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Jim Sachs, partner in Harris-Sachs, LLC, will lead a roundtable discussion for the second year in a row as a part of the Roundtable Workshops series during the Licensing Expo in Las Vegas. It is the world’s largest trade show dedicated to brand, character, entertainment, fashion, and art licensing, and will run from Tuesday, June 21 to Thursday, June 23.
During his session, “In the Trenches” Selling of Licensed Products, Sachs will focus on how to market and sell a licensed product once the manufacturer has taken a license for the product. The discussion will take place Wednesday, June 22 from 10:15 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. PST.
Meredith Corp. reported fiscal 2015 earnings per share of $3.02, compared to $2.50 in the prior year, a 21 percent increase.
Excluding special items in both years, fiscal 2015 earnings per share were $3.30, compared to $2.80, an 18 percent increase. Fiscal 2015 revenues rose 9 percent to a record $1.6 billion, including 15 percent growth in advertising revenues.
A.T. Kearney China released a report on June 1, which ranked China as the top country in the Global Retail Development Index (GRDI) for the first time since 2010. China’s retail market is expected to grow to $8 trillion by 2022.
Published since 2001, the GRDI ranks the top 30 developing countries for retail investment worldwide. The Index analyzes 25 macroeconomic and retail-specific variables to help retailers devise successful global strategies to identify emerging market investment opportunities.
While Asia was an overall region winner, Latin America had three countries in the top 10 (Uruguay No. 2, Chile No. 3, and Brazil No. 8) proving it’s a strong region for retailers despite economic headwinds.
The 2015 GRDI includes a special feature on the prospects for luxury goods in developing markets. The feature includes an analysis of the 15 leading luxury brands and their presence in the GRDI’s top 30 countries. The analysis shows that emerging markets fall into three tiers of luxury development, with different implications for brands looking to enter or expand in these markets.
Click here for the full GRDI report which includes detailed commentary for all 30 countries ranked in the index.
Emerald Expositions Inc. has agreed to acquire George Little Management (GLM) from Providence Equity Partners for $335 million, subject to certain adjustments at and after closing.
GLM creates face-to-face buying, selling, and networking platforms for designers, product developers, manufacturers, retailers, and operators through more than 20 leading trade shows. These include four of the largest 100 trade shows in the U.S.
GLM’s trade shows serve industries as diverse as home furnishings, home textiles, stationery and paper products, giftware, tabletop, gourmet housewares, contemporary furniture and interiors, personal care, art and design, and e-commerce. GLM has approximately 130 employees and operates out of six U.S. offices.
The transaction is anticipated to close in January, subject to customary regulatory approvals. The acquisition will be funded with approximately $200 million of debt and a $140 million equity investment from Onex Partners III, which acquired Emerald Expositions in June 2013.
Discovery Communications and Card.com have debuted prepaid Visa and MasterCard debit cards, featuring designs from Discovery Channel series, including MythBusters. These cards are bank-issued, fraud protected, and FDIC-insured debit cards that can be used anywhere. Additionally, a user-friendly online banking experience includes bill pay, cash transfers, and provides transaction history.
Toys “R” Us has withdrawn its proposal for an initial public offering, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The big-box toy retailer originally filed plans for an IPO on May 28, 2010 with the SEC. The company pulled the IPO on Friday due to “unfavorable market conditions, and the company’s recently announced executive leadership transition,” according to a news release.
The company had postponed its IPO in 2011 due to weak market conditions, and it has continued to struggle with weak sales. Last month, Gerald Storch announced he would step down as the Toys “R” Us CEO and chairman of the board, after joining the company in 2006 following an acquisition by investment group Bain Capital Partners, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., and Vornado Realty Trust.
On Friday, the company released its fourth quarter and full-year financial results for last year. In the fourth quarter, net sales were $5.8 billion, a decrease of $155 million compared to the prior year. For the full year, net sales were $3.5 billion, a decrease of 2.1 percent versus the prior year, driven by a comparable store net sales decline of 4.5 percent.
Photo Credit: Olsen Twins News.com
A few weeks ago, we gave you the scoop on the Kardashian Prepaid
MasterCard—a new debit card for kids backed by the Kardashian sisters. We never said it was a good idea, but as thorough journalists, we felt obliged to simply relay the facts. Well, turns out, it wasn’t a good idea. Why? Quite simply, after all the extra fees, chances are parents would have no money left to actually put on the card.
Here is a breakdown:
Cost to Run the Card: $7.95 a month. Fee to Add Money: $1. Cost Per Transaction to Pay Bill: $2. Public Outrage: Priceless.
So how does this all end? Turns out pretty easily—Kloe, Kim and Kourtney have pulled their famous name from the card.
Kim Kardashian has a pretty diverse résumé, if you want to call it that. From a sex tape to a reality TV show and several product endorsements, the girl gets around. Her latest venture includes a prepaid credit card—for kids. According to the New York Post, The Kardashian Prepaid MasterCard launches tonight at Pacha in New York and is backed by Mobile Resource.
Why should kids as young as 13 get plastic? Well, the idea behind the card is so that parents can monitor their kid’s spending amounts and habits—you can’t charge drugs. Plus, having a card at a young age with parental supervision could help kids learn responsible spending habits. Whether this is a good idea is yet to be determined.
Traditionally seen as the kickoff to spring, Easter couldn’t come at a better time this year for Americans eager to say goodbye to winter, according to the National Retail Federation’s 2010 Easter Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey. The survey, conducted by BIGresearch, found that holiday celebrants will spend slightly more this year with the average person expected to shell out $118.60, up from $116.59 last year. Total spending is expected to reach $13.03 billion.
While spending on most items will remain the same as last year, children can expect more jelly beans, flavored marshmallows and even gifts in their Easter baskets this year. The average person will spend $17.29 on candy, compared to $16.55 last year, and $18.16 on gifts, up from $17.30 last Easter. Other holiday purchases include clothing ($19.03), food ($37.45), flowers ($7.84), decorations ($6.34) and greeting cards ($6.30).
For more on this, visit this National Retail Federation’s website.
From the National Retail Federation, more cautiously optimistic news about the economy. The NRF found that February retail industry sales (excluding automobiles, gas stations, and restaurants) increased 1.0 percent seasonally adjusted over January and 1.7 percent unadjusted year-over-year.
Retail sales released today by the U.S. Commerce Department show total retail sales increased 0.3 percent seasonally adjusted over January and 4.1 percent unadjusted year-over-year.
“February could be the direct result of cabin fever with consumers eager to get some fresh air and enjoy a day of shopping,” says Rosalind Wells, Chief Economist for NRF. “We expect sales increases to continue but high unemployment and other economic factors will restrain consumers’ ability to splurge on discretionary items.”
For more on the bump, visit the NRF’s website.


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Posted on Wednesday, August 21st, 2013 by Germain Lussier
Every time you see a piece of art by Jason Edmiston, it takes a second to process. You have to look closely and ask, “Am I looking at a photo or is this a painting?” The next question is whether or not you have enough money to buy it.
Edmiston is the man behind the next solo show at the Mondo Gallery in Austin, Texas. It’s called A Rogues Gallery. The Toronto-based artist has done several brand new acrylic paintings immortalizing some of the biggest and baddest villains in cinema history. Characters from films like Ghostbusters, RoboCop, Predator, Terminator, Aliens, Texas Chainsaw Massacre and they’ll all be on display starting Friday August 23. Check out a sampling below.
Jason Edmiston’s A Rogue’s Gallery opens August 23 from 7-10 p.m. at 4115 Guadalupe St. Austin TX. It’ll remain on display through September 14. For more information, visit Mondotees.com.
Here’s a small sampling of work in the show. Some of these will be available as screenprints and most of the original paintings will be for sale, too.
Most of these posters and paintings will only be on sale at the gallery in Austin. Any leftovers will eventually go on sale online. Follow @MondoNews for that random announcement.

domain: news


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A few decades ago, the only screen in cars was a display that revealed what radio station you listened to. Things have changed since then and display size is currently shaping up to be the battleground in the automotive industry.
That’s clearly visible in the pickup department, in which Ram shocked everyone using a touchscreen that debuted at the 1500 that is redesigned. Ford is expected to follow suit by providing a 12-inch display in the 2021 F-150, and the automaker has confirmed their SYNC 4 infotainment platform has been made to accommodate screens ranging from 8- to 15.5-inches.
The latter display is a cardinal attribute on the 2021 Mustang Mach-E plus it completely dominates the interior, even making the 10.2-inch digital instrument cluster appear tiny compared to the It’s so large that The Wall Street Journal notes that the display is the 2nd biggest touchscreen on the marketplace as it’s only 2-inches more compact compared to the 17-inch display employed in the Tesla Model S and Model X.
But, big screens are becoming more common and also the 2020 Alfa Romeo Giulia and Stelvio ditched their 6.5-inch display for a newly standard 8.8-inch touchscreen. Even that display is comparatively little these days as the Volkswagen Touareg and Tesla Model versions possess a 15-inch infotainment system.
Cars that don’t possess touchscreens, can have multiple screens. Including a few of Mercedes models which contain a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster plus a 12.3-inch infotainment system. A number of organizations are also embracing tri-screen installations such as Audi and Jaguar Land Rover.
Although some people aren’t fans of screens, they’re not going. Since the WSJ mentioned, statistics from IHS Markit shows how big the average infotainment system has risen from 6.4-inches into 7.3-inches over the previous five years. They also noted the number of automobiles equipped with screens measuring larger or 7-inches has jumped nearly 75 percent in that time period. However, it remains unclear if automakers will follow in the footsteps of Byton and embrace huge screens such as the 48-incher destined for the M-Byte.
Buy Tickets for every event – Sports, Concerts, Festivals and more buy tickets dot com concerts


