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There's more gloomy financial news from the tech sector today with Samsung reporting its first-ever quarterly loss. The coffers of world's largest maker of memory chips sprang a leak in its fourth quarter under pressure of collapsing prices in memory and LCD displays as well as slowing demand from the global recession. Samsung' …
18 trillion? what? can some more intelligent than me please explain these figures.
so you can't read stuff in brackets and you find it difficult to type www.xe.com why?
trillion *won*, not trillion "pounds"
this would be a good time to buy cheap memory and monitors then?
Is this a metric trillion or an imperial one??
Or even worse, one of those American ones that bugger up maths?/
(A Billion USED to be a million, million; until the Yanks started waving it around as being 1,000 million).
Mines the XXXXXXXXXXL (Made in China)
- Pics Whisper tracks its users. So we tracked down its LA office. This is what happened next
- YARR! Pirates walk the plank: DMCA magnets sink in Google results
- Review Xperia Z3: Crikey, Sony – ANOTHER flagship phondleslab?
- Ex-US Navy fighter pilot MIT prof: Drones beat humans - I should know
- Human spacecraft dodge COMET CHUNKS pelting off Mars


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A popular hardware store is opening for one last time today - with goods on sale for as little as £1. Wolstanton Hardware had traded on Wolstanton High Street for decades.
But it was affected by the coronavirus pandemic and closed last November. Now the shop is being opened for one last time on Saturday, May 21 - between 9am and midday - before it is set to be turned into a cafe-bar.
It is a sad day for traders who have missed Bill Byatt and his High Street shop.
Pattens Furniture is across the road from Wolstanton Hardware.
Manager Adam Rahman said: "Bill has been a long-standing member of the business community in Wolstanton. It has always been so easy to pop across the road to get something and it was rare to find that what you needed was out of stock.
"There aren't many shops like Wolstanton Hardware left. It's been there probably something like 50 years. I hear it's going to become a real ale pub. It's the changing face of the High Street. It's the end of an era."
Got something to say about this story? Join the conversation by clicking on the green comments icon at the top of this page or the picture box

domain: news


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Media tablet shipments in A/ NZ for 2011 are expected to be double those of 2010, according to analyst firm, IDC.
"android market" news, interviews, and features
Features about android market
By now, you've probably heard an earful about how great Android phones are, how they will take over the mobile world, and how they do everything the Apple iPhone can't. But if you haven't yet fully explored an Android phone, you may be wondering what the hype is all about.
Before buying an Android phone, you should find out which flavor of the operating system you'll get. Each tastily nicknamed update delivers new features, so it's important to find out what your Android phone will have--and what it might be missing.
A recent study by Skyhook Wireless shows that Android developers are increasingly frustrated with Android Market. Some of the statistics reported from the survey could be a sign of trouble for the nascent Android Market, but its also possible that the survey results are a reflection of growing pains as the young Android Market struggles to compete with Apple.


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The post Big Gains For Bitcoin in April! Weak Hands Indicate BTC Price To BreakOut Soon appeared first on Coinpedia – Fintech & Cryptocurreny News Media| Crypto Guide
In the second half of March, Bitcoin had enjoyed a sharp bull rally, but with the recent drop, it felt that the March rally was seeing an end. However, after a week-long downfall, Bitcoin price has seen a ray of hope with the currency slightly gaining back its bull rally.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $46,575 with an increase of 1.47% over the last 24hrs.
Analyst Points Gains Amidst Pull Off
As per a Twitter commentator @0xCryptoChan the ratio between the unmoved Bitcoins on the chain and the total Bitcoin circulation is around record lows. This ratio is called paper hands or weak hands indicator which shows the level of retail interest in the market and this retail interest is currently at record lows of below 25%.
However, the ratio positioning at 25% has always given rise to bitcoin’s rally. Between late 2019 to 2021 when the ratio was at 25%, Bitcoin price had jumped 11.3 times. From early 2016 to 2018 Bitcoin had surged 59.6 times.
Hence, if the current ratio of paper hand or weak hands indicator breaks above 25%, Bitcoin could see a rally.
Also Read : Bitcoin Bull Run In Progress – BTC Price May Hit This Level In Next 12-Months!
Paper hands are nothing but where the retail investors are usually hesitant over trading because of their limited liquidity. These kinds of traders often enter last during a bull run or during the exit market. Though Bitcoin saw a bull rally during March, April could be an entry time for retail traders who enter for the next bull run.
Senior financial analyst at FxPro, Alex Kuptsikevich states that, “Without significant news in the cryptocurrency sector, BTC is again working as an indicator of global demand for risky assets. However, it will be possible to speak with confidence about the local victory of the bulls only after BTCUSD fixes above the 200-day moving average, which is now passing near $48300.”
This weak paper hands ratio also points out that large trading houses often give rise to large Bitcoin volumes.


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Hanoi – Breaking Travel News, a world
leading online tourism information website, has run a story highlighting major
tourist destinations of Vietnam that have been honoured with the World Travel
It spotlighted Ho Chi Minh City as a metropolis vibrating with energy,
innovation and traffic, describing the city as the economic heart of
the country and the main hub of the southern region.
A freewheeling, cosmopolitan metropolis, the dynamic
cityscape draws together old and new Vietnam in the most compact of spaces,
representing the past as well as the future, it said, adding Ho Chi Minh City was honoured with the title of Asia’s
Leading Business Travel Destination.
Meanwhile, founded over 1,000 years ago, Hanoi remains a jewel
in the Vietnam tourism crown, it said.
The capital city is rich in history, with the streets of its
rambling Old Quarter dating back to the 14th century. “Wandering these
tree-lined lanes, past crumbling colonial facades, will transport you back in
time,” it said.
However, the city is today about much more than the past,
according to the website which adds that the ancient city is being invigorated
with modern cafes, world-class restaurants and cool art galleries.
Hanoi Department of Tourism took the title of Asia’s Leading
City Break Destination at the World Travel Awards.
According to Breaking Travel News, with broad beaches,
fantastic street food, the fabled Hai Van Pass and a growing collection of
cafes, restaurants and bars, Da Nang is a fast-growing favourite on the Vietnam
The warm sands of My Khe beach sweep south from the
mountainous Son Tra peninsula, playing host to some of the top luxury resorts
in the country.
Da Nang is a dream destination for foodies, with scores of
seafront eateries and street food stalls, it commented.
Da Nang Tourism Promotion Centre was honoured with the title
of Asia’s Leading Festival & Event Destination at the World Travel Awards.
Also honoured by the World Travel Awards is Moc Chau which
took the title of Asia’s Leading Regional Nature Destination earlier this year.
A rural district in the northwest of the country, the area
remains undisturbed by mass tourism. Home to the famous tea hills which roll
across the highland landscape, the region provides some of the most
awe-inspiring scenery anywhere in the country, the website underlined.
It noted that Vietnam has fully reopened to tourists earlier
this year, allowing visitors to be free to discover and enjoy various wild
nature destinations like limestone mountains, green terraced rice fields and
white sandy beaches./.


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Times were unkind to Poul Due Jensen from the start but he turned out to be a visionary genius and, 100 years after his birth, his values continue to be essential in today’s Grundfos.
Dr. James Mwangi, CEO and Managing Director of Kenya’s Equity Bank Limited was tonight named the Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur Of The Year 2012 at an awards ceremony held in Monte Carlo’s Salle des Etoiles. James was picked from among the 59 country finalists vying for the title across 51 countries, each of whom had already been named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year in their home country.
Equity Bank is the largest bank by customer base in East and Central Africa and the largest African majority owned company in the region. The bank has more than seven million accounts representing over half of all bank accounts in Kenya. It also has operations in Uganda, South Sudan, Rwanda and Tanzania.
Ruben Vardanian, President, Troika Dialog and Chair of the judging panel said, “Not only has James really transformed people’s lives across Africa by offering them access to funding that they have never had before, Equity Bank continues to grow quickly through a strong financial performance.”
“I’m honored to accept this award on behalf of the people and customers of Equity Bank,” said James. “This is a global recognition for Africans who are embracing the power of entrepreneurship to change the economic and social state of Africa.”
Maria Pinelli, Ernst & Young’s Global Vice Chair for Strategic Growth Markets said, “James has been pivotal in the transformation of Equity Bank into one of Africa’s brightest business success stories. His is truly an inspirational story of entrepreneurial spirit with an innovative business model that has the potential to be replicated globally.”
Jim Turley, Global Chairman and CEO of Ernst & Young, said, “Over the past 26 years, entrepreneurs have done more than any other group to stimulate innovation, job creation and prosperity during both periods of growth and in challenging economic conditions. James epitomizes the vision and determination that set entrepreneurs apart and is very worthy of the title Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur Of The Year 2012.”
Broadcast coverage and an interview with the winner will be available to download for broadcast and online use, at: http://digitalnewsagency.com/stories/6683-ernst-young-world-entrepreneur-of-the-year-2012-announced-in-monte-carlo
Apple CEO Tim Cook speaking at the D10 Conference, touching upon the subject of Apple’s manufacturing in China. Of course Apple has been widely criticized for worker conditions at its supplier factories. He also addresses the question of whether an Apple product will ever be labeled ‘Made in the USA’ again, rather than having most processes handled in China.
Ben & Jerry are on the hunt for bright sparks in the UK, Ireland, Denmark, Sweden & Netherlands, creating cool new models for sustainable business which will help make a difference in communities.
The list of the world’s CEOs regularly includes celebrities, billionaires, big egos, risk takers, and failures. What it does not include are social media experts; but that’s about to change. When IBM (NYSE: IBM) conducted its study of 1709 CEOs around the world, they found only 16% of them participating in social media. But their analysis shows that the percentage will likely grow to 57% within 5 years. Why? because CEOs are beginning to recognize that using email and the phone to get the message out isn’t sufficient anymore.
There are many drawbacks to capitalism. But capitalism and entrepreneurship are proven to still be the best way people around the world can progress forwards.
A handful of greedy people (mainly within banks) have fundamentally created the financial mess that we are in. But what people have got to be careful of (and I’m not biased!) is not dismissing every single entrepreneur out there – the restaurant owners, the street vendors, the start-ups, even the airline owners, because of the actions of the unscrupulous few.
It is through the capitalist system that people get paid, hospitals get built, innovative ideas become reality and young people get educated. Yet the way some of the press and some politicians talk, there is a danger of a complete dismissal of capitalism and a complete swing in the other direction.
Luke Johnson, a brilliant entrepreneur who also happens to be a great writer and thinker, wrote on this subject in the Financial Times recently, and I agree with him wholeheartedly.
He said: “Possibly, capitalism is poor at promoting the cause and explaining its merits.
“No doubt most highly successful entrepreneurs are tough individuals. Some break the rules, but damning an entire class for the high-profile errors of the few is destructive and ill-judged.”
It is becoming fashionable now to try to knock entrepreneurs, the very people who are going to create the jobs of the future. Just being an entrepreneur, making a difference to other people’s lives is a tremendous thing to do, but on top of that, ideally each company should become a force for good, as I explained in my recent book. Let’s continue to screw business as usual.
By Richard Branson. Founder of Virgin Group


