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Taipei Cycle Grows in Asian Visitors
TAIPEI, Taiwan – With a series of new events the 30th Taipei Cycle, which took place from 22 – 25 March, did put in a lot of effort to grow the interest for this second biggest bicycle show in the industry. According to show organizer TAITRA, the four day event attracted at total of 41,892 visitors, including 8,672 international buyers from 97 countries, an increase of 5% compared with 2016.
The top-10 of overseas visitors is dominated by Asian countries. These are China (including Hong Kong), Japan, Korea, Thailand, USA, Singapore, Germany, Malaysia, Philippines and Australia. Show organizerTAITRA also reported a 7% growth in the number of domestic visitors to 33,220.
The new events included the first ever Demo Day, which was held 1 day prior to the show. Some 20 exhibitors and more than 30 brands participated in the event. Demo Day offered various tracks and terrain layouts as well as bike routes with a total length of over 3 kilometers. The first ever Demo Day attracted more than 800 international and domestic buyers.
International industry forum
The ‘Bike to the Future’ international industry forum was also held for the first time and took place on the second day of the show. The event targeted urban biking, R&D of E-bike, product design and brand marketing. The two sessions attracted over 300 industrial experts worldwide, exchanging latest insights from the industry.
New show dates for 2018
In 2018 Taipei Cycle will be held from October 31 to November 3 at Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, Hall 1 and TWTC, Hall 1. Booth application is scheduled to start in July, 2017.
A full report and photo impression of the 30th Taipei International Cycle show will be published next week.


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Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.
The H&M in Brixton, a neighborhood in London with a 24% black population, is using black mannequins in its window displays. "We have various coloured mannequins for the stores; black, white... orange and blue," said the company spokesperson. "The newer stores are currently working with bright white mannequins and black mannequins because they most suit the interiors." But shoppers have a different take: "I think it's cool—this is Brixton, right?" says one 22-year old shopper. Nadine, 32, agrees: "I think it's a great idea—it's what many of us look like here." [Guardian]

domain: news


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There’s something you crucially need to understand about the global economic crisis: It doesn’t exist.
Sure, Europe may be weeks away from a monetary cataclysm that has the potential of crashing all its economies plus some of the euro-exposed banks across the Atlantic. The United States may be suffering its highest poverty rates in half a century. And here in Britain, the combination of high inflation and an economy that actually shrank last quarter may return the ugly word “stagflation” – stagnation plus inflation – to our vocabulary.
But that hardly constitutes “global.” If you live in Sao Paulo, Moscow, Mumbai, Shanghai, Mexico City, Jakarta, Istanbul, Johannesburg or a dozen other centres in the eastern and southern three-quarters of the world, then your country hasn’t been experiencing any kind of crisis, beyond a few rough months in 2008 and 2009. In fact, most of those places have been enjoying a more or less continuous boom.
If you view the world rather strictly through the lens of economic growth, you can paint a picture of neatly symmetrical rebalancing.
That was what I was told the other day by Jim O’Neill, the brusque Mancunian who runs Goldman Sachs Asset Management and is most famous for having coined the acronym BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India, China) 10 years ago to unite the ex-poor economies that were becoming economic powerhouses.
He remains a proud defender of his four-letter word. “I find it quite astonishing as I travel around the world, the amount of time that the conversation is completely dominated by Greece and this mess over in Europe,” he said. “China growing by a trillion dollars of GDP every year is effectively creating a new Greece every four months. … What happens to these guys is way more important than anything that’s going on in Europe.”
Mr. O’Neill has been in a rather triumphant mood in recent months, as his glowing prognostications a decade ago proved to be conservative: Growth in all four countries has surpassed all his forecasts; Mexico, South Korea, Indonesia and Turkey have done equally well, and several economies in sub-Saharan Africa have been growing at a record pace. We reached a certain apex this past autumn when the BRIC countries made a serious proposal to provide Europe with a financial rescue package (fortunately for everyone, it did not happen). It is easy to imagine that the world has simply inverted itself.
But what, actually, is happening? We need to get our metaphors straight. The world does not have a fixed pool of wealth that is simply sloshing over to the eastern and southern edges of the globe, leaving the West in the shallows. Nor is there a golden escalator that is taking the world’s billion poorest people straight from thatched-roof huts into condominium towers, without conflict in between.
In fact, it appears – if you look beyond simple measures of gross domestic product and instead focus on the lives and household budgets of the newly non-poor – that many of these miracle countries are about to hit a BRIC wall.
It’s fair to say that the world is now in the midst of a tumultuous in-between period. Before, we had several decades of unequal stability. The West consumed, the East produced, and the South did neither. The West had non-growing urban populations, the East and South had fast-growing rural ones. Most food was produced in a few highly developed areas, and the East and South could barely feed themselves, importing food.
Some day we will have a more equal stability – when West, East and South will all have domestic consumption and consumer economies; when all will have urban, stable populations; and when agricultural land in Asia and Africa is used to produce food for sale, not to house people. We’re in between those stabilities now.
Those three elements are changing at different paces, producing conflict. China, Russia and Brazil are urbanized with stable populations, but don’t have much domestic consumption because wages are low and their economies rely on foreign-exchange earnings. India has a domestic economy, but remains rural, overpopulated and produces half the food it could. And its gross sexual inequality is hindering progress. Africa’s growth and demographic improvement is pushed by agricultural and resource development, but Africa lacks urban economic growth and consumer economies, and won’t have them until it invests in those things.
When countries hit those walls, there is tension: Chinese workers protest, Brazilian slum-dwellers get angry, Russians demand a fair election, Indians revolt against their governments and Africa has democratic revolutions. Those events, rather than GDP, are the important indicators.Report Typo/Error
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Search Results for 'tech products'
2 results found.
The Galway Advertiser has always been the market leader in the west in connecting businesses with customers, whether they are shoppers looking for the best bargains or students looking for the best accommodation. For more than four decades, that has been our raison d'etre, coupled with providing an informative and entertaining newspaper.
The Centre in Bioenergy at NUI Galway is to receive up to €5 million as part of the Competence Centres Programme which is to receive a funding boost of €37 million.


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Atlus have released a new gameplay trailer for upcoming JRPG Shin Megami Tensei V.
As previously reported, the plot centers around a Japanese teenager entering another world where God is dead; and a new being promises the world can be reborn from the old. The main character fuses with a mysterious man to become Nahobino, something that is considered forbidden, and begins their rampage across this new world.
The new trailer shows the more divine enemies who will be standing in the player’s way, along how players can venture between the real world and the demonic one. Along with the previously revealed allies, it seems players will have to deal with several human enemies using demonic abilities and allies as well.
You can find the new trailer below.
Shin Megami Tensei V launches November 11th in Japan, and November 12th in the west on Nintendo Switch.


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There has been talk for some time now that deep within the offices of Blizzard, there have been secret plans for a new MMO game that will go in entirely different direction.
There were rumors that Blizzard wants to add their massive MMO presence on the console. MMO titled “Titan” also showed up last month on a leaked four year release schedule for Blizzard. Now that this news has been confirmed officially by Blizzard. Frank Pearce from Blizzard spoke to Destructoid about the title.
The media is not supposed to know anything about Titan. It’s our next-gen MMO, and we’ve only started talking about it in a limited fashion because we wanted to leverage the fact that we’re working on something like that for the purpose of recruiting, getting some of the best talent in the industry on that project.
There are many reasons to think Blizzard’s secret MMO Project “Titan” will be a console MMO.
1. Blizzard’s statement that “Titan” won’t replace World of Warcraft and will go in entirely different direction. Speaking at Blizzcon president Mike Morhaime told:
We are working on a second MMO. We’re thinking of it as sort of a next-generation MMO. It’s not a sequel to World of Warcraft – we want to do something a bit different.
2. If Blizzard releases another MMO on PC, there will be some degree of cannibalism because a lot of people only play World of Warcraft because its one of, if not the most polished MMO out there.
3. From a business standpoint, they have to be thinking consoles. Console MMO market is wide open and up for anyone to grab.
4. How many Xbox 360 or Playstation 3 players have World of Warcraft account ? and how many new PC subscribers Blizzard can get if they release another PC MMO ? do the math.
5. Blizzard has actively been looking to release its games on console – Diablo III. As they most probably want to diversify their business by targeting a new segment of the market.
The leaked release schedule had Titan’s launch in 2013 release bracket. If you know the history of Blizzard’s late releases, you should plan on waiting for another 3 years.


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US stocks braced for week of economic data
(Open): Shares on Wall Street opened broadly flat ahead of a week that will feature a number of key economic announcements.
The week will end with the monthly jobs report, the non-farm payrolls.
Before that there will be manufacturing and car sales data for November.
Also mid-week Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen testifies to Congress ahead of next week's meeting of the Fed Board which may decide to raise rates for the first time since 2006.
Microsoft's gained 1.3% after a broker upgrade.
Amazon was up 1%.


