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Will the advertising boost revenue?
Facebook is getting ready to test “mid-roll” video advertising, this is where an advert is played at the end of a video.
One analyst has said the ads will probably be used first by professional publishers.
So far, the social media giant has resisted using “pre-roll” ads, the ones that play at the beginning of a video.
Publishers would get 55 per cent of the revenue from the ad sales, this is according to tech site Recode.
Eleni Marouli, at analyst company IHS Markit, told the BBC: “Advertisers are super keen on video advertising,”
“If Facebook wants those TV ad dollars, they have to invest more in video.”
Marouli also stated that this type of advertising would not necessarily ruin a person’s experience whilst watching a video on Facebook, although it would be up to the social network to decide how long adverts are.
Facebook declined to comment.


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Major airlines have hiked prices for air freight including medical equipment shipped from China to Britain as passenger numbers dwindle due to coronavirus-related travel restrictions.
The price of sending goods from Shanghai to Heathrow has risen 35.2pc over the past week, and 58.3pc this month, according to data collected by TAC Index, a Hong Kong-based air cargo pricing data company.
A backlog of orders for ocean shipping, which were delayed by Chinese New Year and its extension due to Covid-19, has forced many companies to resort to sending goods in the belly holds of planes, capacity for which has been reduced due to the withdrawal of passenger flights. John Peyton Burnett, managing director of TAC Index, said he expected next week’s price data to reveal another surge.
“About 97pc of the world’s cargo goes by sea containers and 3pc by air, but the dollar value by revenue is about 60pc/40pc in favour of sea,” he said. “You just need a small number of conversions to make a huge impact on air, which is generally expensive and now ridiculously expensive.
“Ours is a $70bn-$100bn market and usually 50pc of the world’s capacity goes in the hold of passenger planes. There’s just not enough capacity and that’s what’s driving the rates up.”
Ian Mallon, managing director of Cheshire-based Neon Freight, said: “Air freight prices were $3-$4 a kilogram from the Far East to the UK and now they’re $8.50 a kilo. There is an element of people taking the p—.
“We’re trying to bring in some personal protective equipment from the Sichuan province for this new hospital in London. It’s either consumers or the Government [who will bear the cost].”
Glyn Hughes, head of cargo at the International Air Transport Association, said it was working with states to keep borders open for cargo-only operations to increase capacity, which in turn would reduce freight rates.
However, repurposing 300-seat passenger planes and ensuring they had cargo with which to return east was time consuming, he said: “Sometimes they’re securing the cargo on seats.”
The pharmaceuticals and medical devices sector was the second-most negatively affected sector by coronavirus-induced disruption to international trade, according to a survey by the Institute of Directors (IoD).
Allie Renison, head of EU and trade policy at the IoD, recommended that policymakers work with other governments to ensure the UK is exempt from export restrictions on key equipment.
Charles Schlumberger, lead air transport specialist at the World Bank, said: “Airlines are going bankrupt. What states can do is subsidise certain urgent medical cargo.” Rising cargo charges come as airlines hoard cash owed to customers affected by the pandemic.
Analysts estimate IAG, which includes British Airways, is sitting on roughly £6.5bn of customer cash for future bookings – although some of this may be withheld by credit card companies. It also may relate to flights due to take off after the current restrictions are lifted. Airlines must refund passengers on a cancelled flight by law.
Emirates is only offering passengers vouchers that can be turned into cash in a year’s time. Virgin Atlantic warned customers may have to wait 90 days. Tui, the world’s biggest travel agent, asked travellers to wait for the company to get in touch over refunds for recently cancelled journeys.
The company was bailed out by the German government on Friday.
Rory Boland, of Which?, said: “Despite travel restrictions being in place around the globe, passengers who booked flights before this outbreak began that have not yet been cancelled are now left trapped between a rock and a hard place – unable to fly while also being denied a refund.”

domain: news


text: The Vanier Community Services Centre (Vanier CSC) invites you to the 18th edition of the Snowflake Breakfast on Dec. 1 from 7 to 10 am. The Snowflake Breakfast marks the launch of holiday activities in the Vanier community, coinciding with their goal of fundraising $45,000. Due to current food insecurity, increased by the pandemic and the inflation rate, the Vanier CSC is working tirelessly to meet the urgent food needs of Partage Vanier Food Bank users. They are currently experiencing a 30 per cent increase in the number of users. Today more than ever, Partage Vanier needs your ongoing support! Tickets and breakfast boxes will be available for purchase at the following web site: www.snowflakebreakfast.com. The purchase deadline for purchasing Breakfast Boxes is Nov. 27 at 5 pm.


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HubSpot unveils two new AI-powered tools to help customers
Content Assistant and ChatSpot.ai help teams work faster and easier, the company says.
This week HubSpot announced the launch of two new tools powered by artificial intelligence (AI) to "help its customers save time while creating better connections with their audiences". The two new tools are n... Read more
‘Companies fail to meet customer service expectations’
A new report by Zendesk indicates that customers are generally dissatisfied with companies' customer service. Organizations need to offer exceptional customer service in to meet expectations. Zendesk suggests a balance between human contact and automation.
The report indicates that expectations... Read more
Zendesk investor Light Street aims to block acquisition and oust CEO
A significant Zendesk stakeholder intends to fight a prospective acquisition and proposed a billion-dollar alternative to keep the business apart.
Zendesk recently announced it would be acquired by a consortium of investors. Light Street, one of its major stakeholders, has announced it will vote... Read more
ServiceNow integrates Qualtrics Embedded Insights for customer service
ServiceNow and Qualtrics launched a new app that improves the experience of IT and customer service professionals.
According to Qualtrics and ServiceNow, About 80 percent of IT professionals waste more than 10 percent of their office hours on finding tech inefficiencies. The stats indicate the ... Read more
Customer problems are solved better and faster with AI
An unsatisfied customer is, at best, a prospect. However, you will have to move heaven and earth to retain such a customer. One of the ways to prevent dissatisfaction is to solve customer problems quickly. Using automation to solve customer problems will help you solve disputes earlier and better. ... Read more
Pegasystems introduces AI-based voice and messaging tools
Pegasystems is introducing two AI-based tools for call centers. Pega Voice AI and Messaging AI analyze real-time customer calls to automate service and support operations.
Both solutions were designed to improve up call efficiency and service. According to Pegasystems, the AI-based solutions fun... Read more
Salesforce Service Cloud Voice brings telephony and CRM together
Salesforce Service Cloud Voice is now available in many European countries. With this new service, Salesforce integrates its CRM solution into telephone customer service systems. Two silos that used to work side by side are now combined to provide a better customer experience.
We spoke to Salesf... Read more
Blue Prism Announces Service Assist to automate contact centers
The solution offers AI-integration ready automation to boost performance and reduce costs.
Blue Prism has announced the availability of Blue Prism Service Assist. This is a solution aimed at automating next generation contact center operations.
The new product "delivers a real-time, unified ... Read more
Zendesk introduces a new dashboard for real-time data presentation
Zendesk has recently been offering their clients the ability to track customer service statistics. However, they just announced a new product that they are calling Explore Enterprise. It will allow the customers to capture valuable information in real-time and share it with anyone who has proper ac... Read more
Amazon tests AI customer service in webshop
With millions of customers on Amazon.com, it's not surprising that AWS invests heavily in AI technology to make it easier to offer services to customers. At Amazon.com, two AI-supported service assistants are currently being tested to see whether AI can also be used efficiently for this purpose.
... Read more


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Tata Motors ended months of speculation yesterday when it agreed to buy Land Rover and Jaguar for just $2.3bn (£1.15bn) in a deal that gives short-term security for 16,000 workers at the luxury marques.
The final price – less than half what Ford had paid for the companies, not to mention the billions it pumped into them over its two decades of ownership – was a reflection of how far the companies have fallen under the American giant's stewardship. So desperate was Ford to rid itself of the struggling brands that it agreed to inject $600m into the pension funds to seal the deal. It will also continue to supply components and technology, and provide financing, through its credit arm, to dealers and customers for up to a year to see through the transfer of ownership.
The deal won the immediate approval of the Government and unions, who had worried about massive job losses. Roger Maddison, of the union Unite, said: "Today's deal is really good news for the UK automotive industry and the thousands of people who work for Land Rover, Jaguar and its supply chain." The union said it had secured from Tata written agreements on staffing levels and terms for all five of the companies' UK plants. "The sale ensures our members' futures and we look forward to working with Tata," Mr Maddison said.
Analysts were sceptical of the soothing messages dispensed yesterday by Ratan Tata, head of the all-consuming Indian conglomerate whose other companies include UK icons Tetley Tea and the former British Steel. "There is no way Tata can keep those jobs in the UK other than for a brief courtesy period, and that's assembly line and supplier jobs. They have to go to India," said Krish Bhaskar, automotive consultant at the Motor Industry Research Unit. "It's very sad, but those are the economic facts."
America is the world's largest car market, and given the strength of the pound against the dollar the cost of production in the UK made it very hard for either Land Rover or Jaguar to make money and led to years of value destruction for Ford.
Land Rover is understood to be turning a modest profit. Jaguar is another story, racking up billions of pounds in losses over the years, losses that the ailing American giant is less and less able to shoulder.
Industry experts were also asking yesterday just what Tata's long-term plans for the marques would be. Many questioned how well the acquisition would fit with Tata's strategy, until now at least, of making cars for the developing world. The company launched the world's cheapest mass-produced car, the £1,250 Nano, earlier this year.
Tom Donnelly, a professor of Automotive Business at Coventry Business School, said that even if Tata does move some production offshore eventually, it would likely do so on a "complete knock-down" basis, under which most of the guts of the car are made in the UK – allowing it to keep its "Made in Britain" label and the cache that goes along with it – but assembled overseas.
Some of the problems that have plagued Jaguar can be laid squarely at the door of Ford. For example, the company used the body model of its Mondeo saloon, a mid-market family car, as the basis for Jaguar's X-Type. Mr Donnelly said: "The car looked like a very expensive Mondeo. They just can't afford to do that."
When the X-Type was launched, Jaguar spoke hopefully of generating annual sales of up to 200,000 cars per year and beyond. Last year, it moved just over 60,000, a drop of nearly a fifth from the previous year. The success of its new XF model, launched earlier this year, is critical to its near-term health and how quickly Tata will be able to turn it around. Early reviews have been positive.
For Land Rover, the problems are equally daunting. Its gas-guzzling sports utility vehicles are facing increasingly stringent fuel-efficiency requirements from the European Commission and US regulators. And recent changes to the tax code will mean that new buyers will have to pay a punitive tax.
They are problems that Ford will gladly be rid of.
Budget cars to luxury brands and everything in between
How, Ratan Tata was asked just two months ago, could his company launch a budget car such as the £1,250 Nano while bidding for a luxury brand such as Jaguar or Land Rover.
Mr Tata, 67, was too much of a gentleman to say so, but it was clear he did not think much of the journalist's question. "If you take Unilever, they may make a soap in Africa for the masses and they may make a high-class cosmetic product in the UK and that high-end cosmetic product has its own brand equity," he responded.
Yesterday Mr Tata saw his wish fulfilled by securing the two luxury marques. The great-grandson of Jamsedji Tata, the founder of Tata Group, he heads the largest private company in India, a business that operates in 85 countries. Its annual sales total around £9bn. A year ago it bought UK-based Corus steel, to create the fifth-largest steel concern in the world.
As head of a business whose interests range from tea to trucks and hotels, Ratan Tata is revered by Indians as a national icon. Unflashy and discreet, he has built a reputation as a businessman who is interested in making money but who is interested in other things as well.
When he unveiled the Nano car earlier this year, his supporters announced that here was a man who intended to solve middle-class Indians' transportation needs.
Such reverence has always been attached to the family. When his great-grandfather established Tata in the 1860s, he insisted on workers' conditions that were unheard of elsewhere around the world – eight-hour working days, a pension fund and housing. This earned the family a reputation for fairness that still holds true. Indeed, more than 60 per cent of the Tata Group is owned by charitable trusts which contribute around £200m to good causes.
At Jamshedpur, the city named after Jamsedji Tata, workers at the company's steel plant receive cut-price housing and free health care, education for their children and water. Even electricity is subsidised.
But not everything is so rosy. In the state of West Bengal, there has been a long battle from farmers who say they were evicted from their land to erect the plant that will build the Nano. There were clashes between farmers and police after the 1,000-acre site was fenced off. Protesters said they had not been fairly compensated or had been given no choice. Tata denied the claims.
Andrew Buncombe in DelhiReuse content


