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WELCOME TO The channel REPORT
Feature market insights and perspectives from top C-Level executives, elite technology influencers and thought leaders from your company here. This signature initiative has garnered immense support...
Keyfactor | February 10, 2023
Keyfactor, the IoT identity platform for modern businesses, announced the hiring of Michael de Paris as Vice President of EMEA Channels and included Joe Tong on the CRN 2023 Channel Chief List.
The objective of the Keyfactor Partner Program, which waslaunchedin February 2020, wasto assist partners in bringing Keyfactor's premier PKI and machine identity management solutions to modern organizations. With its expanding footprint in EMEA, the recruitment of de...
Marketing Strategy, Marketing Data
AppDirect | January 17, 2023
AppDirect, the world's leading commercial platform for B2B subscriptions, recently announced its selection as StrataCore's exclusive partner.
StrataCore is a leading technology advisor specializing in cloud, security, connectivity, and data services. This partnership will support the company's future growth.
StrataCore chose AppDirect as its strategic partner based on the marketplace's extensive catalog of telecom, SaaS, energy, and other products av...
Kuonen Insurance Marketing, Simplicity Group | October 07, 2022
Simplicity Group ("Simplicity") today announced the acquisition of Kuonen Insurance Marketing, LLC, an Arkansas-based brokerage organization led by Hank Kuonen. Kuonen Insurance Marketing becomes the 44th group to join Simplicity.
"Hank and Rick successfully built Kuonen Insurance Marketing with a strong commitment to helping financial professionals grow their business and serve their clients," said Bruce Donaldson, President and CEO of Simplicity...
Tread Partners | April 29, 2021
Having collaborated with more than 500 auto customers in the marketing space in the course of recent years, 3VE Marketing of Raleigh, NC, will authoritatively dispatch its subsequent image, Tread Partners, on April 28th, 2021. Zeroed in on the car reseller's exchange, the organization accomplices with multi-area tire vendors and auto fix shops to sell more tires and get more quality clients than any other time - with show or disappointment.
Prime supporter David Christopher sa...
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Azur Lane’s popularity in Japan has become quite massive, so it’s not surprising that figure manufacturers are announcing more and more models.
Chiba-based manufacturer Mimeyoi just made a brand new figure available for pre-order, portraying the Royal Navy’s beautiful battleship Prince of Wales.
You can find it on Ami Ami for 29,480 yen, which translates approximately into $278.
The release window is in almost a year. She’ll come in July 2021, so you have plenty of time to save up.
While she isn’t cheap, the price is certainly justified by the massive 1/4 scale. She is sculpted by jarel in collaboration with CREAME, while the prototype was painted by Nana Moriyama.
You can check out what she looks like in the gallery below.
If you’re unfamiliar with Azur Lane, it’s is a free-to-play mobile horizontal scrolling shooter/RPG hybrid currently available for iOS and Android.
If you’re not into mobile games, Idea Factory International recently launched Azur Lane: Crosswave for PS4 and PC, with a Nintendo Switch version coming to Japan next week. The western version will soon finally get the DLC shipgirls.
If you’re curious about the franchise’s popularity in Japan, you can check out my report about the recent anniversary event that pretty much literally invaded Akihabara.

domain: news


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Pokémon Go will add its first new Pokéball in years, and it's a fan-favourite design from the Nintendo Switch games Pokémon Sun and Moon.
The Beast Ball is a galactic-looking version of the regular Pokéball designed specifically for capturing Ultra Beasts, the extra-dimensional creatures which featured in Sun and Moon (and most recently arrived in Pokémon Go) via creepy wormholes.
Players at Pokémon Go's three big in-person gatherings in Berlin, Seattle and Sapporo this summer will be first to use Beast Balls over the next six weeks, and get first access to one of the next three Ultra Beasts to arrive.
Today brings a host of fresh announcements for this summer's in-person events, which were already confirmed to debut the Mythical Shaymin in its Sky forme.
Berlin, Seattle and Sapporo will get the Ultra Beasts Pheromosa, Buzzwole and Xurkitree respectively, before their global release later this summer.
All three events will also debut a Cowboy Hat Snorlax, and a host of collectible Unown letters also available in their Shiny versions: A, B, E, L, R, S, T, and U (which spell out Ultra Beast).
The Beast Ball's arrival in Pokémon Go now makes a lot of sense. In Sun and Moon, the device was engineered to better capture Ultra Beasts since regular Pokéball varieties could not do the trick.
The first Ultra Beast, Nihilego, debuted in Pokémon Go earlier this month as part of the game's global Go Fest weekend, which saw a new character introduced and the game's hunky Professor Willow was left missing in action.
Pokémon Go's summer events will then conclude with a global finale at the end of August.