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Oct 21 (Reuters) - VF Corp, known for clothingbrands The North Face and Vans, reported a 14 percent rise inthird-quarter profit, boosted by strong sales in its outdoor &action sports and jeanswear businesses.
Net income rose to $433.8 million, or $3.89 per share, inthe quarter ended Sept. 28 from $381.3 million, or $3.42 pershare a year earlier.
On an adjusted basis, VF Corp earned $3.91 per share in thethird quarter.
Sales rose 5 percent to $3.27 billion.
- Company Earnings
- VF Corp


text: Cadbury-owner, Mondelez International, has reportedly decided to bring back more of its Cadbury Dairy Milk production to its infamous factory situated in Bournville. According to a Mondelez statement, some part of the production in continental Europe would be returning to the United Kingdom. The company has announced an investment of Â£15m at the Birmingham site and has also stated that 125 million additional Dairy Milk bars would be produced there from 2022. According to the Manufacturing Director of Bournville, Roberto Gambaccini, Bournville is presently much more competitive across the manufacturing network of the company, especially when it comes to the production of high volume products like Cadbury Dairy Milk tablets. Gambaccini has also stated that it is important that the company continues this journey, adding that this investment will help the company take complete advantage of the efficiencies that upskilling and modernization can create for the purpose of continuing the success and growth of the Bournville site. Till date, nearly two thirds of Cadburyâ€™s chocolate has been manufactured in Birmingham. However, the new investment would witness the manufacturing of almost all of its products at Bournville. While almost Â£11m of the new financing will be moved towards a new production line, the rest of the Â£4m will be spent in the scaling up of the companyâ€™s chocolate-making capacity. As per Louise Stigant, the Managing Director of Mondelezâ€™ UK, Bournville is still looked upon as the â€˜heart of Cadburyâ€™ and bringing more of the production back to this place has created a viable opportunity of investing in the plant. While a part of the manufacturing will stay overseas, the investment would not result in the creation of any new jobs, confirmed the company. In 2020, Bournville produced 35,000 tonnes of Cadbury Dairy Milk tablets, which amounts to nearly 234 million bars. The recent investment will enable the company to make an additional 12,000 tonnes of chocolate, add sources.


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T-Mobile US Inc. Chief Executive Officer John Legere, the self-styled rebel who has garnered 1.5 million Twitter followers for his snarky posts, got some blowback on the social-media site from a rival CEO.
Legere, commenting Wednesday about Sprint’s introduction of a new $80 “All-In” service plan, tweeted: “#allin is a swing and a miss, guys!! #sprintlikehell”
Sprint Corp.’s Chief Executive Officer Marcelo Claure responded Wednesday: “I am so tired of your Uncarrier bullshit when you are worse than the other two carriers together.” Claure was referring to Verizon Communications Inc. and AT&T Inc., the wireless giants that are the target of Legere’s #DefeatDuopoly tweets.
It’s a change of tone for Claure and Legere, who had so far expressed a mutual admiration for one another as the heads of the two smallest nationwide wireless carriers. “Think I hit a nerve at end of rough week? ;),” Legere wrote in one tweet.
Online, Legere doesn’t keep a low profile. He hosts live videos of himself at his office on Periscope, shares pictures of his various trips to company stores and responds directly to customers that complain about T-Mobile on Twitter.
For Legere, living large on public display hasn’t hurt his company’s popularity. T-Mobile added more than 4 million new monthly phone subscribers last year, more than all the other three carriers combined.
“Isn’t it cute that Marcelo’s been following me on twitter since joining? Now he’s starting to sound like me to get attention - it’s working!,” Legere wrote Thursday.


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It takes five to six hours to drive the 380 miles from San Francisco to Los Angeles, and more than an hour to fly. That’s
Tech Talk: Imagine taking a tube from San Francisco to L.A.
Trending in: News
- UMPQUA NATIONAL FOREST: Crews contain forest fire, restrictions in effect
- Roseburg and other Douglas County school districts fight chronic absenteeism
- Female passenger dead after motorcycle wreck
- ROSEBURG: Man steals car, crashes, strips nude
- Roseburg Walmart associate turns 99 years old, keeps working


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Heel yes - Everlane has designed what look like the perfect pumps for powering through your day.
The problem is, there’s a 14,888-person waitlist and counting until May.
The San Francisco-based fashion line launched in 2011 to sell fashion staples for men and women at affordable prices, including $88 silk shirts and $58 cotton poplin chinos.
But its $145 Everlane Day Heel has online shoppers whipped into a frenzy. The ballet-inspired Italian leather pump released last week features a rounded toe, elasticized back and two-inch block heel that the site boasts a woman can walk in “All. Damn. Day.” It comes in five colors, including bright red, rose tan, black, navy and natural suede.
“We wanted to create a heel that was comfortable enough to wear all day, while also maintaining a polished look,” an Everlane rep told Moneyish. “There's no break-in time required so you can wear them all day and night, right out of the box.”
The lucky shoppers able to snag a pair when they first went on sale have also raved about the “cushioned footbed, soft buttery leather, and just the right height heel that makes it practical to run around in, especially in NYC.”
But the chic, comfy-looking pumps were so popular that other shoppers have complained the shoe sold out the day it went on sale, with a few commenting on the site that they were very or pretty “disappointed.”
@everlane what's the point of having a waitlist for the Day Heel only to have it immediately sold out/re-waitlisted on launch day? Sad face.— Shannon Buckley (@shannydoots) April 10, 2017
In fact, many sizes of the brand’s similar $120 Day Mule and $125 Day Flat, both also made from Italian leather and in similar colors, were also sold out within 24 hours after going on sale Thursday. They’ll be restocked in May, as well.
And good news for those who’ve had to wait: The Day Pump will be available in new colors next fall.
Everlane also had a hit on its feet with the $168 Modern Oxford last summer, which drew a 6,500-person waitlist.
See the world with cash-color glasses. Get a weekly digest of personality finance: features, pop-culture and essays. Sign up here.


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Sandwich chain Subway will feature swimmer Michael Phelps in TV advertising from MMB, Ad Age reported. The news is significant because it answers a question raised by BNET in February over whether Subway's consumers (and management) were adult enough to handle the news that Phelps was photographed smoking a marijuana bong after he returned home from the Olympics.
At the time, BNET argued that Subway's audience was primarily adults looking for lunch during their workday, and were therefore old and jaded enough to understand that just because Phelps had gotten stoned at a party did not mean that Subway was endorsing that, or vice versa. Subway was in a different position to Kellogg, which dropped Phelps as a sponsor immediately, because Kellogg's audience is kids and their parents who don't want to answer annoying questions from the rugrats about what that man is doing to that pipe over the breakfast table.
The order of events suggests that Subway had considered this all along. Even though it removed all links to Phelps from its FreshBuzz site, Subway never outright kicked Phelps off its roster. With the smoke (ahem) cleared, it appears that Subway is willing to do something highly unusual in the advertising business: Proceed with a campaign featuring a man who has taken a drug that most adults believe is largely harmless, but that nonetheless causes hysteria among those who believe the opposite. Most brands aren't mature enough to risk that.
for more features.


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Overnight Digest: These small caps will be in focus on Monday
On Friday, frontline domestic indices Nifty and Sensex yet again recorded fresh highs of 17,947.65 and 60,333.00. Both indices closed with gains of more than 0.15 per cent. BSE Smallcap index ended in the red territory, down by 0.30 per cent at 28,023.34 and underperformed broader markets. From the index NIIT, Repro India Aptech and V2 Retail were top gainers. While JTL Infra, GTL Infrastructure and Syncom Formulations were top losers.
The following small-cap and mid-cap stocks are likely to be in focus on Monday:
Caplin Point Laboratories – Amaris Clinicals (Amaris), the Clinical Research Organization (CRO) division of Caplin Point Laboratories Limited, has completed a virtual audit from the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) with ‘NIL’ observations. The company targets approvals on mutual recognition basis from other regulatory bodies, including ones from Latin America, a key geography for Caplin Point. With the potential increase in demand for these activities, the company plans to further expand capacities at this site soon.
PVR – CRISIL Ratings has downgraded the company’s ratings on bank facilities and debt programmes to ‘CRISIL A+/CRISIL PP-MLDA+r/Negative/CRISIL A1’ from ‘CRISIL AA-/CRISIL PPMLD AA-r/Negative/CRISIL A1+’.
PSP Projects – The company has received a Letter of Intent(s) (LOIs) and Work Orders (WOs) for new projects worth Rs 421.87 crore (excluding GST) towards institutional, industrial, residential and precast segments from various clients. With the receipt of the above, the new LOIs and WOs received during the financial year 2021-22 till date amount to Rs 637.23 crore (excluding GST).
Aurionpro Solutions – The company recently announced that it has expanded its footprint in the payment business by launching its payment platform. It has set up Aurionpro Payment Solutions as its global headquarters in Singapore and a subsidiary company in India. Aurionpro Payments has launched ‘AuroPay’, an innovative payment platform that will offer online payment services in a secured way. This platform will offer gateway services to merchant organizations and shall become a one-stop-shop covering a wide range of services in the payment ecosystem. The platform will primarily focus on B2C and B2B opportunities.
52-week High Stocks – Indus Towers, NIIT, Aptech, Oberoi Realty and K.P.R Mill have made a fresh 52-week high today. These stocks are likely to be in focus on Monday, September 27, 2021.