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Apple on Tuesday redirected some of the tech spotlight away from CES and onto itself when it announced some remarkable numbers regarding the economics of its ever-popular App Store.
Because the App Store is typically associated with low-cost and freemium apps, it's easy to forget the scale to which the App Store is an absolute and unrivaled money-making machine.
To date, Apple has paid out US$15 billion to developers. That's a colossal figure no matter how you look at it, but it's all the more impressive when you consider that more than half of it was paid out in 2013 alone.
In January of 2013, Apple indicated that it had cumulatively paid developers $7 billion. By January of 2014, that figure rose to $15 billion. The takeaway from these figures is astounding: During the last calendar year, Apple more than doubled the cumulative amount paid to developers during the preceding 4.5 years combined.
Analysts can talk all they want about the potential for a slowdown in iOS sales, but it's hard to argue with cold, hard data that makes it abundantly clear that the App Store continues to experience absolutely explosive growth.
From January 2013 to January 2014, Apple paid out $8 billion to developers. That comes out to $21.91 million in developer payouts every single day.
To add some historical context, below is a chart and listing of Apple payouts to developers over time. Note that it took Apple nearly two whole years to reach its first $1 billion threshold.
Cumulative Apple payouts to developers
July 2008 - App Store opens for business
June 2010 - $1 billion
July 2011 - $2.5 billion
January 2012 - $4 billion
June 2012 - $5 billion
January 2013 - $7 billion
June 2013 - $10 billion
October 2013 - $13 billion
January 2014 - $15 billion


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Grocery stores in Utah — and beyond — are limiting the amount of beef, chicken and pork customers can buy in a single shopping trip, hoping to maintain a steady supply and preventing the panic-buying that happened with toilet paper and hand sanitizer.
The rationing comes after some of the largest slaughterhouses and processing plants across the country have been forced to close or slow production because of coronavirus outbreaks among workers.
The circumstances mean less selection and higher prices, said Dave Davis, president of the Utah Food Industry Association. “But there is not a shortage of meat, unless we have a situation like toilet paper and consumers create it.”
Davis said while the U.S. supply chain is robust, it is not built to handle a 200% jump in any one category — which happened with certain items in March.
While there should be meat in the stores, he said, consumers need to be “flexible with their tastes and choices" because what is available “may not be the exact kind or packaging you have seen in the past.”
Grocery stores are being proactive. Several already have started limiting the number of meat items consumers can buy.
There are limits on fresh pork and chicken at Smith’s Food and Drug stores, said corporate affairs manager Aubriana Martindale.
“There is plenty of protein in the supply chain; however, some processors are experiencing challenges," she said. “We feel good about our ability to maintain a broad assortment of meat and seafood for our customers because we purchase protein from a diverse network of suppliers."
Costco also has slapped limits on protein purchases.
“Fresh meat purchases are temporarily limited to a total of three items per member among the beef, pork and poultry products,” the company has posted on its website. The big-box store says it has implemented limits on certain items “to help ensure more members are able to purchase merchandise they want and need.”
Meat availability might be worse if not for record amounts of meat in cold storage, originally intended for restaurants that had been closed to sit-down service.
In late March, the U.S. Department of Agriculture eased restrictions to allow for meat that had been intended for commercial food use to be diverted into grocery store channels for consumers. The industry sought these changes after brief meat shortages caused by the coronavirus panic sent shoppers scurrying to stores.
The USDA last week reported 921 million pounds of chicken in storage and 467 million pounds of boneless beef, including hamburger, roasts and steaks. Before much of that meat could be sold at markets, it would need to be repackaged because restaurants buy in greater bulk than individuals. Some of the meat would need to be cut in grocery stores and packaged for customers to take home.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said Congress is considering other ways to help.
“Fortunately, we’re still in pretty good shape in Utah as far as our availability of meat and consumer access to it," he said. "But there are some warning signs that a number of people have been pointing to, indicating that that supply chain could be in tough shape.”
He said lawmakers were debating whether to waive requirements that the USDA inspect every article of meat before it is sold commercially, instead allowing state authorities to certify meat supplies, at least for the duration of the pandemic.
The Utah Department of Agriculture and Food also has stepped forward. Last week, it asked custom meat plants in the state to help farmers and ranchers reduce the large numbers of livestock waiting to be slaughtered and processed.
“We have invited the 10 qualifying custom-exempt slaughter establishments in Utah to come under official inspection by UDAF, which will allow them to handle animals that are intended for commercial sale,” Agricultural Commissioner Logan Wilde said in a news release.
Custom-exempt plants typically slaughter animals for private individuals only for noncommercial use, Wilde explained. If all the custom-exempt plants take part in this program, it could boost Utah’s processing capacity by at least 10%.
While animal-processing backlogs are not nearly as serious in Utah as other parts of the country, many of the inspected facilities have cut back their hours to limit employee exposure to COVID-19. Fewer animals are being processed, which is starting to result in a lack of feed and land for the stockpile of livestock.
“By taking this unprecedented step,” Wilde said. “we are trying to avoid having animals euthanized and not processed for meat, which is what is happening in some parts of the country.”
Meat processed by the custom-exempt facilities temporarily under state inspection can be sold only in Utah. The meat, however, can be sold to grocery stores, restaurants or directly to end users, which may also alleviate potential shortages.
“We’re grateful that when we do have the opportunity to go to stores here in Utah, the grocery stores and other stores, we still find stocked shelves," Derek Miller, CEO and president of the Salt Lake Chamber, said last week. "I cannot imagine anything that would cause more fear or panic than if went to a grocery store and were not able to find food.”
The Utah Department of Health is working with the Economic Development Corporation of Utah to identify employees who need COVID-19 testing in high-risk industries and critical infrastructure — largely in power plants and mining, but also in food production and other fields.
Nate Checketts, the health department’s deputy director, said Monday his agency aims to start testing about 3,500 employees by week’s end.
— Tribune reporters Tony Semerad and Sean P. Means, along with The Associated Press, contributed to this report.


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At the recently-concluded Demo Day by Y-Combinator, 12 startups from India pitched their ideas to select-investors and venture capitalists from the Silicon Valley. Out of the 12, only 10 are publicly disclosed - MyPetrolPump, Lokal, Vahan, Khabri, Wingman (String.ai), Digi-Prex, Mela, Nonu, GreenTiger and Binks. The other two startups are under wraps for now.
The interviews, which happened in Bengaluru, was the first time that YC conducted its interviews out of California. The interviews were conducted by Adora Cheung, ex-founder of San Francisco-based Homejoy, and a partner at Y-Combinator, who stayed in Bengaluru for a month to conduct 140 interviews at Meesho's office.
According to the statistics slide-shared by Vinod Shankar, Venture Capitalist at K-Start India, 174 companies applied to Y-Combinator's recent summer batch from 27 countries. Interestingly, 38 percent of these companies are outside of the United States, 27.5 percent of the founders are women, and 5.7 percent are only India-based companies.
Wingman - Listens to sales calls and recommends the representatives to close deals better and quicker.
Lokal - Online news app for the 900 million non-English speaking users of India.
Khabri - Podcast-streaming app that offers podcasts in 100 Indian languages.
Nonu - Hair loss prevention kits on subscription.
GreenTiger - Allows users to trade the stock market from the United States with zero commission.
Binks - Tailor-made clothing and fitting for Indian women using computer vision and photographs.
Digi-Prex - Online pharmacy for Indian patients with chronic diseases
Mela - E-commerce platform for group buying and shopping for Indians through WhatsApp and Facebook.
Vahan - Helps on-demand startups and companies hire human resources through WhatsApp.
MyPetrolPump - Fuel-delivery for Indian B2B space.
Y-Combinator is a seed accelerator, also called an IIT for startups by Shashank Kumar, CTO and Co-founder of Razorpay, which is based out of Mountain View, California.
As per its new model, twice a year, YC invests a small amount of money ($150,000) in a large number of startups. The startups move to Silicon Valley for three months during which they work intensively with YC. The objective is to get these startups into the best possible shape and refine their pitch to investors.
The Demo Day of YC, or popularly called the D-Day within the Valley, happens during March and August of every year. The Demo Day for the summer '19 batch happened on August 19 and 20. Interviews for the winter batch for this year happened in Israel.
These cycles halt on Demo Day when the startups present their pitch to a selected and invite-only audience.
(Edited by Megha Reddy)


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Smart Coin is the featured free app within the Apple Store iOS app.
Category “App Store”
Stream Web is a new web browser for iOS that gives you a full screen view of webpages and uses swiping for navigation.
Facebook has updated its iOS app, alongside Messenger and Paper with new features.
Flickr has released version 3.0 of their iOS app, a revamped, rebuilt app from the ground up.
Yet another motion activity tracker has launched, this time from RunKeeper.
The latest game coming out of Square Enix Montreal’s office is Hitman GO.
Word Hack, a colourful twist to hangman launches in the Canadian App Store.
Phosphor Games Studio has made their action game Horn a free download in the App Store.
Google has launched Helpouts for iPhone today, allowing users to get live help over video.
Visa Canada’s new ‘Plan’it Prom’ app aims to assist parents and teens budget prom spending.
BillGuard has launched in Canada to support Canadian credit cards.
Printer Pro allows you to wireless print documents from your iPhone.