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BY CRAIG W. ANDERSON
Dairies rebounded somewhat in 2011 and 2012's been a challenge, but 2013 should be better, is the word from dairy experts.
The dairy crash of 2008-2009 hasn't been forgotten by San Joaquin County dairy farmers and today they face the same, if slightly less drastic, challenges as they did then: the cost of production rose 15.3 percent in 2011, according to the CDFA Dairy Marketing Branch's annual Cost of Production report.
The numbers for San Joaquin County's milk production in 2011 aren't out yet but dairy was worth $341.4 million in 2010 according to the agricultural commissioner's annual Crop Report, the most current numbers available.
"The increased cost was largely due to higher feed prices for hay, grain commodities, and by-products, which increased in every quarter compared to the corresponding quarter a year earlier," noted the report.
"It's the cost-price squeeze," said Jack Hamm, SJFB first vice president and dairy farmer near Lodi. "Costs are astronomical and if prices decline even a little and costs stay up, you've got a real problem."
Feed and cows
The report said cow numbers are supposed to decline in 2012 but adds that "producers are not culling as quickly as anticipated" and that the total dairy herd will be 9.23 million head nationwide with milk production estimated at 201.9 billion pounds in 2012, increasing to 202.6 billion pounds in 2013.
California has about 1.75 million dairy cows and 1.5 million dairy heifers, along with 700,000 beef cows. "Dairy is a very big player in California beef," said Hamm.
Improving position in global market
He said the board has played a significant role in moving milk into Mexico, a product that has a long shelf life due to new, higher temperature pasteurizing that kills the spores, fungi and other elements that cause milk to spoil.
He said the key to the USA being a bigger player internationally is to change the way our exported non-fat dry and skim milk powder is made with low heat. "Overseas buyers don't want it because it spoils sooner. So, if we make a better milk powder we'll be able to compete more effectively in the international market."
Global milk production is increasing and, said John Kaczor, market analyst with California Milk Producers Council, "The laws of supply and demand seem to have hit the global dairy market as high milk prices around the globe last year helped boost cow numbers and production per cow in most regions."
Correct prediction? Wrong prediction?
"With all the business with Greece and concerns about China's quarterly growth, I'm not so sure," said Robin Schmahl, hedging and marketing specialist with AgDairy LLC. "We're fighting heavier production in other countries, seeing lackluster demand, and building stocks that will likely limit a price rally later this year."
And the U.S. Dairy Export Council threw cold water on any thought of a milk price uptick when it said, "Excess supplies of milk are leading to price softening in the U.S. and international dairy markets and increasing product inventories will keep downward pressure on those markets."
"If we're going to be competitive globally, we must think of our industry as a world product with world prices and that we must produce a better product if we want to compete in that world," Quaresma said.
If exports are being juggled and manipulated to keep demand ahead of supply, or at least tied, then what's happening in California?
"Regulations are still an expensive input cost," Hamm said. "Water, air, there are regulations for everything."
Hamm said, "Everyone's keeping an eye on the BSE situation. And kudos to the state and federal department's of ag. Farm Bureau kept people informed."
He said the agencies involved did a "fantastic job of checking for BSE and keeping the lid on it. It was investigated thoroughly and handled well."
The fast-emerging export markets might save the day and boost the state's dairy industry over the next few years. But some dairies don't have a few, or even two, years left.
With feed costs through the roof – $300 a ton for corn – energy arriving at premium prices, supply grappling with demand, dairies closing, the global market shaky, BSE appearing but being resolutely smacked down by local, state, and federal agencies, all that's left is for other states to recruit California dairies. Which is what they're doing.
What does the future hold for San Joaquin County dairies?