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Using a feature known as TV Block, Samsung has the power to remotely disable any device sold around the world. The information was confirmed by the South Korean manufacturer itself, which has built-in the TV Block feature in its products — technology that has already been used at least once.
In early August, the manufacturer issued a statement stating that it has disabled all televisions that were stolen from its distribution center in Cato Ridge, South Africa. internet after identifying your serial number — in cases where this is done accidentally, the consumer must present proof of purchase to restore the product.
“The aim of the technology is to mitigate the creation of secondary markets linked to the sale of illegal goods, both in South Africa and beyond its borders. The technology is preloaded on all Samsung TV products,” the company said in a note. According to Mike Van Lier, Director of Consumer Electronics at Samsung South Africa, the solution has positive impacts and “will also be useful for the industry and consumers in the future”.
Want to catch up on the best tech news of the day? Access and subscribe to our new youtube channel, Canaltech News. Everyday a summary of the main news from the tech world for you!
Solution raises questions
While Samsung points to TV Block technology as a positive, it has also raised some questions about security and privacy. As PC Mag points out, some consumers may feel uncomfortable knowing that their devices could be remotely unusable at a future time.
Did you know.
Every #SamsungTV is built with a safeguard against theft … Recent events and the sale of illegal goods have prompted the activation of #TVBlock, our remote solution to ensure Samsung TVs are used by its rightful owners.
🖱 https://t.co/GzQyJUTAoI#RebuildSA pic.twitter.com/48snMknr1k
— SamsungSA (@SamsungSA) August 6, 2021
There are also risks that the manufacturer is not responsible for the locks: if the company’s systems are compromised, an attacker could use the technology to compromise millions of people around the world. At the moment, the only way to prevent this from happening is to disconnect the televisions from the internet — which makes the smart features, such as streaming platforms, offered by them unusable.
Canaltech got in touch with Samsung’s press office asking about the moment when the technology was adopted, and how consumers can find out if the models they have are compatible. On social networks, the publication made by the company promoting the resource has been criticized, with many consumers claiming that they opted for other brands after learning about the resource.
Source: Samsung, PC Mag
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News Stories Showing 1-1 of 1 results found
Will e-books ever be a best seller? November 19, 2007 Sony's Reader has been little more than a footnote so far. Now Amazon is looking to light things up with its new Kindle device.
Photos: Amazon's Kindle device
Sponsored matches for "E Ink Corp."


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A good friend (and a regular reader of The Smart CEO) and I had this deep discussion about the concept of narrative fallacy, a term coined by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of The Black Swan. Taleb uses the term narrative fallacy to explain that humans tend to take a complex series of events and oversimplify these into simple stories, ignoring a lot of random, but important events that take place in-between. In essence, Taleb believes that as humans, we often ignore the chaos in the world and the role luck plays in all successes and failures.read more
In conversation with Irfan Razack, chairman and managing director, Prestige Group, one of South India’s leading property developers with interests in residential, commercial, retail, leisure and hospitality sectors
A peek into some wonderful anecdotes on branding from Brand Owners’ Summit Bangalore, co-organized by afaqs! and The Smart CEO
Krishnan Ganesh, a serial entrepreneur, believes that brand building opportunities in India are unique. He shares with us his experience from Tutor Vista, Bluestone.com and BigBasket.com
Madan Padaki believes that today’s rural youth has raw talent, entrepreneurial spirit, global aspirations and access to technology. Through Head Held High, he aims to provide them with the right opportunities and eradicate rural poverty in the long run
Mindtree’s Krishnakumar Natarajan believes that a corporate brand is actually an extension of its internal culture and how the brand is felt, perceived and thought about by various stakeholders who interact with it. In his talk at the Brand Owners’ Summit, Natarajan talks from the heart about how brands evolve continuously, just like how people do, and why it is crucial for marketers to keep this in mind as they formulate a branding strategy
Dr. Mohammed Rehan Sayeed, a cardiac surgeon by profession, started Motherhood Hospitals, a mother and child care single-specialty chain, to fill the lacunae in the delivery of healthcare in the countryread more
Unitus Seed Fund-backed Welcare Health Systems has developed affordable eye-screening devices to fight diabetic retinopathy, an illness which is likely to affect one in four diabetes patients in the coming yearsread more
Advitiya Sharma, along with 11 co-founders, set up Housing.com as a map-based home search portal that offers more than 100 data points, at just a clickread more
Dynaflex, supplier of tamper evident packing material to e-commerce companies, casinos, investigative agencies and educational institutions in India, plans to raise US $10 million in six months to fund its expansion and aims to record revenues of Rs. 100 crore by FY2017. Today, over 45 per cent of its revenues comes from the e-commerce sectorread more
KRDS, one of the first few European Facebook marketing agencies, eyes the Indian market for growth. Its key weapon: the 1200 social media campaigns it has executed in 30 countries, so farread more
Today, Robosoft Technologies, a mobile app development firm, generates 75 per cent of its revenues from outside India. But, given the pace at which India is transitioning to smartphones, Rohith Bhat, the founder, believes that the scales may shift in future. Bhat thanks the company’s early-stage success to its first client, a dream one at that, Appleread more
Indian spirits manufacturer, Kyndal Group, is in the process of building a global brand. What’s encouraging is that the brand has seen over 300 per cent revenue growth since 2006 and is currently in a consolidation phase. This augurs well for Kyndal as it prepares to take the fight to foreign brandsread more
Lucia, the critically acclaimed Kannada film has two lessons for its business audience; despite taking a planned route to build a brand, there’s always an unknown element that will draw a customer to it, and the potential of crowd funding to convert ideas to products and dreams to realityread more
Being active on social media and mobile, having face-to-face interaction with customers, and building conversations through personalised emails are some key tactics that brick and mortar and online retailers can use to secure customer feedbackread more
Given that today, workforce diversity is a key driver of innovation and success, companies across the world need to place an emphasis on diversity training and develop conducive policies to support themread more
Sanjay Kamlani, angel investor, serial entrepreneur and founder of Pangea3, the legal process outsourcing firm that he exited, says it is the process of building a business rather than a glamorous product offering that keeps him thrilled. Kamlani explains: “How do we grow our teams, how do we synchronise seamlessly between clients, employees and investors, how do we maintain a very high retention rate? – it is dealing with questions like these that energise me every single day.” That is the sole reason why he has slowed down his angel investment endeavors to pursue his next entrepreneurial stintread more
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NZ farm sales set to fall as stellar season ends, REINZ says 15 May 2012
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The Real Estate Institute is warning of a slowdown in farm sales as seasonal conditions look set to sour, ending the best quarterly sales period since August 2008.
The number of farms sold rose 53 percent to 443 in the three months ended April 31, up from 290 sales a year earlier, according to the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand. The median price per hectare for all farms sold rose 3.8 percent to $17,938.
"The earlier confidence arising from the very good season just past is being replaced by a distinct note of caution as purchasers take account of recent reductions in market returns for dairy products, mutton and lamb," said Brian Peacocke, REINZ rural market spokesman. "Expectations are for the market to continue to slow as we move into winter - there is an acknowledgment that income levels are likely to be down for the forthcoming season."
A strong kiwi dollar and falling prices for locally produced raw materials are set to weigh on the rural sector after uncharacteristically good weather conditions stoked New Zealand's production last year. That's prompted Bank of New Zealand economists to warn the nation's export receipts may drop by $3 billion over the coming year, weighing on farmers' incomes.
REINZ said all regions except Hawkes Bay and Otago recorded an increase in sales in the April quarter compared with a year earlier. Waikato showed the largest increase in sales, up 32 sales, followed by Canterbury with 28 more sales. Hawkes Bay dropped five sales, while sales in Otago fell by four.
Grazing properties accounted for the largest increase in sales, rising 53 percent in the three month period. That was followed by finishing properties, climbing 16 percent and dairy farms, up 15 percent.
The lifestyle property market increased its sales by about 29 percent.
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Lenovo Indonesia has opened its first flagship store in Jakarta.
It is the first time the Chinese technology giant has showcased products from all the categories it competes in under the one roof in Indonesia.
The new store is located in Ratu Plaza Jakarta, providing customers with an integrated one-stop service.
Lenovo Indonesia GM Rajesh Thadani said the company’s existing stores in Indonesia tended to focus on specific categories.
“With this flagship store concept, we can provide our customers with all Lenovo products from servers, PCs, smartphones and tablets through end-to-end [sales],” he said.
Another 11 flagship stores are planned for Indonesia over the next three years, three of them within six months.
Intel and IT Gallery are partnering in the stores’ development.
Lenovo is actively building its brand awareness across Asia with a goal to become a major vendor of smartphones as well as building upon its market leadership in laptops.