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When walking through the aisles of retail stores, one might notice how different the consumer packaged goods (CPG) environment is compared with previous decades. Emerging brands and categories have contributed to the SKU proliferation that is impacting shelf space. The market also is seeing how the established categories are adapting to the new environment.
Although the carbonated soft drink (CSD) market remains one of the leading categories when it comes to dollar sales, it has faced some challenges within the past few years. According to data from Chicago-based Euromonitor International, the CSD category saw dollar sales of $36.8 billion in 2014. This is down from the $39.2 billion the category experienced in 2012, it reports.
Howard Telford, senior industry analyst of beverage for Euromonitor, adds that retail sales of CSDs were down 3 percent in both volume and dollar sales in 2013-2014 in the United States.
In Chicago-based Mintel’s June 2014 report “Carbonated Soft Drinks – US,” Beverage Analyst Elizabeth Sisel notes that the category has been challenged because of ingredient concerns and being targeted when health and wellness topics surface.
“The carbonated soft drink market is continuing to decline as consumers are driven away by artificial sweeteners, high sugar content and other ingredient concerns,” she reported. “The CSD category is an easy target as other beverages innovate and entice consumers away from sodas. Carbonated soft drinks will have to perfect innovations of their own through marketing, mood association and beverage functionality to stay relevant with consumers.”
Lauren Masotti, client manager of U.S. beverages for Kantar Worldpanel, New York, notes that the declines for CSD penetration have been gradual during the past 20 years. However, it seems as though regular CSD declines have plateaued, while diet soft drinks still are experiencing gradual declines, she says.
The competitive beverage landscape has been a contributing factor, she notes. “In terms of the category more holistically, instead of just CSDs, people are consuming more smoothies, non-dairy [drinks] and enhanced waters, if you want more of water than just a refreshment,” she says. “People are getting smarter about their health and wellness choices, and we see that in the marketplace as these other categories are growing.”
The right selling points
Even with increased competition, CSDs play a strong role in the CPG market, and industry analysts see opportunities for beverage-makers to capitalize on those aspects.
Masotti notes that generational shifts have had an impact on the soft drink market, causing a change in the age entry point. Because the category is not getting the same penetration as in years past, it has affected its growth and engagement, she adds. However, this just means brand owners must utilize the correct messaging to appeal to consumers, she notes.
“It’s about approaching consumers in the right mindset and knowing your consumer is changing,” Masotti says. “It’s about health and a small treat. If you can’t deliver on health, you can use that small-treat aspect.”
Packaging options is another way the category can appeal to today’s consumers, analysts note. “Companies are realigning their package and SKU mix to increase choice,” Euromonitor’s Telford says. “Smaller servings, for example, can simultaneously boost margins while also giving consumers choices in terms of regulating intake and providing portion control.”
Kantar’s Masotti adds that these smaller portion sizes allow consumers to still enjoy the indulgence associated with CSDs but in a more controlled occasion. “It’s a treat, still an indulgent treat, but on a less-frequent occasion,” she says. “You still feel good with the treat because it’s smaller and you’re limiting and budgeting your calories and intake of soda.”
For example, The Coca-Cola Co., Dr Pepper Snapple Group (DPS) and PepsiCo Inc. all offer a variety of their CSD brands in 7.5-ounce mini cans. Purchase, N.Y.-based PepsiCo expanded its mini-can portfolio last year with its Pepsi Made With Real Sugar release. The company also temporarily offered this size for Pepsi Wild Cherry Made With Real Sugar and Pepsi Vanilla Made With Real Sugar.
In addition to the expansion of the mini can, PepsiCo also expanded its plant packaging operations with 12-ounce glass bottles. This type of packaging format also has seen success in the market, Euromonitor’s Telford says. “Glass single-serve bottles of CSDs have shown the potential to add value to the product,” he adds.
Brand owners also are utilizing packaging in their marketing campaigns. As part of its summer 2014 Share a Coke campaign, The Coca-Cola Co., Atlanta, personalized the experience by swapping out its logo on 20-ounce plastic bottles for 250 of the nation’s most popular names among teens and millennials. Available on Coca-Cola, Diet Coke and Coke Zero products, the campaign invited consumers to find names of their family and friends or people they want to know better and share a Coke with them.
Euromonitor’s Telford notes that the company had success in the United States and globally with this package and campaign. The company also noted at the 2014 National Association of Convenience Stores Show that it plans to bring Share a Coke back in 2015 but will expand the number of names on packaging.
Although packaging has been used as a tool to resonate with consumers, brand owners should not forget that taste is king and flavor profiles will be important for the future of the CSD category.
In Mintel’s report, the market research firm found that enjoying the flavor is the top reason consumers purchase CSDs, with 58 percent of the surveyed 1,782 internet users aged 18 and older who purchased soft drinks or seltzer waters in the past three months citing this as their top reason. Other top responses were for refreshment at 53 percent and to have a treat at 36 percent. However, with taste still being the top reason for drinking CSDs, this will be a key aspect for brand owners to consider, the report notes. “It will be important to remember that no matter what changes manufacturers make to their formulation to appeal to current health trends, their flavors should not be altered,” Mintel reports.
Flavor innovations also could offer potential to soft drink manufacturers. Kantar’s Masotti notes that capitalizing on multi-cultural aspects like tropical flavors can be found throughout other categories but still has an opportunity within CSDs.
Companies also are targeting multi-cultural consumers through existing brands. For example, Plano, Texas-based DPS Chief Executive Officer and President Larry Young shared in the company’s full-year and fourth quarter earnings call its plans to help its 7UP brand appeal to Hispanic consumers.
“We’re giving 7UP a facelift with new graphics that speak directly to the Hispanic millennial consumer and we’re gearing up for our second year with EDM,” he said. “Once again, [we’re] partnering with the world’s top DJ, Tiesto, and others across seven EDM festivals to drive engagement with our target customers and drive local retail activation. We also know that soccer and music are major passion points with Hispanics, so we’re teaming up with star athletes like Tim Howard and Hector Hirano to celebrate the summer of soccer and sponsoring the 16th annual Latin Grammys, offering consumers a chance to win a trip to the show and an exclusive 7UP concert.”
In the call, Young also noted that the company’s Ten platform continues to bring lapsed occasions back to the CSD category.
Analysts explain that mid-calorie formulations, like DPS’s Ten platform, have allowed beverage manufacturers to retain consumers, but results have been mixed. Kantar’s Masotti says the mid-calorie beverages have helped attract male consumers, but the segment hasn’t grown as quickly as analysts and companies previously thought it would.
“The CSD industry saw that they were losing people and wanted to give consumers an alternative, so not a diet soda, but a mid-calorie,” she says. “You’re going to save some calories but you’re still getting that taste [and] that flavor of a regular soda. That was a really good tactic, [but] I don’t think it picked up as much as we thought [it would].”
Masotti notes that this ties into the regular vs. diet consumers. “Diet consumers, in terms of their consumption, they drink a lot more of the category in the average week,” she says. “… Although the category is declining a bit quicker, there are still heavier[-consumption] consumers here. There are still habitual consumers. When you think about mid-calorie, that’s kind of the CSD market’s response to people wanting to leave the category altogether and giving them a mid-calorie option on the way out.”
Another way beverage-makers are exploring the mid-calorie segment is through natural sweetener combinations. For example, The Coca-Cola Co.’s Coca-Cola Life, which expanded to national distribution in late 2014, and PepsiCo’s Pepsi True, which launched last year on Amazon, are both made with a blend of cane sugar and stevia leaf extract.
“The implementation of stevia in Coca-Cola Life and Pepsi True represent an attempt to bring stevia as an ingredient into mainstream CSDs,” Euromonitor’s Telford says. “It’s too early to tell if this will remain a niche segment or a real transformation of low-calorie products.”
Honest Tea, a Bethesda, Md.-based independent operating unit of The Coca-Cola Co., also has been working with stevia in the CSD arena, but in a zero-calorie format. Recently, the company released Honest Fizz Organic Golden Ginger Ale. Combining organic ginger and other flavors, Organic Golden Ginger Ale is sweetened with a combination of organic stevia and erythritol. The company also announced that all products within the Honest Fizz portfolio now are certified organic. When the Honest Fizz line debuted in 2013, only the Root Beer variety included organic stevia and erythritol. However, the plan was to eventually transition the entire line over to organic ingredients, the company says.
“When we launched Honest Fizz three years ago, we made a long-term commitment to convert the line over to organic certification,” said Seth Goldman, founder and TEAeo of Honest Tea, in a statement. “We’ve been working with our ingredient and packaging suppliers to make our entire Fizz line affordable, organic and delicious. It’s another step in our ongoing journey to democratize organics.”
Goldman noted that zero-calorie Honest Fizz, as well as the brand’s recent ready-to-drink tea releases, is an extension of Honest Tea’s support for the American Beverage Association’s (ABA) Balance Calories Initiative. Working with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, America’s leading beverage companies have set a goal to reduce the amount of beverage calories consumed by each person nationally by 20 percent by 2025, the ABA states.
Among the early efforts of the Balance Calories Initiative was the launch of the ABA’s Mixify campaign, which encourages teens and families to balance their calories based on what they consume and their activity for the day. The Coca-Cola Co., PepsiCo and DPS are among the companies participating in the overall initiative.
Small scale, strong impact
Although mass-produced CSDs have experienced some challenges within the past few years, some smaller craft soda and all-natural brands have begun to resonate with consumers.
For example, Fortune reported in a June 2014 article that Culver City, Calif.-based Zevia had sales of $90 million in the past 12 months. Zevia’s CSDs varieties all are sweetened with stevia and monk fruit extracts, resulting in a zero-calorie product. Even though the brand offers popular flavor varieties like Cola, Grape and Ginger Root Beer, it also has added less mainstream offerings including Grapefruit Citrus and Strawberry.
Kantar’s Masotti says the flavor trends within all-natural sodas have proven to be successful with consumers. “People are staying in these all-natural sodas and these lemony-lime and fruit-flavored sodas; they’re staying there a bit longer,” she says. “I think it might be in their head that they’re making a bit of a better decision because it tastes like fruit and has an all-natural flavor to it.”
Masotti adds that the craft soda market is mirroring the craft beer effect because it is giving consumers something different and trendy beyond traditional soft drinks. “I don’t know how impactful that will be to make up for the traditional losses in the CSD category overall, but I definitely think it’s trendy to pick up on today’s consumer, so we’ll keep an eye out on how those perform,” she adds.
Euromonitor’s Telford adds that the growing popularity of craft sodas could be tied to the negative consumer press related to sugar consumption. “One long-term effect of the backlash against sugar consumption may be a push toward naturally fruit-flavored carbonates that are simply less sweet in their formulation,” he says. “While smaller brands — Dry Soda [and] GuS — have had success with lighter, ‘dryer’ flavor profiles, I think we may see some experimentation with this segment from major players in the future.”
Recently, PepsiCo released Mtn Dew DEWshine. “Mtn Dew DEWshine is a craft, premium soda inspired by the brand’s roots in the backwoods of Tennessee,” a company spokesperson says. “It’s a clear, citrus DEW made with real sugar and packaged in clear glass bottles.” Mtn Dew DEWshine is available nationally in 12-ounce single-serve glass bottles and four-packs of 12-ounce glass bottles wherever premium beverages are sold in large- and small-format retail outlets.
Telford notes that traditional CSDs, particularly colas, do not have the same appeal to young consumers now as they have in years past. However, major players are starting to approach this from a craft perspective. For example, last year PepsiCo released Caleb’s Kola, which contains Fair Trade cane sugar, kola nuts from Africa, a blend of spices from around the world, and a hint of citrus. “A new product like Caleb’s Kola [from] PepsiCo is an attempt to win back this important young demographic through a smaller craft appeal,” Telford says.
Established players within the craft soda market also are churning out innovations to appeal to consumers. In late 2014, New York-based GuS – Grown-up Soda added a new Blackberry variety
to its line of craft sodas. GuS Dry Blackberry is lightly sweetened with cane sugar and contains
35 percent fewer calories than an average full-calorie soda, the company says. A 12-ounce bottle contains 95 calories and is gluten free, caffeine free, kosher and vegan.
Beyond flavor expansions, craft soda brands are releasing variety packs to encourage experimentation. Inspired by the popularity of variety packs in the craft beer segment, Seattle-based Dry Soda Co. launched a Summer Discovery Pack mixed pack of its three best-selling natural soda flavors last year.
Dry Soda’s Summer Discovery Pack is a 12-pack of 12-ounce slim cans featuring four cans of Dry Vanilla Bean Soda, four cans of Dry Blood Orange Soda, and four cans of Dry Cherry Soda. In addition, the Summer Discovery Pack offers tasting and pairing notes and recipes to encourage consumers to learn more about Dry Soda and to sip, explore and experiment with the flavors for cocktails, mocktails, food pairings and more, it says.
“Recent market insight has shown that millennials are continually looking for new products, new experiences and new flavors, which in turn is leading to the acceptance of more sophisticated beverage flavors,” said Sharelle Klaus, chief executive officer and founder of Dry Soda Co., in a statement. “Through the Discovery Pack, we hope to introduce new customers to Dry Soda, providing them with a unique sipping experience, and to educate them about our brand and how the sodas can be enjoyed — from an everyday beverage option to a cocktail and mocktail enhancer.”
Preparing for the future
Despite new product and packaging innovations, industry analysts still are bearish about the CSD category’s future.
Mintel is anticipating declines for the category through 2019; however, the market research firm says brand owners can embrace functional and marketing tactics to mitigate this prediction. “The category needs to reverse the negative press and better compete with drink categories through functional innovation and new marketing tactics,” Sisel said in the report. “Carbonated soft drink brands may never be able to compete with the health attributes of other beverages and may continue to be blamed for aiding the obesity epidemic. By admitting this and focusing on ways to instead help consumers monitor their consumption or beneficially contribute to consumers’ lifestyles through other attributes, manufacturers can give users new reasons to purchase without reformulating their products.”
Euromonitor’s Telford adds that the market research firm is forecasting a 2 percent decline in volume sales for the category in the 2014 and 2015 timeframe, with dollar sales flat. “Over 2014-19, we are expecting a negative 1 percent [compound annual growth rate] (CAGR) overall but a positive
1 percent CAGR in value sales as the industry adjusts to a lower-volume environment through better-for-you innovations, higher unit prices and an emphasis on single-serve packaging,” he says.