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Pocket Monsters Special volume 25 announced
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tagline=New volume to be released March 28 |
blurb=The Japanese release date of the Pocket Monsters Special Volume 25 manga for March 28 was announced today at the official Netkun Web site. }}
[[image:Pocket_Monsters_Special_volume_25_cover.png|right|frame|The cover of Pocket Monsters Special 25]]
The release date for Volume 25 of [[bp:Pokémon Special|Pocket Monsters Special]] was announced today at the official [http://netkun.com/pockemon/ Netkun Web site]. It will be released March 28 in Japan at a price of ￥460.
The cover will feature [[bp:Blue (Special)|Blue]] and [[bp:Silver (Special)|Silver]] as well as [[bp:Deoxys (Pokémon)|Deoxys]].
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Samsung, the South Korean tech giant, is to roll out the Android 5.1 Lollipop to its Galaxy series handsets before the end of June. Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge and Galaxy S6 are among the first Galaxy series to receive the latest update. Android 5.1 update was first launched on March by Google on the Nexus 5. The S6 Edge and S6 handsets were launched on April. Both flagships came with Android 5.0 update operating system. Sammy has done a fantastic job of keeping its handsets up-to-date by releasing new updates on its flagships. According to Android Authority, the latest update is a critical update which will give updated handsets a dual SIM support, awesome performance tweaks and new features. The company released more than 14000 updates on its handsets. The data is based on official changelog by Google. The update was geared towards an awesome Android optimization on Samsung flagships. The Android 5.1 Lollipop fixes the memory leak issue that affect handsets running the Android 5.0 update. The memory leak causes some application to crash & automatically reboots the handsets. The Wi-Fi toggle is also updated. It can be accessed on Quick Settings beside the Bluetooth toggle.
What's my model number?
There are several ways to locate your model number:
- Option 1
- On your device, go to Settings, then "About device" and scroll down to "Model number"
- Option 2
- Often times you can view the model number inside the device, by removing the battery
- Option 3
- Using Samsung's model/serial number location tool


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Patanjali aims for 100-200% growth over the next 5-10 years
Baba Ramdev-led Patanjali Ayurved is looking at 100-200 percent growth over the next 5-10 years with its network of 5000 pan India distributors, distribution system and supply chain
Baba Ramdev-led Patanjali Ayurved is leaving no stone unturned to be one of the dominant FMCG players in the industry. Now, it’s aiming for a 100-200 percent growth over the next 5-10 years according to media reports.
It has also been reported that Baba Ramdev claims that this wouldn’t be an impossible feat with the brand diversifying into various segments. The distribution system and supply chain are also being strengthened to achieve this ambitious growth target. He has also made a mention of Patanjali’s network of 5,000-6,000 pan-India distributors and another 1000 megastores in high potential markets that will boost the growth. It will also soon venture into online sales as per the collaboration with online shopping giant Amazon.
Launched in 2006 by Baba Ramdev and Balkrishna, Patanjali Ayurved presently manufactures 350 products ranging from personal care, food to health and farming and is already giving stiff competition to other majors like Nestle and HUL in the market. Even when it comes to marketing, the company is extremely aggressive with its advertisement campaigns on every medium possible from radio to television. Going by BARC data, the firm is always seen topping the advertiser’s chart on most occasions.
Read more news about (internet advertising India, internet advertising, advertising India, digital advertising India, media advertising India)For more updates, be socially connected with us on
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The head of Facebook mark Zuckerberg presented at the conference Oculus Connect virtual reality helmet Oculus Go, writes The Verge.
It is expected that the helmet will go on sale early next year and will cost $199.
Oculus will Go to work without connection to the phone or computer. The device is equipped with built-in sound system and a screen with a resolution of 2560 by 1440 pixels.
The next goal of the company Oculus – one billion-user VR, Zuckerberg said, introducing the helmet. New Oculus Go, he said, will help to achieve this goal.
Recall that in 2014, Facebook bought the company Oculus for $2 billion.


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A new type of MEMS-based electronic paper for cell phones is fast enough to show video.
With a new vest, players can feel the impact of video games.
A reconfigurable handheld device could foster a community of hardware hackers.
Musicians can now control sound effects for electric instruments by waving a hand.
Researchers are testing ways to let people listen to gadget menu options instead of looking at them.
Technology Review takes apart Bug Labs’ modular open-source hardware system and explains how it works.
A fully implantable hearing aid is showing promise.
Livescribe’s smartpen turns a sheet of paper into a computer.
E Ink is making color and video versions of its e-paper, but commercial products are a few years off.
A new device could help dentists better detect the early signs of tooth decay.


