text:
Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) announces today that it has entered into an agreement with Bass Anglers Sportsman Society (B.A.S.S.) to serve as an associate sponsor on its No. 19 Toyota Camry driven by Martin Truex, Jr.
“B.A.S.S. is thrilled to enter into this partnership with Joe Gibbs Racing and the Bass Pro Shops No. 19 car,” said Bruce Akin, CEO of B.A.S.S. “As an avid outdoorsman and fisherman, Martin Truex, Jr. is a great fit as an ambassador for our sport. This partnership also amplifies our common partnerships with Toyota and Bass Pro Shops. Most importantly, in a year where we are celebrating the fans of B.A.S.S., it connects our organization with racing fans who are also fans of fishing.”
B.A.S.S. is the world’s largest fishing organization with a growing membership that has now reached 510,000. A media-and-events company that celebrated its 50thanniversary last year, B.A.S.S. conducts the world’s most prestigious professional bass fishing tournaments and reaches millions of fans each month through its flagship magazine, Bassmaster, Bassmaster.com, and the highly rated The Bassmasters television program.
“It’s great to have B.A.S.S. come on board as an associate sponsor with our No. 19 Toyota Camry,” said Martin Truex, Jr. “It’s no secret that I love fishing so this is obviously a great fit. B.A.S.S. has done a lot to advance the sport and I look forward to working with them and through their partnerships with Toyota and Bass Pro Shops.”


text:
.Doha joins the list of terminated gTLDS
Raid the Piggy Bank: ICANN to allocate US$36 million of auction windfall to its Reserve Fund
Brace yourself for .com price hikes; US Govt allows Verisign to raise price by 7%
Akram Atallah Quits ICANN To Become CEO of Donuts, Joins former Boss Fadi Chehade
Data leak hit 87 million Facebook users, Mark...
April 5, 2018
April 12, 2018
Facebook Inc admitted on Wednesday the personal information of up to 87 million...

domain: news


text:
Matt Sandy – Time, 01/20/2016
Brazil’s politicians are on a collision cause with the country’s young generation of YouTube addicts over planned restrictions on the Internet.
The country’s congress is debating a series of bills that would mean Internet users in Brazil would have to provide their full name, home address and taxpayer ID to every website they use. Those insulted by online content could apply for it to be removed from the Internet. Penalties for defamation would increase.
Brazil is one of the world’s biggest markets for Facebook and YouTube, and Brazilians spent twice as long on social networks as the global average. Freedom of speech campaigners say the politicians are trying to stifle a new wave of criticism and mockery that has flourished online since the digital revolution.
Robert Muggah, Nathan B. Thompson, The New York Times, 01/12/2016
A São Paulo judge sent shock waves across Brazil last month with a ruling that required Brazilian telecommunications operators to block the use of the instant messaging platform WhatsApp for 48 hours. Less than 13 hours later, another São Paulo judge reversed the decision, restoring service. But in the meantime, as many as 100 million Brazilians had been seriously inconvenienced, and civil libertarians around the world looked on with dismay.
Brazilians take their social media very seriously. The country has one of the fastest growing populations of Internet users in the world. Online tools like Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp are used not only to express opinions; they are an affordable alternative to exorbitantly priced Brazilian telecom providers. One recent study in Brazil found that WhatsApp was used by 93 percent of those surveyed who had Internet access.
The official reason for the judge’s decision to suspend WhatsApp was because its parent company, Facebook, refused to comply with requests to provide personal information and communications records to prosecutors in an investigation into organized crime and drug trafficking. This is not the first time that the Brazilian authorities have jousted with tech companies. Notwithstanding the seriousness of the crimes being investigated, the judge’s action was reckless and represents a potentially longer-term threat to the freedoms of Brazilians.
Jonathan Levin – Bloomberg Business, 5/4/2015
To understand the venture capital scene in Brazil, follow the smartphones — not the economy.
That’s the message from Doug Leone, a partner at Sequoia Capital, an early investor in both Google Inc. and LinkedIn Corp. His firm committed funds last year to Sao Paulo-based Nubank, a technology-based financial-services company.
Local startups are reaping the benefits of a global venture capital community that’s hunting for markets with large, uptapped bases of Internet-using consumers. The current economic malaise aside, Brazil fits the bill: Tens of millions of people joined the middle class during a decade-long commodities boom.
Ed Taylor – Bloomberg BNA, 8/4/2014
In a first-of-its-kind enforcement action in Brazil, the Justice Ministry recently fined the country’s largest telecommunications company Oi $1.6 million for invading the privacy of subscribers to its broadband Internet service by without consent tracking their Web usage and selling the information to behavioral advertisers.
Amaury Oliva, director of the Justice Ministry’s Department of Consumer Defense and Protection (DPDC), told Bloomberg BNA July 28 that the department began to investigate Oi in 2010 based on allegations it had partnered with Phorm Inc.—a U.K.-based online advertising company—to develop a program to monitor Internet activity.
Phorm was at the heart of investigations by U.K. and European Union officials regarding the use of Phorm tracking software in trials involving the U.K. telecommunications company BT.
Emily Cadei – USA Today, 6/20/2014
It’s not Internet behemoths China or India, with their billion-plus populations of potential Web surfers, grabbing for it. It’s Brazil, which is positioning itself as an increasingly powerful voice in the international debate over the future of the Web, post Edward Snowden’s U.S. spying revelations (incidentally, Snowden’s chief ally in the media, Glenn Greenwald, makes his home in Rio). It’s backed there by a fast growing and active population of Internet users, seasoned tech entrepreneurs and policy wonks, and a populist vision somewhere between America’s corporate approach and China’s state-controlled take on the Web.
What Brazil wants: Privacy, free speech and other protections for its booming population of Internet users, guarantees that the Internet will remain open and unchecked by governments (like China or America’s NSA) or companies (largely based in the United States) and more resources to expand access to a more diverse and low-income crop of users.
Angelica Mari – ZD Net, 3/24/2014
New research on telecommunications services in Brazil revealed that only 40.8 percent of households have internet access, the main barrier being the price of computing devices and access services.
The numbers of the research System of Indicators of Social Perception (SIPS), undertaken by the Brazilian Institute of Applied Economic Research (Ipea) show that the remaining digitally excluded households do not have internet access due to not owning a computer (59.6 percent), not being able to afford access services (14.1 percent), not having the need for internet (8.7 percent) and not knowing how to use it (4.3 percent).
Regarding the price of the devices, 34 percent of the households that do not own a computer said they would pay between R$300 ($129) and R$800 ($344) for a computer. Most Brazilian large retailers sell basic desktops for at least R$1000 ($430), which partly explains the recent rise in popularity of low-cost tablets as entry-level computing devices.
Vinod Sreeharsha – NY Times DealBook, 2/25/2014
Amid continuing concerns about Brazil’s sputtering economy, the Dragoneer Investment Group of San Francisco has made its first investment in an Internet company here, leading a $12.75 million round in VivaReal, an online real estate classifieds start-up, the companies said on Tuesday.
The financing, which was negotiated this month, is Dragoneer’s first investment in Brazil, Latin America’s largest economy, said Marc Stad, the firm’s founder. The growing fears about disappointing growth and even a possible recession here seem to only have emboldened Mr. Stad.
“I’d rather invest in companies and countries at a time when they are out of favor with investors,” he said.
Pedro Ozores – BNAmericas, 11/05/2013
IT spending in Brazil is expected to reach nearly US$130bn in 2014, up 3.6% from the projected US$125bn for 2013, according to US IT consultancy and research firm Gartner.
In terms of segments, telecoms services should again lead IT expenditure, accounting for 60%, or US$78bn, of the total, for a 1.8% increase from 2013. The largest growth in spending, however, is expected in IT services which is expected to reach US$21.2bn next year, up 11.2% y-o-y.
Regarding the other sectors, spending in the devices segment (including PCs, tablets, mobile phones and printers) is expected to reach US$22.4bn in 2014, for a 1.7% increase from 2013. Datacenter system spending is forecast to grow by 4.9% to US$3.2bn, with software spending to rise 9.2% to US$5bn.


text:
The company, which owns skin care brand Nivea, will remain close to its roots, with the new facilities due to be build in its home district of Hamburg-Eimsbuttel.
The work to build the 100,000 sq metre facility is set to conclude in 2021, with construction beginning this year. The company says the aim of the development is to set the company up for continued growth. The new facility will have 3000 state-of-the-art working spaces, according to the company.
“Beiersdorf is establishing a basis for strong growth in the future,” it confirms in a statement.
“In recent years, the company has generated strong gains and created a large number of new jobs around the world.”
Development of production and research
The company has been based in the same area, spread across three neighbouring sites, for the past three decades. The new project will consolidate its facilities.
As part of the construction project, it says, an additional office building, a research facility, and a two-level underground parking garage will be built.
By adding the research building (completion date: early 2020), Beiersdorf will expand its research and development capacities in Hamburg by 11,000 square meters to reach a total size of 45,000 square meters.
“In addition to building efficiency, employee health and well-being are a key focus of the project, from the planning to the day-to-day use of the new building and the new work environment,” the company says.
‘Confidence in business strengths’
Stefan F. Heidenreich, CEO of Beiersdorf AG, has confirmed enthusiasm for the project, by which, he says, Beiersdorf aims to continue to develop its international profile and growth.
“With the construction of our new headquarters in Hamburg, Beiersdorf is sending a clear signal about its future growth. We have been very successful in recent years. We have significantly expanded our international business, developed outstanding innovations and put Beiersdorf on a stable and profitable growth path,” he says.
“Building a new headquarters shows the confidence we have in our business strengths. With this major investment, we are also expressing our commitment to Hamburg and Germany as business locations.”