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Westin Hotels & Resorts is once again changing the game in the travel industry by becoming the first hotel brand to bring its signature sleep experience from the hotel room to the home and now to the skies. Westin is celebrating the debut of Westin Heavenly(R) bedding, designed and manufactured exclusively for Delta, in all of the airline’s BusinessElite(R) cabins throughout the world. Delta passengers can now experience the new Heavenly bedding on all BusinessElite International flights, as well as BusinessElite flights between New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport and Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle, and between Atlanta and Honolulu.
The Sheraton Grand Hotel & Spa in Edinburgh has promoted Melissa Raffaelli to the role of Director of Sales.
Melissa joined the Sheraton Grand Hotel & Spa in 2002 as a Guest Services Agent in the Front Office, before transferring to the Spa Reception and eventually moving into Group and Events Sales. She subsequently held a number of positions in the hotel sales team, most recently as Assistant Director of Sales. Prior to this, Melissa worked to promote both the Sheraton Grand Hotel & Spa and Turnberry, the Luxury Collection Resort in Ayrshire, to the international conference and incentive market, as Account Director for Starwood Hotels & Resorts in Scotland.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts has appointed Even Frydenberg to the role of Senior Vice President, Western Europe and Global Initiatives. Mr. Frydenberg has 20 years of experience with Starwood and most recently served as Senior Vice President of Operations and Global Initiatives for the Europe, Africa & the Middle East (EAME) division.
A Norwegian national, Mr. Frydenberg graduated with an MBA from Stanford University in California before starting his career with Starwood in 1993 as Executive Assistant Manager responsible for the Rooms Division and Food & Beverage at the Sheraton Copenhagen in Denmark.
Centara Hotels&Resorts, Thailand’s largest operator of hotels, has now opened its own sales office in Jakarta, Indonesia.
The new office is part of Centara’s strategy to open sales offices throughout ASEAN prior to the formalization of the ASEAN Economic Community in 2015.
“Our new Jakarta office will allow us to become closer to the Indonesian travel industry and consumers,” says Chris Bailey, Senior Vice President for Sales and Marketing at Centara Hotels&Resorts.
A new hotel located a short distance from Bangkok’s mainline railway terminus and on the fringe of Chinatown is to be soft-opened by Centara Hotels&Resorts on July 15, 2013.
Centra Central Station Bangkok is a 150-room hotel in Centara’s value brand portfolio, catering for the needs of individual travelers, families, and groups of friends.
Thirayuth Chirathivat, chief executive officer of Centara Hotels&Resorts, says the company is very proud to be opening a new hotel in such a significant location.
Goran Todorovic is managing the two French Vienna International hotels Dream Castle und Magic Circus in the position of General Manager since the beginning of 2013. The 44-year-old native Serbo-Croatian Goran Todorovic began his career in the Mövenpick-Radisson Hotel and the Royal Savoy Hotel in Lausanne in Switzerland. Todorovic soon climbed up the career ladder at big-name hotel groups such as Accor, where he worked for the brands Mercure and Sofitel.
Tata Starbucks Ltd, the 50:50 joint venture between Starbucks Coffee Company and Tata Global Beverages Ltd, this week opened its first outlet in Gurgaon, Haryana taking its total store count in the Delhi NCR region to eight. The opening of the store in Ambience Mall is part of the company’s ongoing expansion in India, whereby it plans to open 50 outlets within this year. The partners have earmarked an investment of Rs 400 crore for the purpose, PTI reported.
The growing number of tourists to Lavasa is reflecting in the brisk business of hotels in the planned hill city. The tourist traffic to Lavasa rose by 29 per cent to 338,258 during the first half of this year, compared with 2012. In June 2013, a record 99,381 tourists visited the destination, an increase of 73 per cent over the same period last year, as per a release.
The four hotels in operation are Ekaant (20 rooms), Fortune (60 rooms),
Hyatt Hotels Corporation has signed a management agreement with Istra-Kurort LLC (Gleden Invest Group), a Russian real estate development company, for opening Hyatt Regency Moscow Istra Resort in Russia. Scheduled to open by 2017, the Resort will be located on the shores of the Istra Reservoir, a release stated. The upcoming property will join five other hotels of the company currently under development across Russia—Hyatt Regency Moscow Petrovsky Park, Hyatt Regency Rostov on Don, Hyatt Regency Sochi, Hyatt Regency Vladivostok Golden Horn, and Hyatt Burny Vladivostok.
Hyatt Regency Moscow Istra Resort will feature 168 guest rooms and 52 apartments and a conference centre with a 3,760-sq-ft ballroom.
Vivanta by Taj – Gurgaon, NCR has launched the third Thai Pavilion in India. Thai Pavilion at Vivanta by Taj President, Mumbai was the country’s first Thai restaurant serving authentic Thai cuisine.
Chef Ananda Solomon, Corporate Chef, Vivanta by Taj Hotels & Resorts said, “This is the first time that the authentic cuisine of Thai Pavilion is being showcased in Gurgaon and the North of India, thereby expanding the brand’s footprint in the country. In an ongoing endeavour, I have been exploring the mystique and have been fascinated by the bouquet of flavours which is the essence of Thai cuisine.


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Sports Authority on the brink of bankruptcy
Company has estimated $643 million of debt
Retailer Sports Authority is on the brink of bankruptcy.
Reuters reports that Sports Authority intends to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy next month and close up to 200 of its 450 locations.
The company missed a $20 million credit payment in January.
Earlier this month, Bloomberg reported that Sports Authority was taking steps toward bankruptcy. The company has an estimated $643 million of debt.
There is one Sports Authority location in the Susquehanna Valley, on Fruitville Pike in Lancaster County.


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Fast fashion, at what price?
Last month marked one year since the collapse of the Rana plaza factory in Bangladesh, where over a thousand garments factory workers died and another two thousand were injured. Despite the severity of the Rana plaza disaster only around half of the 29 fashion brands who sourced clothes from the factories based there have deposited into the compensation fund. The treatment of factory workers is still poor, their wages remain substandard and their labour rights non-existent.
The 24th April is the anniversary of the Rana Plaza disaster and has been named fashion revolution day worldwide, to engage international consumer power to demand ethical fashion from the industry. I attended a meeting on Fashion Revolution day organised by 'People Tree'; a fair-trade fashion label and one of very few brands offering truly fair-trade fashion from sourcing more sustainable fabrics, as well as providing a fair living wage and ensuring a healthy working environment for their garment makers.
The panel included representatives from garment workers federations, international NGOs and fashion commentators. The focus of the meeting was firstly to raise awareness of the issues and complexities involved in achieving fair trade fashion. Many in the audience questioned the panel on where they could safely buy clothes on the high street but there were no clear cut answers. The truth of it was that none of the high street brands offer truly ethical options.
The question on all of our minds was "so what’s the solution?". The solution is not a simple or straightforward one. Where should the responsibility lie? Should it be the governments where the factories are based to enforce labour laws more strictly? Or should it be fashion brands to insist on higher labour standards from their suppliers. Or should it be the workers themselves to organise themselves in such a way to demand better rights for themselves?
The reality is, in today's world, consumers are key, where there is demand there will be a supply. The buck stops with us, the everyday consumer. While we continue to accept unethical products, they will continue to be supplied. Our shopping choices have ramifications for people around the world, and it is up to us to demand ethical options from the brands we shop with.


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When it became known that flickr would change owners? It was anticipated that there would be several changes.Some of them explained by the platform itself in recent months. But now they will begin to be effective . And its users could lose part of the content they have on the platform. We know that today social networks are essential in the lives of millions of people. Not for nothing that more than 2.6 billion users worldwide .Agree on them according to data projected in statista. And, among the great diversity that exists in this type of platform.
After the Merger of Yahoo! And Aol to Create Oath, Many of the
Services, products, and companies that were part of the Sunnyvale company underwent changes, either ownership, or even disappeared. One that underwent australia mobile number database changes was Flickr, which in 2018 was acquired by SmugMug, which anticipated that there would be changes in the platform’s policies and conditions of use. This was something important, since the app has offered its subscribers 1 TeraByte of storage since 2013 and the option to upload images of up to 200 MB, as well as videos of up to 1GByte of 3 minutes , this in the free version.
It Also Offers a Premium Version for $50 Per Year With Special Options
But the free version is really very good, so – according to various sources – most subscribers opt for it. Since November and December of last year they reported that this would change, limiting free accounts to just 1,000 photos, although they did not specify when that would be. Now, various media report that notifications have already begun to arrive that the change will begin tomorrow, February 5, so users with free accounts who have more than the allowed limit could lose their oldest content.