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This guest post was submitted by state Rep. Karen Rohr (R-Mandan) and Rep. Lisa Meier (R-Bismarck).
As prescription drugs become an ever more important aspect of modern medicine, leaders of all political stripes are increasingly concerned about the out-of-pocket cost of prescription drugs, especially for seniors. Some of these suggestions, like passing most of the discount an insurer negotiates with a drug manufacturer directly to patients at the pharmacy counter, make a lot of sense and would help the sickest and most vulnerable among us. Likewise, reforming and streamlining the FDA approval processes so safe lifesaving medicines can more quickly reach patients at lower costs makes a lot of sense.
While other schemes – like importing drugs from other countries – may sound good at first blush, it does not hold up to scrutiny. As residents of a border state, North Dakotans are comfortable with the free flow of goods and people across the Canadian Border. Although generic drugs, which make up a large portion of the drug market in the United States and are generally cheaper here than in Canada, some North Dakotans travel across the border to purchase some specific name-brand prescriptions at a lower price. That’s why the opportunity to buy drugs online from a so-called ‘Canadian pharmacy’ may be appealing to those who cannot make the trip in person.
Some have even proposed allowing American pharmacies to bulk purchase from these Canadian online pharmacies for resale to Americans.
[mks_pullquote align=”left” width=”300″ size=”24″ bg_color=”#ffffff” txt_color=”#000000″]The problem is that the drugs dispensed from many online Canadian pharmacies are neither safe nor Canadian. [/mks_pullquote]
The problem is that the drugs dispensed from many online Canadian pharmacies are neither safe nor Canadian. Unlike brick and mortar pharmacies in Canada, which dispense safe drugs regulated by Canadian authorities similar to our FDA that are prescribed by Canadian physicians, the Canadian government does not have the resources to regulate online pharmacies. Many of which function offshore and simply have the word “Canadian” in their name. Purchases from so-called Canadian online pharmacies may actually be coming from China, Turkey or some other country abroad. The effectiveness of the drugs, their purity and proper handling cannot be guaranteed by either American or Canadian regulators responsible for maintaining a safe or effective drug supply.
Law enforcement entities on both sides of the border have also expressed concern about the unregulated movement of drugs through the mail, which makes it easier to get dangerous drugs like fentanyl into our country – making the opioid crisis even worse.
Bernie Sanders and even the Trump administration are toying with importation schemes. Some states have tried them and they have failed. The Illinois State Auditor report noted that a program set up by Illinois based on “approved” foreign pharmacies dramatically failed when audited. 40% of the foreign pharmacies were not compliant and the State did not monitor if prescription drugs were being filled by “approved” pharmacies. Illinoisans were subjected to drugs that at best were ineffective and at worst were tainted and dangerous.
The latest importation proposals are not likely to work either. Even if 20% of Americans were somehow legally able to purchase their prescription from legitimate Canadian pharmacies, the Canadian drugs supply would run out in about 6 months, a possibility that alarms many Canadian patient groups and would not be tolerated by Canadian politicians.
Political leaders are right to grapple with the out-of-pocket prescription drug costs being paid by Americans at the pharmacy counter. There are things that should be done, but drug importation is not part of that solution.


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Plant-based chain Next Level Burger has acquired Veggie Grill from vegan investment fund VegInvest. The Food Institute spoke with industry analysts to unpack the potential ramifications of this transaction amidst ongoing financial challenges for plant-based and the restaurant industry at large.
When Katie Olesen was diagnosed with celiac disease in 2018, she struggled to find gluten-free items at her grocer. Barely half a decade later, major food companies like King Arthur are producing multiple gluten-free products, …
Plant-based restaurants are experiencing a shakeout as operators recalibrate their menus to address economic challenges. FI checked in with T.K. Pillan, CEO of Veggie Grill, to explore how the vegan QSR is streamlining its offerings to meet evolving consumer demands.