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Honda NSX: Frankfurt 2013 | evo MOTOR SHOWS
Honda NSX 2015 news: http://bit.ly/1embMOS
Honda’s next-generation NSX is currently being developed in the USA, and will be powered by a mid-mounted V6, as well as a pair of front electric motors. Henry Catchpole takes a look around this latest Honda-badged show car at Frankfurt.
See all of out Frankfurt news and videos: http://bit.ly/1egnw5s
Subscribe to evo TV for more videos: http://bit.ly/WpFurP
Register for evo’s weekly newsletter: http://bit.ly/YwSED0


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There’s a lot of thought constantly going into improving the aerodynamics of trucks, but most of the effort goes into the “leading edge” i.e. the cab face.
But improving the airflow down the sides can also make a big difference.
And they aren’t the only ones that can see possible advantages in “slipstreamed” or more aerodynamic mud flaps/splash guards.
A U.S.-based business started by a professional truck driver, Eco Flaps, is marketing splash guards that they say not only work better than traditional plastic/rubber products, but also help you save fuel.
How much fuel? Well, Eco Flaps recently contracted Exa Corporation to complete fluid dynamics on its products and found potential fuel savings of up to 2.7%.
The tests were conducted on a day cab prime-mover with two 28-foot trailers connected by a dolly.
Bren Marshell, vice president of sales for Eco Flaps, says the results speak for themselves.
“The segment of the trucking industry that run with two or three trailers at a time, which includes most LTL carriers, is really limited when it comes to aerodynamic devices.
“Most are designed specifically for single-trailer application,”
“Our recent work with Exa Corporation shows that when Eco Flaps are installed in all flap positions on multiple trailers, drag is reduced significantly, resulting in greater fuel savings and quick ROI.”
The business says that in addition to fuel savings and reduced maintenance, the use of Eco Flaps greatly reduce splash and spray from inclement weather and increase safety on the road.
Check out more details on Eco Flaps on their website.
Stay up to date with all the latest Truck and Bus Industry News at heavyvehicles.com.au.


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Another title in the Winning Post series, and we truly hope that the game titled Winning Post 10 will be just as great as the previous games in the series.
Announced by Koei Tecmo, the next title in the Winning Post series, Winning Post 10, is set to release on March 30th, 2023, in Japan, and it will be available on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Switch and PC (via Switch).
A few years have gone by since the last Winning Post launch, four to be exact. They kept us “dry” for such a long time, but this surprising announcement has made our hearts twinkle a little bit. Plus, it is the 30th anniversary of the release of the first Winning Post title next year.
How do you feel about Winning Post 10? Have you heard anything about the Winning Post series?


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In what has been a tough year on many fronts, there is some very good news regarding women in leadership. A recent Wall Street Journal story says that 41 female CEOs are slated to be running Fortune 500 companies in 2021. That is a new record.
While this is still a relatively low number, it shows progress. The trend is up. Corporations are becoming more and more willing to build a bench of senior female talent, particularly in the retail industry. That makes sense to me because for years, research has shown that it’s the women in the household make those buying decisions. They know what works, so who better to create winning retail strategies than women leaders?
Female retail CEOs include Michelle Gass, Kohl’s Corporation; Lauren Hobert, Dick’s Sporting Goods; Heyward Donigan at Rite Aid; at CVS Health, Karen Lynch.
Jane Stevenson, who leads executive recruiting for Korn Ferry’s global CEO-succession practice believes that the technological and competitive challenges over the last decade have opened the CEO door for leaders with chief merchandising experience. “It’s forced boards to think outside the box and look at where opportunity is being created, and that has an opportunity for women to shine.”
For years I have been a Best Buy fan. The company turned itself around in the 90’s when Corie Barry was Chief Finance Officer. It was a great success story. Not surprisingly, Ms. Barry was promoted to CEO last year.
This business of building a pipeline of female talent has been decades in the making. Promoting them into the C-Suite roles that put them in contention for chief executive is now bearing fruit. Pointing to Jane Fraser at Citi-Goup and Linda Rendle at Clorox Company, Stevenson remarked….”You have to plant and cultivate the seeds to get the crop.” The glass ceiling is fragile now, and apparently getting even more so.
Whether women’s gains will continue at this positive pace is unclear. Yet some see a bright future. Bonnie Gwin, co-managing partner of Heidrick & Struggles global CEO and board practice says that after the pandemic’s initial hits, a longer term view of succession planning is at hand. To thrive, “Many companies are realizing they need to diversify at every level,” says Ms. Gwin, who predicts more women and people of color will see doors opening into major-companies C-Suites in 2021. I hope she is right.
Today, I am celebrating these advances by the talented and deserving women. They have been a long-time coming. May they continue…


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GAITHERSBURG, Md., June 10 -- Optelecom Inc. announced the restructuring of its Paragon AV operating unit, extending plans to reduce costs and boost profitability to the London-based unit.
The company previously announced plans to reduce Paragon's operating cost structure, expand Paragon's product offerings and integrate the unit into the company's global sales and marketing efforts.
The company said it will consolidate Paragon's North American sales initiative into Optelecom's domestic operations. In addition to sales activities on their traditional copper-wire product line, Paragon will begin to support Optelecom's fiber optic product line in Europe, the Middle East and across Africa. Managing Director Michael Weight will continued to lead the revamped unit.


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National Editor Tom KarstIt seems one needs a scorecard to keep track of all the FDA recalls. Below is a Twitter search that provides current tweets on FDA recalls. Of course, you should also bookmark the FDA recall page, found here. One question for readers about food recalls: are all food recalls justified? Should there be "traffic light" grading of recalls - i.e., recalls involving food that has made people sick or recalls involving precautionary recalls where no sicknesses have been reported. Should there be gradations of recalls? Are consumers facing food recall overload?
Twitter search for FDA recalls and traffic light coding
09/01/2012 05:51:00 PM
- UPDATED: Wawona stone fruit recall spurred by Australian tests
- C.H. Robinson sliced apples use regional sourcing
- UPDATED: California crop losses could surpass $800 million
- Applebee’s changes suppliers in wake of E. coli outbreak
- USDA triples emergency water assistance to California
- Round of promotions at D’Arrigo Bros.