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“As the U.S. dollar runs rampant, its strength has come at the expense of trading partner currencies, notably the euro, pound and Japanese yen. The pound’s disintegration gathered pace this week as GBP/USD hit its lowest on record at nearly $1.03.
With the United Kingdom’s central bank, the Bank of England, avoiding interventions so far, nerves are showing as purchasing power takes a double hit from currency weakness and inflation at 4-year highs. Trade volume for the GBP/BTC pair on exchanges Bitstamp and Bitfinex, usually worth a combined $70 million per day, hit a giant $881 million on Sept. 26.
The United Kingdom will get orange-pilled very quickly given GBP volatility. When a fiat currency is threatened, investors start to favour Bitcoin.”
See Also: ‘There Are No Safe Havens’ When the Dollar Is Strong, Veteran Trader Says
“The European Union (EU) recently agreed to new laws to enable innovative ways to trade stocks and bonds using the blockchain, by easing requirements to use brokers and use a separate securities depositary – and the trial is set to start in March 2023.
A significant number of market participants expressed interest in operating a DLT MI [market infrastructure] under the DLT Pilot.
ESMA cited interest from trading floors and settlement infrastructure, both new players and incumbents, from inside and outside the bloc. Proponents say the new systems, allowing trading of tokenized securities could prove more transparent and efficient, helping cut out the middleman from financial-market trading.“
See Also: US Fed Chair Powell Urges Caution on Regulating DeFi
See Also: FTX Wins Bid to Buy Crypto Lender Voyager Digital’s Assets Out of Bankruptcy
“No-fee trading platform Robinhood (HOOD) is releasing the beta version of its Web3 wallet, allowing users to swap assets on its Polygon-based non-custodial wallet.
Robinhood has been steadily making advances in bolstering its crypto products and moving away from its original “walled garden” approach over the past year. The wallet will allow users to trade over 20 cryptocurrencies supported by decentralized exchange (DEX) aggregator 0x, without fees. The wallet will also allow users to connect to dapps and earn yield on assets.“
See Also: Robo-Advisor Betterment Partners With Crypto Exchange Gemini to Offer Customized Crypto Portfolios
“Set to launch later this year, decentralized data platform Space and Time will integrate with Microsoft Azure. ‘We want to build a more mature, enterprise-secure data warehouse from the start.’
Space and Time combines on-chain and off-chain data in a trustless environment that supports enterprise-scale analytics. The startup is also developing a novel cryptographic protocol called proof of SQL that would allow blockchain applications to rapidly generate analytical insights in a decentralized, low-cost and secure way.
Holiday noted that Microsoft is also a major traditional gaming player through its Xbox business, which could help Space and Time build the gaming database for Web3.”
See Also: DeFi Hub Umee Targets TradFi With Institutional Lending DAO
“A project involving multiple Asian central bank digital currencies (CBDC) has been badged a success, facilitating over $22 million in foreign-exchange transactions. The trial used a custom-built distributed-ledger technology platform, is supported by central banks from China, Hong Kong, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates.
A statement issued in November said that Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Societe Generale and China’s six biggest state-owned lenders are among the 20 commercial banks involved in the project, known as mBridge.”
See Also: Russia aims to use CBDC for international settlements with China: Report
See Also: French Central Bank CBDC Projects Aim to Manage DeFi Liquidity, Settle Tokenized Assets
“Luxury auction house Christie’s is launching an on-chain platform for non-fungible token (NFT) art, becoming the first global auction to facilitate fully on-chain sales.
The new platform, called Christie’s 3.0, was created in partnership with blockchain data firm Chainalysis, NFT minting platform Manifold and metaverse builder Spatial. The entire auction process, including all pre-and-post sale transactions, will be carried out on the Ethereum blockchain.
The platform’s inaugural sale will take place on September 28 and will include nine NFTs by artist Diana Sinclair in a collection titled Phases.”
See Also: Bored Apes, Moonbirds to feature on NFT-customized Mastercard debit cards
See Also: OpenSea NFT Marketplace Adds Support for Optimism


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Video: Teams compete at the 2017 Ramona Grape Stomp Competition
By Miriam Raftery
September 10, 2017 (Ramona) – To the strains of songs like “Mountain Dew”, teams of competitors vied to see who could crush the most grapes in two minutes and emerge champion at the first-ever Ramona Grape Stomp this weekend.
Teams chose names such as the “Juicy Lucys” or the “Toe Jammers.” One team member stomped the ripe purple grapes, the other filled a cup with juice spurting out of a spigot on a wine barrel.
A Grape Stomp princess was also on hand to help officiate as contestants hopped in feet first, demonstrating their stomping skills on stage as the audience cheered them on with gusto.
Less competitive-spirited folks could also stomp just for fun--and pose for photos--at a separate stomping area.
“We’re excited to see the wineries coming together to give back to our community,” Terri Kerns from Ramona Ranch Winery and Vineyards, a sponsor of the event, told East County Magazine, “ since the Ramona community has so embraced the wineries.” She said the event has drawn large crowds eager to partake in the fun.
Hosted by the Ramona Valley Vineyards Association, Ramona Rotary Club and Ramona Senior Center, the event benefits such as college scholarships, senior nutrition, the Ramona Boys and Girls Club, Fourth of July fireworks, and education about this fast-growing wine region.
Crowds flocked to the Ramona Outdoor Community Center Pavillion, where activities included wine tasting from numerous local wineries serving up locally produced vintages, many from award-winning local wineries, ranging from sweet or dry whites to bold reds such as a 9-year-old Zinfandel on the tasting menu.
Guests could also enjoy foods, bid on silent auction prizes such as wine baskets and hand-made Adirondack chairs, vie for raffle prizes, or shop from vendors offering everything from Western wear to wine-themed accessories such as blown-glass wine stoppers and serving trays made from old wine bottles.
If you missed this year's Ramona Grape Stomp, no worries -- organizers have promised to make this successful stomp an annual event, so you can come back next year and many times more in the future to stomp, shop and sip to your heart's content.


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Riyadh – Global hospitality leader Hilton has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Saudi Tourism Authority (STA) to attract people from leading markets across the Middle East and Africa (MEA) to visit Saudi Arabia.
The two entities will boost mutual cooperation opportunities and develop creative content to pursue Hilton’s presence and growth in the Kingdom, where it currently operates 16 hotels and has an additional 51 in the pipeline.
Hilton also plans to grow its portfolio to exceed 75 hotels in Saudi Arabia over the coming years, according to a press release.
Vice President, Operations for Hilton in KSA, Egypt, and Levant, Kamel Ajami, said: “Through this partnership, we aim to attract travellers from the Middle East and Africa who are looking to explore the Kingdom’s diverse tourism offerings while staying with a global hospitality brand they know and trust.”
Ajami noted that the agreement aligns with Hilton’s longstanding relationship with STA over the years and is a reiteration of the hospitality entity’s commitment towards the tourism sector in Saudi Arabia.
The MoU was signed at Saudi Arabia's pavilion at Arabian Travel Market 2023 by Ajami and STA’s Director General of Marketing Partnerships for the Middle East and Africa, Munirah Abanomy.
Meanwhile, Abdulkarim Al Darwish, CEO of the Middle East and African Markets at STA, said: “This memorandum of understanding with global hospitality leader, Hilton, aligns with our strategy to partner with key international brands and corporations that are working in alignment with our vision, attracting new segments of regional tourists and helping us achieve our 2030 objectives.”
All Rights Reserved - Mubasher Info © 2005 - 2022 Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).


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Amazon came under fire earlier this week for allowing a racist shirt to be sold by a third-party vendor on its website
Amazon came under fire earlier this week for allowing a racist shirt to be sold by a third-party vendor on its website.
The shirts, which read ‘Slavery Gets S*** done,’ were yanked from the site, and the vendor, Styleart, banned, according to a company statement released Wednesday.
‘All Marketplace sellers must follow our selling guidelines and those who don’t will be subject to action including potential removal of their account,’ an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement, according to People.
‘The products in question are no longer available.’
The seller offered a line of adult and baby clothing, mugs, baby bibs and tote bags emblazoned with the racist phrase.
And to ride the message home – behind the saying is a photo of pyramids.
Many of the products were modeled by infants and young children, all of whom were white.
The shirts, which read ‘Slavery Gets S*** done,’ were yanked from the site, and the vendor, Styleart, banned, according to a company statement released Wednesday
Amazon announced it was removing the vendor after outraged customers threatened to cancel their subscriptions to the popular website.
‘What in the hell is this? Slavery gets s*** done?? Guess I’m cancelling my Amazon Prime subscription now. Damn it all to hell!!’ one customer tweeted Monday.
‘If one thing is going to banjax @amazon it’s their lack of curation; it’s a huge free-for-all. At the best the Fire stick has one bazillion pony punter apps, and at worst they sell t-shirts like this. Eurgh,’ another Twitter user wrote, with a photo of one of the t-shirts attached.
Anti-slavery organizations and charities also lashed out at Amazon and denounced the racist designs.
‘If it’s meant to be funny, it fails miserably,’ Jakub Sobik of Anti-Slavery International told Reuters.
Many of the products were modeled by infants and young children, all of whom were white
And David Westlake, chief executive of International Justice Mission UK added that the shirts were particularly offensive because children in third world countries probably had to make them under severe conditions.
‘Children the same age as those modeling the T-shirts will be forced to work long hours for no pay in desperate conditions where starvation, beatings and sleep deprevation are common,’ he said.
According to the website’s policy, ‘products that promote or glorify hatred, violence, racial, sexual or religious intolerance or promote organizations with such views,’ are prohibited.