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It is no secret that the pandemic has affected everybody – from cancelling travel plans and personal events, to affecting livelihood and both mental and physical health. Whilst some of us have used the extra time in lockdown to bond with our families, pick up new and versatile hobbies, and take care of our health, research shows that most people have struggled to adjust to such drastic changes in their daily routines. The Dabloom team wanted to find out exactly how the pandemic affected creatives in particular, and thus conducted a short survey over on our Instagram stories to find answers.
Out of 39 participants, 74% identified as artists. When asked what they created, 15% stated fine art – including paintings, drawings, and sculptures; 23% were photographers and videographers; 3% were musicians; and 33% worked in other mediums, from graphics to culinary art.
Having such a large pool of artists who indulge in various forms of creation gives great insight into how essential creativity is in society, leading to our next question: has the pandemic affected them and/or their work? As a result, 39% answered that it had, and 61% said it hadn’t. Upon reflection on whether the affect was positive or negative, we saw a variety of answers, ranging from extremely negative to extremely positive, however the average answer was that 80% of participants had been affected positively.
In terms of how their art was affected, creatives stated that they mostly faced a lack of inspiration from being stuck inside all day, alongside seeing a significant decrease in their orders and commissions. Other creatives found that the pandemic had gifted them with a surplus of time to do their art. Some people stated that they had not even discovered their craft until the pandemic had hit and they found themselves bored at home.
@97ayaat, a talented embroiderer and calligraphy artist, had her own take on how the pandemic affected her. “I’m used to using art as a getaway, but all of a sudden I didn’t need a getaway. I started wanting to explore and learn new things…honestly, I did less art during the pandemic but did more reading.” This links to the lack of inspiration issue that a lot of creatives had to face. @abeecalligraphy, who paints beautiful Arabic scriptures, mentioned “I had a lot of time to do art, but not enough people to buy it, so I decided to start giving away some pieces for free. It allowed me to grow my business and get word out there, and also let me paint without overcrowding my apartment!”
Now that a second lockdown has been implemented in the UK, creatives and non-creatives alike feel more ready to take on the month spent indoors. Amazon has seen an influx of sales in items related to indoor hobbies, such as books and painting kits. People are now more accustomed to the idea of spending the next few weeks at home, and feel more prepared to take on this adjustment.
Has the pandemic affected your creations? Tell us in the comments below!
Article written by Arshi Syed, story teller at Dabloom.


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Well, that was fast.
Elon Musk is now worth $187 billion, according to the latest episode of the Bloomberg Billionaire Indexmaking him the richest man in the world.
Last December, the leader of Space X, Tesla and Twitter was dethroned as the world’s richest man by Bernard Arnault, the French tycoon who owns 48% of fashion company LVMH.
But Musk retook the top spot today, beating Arnault by $2 billion. For those keeping score at home, the third richest man in the world is Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s executive chairman, with a paltry $117 billion.
Related: DogeCoin explodes after Elon Musk tweets photo of his dog in Twitter CEO chair
Table of Contents
A good start to 2023 for Musk
Despite some financial setbacks late last year, including breaking the Guinness World Record for the largest loss of personal fortune ever, Musk has received some good news in recent months.
First, Tesla stock has risen significantly since then decrease almost 70%. Musk also tweeted that Twitter is on track to break even after major losses in 2022.
The past 3 months have been extremely tough as we had to bail Twitter out of bankruptcy while completing essential Tesla and SpaceX tasks. I don’t wish that pain on anyone.
Twitter still has challenges, but is now trending to break even if we persevere. Public support is greatly appreciated!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 5, 2023
Musk has also had some legal victories. Last month, Tesla shareholders sued him for making false statements in his 2018 tweets about taking the company private. The jury sided with Musk and cleared him of any wrongdoing.


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A CVS drugstore will not be moving into the former Chicago Music Store building downtown.
The national chain signed a letter of intent earlier this year to occupy the building at 130 E. Congress St.
In May, the Rio Nuevo Multipurpose Facilities District board received a presentation by the building’s owners, Marcel Dabdoub and Ron Schwabe, who bought the 21,000-square-foot building last year with investors.
The board voted unanimously to let Dabdoub and Schwabe keep a portion of the sales tax they generated on the CVS deal.
The building’s owners could not be reached for comment regarding CVS’s change of heart.
The attorney for Rio Nuevo said he was disappointed to hear the news but said he had no information from CVS about why the company changed its plans.