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The battle for drugstore and digital healthcare shoppers is underway as the retail pharmacy market consolidates and the big chains race to turn their e-commerce sites and stores into one-stop stores for healthcare services.
CVS Health, with 9,700 drugstores nationwide and its pending acquisition of Aetna Inc., has been the chain making the most moves. In June, CVS Pharmacy, the retail pharmacy division of CVS Health, added additional delivery options for its stores and mobile app. CVS Pharmacy customers nationally can now opt to have their prescriptions delivered to their home, rather than going to the store to pick them up. CVS also rolled out same-day prescription delivery to Boston, Miami, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Washington, DC in addition to New York.
But faced with more competition from CVS and Amazon.com Inc. once it completes its much publicized takeover of digital pharmacy PillPack Inc., Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. is now rolling out its latest online initiative: a digital marketplace of healthcare providers. With the newly developed marketplace, consumers can use desktop and mobile versions of Walgreens.com and the Walgreens mobile app to access Find Care Now.
The Find Care Now marketplace is the latest move by Walgreens, which operates 9,800 drugstores, to turn its e-commerce site into a digital healthcare delivery platform. “We are becoming a healthcare hub,” says Walgreens vice president and director of healthcare innovation Giovanni Monti.
Walgreens is already digitally connected to consumers—at least on the front end. Walgreens, for example, has an advanced e-commerce system that’s increasingly focused on mobile devices. More than 50 million customers have downloaded the Walgreens app, which allows shoppers to submit and refill prescriptions, and the drugstore chain offers online prescription orders and refills at about 8,100 locations in the U.S., the retailer says. About 200 million of the 1 billion prescription orders Walgreens processes each month are completed online. Walgreens’ goal is to turn its substantial e-commerce base and digital drugstore business into a diversified digital healthcare services delivery company.
That’s a strategy Walgreens began pursuing in earnest three years ago. Now, the drugstore chain is adding new digital healthcare delivery services. For example, NewYork-Presbyterian, one of the nation’s largest public health systems, and Walgreens are collaborating to deploy a consumer telehealth program. A patient can use a kiosk in a Walgreens store to go online and connect with an emergency room physician who can provide an exam through a high-definition video-conference connection.
With Find Care Now, users can navigate and search for local and digital healthcare services, with offerings in certain markets as varied as neighborhood healthcare clinics, urgent care, telehealth, lab testing, physician second opinions and even physician house calls and optical and hearing services in select markets, Walgreens says. With Find Care Now, consumers can go online, find providers at a participating health system, schedule and pay for a digital doctor visit or schedule an eye exam at a Walgreens store. Fees range from $55 for the eye exam to $59 for a telehealth session for non-emergency (walk-in clinic) conditions and $89 for an online visit with a behavioral therapist. What services are covered by health insurance are determined by each user’s health plan, Walgreens says.
So far, 17 healthcare systems, hospitals, laboratory testing companies and telehealth services providers are participating in Find Care Now. Health systems and hospitals include: Advocate Health Care, Chicago; Baptist Health, Jacksonville, Florida; Community Health Network, Indianapolis; Florida Hospital, Tampa; NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital in collaboration with Weill Cornell Medicine and Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York; Piedmont Healthcare, Atlanta; Providence St. Joseph Health, including Providence Express Care in Portland, Oregon; Swedish Express Care in Seattle; SSM Health, St. Louis; and The University of Miami Health System, Miami.
Walgreens built Find Care Now based on consumer research and demand for more one-stop healthcare services, a key reason the drugstore chain’s new provider marketplace lets shoppers view cash pricing information and also have the ability to schedule visits or complete virtual consultations in some markets. “Consumers tell us they want new ways to access care,” Monti says.
Walgreens has plans to add more services and healthcare providers to Find Care Now, although the company did not provide any specifics. “Going forward we will make [Find Care Now] richer and more personal,” Monti says.
The drugstore retailer also is counting on its significant base of mobile users to build volume for Find Care Now—the Walgreens mobile app has more than 5 million active users each month and the app has been downloaded more than 50 million times, Walgreens says. “It’s all about making access to healthcare more convenient,” Monti says.
Keep up with latest coverage on digital healthcare by signing up for Internet Health Management News today.Favorite


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Everyday, there seems to be more high profile figures that are becoming users of virtual reality technology. Just this year alone we’ve seen multiple studios and actors working on VR content creation.
Today during an AMA (Ask Me Anything) session with Joseph Gordon-Levitt, he revealed that he’s a big fan of VR. One redditor asked Joseph if he had, “Any thoughts on doing stuff with VR as part of HitRecord.” HitRecord is a creative platform that Jospeh helped build where individuals have the opportunity collaborate on projects together. Joseph responded to that redditor by explaining that he’s wanting to do that one day. He believes that VR technology has an incredible pathway for the future where people can “collaborate art together.”
Joseph Gordon Levitt also mentioned that he has a HTC Vive set up at his house. The HTC Vive is one of the premier headsets in the current VR market. With the growth of this technology, it’s exciting to see so many celebrities embracing virtual reality. Recently, Jon Favreau, actor and executive producer of movies such as Iron Man, released a VR experience called Gnomes & Goblins. We hope to see Joseph Gordon-Levitt create his own VR content soon in the near future.


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A tough stance on China comes at a cost for some. In fact, increasing tensions are doing some damage to Bitcoin mining giant, Bitmain.
According to the South China Morning Post, the tariff could “be a problem for Beijing-headquartered Bitmain, which filed for a Hong Kong stock market listing in September, and is seen as the most exposed among Chinese mining hardware makers to US trade barriers.”
Reclassification Subjects Bitmain to Big Tariffs
Earlier this year, the U.S. categorized Bitmain’s mining hardware, called Antminer S9, as “electrical machinery apparatus” which is subject to a 2.6% tariff.
Before that, the goods were classified as “data processing machine.”
Unfortunately, the reclassification brought the mining hardware under the list of Chinese goods subject to the additional 25% that took effect in August. That means the company now faces tariffs on U.S. shipments of 27.6% from 0%.
In 2017, the Antminer S9 Accounted for Significant Revenue
According to Sanford C. Bernstein, the Antminer S9 accounted for more than half of the company’s $2.5 billion revenue in 2017. In short, this latest news has got to sting.
In addition, as reported by CCN, “According to Sanford C. Bernstein senior analyst Mark Li, the new tariff is likely to make Chinese mining hardware less competitive in relation to those of rivals in other countries. Data from an October report reveals that sales of mining hardware dropped by over 50 percent to $850 million from $1.8 billion reported in the first quarter.”
However, we believe that once tensions fade, high tariffs will fade, too.
Or, at least, the company hopes.
Near-Term Bitmain Returns could take a Hit
The fact that the U.S. accounts for a huge chunk of the sales could see the company returns take a hit. This is because the increase in tariffs will make the hardware expensive.
Competitive threats could damage the company, too. Other miners have come up with efficient miners that consume far less electricity could strip market share, as well. In fact, we’re already seeing a pickup in demand for low electricity miners.
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Cisco is planning to buy femtocell maker Ubiquisys for US$310 million in cash and retention-based incentives, the company announced on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, femtocell maker Ubiquisys announced an agreement with Intel to develop a new generation of small base stations that will allow operators to push content to the edge of their networks.
Chip maker Texas Instruments and femtocell developer Ubiquisys will collaborate on the development of small base stations designed to help operators handle growing data volumes, they said on Wednesday.
Femtocell maker Ubiquisys has developed a new type of small base station for 3G mobile phones that it calls an attocell. Plugged into a laptop PC with Internet access, it allows 3G phones to bypass international roaming charges and make phone calls a...
The wholesale cost of a femtocell has dropped below US$100 and that will help give the sector a boost, femtocell vendor Ubiquisys said on Tuesday.
Operators and telecom equipment vendors are showing a growing interest in small cells, which aim to give users improved coverage and speeds.
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Amazon Freedom Sale 2019 opens for Prime Members at noon today.
Mobile phones will be available with up to 40 percent discount.
Electronics like cameras will be up for grabs with up to 50 percent discount.
Amazon has already announced that it will hold a three-day ‘Amazon Freedom Sale 2019’ from August 8 to August 11, but if you are a Prime Member, you have an edge over general customers. Not only will the e-commerce giant open its gates for Prime Members today at 12pm, it will also offer discounts on a variety of products, including phones, laptops, and cameras, among others. Products that are soon to be launched will also be up for grabs.
Amazon has partnered with SBI Bank to offer a 10 percent instant discount to users who use the bank’s credit cards. The e-commerce giant is also offering EMI options on debit cards. Users can check the availability of this offer on the website itself. Other options include no-cost EMI, and Bajaj Finserv EMI on various products. Those who shop with Amazon Pay UPI are also entitled to a 30 percent cashback (up to Rs 200).
If we look at the category-wise segregation, mobile phones and accessories will be available with up to a 40 percent discount. Phones like the Samsung Galaxy M40, the OnePlus 7 Pro (Review) and the Oppo K3(₹ 19404 at amazon) are likely to see a price cut, whereas some phones will be listed with an extra exchange discount. Other phones with an 'extra discount on exchange offer' include the Oppo Reno(₹ 34989 at amazon), OnePlus 7, Vivo V15, Oppo F11 Pro, and Samsung Galaxy Note 9. Moreover, the Huawei Y9 Prime is also listed as “coming soon” on the Freedom Sale 2019 page.
On other electronics like cameras and accessories, the e-commerce giant is offering up to a 50 percent discount. Other deals include up to 60 percent off on headphones and speakers, and up to Rs 30,000 discount on laptops. Additionally, Amazon devices such as the Fire TV Stick, Kindle, and Echo devices will see up to Rs 5,000 off.
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We are about leadership-the 9.9 kind! Building a leading media company out of India.And,grooming new leaders for this promising industry.