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Space Games & Toys
Deals Save on this repurposed version of a Star Wars classic ship as part of Amazon's Black Friday deals.
Deals This 500-piece Lego City Lunar Space Station is inspired by NASA and with 30% off this Black Friday weekend is at one of the lowest prices we've seen.
Not every "Lego deal" you'll see is genuine Lego, so be careful what you buy in the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales
Deals One of the most extravagant LEGO sets, the Marvel Daily Bugle, just got a discount at Walmart.
The Terminator will surely be back soon, but maybe the long-running sci-fi franchise should avoid cinemas for a while and evolve somewhere else.
Deals LEGO's own Black Friday sales have slashed the price of this multiple figure set — ideal for display shelves.
Deals Get Amazon's lowest ever price on the Guardian's ship this Black Friday, which comes with five minifigures and over 1,100 pieces.
Get the Space.com Newsletter
Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!


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China is making promising progress in testing its digital yuan currency. The token announced the success of a pilot in Suzhou City (near Shanghai in eastern China) where 181,000 consumers were given 55 CNY (USD 8.5) free money in digital wallets to spend at participating retail outlets at the token. Double Fifth shopping festival between May 1 and May 5.
This was part of a larger test of the People’s Bank of China. This survey is targeting 500,000 consumers in 11 Chinese regions since April. For those who qualify, there is a simple app to download that gives them a wallet. With this they can make purchases in thousands of participating stores and receive a discount.
The digital yuan is a version of the normal Chinese currency that is deployed on a blockchain. The blockchain constitutes the tamper-resistant online ledger technology that supports digital coins such as the Bitcoin and Ethereum. However, this blockchain is allowed, which means that the People’s Bank decides who can use it.
The final test round is ten times the size of the original round that took place in the fall of 2020. China has also tested the cross-border digital yuan between Hong Kong and neighboring Shenzhen. They are developing a platform to make the currency internationally viable involving Thailand, the UAE and the Bank of International Settlements.
One step closer to the future
Each step forward increases the prospect of China becoming the first country to put its currency entirely on a licensed blockchain. No date has been announced, but a national rollout appears to be foreseen within the next 12 months. The rollout will most likely take place in staggered stages.
By contrast, Western central banks such as the Federal Reserve, Bank of England and to a lesser extent the European Central Bank are all slower to move on so-called Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs). They are concerned about things like the right to privacy when all transactions will be publicly visible on the blockchain, and about the effect on retail banks.
Still, a digital yuan raises profound questions about global financial stability. The question for the other major economies in the world is how to respond.
Advantages of digital currencies
The digital yuan already has legal tender status. Payments using it are fundamentally different from those on payment platforms like Alipay or WeChat (or even PayPal in the west). Such services can settle transactions very quickly for customers, but behind the scenes ledgers of large numbers of transactions are between buyer’s banks, seller’s banks and often intermediary banks settling hours or even days later.
The digital yuan bypasses the need for these banks. There are no service charges unlike these payment alternatives. And in theory, the speed of payments could be even faster.
Unlike cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, the currency is also backed by a government. This means that the issue of digital yuan is the same as the issue of cash in circulation. This makes it just as safe. It gives the government better control over the money supply because (unlike cash) all transactions can take place at any time.
Will every country get a digital currency?
Many central banks have looked into the development of digital currencies. Some (such as Japan and South Korea) are not far behind the Chinese. The EU indicates that there could be a digital euro in four or five years.
There are various dangers for those who stay behind. The first is about international payments. Most cross-currency transactions currently use the US dollar as an intermediary, through the international SWIFT banking protocol. This represents a significant demand for the US dollar. This has advantages such as making it possible for the US government to borrow more cheaply.
Digital yuan transactions do not require SWIFT or the dollar, impacting dollar usage in international trade. As many as 120 countries have China as their largest trading partner. Many wonder if it is settled in dollars as it adds unnecessary financial risk from adverse exchange rate movements. China says it is not trying to replace the dollar with the digital yuan, and that its “goal is to let the market choose” “how to settle international transactions.
The digital yuan is happening amid heightened tensions between China and the US and Europe. This clearly makes it a worrying time to give the Chinese first-mover an advantage over this new type of currency.
Incidentally, sanctions such as those recently imposed on Chinese officials over human rights issues will be much easier to circumvent if and when the digital yuan is operational. Calls could well be made to sanction those who use the currency as a result, raising numerous questions about viability and consequences that are discussed on another occasion.


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Puma and Coca-Cola are collaborating to celebrate their long heritage through a nostalgic collection.
The number 45 is embroidered on the lace to signify the 45th anniversary of the McDonald's All-American game, despite the fact that this is not an official McDonald's cooperation.
The telecom firm is set to offer digital wallet services through its collaboration with blockchain and software companies.
The prosecution searched the headquarters of South Korea's seven main crypto exchanges for three days.
New Balance will soon release a number of inline colorways of 1906, the first of which is scheduled to hit China on August 19th and August 12th in the rest of Asia.
California man sentenced to 3 years for operating unlicensed bitcoin exchange biz
Hugo Sergio Mejia of California has been sentenced to three years in federal prison for operating an unlicensed cryptocurrency exchange business that transacted $13 million worth of bitcoin and cash, often for drug traffickers.
The 50-year-old Mejia of San Bernardino County pleaded guilty to “one count of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business and one count of money laundering,” according to the Department of Justice.
Mejia's business converted bitcoin to cash and vice versa from May 2018 to September 2020.
While he charged commissions for these transactions, he never registered his business with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.
He also masked his true identity by establishing companies, including Worldwide Secure Communications LLC, World Secure Data, and The HODL Group LLC.
While exchanging 14.273 bitcoins for $82,150 in cash plus fees in March 2020, a client who worked with law enforcement informed Mejia that “his primary customer was a methamphetamine buyer in Australia."
Mejia and the client eventually conducted five bitcoin-cash transactions that exceeded $250,000.
As part of his plea agreement, Mejia would forfeit all assets derived from the illegal deals, including $233,987 in cash, $95,587 in various cryptocurrencies, and silver coins and bars seized from his residences in Santa Ana and Ontario.


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Ferrari teams up with Cool Hunting to showcase what's possible with their Tailor Made program
Cool Hunting worked with Ferrari to build a Roma inspired by Japanese craftsmanship.
May 20, 2022
Cool Hunting and Nomos celebrate Pride with a collection of colorful watches
$100 from each watch will be donated to the Trevor Project.
Aug 19, 2020
Cool Hunting teams up with Tumi for a rugged new travel bag
The online publication creates a carry-on essential.
Nov 7, 2016