text:
Rumors about the fate of NFL's Sunday Ticket are heating up, with a report this week claiming that Apple is the league's front runner to nab the popular streaming service.
Citing sources familiar with the matter, The Athletic on Thursday reported that the NFL prefers Apple score rights to the out-of-market package.
Currently, Sunday Ticket is a DirecTV exclusive, though it is thought that parent company AT&T is loath to renew a highly unprofitable eight-year contract that sees it doling out about $1.5 billion a year to the NFL. The existing arrangement will sunset after the 2022 season and the league is reportedly looking to solidify plans for a new Sunday Ticket home before this season wraps.
Early talks between Apple and the NFL began in July, with other big streaming names like Amazon and ESPN now entering the fray. Up for grabs are broadcast rights for Sunday games, but with the NFL's ask of between $2 billion and $2.5 billion a year, only well-heeled contenders need apply.
Apple has long been rumored to bring some ilk of live sports to its streaming platform, with reports in 2019 claiming the tech giant was negotiating terms for Pac-12 games on Apple TV+. Prior to that, Apple in 2016 supposedly declined to bid for NFL's Thursday night games, a lineup that will land on Amazon Prime next season.
Should Apple bid and win rights to Sunday Ticket, viewers could be given the opportunity to purchase individual games or out-of-market matchups for one team, today's report says. That would deliver more flexible pricing options that are currently missing from DirecTV's product.


text:
The Benefit of Twinning
With so many hotels pinching pennies during these turbulent times, another area where hotels of the future will excel is in “twinning” — as in digitally. What is a digital twin? According to an Aug. 28 article on Forbes, How Are Digital Twins Used In Practice: 5 Real-World Examples Beyond Manufacturing, “A digital twin is a digital copy of an actual physical product, process, or ecosystem that can be used to run virtual simulations, using data to update and change the digital copy to reflect any changes in the real world.”
Companies can make adjustments to the digital twin first, see what the outcome is, and continue to tweak it until the final product is exactly what the company wants. By trialing it on the digital twin, the company saves inordinate amounts of time and money from being wasted on a “good idea” that really wasn’t very good at all.
One hotel brand that is taking on this process is citizenM.
“citizenM has undertaken an ambitious program of work in 2020 to digitize the process of constructing our unique hotels,” says citizenM CIO Mike Rawson. “We will have virtual replicas of citizenM hotels that provide us real-time insights about customer behaviors. The benefits will ultimately accrue for our guests by adding value and removing friction from their engagements with us. But citizenM will also benefit from faster hotel construction with lower costs from ultra-energy efficient hotels.”
citizenM plans to use its digital twin technology to improve things such as indoor navigation, track how much power/waste/water is used by the guest and how much is sustainably covered, optimize breakfast/meal queues and order flows, and even improve elevator use so that guests can “order an elevator” and prevent or reduce wait times.
AI’S ROLE GROWS & GROWS
Obviously, machine learning and AI will be a huge component of the hotel of the future. In fact, many hotels will soon realize they cannot efficiently or profitably run their business without the use of multiple AI programs. They’ll need these programs to analyze the data churned out by thousands of IoT devices to do everything from ordering more housekeeping supplies to offering a personalized guest experience. For instance, AI and machine learning will fuel algorithms that hoteliers can use to turn their hotels into “Smart Hotels” that welcome guests by name via a smart speaker when they enter their guestroom, West explains.
A simple greeting, however, will really be only the beginning when it comes to AI and guest interaction. LivePerson predicts that by 2021, every major hotel brand will unveil its own customer-
facing conversational AI. More than a chatbot, they will have unique personalities “with more empathy, love and understanding than we expect from machines.” Not only can these AI bots hold conversations the way humans do, they can instantly detect what a customer needs, then handle it right within a messaging conversation, or seamlessly loop in the right human contact into the conversation to get the job done.
Many hotels have already begun to use such AIs – Rose at The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas (HT’s 2019 Hotel Visionary Award winner) and Edward at Edwardian Hotels London (HT’s 2020 Hotel Visionary Award winner) are just two that come to mind.
AI will also be essential behind the scenes, helping to accomplish things that even the most highly skilled and experienced human couldn’t dream of doing. One example of this: revenue management. Hotels of the future will “rely on pricing algorithms supported by artificial intelligence to determine optimal prices based on analyzing historical, forecast and market data,” Rauch notes. “This tech is futuristic because the speed and complexity of the pricing decisions, and financial outcomes they generally produce, are unmatched by the most seasoned revenue manager using the most advanced solutions on the market only a few years ago.”
A BREATH OF FRESH AIR
With air quality becoming a major concern, HVAC technologies — rarely thought of by consumers prior to COVID-19 — will now need to be marketed to guests “in a way that increases their comfort level and confidence in a safer stay,” says Grant Patterson, Offering Manager, Honeywell Building Technologies.
A recent consumer survey by Carbon Lighthouse found that proof of a hotel’s indoor air quality (IAQ) would impact where 77% of consumers decided to stay, with 52% willing to pay more to stay at a hotel with better IAQ, says JJ Steeley, EVP Customer Experience, Carbon Lighthouse. Consumers aren’t the only ones concerned about IAQ. Businesses that are negotiating event spaces are also asking for IAQ information prior to signing any contracts.
HVAC technologies, however, are expensive pieces of infrastructure that are not easily replaced. But that doesn’t mean hoteliers can’t improve on what they already have.
“Most hotel operators are weighing costs right now,” Patterson explains. “It might not be realistic to rip and replace systems. So we’re working with hoteliers to identify ways to enhance their current systems to improve air quality in the guest room and shared spaces like the hotel lobby.”
Adding AI and data analytics technology — specifically for IAQ monitoring — will also be necessary as providing the level of information needed is a “monumental task and one that simply can’t be done manually,” Steeley notes. “The good news is that these technologies exist today and can help hoteliers put the latest in Silicon Valley technology to use in their hotels and resorts.”
For example, Carbon Lighthouse’s AI platform, CLUES, uses real building data combined with existing building systems, utility data and IoT sensors to analyze 1000x more data than traditional building management systems, better informing overall operations strategies, specifically energy management and carbon impact. CLUES then continues to measure, monitor and report impact as the energy use and demands of the property shift and evolve.
Additionally, bi-polar ionization technology is another type of technology that is already being installed in hotel HVAC systems around the country, says Tony Abate, Vice President and Chief Technical Officer at AtmosAir Solutions. Hilton, Marriott, Loews, Kimpton, Doubletree and Gaylord are just a few hotel chains that have invested in and installed BPI indoor air quality technology. How does it work?
“The devices are similar to Pac-Man. HVAC systems proactively and continually emit ions that continually seek, attack and neutralize coronavirus in the air and on surfaces,” Abate says. “The devices work by producing bipolar ions that attach themselves to airborne viruses, odors and pollutants, rendering them inactive.”
PLEASE DON’T TOUCH
Another area where the pandemic has sped up innovation and technology adoption within hotels is the all-encompassing term “contactless technology.” Typically, this technology relies on the use of the guest’s smartphone to do things such as: check-in, unlock doors, order room service, have amenities delivered, chat with a concierge and make restaurant/spa/gym/pool reservations.
“Travelers are yearning to travel once again, while knowing their safety is top of mind for hotels, so it is assumed the need for touch-free technologies will become a standard in the world for years to come,” says Trish Berry, General Manager of YOTEL Boston.
For hotels that did not already have a mobile app available or in development prior to the pandemic, QR codes became the primary way they were able to quickly pivot and offer contactless technology. For this reason, they are “becoming a major part of consumer culture to accommodate today’s socially-distant world,” says Chuck Huang, CEO and founder, Citcon. And will likely remain a key player in the “tech stack” of the hotel of the future.
QR codes also come with a number of benefits. QR code payments are extremely secure because the codes are dynamically generated, Huang explains. This means they’re unique to each guest for each transaction which ensures the guest’s personal payment information is not compromised. And while mobile apps are often thought of first when it comes to ordering food or unlocking doors, QR codes can be used to accomplish these tasks as well.
As an added bonus, “QR code technology can also enhance hotel loyalty programs by collecting data on customer behaviors and retargeting them via marketing platforms that came with the mobile wallet,” Huang notes.
Contactless technology also means that guests will be able to control specific aspects of the guestroom without needing to physically touch anything. This will in part be driven by how “the entire human experience in 2020 has retrained society and reset the expectations around our experiences,” says Mike Thomas, President of Commercial Industries, NTT DATA Services.
In particular, he points out that with everyone staying home for most of 2020, consumers have grown accustomed to their personal creature comforts and “will want to keep that experience with them as they begin to travel again.”
David Millili, CEO of Angie Hospitality by Nomadix, agrees noting that smart home technology will be the driving force behind the smart hotel becoming a reality in just a couple years.
“I believe there will be an increase in voice-enabled, in-room guest assistants to remotely control thermostats, drapes, lights and more,” Millili adds. “These technologies eliminate contact with common surfaces and also provide a more convenient and modern experience for guests.”
- NOT YET ROSEY THE ROBOT
The use of robots in hospitality settings has been hotly contested. Some view them as gimmicks meant to drive guest reservations while others feel they have real potential, especially when viewed through the lens of COVID-19.
“With our renovation at the Norfolk Waterside Marriott we added an autonomous robot that delivers items to guest rooms without the aid of a staff member,” says Jesse Hemphill, General Manager at the Norfolk Waterside Marriot. “The Relay robot from Savioke has been such a great feature for our guests that want to further practice social distancing and experience the next generation of hotel service.”
Robots are also seen by many in hospitality as a viable means of disinfecting and sanitizing various spaces within the hotel. Yotel Boston recently welcomed a new robot, Vi-Yo-Let to its team through a partnership with UVD Robots.
“[We’re] the only hotel to have a fully autonomous robot platform with integrated UVD light disinfection system,” says Trish Berry, General Manager of YOTEL Boston. “YOTEL deploys Vi-YO-Let in order to disinfect both air and surfaces within high-touch public spaces and selected cabins. The UVD robot is currently the only disinfection system available that is clinically proven to disinfect effectively while ‘on the move,’ and was awarded ‘robot of the year’ according to the International Federation of Robotics.”
And robots could become even more useful when viewed as data collectors. Maidbot, a company pioneering commercial service robotics, invented Rosie to be a floor cleaning robot but quickly found that Rosie’s ability to cover every square foot of large commercial spaces meant she could track important environmental data points for businesses such as temperature, humidity, and Wi-Fi signal strength. According to Maidbot, “Rosie evolved from being just the first commercial floor cleaning robot to the first indoor mobile data platform — mapping indoor data over physical space for the first time.”
New Revenue Sources
COVID-19 has shown hoteliers that keeping all of their revenue making eggs in one basket is no longer a great strategy. This is causing owners and operators to consider "net new revenue streams and business models to increase to increase the utilization of idle assets," says Jeanne Casey, Principal at MetaProp.
What kind of idle assets are we talking about?
According to Casey they include things such as co-working spaces, ghost kitchens, and embracing other similar models that are driven by the flexible use of space.
"These may, in fact, be considered the most ‘futuristic’ technologies, as they were the furthest outside of traditional hoteliers roadmaps pre-COVID," Casey adds. "Some of the more cutting-edge hospitality brands have already begun to ideate and pilot co-working and ghost kitchen concepts to enable additional revenue streams that would complement and/or supplement their existing revenue lines in a post-pandemic world. These new business models are absolutely being born out of COIVD and the industry’s necessity to identify and enable net new revenue streams."
A NEW ERA
While some might feel that contactless technology will cost hospitality the warmth and “hands on” approach it is so famous for, others have a different point of view.
“Many hospitality traditionalists thought that [contactless technology] was an unnecessary expense and that it would take away from the ‘people’ aspect of hospitality,” says Jesse Hemphill, General Manager at the Norfolk Waterside Marriot. “I could not disagree more. The guest was already trending toward these items and in time would demand it to stay in your hotel. COVID-19 gave the transition an unexpected boost that will require hoteliers to adopt it if they want to stay competitive in the years to follow.
“Our MCLUB lounge for elite Bonvoy members has an automated espresso machine, self-serving wine dispenser and food items available 24 hours a day,” Hemphill explains. “The hotel has more friendly smiling attendants to service our guests in this area than it did before the renovation and the increase in technology. Technology in hotels is not to remove the ‘people’ aspect, but to allow the guest to customize their stay to match their preferences.”
Raj Singh, CEO, Go Moment couldn’t agree more.
“Right now, within the hotel industry we define guest experiences based on how closely they’re tied to human contact,” Singh says. “Warmth and personalized interactions translates into more deeply satisfied guests. Contactless technology makes us question that. But as an industry, we need to rethink interactions and how guests look at satisfaction, luxury, and overall hospitality. Contactless technology doesn’t diminish guest experience or render hotel staff unnecessary. It redefines both in meaningful ways. Contactless technology will move from a nice-to-have to being a central tool in a hotel’s technology stack. As central as a PMS is today.”