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VTX Holdings, soon be named as NexGen Networks, has announced that they have built the fastest VPN app in the world to provide enhanced browsing speeds and minimal data consumption for users. Notably, the Mobile VPNs offer will include both privacy protection services and geographical masking for customers. With increased speeds, privacy protection and data saving plans which mark a key point of departure from other virtual private networks that are available in the market.
This technology will enable users to access data which was previously unavailable within their area of residence, demonstrating an enhanced user-experience and competitive advantage when browsing the net. Currently, there’s a significant market opportunity for Mobile VPNs service with millions of already active users around the world. This technology has allowed individuals to stream video content previously inaccessible to them because of geographical barriers.
The company continues refining its monetization strategy with more research ongoing to establish an even more convincing offering for both clients and enterprise markets. This downloadable app will go by the initials “NGN,” and shall feature special infrastructure to give customers a range of cutting-edge international networks which can be used at free will. NexGen has also partnered with key network providers around the world, to help with secondary Mobile VPNs connections and relocation of IP addresses for those who are interested in these particular services.
Company director, Keaton Wallace, has said that adding extra features has significantly enhanced target market. Customers continue demanding for the ability of their Mobile VPNs to access foreign content outside the country, and that’s exactly what they get with NGN app. Though there are other virtual private network firms in the industry, none of them provides this level of high performance connectivity with low data consumption.
The key benefit of customers using this Mobile VPNs service would be ability to utilize their privacy settings holistically, without encountering downtime which is usually experienced with such programs. In essence, users would be able to experience better video streaming services with reduced data consumption rate.
NexGen has come up with a cutting-edge software technology that uses modern customized algorithms, all in a bid to optimize data flow between different devices and facilitate faster speeds on the existing hardware systems. The potential of delivering such high quality Mobile VPNs will market this company as the next generation of custom virtual based technologies, given their ability to redirect data through personal proprietary servers. Consequently delivering faster and more efficient data usage plans for users via the available infrastructure system. Due to its immense properties, broadband traffic for countries which will be using this technology is expected to double within the next few years. With it, customers can mask their physical locations and also safeguard privacy by thwarting 3rd parties from tracking their web activities.
This application is set to be launched on November 2015 for Android OS smartphones, and a month later for those which run on iOS. As for now, VTX acquisition of the NexGen Company is still subject to shareholder approval, with firm directors expected to lodge an official Notice of Meeting within the coming few weeks.
Click HERE to find the best VPN provider.


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Resources related to information security, including news and opinion and more on software and application flaws and fixes, data breaches, the inside threat the latest hacker attacks.
Tue, December 10, 2013 - Microsoft has issued five critical security bulletins in December's round of Patch Tuesday
Tue, December 10, 2013 - The Internet Storm Center, an arm of the SANS Technology Institute, has started collecting reports of fake support calls in an attempt to figure out how prevalent the scam is among computer owners.
Tue, December 10, 2013 - An industry consortium featuring some of the biggest names in technology a including Google, Microsoft, Facebook and Reddit a is urging the Obama Administration to support a major overhaul of laws governing electronic surveillance.
Tue, December 10, 2013 - Symantec has downsized their Managed Security Services portfolio, ending support for the managed firewall and managed endpoint offerings. Symantec says the change is part of an effort to streamline things within the company's Information Security portfolio, but what does that mean for existing managed security customers?
Mon, December 09, 2013 - Finjan president explains the inner workings of proactive content security with behavior-based content analysis technology.
Mon, December 09, 2013 - Microsoft, Mozilla and Opera Software today joined Google in revoking rogue digital certificates that had been issued by a subordinate certificate authority (CA) of France's cybersecurity agency.
Mon, December 09, 2013 - Eight of the largest U.S. Internet companies are formally urging the White House and Congress to rein in surveillance by the National Security Agency, a move at least one privacy advocate says will add pressure on Congress to further restrict NSA activity.
Mon, December 09, 2013 - Sometimes, it feels like the only way to have a private conversation these days is to plan for a clandestine meeting out in the desert.
Mon, December 09, 2013 - Most antivirus products aren't detecting the malware, called "INS"
Mon, December 09, 2013 - Those supplying services to cybercriminals are looking for places where they won't be shut down, a security company says
Mon, December 09, 2013 - The ubiquitous warnings about online shopping risks are well founded. As numerous experts are reminding consumers and businesses, the high season for shopping is also the high season for cybercrime.
Mon, December 09, 2013 - Security and flexibility are among several big challenges, experts said
Mon, December 09, 2013 - American and British spy agencies apparently believe there are real-life terrorists lurking among the elves, gnomes and the trolls of online gaming worlds.
Mon, December 09, 2013 - The certificates were used to inspect encrypted traffic on a private network, Google said


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Putting focus on retail and beyond
Planning and innovation will be top of the agenda at the European Logistics & Supply Chain conference next month, when Marisa Schoeman, global demand planning and customer collaboration process director at Diageo, delivers the opening address.
Schoeman will look at improving sales and operations planning, and inventory levels for increased predictability for the organisation. She will also consider whether sales and operation planning and maintaining inventory levels make effective changes to an organisation’s operations.
One of the most eagerly anticipated sections of the conference is the opportunity to hear from winners of the Supply Chain Excellence Awards.
In 2016, Shell won the Manufacturing category. Andreas Muehlich, global IBV + product portfolio manager, will examine how big data and analytics can enable better decision-making in supply chains to maximise the value for the company.
Delegates will also get the opportunity to hear from Rob Wright, head of distribution at pladis Global, which was highly commended in the Environmental category.
Wright will analyse how to improve and strengthen the supply chain by using the use of environmental improvement processes; and what results are gained through environmental improvements.
Simulation and optimisation technologies will come under scrutiny from Professor Terrence Perera, head of international partnerships and development, and professor of computer simulation at Sheffield Hallam University.
He will provide real-life examples to improve supply chain operations; looking at the challenges of working in distribution and changes in supply chain; and consider how simulation and optimisation technologies can help the industry be better.
The impact of shortage of talents in logistics and supply chain is a critical issue for many organisations. Nicole Geerkens, executive officer at the European Logistics Association, will look at how to create bigger awareness on logistics and supply chain functions; and what can be done to ease the shortage on staff.
This will be followed by a panel discussion on talent and training. Geerkens will be joined by Dr Gernot Diehlmann, project manager supply chain transformation director at BASF; and Pauline Bastidon, head of European policy at the Freight Transport Association.
They will focus on job training in organisations; what can employers provide for employees to keep skills up to date; and what will happen after Brexit with workers in the UK or EU?
Emerging markets come under scrutiny at the conference. SPAR International is a leader in developing operations in emerging market and Tom Rose, head of international operations, will examine the opportunities and challenges you need to consider when entering an emerging market and how the supply chains differ.
He will also consider the planning needs and preparation needed before entering a new market; and identify options and considerations for a successful supply chain in an emerging market, from a retail perspective.
The UK’s decision to leave the European Union will have far-reaching consequences for supply chain operations.
Jack Semple, director of policy at the Road Haulage Association, will look at the impact of Brexit exploring the different regulations that the RHA are dealing with for controls, permits, domestic and international haulage. He will look at changes for border and customs control; and identify the impact on workers.
A panel discussion on the issue will see Semple joined by Patrick Van Cauwenberghe, business intelligence director at the Port of Zeebrugge and Professor Samir Dani, professor of logistics and supply chain management at University of Huddersfield.
They will examine how to manage the reduction of workers from the EU and to ensure there are sufficient skilled workers in supply chain, as well as looking at the impact on organisations both large and small.
The second day of the conference will open with a look at global transformation of the supply chain. Patrik Latin, former SVP global supply chain, Sandoz, will examine the challenges and tools required. In particular, he will focus on how predictive analysis and production planning processes help to transform the supply chain.
Forecasting and data management will come under scrutiny from Nicolas Vandeput, University of Brussels. He will focus on the impact of forecast granularity on service level and inventory management and how to overcome the challenges that result.
Dealing with a transformational change in supply chain is a critical issue for many organisations. And the issue will be scrutinised by Dr Gernot Diehlmann, project manager supply chain transformation director at BASF. He will consider the challenges of making a transformation change within the organisation, as well as the drawbacks in the process and how to develop solutions within the supply chain to ensure everything is working efficiently.
Supply chain collaboration has been championed for many years by Professor Alan Waller OBE, chairman of ELUPEG. At the conference, he will examine how horizontal collaboration can bring improved customer service through a better designed strategic supply chain. he will also look at case study pilots to show the success of horizontal collaboration in practice.
Professor Samir Dani of Huddersfield University will consider the challenges involved in managing the food supply chain. He will look at how technology has helped the food industry improve supply chain visibility and give examples of food supply chains which have excelled through having more sustainable practices.
Juan Fernando Ramírez, global customer service and logistics consultant at Heineken will focus on cost to serve and the tools that Heineken has developed to implement this. He will examine the benefits and challenges of using cost to serve and how it can improve customer service and profitability.
Tim Ansell FCILT is with global responsibility for DSI’s Cloud Inventory suit of products. He is responsible for working closely within DSI to continually develop the product to ensure it meets the current future customer requirements.
Professor Samir Dani
Samir Dani is Professor of Logistics and Supply Chain Management and Head of Department at the Huddersfield Business School, University of Huddersfield UK. Professor Dani engages widely with industry and has research interests in supply chain risks, food supply chains, sustainability in supply chains and the use of technology and business models.
Dr Gernot Diehlmann
Dr Gernot Diehlmann has joined BASF group in 1996. He has held leadership positions in inhouse consulting, marketing/sales, business/general management, and supply chain management.
As a construction designer Nicole Geerkens first worked in the construction sector where she soon rolled into purchasing. Changing from the construction to the metal industry showed her the diversity of the job and soon she was responsible for the commodities in stainless steel and aluminium alloys.
A senior pharmaceutical executive with over 25 years of international experience in industry leading multi-national pharmaceutical companies such as Schering-Plough, Teva and Novartis and recently started his own consulting firm LVIS. Bringing depth and breadth of specialist expertise in supply chain, strategic procurement and also general management.
Andreas is responsible for the global Integrated Business Value Programme (IBV) at Shell Lubricants. IBV is Shell’s version of IBP, with a reinforced focus on driving integrated enterprise value.
Prof Terrence Perera
Prof Terrence Perera is head of International partnerships and development, professor of computer simulation, faculty of arts, computing, engineering and sciences at Sheffield Hallam University.
Juan Fernando is global capability lead within the global customer service team at Heineken. He is responsible for the development and roll out of the Cost-to-Serve capability in different Heineken operating companies worldwide.
Tom Rose joined SPAR International in January 2015, heading up the operations team with a focus on enhancing supply chain initiatives within the global SPAR organisation.
Marisa Schoeman joined Diageo in 2011 from Distell where she headed up the demand planning department. Prior to this she has held roles across supply chain in Levi’s, McLaren, ExxonMobil.
Jack Semple joined the Road Haulage Association as director of policy ten years ago, after working as a journalist for most of the preceding 25 years. He was involved the development of HGV road user levy, which was introduced by the UK government in spring 2014 after strong public support from the RHA.
Patrick Van Cauwenberghe
Patrick Van Cauwenberghe started his professional career as staff member in the study department of the National Bank of Belgium. In 1994, he started working in the economics department of the Port of Zeebrugge, managing the ports’ European projects and the port statistics reporting.
Nicolas Vandeput is an independent consultant specialised in supply chain. He is graduated as engineer from the Université Libre de Bruxelle (ULB) and from the Ecole Centrale de Paris (ECP).
Professor Alan Waller
Alan G Waller is vice-president for supply chain innovation at the International Consultancy EFESO Consulting. He is also visiting professor in international supply chain management at Cranfield University School of Management, where he also serves on the International Advisory Board.
Rob is head of distribution for pladis global (formerly United Biscuits). Rob has 37 years experience in Logistics having spent 28 years with his current employer. Rob has managed distribution centres, automated NDC’s, and National and European transport operations. Rob is primarily responsible for transport and distribution throughout the UK.
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP PARTNER
DSI® is the digital supply chain platform company that creates mobile-first and cloud supply chain solutions for the digital economy. We create and deliver world-class technology solutions that enable DSI customers to run their businesses more efficiently, reduce costs and drive growth with extended supply chain visibility.
WHEN AND WHERE
27th Jun 2017 – 28th Jun 2017, Crowne Plaza, Brussels, Belgium