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Nindies at BitSummit
Nintendo released a montage trailer of all the games that were at their booth during BitSummit, a Japanese indie event. You can find it below:
Fairune 2 is out in Japan starting today, July 13. The 3DS eShop game will sell for for 800 yen. The game will eventually come to western shores too. Meanwhile, enjoy the Japanese trailer:
Journey to Kreisia
Here’s an overview of the RPG from Nintendo’s website:
While attempting to skip out on a homework assignment and meet up with his friends at the arcade, a teenager by the name of Yusis is suddenly enveloped in a blinding light and transported to Kreisia- a world where fantasy meets reality.
Soon after, he learns he has been summoned as a Savior to deliver Kreisia’s people from the threat of the Overlord. Thinking everything happening around him is simply a dream, Yusis readily agrees to the task of saving the world and begins preparing for what is inevitably to be far more than he ever bargained for!
Blazing a new trail in classic RPGs, Journey to Kreisia is bound to please fans of the genre with plenty of engaging features such as hunting for hidden treasures, testing one’s strength in challenging battle arenas, and taking up a variety of subquests! Customize the fighting technique by raising weapon levels, equipping various orbs, and using extremely handy monster guide when in need of more information to perfect your battle skills!
Adventure Labyrinth Story
Adventure Labyrinth Story is coming to the European 3DS eShop on July 21 according to Circle Entertainment’s Twitter account.
The company also shared some english screenshots of the game:
This time, EU version will release early. pic.twitter.com/DP9azej6KO
— CIRCLE Ent. (@CIRCLE_Ent) 8 July 2016
Defend Your Crypt
Defend Your Crypt is slated for July 21 in Europe, for both the 3DS and Wii U. The North American region still doesn’t have a concrete release date though.
Here’s the European trailer for the game:
Ancient has now opened up an English site for Gotta Protectors, confirming the release date for North America.
The game will be on sale from July 21 forward, and will be priced at $12.99.
You can watch a trailer for it below:
Ninja Smasher, PUMO’s latest title for the 3DS, is releasing in Europe on July 21 for €3.55. North America should be getting the game soon too.
You can find a trailer for it below:
Also releasing on July 21 is Petite Game’s Toon Tanks, which is finally coming to the European region, and will be priced at €1.99.
Red Column has announced that 3Souls – Episode 1: Nelesa will release in Europe on July 28, and a North American release will follow “a few weeks later”.
The first episode will be priced at €3.60 / £3.20 / $3.90. Episodes 2 and 3 will have lower price points.
3Souls makes use of the GamePad for gameplay, and the co-op mode incorporates the use of a Wii Remote or Wii U Pro Controller.
The new trailer for 3Souls – Episode 1: Nelesa can be found below:
Petite Games is releasing another Wii U title called Laser Blaster, which is coming out later this summer on the eShop.
Petite Games hasn’t shared much information yet, but posted a few screenshots to Twitter:
— Petite Games (@PetiteGames) 2 July 2016
Draw the Line
Nexis Games has been tinkering with its Wii U eShop project UCraft, but in addition to that the indie developer will soon be coming out with “Draw the Line”.
It seems to be a first-person shooter, where some sort of mysterious threat is present, and you’re the only hope for humanity.
The game should release in the coming months.
You can watch a trailer for it below:
The Girl and the Robot
Flying Carpets Games recently posted on Kickstarter that The Girl and the Robot will be debuting on Steam later this summer. Console versions will be coming later in the year, which includes the Wii U one.
A new trailer for the game was also released with these news:
Back in 1995 64
It was confirmed last week that Back in 1995 is making its way to 3DS. The game was also shown at BitSummit. This new version is called “Back in 1995 64”. On the lower screen, you’ll see a Virtual Game Console. Sometimes irregularities will occur which will hamper the gameplay on upper screen, such as cables getting loose or cartridges needing to be re-inserted, reminding people of things that actually often happened 20 years ago.
Back in 1995 was released on Steam earlier this year, and was created as a love-letter to the survival horror and mystery experiences from the PlayStation days. In the game, players “uncover the mystery surrounding the disappearance of your daughter, the catastrophe that shook the city, and why you’ve decided to finally return”.
The game should be compatible with all of the 3DS line, but there’s a chance it might only make it as a New 3DS game, so stay aware of that fact.
You can watch a trailer for the original version below:
Over My Dead Body (For You)
DuneWorld Games has recently announced Over My Dead Body (For You), a puzzle title it’s developing for Wii U, and will be coming to the eShop.
In it, players control a ghost and a zombie as they navigate through levels filled with puzzles and enemies. You’ll need to “sneak past guards, possess your former co-workers, and take in an all-you-can-eat adventure”. DuneWorld includes 20 levels, challenge modes, and much more.
Over My Dead Body (For You) is tentatively targeted for an October release, with a $9.99 price point.
You can find the announcement trailer below:
The patch adds off-TV play, new character upgrade options (speed/agility can now be upgraded), and fixes a number of bugs.
Gray Fin Studios says that the second Dual Core update is already in the works as well.
Those in Europe don’t need to worry, since they have had access to the first update since launch, as it was built into the game from the start.
Image & Form has released another episode of The Engine Room, and has revealed in it that an hat pack is coming to SteamWorld Heist.
Players can participate in a special event where they design a hat that will be included in the upcoming DLC. Designs can be submitted here through July 31. If you win, you’ll become a SteamWorld Ambassador, which means you will get free keys of every SteamWorld game plus access to exclusive information about the new entries as they progress.
You can watch lastets episode of The Engine Room below:
Teku Studios has posted a new making-of video dedicated to Candle that shows how the team created the game’s graphics in a handmade, traditional way. Check it out:
Quest of Dungeons
New screenshots from Quest of Dungeons have been released, and these show off the 3DS version of the game. You can look at them in the gallery below:


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Microsoft Health and Band: New Cycling Partnerships, Health Insights, Strong Updates
Today, we’re excited to announce a new update for Microsoft Health and Microsoft Band, taking another important step forward in shaping our product and experiences…
Today, we’re excited to announce a new update for Microsoft Health and Microsoft Band, taking another important step forward in shaping our product and experiences, and regularly delivering service updates based on customer feedback.
In February, we uncovered and took action against three main themes found in the feedback we had received: Customers want broader integration, new insights and more features. We’ve been focused on building new experiences around each of these themes, and we are happy to share that this update truly delivers.
Customers want even more integration with additional third-party fitness partners. We know they have existing relationships with other apps, services and devices outside of Microsoft Health and Microsoft Band, and they’re looking for new ways to integrate their data, ensuring it will all live and work together in one single spot.
We’ve also learned that cycling has increasingly become an area of interest for the general population and something our customers are interested in tracking – and have already been enjoying as part of the functionality of the Microsoft Band. The U.S. Census Bureau reported the number of people who commute to work by bicycle has increased about 60 percent over the past decade. Building upon our Bike Tile introduction in February, we are thrilled to expand cycling functionality through partnerships with popular Bike apps, MapMyRide and Strava. Starting on April 23, Microsoft Band customers will be able to wear their device during rides and compare performance or share routes with other riders using these apps.
When it comes to Microsoft Health, we’ve been looking for ways to share additional insights through the Microsoft Health Web Dashboard – something we’ve consistently heard from customers. Starting as early as April 27, customers will be able to access the following new insights and observations in our expanding, full featured Web Dashboard.
- Comparative Insights: Measures data such as daily steps, sleep, workout frequency and calorie burn and compares it to similar Microsoft Health customers based on body type (height and weight). Customers looking for motivation can use comparative insights as a benchmark to understand their health relative to similar people.
- Sleep Recovery: Good sleep is the foundation of health, and something everybody does and needs. Microsoft Band tracks the length and quality of sleep. Use the Microsoft Health web dashboard to analyze sleep restoration, sleep efficiency, and wake-ups, to find out how well the body restores its resources during sleep.
- Fitness Benefit: Track fitness progress using historical data to measure improvement over time.
- VO2 Max: VO2 max refers to the maximum volume of oxygen used during exercise, and is the primary indicator of cardiovascular fitness. Traditionally, measuring VO2 Max is cumbersome. Not anymore. Microsoft Band estimates VO2 max based on heart rate information. Now customers can track how their VO2 max increases as they improve fitness level and achieve their wellness goals, simply.
- Run/Exercise Observations: Get more out of run and workout data with in-depth observations and insights. With a week of data, customers can determine which day of the week and at what time of day they perform best. Using historical data from as far back as five weeks, customers can track whether they’re maintaining, progressing, or need to re-dedicate themselves. Analyze detailed stats to find specific aspects of runs and workouts that can be improved.
Finally, we know some of our customers are interested in tracking their fitness activity through Microsoft Health as a first step in tracking their health data. Microsoft Health is an open platform, and it is designed to combine the data from devices with services already in use. We are excited to announce that in the coming weeks, customers can track daily steps and calorie burn inside of the Microsoft Health app using the sensors contained in many Android Phones, iPhones and Windows Phones.* Even without a fitness tracking wearable device, customers can just download the Microsoft Health application to their phone and get stepping!
As we said on day one of our announcement of Microsoft Health and Microsoft Band, we’re committed to building the device jointly with our customers and partners, continuously improving both the product and service based on their feedback and usage. I am excited, once again, to demonstrate our team’s commitment with another set of product and experience improvements. We encourage our customers to continue to provide feedback and responses to Microsoft Health and Microsoft Band and look forward to delivering even more to help our customers and partners live healthier and be more productive.
Stay tuned for more exciting updates in the months ahead!
General Manager of New Devices Marketing
*Step tracking capabilities are supported via apps on:
- iOS: iPhone 5s and later
- Android: Android 4.4+ with support for Step Counter API
- Windows Phone: Lumia devices with Sensor Core V1+ and Cyan FW


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Delivering the latest buzz on fitness, nutrition and wellness for Syracuse University students.
by Laura Jungreis, blogger
The University of Exeter, for funding research about the benefits of beetroot juice. Two studies showed that cyclists who drank beetroot juice hours before riding were able to exercise for 20% longer than those given a placebo liquid. Scientists believe that the beetroot juice allows the cyclists to work their muscles using less oxygen, thus enduring for longer, possibly due to the high content of nitrate. Read the full story here.
Walnuts, whose alpha linolenic acid has recently been shown to reduce stress levels. Foods high in omega-3 fatty acids, like walnuts, have been thought to reduce LDL levels, or the amount of bad cholesterol. A recent study tested that idea, and found that the subjects who consumed walnuts and walnut oil were markedly less stressed than the subjects who did not. Read more about the study here.
The Pictsweet Company, a Tennessee distributor of frozen vegetables. Pictsweet recently recalled packages of their food because they contained shards of glass. About 24,000 pounds of packages have been delivered to Kroger stores in the Southeast and Walmarts all over the country. Get more details here.
CVS, for not properly monitoring the sale of products containing pseudoephedrine, a chief ingredient in the production of methamphetamine. CVS has violated federal drug regulations in Arizona, Georgia, California, Nevada, South Carolina, and potentially 20 other states as well. Additionally, the company has contributed to spikes in meth production in California. The company will pay a $75 million fine, and turn over $2.6 million of profits gained from selling the pseudoephedrine. Read the full story here.


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Sugar substitute xylitol is becoming more and more popular in everyday items and WHIO consumer reporter Rachel Murray reports it could be fatal if consumed by a dog.
Xylitol is used in items such as toothpaste, dental floss, lip balm and even peanut butter. The latter being the most concerning since dog owners like to hide pills inside peanut butter in order to get their dog to take medicine.
Chewing gun and mints are also items that could contain xylitol and dog owner Parker Hollander found out first hand just how devastating these items could be for a dog.
Hollander did not think it was a big deal when his dog Nellie got into a package of mints. Thirty minutes later Nellie couldn’t even walk. "She tried walking over to me and she started stumbling and falling over,” stated Hollander. “I had to pick her up and she was shaking in my arms, I was terrified,” said Hollander. Immediately Nellie was taken to the veterinarian and was able to survive because of Hollander’s fast response.
Just one stick of gum with xylitol can be potentially lethal for a small dog as it causes a sudden drop in glucose and live failure. Other symptoms of xylitol poisoning include weakness, being wobbly on their feet and seizures. Veterinarians say even the smallest amount of exposure warrants a trip to the emergency room.
Many animal groups have called for warning labels on products that use xylitol, but until that happens it is important that animal owners know the growing list of products that contain it.