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In case you haven’t heard, Disney is working on reimagining Downtown Disney!
The shopping and dining district at Disneyland Resort is home to many beloved shops and restaurants but it will look completely different soon. Back in 2022, we learned that some big changes would happen here in January 2023 and now we’ve learned what they are!
First of all, Earl of Sandwich is coming back! This spot closed in January last year to make way for some of this construction, but it is temporarily taking over the La Brea Bakery Cafe which just permanently closed. There is not an exact opening date yet, but it will open in February of this year! There will be a grab-and-go option as well as a table service option.
Next on our list of updates is the reimagining of Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen! The restaurant recently announced it was closing for refurbishment and now we have details on what’s to come. The restaurant will be changing its name to Jazz Kitchen Coastal Grill & Patio and will get an all-new menu (don’t worry, it’ll still have that New Orleans flair!).
We can’t wait to see the renovated space and new touches Disney adds. Disney said that the restaurant will be closed for a short time, but there is currently no reopening date.
Now it’s time to talk about the new restaurants! At the D23 Expo back in 2022, Disney announced that Porto’s Bakery and Din Tai Fung would be debuting a new location at Downtown Disney. Disney just announced that Porto’s Bakery will be designed and built where La Brea Bakery Cafe is now.
We also got a look at some new concept art for Din Tai Fung coming to the district — look how gorgeous it’ll look inside! There is not opening timeline for this or Porto’s just yet, but we’ll let you know when Disney makes another announcement.
If you want to stay up-to-date on the latest Disney parks changes, keep following AllEars!
Are you looking forward to the changes coming to Downtown Disney? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!


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Poloniex Now Requires Legacy Trading Accounts to Verify Identity
This week the favored cryptocurrency alternate based out of Delaware, Poloniex, has issued a uncover to legacy account holders. In accordance to the alternate, all retailers who use the platform ought to verify their identification using the company’s upgraded verification portal.
Moreover study: Dancing With the Devil: ‘Cashing Out’ Cryptos Into Fiat Not So Easy
Legacy Account Holders Ought to Verify Their Identities On Poloniex to Avoid ‘Potential Disruptions’
A while once more, the cryptocurrency alternate Poloniex started to implement an identification verification course of for all its new registrants. On the time legacy account holders had been ‘grandfathered’ with the privilege of not being required to submit identification credentials. Now Poloniex has issued a uncover to all of its clients that legacy accounts will now be required to verify their identities or the unverified accounts shall be closed.
“We’re going to…


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Twin Cities shopping centers appear to be taking the fate of the vacant Mervyn's department stores into their own hands -- literally.
The owners of Southdale Shopping Center in Edina have bought the attached Mervyn's store space from The May Department Stores Co., St. Louis. Other malls are likely following suit, including Rosedale Shopping Center and Brookdale Center, real estate sources said.
Mall officials aren't talking about what they might do, but sources say options include tearing them down to create outdoor shopping areas -- so-called lifestyle centers -- or filling them up with multiple retailers.
In the past, such vacant anchor sites would simply be purchased by another anchor store. No more, as the fortunes of many mall-attached department store chains wane. Also, department stores that are seeking expansions in the Twin Cities -- Nordstrom, Macy's or Bloomingdales -- need more space than the Mervyn's sites offer.
So in come the malls.
"If nobody else is interested in the store, the shopping center owners have a huge economic interest and a technical interest to own the real estate," said Jim McComb, president of McComb Group, a Minneapolis-based retail consultant. "That gives them the opportunity to use it as they see fit."
In June, May agreed to buy the Twin Cities' nine Mervyn's stores from Minneapolis-based Target Corp. as it purchased Target's Marshall Field's department store chain for $3.2 billion.
May has been tight-lipped about future plans for the stores.
What could go there?
Many real estate and retail experts said they expect to see lifestyle centers open in old Mervyn's sites across the Twin Cities. A lifestyle center is usually a high-end outdoor shopping mall with entertainment and restaurant outlets. Arbor Lakes in Maple Grove is the only lifestyle center in the Twin Cities so far, though construction has started on another in Woodbury. The Galleria in Edina is considered a lifestyle center by some in the retail industry, even though it's an indoor mall.
Dick Grones, a principal with Edina-based Cambridge Commercial Realty, said lifestyle malls are gaining acceptance among shoppers and are more cost-efficient for owners to operate. "Every mall is striving to have some lifestyle component to compete with the 100-percent lifestyle centers that are popping up," he said.
McComb suggested that old Meryvn's sites could be cut up a number of ways, with one or two larger stores possibly acting as "mini-anchors."
He cited one example of a vacant anchor store in another metropolitan area that was replaced by a Crate & Barrel, Borders and a sporting goods store.
Southdale and Rosedale push envelope
At Southdale, the 110,000-square-foot Mervyn's site was sold last month to The Blackstone Group, a private investment bank with offices in New York and London.
Blackstone is considering options for the space, but would like to do "something bigger and better" than just finding a replacement department store, said a source familiar with the company's plans.
Blackstone plans to take a few months to decide what to do about the Meryvn's space. In the meantime, Christmas retailers will lease it on a short-term basis.
Plans for the Mervyn's space at the Rosedale Shopping Center in Roseville are also up in the air, but industry sources say redevelopment options include a 16-screen movie theater, a bookstore and restaurants.
The Mervyn's at Burnsville Center might also be bought by the mall, but that could not be confirmed.
Development plans are still unknown for vacant Mervyn's stores in Eden Prairie Center, Northtown Mall in Blaine and the Mervyn's store in the Midway area of St. Paul.
J.C. Penney Co. Inc. in September bought the Mervyn's stores in Maplewood and Tamarack Village in Woodbury. Penney's plans to remodel and open stores there next summer.


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Latest Stories (138)
A potential lack of government funding could help other countries pull ahead.
But it's just a matter of time before the problem is solved, a UC Berkeley engineer says.
A Supreme Court case could determine your digital privacy. Sen. Ron Wyden wants his bill to pass first.
Tech is helping the industry produce better fruit.
Some of the tech that will be used in Los Angeles may not have even been invented yet.
The city partnered with an Alphabet subsidiary to bring new tech to its waterfront.


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When Drum Coffee co-founder/owner John Wicks isn’t managing his Missoula, Montana, business with his wife Jenna, he moonlights as a drummer for Fitz and The Tantrums.
One of the boldest caffeine-cannabidiol concepts yet is set to make its Houston debut this weekend.
Seven years and five cafés later, Toby’s Estate has officially changed its name to Partners Coffee.
Ernesto Illy Award for the Sustainable Quality of Coffee
Late last week, Amethyst Coffee owner and founder of Cherry Roast Elle Jensen made an announcement that the inclusive coffee platform and competition was coming to an end. Fresh Cup spoke to Jensen about her decision.
Starting off as a grassroots movement in the U.S., the current wave of coffee activism has become a global movement binding the industry together.
Ballots have been counted, tallies have been checked, and the inaugural 2019–2020 SCA USA National Chapter Committee has officially been elected.
While plastic bags usually wouldn’t be cause for celebration, the new reusable plastic coffee bags at Demitasse Coffee deserve their own parade.
This week, the company is taking a new approach. All drink prices have officially been lowered by 25 cents, and now customers who need a single-use compostable cup will be charged 25 cents.
A new study from the University of Delaware has found that we may be overlooking the most important factor in creating bird friendly coffee: what kind of trees are being planted.