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Speaking with Bloomberg in an interview last Friday, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings revealed that Netflix will test a new, lower-priced tier of its streaming service to potentially boost sales in foreign markets.
That’s basically all there is to know at the moment, as Hastings wouldn’t confirm when the test will take place, which markets would see the lower price tier, or even whether or not the lower price would be permanent. The primary goal of the new tier would be to lure in more Asian subscribers, so there’s no telling if US users (or users in any current market) would see a new, cheaper plan alongside the three plans that Netflix currently offers.
Netflix currently offer three plans: $7.99 a month for a Basic plan with the ability to watch on one screen in standard definition, $10.99 a month for the Standard plan with two screens in HD, and the Premium plan with four screens and Ultra HD resolution video. According to Bloomberg, Netflix executives are currently toying with the idea of a fourth tier which would have different features and cost even less than the Basic plan.
This isn’t the first sign of Netflix increasing its reach throughout Asia. As Bloomberg points out, Netflix announced “17 new shows from five Asian countries” just last week, is developing over 100 film and TV projects in countries such as India and Japan, and even set up a local headquarters in Singapore a few years ago.
“At what point do these guys start saying we need to change our pricing,” Vivek Couto, executive director of Media Partners Asia, told Bloomberg in regards to Netflix growing its footprint with the pricing scheme it has in place. “He’s not going to get 100 million subscribers in India with the current strategy.”
It’s still unclear if this new, cheaper plan will ever see the light of day, but with


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ANYmal does not have an easy life. One of the four-legged robot’s main tasks is to learn how to stand up again — no matter how many times it is kicked, pushed or otherwise tumbles to the ground. A research team from Switzerland’s ETH Zurich University trained ANYmal using reinforcement learning (RL) and published their work last Wednesday.
Each year global automakers, component manufacturers and tech companies flock to Las Vegas to promote their visions of future mobility at the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Synced visited CES 2019 this week to check out new products and chart trends in the mobility market.
At CES 2019 in Las Vegas today Chinese tech giant Baidu introduced Apollo Enterprise, a new suite of customizable autonomous driving and Internet of Vehicles (IoV) solutions for mass production vehicles. The company also released Apollo 3.5, the latest and most sophisticated iteration of its open autonomous driving platform, which now supports complex urban and suburban driving environments.


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Makoni told analysts and journalists at the company Annual General Meeting last week that at peak, the firm’s capacity utilisation was at 75%.
The group has opened branches in Masvingo and Gweru and is expected to open another one before year-end, to bring the branches to eight.
“We have been rolling out (new branches) since the economy was officially dollarised and we have enough stocks and payment is no longer an issue (as customers now pay in a stable currency),” Makoni said. “There are a lot of business merits in opening new branches.”
At its peak, NTS had 16 branches nationwide, but closed 12 owing to the economic meltdown in 2008.
Makoni said with the company beginning to turn around its fortunes, it intends to reopen more closed branches.
NTS is a manufacturer of retreated tyre, tread rubber, rubber moulded products, distributors of Dunlop and major brands, including sole agency for Yokohama tyres, suppliers of accessories for motor vehicles as well as tyre fitting/wheel alignment services.
Makoni said NTS was 13% ahead on budget and was on course to meet the US$9 million year end turnover forecast.
“We have chosen to drive volumes rather than margins and had banked on an expanded branch network,” he said
Tyre units in the four months to July was 15 000 against a targeted 33 000 during the financial year ending December 2010.
Makoni said they were facing competition not only from the region but from as far as China.
Last month, the Labour Court dismissed an application by NTS workers who were challenging the decision by their employer to rescind an earlier decision to retrench them.
NTS abandoned its decision to lay off 115 employees upon realising that it would cost them more in retrenchment packages than to retain them.
The employees wanted the court to confirm their retrenchment, which apparently had been shelved by the employer.
In his judgment, Labour Court President Godfrey Musariri said it was the employer’s prerogative to retrench or not to.
“Applicants (employees) disagree with the observation that respondent (NTS) had the option to keep them on their payroll,” Musariri said. “Their position was that once the Minister of Labour and Social Welfare approved their proposed retrenchment, NTS had no choice but to pay them the retrenchment packages. I disagree as evidently appears from my observations in question. The minister does not do the retrenchment. It is proposed by the employer, approved by the minister and then done by the employer.”


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NEW YORK ( TheStreet) -- Gildan Activewear (NYSE: GIL) hit a new 52-week high Wednesday as it is currently trading at $36.79, above its previous 52-week high of $36.09 with 339,420 shares traded as of 10:31 a.m. ET. Average volume has been 521,300 shares over the past 30 days. Gildan Activewear has a market cap of $4.3 billion and is part of the consumer goods sector and consumer non-durables industry. Shares are up 25.2% year to date as of the close of trading on Tuesday. Gildan Activewear Inc. manufactures and sells T-shirts, activewear, underwear, and socks to wholesale screen printers, embroiderers, and retailers in North America, Europe, and internationally. It sells T-shirts, fleece, and sport shirts under the Gildan brand name. The company has a P/E ratio of 21, below the average consumer non-durables industry P/E ratio of 21.1 and above the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 16.3.
- Practice your GIL trading strategies and win cash in our stock game.