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Best & Less Group (BLG), an Australian baby, kids and womenswear retailer, has raised A$60 million ($44 million) through a domestic IPO, facilitating a partial exit for majority owner Allegro Funds Group.
Asia Partners and Falcon Eduge Capital have led a $100 million Series B round for GudangAda, an Indonesian online marketplace that targets wholesale and small-scale retailers.
M Stand - a China-based coffee shop chain with ambitions to become the Starbucks for China's younger generation - has raised RMB500 million ($77 million) in Series B funding led by Black Ant Capital and GenBridge Capital.
Chongxing, a Chinese petcare brand, has raised RMB200 million ($31 million) in a third tranche of Series B funding from Tencent Holdings, Hony Capital, HighLight Capital, Vertex Ventures China, and Meridian Capital.
Japan Growth Investments Alliance (J-GIA) has agreed to buy a majority stake in furniture and home décor business Francfranc – which has stores in Japan and Hong Kong – from Seven & i Holdings, the parent of 7-Eleven.
SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Prosus Ventures have led a $1.25 billion funding round for Swiggy, an India-based on-demand delivery platform.
Indian eyewear retailer Lenskart has raised a $220 million round led by Temasek Holdings and Falcon Edge Capital at a valuation of $2.5 million.
Beauty and wellness are at the vanguard of China’s fast-rising services sector. Investors see clear paths to growth, but size presents a plethora of problems in terms of standardizing service quality
Vertex Ventures China was adamant that Neiwai should expand offline on leading a Series B for the lingerie brand in 2017. Four years and two rounds later, the strategy is paying off
PatPat, a Chinese-founded children’s wear brand that claims to be the world’s largest direct-to-consumer (DTC) player in its segment, has raised $510 million across two rounds of funding.
Chinese lingerie brand Neiwai has raised a $100 million Series D round led by The Carlyle Group. Vertex Ventures China and Qiming Venture Partners re-upped.
Yanolja, which claims to be South Korea’s only travel industry unicorn, has received $1.7 billion from SoftBank Vision Fund 2. There are no other investors in the round.
Tiger Attitude, a China-based bakery brand, has raised a $50 million Series A round led by GGV Capital and Tiger Global. Both IDG Capital and Sequoia Capital China re-upped, having participated in a pre-Series A in January alongside Challenjers Capital.
Pratilipi, a literature, comics, and audio storytelling platform with service in 12 Indian languages, has raised a $48 million Series D that will see the start-up branch into gaming.
Singapore’s Next Gen Foods, which markets the vegetarian chicken brand Tindle, has raised $20 million from VCs including GGV Capital, with a view to entering the US.
Walmart-controlled Flipkart, one of India’s largest e-commerce players, has raised $3.6 billion at a valuation of $37.6 billion with significant private equity support.
China restaurant chain Hefu Noodle caters to a lunchtime office-worker client base from a network of central kitchens. Meridian Capital is one of several investors sold on the expansion opportunity
Indonesian e-commerce platform Bukalapak – which counts GIC, and Microsoft among its investors – has unveiled plans to become the first of the country’s technology unicorns to complete a domestic IPO.
Temasek Holdings and Warburg Pincus have joined a $500 million in Indian ride-hailing platform Ola ahead of an IPO.
Korean grocery delivery platform operator Kurly has raised a $200 million Series F round at a valuation of $2.2 billion, as plans for a US IPO are scrapped in favor of a local listing.
Tongcheng Life, a China-based community group buying business incubated by online travel agency Tongcheng-Elong, has announced its bankruptcy, blaming "poor management."
Tiger Global Management has led a $144 million Series D round for Indian social e-commerce start-up DealShare.
CMC Capital has led a Series E funding round of nearly RMB800 million ($123 million) for Hefu Noodle, a Chinese noodle restaurant chain.
Chinese VC firm Crystal Stream Capital has doubled down on a Middle East and Africa strategy with participation in a $40 million investment in Egyptian logistics start-up MaxAB.