text:
- Subscribe NowLimited Time Offer
Sign Up for the Silicon Valley Business Journal Afternoon Edition Newsletter
Send this story to a friend
Netflix settles lawsuit, agrees to delete past users' viewing history
- Staff Silicon Valley Business Journal
Netflix Inc. has resolved a class-action privacy lawsuit, resulting in the Los Gatos-based company agreeing to delete the video history and queue data of its former customers.
The company said Wednesday it will do so within a year of a customer cancelling service with the online DVD and streaming rental company (NASDAQ:NFLX), according to PC Magazine.
"Today's filing is part of the process of effectuating the settlement that was announced in February," Netflix spokesman Joris Evers said in a prepared statement.
In the lawsuit, Netflix was accused of violating the 1988 Video Privacy Protection Act, which does not allow video rental businesses to share customers' rental history without permission.
The settlement outcome could take up to two years to go into effect. Netflix will also be paying $6.65 million to various privacy organizations and $2.25 million in legal fees, PC Magazine reported.
- Most popular
- Silicon Valley claims 3 of nation's 10 most expensive housing markets
- After big tech lease downtown, can Santa Cruz build a beachside
- Google executive’s heroin overdose death on yacht yields arrest
- SJSU kicks off $126M student housing project
- Breaking ground: Hip AC Hotel replaces Hampton brand in downtown SJ
- How a revamped Apple operates under Tim Cook vs. Steve Jobs
- Silicon Valley tech companies lure younger interns with top perks
- VC Janmohamed on why Big Data is the 'new black,' the B2B cloud swoon
- Palo Alto apartment tower sells for $405K per unit
- 14 Silicon Valley area IPOs coming — but only 5 are tech companies
Work For: Aerotek Aerotek | South San Francisco, CA
Advertising Sales Director San Francisco Business Times | San Francisco, CA
QC Inspector with Med Device Experience Lab Support, a division of On Assignment | San Jose, CA
Hygienist Smile Brands Inc. | San Jose, CA
Business/System Analyst III US Tech Solutions, Inc. | San Jose, CA


text:
Leading retailer for young sneaker and streetwear enthusiasts, Platypus has opened its 200th store in Pakenham, Victoria, approximately 60km southeast of Melbourne.
In 2007, Accent Group acquired 11 Platypus Shoe stores. Today, Platypus boasts a network of 200 stores across Australia and New Zealand, with 166 stores in Australia and 34 in New Zealand.
As Platypus opens its 200th store, the company has ambitious plans for further expansion. This year, Platypus has already opened nine new stores, with plans to open an additional 30 stores by the end of June. These additions bring the full store network to over 220, with New Zealand approaching 40 stores by the same timeframe.
Retail Brands divisional CEO, Armando Pedruco said, “As Platypus continues to hit growth milestones, we will continue to drive our key focuses for success, collaborating with our global brand partners, being disruptive in marketing, having a world class team and being a leader in youth cultural.
“The success of Platypus didn’t or doesn’t happen overnight. It’s the constant one percenters, small millstones and team culture which drives this business – Platypus has always had an underdog mentality, we are always looking for what is next and how we can go to the next level.”
The brand has also experienced significant online success with digital sales emerging as the largest store, attracting annual traffic of over 20 million.
“Our four-wall growth is a testament to the Australian and New Zealand retail landscape, our consumer may start their journey online and some finish it there, but there will also be a need for a bricks and mortar location, where consumers can experience the product and brand come to life,” Pedruco added.
“This is what sets Platypus apart, our in-store design, storytelling and theatre. When you walk through the doors of a Platypus store you feel the brand come to life, the loud music, teal lights and fun team.”
Platypus plans to continue its rapid regional expansion plan, already opening doors in the likes of Alice Springs, Mildura, Coffs Harbour & Albury.
“We saw that the regional consumer was shopping our brands mostly online or having to drive a couple of hours away, we wanted to provide the Platypus experience and world’s biggest brands to their doorstep.
“We will also be refitting our Chadstone Flagship store in early 2024, with a new premium fit out, that will focus on hosting an elevated product assortment, dedicated marketing strategy and best in class team. Then other flagship stores will be refitted to sit within this model, such as Pacific Fair.”


text:
"Damages" in an Injury Lawsuit: An Introduction for Lay People
Trial by Jury: Why It Matters in a Democratic Society
What Does the Supreme Court Ruling in Alice v. CLS Mean to a Software Entrepreneur?
What should I do when I receive a letter from a prosecutor?
Two-Pronged Approach to Defending Lawsuits – Interview with Dominic Picca, Member, Mintz Levin
Class Action Litigation Reform – Interview with Dan Pascucci, Member, Mintz Levin
Elmo Sex Scandal: More Accusers May Come Forward, Says Lawyer
Newtown Shootings Could Give Rise to More Litigation, Says Pinsky
Whalen: Go Back To The Future To Fight Fraud With Equity Receivers
More than a year-and-a-half after Target’s December 2013 announcement of a massive data breach, the retailer has reached an agreement with Visa, whereby it will reimburse Visa and certain affected card issuers up to $67...more
New Bill Would Create Criminal Penalties for TCPA Violations -
Could telemarketers be facing jail time for violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act?
The answer might be "yes" if a bill introduced by Sen....more
Last winter, following a well-publicized data breach, a group of financial institutions sued Target, arguing that Target should be held responsible for the damages that they had experienced as a result of the data breach...more
Newark Unified Sch. Dist. v. Superior Court , 2015 WL 4594095 (Cal. Ct. App. July 31, 2015).
In this inadvertent document release case, the plaintiff sought injunctive relief against the defendant, requiring the return...more
Target has announced that it has entered into a settlement with Visa to resolve claims of issuers of Visa credit and debit cards arising from Target’s November 2013 data breach. The proposed settlement will pay issuers of...more
As previously reported upon by PK Law, Michael Corona and eight other individuals (“Plaintiffs”) filed a class action on March 2, 2015 against Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc. (“Sony”). (U.S. District Court, Central District...more
On July 6, 2015, the Korean National Assembly passed a bill containing several amendments to the Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA). This bill (the Amendment Bill) combines a number of major provisions from nine...more
Employers need clear policies in order to use a federal criminal law as a civil remedy against workers.
The recent decision in Allied Portables v. Youmans from the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida...more
A plaintiff wins judgment, but the defendant (judgment debtor) refuses to pay or provide information necessary for the plaintiff (judgment creditor) to realize against the debtor’s assets. When and how can the creditor obtain...more
2014 set a record for data incidents, with nearly 30% of the 783 data incidents reported by companies caused by hacking. At least 97 incidents are reported to have occurred from hacking during 2015, affecting approximately 7...more
As a result of the Supreme Court’s decision in Clapper v. Amnesty Int’l USA, 133 S. Ct. 1138, 1147 (2013), data breach class actions were largely considered dead in the water. The overwhelming majority of courts, relying...more
FTC And Florida AG Team up Against Medical Alert Systems -
Together with the Florida Attorney General, the Federal Trade Commission filed suit against Lifewatch for allegedly using deceptive robocalls to urge older...more
During the 2013 holiday season, Neiman Marcus, like many other retailers, discovered that its payment card systems had been compromised and customers’ credit and debit card information was potentially stolen....more
On July 20, 2015, a federal appeals court in Chicago issued what could be a watershed ruling in favor of consumers pursuing class action lawsuits against retailers and other companies following data breaches that involve the...more
On Feb. 15, the Federal Aviation Administration proposed a regulatory framework applicable to small commercial drones, or unmanned aircraft systems, meaning those weighing less than 55 pounds. The comment period on this...more
Uber may have to suspend service in California and pay a $7.3 million fine as a penalty for withholding information from state regulators, according to a ruling this week by a CPUC administrative law judge. The decision found...more
It is often contended that the availability of a declaratory judgment in Superior Court to determine the parties’ rights may deprive the Court of Chancery of jurisdiction to grant an equitable remedy such as an injunction....more
Try, Try Again: Lawmakers Reintroduce Do Not Track Kids Act -
A group of federal lawmakers reintroduced the Do Not Track Kids Act, a bill to amend the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), with some changes...more
State breach notification laws continue to be amended to (1) provide for notification of a state attorney general or regulator about a breach in addition to affected individuals, (2) cover breaches involving personal...more
Until very recently, it was considered matter of course in a services agreement for any data disclosure or loss, regardless of cause, to be excluded from any and all limitations of the vendor’s liability. However, as data...more
Raisins, radioactive wrists, Red Roof registries, and reformatory roughhousing were all on the Court's radar Monday (it's a very broad radar horizon), as it issued decisions in Horne v. Dep't of Agriculture (14-275), holding...more
On Monday, a federal jury in Atlanta awarded two hourly warehouse workers $2.2 million in a lawsuit brought under the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act.
The controversy started when Atlas Logistics Group Retail...more
Have you ever had a mystery employee defecating around your warehouse, damaging goods? Have you ever considered asking employees to provide cheek cell samples to determine the identity of the defecator? Hopefully, the...more
Early Monday morning you learn that Jane, your former employee, has stolen your company’s confidential information and her new employer is using it. You call your lawyer and tell her that you want to put Jane in jail. Your...more
Adobe Systems, Inc. has agreed to settle the proposed class action lawsuit filed against it following the breach of its system in 2013. The breach compromised personal and payment card data of millions of its customers. There...more
Find a Civil Remedies Author »
Your first step to building a free, personalized, morning email brief covering pertinent authors and topics on JD Supra:
Sign up to create your digest using LinkedIn*
Back to Top