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Heavy rains caused unprecedented delays in planting this year and contributed to record floods across the central United States.Agricultureread more
Although Cook did not mention companies by name, his commencement speech in Silicon Valley's backyard mentioned data breaches, privacy violations, and even made reference to...Technologyread more
U.S. ambassador to Israel David Friedman called the gesture a "birthday present" to Trump, who turned 73 on Friday.Politicsread more
Organizers claimed that nearly 2 million Hong Kong protesters took to the streets Sunday in a rally to demand the city's top official resign a day after she suspended — but...China Politicsread more
Target's registers were down on Saturday for several hours preventing customers from checking out.Retailread more
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The newspaper wrote that Goldman's executive are hoping CEO David Solomon's changes to a firm that historically thrived in investment banking and trading will boost its...US Marketsread more
The Fed is not likely to make a move on interest rates when it meets next week, but it should clear the way for a rate cut later in the summer.Market Insiderread more
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With uncertainty keeping a lid on U.S. stocks, Ed Clissold of Ned Davis Research says the rest of 2019 is likely to be a "choppy," but somewhat opportunistic, ride for...Futures Nowread more
You can save money by doing a quick check and unsubscribing from apps you no longer use.Technologyread more
The innovation and growth in Sharing Economy business models are shaking up the traditional service delivery provided by larger businesses.
Airbnb, Uber, Kickstarter, BlaBlaCar, are all proving to be the "stealth businesses" by thriving on minimal advertising and maximizing use of mobile communication to provide a convenient, affordable and reliable service.
But this doesn't mean that consumers are turning their backs on the finer things in life. Get ready for Luxury Sharing.
The key to the Sharing Economy is connecting a cost-effective supply with a mobile consumer demand. And this model can be used in private air travel.
Share A Jet Exchange offers private jet travel without the burden of buying or renting the jet. By sharing a jet with another couple, your flight could cost as little as $7,000.
The typical cost inevitably varies, but estimates to charter a jet start from around $5,400 to $12,800 an hour (dependent on jet). To buy, prices start around $3 to $4 million, according to information site, Private Jet Costs; however prices have been known to reach over $100 million.
Boat sharing services, like Boatbound, let consumers choose from various deals, like temporary rental or part-ownership of an expensive yacht. Onefinestay – dubbed the "luxury Airbnb" – provides rentals of private luxury homes, with the average guest dishing out more than $600 per night.
Established businesses cannot be blind to the opportunities here.
"The reason for companies to invest in the Sharing Economy is really demand driven. As sharing products is becoming more commonplace, and users increasingly trust that services will be of a high quality, the demand is strongly increasing," Wouter Geerts, travel analyst at Euromonitor International, told CNBC via email.
With Luxury Sharing, consumers with high-end tastes but not a sky-high income can rent "the experience" rather than being weighed down by ownership.
"It's allowing people to rent the lifestyle of someone who lives in a wealth level above them. People are fed up with the 'same old, same old'. People want contrast, they want different, they want exciting," Winston Chesterfield, research director at Wealth-X, told CNBC over the phone.
But with brands like Uber and Airbnb providing a similar, reduced-cost service, can luxury firms guarantee customers will stay? Chesterfield admits low cost competition is a disadvantage, but "the experience" is more important, as people won't always want to do 'just luxury' or 'just average affordability'.
Areas that may not develop in the Sharing Economy space are those linked personally to the provider, like clothing or primary residences, Chesterfield argues. There's still some areas where ownership will triumph.
But what luxury services can provide is the added personal touch – and the element of surprise.
"Novelty is so important to human beings generally, but particularly to wealthy people who've seen it all. Novelty doesn't really fit with owning things, as this becomes an everyday item. Therefore rental is beautiful in this aspect," Chesterfield said,
"Generally speaking, I would hesitate to be skeptical about any areas in which this (sharing economy) culture can't go into."
"I think it can go almost anywhere."
—By CNBC's Alexandra Gibbs, follow her on Twitter


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Cook up a storm to win a Â£10k new kitchen
A BUILDERS' merchants has launched a competition for good cooks to win a kitchen.
Covers Timber and Builders Merchants, which has a branch in Norway Road, Hilsea, working with Spirit FM, is offering people the chance to win a Sheraton kitchen worth £10,000.
Entrants need to say which celebrity they would most like to share a meal with in their new kitchen and why.
The most imaginative answer will earn them the chance to win the grand prize worth £10,000.
Two entrants, as selected by judges, will proceed to the final round, where they will battle it out at Covers Home Ideas in Chichester on Saturday, February 11.
The dish deemed to be the most delicious will be awarded with the coveted prize.
Richard Murrell, manager, said: ‘We are delighted to be offering this fantastic prize and would like to encourage as many people as possible to take part.’
Go to covers.biz for more details on how to enter.
Competition closes on January 31.


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The Bitcoin price crash will be followed by 14x returns; The Fed Will Rule Inflation – Anthony Scaramucci
Bitcoin has fallen more than 50% from its November 2021 highs, but long-term investors shouldn’t worry about the cryptocurrency’s ability to reach its maximum potential, says Founder Anthony Scaramucci. of SkyBridge Capital and former White House communications director.
Scaramucci was previously a critic of cryptocurrencies but has since changed his mind about digital assets. Now, SkyBridge Capital manages funds that invest directly in bitcoin and cryptocurrency companies.
The First Trust SkyBridge Crypto Industry and Digital Economy ETF has $6.4 billion in assets under management as of June 2021.
Speaking to Michelle Makori, editor of Kitco News, Scaramucci said Bitcoin’s true value lies in its growing network.
“Basically, you can value network-tied bitcoin. Remember what Robert Metcalfe, the MIT professor, once said, the fax machine probably isn’t worth anything, but 100 million of them are probably worth something. The network itself is worth something,” he said.
The price of Bitcoin will eventually rise to a point where the market value of Bitcoin exceeds that of gold, he said.
“When you just look at it from a box-checking exercise on the store of value, Bitcoin hits harder than gold, but again, it’s early days. And so, this is an early adoption story, it’s going to come with volatility. I believe when bitcoin matures it will be more valuable than gold due to all the technical properties associated with it. In 10 years I will make a prediction, that Bitcoin has a larger market cap than gold. It took 5,000 years for gold to reach its current market capitalization. Bitcoin will surpass that in less than 25 years from its inception,” he said.
Most estimates have the total market value of gold in circulation between $11 trillion and $13 trillion.
“I think eventually Bitcoin will be worth half a million dollars and it will take four to five years. The journey will be difficult, but it will certainly be worth it,” he said.
Importantly, Bitcoin’s user base will eventually grow to over a billion people worldwide as adoption takes off, Scaramucci said.
On the economy, Scaramucci said inflation will eventually come down.
“I am in the aberrant community. I think it’s a supply chain issue and I think it’s transitory. Now it happens to be longer than the definition of the word transient,” he said.
Furthermore, expectations of three to four rate hikes this year from the Federal Reserve are too aggressive and hawkish, Scaramucci noted, given that technological developments are in fact deflationary for the economy and the Fed will react. appropriately to these deflationary forces.
“Technology is primarily deflationary. So I think Jerome Powell is going to surprise on the upside and I don’t see four to six interest rate hikes this year. You can get one or two, but I don’t think you’ll get much more than that,” he said.
Bitcoin is not yet an inflation hedge, Scaramucci added.
“I do not see [Bitcoin] as a hedge against inflation. What I see as Bitcoin is a technology asset to adopt early. I see this as a technology that has an overall saturation of 2.5% and therefore if you look at other technologies like this they come with very high oscillation and very high volatility” , did he declare.
Scaramucci compared Bitcoin to Amazon when it first went public, when the stock was highly volatile, but has since matured and now sees lower volatility.
For more information on Bitcoin and the economy, watch the video above.
Follow Michelle Makori on Twitter: @MichelleMakori (https://twitter.com/MichelleMakori)
Follow Kitco News on Twitter: @KitcoNewsNOW (https://twitter.com/KitcoNewsNOW)
Warning: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. This is not a solicitation to trade commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article accept no responsibility for loss and/or damage resulting from the use of this publication.


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Starcom MediaVest Group Canada has hired Jeff Thibodeau as senior vice-president, digital media.
Thibodeau will lead digital planning and activation, and also oversee new product development and expansion, including SMG’s premium private RTB exchange.
The role is an evolved version of the position Jennifer Holgate held at SMG Canada until last summer. (Holgate has since moved to Rogers’ consumer publishing and digital media group.)
Most recently, Thibodeau held a similar title at MediaCom Canada, where he was senior vice-president, digital media and investment. He also previously held positions at Sharpe Blackmore Euro RSCG and Phd Media.
He also serves on IAB Canada’s board of directors.


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Airbnb and Asos mull advertising services revenue | WARC | The Feed
You didn’t return any results. Please clear your filters.
Airbnb and Asos mull advertising services revenue
As Asos becomes one of the latest retailers to expand its retail media capabilities (and inventory), and Airbnb considers matching its ad-ready rivals, everything is either becoming an ad network or thinking about it.
Why it matters
What’s the common factor of all the companies now doing or thinking about making a retail media play? They tend to have enormous scale, but the cost of their operation means that scale doesn’t translate easily into profits – and this is especially true of e-commerce firms. Advertising services offer the chance to buck the trend, by selling ads targeting audiences searching with intent to buy.
As more and more retailers build their own networks, the experience for advertisers is getting more complicated. With so many new platforms and few standards or common cross-platform measurements, it’s becoming a case of have to buy rather than want to buy.
Research from Skift estimates that the size of the rental platform’s opportunity could be $1.25 billion, based on 1% of gross bookings, by 2026.
“I think it’s a massive opportunity,” CEO Brian Chesky told a Morgan Stanley conference recently. He said he could “easily” imagine adding a few equivalent percentage points of take rate if you were to scale that over time. “I think there’s a lot of comparables like Amazon, one of the largest advertising platforms now in the world, Etsy or Alibaba or even Booking.com.”
Similarly, Asos – which is facing broadly challenging trading conditions – is also eyeing an expansion of its retail media that it initially set up in 2021, The Drum reports.
“The sponsored ads are a really effective addition,” Elton Ollerhead, director of Asos Media Group, told the magazine.
“It’s a low-funnel tactic when people are intently searching for a specific item, so that’ll help brands really showcase their product at a time when people are ready to buy.”
Sourced from WARC, Skift, The Drum
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The Ministry of Food Processing industries (MoFPI) has been implementing Central Sector Umbrella Scheme – Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY) for overall growth and development of food processing sector across India including rural areas of Maharashtra. Under component schemes of PMKSY, MoFPI provides mostly credit linked financial assistance (capital subsidy) in the form of grants-in-aid to entrepreneurs for setting up of food processing and preservation industries. So far, Ministry has approved a total of three mega food parks, 62 cold chain projects, 12 agro processing clusters, 39 food processing units, 12 creation of backward & forward linkages projects along with 26 food test laboratories in Maharashtra for assistance under corresponding component schemes of PMKSY, Union Minister of State for Food Processing Industries, Prahlad Singh Patel said in a written reply in Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
As part of the Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiative, MoFPI is implementing a Centrally sponsored scheme-PM Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises Scheme (PMFME) for providing financial, technical and business support for setting up and or upgradation of two lakh MFP enterprises based on One District One Product (ODOP) approach through credit linked subsidy during five years from 2020-21 to 2024-25 with an outlay of Rs.10,000 crore. Out of this, a total of 20,130 units have been allocated to Maharashtra with an outlay of Rs 921.53 crore. Banana has been approved as ODOP for Dhule and Jalgaon districts of Maharashtra, Patel further said in the lower house of Indian parliament.
In the budget speech for 2021-2022, the Government of Indai has announced expansion of scope of “Operation Greens scheme” from Tomato, Onion and Potato (TOP) to 22 perishable products, so as to boost value addition in agriculture and allied products. Banana has been included in these perishables, the minister further informed the parliament.