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Gourmet food is something that many people enjoy. Meals made from fresh ingredients that have been carefully selected for both their taste and health benefits are very popular both in restaurants and at home. But people aren’t the only ones eating gourmet food. In recent times, the dog food industry has shifted from offering just bland kibble and cheap canned foods that prioritized low price over quality to having a wide range of premium nutrition choices for pets. Quality dog food isn’t entirely new. Beneful is a brand that has been offering premium dog food for several years. Their products are made from top-quality ingredients that dogs actually love to eat and that offer them many health benefits. It is the preferred brand used by dog owners who want their companion to have the best food they can find. What sets Beneful apart is that while their products are still reasonably priced, they refuse to compromise on quality just for the sake of being able to sell their food at lower prices. Their new line of wet dog food called “Chopped Blends” is made from healthy ingredients like chicken, salmon, beef, carrots, wild rice and tomatoes. It has received thousands of positive reviews from dog owners, many of who say that even dogs who are picky eaters love the taste of Beneful wet dog food. Premium dog foods are made by various companies around the country. Newcomers to the industry like Freshpet Inc., which operates out of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, have put together innovative recipes that would look just like something people would eat themselves. Even companies that have been selling dog food for decades are now coming up with a premium line of products. These foods emphasize natural nutrition without the use of artificial flavors and colorings. According to a Daily Herald report, premium dog food sales have been growing steadily in the last few years. Since 2009, around $10.5 billion has been spent on premium dog food. This represents a growth of 45 percent in sales. Premium products currently make up over half of the entire market.
The Zika virus is caused by mosquito bites and have been likely linked to cause birth defects. Marilia Lima was pregnant when she was infected with Zika virus, and at the time there wasn’t a lot of known information about the virus. Her son, Arthur, who is now 2.5 months old was born with microcephaly, which is a birth defect that causes small heads and brain damage. There has not been a proven indication that the virus definitely causes the birth defect, but most doctors do believe there is a connection, and Lima does not feel like Brazil cares.
Among the many problems that these infants and their families suffer from, this medical condition is hard to treat because doctors and health care professionals do not understand the virus. There isn’t enough information or research to help the babies with their developmental delays, and help the families to cope. Most of the families are left to deal with the birth defect on their own, only hoping for comfort and care in the future.
Sergio Cortes of sergiocortes.com is a doctor who has dedicated much of his life and his studies geared towards understanding this virus and hopefully finding a successful treatment. He has many years of health care experience and in his current findings he has discovered that the mosquito is also responsible for another type of virus with similar symptoms. It’s called the chikungunya virus, and proves to enhance pain in the joints which can be very intense. The NPR.org data findings from these two viruses are still being studied considering the current rate of microcephaly. Physicians and health care professionals are warning expecting mothers to not visit the area and if an individual begins to show symptoms of redness of eyes, joint pain, high fever followed by a rash, they are to seek medical attention as soon as possible. Sergio Cortes is also heading studies to see if an individual can be infected by both viruses that are caused by these mosquitos.
Sergio Cortes has found that there is no medicine that can be administered to prevent the disease but that the only treatment the can be offered is to continue to study the viruses. His team of health care professionals have devised a plan of hope that a vaccine they’ve developed will become into effect soon, and provide 80% accuracy and have the ability to fight the four different types of the fever. As of right now, there is no solution to the problem other than to continue to study the viruses and work to eliminate the mosquitos and their breeding grounds.
There is hope for Lima and Arthur through the findings of Sergio Cortes. With time and efforts, they can find a vaccine that will cure the virus and put an end to the link between the virus and microcephaly. It’s an unfortunate situation for any family to have to go through, but with a continued drive to enhance the lives of those affected, hopefully they can seek comfort and care.
It is one thing to amass wealth but entirely different for the wealth holder to share the wealth freely. We are talking about the philanthropic activities of a man whose love for humanity than love itself, George Soros. This is a gentleman who was born in Belfast Hungary 85 years ago. He is an American of noble standing, a billionaire by right and a philanthropist at heart. He wears many hats as it is almost an offense not to mention that he is an investment mogul and an author. His investment prowess has seen his wealth rise to over 23 billion dollars putting him on the Forbes list of the top fifty wealthy people in the world. In the USA, Soros forms part of the top ten richest people. George Soros is the Chairman and Founder of the Open Society Foundations– which is a network of foundations, partners and projects in over 100 countries globally.
Soros is committed to the idea of open society- where rights are respected, government enhance accountability, and truth is open to all. This the uniqueness in of the Open Society Foundations unlike many other private philanthropic efforts propagated by other philanthropies. The current burning of books and literature related to George Soros’ Open Societies Foundation in colleges in Russia is widely seen as a move to gag open talk on human rights. What these hooligans didn’t put in mind is that Soros has amassed so much financial muscle for anyone to stand on his way of propagating democracy across the world. Soros books are important as they helped build up a international system that enhanced transparency and accountability to the natural resources extraction industries in the larger part of Europe. Local cartels and tyrants could be behind the book burning as people are enlightened and people are able to demand for more accountability from their leaders.
Burning of George Soros books in Russia is a foolish move as human rights and need for dignity is not a topic that is escaping media attention any time soon. The message is already out there and traveling at a speed higher than lightening. It will be interesting to watch the activities of the Open Society as this move gives them even more impetus to propagate events that will enhance transparency in the operations of the Russian government. George Soros has been on this world long enough for such desperate antics to dampen his big heart.
How do you make a $500 pair of shoes for $100? According to a recent Bloomberg article on designer men’s italian shoes, the secret is to follow the recent trend of cutting out the middleman. The Paul Evans shoe line was mentioned in the article for being one of these handcrafted and designed shoemakers that are able to sell their shoes for less due to cutting out unnecessary steps and people.
Bloomberg reported that Paul Evans shoes are manufactured in the same fine Italian factories as Ferragamo and other high-end shoe companies. However, Paul Evans shoes sell for considerably less than those lines.
The owners, Ben Earley and Evan Fript, set out to create a shoe line that would be just as high end in quality and workmanship as shoes that cost $1000 while, at the same time, not being anywhere near as expensive. It seems they’ve succeeded in that goal. The owners actually traveled to Italy themselves to meet with shoemakers who have been crafting shoes for generations and to tour factories. They found the perfect factory in Naples, Italy.
Cutting out the middleman mainly means that they sell their shoes directly to the customer from their website. A department store has to mark up prices due to wholesale costs. That need is cut out when you are selling directly to the customer and results in a significantly less expensive shoe.
The shoes are a beautifully modern take on classic styles. Made with the finest leather and crafted by true artisans, their shoes are often compared to other luxury brands such as the Paris-based Berluti. However, price-wise, their shoes are more in keeping with the Allen Edmonds line of shoes.
Paul Evans has been quickly growing and they have big plans for the future including opening their own traditional stores.
The New York real estate market broke records for sales and volume in 2015, and the city seems to be growing even into 2016. Anyone looking for a place to live in the city will pay higher prices, and there are more opportunities for companies like TOWN Residential to create new developments. This article explores how companies like TOWN Residential are responding to a rising real estate market in New York going into 2016.
#1: Every Record Was Broken
Several real estate brokers have noted that every previous record was broken during the 2015 fiscal year. The real estate market in 2015 exploded with foreign investment, more new homeowners and a range of developments created by companies like TOWN Residential. The records all fell at a time when prices were at their highest, and the market created many new developments to help invigorate the city.
#2: TOWN Residential Helps Residents And Developers
The development projects from TOWN Residential are funded by foreign and domestic investors, and TOWN even has an office in London. The company has focused quite a bit on balancing its activities, and the company has spent time working with new homeowners who were in need places to live. The catalog held by TOWN Residential ranges from quaint townhomes in Brooklyn to gorgeous apartments in Manhattan.
#3: More Development Is Coming
TOWN Residential is working on new development projects that are slated for different parts of the city, and their company has invested quite a lot of money in getting these projects off the ground. The developments are typically multi-use projects that will combine living spaces with retail or commercial spaces. The diverse nature of the work coming from TOWN Residential simply makes the city a more attractive place to live.
#4: New Developments Will Force Prices Higher
New developments on-tap for 2016 will help prices rise even higher in 2016. It is conceivable that the market in 2016 could be even stronger than the market in 2015, and the records that were broken recently may only stand for a year. Real estate developers and brokers are bracing for a very strong 2016 that could lead to a breath of fresh air for the city and new investors.
The records broken in 2016 were shattered by a market that was flush with cash and high prices. Those records may not last long as 2016 proves to have just as much potential.
Great literature provokes discussion. Autobiographies, for example, are bound to drawn a lot of attention to the author because people read and want to know if the things that they read are really true. In the case of Yeonmi Park, there are lots of critics that are trying to unravel the autobiography that she penned that has made the New York Times Best Sellers List.
“In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl’s Journey to Freedom” takes you on a journey that no thirteen year old girl should have to endure. Park depicts her travel from the chill of the frozen rivers in the middle of the night and a journey through scorching heat of the desert. By the time the book is over readers are in shock. This is the shock value that Park has hoped for. She hopes that it is strong enough to make people take action against this. Educating people on what a North Korean defector endures has opened the eyes of many, but this particular book has also brought the critics to the center stage as well. Yeonmi is now coming toe to toe with the critics on Youtube that have taken an aim at her credibility. She has stated that this is more of an attempt to silence the voice of a North Korean refugee that has made it out. She states that there is a real tragedy in North Korea, and her voice will not be silenced by the criticism. She openly admits that she may not recall every incident with astonishing accurate detail, but she has no issues with standing by this narrative journey. Her starvation was very real. The death of her father and the depths of despair are real. She has become an activist because she knows what it is like to feel suicidal, cold, hungry and afraid. Yeonmi Park knows what is like to have your virginity taken against your will. All of these things are important issues that she wants to bring attention to. She doesn’t want minor details to overshadow the huge tragedy that is taking place in North Korea.
Shopping Online Just Got Easier
Online shopping has always been a way of getting freedom out of your life by not going to stores, not finding parking, avoiding sales people and avoiding those long lines in the malls. It is especially helpful in shopping around the holidays because consumers can find exactly what they want without the hassle of going to get it. The products are shipped to their homes, or in the case of the holidays, the gifts can be shipped to the recipient. Some companies even offer gift wrapping for around the holidays. The convenience of online shopping just got easier with the introduction of visual search technology.
This sophisticated and innovative techonology is being used by most of the major online brands and developers, but Slyce has a cutting edge version of the technology that offers something that its competitors do not have available. Amazon has tried to implement their app for consumers to make have an easier shopping experience. Google has its own version of AI visual search. Pinterest has an interesting take on the visual search technology that allows its users to click on things in pictures to buy them. This information was originally reported by MIT Technology Review, which reports a long list of competition in the visual search industry.
Slyce Makes Waves In Visual Search Industry
Slyce has its own spin on the image recognition technology that is creative and continues to change. They have made some serious changes to their platform that are to ensure that the user gets the search results that they desire. The AI technology always assists the user in their search, but Slyce has the added element of a real live customer service department to assist users in the quest for the right product.
The team at Slyce has also added a great new feature to help consumers who are searching for products that may be hard to find. When an item is out of stock, consumers are used to seeing that information on their screen. However, Slyce has a new feature called Slyce Link that is designed to help users who are in these situations find similar products. Slyce has made the shopping experience easier, simpler and less frustrating for consumers and retailers alike.
This year, the luxury Real Estate market in New York City is hot. We are seeing vacant spaces fill up faster than we have in quite a number of years. As this trend continues, we should expect to see wage increases, due to the high demands of our society. The Big Apple is looking just as sweet as ever to many business men, free-lancers, and those with a taste for adventure. With endless opportunities, amazing art and culture, and the many sources of entertainment just walking down the street, why wait? Let us help you make New York City your home today. Or if what you are seeking, is better yet a home away from home, a sweet escape, our highly trained professionals have you covered.
Whether it is a taste of Soho, the flavors of Tribeca, the culture of Chelsea, or a simple life in the Buisness District, that your heart desires, we have just the right place for you.
At Town Residential, we make you feel at home. Our chic apartments and rental spaces are in the heart of many charming, up and coming neighborhoods in New York City and Miami. Our staff will be able to provide you with unparalleled knowledge and information, to make finding exactly where you belong that much more simple.
Contact any one of our agents for assistance, we are happy to help. We will find you exactly what your heart desires, and then some. Don’t hesitate to change your life today. You will be glad you did.
It is to start at the bottom of the Squaw Valley, and go over a ridge between the two mountains and then go back down to the base of Alpine Meadows, according to recent press.
Troy Caldwell owns land between the two mountains, and the gondola will run along the western edge of his property.
Wirth said 20-25 percent of people who ski there, ski both mountains the same day. Even with bus service, there is still travel on roads between the two mountains. Wirth said the gondola should reduce traffic on the roads there, but he did not know how much.
Wirth is CEO of Squaw Valley Ski Holdings, and is the grandson of former U.S. National Park Service Director Conrad Wirth. Andy Worth has worked in the resort industry for 25 years. He began his resort career at Steamboat Springs resort in 1986. In 2007 he became chief marketing officer at Intrawest, which bought Steamboat Springs in 2007. In 2010 he made the move to Squaw Velley. In October of 2013 he had his right arm nearly torn off in a skydiving accident in California. Worth landed on a steel post because of wind, and was severely injured. He was able to slow the bleeding until he was rescued. He had 23 surgeries on his arm, and had fully recovered.