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Get your iPhone 6 configured for the most magical purchase experience on Earth. Walt Disney World will roll out support for Apple Pay at the resort beginning Christmas Eve. Apple Pay is a “contactless payment” service similar to Google Wallet that uses near-field communication (NFC) technology to complete the transaction.
The initial rollout will include purchases of admission media, merchandise, and quick-service food locations across the resort. Table-Service restaurants and Disney World operating partners will be included in a future expansion of the service.
To use the system for purchases, users will hold their Apple Pay devices near the MyMagic+ touch-to-pay reader. That same reader is used when paying with MagicBands.
Disneyland is expected to get Apple Pay in 2015.
So is it going to be limited to Apple Pay, or will Google Wallet also work? It’s the same technology, it should work for both.
But it wouldn’t be the first time Disney has forgotten about Android users. Having a seat on the board sure is paying off for Apple…
Google wallet is already active and usable.


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» View Top Celebrity Tax Payer In The Philippines 2013
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The news about BlackBerry 10 smartphone presence in the cheaper version of the more widely heard.
This time, the phone will be called the BlackBerry R10 predicted that re-emerged in cyberspace, but with different colors.
Quoted from Ubergizmo, Monday [...]
The new generation of Samsung smart phone has been released, introducing the new Samsung Galaxy S5, what can you expect? As we have already known that there are lots of features we can expect such as a more durable design and also a more fun experience [...]
Iron Man 3 movie has not been released, Gameloft has prepared his game to iOS and Android devices.
Quoted from Slashgear, Thursday (28/3), Iron Man 3 games scheduled to be released on 25 April, or the day before the movie appeared in theaters.
Screen sharing or screenshots into its own excitement for BlackBerry users. But how do I do this on the BlackBerry 10 platform?
Like on iOS and Android, BlackBerry 10 does not require an additional application for taking screenshots.
Quoted from CNET, [...]
Engaged in “patent war” in 10 countries in the last year.
Although Samsung continues to marginalize the competition to win the market of smartphones and tablets in the world, Apple is apparently still dependent on the South Korean technology [...]
Have you ever felt annoyed when someone you do not know to keep trying to be your friend on Facebook? Several steps were quoted by CNET, Friday (11/02), the following could be a solution.
1. Log in to your Facebook account and select the down arrow in [...]
Through a practical point of view, Asus (7/5) in the Grand Ballroom Grand Indonesia, Jakarta, Asus launched Fonepad.
Fonepad is a combination between a tablet and a 7-inch phone, with 3G mobile data and an Intel Atom Z2420 processor.
“Looking at [...]
Yahoo ranked third under Hotmail.
Based on data released by comScore (a website traffic monitoring agency world) in October 2012, which is a Gmail email service owned by internet giant Google, is expressed as the number one email service in the world.
Galaxy Grand has a screen size of 5 inches with a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels.
Last week, some observers have expressed the tablet Samsung is preparing release tablet product named Galaxy Grand in December.
This is revealed in the report file Samsung [...]
To promote Windows Phone 8, Microsoft took the actress Jessica Alba and singer Gwen Stefani as their commercials. The two celebrities have been selected for the top stars, their status was also a homemaker.
Ads featuring Windows Phone 8 is a busy celebrity [...]
Requires heavenly guidance in work or romance.
A temple in southern Taiwan will launch a smartphone app that can help religious Taoist to seek enlightenment from the Almighty when being activity.
In a report released CNA news agency on Saturday (10/22), [...]


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Apple is finally set for a major refresh of its Mac and MacBook computers - but the new devices won't be coming until October at the earliest. The updates come at a time when the company has been increasingly...
Citrix claims Workspot has infringed at least four Citrix patents
Enterprise middleware company keen to keep IoT developers on board
New APUs from AMD boast a TDP of just 35 watts for power-efficient desktops and laptops
Toshiba to bust memory chip sell-off deadline as Chinese antitrust authorities' third investigation drags on
Toshiba deal with Bain Capital continues to be held-up by regulatory hurdles


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We've teamed up with our neighbor, Wedge Brewing Co., for delicious collaboration to benefit greenways! On Tuesday, November 15, join us for a release party at the Wedge starting at 5:00 p.m. with a bike ride and tapping of the traditional German ale, Dunkelweizen. The beer will be on tap at both Wedge and New Belgium and for every pint of the Wedge/New Belgium Dunkelweizen sold, $1 will be donated to putting greenways on the ground in Buncombe County.
5:00 p.m. Bicycle Beer Delivery
-Meet at Wedge for a group ride delivering Dunkelweizen to New Belgium
6:00 p.m. Release Party at Wedge
-Brewers talk beer, FOCB talks greenways, Blue Dragons rock music, beer pours
Brewed in the hea...


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The Rise of sweater factories in punjab: How the Region is Becoming a Major Player in the Global Sweater Market
Punjab, a region in northern India, is quickly becoming a major player in the global sweater market. In recent years, the region has seen a surge in the number of sweater factories, with many of them producing high-quality garments for export. This rise in sweater factories has been driven by a combination of factors, including the availability of skilled labor, the region’s proximity to major markets, and the government’s commitment to promoting the industry.
The availability of skilled labor is one of the main reasons why Punjab has become a major player in the global sweater market. The region has a long history of textile production, and many of the workers in the sweater factories have been trained in traditional weaving techniques. This has enabled them to produce sweaters of a high quality, which has been a major factor in the success of the industry.
Vantone’s Day sweater
The region’s proximity to major markets has also been a major factor in the success of the sweater factories. Punjab is located close to major cities such as Delhi and Mumbai, which makes it easy for the factories to export their products to these markets. This has enabled them to reach a wider customer base and increase their profits.
Finally, the government of Punjab has been committed to promoting the sweater industry. The government has provided incentives to encourage investment in the sector, and has also implemented policies to ensure that the factories are able to operate in a safe and efficient manner. This has enabled the factories to produce sweaters of a high quality, which has been a major factor in the success of the industry.
The rise of sweater factories in Punjab has been a major success story for the region. The factories have enabled the region to become a major player in the global sweater market, and have provided employment opportunities for many people in the region. This has been a major boost to the local economy, and has helped to improve the lives of many people in the region.


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Meanwhile, the high-end bank card has appeared for the “Metal” customers of the banking services company Revolut. The users of the card receive a cashback of 1 percent outside of Europe. Within Europe, the bonus is 0.1 percent. Cashback is available in one of 25 fiat currencies or 1 in 5 cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrencies include Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ripple XRP, Ethereum and Litecoin.
The card gives users the opportunity to make purchases in the real world while receiving cashback. As an alternative to traditional banks, Revolut offers all the usual banking services via its app. The company supports a number of Fiat currencies as well as the five crypto currencies mentioned above.
Cashbacks in cryptocurrencies are paid for purchases with card payments. The card also offers a personal concierge service, travel insurance and a higher limit for ATM withdrawals (US $ 771.30 per month). Add to that the usual premium features of Revolut.
The special Metal Bank Card costs $ 16.69 per month, or $ 154.20 per annum. Revolut has about 2.5 million users across Europe. Thus, the start-up also contributes to a wider distribution of supported cryptocurrencies. In December of last year, Revolut reportedly was the first digital banking startup to make a profit. That was especially true for its premium offer.
Revolut's Great Future Plans
The CEO of Revolut, Nikolay Storonsky, said at the launch of the card:
“We are absolutely convinced that Revolut Metal will be the exclusive map of the future and a must for all travelers.”
Revolut is working to open up more opportunities for its customers. Currently, users can take out personal loans and take out insurance. Revolut will soon also offer commission-free trading. Revolut has already received $ 250 million from investors. According to Storonsky, the card publication is to expand the possibilities of the company. So he said:
“The launch of Revolut Metal is also an important step for the company to generate additional revenue. This is especially true because we offer a commission-free trading platform and want to expand the business to North America and Asia. “
Revolut is already offering cryptotrading. This allows users to buy cryptocurrencies without deposit fees via the app. There are also no subscription or withdrawal fees.
The card appears to be a direct response to Revolut's biggest competitor in Europe, the N26 company. An N26 metal account costs $ 19.50 a month and also offers a concierge service. The account also includes exclusive discounts, such as membership in the workspace broker WeWork.
Revolut is currently taking a broad approach, which seems to pay off. During the last round of financing, the company was valued at $ 1.7 billion. That's a significant increase, as just six months ago, the company's value was $ 350 million.
Sources: Revolut, Forbes, N26, Pixabay
Author: Peter Joost – Source Post: https://www.kryptovergleich.org/25-millionen-revolut-nutzer-koennen-jetzt-cashback-in-bitcoin-ripple-xrp-bitcoin-cash-ethereum-and-litecoin- receive/
Disclaimer: CoinNewsDesk.com is a crypto news portal, financial discussion forum, and content curator / aggregator. Articles on Coin News Desk are provided for entertainment and information purposes only. We are not an investment advisor and do not provide financial advice.
We can not review all articles posted on CoinNewsDesk.com. Please independently research and verify any information here before relying on it as fact. It's also important to do proper due diligence and analysis, including consulting a professional financial advisor. No content on Coin News Desk makes any recommendation to enter into any type of investment or engage in any investment strategy on this website.


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Zipline has announced an expanded partnership with the Rwandan government to boost medical supply deliveries in the country.
The partnership will allow government agencies including the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources, the Ministry of Information Communication Technology, the Rwanda Development Board, the Rwanda Medical Supply, and the National Child Development Agency to access Zipline's services, which will include the delivery of medicine, medical supplies, nutrition, and animal health products.
The idea is to use Zipline to shore up Rwanda’s healthcare supply chain, address malnutrition and support the country’s eco-tourism industry, according to Rwanda Development Board CEO Clare Akamanzi, who touted this as a “national drone service.”
The logistics and drone delivery startup aims to complete nearly 2 million instant deliveries and fly more than 200 million autonomous kilometers in Rwanda by 2029. The partnership will add new delivery sites in rural and urban locations throughout the country and is expected to triple the delivery volume.
Zipline, which was founded in 2014 and has raised $486 million to date, already operates in Ghana, the US, Nigeria, and Japan, and is set to launch in Côte D'Ivoire and Kenya in the near future.
This marks the first time a government has enlisted Zipline to provide a national drone service, and the expanded partnership could help the company convince other countries to make similar nationwide partnerships.