text:
Malcolm Gladwell, in his bestseller, The Tipping Point, explains the concept of epidemics beautifully and illustrates the point with Hush Puppies, the classic American brushed-suede shoes with the lightweight crepe sole. In the beginning of 1995, their sales were down to 30,000 pairs a year, mostly to backwoods outlets and small-town family stores. Wolverine, the company that makes Hush Puppies, was thinking of phasing out the shoes that made them famous. But then, suddenly, they were receiving calls from designers and stylists all over the country.
It all apparently started when a bunch of high school kids sported the shoes, precisely because nobody else was wearing them, without the slightest inkling that they were setting off a huge trend. In 1996, Hush Puppies won the prize for best accessory at the Council of Fashion Designers. While receiving the award, the president of the firm famously admitted that his company had almost nothing to do with the achievement.
In 2015, we are seeing a similar inadvertent explosion in the draping of the sari -- an alluring six-yard raiment (some are nine-yards). Most Indian women have a sari section in their wardrobe, which is fiercely protected, fondly remembered, but rarely reached for. Most saris would require "that special occasion" to warrant its escape from the cosy corners.
That was until just a little over a month ago. Then, something wonderful happened. In March, two women in Bengaluru, Anju Maudgal Kadam and Ally Matthan, formed a pact between themselves and called it the #100SareePact. Lamenting over the fact, that they, like most women, have switched to the easy pair of jeans or the quick and comfortable shalwar kameez in favor of the sari, they promised to give the sari its due and wear it a hundred times this year and post updates on social media, accompanied by a little story of how the sari stirred up memories in them and what emotions it evoked.
All it required was to tag each other with the hashtag #100SareePact. In just a couple of days, their friends started posting their own pictures of the sari with their stories. The next day, their friends joined in. By day five, the #100sareepact was ringing loud on Twitter and Facebook with friends of friends of friends joining the pact. The media ran stories and more women joined. Today, in just about 45 days of the pact, over 1 lakh women from all over the world are in the pact.
So, what was the stickiness factor in the pact?
The sari is a very special garment, and the fact that we tell stories of memories, people and emotions attached with it creates an aura around it -- and everyone relates to it because these are everyday tales. The #100SareePact has become a medium for storytelling, and I think this appeal cuts across ages, gender and culture.
The pact has become such a rage that, this International Women's Day, a museum in Madrid chose to start its conference with a reference to the inspiration found in the #100sareepact movement. The inspiration is the many tales that have been felt and told through the sari -- a trigger to look back into our own unique lives -- and look forward to many inspiring moments. This was just eight days into the pact!
Another astounding effect it has had is that we now have new-found respect for our weavers and handloom community. The sheer range of weaves, patterns, textiles and motifs is ming-boggling! Coming from South India, I have treasured my Kancheevaram and Pochampallis, but now I keep an eye out for those Patolas, Bandhanis, Dhakai Jamdhanis,, Ikats, Kalamkaris, Banarasis -- the colors, the contrasts -- the list goes on. The spill-over of this pact might be happy women and happy weavers! And, of course, happy men seeing their women glowing in that special sari aura!
When asked about the vision for the pact, Ally and Anju say that they hope to do it year after year with women from all over the world joining in. They are very happy about their new sari habit, and see no reason why the saris that tumbled out should go back into the corners of their wardrobes. In fact, to cherish this fact and grow the pact, they have started a dedicated website for the #100SareePact, where women all over the world can send them their unique sari tales.
And, hence, it has been proved once again that we never forgot our saris. Our love for saris required just the ever-so-gentle nudge, and we fell in love with it all over again!
So, what's your sari story?


text:
Te Puni Kōkiri was a major sponsor at the recent Māori Women’s Development Inc (MWDI) awards night in Tāmaki Makaurau, celebrating businesswomen and their pakihi.
Published: Friday, 5 August 2022 | Rāmere, 05 Hereturikōkā, 2022
Te Puni Kōkiri Māori Enterprise Manager Zella Morrison says it was a great opportunity to network with industry leaders and entrepreneurs.
“Wāhine in business are gaining a reputation for producing high-quality and reputable products and services,” said Zella.
“As we know, wāhine Māori in business face many barriers to success, so it was a great event that showcased those thriving in their industries.”
Te Puni Kōkiri was proud to support a number of the finalists, with investment to build their business capability and capacity. Read the full list of winners here.
Interim MWDI CEO Linda Clay said “this event is an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of wāhine and showcase their businesses on the economic world stage.”
“We’re also very grateful to all our sponsors, co-host, Auckland Council and Te Puni Kōkiri for their tautoko.”
Te Puni Kōkiri has a four-year agreement with MWDI, to help fund training programmes and support services to wāhine Māori in business.
Photo caption: Nichola Te Kiri (left) of Nichola, winner of the Employment and Growth category receiving her award from Tania Pouwhare, Co-chair of the Māori Economic Development Advisory Board. Nichola was supported through our Māori Business Growth and Cadetships. Photo credit: The Hood & Co.


text:
6.5%: The new tax on alcoholic beverages voted in by the Massachusetts State Senate on May 19, 2009.
50,000: Signatures gathered by the Massachusetts Package Stores Association in opposition to the new tax.
$.50: Estimated increase per one $8 six-pack of beer that will be imposed by the new tax, which is slated to go into effect September 2009.
$.30: Estimated cost per one $8 six-pack of beer of the existing federal excise tax.
3,280,000: Estimated number of people who
consumed alcohol at least once a month in 2007, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
36: Percentage of Massachusetts men who consumed alcohol while engaging in aquatic activities, according to a 20-year-old CDC survey titled "Alcohol Use and Aquatic Activities."
11%: That same figure for women.
21.3: Gallons of beer per year consumed by the average American, according to the U.S. Census 2008 statistical abstract.
21: Gallons of milk per year consumed by the average American, according to the U.S. Census 2008 statistical abstract.
2: Maximum number of alcoholic beverages that a licensed dispensary [i.e. bar, restaurant or tavern] can serve an individual at one time.
0: Number of free drinks a bar is permitted to give out as per the "Happy Hour" clause of state statute M.G.L. c. 138, § 77.
$500.00: Cost of a license to sell alcoholic beverages on a Massachusetts steamboat.
1155: The weight, in tons, of the steamship USS Massachusetts, which was
decommissioned in 1865.
0: Liquor licenses held by the USS Massachusetts.


text:
Is “Dawa” too close to “Wawa?”
That’s now for a federal judge to decide, as the Wawa Corporation takes tiny Paterson, N.J., convenience store Dawa Food Market to court for trademark infringement.
Wawa Spokesperson Lori Bruce says the corporation tried to contact Dawa Food Market “on multiple occasions to resolve this matter privately and amicably” to no avail.
Mike Han, the owner, says “Dawa” is a Korean greeting. He told the Courier-Post, “Dawa means welcome in my language […] Everybody’s welcome here.”
Competition for the two-syllable name, it seems, isn’t welcome. Wawa, of Wawa, Pa., says Dawa Food Market is infringing on the chain’s name and trademark. The two aren’t that similar on the inside — Dawa, for example, sells “Bronx-style pizza and chicken,” while Wawa sells thousands of hoagie combinations and deep-fried options from touch-screen machines — but that’s not important in a case like this.
What does matter to a court is whether a person could reasonably confuse the two. In this case, Dawa’s goose could be, well, Sizzli’d.
In its logo, Wawa has a trademark goose perched over the name. Dawa, unfortunately, has a leaf in similar place. And Wawa’s won similar suits in the past. The Courier-Post says the company challenged Baltimore-based Wawa Tours in 2010 and Wawa Games of Fort Lee, N.J., in 2011.
They won both cases.