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Though Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony have parted ways since they officially announced their separation in July, the two are set to launch separate affordable fashion collections at Khol's on September 7.
Called the Jennifer Lopez Collection and the Marc Anthony Collection, the lines will include sportswear, accessories and sleepwear for men and women.
In addition to her fashion line, there is also the Jennifer Lopez Home Collection, which consists of bedding, towels and luggage. Bedding items, which are 600 thread count sheets made from 100 percent Egyptian cotton, will range from $149 to $199.
Earlier this month, Lopez used items from her Khol's collection to style eight "real" women for a photo spread featured in O, The Oprah Magazine.
This is not the actress' first foray into fashion. Lopez initially launched a clothing line called JLO by Jennifer Lopez in 2003 and retired the line in 2007. In 2005 she launched another clothing line called Sweetface and later launched a juniors' line called JustSweet.
However, she told O Magazine the past efforts "weren't exactly what I wanted them to be."
"I'm really a fan of glamour and old Hollywood and movie stars so I wanted to bring all of those elements of my style into this first collection for Kohl's," Lopez said in a promotional video for the line, which can be seen below.
"I definitely have an appreciation for old school glamour ala Rat Pack and 'Oceans 11'," Anthony said about his fashion outlook for his clothing line.
The former couple's recent split reportedly had nothing to do with the collections marketed as separate entities. "The Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony brands have always been positioned as two separate, distinctive collections that offer high-quality contemporary style for men and women, and we look forward to a successful September launch," a spokesperson for Kohl's told Women's Wear Daily in a statement in July, shortly after the couple announced their separation.
"We have two separate agreements with Jennifer and Marc and always intended to have separate lines. [Their split] doesn't impact the agreements in any way," Rick Darling, president of LF USA - a company sublicensing the brands to Kohl's - told the site.
The two collections were not the only projects Lopez and Anthony were working on before they split. The two will reportedly continue to work together on their upcoming reality talent competition series "Q'viva!: The Chosen."
The series will feature Lopez and Anthony searching for talent in 21 countries Latin America and is still slated to be filmed later this year.


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A potential strike that could have had adverse effects on the demand for industrial warehouses in North America’s thriving commercial property sector seems to have been avoided with a tentative agreement between union dockworkers and West Coast port operators. Late Wednesday, the Pacific Maritime Association and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union announced that they had reached a new six-year contract covering workers at all 29 West Coast ports. While the details of the agreement remain undisclosed, both parties must still ratify the contract. Industrial real estate brokers and analysts view this agreement as a crucial step in eliminating a significant source of uncertainty that has been threatening to disrupt supply chains and further dampen the demand for warehouses amidst the broader economic slowdown. The industrial market has already experienced a decline in occupancy and rent growth from its record highs. The dispute has resulted in cargo processing delays, intermittent work stoppages, and reduced productivity at major shipping gateways along the West Coast, including the busiest ports in Los Angeles and Long Beach, as well as Oakland, Seattle, and Tacoma. The Port of Seattle reported slowed work over the past week. However, if the agreement is ratified by union workers, it could lead to a reduction in demand for East Coast ports that have experienced an increase due to the West Coast disruptions.
Rustin Mork, a JLL managing director and industrial broker specializing in supply chain issues, believes that the settlement will not only bring importers back to the West Coast but also ensure that ports like Los Angeles and Long Beach remain the strongest and most relevant in the United States. While there may be some expansion and diversification among different ports across the country, the agreement should help retain many shippers in the region. Since the expiration of the dockworkers’ contract last summer, available industrial space for lease in Los Angeles and the Inland Empire has increased by approximately 50% or 40 million square feet, according to Adrian Ponsen, CoStar’s director of U.S. industrial analytics. Ponsen suggests that some major ports on the eastern and Gulf coasts, which have benefited from the West Coast troubles, may experience a short-term dip in import activity. However, in the long run, the Southeast’s major ports are still expected to achieve the fastest import growth due to their larger land and labor availability for expansion, as well as the rapidly growing local populations in those areas. The combination of Los Angeles, Long Beach, and the Inland Empire constitutes the largest industrial hub in America in terms of square footage. These regions attract the world’s largest companies seeking available logistics space to establish a presence near the ports and efficiently distribute products to the area’s businesses and 25 million people. Southern California alone boasts approximately 2 billion square feet of industrial space across Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties, as per CoStar data. The stalled negotiations have provided a boost to ports in New York and New Jersey, Savannah, Georgia, Houston, and other locations.
Importers, concerned about potential work stoppages along the West Coast, have diverted some shipments to eastern ports. Mork acknowledges that port labor issues are only one factor contributing to the slowdown in industrial leasing in Southern California and other West Coast ports. The primary cause remains the softening conditions in the broader economy. Nevertheless, the proposed settlement increases the chances of a rebound in the U.S. industrial real estate markets, especially with the Federal Reserve’s recent decision not to raise interest rates, which could help stimulate the overall economy. While it cannot be definitively stated that this settlement alone will cause a turnaround, Mork believes it will undoubtedly strengthen the Southern California industrial market and demonstrate the continued relevance of these ports as primary entry points for Asian cargo. It is a positive development that should bolster the market and reduce the likelihood of a major downturn.
Source: www.costar.com / Randyl Drummer


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In 1909, women in NYC first commemorated “National Women’s Day.” In 1975, The UN recognized International Women’s Day, as women demanded the world recognize that women’s rights are human rights. Today, and every day, we stand with women on the front lines, fighting for liberation.
We stand in solidarity with the women workers of the Ramatex factory in Cambodia, who were left unpaid when their factory closed in 2020. At this link, send Nike and Matalan, for whom these women made clothes for many years, an e-mail now demanding they Pay Their Workers.
On March 11 last year, Brilliant Alliance workers had their factory closed. After making bras for Victoria’s Secret for years, they were robbed of their jobs and the $8.5 million in compensation they were owed. Sign here to support these workers.