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iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C coming to India on 1st November, a Diwali gift for you
After the great success in US, Apple is now set to release iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C in India along with 49 other countries on 1st November. On the launch date, we got a hint for November release but now its official. India is under third phase category and 15 more countries are already listed for 25th October launch in second phase of launch.
Phase 1 will be on October 25th which will cover Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, French West Indies, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Reunion Island, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan and Thailand.
Phase 2 will be on November 1 which will cover Albania, Armenia, Bahrain, Colombia, El Salvador, Guam, Guatemala, India, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mexico, Moldova, Montenegro, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and UAE.
Indian grey market is already having these devices here. The 16GB iPhone 5C model is easily available for Rs 36,000 and for iPhone 5S Silver colour, the price starts from Rs 54,000 and the golden edition ends it for Rs 75,000 but this colour trend is never biased from Apple, but gold colour is actually biased in India. We are expecting Rs 46,000 to Rs 48,000 for iPhone 5S and Rs 33,000 to Rs 36,000 for iPhone 5C in 16GB variant only. The actual price will be revealed by Apple on 1st November only.
Stay tuned for more!


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Stablecoins could ‘negatively affect’ financial Stability: Federal Reserve
As countries around the world are increasingly moving toward a digital currency backed by their national fiat, the hub of financial and technological innovation of the past decades is moving in the opposite direction it would seem. The Federal Reserve, the central bank of the United States is decrying the idea of a ‘global stablecoin,’ while its eastern rival, China, is all set to launch a digital yuan.
In the “Financial Stability Report,” issued earlier this month by the Board of Governors at the Fed, global stablecoins, despite being the talk of the macroeconomic global game, found little mention. Stablecoins, the report stated are a form of “cryptocurrency,” that can have massive implications on the global economic ecosystem. If this expands to “global scale,” within a short period of time it could result in “important challenges,” in the realms of “financial stability, monetary policy, safeguards against money laundering and terrorist financing, and consumer and investor protection,” stated the report.
The report highlighted,
“Stablecoins could become a new medium of exchange but, if poorly designed and unregulated, could negatively affect financial stability.”
One of the “key problems,” with cryptocurrencies is “price volatility,” and hence its use as a payment instrument has been hindered. Hence, the report reasons, that stablecoins were introduced to “address this volatility by seeking to tie their value to an asset or a basket of assets.” One of the examples mentioned under the basket-backing is a “portfolio of sovereign currencies,” which is tabled by Libra, the Facebook digital currency project.
The Federal Reserve, right from the mouth of its Chairman, Jerome Powell, stated that Libra should halt development until concerns about monetary policy manipulation, financial instability and privacy were addressed.
Libra, now a mainstay in the intersection between cryptocurrency and central bank regulation, was mentioned in the report as well. Referring to the project as a “global stablecoin,” rather than what most people have called it – a private stablecoin, the Fed stated that Libra has the “potential to rapidly achieve widespread adoption.”
The Fed stated that if a stablecoin is unregulated it could disrupt other aspects of the global financial ecosystem. Highlighting a case of the lack of clarity in conversion of stablecoins to fiat currency could lead to a liquidity lock. This could hence create a domino effect where these stablecoin holders retrieve their fiat at the same time leadting to a run.
Here the Federal Reserve is describing the classic banking worst-case scenario where all the account holders of a particular bank arrive at the desk to withdraw their accounts at the same time. The report states that this effect could go beyond the very bank, or stablecoin issuer,
“Holders may be unable to do so, with potentially severe consequences for domestic or international economic activity, asset prices, or financial stability.”
Adherence to Norms
Since stablecoins are an outgrowth of cryptocurrencies, and the latter operates on the ethos of anonymity, the Fed placed due emphasis on stablecoins to adhere to the norms of money laundering, terror financing and other crimes.
On the demand side, the report advised investors to be aware of all the complexities while investing in these forms of digital currencies. Additionally, companies issuing their coins should make their customers aware of their “rights and protections,” in addition to “including whether the holder of the stablecoin has any rights to the underlying asset.”
Echoing the word of the G7, the Federal Reserve stated that the US and the world is keeping a close eye on the rise of stablecoins,
“The Federal Reserve and other regulators are cooperating closely to ensure that any stablecoin system with global scale and scope must address a core set of legal and regulatory challenges before it can operate. “


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Calling all you creative card configuratorists: a new single-player Hearthstone [official site] expansion is on its way. Announced at BlizzCon 2015 this very weekend, The League Of Explorers will bring with it 45 new cards and will launch its first wing on November 12. That's next week! Hop below for more details and a trailer.
Everything you need to know about the new Hearthstone expansion
A tribe called Trolls
5 years ago


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The Middle East’s appetite for avocados is seemingly insatiable, but Instagram’s favorite fruit hides a dark secret of social and ecological problems. Is it time for the trend to end? Originally printed in the September 2017 issue of Vogue Arabia.
It seems almost quaint to think back to a time when the avocado – with its buttery, yellow-green flesh hinting at a delicate nutty taste – was seen as a curiosity. Today, it’s so omnipresent you can barely open Instagram without seeing #avocadotoast. Before long, the basic smashed-avo-and-eggs photo mutated into avocado ice cream, avocado brownies, and even avocado burgers, with the fruit not as topping but as bun. 2016 even saw an Avopopup in London, featuring a five-course avocado brunch served with complementary avocado-based cocktails. “In 2016, we noticed a real buzz around avocados, but felt that people weren’t using them to their full extent, sticking mostly to avocado on toast. They are so versatile and we knew people could be more adventurous with them,” says event organizer Meredith O’Shaughnessy, the brains behind the popup. “It was a huge success and sold out within two days. People even turned up in avocado-themed outfits.” There are plans to bring the popup to Dubai, while over in New York, three Italian restaurateurs opened the world’s first avocado bar, Avocaderia, in April 2017. “It seems that avocados are the new potatoes! It’s the ubiquitous fruit of the season – you’ll even find it in desserts,” says Emma Sawko, cofounder of Wild & The Moon organic food and juice bar in Dubai.
With 40 recipes featuring avocados on the menu, Wild & The Moon goes through almost 30kg of avocados per day. “It’s a great fruit, and everybody seems to appreciate its smoothness in a cruel world,” Sawko observes. Everybody from Los Angeles to Beijing, it seems, with the UK seeing a 30% annual rise in consumption, and the Chinese market being particularly enthusiastic for “butter fruit,” a relative newcomer to its shelves. Exports from the predominantly Latin American countries that harvest the fruit have shot up from 154 tons in 2012 to 25 000 tons last year.
Avocados really are the little fruit that could. Central and South Americans have been eating ahuacate, as they called it, since at least 7000 BC. The love affair really kicked off in the 1960s, when a bandof Californian farmers started promoting it as the easier-to-pronounce “avocado pear.” But it was still seen as an exotic, seasonal fruit, with many people taking the “pear” part a tad too literally and biting into the tough skin. South African farmers – who wanted to muscle in on the international market – launched a PR campaign in the UK to educate people with recipes and pamphlets extolling the health benefits of the fruit. At the start of the formal campaign in the UK in 1995, the avocado market was worth £13 million (AED 61 million). When it wrapped up in 2013, it stood at £50 million (AED 235 million). From a nutrition point of view, avocados are hard to beat, being antiinflammatory and rich in fiber and healthy fats. “The fat content is in a form of monounsaturated fatty acids, which helps in healing the gut,” says nutritionist Rashi Chowdhary. This fat is especially helpful for digestive issues, and since it has an insulin sensitizing effect, Chowdhary says it’s also suitable for people with diabetes, endometriosis, and polycystic ovarian disease. Add protein, potassium, folate, and vitamins C, E, and K to the list, and it’s clear that this fleshy, creamy, versatile fruit has earned its place on our plates. And it’s not just there that it does good – as an emollient, avocado oil products nourish and moisturize skin. No wonder, then, that Kiehl’s Creamy Eye Treatment with Avocado is one of the brand’s bestselling products.
The rise in popularity of avocado can also be attributed to new supply chains, such as Kenya and Colombia, and improvements in ripening techniques. The fruit doesn’t mature on the tree, and while the old paper-bag-and-banana trick still works to soften hard avocados, suppliers and retailers have cottoned on to the fact that people are more likely to buy it if it’s ready to eat. Hard, inedible avocados reach maturity in big heated units, ensuring a steady supply of the superfood. But this steady supply has darker roots than just our insatiable appetite for avo toasties. Avocado farming places enormous pressure on farmland and is creating upheaval in Mexico, the world’s top exporter (between 2015 and 2016, the country exported one million tons of avocados). In the state of Michoacán, Mexico’s biggest avocado grower, some farmers are decimating mature forests to make way for avocado trees, in violation of local laws. The fruit-bearing trees are also incredibly thirsty – to grow about half a kilogram of fruit, you need 272 liters of water, which puts water reserves at risk. It also destroys the farmland, because once the ground is sucked completely dry of nutrients after about 10 years, nothing else can grow without expensive and extensive fertilization. Increasing amounts of evidence also shows that criminal cartels are actually running the show in Michoacán, leading to corruption, extortion, and even murder. And when things go bad, like they did last year when Michoacán’s more than 20 000 avocado growers went on strike to demand higher prices for the crops, the global supply goes haywire.
So, should you care where your dollop of green goodness comes from? Sawko thinks so. “While people seem to prefer the creamy Hass variety from Mexico and the rest of South America, we try to be more varied in our sourcing to promote biodiversity, reduce transport, and stay seasonal. We only buy organic produce to support organic farming globally.” It’s not all doom and gloom, though – the World Bank is working to identify suitable areas where avocados can be produced sustainably, and some suppliers work with independent certifiers to ensure their produce is grown without exploiting people or planet. However you enjoy your avocado – smashed, gaucamole’d, or just plain sliced – as with fast fashion, it pays to know what you’re paying for.