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Restaurants Canada calls on federal government to be a full participant in current Trans-Pacific Partnership Free Trade Agreement (TPP) negotiations
By Canadian PizzaNews free trade restaurants canada supply management TPP
Toronto – Restaurants Canada president Donna Dooher is urging the federal government to consider revamping the supply management system in tandem with its participation in ongoing Trans-Pacific Partnership Free Trade Agreement talks.
Dooher’s open letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper reads as follows:
Dear Prime Minister:
As we wrote you in 2012 when Canada was invited to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership Free Trade Agreement (TPP), “this agreement presents tremendous opportunities for Canada that we can’t afford to miss.”
We are still of that opinion.
The Asia-Pacific region is the world’s fastest growing economic region, with rapidly developing disposable income and a desire for imported goods, including foodstuffs. Many of our leading trade partners are already succeeding in opening new markets for their manufacturers and service providers in these countries. Canada cannot be left behind.
Much media commentary has suggested Canada’s supply management system is hampering our nation’s ability to sign a deal. Restaurants Canada urges the government not to let the 10 per cent of farmers who benefit from supply management to hold back the 90 per cent of Canadian farmers who want more access to global markets.
The restaurant industry relies on Canada’s dairy and poultry sectors, has a vested interest in promoting their future growth, and also ensuring our industry has a reliable and competitive domestic supply source. We annually buy some $5 billion in supply management products, and would purchase more if prices, along with other factors, were more economically viable.
Supply management is sorely in need of modernization. We call on Canada to fully participate in the TPP negotiations, and hope the action will serve as the catalyst to a careful consideration of the continued relevance of supply management, and begin the transition of these key industries to a more rational economic basis.
Donna Dooher, President and CEO
Print this page