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From artificial intelligence and invisibility cloaks to the future of jobs and Jack Ma's tips for entrepreneurs, here's a look at some of the key moments from our tech-focused meeting in China.
1. Premier Li Keqiang on globalization, trade and China opening up to the world
The basic principles of free trade should be maintained and unilateral trade actions will not solve any problems, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said in his speech, the headline event on day two of the meeting.
Hot on the heels of news that China had been plunged deeper into a trade war with the US, Premier Li also said that, though flawed, the trend of globalization is unstoppable and China's process of opening up will only quicken in the years to come.
The premier added that maintaining a rate of steady growth in the world's second-largest economy is getting more difficult, that intellectual property breaches and other business malpractice would be swiftly punished, and that the country would not engage in competitive currency devaluation to weaken the yuan to boost exports.
"The fundamental principles of free trade should be upheld ... Taking a unilateralist approach will not solve any problems," said the premier.
2. Jack Ma's 5 tips for entrepreneurs
Despite economic uncertainty created by the trade tensions between China and the United States, Jack Ma said he sees no reason for young companies to despair. In a speech that covered everything from tariff disputes to honey badgers, the Alibaba founder and executive chairman had some bold tips to share with entrepreneurs.
Meet new people and learn from them, was one. Drawing on his own experiences, Ma said: "For me, living here on this planet is an opportunity for me to know people of all varieties: good people, bad people, great people. And that is my nutrition.
"For my university and for entrepreneurs, the reason we are there is because we need to know about other people. But more importantly, we need to know about ourselves. We need to know how imperative it is to learn from the great people."
3. What will the robot revolution do to our jobs?
The future of work was something of a hot topic in Tianjin; a host of sessions zeroed in on the issue and many of the contributors to our AMNC18 blogs collection were keen to share their views on what the robot revolution means for skills and education.
The Forum launched the latest edition of its Future of Jobs Report just before the meeting kicked off, looking at the trends expected in the 2018-2022 period in 20 economies and 12 industries. One of the key findings? Machines and algorithms take on more tasks than humans by 2025 - and here's a closer look at what else it had to say. Meanwhile, the Forum's Saadia Zahidi shared this advice on how workers can win in the age of robots.
Out in the live sessions, Hilary Cottam, Founding Director of Participle, said: "The transition is going to be bloody at best... We need to reinvent new forms of support. Social and labour institutions needs to change radically."
There's one sure way to mitigate the cost of this doomsday scenario, said John Hawksworth, Chief Economist at PwC - invest in lifelong learning. "Instead of doing three years of university when you're 18, you might do one year when you're in your teens and another in your thirties, another in your fifties."
4. Trade took centre stage
Before the meeting had even started, news filtered through that the US was slapping tariffs on a further $200 billion worth of Chinese goods. The Chinese government reacted swiftly with tariffs of their own. It's no surprise that trade was a popular topic of conversation at this year's AMNC.
So, how worried should we be?
Very, said Timothy P. Stratford, Managing Partner at Covington & Burling. "We've come to the point now where both governments have realized that the real issues have to do with deep systemic differences between the economic systems of the two countries," he said.
"We are going to be in for a long period of deadlock," he added.
"It's a really worrying situation and it's starting to spill over into other parts of our interconnected world," said Wendy Cutler, Vice-president of the Asia Society Policy Institute.
Cutler also said the World Trade Organization (WTO) rules that govern global trade are in dire need of an update.
"The last time the rules were really updated ... was over 25 years ago," she said. "The internet was barely around then ... China wasn't even part of the WTO. And so as a result, we see the WTO today really becoming increasingly on the sidelines of what is going on. And frankly if it does not deal with the need to really update the rules and figure out a way to become relevant, it may even slip into the background more. And that is dangerous."
5. Top 10 emerging technologies of 2018
What do lab-grown meat, a holographic museum guide and a supercharged version of Amazon’s Alexa have in common?
They’re all breakthrough technologies that are likely to shape our lives in the near future, according to a list published by the World Economic Forum just as our meeting in Tianjin got underway. Selected by a panel of scientists and experts, each one has been identified as having the potential to be disruptive by altering deep-rooted practices or shaking up whole industries.
While we’ve all heard how technologies like artificial intelligence and quantum computing are set to transform our everyday lives, the coming change can seem like a nebulous concept that’s hard to define. In this list, experts seek to pinpoint the breakthroughs that will take effect within three to five years.
6. Bitcoin has a wealth distribution problem, too
Wealth inequality is one of the most well-documented problems facing the global economy. What's less well-known is that it's also a major challenge in the relatively nascent cryptocurrency industry.
"This economic premise of fairness and equality has not yet been realized," says CoinShares' Chief Strategy Officer, Meltem Demirors.
"It is very problematic ... Twenty-percent of bitcoin are owned by the top 100 wallets. Ethereum is even worse, in Ripple it's something like 70%. So not very decentralized.
"I've always said if a venture investor owns 50% of the tokens in the new internet, as a consumer, I don't want to use that internet. So for me until we sort that problem it will be very difficult to build globally useable networks."
7. Electric planes are coming
In a session on the future of electric vehicles, an industry that is rapidly becoming dominated by Chinese innovation (almost half of all electric cars are manufactured in China), three of the panelists noted that they were held up that morning because - ironically - traffic was so bad in Tianjin. But could gridlock like this become a thing of the past?
Yes, said Dipender Saluja from Capricorn Investment Group. Electric aviation is upon us, he said, and vehicles that take off and land vertically are "just around the corner." These could transform high-congestion areas and turn one-and-a-half hour morning commutes into a five-minute journey.
8. China's top 50 AI companies
China Money Network carried out a study of more than 500 Chinese AI companies - here's what they discovered:
- A total of 14 Chinese AI companies are unicorns, or private start-up companies valued at US$1 billion or more.
- Only two of the 50 companies had female founders.
- 27 of the 50 companies are backed by Chinese government related funds and/or the BAT. BAT refers to Chinese technology giants Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent.
- 55.6% of the founders have doctoral or post-doctoral degrees. Over 73% have at least a master’s degree.
- China AI Top 50 companies are more mature than their peers. Around 80% of the 50 companies have completed series B or later investment rounds. The industry as a whole sees 81% of the companies having just completed series A rounds.
- The most active investors in the China AI Top 50 include Sequoia Capital China; Alibaba and its related entities and funds; Zhen Fund; Sinovation Ventures; and Tencent.
9. Hackers, rings and biometrics
In the future you won’t need your keys or your wallet. Your ID card and passport will be a distant memory. All thanks to advances in voice, facial and DNA-recognition technology - and other developments in the field of biometrics.
Rob Livingston, Senior Vice-President at Visa, described some prototypes that could change the way we pay in the future. These included "blood flow" based technologies, where you would swipe your wrist to be identified; rings that would use near-field communication; and plastic cards with in-built fingerprint recognition.
Participants also discussed the dark side of biometrics, from privacy to security.
"Is it safe? No. Facial recognition systems can be hacked," said Rita Singh, Associate Research Professor at Carnegie Mellon University. She also warned that voice recognition posed all sorts of ethical problems, since algorithms can now deduce intimate information including your personality type from your voice.
10. The Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution in China launched
AMNC18 also gave us the perfect opportunity to launch the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution China.
With artificial intelligence, autonomous mobility, the Internet of Things and other emerging technologies having such a disruptive impact on almost every aspect of our daily lives, the center will bring together Chinese leaders at the highest level from government, business and other sectors address some of the challenges that this will raise.


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We have noticed a lot of headlines lately about the state of the logistics market & wanted to share some of what we’ve found. You may not have time to cull through every article, so we’ve started that process for you. We’ll try to update this & add to it as news comes in, so if you found a different article that deserves some space on this page, let us know in the comments below.
The State of Logistics Report
First, you might be wondering, what is the State of Logistics report? The following was taken directly from the Council of Supply Chain Management’s website:
The report was delivered by transportation consultant, Rosalyn Wilson, with additional commentary provided by a panel of industry leaders representing various areas within the supply chain at the press conference launch and during a Tuesday morning session during CSCMP’s Annual Global Conference this September in San Antonio, Texas.
The “State of Logistics Report®” is widely used by supply chain management and logistics professionals and organizations as the premier benchmark for US logistics activity.
According to expert analysts, the market outlook for logistics is positive. In fact, Rosalyn Wilson, author of the 25th Annual State of Logistics report, said: “This will the best year we have experienced in the last eight years. The first five months of 2014 have been the strongest since the end of the Great Recession.
The report was presented by Penske Logistics at Washington, D.C. press conference. You can watch the 45 minute video on YouTube or scroll down and find it at the bottom of this page.
Synopsis + Reaction
Thankfully, a few trusted voices in our industry have also provided good synopses/reactions on the report. Supply Chain Digital provides a nice synopsis, which you can read here. In their summary, they state that there may still be rough patches ahead:
While Wilson expects to see continued freight improvement, she said she anticipates a few stumbles along the way. She is also anticipating more capacity problems, higher rates and a worsening driver shortage, most of which also affected the industry in 2013.
But, we’re still left wondering what has given such optimism to a report that hasn’t been so positive in recent years. For that answer, we turn to DC Velocity’s article which gives a summary of the report and some valuable insights for us to think about.
The big surprise came in April. Based on the pattern of shipment activity over the past four years, April should have seen a contraction. Instead, business took off. Freight payments rose to their highest point in 15 years. Shipment volumes hit their highest levels since June 2011, according to the report.
The momentum continued in May. By the time the month ended, anyone who was moving freight for a living was sitting pretty. Shipments through the first five months were up 13.1 percent over 2013 levels. Payments jumped 11 percent during that span. The surges in March, April, and May led to the strongest freight demand since the recession ended, the report said. More tellingly—given that she generally does not go out on a limb unless she’s sure it can’t be cut down—Wilson forecast that 2014 would be the best year for freight since 2006, the industry’s last good year before a protracted recession took hold.
Does all of this positivity give you more optimism about the short-term outlook of logistics?
As promised, below is the video to the full 45 minute presentation of the report. Just click to play.


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BlackBerry eyes future beyond its new line of devices
By Euan Rocha
TORONTO (Reuters) - Barely a week after launching an all-new, make-or-break line of smartphones, BlackBerry is already looking at a future in which it is a leader in "mobile computing," Chief Executive Thorsten Heins said on Tuesday.
Heins said BlackBerry is aiming to reclaim its spot as an innovator in a world where smartphones already have the processing power to replace tablets and laptops.
The company, which changed its name from Research In Motion when it launched its new BlackBerry 10 smartphones a week ago, pioneered on-the-go email before losing ground to nimbler rivals with faster devices. It is now out to explore new territory.
"This isn't just about smartphones and tablets," Heins, who took over as CEO just over a year ago, said in an interview soon after the launch of the BlackBerry 10 devices.
"The architecture we have built is true mobile computing architecture. It's not a downgraded PC operating system. It is a whole new innovation built from scratch. It's built for mobile."
While speaking at the Empire Club of Canada on Tuesday, Heins reiterated his message: "BlackBerry 10 is not just a device. It is a whole new mobile computing platform," he said.
Despite a number of glowing reviews for the BB10 and reports of strong initial sales, however, some analysts and technology pundits are skeptical about BlackBerry's chances of mounting a comeback, doubting its ability to sell either enough smartphones or manage to transform the way people work.
"The Street cares about how many units of these (devices) they're going to sell and that is the balancing act," said John Jackson, an industry analyst at consulting firm IDC. Continued...