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QD Vision and LG Display have just announced a joint development agreement focusing on electroluminescent quantum dot LED (QLED) nanotechnology, which promises to sweep all display technologies before it, including OLED. QLED promises energy efficient displays that offer brighter, richer colors, can be printed on ultra-thin, transparent or flexible substrates and manufactured cheaply.
A printable electroluminescent platform based on quantum dot technology from QD Vision could enable new general-illumination and pixelated-display products. OLED, as an industry, is looking at a $1 billion market this year. QD Vision is several years away from commercial EL products. The company did demonstrate a 4-inch-diagonal monochrome display at the SID conference this year. But the company needs to add more partners to the QLED ecosystem and further refine the efficiency of the emissive material before commercial products debut.
QD Vision has been more publicly focused on photoluminescence (PL) or optical stimulation of its quantum dots in LED-based solid-state-lighting (SSL) applications, the company is also working on electroluminescence (EL) or electrically-stimulated applications. The company is partnering with plastics and chemistry specialist Solvay to develop a printable platform for EL display and general illumination applications.
QD calls the EL concept a quantum dot LED (QLED), and the similarity to the organic light-emitting diode acronym (OLED) is probably no coincidence. Long term, QD Vision believes that quantum dots make a better choice in planar lighting than the organic emissive material in OLEDs – in terms of better light output, a richer color gamut, and a simpler manufacturing process.
QD Vision is in the earliest of stages of commercial products based on quantum dots. The company is supplying the technology to Nexxus Lighting for use in an LED retrofit light bulb. But the company has been working on EL applications behind the scenes primarily driven by government contracts.
Current printable saturated QLEDs essentially match or exceed NTSC color standards for displays without the need for color filters. Also, because current OLED displays require lossy color filtering to achieve the same color performance.
* Pure color — Will deliver 30-40% luminance efficiency advantage over organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) at the same color point.
* Low power consumption — QLEDs have the potential to be more than twice as power efficient as OLEDs at the same color purity.
* Low-cost manufacture — The ability to print large-area QLEDs on ultra-thin flexible substrates will reduce luminaire manufacturing cost.
* Ultrathin, transparent, flexible form factors — QLEDs will enable designers to develop new display and lighting forms not possible with existing technologies.
var MarketGidDate = new Date();
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
Known for identifying cutting edge technologies, he is currently a Co-Founder of a startup and fundraiser for high potential early-stage companies. He is the Head of Research for Allocations for deep technology investments and an Angel Investor at Space Angels.
A frequent speaker at corporations, he has been a TEDx speaker, a Singularity University speaker and guest at numerous interviews for radio and podcasts. He is open to public speaking and advising engagements.


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Why We Put 137 People on Our Cover 2020 has been a tough year for everyone. To find new success on the other side of this crisis, we must work together.
Mustafa Nuur was born in Somalia but fled after terrorists killed his entrepreneurial father. He eventually settled in Lancaster, Pa., where he launched a startup called Bridge. It hosts cross-cultural experiences — dinners, gatherings, and so on — so that immigrants, refugees, and locals can better understand each other. "There's nothing that can replace sitting across from someone who's different from you and hearing their story," he tells me.
But something would have to replace it, of course. When COVID-19 swept through America, sitting across from someone wasn't an option. Nuur was scared. Then he had an idea. The immigrants and refugees he works with could become essential workers, helping homebound residents. For example, he has a Syrian refugee family who, just days before the lockdown, hosted a dinner in their home. One attendee was an elderly woman who lives alone. When the lockdown began, the family began delivering this woman's groceries, running her errands, and calling daily at 6 p.m. to check in.
"It really made me think about how life should be every day," Nuur says. "We should be having these relationships."
I agree. And I think we can get there.
I have the privilege of meeting many entrepreneurs, which means I also witness their great collective irony. Even during good times, entrepreneurship feels lonely. We have chosen a path of self-determination, which can be maddening and isolating. And yet, here's the crazy thing: We all deal with the same problems. Everyone has impostor syndrome. Everyone wrestles with management, or finances, or plans gone awry. We are alone together.
Now our barriers are coming down. We are all, for the first time in our lives, openly wrestling with the same problems at the same time. Confidence isn't expected; clarity is impossible. We felt isolation and then doubled down on connectivity. We came to share openly with others and rely more heavily on them, too.
That's what we wanted to honor in this issue, which has been a long time in the making. To understand it, here's the backstory.
In March, as lockdowns began, the team here was preparing for our June issue. (We work months in advance.) Then June was canceled, a victim of uncertain economics. Our next issue would be in July — a time that seemed impossibly far away, in a world we couldn't envision. We didn't know where to begin, so we started with a question: Who should be on the cover? In normal times, our covers feature a celebrity…but that seemed like the wrong tone.
"Nobody wants to be the face of a pandemic," someone on our team said.
What could we predict about the future? We agreed on this: Entrepreneurs would not give up. They'd join together and shift from panic to adaptation. By July, we figured, people would have plans. They'd find opportunity. They'd collectively carry the world forward.
So who should be on the cover? Entrepreneurs should be on the cover. "Let's fit as many people as we can," I said, which turned out to be 137. We wanted them to be a representative sample of entrepreneurial ingenuity — people who work at every scale, at every experience level, running solo businesses to international powerhouses. Our sole filter: They had to have done something adaptive during the pandemic, whether it was helping their team, their community, their customers, or others. We'd include everyone who was quoted in the magazine, as well as people we'd simply heard about and admired. One day, for example, I read a local news story about Maya Gilliam, who saw no future in the spa she'd run for years — so she transformed it into a boutique farm and upscale hemp dispensary called Hempress Farms. I loved that. On the cover!
Does this sound messy and haphazard to you? I agree — but what else is there, really? Entrepreneurship is also messy and haphazard, the product of envisioning a destination and then improvising your way there. We'd all prefer perfection, but we must settle for this instead: When we have an idea, and join with others to make it happen, we have a chance to create something meaningful. On any given day, that's the best we can do.
The world we couldn't imagine in March has now come into focus. New businesses are launching. Old ones pivoted. Just as we are sending this issue to the printer, many people are leaving their homes and joining a movement for racial equality — another seismic event that could pull us apart or create togetherness and hope for a better future.
I do not know what comes next. But I sure know this: We won't get there without each other. We were never alone, even when we felt we were. Now we know it.
These 137 people represent the wide range of entrepreneurs adapting to COVID-19. Those interviewed in our July/August issue are linked to their corresponding stories; others are explained here, with more on Entrepreneur.com and @Entrepreneur on Instagram.
1/ Maghan Morin
2/ Jeanine Suah
3/ Eric Yuan, founder and CEO, Zoom
The videoconference platform became a social lifeline during the crisis, and Yuan formed a new advisory council to improve security and privacy.
4/ Tom Colicchio, chef/owner, Crafted Hospitality
The Top Chef judge and restaurateur helped found the Independent Restaurant Coalition to advocate for the industry.
5/ Rebecca Minkoff, cofounder, Female Founder Collective
The designer launched, along with cofounder Ali Wyatt, a virtual training program to help entrepreneurs prep to raise capital.
6/ Sean "Diddy" Combs, founder, Our Fair Share
The rapper created a platform to help minority entrepreneurs access relief capital during the pandemic.
7/ Adam Contos
8/ Pierre Laguerre, founder and CEO, Fleeting
Fleeting connects commercial drivers with on-demand jobs; once COVID-19 hit, it focused on getting supplies deployed, fast.
9/ Deepti Sharma, founder and CEO, FoodtoEat
The catering service helps minority-owned food vendors grow their businesses. Lately, Sharma's robust network has helped feed folks in need.
10/ Vanessa Braxton, CEO, Black Momma Brands
Braxton shifted her vodka distillery to produce hand sanitizer.
11/ Matthew Herman
12/ David Kien
13/ Afton Vechery and 14/ Carly Leahy, cofounders, Modern Fertility
The fertility startup collected and shared data on how the crisis is impacting women's plans to have children.
15/ Sara Blakely
1/ Rob Price
2/ Christina Perla, cofounder and CEO, Makelab
The 3D-printing company pivoted from consumer products to face shields and custom-fit PPE.
3/ Michael Lastoria, cofounder and CEO, &Pizza
The brand donated "hero pies" to local hospital workers and partnered with Citi to expand the program.
4/ Natalie Madeira Cofield, founder and CEO, Walker's Legacy
The entrepreneurship collective for women of color launched an emergency grant to help students displaced by the crisis.
5/ Javier Garcia Del Moral and 6/ Paco Vique, cofounders, The Wild Detectives
The Dallas bookstore said it was becoming a travel agency, but searches on its site for destinations returned related book suggestions. The prank saw sales jump 200 percent.
7/ Reshma Shetty, cofounder, Ginkgo Bioworks
The biotech company offered $25 million worth of no-cost work on its platform to projects fighting the virus.
8/ Andy Hunter
9/ Ben Parsa, CEO, Inside Weather
The furniture company shifted to make face shields and masks, and made their designs open-source.
10/ Marie Kondo
11/ Guy Fieri, chef, Knuckle Sandwich
Fieri raised more than $20 million for the struggling restaurant industry.
12/ Jasmine Crowe, founder and CEO, Goodr
The food-waste management company launched free grocery pop-ups in communities of need.
13/ Kent Yoshimura and 14/ Ryan Chen, cofounders, Neuro
The wellness-focused gum brand had relied on in-person fitness events to drum up business. To stay top of mind, the founders started creating at-home workouts to keep people healthy.
15/ Taraji P. Henson, founder, The Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation
The actress launched a campaign to provide free tele-therapy to African American communities.
1/ Paul Carrick Brunson, founder, Knowledge Share
The serial entrepreneur has attracted thousands of viewers to his twice-weekly livestreams about navigating business challenges.
2/ Mariam Naficy, founder and CEO, Minted
The stationery and wedding invitation company launched "Change the Date" products.
3/ Eric Yaverbaum
4/ Magic Johnson, CEO, Magic Johnson Enterprises
He provided $100 million in loans to minority- and women-owned businesses.
5/ Rick Stollmeyer, cofounder and CEO, Mindbody
The management platform for fitness brands launched a free product to help clients easily shift to offer online classes.
6/ Cheryl Leung
7/ Ethan Bechtel, CEO, OhMD
The platform lets doctors send HIPAA-encrypted texts to patients, and it was made free during the crisis.
8/ Alexandra Fine
9/ Gregg Renfrew, founder and CEO, Beautycounter
The business saw a threefold increase in new independent makeup consultants at the brand, helping laid-off industry workers find new income.
10/ Pitbull, rapper
The Grammy-winning artist helped launch the Hispanic Small Business Center to provide support to Latino entrepreneurs.
11/ Ava Duvernay, founder, Array Alliance
The filmmaker launched Array Grants to help crisis-impacted festivals and screening series that focus on narrative change by people of color and women.
12/ Levi Fried
13/ Harmony Sage
14/ Ryan Roslansky, CEO, LinkedIn
The social network made job postings free for hospitals, disaster relief nonprofits, and medical device companies.
15/ Todd Heiser
1/ Achal Patel, cofounder and CEO, Cabinet
The medicine startup launched in March and quickly started offering a "kit" with hand cleansers and drugs to manage COVID symptoms.
2/ Sudheesh Nair
14/ Stan Khlevner
15/ Christina Stembel
1/ Shaan Sethi and 2/ Neela Sethi Young, cofounders, Jaanuu
The medical apparel brand pledged to donate 200,000 masks to Baby2Baby, a nonprofit that helps children in poverty.
14/ Mary Spio, founder and CEO, CEEK VR
The virtual reality company is working with entertainers to create live-performance experiences.
15/ Ross Kramer
1/ Ariela Safira
2/ Garry Cooper, CEO, Rheaply
The asset-sharing platform provided its technology to help Illinois medical facilities share ventilators and supplies.
14/ Frank Yang, founder and CEO, Simplehuman
Sales soared for the brand's touch-free garbage cans and soap dispensers, and the company distributed free products to caregivers.
15/ Anna Whiteman
1/ Katie Sturino, founder, Megababe
Demand for the brand's hand sanitizer soared; the company prioritized donations to those most in need.
2/ Irina Logra
14/ John foley, founder and CEO, Peloton
Sales spiked when people panic-bought at-home bikes, and Peloton shifted production to its instructors' homes.
15/ Jaime Schmidt, cofounder, Schmidt's Naturals
Schmidt launched The Entrepreneurial Dream Project, a grant and mentorship program for new businesses building during the crisis.
1/ Jaqi Wright
2/ Nikki Howard
14/ Michelle Kennedy, cofounder and CEO, Peanut
The social app for women launched new features to help users with pandemic fatigue and anxiety avoid COVID-19 conversations.
15/ Raj Kapoor, chief strategy officer, Lyft
After recovering from COVID-19, Kapoor helped launch WorldWithoutCovid.org to connect interested citizens to clinical trials for vaccine discovery.
1/ Ken Giddon
2/ Leslie Voorhees Means
14/ Yancey Spruill, CEO, DigitalOcean
The cloud provider launched the Hub for Good to help developers share tools and build projects to aid the crisis.
15/ Troy Parker, CEO, Innovative Labor and Cleaning Services
Some people with criminal records, including Parker, are ineligible for relief loans. Now he's working with senators to advocate to the SBA.
1/ Jacquelyn De jesu Center, founder and CEO, Shhhowercap
The founder donated the brand's waterproof, washable, antibacterial shower caps to labor and delivery units as PPE.
2/ Matt Ridley
14/ Muhssin El-Yacoubi
15/ Bary El-Yacoubi
1/ Jennifer Perkins
2/ Temie Giwa-Tubosun, founder and CEO, LifeBank
The medical-delivery company launched drive-through mobile COVID-19 testing centers in Nigeria.
14/ Michelle Ng, founder, Vancouver Foodie Tours
Ng pivoted to create a platform to help small businesses sell their products online, building a digital destination for artisanal goods.
15/ Randy Dewitt, founder, Front Burner Restaurants
DeWitt created Furlough Kitchen to distribute free meals out of his shut-down restaurants, and shared branding and operations info to encourage other restaurateurs to do the same.
1/ Dave Hunt
2/ Patty Clisham
14/ Lisa Price
15/ Mustafa Nuur, founder, Bridge
Bridge helps refugees and immigrants connect with local communities. During the crisis, they're helping care for local senior citizens.
1/ Regal Patel
2/ Nishant Patel
3/ Sahil Patel
4/ Lori Coulter and 5/ Reshma Chamberlin, cofounders, Summersalt
The swimwear brand launched Joycast, a text hotline that sends heartwarming videos or funny memes to people.
6/ Heather Hopkins
7/ Shan-Lyn Ma, cofounder and CEO, Zola
The wedding-planning site helped users navigate postponements with guidance, expert advice, and support initiatives.
8/ Andrey Lunev
9/ Emily L'ami
10/ Deepak Rao
11/ Siddharth Batra
12/ Romy Newman and 13/ Georgene Huang, cofounders, Fairygodboss
The online career community for women offered free résumé reviews during the crisis.
14/ Jennifer Mazzanti
15/ Carl Mazzanti
5/ Sundar Pichai, CEO, Google
Google launched features to help small businesses easily communicate new hours and preferred delivery partners, and promote gift card sales.
6/ Meghana Patel
7/ Jerry Orans, founder, Hack the Pandemic
The 16-year-old created a network of makers to 3D-print face shields for hospitals.
8/ Hamza Mudassir
9/ Kelly Mcculloch, chief people officer, Taco Bell
The brand committed to hiring 30,000 new team members during the summer months.
10/ Mahi de Silva, cofounder and CEO, Amplify.ai
The AI chatbot was deployed pro bono to government health organizations to help them share vital information.
11/ Matt Higgins
12/ Daniel Lubetzky, founder, KIND
The snack-bar brand has committed $1 million and helped launch the Frontline Impact Project to donate food to frontline workers.
13/ Larry Connor
14/ Keba Konte, founder, Red Bay Coffee
When the coffee roaster closed its stores, its mobile coffee van grabbed attention — and helped boost e-com sales 350 percent.
15/ Francis Davidson
5/ Pina Ciotoli and 6/ Adriano Ciotoli, co-owners, WindsorEats
The events business pivoted to create specialty deliveries (like boxes of local beer and wine) that support community businesses.
7/ Mike Ziegenbalg
8/ Alina Mikhaleva
9/ Peter Demarzo
10/ Alex Howland
11/ Aziz Hashim
12/ Karen Akunowicz
13/ Kulveer Taggar, CEO, Zeus
The company previously arranged long-term housing for business travelers; it pivoted to help displaced college students find housing.
14/ Chriselle Lim and 15/ Joan Nguyen, cofounders, Bümo
The education-based childcare center found a long-term opportunity as it shifted to digital amid the crisis. The interactive preschool now has a 2,000-person waitlist.
5/ Ashley Huffman
6/ Salomon Mishaan
7/ Laura Spaulding
8/ Danny Cattan
9/ James Vitrano
10/ Alexandre Lazarow
11/ Maya Gilliam, founder, Hempress Farms
When her spa had to close, Gilliam pivoted and rebranded to become a hemp dispensary and remain open for business.
12/ Tariq Farid, founder and CEO, Edible Arrangements
The company started offering fresh produce deliveries in addition to their signature bouquets and saw sales soar.
13/ Meena Harris
14/ Paul Wolfe
15/ Alfonso Olvera, cofounder, Aries
The organization helped redesign an anti-aerosol box to keep doctors safe from contaminated air during intubations.