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An unknown developer, doing business as an anonymous LLC, is proposing to build a 12-story mixed-use development at 107-18 70th Road, in Forest Hills, right around the corner from the Forest Hills – 71st Avenue stop on the E, F, M, and R trains. According to DNAinfo, the developer is currently seeking a special permit to build the project, which would normally be capped at seven stories in height. The proposal includes ground-floor commercial-retail space and an above-ground garage. It would replace a strip of restaurants currently operating in a single-story building at the site. The developer was scheduled to meet with Community Board 6 last night to discuss the project.
Property owner Tahira Chaudhry has filed applications for a five-story, six-unit mixed-use building at 1138 Manhattan Avenue, in northern Greenpoint, located at the corner of Box Street. It will encompass 9,648 square feet and will feature 1,180 square feet of retail space on the ground floor. Residential units will begin on the second floor and should average 995 square feet apiece. There will be two units per floor on floors two and three, another unit on part of the fourth floor, and a duplex units on the rest of the fourth floor and the entire fifth floor. Fresh Meadows-based Jamil Coppin is the architect of record. An existing three-story townhouse must first be demolished.
During a raucous and packed public meeting on Tuesday night, developer Avery Hall Investments laid out their plans for a seven-story apartment building with retail and a grocery store, which will replace a Key Food at 120 Fifth Avenue in Park Slope.
Back in November, Chinese developer Vanke acquired the 11-story, 44-unit condominium project at 275 Fourth Avenue (a.k.a 251 First Street), in Park Slope, located four blocks south of the Union Street stop on the R train. Now the building is taking shape, as seen in an update via Curbed NY. The 82,045-square-foot project will include 4,273 and 335 square feet of retail and medical space, respectively, on the ground floor. On the floors above, residential units will come in two-, three-, and four-bedroom residential units, averaging 1,368 square feet apiece. Amenities will include a roof deck, an entertainment space, children’s playroom, and a gym. ODA New York is behind the design and completion is expected later this year.
YIMBY first reported in early 2014 on filings for Urban Muse’s planned 13-story, five-unit mixed-use project at 347 Bowery, on the corner of East 3rd Street in the East Village. When we last checked in in November, the structure was eight stories above street level, and it has since topped out, EV Grieve reports. The building will eventually contain five three-bedroom condo units ranging between 2,100 and 4,000 square feet each. Within the two-story retail podium, there will be two 2,000 square-foot retail units and one 6,800 square-foot retail unit. Annabelle Selldorf is behind the project’s design, and completion can be expected sometime later this year.


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Mobile phone users in Sri Lanka are now able to make rational choices and decisions in today's competitive business environment as the quick access for vital information in Rainbow pages is readily available, via WAP. WAP is a browser developed to access information through mobiles which is similar to surfing the Internet through computers.
This highly diversified and nationally accepted business information is regularly updated in the National Directory data base in order to provide the latest and most comprehensive and accurate data to the general public. Rainbow pages, the classified business section of the National Directory contains 1,300 products and service categories and contact information of over 20,000 organisations. In addition the National Directory contains all the information such as general, Government institutions, religious organizations, business or any other organizations, and it is the largest and comprehensive directory in the entire Island, The mobile service providers in Sri Lanka including Mobitel, Dialog, Etisalat, Airtel and Hutch have obtained RAINBOW PAGES Directory services to provide their customers access to this information that can be received by logging onto WWW.rainbowpages.mobi via WAP.
In addition Mobile WAP will provide accessibility to billions of mobile phone users world wide. This value added service of SLT Publications (Pvt.) Ltd was officially launched by President Mahinda Rajapaksa last year. This new feature would help users to save time, as information such as the business' address and phone number will be displayed in a few seconds on their mobile. This innovation introduced by the SLT Group will seamlessly merge with other telecom service providers to provide mobile directory information.
National Directory publisher -SLT Publications (Pvt.) Ltd, widely known as Rainbow Pages, has revolutionized business and useful information search by giving access to Rainbow pages telephone directory information via the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) for mobile phone users with the vision of sharing this valuable source of information particularly with telephone users including mobile phone users and any interested parties who seek information nationally or internationally. This service is the first of its kind in Sri Lanka and is available to users having WAP enabled mobile phones.
Sharing his thoughts on this new initiative Mr. Malraj Balapitiya, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SLT Publications (Pvt.) Ltd said, "Mobile is an exciting space to be in. Presently, Sri Lanka has about 14 million mobile subscribers and we happen to be the first company in Sri Lanka delivering Directory information in the WAP format. With the launch of Rainbow Pages on WAP, millions of mobile users can now access information easily and faster". He said that this source of information made directory information accessible from any place at any time and paves the way to make life easy and convenient for the public.


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Sugar Industry News : January 2016
Welcome to our news page where we try to bring you the latest news and comment but it will always be a better place if you send us your news. You can write to us by clicking on the Contact link above.
The world price remained relatively stable with nobody being really too sure where it was going except that there is still talk of factories filing for bankruptcy which implies that if it doesn't go back up then production will fall. An oil price below $40/b doesn't help of course.
CRISTAL UNION REFINERY IN ALGERIA STARTS PRODUCTION
Cristal Union’s refinery in Algeria is reported to have started production. It has a nominal capacity of 350 000 t/a.
KENYA OPENS PRIVATISATION BIDDING
The government of Kenya finally invited tenders to buy 51% of its remaining five nationalised factories in the first half of December. It has reserved another 24% for the farmers and employees of each and intends to sell the remaining 25% via IPO’s when [if?] the companies are profitable. In practice Nzoia and South Nyanza [Sony] are possibly economically viable but Chemelil, Muhoroni and Miwani are almost certainly not. The latter two have been in receivership for a decade or more.
COMESA GIVES KENYA ANOTHER YEAR
In what is probably a sequitur to the item above, COMESA has extended Kenya’s sugar market exemption for yet another year. Kenya has always argued that it needs to have privatised before its market was opened up but consistently failed to even start to do so. If it hadn’t now at least started [again!] last month then COMESA would not have given the extension.
ZIMBABWEAN CROP TO DECLINE
As the crop in Zimbabwe comes to a close, Tongaat Hulett is predicting up to a 10% drop in production next year and it is not all related to the drought in southern Africa, part of the problem seems to be related to the economy. At the same time, the workers at the two estates went on strike demanding wage parity with the group’s workers in other countries which would almost double their salaries.
PAKISTAN SUBSIDISES EXPORTS
The government of Pakistan agreed in December to subsidise the export of 500 000 tons of sugar to the extent of about US$ 125 per ton on the basis that if the Indians can do it, so can we. The plan was to have exported 200 000 by the end of 2015 and the rest by the end of Q1 2016.
INDIA PREDICTS EXPORTING OVER 3 MILLION TONS
The Indian millers are predicting ending stocks at 6.7 million tons in nine months’ time, 2.4 million tons down on last year’s close. That is only about 3 months of demand.
QUEENSLAND VOTES FOR GROWERS TO DECIDE ON SUGAR SALES
Queensland’s parliament [Australia works on a federal system] has passed a law giving sugarcane growers the right to decide how the resultant sugar is sold [by the miller or by QSL] even though the grower sells his sugar to the miller. The industry is now in chaos with even Mackay Sugar being against the law even though it is the only supporter of QSL. One of the issues will be that a miller could refuse to buy the cane of growers who want to exercise their right – and there is nowhere else to process it.
Mitr Phol, owner of Maryborough Sugar and hence operator of four factories, has already cancelled its Aus$ 360 million Queensland investment programme as a result of this new law. Don’t be surprised if others – Wilmar and COFCO – follow. In the meantime, the government of Queensland [which was against the bill] has referred the bill to the competition authority although it is unclear whether that is a state body or a federal one.
YELLOW CANOPY SYNDROME STILL UNRESOLVED
The cause of Queensland’s mysterious yellow canopy syndrome has still not been determined although some causes have been eliminated and a possible symptom has been identified. Sugar Research Australia says that it has ruled out macro-nutrient deficiency, trace element deficiency and heavy metals as causes but it has not eliminated a fungal infection. What it has found is that affected plants have elevated silica content in the leaves and reduced magnesium levels.
FIJI PLANS REFINERY
As part of its post 2017 strategy Fiji Sugar is planning a small [150 000 t/a] refinery for its Labasa factory. It hopes to spend about US$ 9.5 million and for the project to have a four year payback.
HERSHEY STOPS USING BEET SUGAR
Hershey, a major US sweet manufacturer, has announced that it will not use beet sugar in its products because that will have come from transgenic beets. A decision arising from concern for its consumers – or a cynical marketing ploy?
HAWAIIAN PRODUCTION UNDER THREAT
Hawaii had a very wet summer and only produced 42 500 tons of sugar compared to 67 000 tons the previous year. The CEO of HC&S is reported to have said that the resultant operating loss is unacceptable and that the company needs to find an alternative business model. It has also emerged that the company is trialling cattle production on what was once cane land.
GUYSUCO EXCEEDS ANNUAL PRODUCTION BUDGET
For most companies it wouldn’t warrant a mention but for Guysuco to achieve its annual production budget, that is almost a miracle. The company made the announcement – its first such announcement in 11 years – while three of the factories were still crushing so it should comfortably exceed the 227 443 ton budget. The challenge will be to push the budget back up next year and still achieve it : the country used to consistently exceed 300 000 tons.
WILMAR AND RAIZEN TO FORM JOINT VENTURE
Brazil’s Raizen, itself a joint venture between Royal Dutch Shell and Cosan, is planning a joint venture with Wilmar. The move seems to be in response to the success of Alvean as we have had to learn to call the nearly two year old joint venture between Copersuca and Cargill.