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Despite the devastating impacts of COVID-19 on the global economy, the payments industry was able to power through the early days of the crises and adjust to rapid changes in consumer behavior, not only weathering the storm, but roaring back as strong as ever.
This success is critically important for many financial institutions, as payments have grown to account for nearly 40% of overall banking revenues. Unfortunately, payments also can represent as much as 30 to 40% of a typical bank’s operating cost base.
Meanwhile, it continues to be difficult for financial institutions to stay ahead of technology disruptors. This concern was called out by Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, in his 2021 letter to shareholders:
“Banks… are facing extensive competition from Silicon Valley, both in the form of Fintechs and Big Tech companies (Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and now Walmart) and that is here to stay."
“Fintech companies here and around the world are making great strides in building both digital and physical banking products and services. From loans to payment systems to investing, they have done a great job in developing easy-to-use, intuitive, fast and smart products.”
It should also be concerning to other financial institutions that a bank as large as Chase is worried about technology companies. Chase spends significantly more on IT every year than any other bank, but that is still less than half of what Amazon invests. It therefore seems highly unlikely that any other bank is going to be able to outspend these disruptive competitors for control of the payments domain.
Mr. Dimon is not alone in voicing this concern. In recent years, many bank CEOs have begun to express fears that technology companies – and not other banks – would become their major competition over the next few years.
The Need for Speed
In fact, in many ways, Fintechs are already well ahead of most financial institutions. One of the key reasons for this advantage is the speed at which Fintech and BigTech organizations operate.
Organizations like Amazon and Alphabet are able to develop and deploy changes to their customer facing environment thousands of times per day, much more quickly than many financial institutions can even imagine. As Mr. Dimon indicated in his shareholder letter, this gives these companies a platform to quickly develop and refine “easy-to-use, intuitive, fast and smart products”. In other words, what consumers want now.
This growing speed differential means that many institutions will fall farther and farther behind, losing both revenue and market share to more nimble competitors. Given both the size and value of the payments franchise at most banks, there is clearly a need for both concern and some alternative thinking.


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Earlier today, the United States Magnet Materials Association [USMMA] announced that Thorium Energy, Inc. has joined its ranks. Thorium Energy owns rare earth resources in Lemhi Pass, located in Idaho and Montana. According to the USMMA, this move “expands the coalition’s focus on rare earth materials and the rare earth magnet supply chain”.
The USMMA was founded in 2006 by three US magnet manufacturers: Thomas & Skinner, producers of cast & sintered Alnico magnets; Hoosier Magnetics, manufacturers of hard ferrite powders used for permanent magnets; and Electron Energy, producers of samarium-based [Sm-Co] permanent magnets. According to the USMMA, the organization was formed “to advocate on behalf of the specialty metals clause found at 10 U.S.C. 2533b”.
While I am not a fan of the the USMMA’s support for specific restrictions on the procurement of rare earth permanent magnets, via the specialty metals clause, I do, however, support their stated aims of the “reintroduction of a competitive rare earth supply chain in the United States”. I discussed this very subject in my recent article on rare earths and specialty metals.
The USMMA is the second rare earths-related industry organization in the news, in recent days. The Rare Earth Industry and Technology Association [REITA] just recently officially announced its formation. REITA was founded by Molycorp Minerals, to further the goals of its members, regarding the rare earth metals supply chain in the USA. Electron Energy is member of both the USMMA and REITA.
According to their Web site, Thorium Energy’s rare earth resources include significant quantities of neodymium, a critical component of neodymium-based [Nd-Fe-B] rare earth permanent magnets.
You can read the original press release on Thorium Energy’s new membership of the USMMA here.


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The multiple wins recognize a year packed with best-in-class partnerships, updates, and other accolades for both the publisher and its hit mobile game. Throughout 2022, Devsisters hosted its first fan-forward event, DevNow, and announced multiple new games such as Brixity, Dead Cide Club, and Cookie Run: Ovensmash. Additionally, Devsisters partnered with global juggernauts Disney and BTS on behalf of Cookie Run: Kingdom, released its first merchandise collection featuring Strawberry Cookie, and was honored with the Pocket Gamer Mobile Awards’ “People’s Choice” achievement.
“We are honored to be recognized by our fans worldwide as 2022 was a tremendous year of growth for Devsisters and Cookie Run,'' said Betsy Abendroth, Devsisters, USA Director of PR. “The game development teams, who have worked extremely hard to create the best experience for our community, are excited to bring even more love, joy, and play in 2023.”
For more information about Devsisters, please visit www.devsisters.com.
Devsisters, an international gaming company, brings together people through the power of play with its Cookie Run Universe of games. Since 2009, it has created classic running games, including OvenBreak (2009), and Cookie Run: OvenBreak (2016), and introduced the award-winning Cookie Run: Kingdom in 2021, which has reached over 200 million global downloads. The flagship game, Cookie Run, has historically ranked #1 in Free Games in the Apple App Store of 13 countries, including South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and Thailand, and continues to grow in popularity.
Based in Seoul, South Korea, Devsisters has offices in Japan, Taiwan, and San Mateo, California. For more information, visit www.devsisters.com.
About Cookie Run: Kingdom
Cookie Run: Kingdom is a mobile base-building RPG that brings a diverse crew of over 60 unique Cookie Run characters on delicious adventures. Led by a fearless leader, GingerBrave, these tough cookies explore over 250 story levels where they build tasty strongholds, fight for the Kingdom, and uncover secrets of the past.
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ProjectStarter is a unique crypto project that stands out from similar projects because of its groundbreaking release plans and its determination to make NFTs and token pre-sales accessible to investors. The company is headquartered in Singapore, nestled in a very cozy 3 storey tech office and the founders are all known and verified, setting this company apart from other launchpads that hide behind a veil of secrecy.
Set for a spectacular 2022, ProjectStarter has some thrilling developments in store for its members.
“We are the world’s first crypto hub with a full and stackable ecosystem with real-world utilisation for our holders,” says Gary Liu, Chief Strategic Officer.
Its “PulSaR Crypto Hub” environment has already drawn a large number of crypto enthusiasts due to the multiple real world utilities that it provides to token holders.
“Our token can be used for more than just staking for access to IDO presales. It can also be used in a multifaceted ecosystem that is supported by three solid utility pillars,” Liu adds.
The first pillar of the project is “Wealth Accumulation,” which offers a high yield return on investment of 20 to 50% in its stable coin.
The second pillar includes “Crypto Commerce,” which features the first fiat-enabled NFT marketplace as well as a 3D Art Gallery with HNI NFT Art Pieces.
“Our third pillar is ‘Lifestyle & Entertainment,’ which includes free access to unique travel privileges and invitations to events organised by our team and strategic partners,” says Liu.
More about ProjectStarter
ProjectStarter is the world’s first crypto launchpad, founded and operated by a crypto-savvy team in Singapore.
The platform’s tech development and marketing teams have experience in establishing, promoting, and expanding digital and crypto-related enterprises. The management team is also aided by a team of business and strategic advisors.
The hype surrounding ProjectStarter has grown in recent weeks as several media sites have begun covering their innovative projects, including their “Utility Pillars.”
In a recent post, the project team expressed their gratitude to the people supporting their token. They said that while ProjectStarter has not announced the official release dates of these projects, they will keep fans informed via their social media sites.
This year promises myriad crypto initiatives, and ProjectStarter’s Crypto Launchpad and Utility Pillars will put them at the front and centre of this exciting trend.
Furthermore their token PSR has not been subjected to the pitfalls of the recent Terra Luna fiasco. Their tokenomics is regulated and well-designed, the smart contracts tested, and the parameters well-managed so that their protocol can maintain stability at the expense of capital efficiency (through over-collateralization).


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There’s a debate going on right now over how many jobs tech startups create. As Fortune reporter Dan Primack notes, the US lost over 1 million jobs over the past year. And a lot of people look to high-growth companies to make up the shortfall. VC Andrew Parker wrote that the big web 2.0 companies (the Facebooks and Twitters) have probably created 15,000 jobs; extrapolating with the long tail, he guesstimates that the last wave of VC-backed companies have probably created around 75,000 jobs.
Parker writes: “we need 18 times the job creation we’ve accomplished in this wave of web services investing to overcome the 1.29MM non-farm jobs lost in the US economy over the past two years.”
While that’s directionally correct, it still probably underestimates the job creation that comes from high growth startups, for two reasons:
- A lot of startups create jobs for their users, even if that’s not their employees. Typically marketplace startups: Etsy is a good example here (even if Etsy’s job creation can be overestimated). Airbnb is, or could be, another. A lot of people make money through affiliate fees, ad networks, blogging, etc. These are all jobs that don’t show up on companies’ payrolls, but are created because of them.
- 7,000 jobs in 2 years. Not bad!Economic value creation creates jobs. To compute the full job creation associated with startups, we would also have to compute the jobs created by the economic dividends associated with those startups. The first effect is a “trickle down” effect: employees of tech startups who get rich will refurbish their houses, hire babysitters, buy a new car, go to restaurants more often, etc. all of which contributes to job creation. More importantly is simply the fact that a lot of these services makes people and companies more productive. If a SaaS or open source solution provides the same service that used to take an expensive software licence for cheaper, that frees up resources to create jobs. If a coffee house gets a bunch of new customers thanks to Groupon and hires a new waiter, that’s a new job created thanks to Groupon, even though it won’t show up that way. If a taco truck boosts its revenues because it can now take credit cards thanks to Square and expands, same thing.
Those other kinds of job creation are much harder to estimate, but they’re also very real. If we want to think about how many jobs tech startups create, we also have to think about those.


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Burbank-based Zero Corp. said it completed its acquisition of Electronic Solutions of San Diego for an undisclosed amount of cash. Zero said Electronic Solutions, which makes computer circuit systems, has annual sales exceeding $7 million.
Zero’s main business is making enclosures and accessories for the electronics industry, including cabinets, cases and cooling equipment, along with circuitry. It also makes the Zero Halliburton line of aluminum luggage and camera cases.
Ten-year-old Electronic Solutions, which has about 85 employees, will remain in San Diego, said Ronald Felker, the company’s vice president for marketing.


