North America, Africa, Latin America and Asia. Through the power of information, TransUnion is working to build stronger economies and families and safer communities worldwide.
We call this Information for GoodSM. http://www.transunion.com/business


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NEW YORK — Billionaire hedge fund pioneer Michael Steinhardt has surrendered 180 stolen antiquities valued at $70 million and was given a first-of-its-kind lifetime ban on acquiring antiquities, the New York District Attorney’s office announced in a statement. The agreement was the result of a four-year investigation that found the 180 stolen items had been taken illegally from 11 countries.
Among the items surrendered is “The Larnax”, a small chest from Greece valued at $1 million. Steinhardt allegedly pointed to the piece while complaining about a subpoena requesting documentation for another antiquity saying, “You see this piece? There’s no provenance for it. If I see a piece and I like it, then I buy it.”
The 180 pieces will be returned to their rightful owners in 11 countries: Bulgaria, Egypt, Greece, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Syria and Turkey, ABC News reported.
Steinhardt, who allegedly paid more than $26 million for the relics, told investigators that he did not commit any crimes and that the dealers who sold him the pieces said they had the legal right to sell the objects, CNBC reported.
No charges have been filed against Mr. Steinhardt. The New York Times reported that the district attorney made the agreement to allow the items to be returned to their owners rather than be held as evidence during a trial. This move also helps shield the identity of witnesses.
©2021 Cox Media Group


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Finding Deals on Fall Travel
(CNN) — Sandwiched between summer vacations and holiday gatherings, fall may not seem like a prime time to travel, but those who hit the road during this “shoulder season,” can find some great deals
It’s not the most popular time for a vacation, but fall can be a great time for a getaway on a budget.
“After Labor Day weekend, before the Thanksgiving holiday when the crowds are at a minimum, but the temperatures are still mild and hotels are looking to fill their rooms, so travelers can take advantage of great deals from Orlando to Las Vegas,” says Jeanenne Tornatore, Senior Editor at Orbitz.
In addition to big travel destinations, the experts at travel website Orbitz say the Caribbean can be a fall bargain.
A getaway to an east coast beach town can also fit into a budget.
Places like Charleston, South Carolina, all these busy east coast towns all the way up to Martha’s Vineyard, you’re not going to see the crowds because it’s not 80/90 degrees outside anymore.
For big cities like New York or Chicago, head for hotels in the financial district on weekends.
Tornatore adds, “They’re full of business travelers during the week and prices are at their peak. On the weekends, however, these hotels are looking to fill their rooms. So the leisure travelers that will come in will save more by staying in these business districts rather than staying in the theater and shopping areas.”
Booking packages that include airfare, hotel and rental car, can also trim some costs.


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April, 28 2009, 09:32 AM
Consumers are feeling much more optimistic about the economy than they were just two months ago, according to the Consumer Confidence Index released today by The Conference Board.
The index had been hovering near historic lows since September and in February fell to its lowest level since its 1967 inception. The index posted a slight increase in March and improved considerably in April, according to today's report. Read More


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Posted Monday, July 15, 2013 8:49 PM | Contributed by Jeff
Electronic wristbands tested at Walt Disney Co. (DIS)’s Florida resort succeeded in boosting spending by guests, parks division Chairman Thomas Staggs said. The bands were tested by 1,000 people at Walt Disney World in Florida, Staggs said in an interview at Allen & Co.’s annual conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, without offering details. Guests spent more on average in part because they had fun with the technology, he said.
Read more from Bloomberg.