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Australian supermarket called ‘racist’ for sign showing Asian and pet food in the same aisle
A Coles supermarket in Melbourne came under fire for an aisle sign indicating Asian food items in the same section as pet food.
A Reddit user posted a photo of the store’s Aisle 10 sign, which reads, “Cat food, Dog food, Asian” with the caption “How are these 3 categories related” in the r/Melbourne subreddit.
Many Reddit users were quick to label the sign as “racist,” questioning why the Asian food was sectioned together with pet food.
“I’m not exactly the most PC person around but um…isn’t that kind of a racist implication?” one user commented.
“75% of the supermarkets I’ve been in have the same layout, so how did this sneak in?” another user wrote.
Other users suggested that the supermarket may have been going through rearrangements, also noting the odd combination of rice and cleaning products in the next aisle.
“Assumption you’ve pulled the racist card when more than likely it’s not,” one user replied. “Looking at the other aisle, it’s just as quirky with the stocking. Likely, they’re moving stuff around and doing it over a few days, so come back in a week, and it’s probably going to be different again. Our Coles reshuffle shelving all the time.”
“It’s pretty clever if you are designing it to force customers to use every aisle,” another user argued.
The supermarket has since changed the signage following the online backlash. A Coles spokesperson also explained that each of the Coles supermarkets in Australia have different layouts. The spokesperson noted that the Melbourne store specifically has “split aisles with signs at each end to make it easier for customers to navigate.”
“While the signage appears to show pet food and Asian food located next to each other, they are actually in very separate sections,” the spokesperson told News.com.au.
“While we would typically aim to ensure special ranges, such as Asian or other international foods, are located within the grocery section,” they added. “In some smaller stores or where aisles are split, they may be found in a different area.”
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Last year Nokian Tyres finalized its ultra-modern tire warehouse, which enables a high-tech loading and storage of tires. At the end of May it was time to organize a small event with a small group of invitees at the warehouse in Vsevolozhsk, where the Russian factory is situated.
The new warehouse has 17,000 square meters of space and automated storage capacity for 550,000 tires. Together with the old warehouse, the capacity is 1.6 million tires. The unique technology increases the storage capacity, improves warehouse logistics, and reduces time spent on receiving and shipping tires. Reducing the downtime of heavy vehicles also has a positive impact on the environment.
“Automation of the logistics complex is a necessary step in the development of the company, and it will enable providing better service to our clients. We have the most modern tire factory in Europe, and now we can state with confidence that we also have the most modern tire warehouse in the world,” says Andrei Pantioukhov, Executive Vice President Russia and Asia and Global Marketing.
The automated tire warehouse allows arranging not only high-tech loading and storage of tires, but also automatic identification of a specific product, its movement and shipment.
“What’s unique about the new automated warehouse is that all tires are stored vertically, without additional packaging, and the storage unit is a single tire, not a cage or a pallet. The new technology allows increasing the storage capacity of the area by 2.3 times compared to the traditional method. This is a unique logistics solution on the tire market,” says Tatiana Budennaya, Supply Chain & Procurement Director, Nokian Tyres Russia.
The construction of the automated warehouse began in 2018 and it was finalized in 2020. Due to COVID-19, the company did not carry out a grand opening ceremony, but a small event in May with limited number of guests. All attendees were either vaccinated or with negative PCR tests to meet the safety regulations present at the factory.
As part of the event, Alexander Drozdenko, Governor of the Leningrad Region, visited the Nokian Tyres factory. During the event, Nokian Tyres also published a donation of 15 tire sets for vehicles of the Vsevolozhsk Regional Hospital to support medical staff.
Source: Nokian Tyres


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On winter nights, driving on Xiaobei 1st Road in Tiexi District, Shenyang, the street lights on both sides are soft and bright. The staff of the Tiexi District Urban Construction Department told reporters that this road lighting is not a traditional high-pressure sodium lamp, but a high-power LED (semiconductor lighting) street light. Xiaobei Yilu is also the world's first application of high-power LED street light. City standard road for functional lighting.
Dr. Zhang Yigang, consultant of China Lighting Association, told reporters that LED lighting is almost non-polluting from the production process to the use process until the end of life, and the power consumption is only 1/10 of the traditional light bulb, but its service life is dozens or even 100 times.
How much power can LED lights save compared to ordinary electric light sources? After the field research and comparison, the National Development and Reform Commission's research team calculated a fine account: according to the daily application of 10 hours, each street lamp saved 1.31 kWh per day; a small north road 58 lights, saving 27,700 kWh per year.
At present, there are about 200,000 street lamps in Shenyang. If LED street lamps are used, it will save hundreds of millions of yuan in electricity bills per year, which is equivalent to saving about 60,000 tons of standard coal per year and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 110,000 tons.
"Power saving does not save money" restricts the promotion of energy-saving lamps
The reporter learned in the interview that the LED lighting used in Shenyang Xiaobeiyi Road is a new product produced by Shenyang Daming Liguang Lighting Co., Ltd. From the development to the market, the product has spent nearly 10 years, and has obtained more than 10 core technology patents such as phosphor and heat-dissipating resin technology, but the market performance is not satisfactory.
Shenyang City has specially met to study the promotion and application of LED lighting, but there are still many "barriers" in promoting sales. The most important thing is the high cost of product development, resulting in 2-3 times the price of LED lights. Due to the initial investment in replacing LED lights, many users feel that â€œsaving electricity does not save moneyâ€. In addition, due to the one-off cost calculation commonly used in government procurement, the relevant supporting equipment and maintenance costs are not fully considered, which also makes LED lights inferior in competition, and it is difficult to promote them.
At present, most of the lighting in public places in China (such as traffic tunnels, streets, parks, etc.) mostly use traditional power supply lighting. The light sources of street lamps are mainly high-pressure sodium lamps and mercury lamps, and most of them are not energy-saving. One of the main reasons is that the price of energy-saving products is higher than that of ordinary products, which is difficult for consumers to accept.
Financial support for energy-saving product promotion
Experts pointed out that lighting power saving is a breakthrough to solve the power shortage phenomenon in China. If the high-efficiency semiconductor lighting source can replace the current one-third of ordinary electric light sources in civil and public light sources, it can save about 100 billion kWh of electricity, equivalent to one year's full-scale power generation of the Three Gorges power station.
Experts believe that it is far from enough to promote energy-saving products relying solely on the strength and market behavior of enterprises. It is also necessary for the government to increase policy support and promote the use of environmentally-friendly and energy-saving lighting products. For example, enterprises that produce energy-saving products are given preferential treatment in terms of loans and taxes; and truly energy-efficient products are included in the government procurement catalogue.
The reporter learned from the Ministry of Finance that the central government will invest 7 billion yuan this year to support the top ten key energy-saving projects including energy-efficient products. The promotion of efficient lighting products will adopt a government subsidy approach. The specific method is to replenish the enterprise with financial subsidies, and the enterprise sells it to the end users at the price after the bid price minus the financial subsidy, and the bulk users and urban and rural residents can purchase high-efficiency lighting products at a lower price. The Ministry of Finance revealed that this year, the country plans to promote 50 million high-efficiency energy-saving products. After accumulating certain experience, it will gradually establish an effective system for the promotion of energy-efficient products including air conditioners, refrigerators, automobiles and buildings.
(Source: People's Daily)
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Host Agency Reviews Launches the 2022 Travel Advisor Survey
Minneapolis, April 19th, 2022 – Host Agency Reviews (HAR) launched its 2022 Travel Advisor Survey yesterday. Data from the survey will offer insights into the latest trends in travel agent income, fees, startup costs, ongoing pandemic recovery, and more. HAR will begin publishing its latest finding in the fall of 2022.
“We can't wait to publish the latest travel advisor trends to help all of us better navigate our businesses,” said Stephanie Lee, Founder of Host Agency Reviews. “A big thank you to all the advisors that take the time every year to fill out the survey. This year, HAR is especially thrilled to work with so many wonderful host/supplier/association partners to ensure this survey reaches all corners of the advisor world.”
HAR's 2022 survey will allow travel advisors of all types to benchmark their income and agency practices compared to current trends. It also offers insights into who's entering the industry and what travel products advisors are selling compared to prior years. This year specifically, the survey will also help mark the industry's pandemic recovery.
Host Agency Reviews has published industry-leading travel advisor data since 2017. Last year, over 1,000 advisors responded to HAR’s 2021 survey. The survey’s ongoing participation can be attributed to strong industry support.
“ASTA is once again delighted to support Host Agency Reviews’ 2022 Annual Travel Advisor Survey. Key findings from the survey will help establish the latest agency sales and income trends among hosted travel advisors, especially crucial to our industry now as the recovery process from the pandemic and other worldwide events moves increasingly forward” said Mark Meader, Senior Vice President of Industry Affairs & Education at ASTA. “With the ever-increasing complexity of travel, the resultant impact to travel agency sales and income remains a critical factor as we collectively aim to better understand and plan for the future.”
In 2022, HAR is partnering with a record number of travel organizations to help promote the survey, with industry supporters including Andavo Travel, American Society of Travel Advisors, Adventure Travel and Trade Association, Celebrity Cruise Lines, Departure Lounge, Destination Wedding University, Gifted Travel Network, Independent by Flight Centre, Independent by Liberty Travel, Incentive Connection Travel, KHM Travel Group, Los Medanos, Montecito Village Travel, NEST, NEST Plus, Nexion Travel Group, Outside Agent Link, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, The Travel Institute, Travel Planners International, Travel Quest Network, Travel Leaders-Market Square, Travel Leaders Network, Travel Pulse, and Uniglobe Travel.
The annual travel agent survey is currently live and will be available to advisors through June 18th, 2021. If you are interested in collaborating on our current or future surveys, please reach out to Stephanie [at] HostAgencyReviews [dot] com.