text:
Xiaomi has finally taken the wraps off Mi A2, its second generation Android One device. After a successful run with the Mi A1, the new device is expected to perform better considering the price to performance ratio. The Mi A2 will be sold exclusively via Amazon India's website and Xiaomi's own online platform.
Xiaomi has priced the Android One smartphone competitively at Rs 16,999 for the 4GB RAM, 64GB storage variant. The company has promised to get the 6GB RAM and 128GB internal storage variant later this year. The device has been launched in four colours Black, Lake Blue, Rose Gold and Gold. The pre-orders for the device will begin at 12pm on Thursday and the device will go on sale from August 14, 12pm.
The company is offering Rs 2200 instant cashback and up to 4.5 TB free data from Reliance Jio. Apart from this, a premium soft case will come bundled with the Mi A2.
Here are the key points to consider before purchasing Xiaomi Mi A2:
The design is identical to the Xiaomi Mi 6X that only showed up in China. Mi A2 is unmistakably Xiaomi when it comes to external looks. The back gets metal treatment with antenna lines pushed to the edges. The camera is stacked vertically with a slightly protruding protective ring.
Overall, the design looks up to date but lacks the futuristic notch design that comes with its cheaper sibling Mi A2 Lite. However, Xiaomi has still placed a display with 18:9 aspect ratio which gives a considerable screen real estate to play with.
Mi A2 is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 660 coupled with Adreno 512 GPU, making it the only smartphone with this chip under Rs 20,000. The closest, in terms of processing power, is Honor Play which comes with Huawei's flagship Kirin 970 but is priced higher at Rs 19,999.
The octa-core processor comes with four 2.2 GHz Kryo 260 cores and four 1.8 GHz Kryo 260 cores. The 660 chip is the flagship chipset in Qualcomm's Snapdragon 600-series. The newly launched Snapdragon 710 sits above Snapdragon 660.
One of the strongest points of the Mi A2 is its camera setup, both in the front and rear. The Mi A2 comes with a dual camera setup on the rear with one 12 megapixel sensor and another 20 megapixel sensor. Both sensors come with a relatively wide aperture of f/1.75. This can make it a great buy for option for low-light photography in this price segment. The front camera also comes with a 20 megapixel sensor with an f/2.2 aperture. Both sensors use a technology called pixel binning which helps with sharper low-light images.
Xiaomi is betting big on Mi A2's camera and the sample pictures displayed by the company during the launch event seem promising. The company out rightly claims to have the best-in-class camera setup in the segment.
Being an Android One device, Xiaomi Mi A2 will get all the latest and greatest updates shortly after Google launches them. As far as the Android One programme goes, Xiaomi Mi A2 will get regular updates for the next two years and will receive security patches for the next three years.
With the Android Pie being officially unveiled, the company has announced that Mi A2 will be one of the first devices to receive Google's latest update.
Copyright©2021 Living Media India Limited. For reprint rights: Syndications Today


text:
Money in motion: Meeting the evolving expectations of economic migrants
While people have migrated to new countries in pursuit of brighter futures throughout history, ubiquitous digitization has opened new pathways for economic growth and opportunity around the globe. Digital nomads – professionals who travel while working remotely – have emerged in recent years alongside technological advances and the post-pandemic era of flexible work. In fact, approximately 24 million Americans intend to become digital nomads in the next three years and another 41 million are considering the lifestyle, according to Mastercard’s 2023 Travel, reimagined report. That’s just over 12% of the U.S. population.
This lifestyle drives a new set of needs for making and receiving payments, as well as managing money across borders. The rising demographic of digital nomads has also inspired emerging financial institutions to directly serve their money movement needs.
To that end, insights from Mastercard’s Borderless Payments Report reveal that consumers are increasingly favoring digital versus in-person cross-border payments, motivated by a desire for quick and secure capabilities to send money along with built-in confirmation that funds were received.
But despite critical relevance, the options for the way people pay and get paid across borders has, for many, failed to keep pace with modern life. Paired with rising consumer expectations, consumers surveyed expressed the growing demand for more practical, lower-cost, digital cross-border payment solutions that are not only instantaneous, but also provide a safe and seamless experience.
These needs are especially present in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. In fact, migrants account for an average of 70% of the employed population in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries - and more than 95% of private sector workers in Qatar and the UAE – according to the Wilson Center. On the receiving side, inbound flows accounted for more than 15% of the GDP in 25 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) in 2022, and in 2023 was estimated to reach $669 billion.
“Remittances have always been an interesting market for EEMEA because two of the largest three corridors on the planet are in the region,” said Onur Kursun, executive vice president, Transfer Solutions, Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa at Mastercard. “Fifteen years ago, you didn’t, for example, have people in Ukraine developing code for companies in Saudi Arabia, so there wasn’t a strong need for cross-border payments to individuals and therefore the payment process wasn’t smooth at all. With the rise of e-commerce and the gig economy, new payment flows have emerged that have raised people’s need for and expectations of cross-border payments generally. Faster refunds, for example, are important because people are no longer prepared to wait 5-7 days,” says Kursun.
New regulation and digitization have allowed telco players, fintechs, and marketplaces to incorporate remittances into their businesses. As we see more digital players enter the market, they will be looking to drive a better customer experience.
Serving a more sophisticated payments ecosystem
With rising worker migration fueling demand for more practical, lower-cost digital cross-border payment solutions, attention is turning towards how migrants can move their money more efficiently, both across borders and within the countries they call home.
As technology has developed, expectations around money transfers have evolved. People are looking for speed, simplicity, security, and resilience. Consumers can order and safely receive a physical package from an online retailer in a matter of hours – yet why can’t they safely send and receive money across borders in less time?
Mastercard’s Borderless Payments Report shows that when consumers choose a company for cross-border payments, the most important factors are low fees, speed of delivery, and ease of use. 79% of consumer respondents say having an up-to-date view of their financial situation in real-time would be helpful amidst the current economic volatility. Providers simply can’t afford to neglect these preferences if they wish to remain profitable.
“People want to know their provider isn’t a cold, clinical platform, but a company that can provide additional services and useful touches, such as automated insights into their financial health,” said Shivvy Jervis, award-winning innovation forecaster and journalist.
The same applies to domestic transfers, with Egypt as a good illustration. In an increasingly global, digital, and on-demand world, there are rising expectations for instantaneous transactions. Recent developments in Egypt’s payments sector have fueled demand for new payment methods that are fast, secure, and easy.
“Egypt is a great example of a region where we are helping to create billions of new transactions,” said Kursun.
“The banked population in Egypt is relatively low, yet around 80% of adults are now using our solutions. We’re providing secure financial infrastructure and look forward to replicating this setup in other countries to further facilitate financial inclusion and faster e-commerce.”
The Mastercard report shows that 41% of senders, and approximately half of receivers surveyed intend to use cross-border payments more frequently over the next 12 months, and about half plan to increase the value of their transactions.
But despite improvements to money movement, challenges remain. The World Bank’s Remittances Prices Worldwide Database highlighted that fees remain persistently high, costing 6.2% on average to send $200 as of the second quarter of 2023.
“With cost, there’s a transaction fee and there’s a foreign exchange (FX) component,” explained Kursun. “When you send Bangladesh Taka, for example, the rate you are converting your UAE Dirham to Taka is important because costs can reach 5% or even 10%. This is a problem across the world, but especially in Africa. It’s something we are now improving by leveraging our scale and reach at Mastercard to provide more cost-effective, transparent solutions.”
People are demanding greater transparency when it comes to pricing, citing hidden fees as an impediment to transacting more frequently. “This is important,” said Kursun. “If you rely on a remittance to pay your rent, even a $10 cut means it doesn’t do the job.”
Importantly, remittances should be accessible and provide choice in how users transfer and receive funds. The ability to track funds is a crucial point when considering that two in five (40%) consumers in the UAE have experienced an issue that has resulted in a late or failed cross-border payment, with similar numbers recorded in Saudi Arabia (39%) and South Africa (36%).
Of those in the UAE and Saudi Arabia who have experienced a late or failed payment in the past, over half spend more time worrying about whether their payment gets delivered on time. This comes with emotional ramifications, as well as practical consequences, with many highlighting a severe negative impact on mental wellbeing.
Another barrier to market growth is the persistent fear of fraud. 34% of those surveyed for the Mastercard Borderless Payments Report said they had stopped using cross-border payments out of fear of becoming a victim of fraud. It’s critical that the next generation of money transfer solutions addresses fraud head-on.
Finally, those receiving remittances need to be able to receive them in a way that works. More than a third of people surveyed in the Mastercard study said their families back home are restricted by limited accessibility to money that is sent to them, with many having to travel long distances to receive it. This makes it critical for any modern money transfer solution to address this gap with a variety of payout options and channels that make it easy for people to access their funds, no matter the situation.
“In the past, consumers were reliant on physical signs – for example a sign advertising cross-border payments, where they could pick up their money,” added Kursun. “But now, we deliver money directly to bank accounts, to cards, and digital wallets – as well as to thousands of cash payout options worldwide. With that, as people increasingly turn to digital methods it’s important that we don't lose sight of the importance of maintaining access to cash. This is essential for financial inclusion because not everybody has bank accounts and not everyone has cards – it’s about providing choice and driving inclusion.”
More choice, more inclusion
In 2022, half of global e-commerce sales were by way of digital wallet – with expectations that this will expand at a compound annual growth rate of 27% until 2030.
“You can now split invoices between wallets, which is great to pay people remotely and allow people working for themselves to collaborate with others more securely,” said Jervis. “More online security features are being baked into these systems, and for people who struggle to bank centrally, money being paid into digital wallets with no issues is groundbreaking.”
“But we also need to remember the continued importance of cash. Whether it’s regions in Africa or Costa Rica, it dominates the payments networks in many countries and reiterates how crucial choice is for so many,” added Jervis.
To ensure more people can access quick, reliable payments how and when they choose, Mastercard Move – Mastercard’s full portfolio of money transfer capabilities, which includes its Mastercard Cross-Border Services and Mastercard Send solutions – enables people and organizations to send and receive funds safely and securely, both domestically and internationally.
Mastercard Move provides bank, fintech and corporate customers with access to nearly 10 billion endpoints around the world, including access to 95% of the world’s banked population across more than 180 countries and 150+ currencies. It helps address the challenges faced by individuals and businesses as they seek to move money more efficiently in an increasingly borderless world.
“Cost, transparency, and choice of endpoints are the main challenges people tell us they are facing,” added Kursun. “And I believe that at Mastercard we’re effectively addressing them all.”