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Development West Coast (DWC) is here to help you build capabilities, gain knowledge, connect with the right people and grow your business.
DWC facilitates a range of networking events, training, and workshops in conjunction with key partners to provide relevant topics that West Coast business will find useful.
Commercial Finance & Lending
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The Economic Times, India
July 04, 2005
What does India-Singapore agreement hold in store?
Last week, India signed its first ever Comprehensive Economic Co-operation Agreement (CECA) with any country. The CECA with Singapore is the first for the island nation with a South Asian country although it has such agreements with major economies.
Such agreements cover a wide gamut of areas like trade, services, investment and are aimed at enhancing bilateral, regional and multilateral ties. The India-Singapore CECA which will be effective from August 1, ’05 is reckoned to be forerunner for similar such agreements which are now being finalised and are close to fruition.
What does the India-Singapore CECA cover?
It covers agreements relating to trade in goods, services and investment protection besides economic co-operation in areas like education, science, technology, air services and intellectual property. It also has a renewed double taxation avoidance agreement on the lines of the one with Mauritius which provides for concessional capital gains tax.
Which are the key sectors to be impacted by the agreement?
The financial sector, especially banking, services, manufacturing and trade will benefit. In the financial sector, India will gain in the form of greater access to the Singapore markets for our banks. Three Indian banks will now obtain full banking privileges, which means that they would be in a position to offer a variety of services including ATMs.
In return, three Singapore banks will be granted national treatment or, in other words, the same treatment as local banks which means greater operational freedom. Two state-owned companies from Singapore, Temasek and the Govt of Singapore Investment Corporation, will also be allowed to invest in listed Indian companies 10% above the ceilings prescribed for other FIIs in India.
Asset managers in Singapore who offer mutual funds to investors in India will also be allowed to invest $250m over and above the ceiling of $1bn for overseas investment in Indian mutual funds.
In the services sector, Indian companies stand to benefit through increased market access in distribution services, including retail trading, business services including opinion polls, market research, legal, environmental management, management consultancy, tourism, real estate consultancy and advertising, engineering, architecture and computer-related services.
Other areas which will open up are food, poultry, milk products, electronic and electrical equipment and pharmaceuticals. For Singapore, the sectors India has committed for opening up to investment are manufacture of food products, motor vehicles, textiles, paper and paper products, chemicals, leather and the infrastructure sector.
How will our professionals gain?
The visa restrictions will now be eased for Indian professionals in several areas such as information technology, medicine, engineering, nursing, pharmacy, financial and advertising professionals, accountants and university lecturers. In short, the two countries have agreed to include 127 professional categories where a grant of visa would be easier.
Earlier, Singapore used to insist that a professional seeking visa to its country ought to have a salary equivalent to that drawn by a similar professional in its country. Singapore has also agreed to recognise the degrees issued by specified universities and technical education boards of both countries for the issuance of multi-entry visas.
Will there be any changes on import tariffs?
Indeed. India will cut tariffs on products imported from Singapore with a plan to move to zero customs duty on all products except six items. Singapore on its part has committed to bind all its tariff lines at zero customs duty. Now, 506 products will be allowed duty free into the country from Singapore.
What are the benefits of the CECA for both the countries?
For India, it could be in the form of Singapore companies investing in the country and expanding their presence. The agreement will help Indian companies, especially those in the information technology field, to expand their operations in Singapore as well as globally out of that country.
Singapore could serve as the gateway to East Asia. The CECA is also expected to help both the countries integrate with other countries in the South East Asia region and improve both efficiency and competitiveness of manufacturing and services.


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Corney & Barrow and Handford Wine have closed London shops because of exorbitant rents.
Both high-profile merchants – established in their areas for some 20 years – said rent increases of up to 40% are to blame.
This has become a common refrain across the retail sector, but wine has been hit particularly hard because of its low margins.
‘Whoever takes over our space will have to sell something that is either of considerably greater value than a bottle of wine, or sold in huge volume,’ Oliver Hartley, Corney & Barrow’s sales director, told decanter.com.
‘Even in an area like Notting Hill, you have to sell a lot of bottles of basic Macon to cover the kinds of increases we were facing – on top of business rates, staffing and other costs. Not everyone comes into the store to buy Petrus.’
The closure of the Corney & Barrow branch spells an end to the company’s London retail operations, though its Newmarket shop remains open because it doubles as a regional office for other business channels. Handford’s South Kensington shop also remains open.
‘This is an enormously difficult situation,’ said Paul Browne, head of property for the British Retail Consortium (BRC), a trade association representing retailers of all sizes.
‘In certain locations we’ve seen huge spikes of 70, 80 even 100%, as this is what some retailers are willing to pay,’ he said. ‘Clearly this is very difficult for many small and medium enterprises to absorb, and many are just go out of business. This has huge economic and social implications for neighbourhoods.’
Browne said the issue of rent – second only to wages in terms of cost to businesses – has been high on the BRC’s agenda for the last two years.
‘As rent is a product of the market, it’s nearly impossible for us to make a case to landlords to lower it,’ he said.
‘Instead, the BRC is actively lobbying for an end to the standard “upward-only” rent increases which hit businesses hard every few years. We’d like to see an annual review, perhaps linked to the retail price index rather than compounded hikes.’
The news is not all bad, however, as other, newer independents including Bedales and Green and Blue have found a way to expand beyond their flagship stores – albeit into less central areas.
Bedales’ first shop, in London’s iconic Borough Market, has an unusual lease.
‘Our landlords are the Market’s trustees, so a non-profit-making organisation,’ said Bedales director Amy Harrison. ‘And our lease has a certain timescale with no rent review. But in Spitalfields (the chain’s second shop) it’s a different kettle of fish. So far so good, but we’ll have to see how it goes.’
Written by Maggie Rosen in London