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Mumbai: Rario, the world’s first officially licensed digital cricket collectibles platform, has partnered with the legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar to enter the Non-Fungible Token (NFT) market.
This partnership not only involves Sachin as a strategic investor but also allows fans from around the world to own his digital collectibles exclusively on Rario.com.
With the help of this collaboration, Tendulkar’s fans’ now have the chance to own digital collectibles of their favourite player and use them across multiple utilities that follow.
Many legendary and upcoming cricketers are already exclusively on the Rario’s platform including Aaron Finch, Faf Du Plessis, Quinton de Kock, Shakib Al Hasan, Rishabh Pant, Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Smriti Mandhana, Arshdeep Singh, Axar Patel.
Rario co-founder and CEO, Ankit Wadhwa said: “In 1996, I saw Sachin Tendulkar live for the first time at the India-Sri Lanka World Cup match in Kotla, Delhi. The greatest player in the world had scored a run-a-ball 137 – he is the hero of a billion cricket lovers.
“Twenty-six years later, partnering with the Master Blaster with him investing in Rario is a surreal feeling. It is a testament to our vision of making fandom more accessible. With the ‘God of Cricket’ backing us, sky is the limit!”
Speaking on the partnership, Tendulkar said: Fans are an integral part of any sport. While the on-field action happens for a few hours, fans carry the memories forward and immortalise those moments forever. It is exciting to see NFT technology bringing fans closer to sports, giving them an opportunity to treasure their favourite moments. I am happy to partner with the team, to launch my digital collectibles exclusively on the Rario platform”.
“Our goal is to bring cricket fans closer to the sport and their idols by providing them with unique personalised experiences. There is no greater cricketing idol than Sachin Tendulkar! We are thrilled to have him as a strategic investor and brand ambassador on our journey to build the world’s largest cricket fan club,” said Sunny Bhanot, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer, Rario.


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The FINANCIAL — During 11 months (July-May) of 2014/15 MY, Ukraine exported 232.2 thsd tonnes of wheat flour, which became the absolute record for the reporting period, an increase of 2% compared with the export volumes for the whole 2013/14 MY (228.2 thsd tonnes). But according to APK-Inform analysts, in the current season the volume of flour foreign supplies will reach 255 thsd tonnes, up almost 12% compared with the last year volumes.
It is worth noting that increasing of the Ukrainian flour export rates took place in terms of falling domestic demand, which was caused by reduction of the population of Ukraine, changes in food behaviour and decreasing of the purchasing capacity. Taking into account the geo-political changes in the country, as of January 1, 2015, the population of Ukraine reduced to 42.9 mln people, down 6% compared with the same date last year (45.5 mln people). Moreover, in terms the crisis economic situation, the purchasing capacity of the population significantly reduced, while the costs for raw materials purchasing and flour production significantly increased.
Thus, the low demand and high production costs put the Ukrainian flour milling industry in a very difficult situation. Therefore, the exports of the reporting finished product, which activation is vital for the industry, became one of the main compensatory mechanisms to keep the industry segment running.