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'People on Grafton Street are going somewhere else, people on Henry Street are there to shop." It's an oft repeated mantra by retailers in Dublin but the fade in the allure of Grafton Street, the city's premier retail avenue, is symptomatic of the wider malaise that has hit the retail sector. Soaring unemployment, wage cuts and a wider acceptance that the Irish consumer was paying too much for too long have contributed to falling retail sales and a relentless search for bargains.
Walking down Grafton Street these days is telling. There are still plenty of people on the street, but not that many in the shops. The Sunday Tribune recently revealed that 15 leases on the street are either openly or quietly on the market as high rents and falling sales force many retailers out. Some have already shut up shop. It all seems a long way from the halcyon days of two years ago when Grafton Street rents were amongst the highest in the world and retailers were willing to pay up to €1m just to buy a lease so they could open on the street.
"People are not spending money. Ireland has gone from a far higher high to a far lower low than Britain," said one retail expert, pointing out that retailers trading in this country made higher profits per square foot in this country than they did in their stores in Britain. The downturn has changed all that.
"I personally think the warnings were there two years ago and it's like we partied hard and had lots of fun and woke up and said 'Holy shit, what happened?" said Ian Galvin, the chairman of the Irish operations of Warehouse, Oasis, Karen Millen and Coast. "Northern Rock was a bit of a shake-up but when Lehmans happened you started to ask 'what's going on?' I don't think we were prepared but would it have been any better if we had been? We might have panicked more."
Galvin said that the past five years had seen people lose the run of themselves in terms of spending and that for the last two years of the boom people were shopping because they felt it was compulsory. Now, he says that while sales across his brands are down 10-15% (albeit sales on Grafton are much worse and down 30%) some people "are still willing to buy what's new and fresh because they have the disposable income to purchase what they really desire compared to buying things for the sake of it. Retailers are now looking to fund new designers and come up with fresh ideas."
Galvin admitted, however, that he knows of certain retailers, particularly at the top end of the market, who had seen their turnover slump 50%. "This is a new departure, I don't think retailers can compare year on year anymore. They've got to try to improve month by month," he said. Galvin's brands currently have a special reduction each week on some key items such as jeans. "It draws people into the shops and then they might buy something else – a black dress, for example, that's full price but they think it's worth it. Customers are only buying what really turns them on."
Eoin Feeney of commercial property firm HWBC said there's an understandable nervousness in the market because of the number of retailers who've gone bust. "Vacancy is becoming a real issue and provincial centres will be particularly affected."
Karl Stewart, a director of DTZ Sherry FitzGerald, advises a number of retailers including New Look, Tommy Hilfiger, Boots and Argos. He says that until the market stops slowing there will be fewer people doing deals. "The cannibalisation factor" will have to be considered in future, he said. Cannibalisation occurs when sales drop at a retailer's existing store after it opens a new one elsewhere. He also has concerns about the future of some retail parks around the country. Retail parks are the warehouse-style units that were built on the outskirts of towns and cities during the boom. Typically, 'bulky goods' are the only type of shops allowed in them, so they attract the likes of DIY and furniture retailers.
During the housing boom, the number of such parks exploded, but now many are in serious trouble as their tenants go bust. One in the south east is understood to have never attracted a single tenant, making it the retail equivalent of a tumbleweed town.
There is life in the sector still though. Last week, O'Callaghan Properties and the Duke Of Westminster's Grosvenor Estates submitted plans for a €500m development at Liffey Valley that would create 4,000 jobs during construction while developer Joe O'Reilly is planning major expansions of Dundrum Town Centre and The Pavilions in Swords and is trying to get planning permission for a €1bn centre on O'Connell Street.
Galvin sees signs for optimism: "I'm finding things very exciting. There's a lot of dead wood after being let go across the board. People are going back to appreciating what they are buying. Now, they're doing it for a lift." ?
Roll-call of retail ruination
Research from insolvency specialists Kavanagh Fennell show that the retail sector has been badly hit by the economic downturn. Of the 365 companies that were declared insolvent between January and March, 57 of them were retailers. Only the construction and hospitality sectors were worse affected.
Amongst the retailers to have closed or to have gone into liquidation, examinership or receivership are:
?Land of Leather
?Jim Langan Furniture
?The Shoe Store Ireland


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Search Tags: dog treats
Rewarding your dog with a treat is one of life's little joys but it can also be a fatal mistake.
A controversy continues to broil on social media sites where pet owners say they're outraged at one company that censored their concerns over recalled pet treats made in China.
Two dog treat companies pulled their products from shelves due to allegations of causing illness and death. Dr. Pawz weighs in on the safety of dog treats from China and whether or not owners should feed their pets treats in the first place.
Over the past 18 months the FDA says 360 dogs and one cat have died in illnesses that may involve the jerky treats. Illnesses have been reported in 50 states and six Canadian provinces.
Hi: 44 °F | Lo: 30 °F


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TV Continues its Evolution in the Hands of LG Electronics
LG Electronics (LG), leaders and innovators in the home entertainment sector, have changed the dynamics of the television unit once again. Starting from the original box set to the finest televisions that now adorn homes across the UAE, LG have continuously raised the bar when it comes to TV units. They’ve continued to trail blaze with their latest line of OLED TVs by being the first company to bring OLED technology to the region ushering in a new era of home entertainment in the UAE. LG have built on their technological strengths with the latest LG 55LA9700/ 9800 television, the new innovation for visual experience.
With predictions that 2014 will be the year of OLED TVs, LG have redefined the way consumers view home entertainment with unrivalled picture quality as well as a bevy of easy-to-use features to heighten viewing experience as demonstrated with the 55LA9700/ 9800.
“LG was the first company in the region to bring this fantastic technology to consumers’ homes. We stand by our latest line-up and want every customer to have the chance to experience the best in what home entertainment has to offer. LG has always continued to drive innovation in the TV sector and we are the leaders in next generation display technology and that is demonstrated by the impressive 55LA9700,” said Mr. D.Y.Kim, President of LG Electronics Gulf FZE.
“We are giving consumers in the UAE an opportunity to personally own an OLED TV with some fantastic offers. We know they will not be disappointed with the product or the price with the LG 55LA9700/ 9800 unit now selling at AED19, 999.”
“We can expect a huge shift in expected consumer viewing experience with the LG OLED TV and how it improves a viewer’s overall experience. The LG OLED TV has a great range of features from 3D TV, Smart TV and the Magic Remote Control that enhances and facilitates easy access to programs,” added Mr. D.Y.Kim.
The LG OLED TV employs a narrow bezel to provide a greater sense of immersion and viewer enjoyment. The Magic Stand further enhances this effect, enabling the TV to appear as if floating on air. Both elegant and functional, the stand complements the screen by minimizing visual distractions.
LG’s advanced picture quality is further enhanced by its 2013 Triple XD Engine which controls and processes images more precisely than ever before. The updated Triple XD Engine enables more natural colors, deeper contrast and more definition when viewing fast-moving images so that viewers can enjoy the most realistic picture quality available today.
The LG OLED TV also includes upgraded Smart TV features highlighted by the redesigned, more intuitive Magic Remote. The remote makes navigation simpler and easier with the addition of natural voice recognition to complement the point, wheel and gesture controls. The remote also includes Voice Mate which recognizes the natural flow of language to facilitate quick and easy searching across the entire Smart TV ecosystem.
LG Smart TV offers an advanced service, Now On, which makes recommendations on trending video-on-demand (VoD) and broadcast programs so viewers can access content based on popularity or individual preference.


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“We still have enough time before the tentative deadline of October, but work is still pending. A workable model of an online transaction platform is yet to be created. Once that is done, the beta model of the software will have to be tasted in keeping with government regulations on a live platform and that is expected to take some time,” a senior Commerce Ministry official said.
However, procedural glitches arising from converging online operations with offline realities of documentation and background checks would still be left to weed out, he added.
According to sources, Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu
backs the e-wallet idea and had been instrumental in convincing the Finance Ministry on having a tax refund mechanism for exporters. But back in March, Prabhu had hinted that the proposal was stuck in North Block.
“We are still assessing key aspects of the wallet, especially with regard to digital security,” a revenue department official said. He added a final nod was expected once Arun Jaitley was back at the Finance Ministry after recuperation.
Alternative measures not working
To offset pressure on exporters, the GST
Council had in March also extended the tax exemptions on imported goods for six more months beyond March 31.
But exporters say the move hasn’t helped much. Exporters were earlier allowed duty-free imports of goods used for making products for export. With the GST, they have to first pay the duty and later apply for a refund. As a result, their costs have risen by up to 1.25 per cent (freight on board value) since July 1 last year.
While industry estimates peg the amount of unpaid refunds as of June 1 at Rs 200 billion, the government has said the figure is Rs 140 billion. “It should be noted that Rs 140 billion is what has been filed, but they are not taking into account what exporters are not being able to file unless the government modifies its software,” Federation of Indian Export Organisations (Fieo) Director General Ajay Sahai said.
batted for the idea whereby, based on the preceding year’s exports and an average GST rate, the notional currency would be credited to exporters’ accounts by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade. “Like a running account, money may be debited from the e-wallet when duty-paid supplies have to be undertaken and the amount may be credited when the proof of export is made available from Indian Customs Electronic Commerce/Electronic Data interchange (EC/EDI) Gateway (ICEGATE),” Fieo
had told the finance ministry.


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Trump Direct News
National Print Owners Association Conference - Orlando, FL
Dennis and Christa Trump, Owners of Trump Direct in Decatur, IL, recently returned from attending the National Print Owners Association (NPOA) Spring Conference in Orlando, FL. Mr. Trump serves as Treasurer on the Board of Directors and helps coordinate the annual event, which drew printing company owners from across North America and from several foreign countries. The conference is an intensive two-day series of seminars, presentations, and work groups designed to help printing business owners improve their operations to better serve their communities and clients.
Mr. Trump was also instrumental in starting the National Print Owners Association (NPOA) and is a founding member. From its grass roots inception three years ago, NPOA has grown from 19 founding members to more than 400 print shop owners, making it the fastest growing association in the printing industry. Along with the annual conference, it provides its members with proprietary studies and surveys on technology, pricing, business operations, and many other topics. It also offers an on-line discussion forum for print shop owners to share ideas and solutions to common problems. The association’s motto is “By Printers, For Printers,” and its members represent the most progressive printing operations in the industry.