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A number of unannounced devices currently being developed by Research In Motion have been revealed by the alpha software included on the developer preview phone the vendor distributed last week. BlackBerry watcher N4BB discovered a number of code-names referencing unannounced BlackBerry devices in RIM’s BlackBerry 10 alpha software, several of which are expected to run the Waterloo, Ontario-based vendor’s next-generation BlackBerry 10 operating system when they launch in the future. Among the devices referenced are the Colt, RIM’s developer phone that will not be made available to the public, and the London, which is expected to launch in October as the first BlackBerry 10 phone. Other devices referenced in RIM’s BlackBerry 10 alpha code are the Blackforest, thought to be a 10-inch PlayBook tablet, as well as the Nevada, Naples and Nashville, all thought to be upcoming BlackBerry 10 smartphones. More →
Microsoft has hired 14 Yahoo researchers for its brand new New York research lab, AllThingsD reported. The hires come after Yahoo made significant layoffs last month to its research and development unit. According to Jennifer Chayes, who manages Microsoft Research in New England and New York, the researchers were’t hired as a package deal. “I don’t feel like we hired a group; I feel like we hired 15 amazing individuals, some of which became available because there were some problems at Yahoo,” she said. The software giant has an extensive research division that includes some 850 Ph.Ds, and the New York City lab will be the company’s 13th global office. More →
A group of developers in Russia recently launched the “HackStore,” a centralized location for third-party OS X applications. Like Cydia on iOS, the HackStore is a software hub that allows developers to distribute applications without having to endure Apple’s approval process. The developers behind the project claim that piracy will not be tolerated in their app store, though it is unclear exactly what measures they are taking to prevent pirated software from being distributed through the HackStore. “The biggest Mac Appstore problem is that they limit their users in everything, without giving an opportunity to expand these limits,” HackStore’s creators wrote on their website. “This is not correct, because ONLY users should decide which applications they should install and which one do not. We think HackStore [will] break through the narrow confines of Mac Appstore.” More →
Google co-founder Sergey Brin said during an interview published on Sunday that Apple and Facebook pose serious threats to Internet freedom because of their closed approaches to software. While speaking with The Guardian, Brin said there are “very powerful forces that have lined up against the open Internet on all sides and around the world. I am more worried than I have been in the past. It’s scary.” The executive pointed to the “walled-garden” philosophy that sees companies like Apple and Facebook maintain tight control over third-party software on their respective platforms as the cause for his concerns. Read on for more. More →
Researchers at Microsoft have created software that can translate a user’s voice into a foreign languages, a solution with the potential to revolutionize communications, MIT’s Technology Review reported on Monday. “We will be able to do quite a few scenario applications,” said Microsoft researcher Frank Soong. “For a monolingual speaker traveling in a foreign country, we’ll do speech recognition followed by translation, followed by the final text to speech output [in] a different language, but still in his own voice.” Read on for more. More →
Google is developing a home-entertainment system to stream music wirelessly throughout a users’ houses, The Wall Street Journal reports. The device will be Google-branded, marking a first for the search giant which historically develops software it then licenses to outside vendors. The system will most likely be Android-powered and will allow users to download music and stream it to Google-made speakers or other Web-connected devices in a home or office. The system may also be able to stream other digital media beyond just music. Apple, one of Google’s main rivals, has long developed both the hardware and software for its products. With its pending acquisition of Motorola Mobility, Google is looking to make waves in the hardware sector as well, and this new home entertainment solution could be one of the first own-brand devices to launch following the approval of Google’s Motorola buy, which is expected to come next week. The Android-powered entertainment system will reportedly be available later this year. More →
Yesterday it was revealed that the popular social networking app Path was uploading entire iPhone address books to the company’s server. The data uploaded included full names, phone numbers and email addresses, and the app uploaded all this data without ever asking for permission. Dave Morin, Path’s co-founder and CEO, admitted fault on Wednesday through the company’s website and announced an update to allow users to either opt in or out of the contact collection feature. “We believe you should have control when it comes to sharing your personal information. We also believe that actions speak louder than words,” Morin said. “So, as a clear signal of our commitment to your privacy, we’ve deleted the entire collection of user uploaded contact information from our servers. Your trust matters to us and we want you to feel completely in control of your information on Path.” The company maintains that when data is transmitted to its servers, it is always sent securely through an encrypted connection and protected by industry-standard firewalls. More →
Path, the popular social network that competes with the likes of Instagram, may be uploading your iPhone’s entire address book up to its servers. Arun Thampi from mclov.in noticed the Path app’s steal data dump while trying to create a Mac OS X application for the social network during a hackathon. “Upon inspecting closer, I noticed that my entire address book (including full names, emails and phone numbers) was being sent as a plist to Path,” Thampi said, noting that Path didn’t ever ask for permission to do so. It’s unclear why Path is uploading the iPhone’s entire address book, but Thampi noticed that the social network performs the action during an API call with basic HTTP authentication. It remains unclear if Path’s Android application is also guilty of uploading personal information. Thampi has instructions on how to catch Path in the action on his blog.
UPDATE: A response from Path’s CEO follows after the break. More →
Apple on Tuesday announced a major update to its Final Cut Pro X video editing software. The company added “multicam editing that automatically syncs up to 64 angles of video and photos; advanced chroma keying for handling complex adjustments right in the app; and enhanced XML for a richer interchange with third party apps and plug-ins that support the fast growing Final Cut Pro X ecosystem.” The Final Cut Pro v10.0.3 update is available now and is free for all existing Final Cut Pro X users. New users can purchase the software from Apple’s Mac App Store for $299.99 after a 30-day free trial. Apple’s full press release follows after the break. More →
Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango) currently offers support for 35 different languages, however Microsoft may be planning to add an additional 85 languages in the next Windows Phone Tango update. The new version of Windows Phone, codenamed Tango, is expected to better cater to emerging markets, which will help Microsoft and its Windows Phone partners expand the platform globally. WPSauce, the source of the rumor, said that Microsoft announced the added language support during an event in India where the company also noted that future Windows Phone updates will support C++. It remains unclear when the Redmond-based company plans to release Windows Phone Tango. More →
Nokia said on Twitter Wednesday that a second software update will roll out to Lumia 800 devices over the next two weeks. It is largely expected that the update will help fix the poor battery life that has plagued some, but not all, Lumia 800 users. Nokia has already addressed the battery issue, which limits the capacity of the battery, and has even recommended that those with the problem send their devices in for replacement phones. More →
Research In Motion is reportedly working toward a major transition that will see the company begin licensing its BlackBerry software to third-party vendors including Samsung and HTC. In a recent research note, Jefferies & Company analyst Peter Misek wrote that his checks confirmed earlier reports that Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie will soon be removed from their roles as co-chairmen. The analyst says current board member Barbara Stymiest is indeed the front-runner to replace the pair, and he calls her one of the top executives in Canada. “We believe she will initiate a formal strategic review, possibly trim costs in the hardware business, and possibly announce additional partnerships,” Misek wrote. Read on for more. More →
Sprint announced Thursday that it is releasing the Android 3.2.1 (Honeycomb) update for irs HTC EVO View 4G tablet. The slate originally launched running Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), an operating system designed for smartphones. The update includes a new “virtual and holographic user interface,” as well as the following changes:
- Physical Hard keys replaced with on screen Soft keys
- New Google search, available on every page
- System Bar: Quick access to notifications, status, and soft navigation buttons available at the bottom of the screen
- Notifications menu moved to the bottom right corner of the screen, on the System Bar.
- The Action Bar—which can be accessed by touching the Plus Sign icon at the top right of the screen—is the key to contextual, changing menus that are controlled by each application.
- Enhanced security including Sprint Data Link and 3LM
Sprint said that it fixed Google video chat on the tablet and that Bluetooth should now work while the EVO View 4G is in airplane mode. The carrier also warned that “due to the unique structure of the Honeycomb layout, your personalized widgets and screen setup will not remain after the upgrade. The device will revert to the out-of-box home screen layout. Wallpapers, widgets, and application shortcuts that have been personalized will need to be re-established.” More →


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Commonly prescribed anti-depressants appear to be doing patients more harm than good, say researchers who have published a paper examining the impact of the medications on the entire body.
Posts tagged depression.
“According to a recent study headed by scientists from the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and the University of Granada, eating commercial baked goods (fairy cakes, croissants, doughnuts, etc.) and fast food (hamburgers, hotdogs and pizza) is linked to depression.
Published in the Public Health Nutrition journal, the results reveal that consumers of fast food, compared to those who eat little or none, are 51% more likely to develop depression.
Furthermore, a dose-response relationship was observed. In other words this means that “the more fast food you consume, the greater the risk of depression,” explains Almudena Sánchez-Villegas, lead author of the study, to SINC.
The study demonstrates that those participants who eat the most fast food and commercial baked goods are more likely to be single, less active and have poor dietary habits, which include eating less fruit, nuts, fish, vegetables and olive oil. Smoking and working more than 45 hours per week are other prevalent characteristics of this group.”
Ever since puberty, ever since I was 11 or 12, I’ve had cyclical depression. That’s something that has been a defining feature of my life as an adult. It’s manageable. But it’s real. And it doesn’t take away from my joy or my work or my energy, but coping with depression is something that is part of the everyday way that I live and have lived for as long as I can remember. … Depression for me, you can’t distract your way out of it. … When you are depressed, it’s like the rest of the world is the mother ship, and you’re out there on a little pod and your line gets cut and you don’t connect with anything. You sort of disappear.
"In people with depression, brain regions appear to be overly connected to one another, says the study, which is being published by UCLA’s Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. In turn, this excessive connectivity reduces the flexibility the brain needs to function properly."


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Following the directives and efforts of the Government of Saudi Arabia to safeguard its citizens and residents in the Kingdom, Fawaz Abdulaziz Alhokair Co. (Alhokair Fashion Retail) has announced that it will reopen its fashion and other retail units effective Wednesday, April 29.
The company said that the health and safety of its customers and employees continue to be of paramount importance and that it is working to ensure the cleanliness and sterilisation of its stores in readiness for reopening.
Stores reopening in shopping centres will be open from 9.30 am to 4.30pm daily, and the company’s food and beverage outlets will remain available through mobile apps for delivery from 3.00pm to 3.00am. A smaller number of retail units that operate in street locations have already reopened.
“Fawaz Abdulaziz Al Hokair wants to thank the authorities and the Ministry of Health for its efforts and actions in creating such favourable conditions to enable us to resume our business operations ahead of most countries,” says Marwan Moukarzel, CEO of Fawaz Abdulaziz Al Hokair.
“In preparation for the opening, we are working closely with our partners to ensure the highest standards of health and safety are in place. During the ongoing crisis, the safety of our customers and staff has been our priority, and we look forward to welcoming our customers back to enjoy shopping during the Holy Month of Ramadan.
“We would request our customers to please take note of the Government’s health and safety precautions to wear a mask and gloves and to ensure appropriate social distancing is observed while shopping.”
As part of the ongoing measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and as part of the reopening programme, no refund or exchange of goods will be permitted during this period; changing rooms will always be closed and contactless payments by credit or debit card are encouraged.
Fawaz Abdulaziz Al Hokair operates 1,550 stores across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.