text:
FALL RIVER, Mass., Dec. 2, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Millstone Medical Outsourcing announced today that the company hired Thomas C. Lowe as Vice President of Business Development in Warsaw, IN. Mr. Lowe brings to his new position a long track record of cultivating business relationships in the medical device industry. Located in Warsaw, Mr. Lowe will be responsible for developing key accounts and supporting Millstone's medical device manufacturing customers. Millstone, outsource partner to the nation's top orthopedic companies, is the fast-growing provider of advanced inspection, clean room packaging, loaner kit processing, and distribution services to medical and dental device manufacturers worldwide.
Mr. Lowe's background includes more than 18 years of generating new business. Prior to Millstone, he spent 14 years with a Tier 1 supplier to the medical device industry, where he was primarily responsible for identifying, building, and managing strategic accounts. Mr. Lowe began his career as a field representative for a large Chicago-based orthopedic distributorship.
"Tom has dedicated the majority of his career to building relationships within the medical device world," said Chris Ramsden, Millstone Chief Executive Officer. "Millstone is a growing company, and we are excited to welcome a professional of Tom's caliber. In addition to introducing us to potential customers, Tom's role will be ensuring the care of existing relationships and the successful launch of new programs."
About Millstone Medical Outsourcing
Millstone Medical Outsourcing is a leading provider of customized outsourcing solutions to the medical device industry. With a client roster of over 50 prominent companies in the orthopedic sector alone, including nine of the top ten, Millstone delivers superior quality service, unparalleled expertise, and


text:
Microgaming to Launch Cash of Kingdoms Online Slot
The release of the upcoming Cash of Kingdoms online slot developed by Microgaming will be announced on Day 3 of ICE Totally Gaming 2018. The London expo is the perfect opportunity for game manufacturers to show their latest inventions, projects, designs and tease the audience with new material. Microgaming has several reasons to be at the expo, and Cash of Kingdoms is one of them.
According to the preliminary announcements, Cash of Kingdoms will be a fantasy-themed online slot with 5 reels and 3 rows of symbols, and a 15-payline mechanics. Later this year, players will have the chance to meet a crew of heroes composed of one dashing Knight, one powerful Mage, one sly Rogue, one brassy Archer and one bearded Bombardier. They will accompany Microgaming fans across desktop and mobile platforms in their quest for riches in a big, dramatic clash of kingdoms. This one will definitely appeal to adventure seekers the most, as it is packed with stunning graphics and bold features such as Invading Wilds – a new, innovative special feature that guarantees non-stop on-screen action.
Day 3 of ICE Totally Gaming 2018 attendees will have the pleasure to witness the Cash of Kingdoms celebration at the Microgaming stand. The Microgaming Bar is adorned with medieval fixtures, and even a skilled foot archer will be there to perform to the game’s soundtrack, amusing visitors at 11am, 1pm and 3pm. Obviously, Microgaming is setting up a diverse games roadmap for 2018, and so far it all looks quite amazing. We’ll have to wait a while to see Cash of Kingdoms and other new games that are due for release up and running. According to David Reynolds, Games Publisher at Microgaming, the supplier is anticipating Cash of Kingdoms to be a long-term player favourite.


text:
Doctors in Salah ad Din province are taking the threat of H1N1 seriously. They are taking no chances in preparing for pandemic influenza.
â€œThey view it as a serious problem,â€ said Dr. Marcus, an advisor for the Salah ad Din Provincial Reconstruction Team.
With the announcement of the global flu pandemic and growing fears of an H1N1 outbreak within the country, the doctors in Salah ad Din province took action. Weeks of clinical preparations, public health announcements and professional preparations culminated in the mid-July provincial H1N1 Influenza summit in Tikrit, Iraq.
Six leading physicians from the Tikrit University College of Medicine, the Tikrit Teaching Hospital and the Salah ad Din Health Directorate, along with an American preventive medicine physician from the US military, presented on topics that ranged from the epidemiology of H1N1 to public health controls to prevent and respond to an outbreak in the province.
For residents of the villages of Qalata and Khalkhalan, Iraq, access to a cup of clean drinking water is not always as easy as going to the faucet and pouring one. The current water purification plant that supplies both villages no longer produces clean, drinkable water, requiring residents to travel to a nearby city.
But soon the nearly 7,000 residents of the villages will only have to travel to their water pumps to get purified water.
â€œLocal contractors are set to begin refitting the old water purification plant so it produces water people can actually drink,â€ said Hameed Faqi, the director of municipality for the villages.
â€œRight now all you can use the water from the old plant for is washing clothes and showering,â€ said Othman Hassen, a member of the district council.
The area around the Al Askari “Golden” Mosque of Samarra, Iraq, once thrived as an open-air market serving thousands of visitors every year. Iraqi and U.S. forces are working to guarantee security, and that means more than safety. It also means rebuilding the economy.
Joined by Samarra Mayor Mahmood Khalaf Ahmed, U.S. Soldiers with the 490th Civil Affairs Battalion and the 25th Infantry Division’s 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, distributed $2.5 million in small-business grants to more than 900 local store owners, Aug. 3 to 5.
Following the bombing of the Golden Mosque in February 2006, business plummeted. Some shops shut down due to security concerns and the placement of protective barriers around the city.
“The closure of the stores around the Golden Mosque truly hurt the economy of Samarra,” Ahmed said. “Many of the visitors to the city would come and shop and provide the much-needed money for the city. With these microgrants, we will be able to return being the strong, economic city that we were in previous years.”
The Iraqi government and U.S. forces have allocated millions of dollars in grants for small-business owners, and to those who wish to become small-businesses owners, to revitalize the economy. The grants ranged from $2,500 to $10,000.


text:
Software Development & Testing
With the majority of businesses relying on online channels to drive significant amounts of revenue, and in some cases all revenue, the importance of a company’s website is undeniable.
The highly coveted annual event that is the Mobile World Congress (MWC) has kicked off today in Barcelona and we’re really excited to see what’s in store.
We are very excited to take part in the Brighton Digital Catapult and IoTUK Retail Pit Stop event.
We visited the Canonical stand at MWC 2016 to learn more about their latest, most powerful Ubuntu phone ever.
Cell Software will attend this year’s Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona.
Facewatch intends to bring crime reporting into the digital age.
Last Friday we held a cake sale to boost our team Movember donations.
We’ve just started work on an exciting new mobile development project with Motorola Solutions.
Cell Software Services are expanding!
3 Frederick Terrace Frederick Place Brighton, UK BN1 1AX
firstname.lastname@example.org +44 (0)1273 734 444
© 2022 Cell Software Services Ltd. Built using WordPress and the Mesmerize theme


text:
Westside container village will be wound up seven months earlier than expected.
The Land Development Agency announced vendors will effectively operate rent free for the first four months of 2017 and vacate the site by the end of April in a bid to avoid the winter slowdown.
LDA chief executive David Dawes said vendors were required to pay rent in full up until the end of their current lease on December 31, but the government had decided to charge only nominal rent in the new year.
"Our discussions with Westside vendors made it clear that while they would have preferred to stay for a few more years, the majority didn't want to continue through the slower winter months with no long-term reward at the end," Mr Dawes said.
The time it would take to remove the structure and restore the site to its previous condition left just a small window for warm weather trading.
"As the venue and event manager will not be staying on past the end of this year, and the government will not be engaging in any extra promotion during Westside's final few months, it is appropriate that the remaining vendors are only charged peppercorn rent for this period," Mr Dawes said.
Visitors to the container village, which has been dogged by problems throughout its two-year history, are left without any clear indication of when traders will relocate.
The government's plan allows vendors to move onto month-to-month leases and continue to trade in 2017 but leaves it open for vendors to close their doors at any time before April.
Mr Dawes said Westside was always intended to be a temporary venue and it had brought life to an area previously used for car parking.
"The construction of a 150-metre boardwalk and the new Point Park, adjacent to current the Westside site, will provide another attraction to encourage people to spend time in West Basin after Westside is removed."