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Armed with knowledge of the loopholes, thanks to the latest technology, and in cahoots with government officials, fraudsters in the city can now ‘issue’ original passports. Only the person carrying it is fake.
Sleuths of the central crime branch of police recently busted a deep-rooted passport racket that has been operating for more than three decades. Police have detained 10 people under the Goondas Act. They picked up four more on Friday.
Click Here: cheap shoe stores


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Discover more from Sticky Bits by Lauren Yoshiko
Finally, Biden! And Other Weed News
Plus: Dark CBD?
The Broccoli Report
Monday October 10, 2022
Time to read: 4 minutes, 51 seconds. Contains 971 words.
Sure, it’s Halloween season, but for many of us in weed, it’s also conference szn. I am not hitting any big ones this year—you can read my two cents on the last MJ BizCon and Unpacked here—but my ears and inbox will be open for notable observations and hot tips any attendees care to share. If you are headed out into the conference wilds, I wish you the best of luck pitching, schmoozing, and securing some checks. Let’s get it!
Before we get to the news, a little treat for you to look forward to: A new Lonely Hearts post is coming soon. If you’d like to list an opportunity on our virtual cannabis jobs board, drop me a line.
This Friday, in our newsletter for paid subscribers we’re digging into what’s happening in California. You’ve read headlines about the dire combination of plunging prices and thriving illicit grows, but you may not have caught just how serious things have gotten for small, mom-and-pop growers trying to cultivate sustainably. I’ll be sharing a no-holds-barred conversation with Nathan Cozzolinno, co-founder of California edible brand Rose, about what’s happening in the flower market right now, why it freaked him out so much that his company started moving other farms’ flower under the Rose brand, and how Rose’s Flower Program is securing double the wholesale price for struggling growers. Subscribe to get the whole picture of what’s happening.
One-Hitters: Cannabis News at a Glance
In wonderful, long-awaited news from the executive branch, President Biden announced last Thursday that he will pardon 6,500 people who were convicted on federal charges of simple possession of marijuana from 1992 to 2021, plus thousands more convicted of possession in the District of Columbia. Thousands of individuals will now be able to obtain a pardon certificate from the Justice Department to use when applying to a job, housing, or college. Also, as of Thursday, the federal government will stop charging anyone with simple possession. 🍾
I’ve talked before about the incoming cultural swing towards more artisanal, authentic-to-the-point-of-imperfect branding and cannabis products, but I didn’t see the latest CBD trend coming: “dark CBD.” It’s a new marketing phrase being used to describe “unrefined” cannabis extract, á la unrefined coconut oil. But coconut oil has to be cold-pressed from real coconut to be called unrefined, while dark CBD, like products from Restart CBD, is made via CO2 extraction. That’s the same process non-“dark” CBD products use. I assume it’s supposed to signal that the CBD so-labeled has been refined in some way that allows for more of the original plant matter to be retained in the extract, but if that’s the case, it sounds the term would be better suited to describing rosin extracts.
I was distressed to read about the tragic death of Lorna McMurrey, a 27-year-old cannabis employee at a Trulieve manufacturing facility who died after inhaling toxic kief dust. Weedweek interviewed a Trulieve employee who worked with McMurrey and reported that the filter of the large-scale flower grinder used in the preroll room wasn’t cleaned as often as safe operation required and that the reportedly asthmatic McMurrey had symptoms of an attack at work before. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fined Trulieve $35,219 for violations referring to communicating safe protocols and availability of personal protective equipment, but Trulieve is contesting the fines.
Green Muse, one of Portland, Oregon’s very few Black-owned dispensaries, got robbed last week, just weeks after they halted their business license to tighten up on business expenses. In an attempt to recoup some of their losses, they launched a GoFundMe campaign. Three days later, the platform canceled their campaign, saying that the fundraiser “falls under the Prohibited Content section” and that all donations would be refunded. It’s a harsh reminder that when it comes to working in weed, we are operating without a safety net—at least until President Biden follows through on rescheduling cannabis 👀. On the bright side, Green Muse’s community is rallying to support it—the building owner installed new security doors for free and local farms, musicians, and a nonprofit are all coming together for a Comeback Block Party where people can donate in-person.
Congratulations to the creative duo 69&Sunny & Yourmomlikesmymusic. Their music video creation, “Girls Who Smoke Weed,” took home the Shortlist Advocacy award at the Clio Cannabis Awards. Kudos to all of the winners and nominees!
How We Roll, a new coffee-table book, features ways to roll joints, blunts and spliffs, tips on technique, interviews with celebrities, quizzes, and astrological recommendations. The illustrated guide was created by Noah Rubin, former editor-in-chief of Snoop Dogg’s Merry Jane media site.
Hempcrete, a mixture of hemp stalk hurds and lime, has been approved for use as a building material in the model U.S. residential building code. This approval paves the way (😏) for building departments to review plans involving hempcrete and provide clear guidance, mostly for its use as a sustainable option for wall infill. It still needs to be approved in the model International Building Code (IBC) to be included in commercial building codes, but residential approval is a step in an awesome direction.
024’s scented candles are a go-to for aroma management in my apartment, but I was delighted to discover Paige’s Candle Co., a new-to-me candlemaker making fragrant fantasies with cannabis lovers in mind. Their refreshingly different “Mary Jane” candle features notes of plum, cinnamon, and violet to complement the vetiver and hemp base.
Edie Parker Flower released another round of beautiful, one-of-a-kind bongs made by glass artist Paul Arnhold. While all come in a relatively uniform tall, slender shape, each is wildly different in color and mood, with astronomical names like Quasar, Milky Way, and Celestial.
See you next orbit,


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IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Surrey, BC
An announcement today [LINK HERE] highlights that a contract has been signed with Bombardier to supply the vehicular rolling stock of the Evergreen Line. The order was signed for $90.7 million, a $3.2 million per car deal in line with previous SkyTrain vehicle costs adjusted for inflation. This marks the launch order of the new Bombardier INNOVIA Metro 300.
The news announcement states that the new vehicles will be supplied by Bombardier. The only SkyTrain-compatible vehicles currently being offered by Bombardier are the new INNOVIA Metro 300 series vehicles.
A request for expression of interest document from February 2012 [CLICK HERE to learn more] highlighted that there will be centre cars in the new configurations. This means that the new vehicles will be 4-car articulated consists; the new cars are likely to service the Expo Line instead as the Evergreen Line’s service configuration statement mentioned that service will be provided by two-car trains, and first or second gen ART 200 vehicles will probably service the Evergreen Line.
UPDATE 4th December: A confirmation from the Evergreen Line project team indicates that the new vehicles will be operable on all portions of the Evergreen, Millennium and Expo Lines and will intermix with the existing fleet on all lines. Actual operating specifics will vary based on refinements to operating plans closer to launch time.
INNOVIA Metro [definition – LINK] is the new marketing name for Bombardier’s Advanced Rapid Transit (ART) vehicles; the name was changed earlier this year with a restructuring of Bombardier’s product lineup. Bombardier is now marketing what many local proponents like to call “SkyTrain technology” a full-size metro product, alongside its MOVIA metro vehicles.
These SkyTrain vehicles showcase the kind of future system that could be had in Surrey if the Province follows through with our calls to over-rule the choice for LRT.


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Earlier today, Android Marshmallow technically dropped on all of us. To be more specific, the public version of 6.0 got pushed and was intended for developers to work with some live software. Google promised that over-the-air updates to devices-at-large would start tumbling out in due fashion.
We’ve been wishing hard, praising the techies at Google and yet, we’re all disappointed the same in some aspects. One of these aspects was the dark theme that we so desperately wanted in those pitch black room conditions. Also not easy on the eyes was the multi-pane app [...]
Watch today’s Pocketnow Daily as we talk about Windows 8.1 and all the changes we’ve seen in the preview and we also talk about some display form-factors to be considered. Then we talk about BlackBerry, the company’s terrible quarter results and the amount of units sold. Android 4.3 is next as there’s a leaked ROM for the Galaxy S4 and how you can also get it. We later take a look at some leaked photos of the Sony Honami which just made the headlines. We end today’s show talking about Google’s future move to build a smart watch, a game console, and a [...]
What will be announced at Google I/O 2013? That’s the question of the hour, especially for supporters and enthusiasts of Google’s wildly popular mobile platform. The developer conference is generally where Google unveils its latest groundbreaking products, where we were first introduced to the Nexus Q, Nexus 7, Project Glass and Jelly Bean last year.
Skydivers jumped from a plane, BMX riders jumped over building gaps, and one crazed man ran down the side of a building, all to demo Glass to the world, and to deliver a Glass unit to Sergey Brin on stage.


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BELGRADE (Serbia), October 16 (SeeNews) - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects Serbia’s economy to expand by a real 3.5% in 2019, unchanged from the previous forecast in April, it said on Tuesday.
In 2020, Serbia's gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow by 4.0%, IMF said in the October edition of its World Economic Outlook (WEO) report.
Serbia's GDP grew by an estimated 4.3% last year, according to the report.
Serbia's harmonised consumer price inflation is seen at 2.2% in 2019 and 1.9% in 2020, according to the October WEO report.
Unemployment is projected to fall to 13.1% at end-2019, from 13.3% in 2018, before declining further to 12.8% next year.
Serbia’s current account deficit is forecast at 5.8% of GDP in 2019 and 5.1% in 2020, the IMF said.