text:
Continuing the trend of the previous year, exports of agricultural and processed food products increased by 14% in the first three months of the current financial year 2022-23 (April-June) compared to the corresponding period of l 2021-22 financial year.
For the year 2022-23, the government had set an export target of USD 23.56 billion for the basket of processed agricultural and food products under the APEDA. Initiatives taken by the Ministry of Trade and Industry have helped the country achieve 25% of the total annual export target in the first three months of the current fiscal year.
According to data from flash estimates published by the General Directorate of Intelligence and Trade Statistics (DGCI&S), the overall export of products under the control of APEDA (Authority for the Development of Exports of Processed Food and Agricultural Products) has increased to USD 5,987 million in April-June 2022 from USD 5,256 million over the same period last year. The export target for April-June 2022-23 was 5890 million USD. The APEDA basket excludes tea, coffee, spices, cotton and maritime exports.
Exports of fresh fruits and vegetables recorded a growth of 8.6%, while processed food products such as cereals and various processed products recorded an impressive growth of 36.4% (April-June 2022-23) compared to in the corresponding months of the previous year. In April-June, 2021, fresh fruits and vegetables were exported at the amount of USD 642 million which increased to USD 697 million in the corresponding months of the current financial year. Exports of other cereals increased from USD 237 million in April-June 2021 to USD 306 million in April-June 2022 and exports of meat, dairy products and poultry increased from USD 1023 million in April-June 2021 to 1120 million USD in April-June 2022.
Rice exports grew by 13% in the first three months of FY 2022-23, while meat, dairy and poultry exports increased by 9.5% and exports of other cereals increased by 29%. 2412 million in April-June 2021 to 2723 million USD in April-June 2022. Dairy products were exported to the tune of 1120 million USD in the first three months of the current financial year against millions in the same period last year last.
“We continue to provide technical and financial assistance to various actors in agricultural commodity value chains to boost exports of the country’s unique products. By creating a necessary ecosystem of exports as well as collaborating with key stakeholders in agricultural export value chains, we also aim to support the growth of India’s agricultural and processed food exports in the current fiscal year. Mr. Angamuthu, President, APEDA, said.
India’s agricultural exports grew by 19.92% in 2021-22 to $50.21 billion. The growth rate is remarkable as it exceeds the 17.66% growth to USD 41.87 billion achieved in 2020-21 and was achieved despite unprecedented logistical challenges in the form of high freight rates and container shortages , etc.
The increase in exports of agricultural and processed food products is the result of the various initiatives taken by the government for the promotion of agricultural and processed food exports, such as holding B2B exhibitions in different countries, exploring potential new markets through specific and general marketing campaigns through the active involvement of Indian Embassies. United States.
To ensure transparent quality certification of products for export, the government has recognized 220 laboratories across India to provide testing services to a wide range of products and exporters.


text:
Zumiez is back.
After a two-year, COVID-related hiatus from the annual Methow Valley convocation of its corporate leadership and store managers, the global retailer of recreational gear and garb for young people returns at the end of this month.
Zumiez’ return is another example of our gradual return to pre-pandemic “normalcy.” For the first time since 2019, the Methow’s roster of summer events is full again, or close to it.
As in the past, some 700 Zumiez representatives will be distributed at locations around the valley for several days of intensive training and camaraderie. You will know them by the fleets of white vans in which most of them arrive. It’s not exactly a vacation — the Zumiez sales training program is structured and results-oriented. But it’s not a boot camp ordeal either.
Lynnwood-based Zumiez is an international retailer of “active lifestyles” clothing, footwear and accessories for skateboarding, snowboarding, surfing and motocross. The company began holding its annual sales meeting in the Methow Valley in 1990, and they just kept growing. But the coronavirus prompted the event’s cancelation in 2020, and again in 2021.
Zumiez founder and chairman Tom Campion, part-time Methow resident and longtime valley advocate and benefactor, is happy to be bringing his young, energetic and highly productive charges back for what has become something of a late-spring tradition in these parts. “It’s part of our culture and training,” he said of the Zumiez excursions to the Methow.
It’s become part of our culture, too. The influx of Zumiez’ store managers, who are noteworthy for how they reflect whatever current Gen is surging through to adulthood and for how well they perform as retailers, adds a burst of energy and interest for a few days each spring just before the Winthrop ’49er Days kick-off.
But not the past two years, as Zumiez adapted to the pandemic’s predations along with the rest of the world. The sales force gatherings were canceled as COVID made such large, in-person gatherings difficult if not impossible.
In a chat last week, Campion pointed out that the company did close hundreds of stores around the world for a time as COVID’s effects spread, but did not lay off its full-time employees and gradually reopened its outlets as conditions allowed. “It took months to get them back open again,” Campion said, and Zumiez switched much of its sales efforts to online. Still, the publicly traded firm had its best year ever in terms of sales per share in 2021, Campion said.
One thing that helped is the nature of what Zumiez sells — stuff that kids take outside to use. For instance, skateboards are ideal for socially-distanced recreating, Campion pointed out. When you sell teenage clothing and gear, Campion said, “If you don’t know how to adapt you won’t make it.”
Zumiez may adapt, but its corporate strategy has been unwavering. The company understands its clientele and its sales environment. The store managers go through various levels of training, each focused on shared achievements. “Everybody teaches what they know,” said Campion. Some store managers eventually move up into the corporate leadership ranks as well.
We’re in for a few more-hectic days than we’ve been used to recently, as the Zumiez contingent will be in town the same weekend as the Methow Trails Sunflower Trail Marathon and Relay. It may seem a little overwhelming as we emerge out of another shoulder season, but it will certainly be energizing.
News at the News
More changes to report at the Methow Valley News: After eight productive years as our advertising sales representative, Sheila Ward is departing the newspaper to pursue plans that involve splitting her time between Wenatchee and the valley. Sheila has been a vital part of our team in a challenging job, bringing in the bucks that keep us going even when that became more difficult the past couple of years, and we thank her for all her contributions to our success.
Our advertising clients are of course most familiar with Sheila and her customer support efforts over the years. Many of them will also know her replacement, who we were fortunate and grateful to find right inside our building. Our business manager for the past several years, Tera Evans, is taking over sales responsibilities from Sheila. For the time being, Tera will handle both roles as we figure out and adjust our staffing needs. Expect her to be introducing, or re-introducing, herself soon.


text:
WASHINGTON (AP) — Fueled by vaccinations and government aid, the U.S. economy grew at a solid 6.5% annual rate last quarter in another sign that the nation has achieved a sustained recovery from the pandemic recession.
The total size of the economy has now surpassed its pre-pandemic level.
The government estimated that the nation’s gross domestic product accelerated in the April-June quarter from an already robust 6.3% annual growth rate in the first quarter of the year.
The quarterly figure fell well below the 8%-plus annual growth rate that many economists had predicted for the second quarter.
But the miss was due mainly to bottlenecks in supply chains related to the rapid reopening of the economy.


text:
The fashion world may not know quite what to do with Kim Kardashian, but the retail world has no doubt: Just slap her name on boutiques, fragrances, and eyeglasses, and let the masses come running. The same goes for her sisters Khloé and Kourtney, who worked with Kim to launch the Kardashian Kollection at Sears almost exactly a year ago. Now the Kollection, which includes clothing, lingerie, shoes, bags, and other accessories, will blossom into a massive international venture spanning thirteen countries, including the U.K., Turkey, Kuwait, Singapore, Thailand, and more, WWD reports today.
So, who’s behind this big expansion, you might ask — besides the usual Kardashian machine, of course? Why, just Sir Philip Green, owner of the colossal fast-fashion chain Topshop as well as the larger retail giant Arcadia Group. No stranger to partnering with celebrities (he’s the one who convinced Kate Moss to do her Topshop line), he has brokered a deal with the Kardashians’ licensee, Jupi Corp., to shill the Kollection at 250 Dorothy Perkins stores around the globe. The products will remain in its $100-and-under price range and will begin their first wave of expansion in the fall. If all goes according to plan, they’ll expand into China, Brazil, and Russia in 2013. In other words, get ready for more Kim-in-a-burqa photo ops.
The Kardashian Kollection Will Launch at Sears in August
What Will the Fashion World Do With Kim Kardashian?


text:
lazyllama - Fotolia
The European Commission (EC) has fined Google €4.34bn for forcing smartphone makers and operators to adhere to contract terms that the Commission deemed anti-competitive.
The EC stated that Google dominates the markets for general internet search services, licensable smart mobile operating systems and app stores for the Android mobile operating system, and has engaged in three separate practices, all of which were aimed at cementing its dominant position in general internet search.
In a blog reaction to the fine, Google CEO Sundar Pichai wrote: “The decision ignores the fact that Android phones compete with iOS phones, something that 89% of respondents to the Commission’s own market survey confirmed. It also misses just how much choice Android provides to thousands of phone makers and mobile network operators who build and sell Android devices; to millions of app developers around the world who have built their businesses with Android; and billions of consumers who can now afford and use cutting-edge Android smartphones.
“Because of Android, a typical phone comes preloaded with as many as 40 apps from multiple developers, not just the company you bought the phone from. If you prefer other apps – or browsers, or search engines – to the preloaded ones, you can easily disable or delete them and choose other apps instead, including apps made by some of the 1.6 million Europeans who make a living as app developers.”
But Margrethe Vestager, European commissioner for competition, said Google forced manufacturers to install its Android operating system, Chrome browser, Google Play Store and Google Search on every Android smartphone.
The EC found that Google had made payments to certain large manufacturers and mobile network operators on condition that they exclusively preinstalled the Google Search app on their devices. It also said Google had prevented manufacturers wanting to preinstall Google apps from selling even a single smart mobile device running on alternative versions, or forks of the open source Android operating system, that were not approved by Google.
Commenting on Google’s anti-competitive contracts, Vestager said: “Amazon has developed an Android fork and would like manufacturers to use it, but this is not possible.”
The EC has been receiving complaints about Google since 2011 and has been investigating the company’s dominance on smartphones since 2015. The preliminary findings of its investigation reported that Google had implemented a strategy on mobile devices to preserve and strengthen its dominance in general internet search.
At the time, Kent Walker, senior vice-president at Google, blogged: “We are concerned that the Commission’s preliminary findings underestimate the importance of developers and the dangers of fragmentation in a mobile ecosystem. Developers – and there were at least 1.3 million of them in Europe in 2015 – depend on a stable and consistent framework to do their work.
“Any phone maker can download Android and modify it in any way they choose. But that flexibility makes Android vulnerable to fragmentation, a problem that plagued previous operating systems like Unix and Symbian.
“When anyone can modify your code, how do you ensure there is a common, consistent version of the operating system, so that developers don’t have to go through the hassle and expense of building multiple versions of their apps?”
Read more about Google investigations
- As Google faces a fine of around $3bn for anti-competitive practices in Europe, Russian authorities have ordered the internet giant to pay $6.8m for abusing its dominant position with Android device makers.
- France’s privacy watchdog, CNIL, has fined Google €150,000 for failing to conform to EU data laws.
Walker said the EC’s proposal risked making fragmentation worse, hurting the Android platform and mobile phone competition.
Commenting on the fine, which is the largest the EC has ever imposed on a business, Vestager said: “Rivals cannot find a place on an Android phone. Very few people will use another search engine. Given that mobile search traffic is almost half of all internet search, this makes it very difficult to develop your own search engine.”
Vestager said the EC wanted Google to remove contractual restrictions. “Mobile operators will be free to choose and if someone develops a new Android fork, the smartphone maker can choose it,” she said. This will give consumers greater choice, the commissioner added.
Although there are more than 450 million people in the EU with an existing Android phone, the fine reflected past behaviour, said Vestager. As such, users with existing Android smartphones will not have a choice of operating system. “Google has to stop doing what is illegal,” she said. “The fine reflects past behaviour, which has to change in the future.”
Asked whether Google should be broken up, Vestager said: “I don’t know if it would service more competition if Google was broken up. What will make a difference is to have more players, so consumers can get new browser and search engines. To allow others to compete on their merits would enable competition.”
Google has had a number of confrontations with competition authorities, which have led to fines being imposed.
In June last year, the EC fined Google €2.42bn for breaching EU antitrust rules. It ruled that Google had abused its market dominance as a search engine by giving an illegal advantage to another Google product, its comparison shopping service.
At the time, Vestager said: “Google’s strategy for its comparison shopping service wasn’t just about attracting customers by making its product better than those of its rivals. Instead, Google abused its market dominance as a search engine by promoting its own comparison shopping service in its search results, and demoting those of competitors.”
And in 2016, the search engine giant was investigated in Russia and was found to have acted in an anti-competitive manner, The Russian Federal Anti-Monopoly Service fined Google $6.8m for forcing smartphone makers to pre-install Google apps on their Android devices. It is understood that Russia forced Google to push out an update to all Android users in the country.


text:
While card-present transactions are relatively safe, card-not-present transactions are quite a bit riskier. These transactions generally require fewer authentication methods or less reliable ones to complete a sale and they don’t have the added security measures that card-present transactions do, namely identification verification and EMV (chip technology).
So what exactly are card-not-present transactions? Simply put, they are either online, telephone, or mail orders. The unfortunate truth is that purchasing goods using any one of these mediums automatically presents a host of potential problems for merchants, namely credit card fraud.
In the brick and mortar (card-present) space, the good news is that using credit cards has become much safer since U.S. merchants were required by credit card companies to have finalized the rollout of EMV. These new cards offer an extra layer of security for in-store transactions, depending on how they’re used. So far, they’ve been nearly impossible for fraudsters to replicate further protecting businesses from fraud.
However, online is a different story. Because these shoppers don’t have to sign or enter a pin when checking out, stealing a card number is usually all that’s needed to commit fraud. This differs from in-store purchases because EMV limits the use of counterfeit cards, or stolen cards, that have had their mag strips replaced or recoded. Ironically, some experts think that the rise of EMV is directly related to a rise in card-not-present fraud transactions online.
Online merchants are trying all kinds of things to bolster their online payments systems. Some use fraud detection software like tokenization, a technology that eliminates the need for retailers to store sensitive data on their network.
The use of tokenization is becoming an emerging anti-fraud measure that’s gaining ground. In a 2016 article with CNBC, Avivah Litan, Research Vice President at Gartner, was interviewed and claimed that, “at least half of the nation’s largest merchants use tokenization; it’s at the center of Apple Pay and Alphabet’s Android Pay, and many credit card companies offer their own version.”
According to the same CNBC article, some card-not-present problems stem from stores not having a secure enough payments system online. Additionally, “Merchants have been left on their own to figure out how to protect their online channels from fraud,” said Mark Horwedel, CEO of Merchant Advisory Group, nodding to the aggressive directive by credit card companies for stores to implement EMV, which really doesn’t solve anything for web-based shopping.
While stopping the most common types of fraud dead in their tracks might be a little unrealistic, slowing the onslaught of attempted fraud isn’t so far-fetched. In fact, taking a proactive approach when it comes to safeguarding a business from fraud is an effective part of any business strategy, allowing for future success.
National Merchants Association is dedicated to the security of your store’s transactions, both in-store and online and we work to ensure the profitability of every business we partner with. Get started today and see how we can process your payments safer, faster, and for less money!


text:
- Five materials recovery facilities (MRF) of various sizes and streams were evaluated as part of a study commissioned to better understand the recycling of postconsumer packaging. The goal of the study — dubbed the "MRF Material Flow Study" — was to improve sorting inefficiencies and other factors that can lower recycling volumes and create missed opportunities for revenue.
- The National Association for PET Container Resources, The Foodservice Packaging Institute, The Carton Council of North America, The American Chemistry Council, and The Association of Postconsumer Plastics Recyclers all commissioned the study.
- The study found that an average of 3% to 12% of plastics, including bottles and containers, are lost to the paper stream in an MRF. Additionally, it found that three-dimensional objects, such as packages in their original form, have a higher likelihood of making it through the MRF into the appropriate containers as opposed to flattened or crushed objects.
It is estimated that $11.4 billion of postconsumer packaging is "wasted" each year, meaning that it does not get recycled properly — regardless of if it's sent to an MRF. By conducting this study, researchers have developed ways that recycling can be improved both by consumers and by industry employees within recycling facilities.
"The study reinforced that everyone plays a role in ensuring recycling is effective and efficient, and that there are actions that can be taken at all steps in the process to help ensure items get their maximum value when they are recycled,” said Resource Recycling Systems CEO Jim Frey, one of the architects of the study. “One such action is asking residents, and other recycling customers, not to flatten items before placing them in recycling containers."


text:
Two herbal supplements available in the shops may reduce the risk of prostate cancer in men as they age, researchers believe.
DHEA supplements may provide a protective effect against prostate cancer as the body loses its ability to naturally produce the hormone, and red clover supplements are a rich source of isoflavones, which can also help prevent the cancer.
The two have been tested in the laboratory by researchers at the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Lead researcher Julia Arnold says: "Something is happening in the prostate tissue microenvironment that is illustrating a potential cancer prevention effect from this (DHEA) supplement."
Similarly, the red clover supplements also seemed to be affecting cancerous tissue in the prostate.
(Source: Cancer Prevention Research, 2009; 2: 134-42).


text:
Trump Knows Who To Blame For Trade War With China, It Is Harley-Davidson
Here is a tip from us, about "economics": If you make stuff more expensive, people will buy less of it. Strangely, however, our Very Successful Billionaire (Maybe) Businessman president seems not to have anticipated this development.
Okay, what we're saying is, it was entirely predictable that Donald Trump would have no idea how a trade war actually works. But YOU DID, because Yr Wonkette 'splained it to you months ago. Remember how we told you Donald Trump's 25 percent steel tariff was going to be paid by American consumers, not foreign producers? Well now the bill is coming due. Per the New York Times,
Mid Continent, the largest American producer of nails, imports steel from Mexico to make its nails. That steel is now subject to the 25 percent tariffs that Mr. Trump imposed on dozens of countries, forcing Mid Continent to raise its prices by nearly 20 percent.
Orders have plummeted by 50 percent this month as the company tries to compete with cheaper foreign-made nails. Those foreign manufacturers are not facing higher steel costs, giving them an advantage over Mid Continent.
The company, which employs about 500 workers, has already cut 60 jobs. It could potentially cut 200 more in the coming weeks.
Wow, what a totally foreseeable turn of events! AND YET, we still wish the Trump-lovin' owner of this company all the luck as he lobbies Democrat Claire McCaskill to help him save hundreds of jobs.
Say, you know what else a sentient person could see coming a mile off? GETTING PUNCHED BACK. Did Trump really believe he'd slap tariffs on China and Europe and they'd just roll over and let him blow up their markets? Can he really be that stupid?
JK! LOL! ROFLMAO!
China slapped retaliatory tariffs on American soybeans in March, causing American soybean prices to crater while Russian and Brazilian farmers rushed to get seeds in the ground. And Chinese and Mexican tariffs on pork are about to kick Iowa and Nebraska right in their pink bits just in time for the election.
Meanwhile, the European Union just bumped tariffs on American motorcycles to 31 percent, a 25 percent increase. Which means that Harley-Davidson motorcycles just got a lot more expensive to import into Europe. Never fear, though, because the company will just shift production of bikes sold in Europe from its Wisconsin factory to overseas plants -- PROBLEM SOLVED! NYT reports,
Rather than pass that cost along, the company said it would shift production to its overseas facilities to avoid the European Union tariffs.
"Harley-Davidson believes the tremendous cost increase, if passed on to its dealers and retail customers, would have an immediate and lasting detrimental impact to its business in the region, reducing customer access to Harley-Davidson products and negatively impacting the sustainability of its dealers' businesses," the company said in the filing.
Nice business you got there! Would be a shame if something were to happen to it, if you know what I mean!
How many jobs will disappear from the Wisconsin factory is not immediately clear. What is clear, however, is that our trade adversaries are enacting strategic levies, rather than swinging wildly and punching themselves in the dick. Unlike some people!
Okay. We're governed by a fucking idiot who appointed a nutbag crank to head up the National Trade Council, and now Trump voters are FUUUUUUCKED.
Follow your FDF on Twitter!
Liz Dye lives in Baltimore with her wonderful husband and a houseful of teenagers. When she isn't being mad about a thing on the internet, she's hiding in plain sight in the carpool line. She's the one wearing yoga pants glaring at her phone.