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Welcome to the shift 2020 Brain Food #17 newsletter with news on my activities, insights and links to must read articles on the technological transformations in business and society, carefully curated by yours truly.
The header of this newsletter is an image I’ve been using in most of my recent presentations (courtesy of Frank Diana). The slide includes most of my topics and thoughts on the future evolution of exponential technologies. You can see the Science and Technology Foundation elements most of us have access to now (Internet, Mobile, Social, Cloud, Big Data), the Emerging, Future and Innovation Accelerators (3D Printing, Renewable Energy, Internet of Things, Cognitive Systems, Nanotechnology, Robotics, Blockchain, Genomics, Drones), and the Future Scenarios that span areas including health, materials, food, transport, logistics, energy, shelter, agriculture, governing, war, security, manufacturing, and the future of the human species.
The future is more and more about the Combinatorial Impact of all those technologies and the learning we can develop from the analysed data these different technologies will generate. Connecting the dots has always been essential for innovation as the various intersections amplify the impact of those dots.
Frank Diana explains: “It is this second curve that creates a number of converging paradigm shifts that collectively transform our world. We have never witnessed the sheer number of shifts occurring at the same time, and if that isn’t enough, societal factors amplify the impact. There is an interesting reciprocal tension at work here, as the social dimension is impacted or squeezed by the curves, while at the same time, social change has a reciprocal effect.”
And this part is exactly what we seem to forget about being (too) focused just on our jobs, trying to become someone or trying to find solutions for everything. It is the holistic impact these technologies have on various aspects of social change, which we will have to face in the future as well. Convergence is occurring not just across the technology and future scenario curves, but also the various aspects of social change.
Combine the dots (at your own risk) on all the “must read” articles mentioned in this newsletter. Who knows, while reading this, we might be witnessing the disruption of capitalism and the Industrial Age in itself.
Economic uncertainty and investor caution resulted in the slowest start to the year since the 2008 financial crisis for investment banks, according to a survey of the world’s 12 largest investment banks which showed a 25 percent drop in revenues in the first quarter from a year ago.
The economic frustrations, insecurities and fears that are fuelling the radical right and the new left are set to increase. Social democracy has become a spent political force.
Excellent analysis in Der Spiegel on the parallels between DT’s campaign, the way he is playing with totalitarian elements in a dangerous way and the symptoms of the 1930s in Europe.
“Trump’s answer to the crisis is the exclusion of others. But the correct answer should be inclusion — not just of Trump’s supporters, but also that of society’s weakest. There’s much more at stake in the United States right now than the contest between two candidates. This is a question of tolerance, pluralism and the very future of a deeply drained democracy.”
BTW did you know the number of people who still believe in the American Dream has fallen to the lowest level in 20 years? More than half of all Americans under 25 no longer believe that capitalism is the best of all economic systems, according The New York Times.
Columnists and magazines that a month ago were saying #NeverTrump are now vibrating with the frisson of his audacity. Scary!
Related: Peter Thiel, PayPal co-founder, to be delegate for Donald Trump and The only living Trump supporter in Silicon Valley. Or the consequence of the belief in money and power systems at all cost.
New Socratic Design Workshops
A different way.
Learn how to (re) connect to your core values and learn how to (re) design your life, your professional future, or the future business of your company and join our next Socratic Design Workshop in Cadaques, June 19-21. For entrepreneurs and executives. Get insights about the world we’re moving into rapidly, and learn how to transform and adapt your business to prepare for the perpetual technological changes ahead. In good company, in a unique atmosphere.
“It’s such a spoiling experience to attend the Socratic Design Workshop at the incredibly beautiful Cadaques. Rarely do I have the opportunity to explore deep philosophical topics with the world’s best thinkers in such an amazing environment. Both the ideas and format are unique, thought provoking and mind blowing, not to mention the food.” – Sam Liang – former lead architect for Google’s locations platform / former CEO & Co-Founder of Alohar Mobile Inc. (acquired by Alibaba) / currently Co-Founder of a Stealth Mode Mobile Startup.
To join this unique workshop as a Brain Food reader, follow this link and benefit a 50% discount: Socratic Design Workshop Cadaques June 2016
Some great opinion pieces this week on Smart Cities World:
The Future Workplace as a Creative Microcosmos, by Inma Martinez
The smart city network that you own, by Marcus Kirsch
Learning from the first wave of Smart Cities, by Alicia Asín, CEO of Libelium
Building blocks to happiness by Philip Watson, design director at Atkins
On the Smart Cities World website, you’ll find daily news articles, opinions and special reports related to the infrastructure underpinning smart cities with a focus on Energy, Buildings, Transport, Connectivity, Data and Governance and all in one place.
If you’re an expert in one of these area’s and you would like to contribute as a regular guest blogger, please get in touch.
In case you missed it, here’s Google’s biggest announcements from I/O 2016 or read the quick impressions of Google’s keynote at I/O by Josh Elman. For a real deep dive and great insight, read Benedict Evans lucid analysis in his newsletter.
Related: Levi’s® and Google collaborate to create the newest in wearable technology – the Levi’s® Commuter™ x Jacquard by Google Trucker Jacket. Coming in the Spring of 2017, it is the first ever smart garment with Jacquard by Google technology woven in. Stay connected, not distracted as you get directions, information on nearby places, change your music, and answer calls.
More than four years since LinkedIn was famously hacked, there are fresh claims millions of customers are still at risk from attack.
Security researchers have discovered more than 117 million account details being sold on data sharing websites in recent weeks – and the hack could affect up to 167m customers.
Australian security expert Troy Hunt has now uploaded the entire dataset to his data breach website, haveibeenpwned.com, to allow anyone to check whether their account was compromised.
Growth is stalling and IoT has not yet filled the gap
The consumer technology industry’s decade of unprecedented growth is coming to an end as the smartphone market hits maturity. The 2016 Accenture Digital Consumer Survey for communications, media and technology companies polled 28,000 consumers in 28 countries on their use of consumer technology. The research indicates that consumer demand is sluggish across a number of categories from smartphones to tablets and laptops. And unfortunately, demand for the next generation of devices enabled by the Internet of Things (IoT) is not growing fast enough to offset declines in traditional categories.
What seemed like complete science fiction 10 years ago is in the process of becoming reality, and we are getting very close to being surrounded by connected objects, drones and autonomous cars. The bigger question might be whether we are ready as a society for this level of change.
There’s software used across the country to predict future criminals. And it’s biased against blacks.
Twenty years ago, social scientists came to the conclusion that intelligent machines will always reflect the knowledge and experiences of the communities they are embedded within. The question is not whether machines can be made to obey human values but which humans ought to decide those values.
What is the technology behind Viv, the next generation of Siri? by Brian Roemmele
The secret to Viv is the system actually writes it’s own code. In contrast to any other similar system, It is a profound and monumental giant leap forward.
Smarter artificial intelligence is one of 21st century’s most dire threats, predicts the bestselling author in the follow-up of Sapiens.
Once the capabilities of AIs grow beyond the complexity that connected devices bring, our perception of technology is that it will simply disappear into the background.
A bioinformatics company called Insilico Medicine has just announced Aging.AI, an online platform that guesses a person’s age using data from blood tests.
The Decentralized Autonomous Organization, a start-up, a sort of venture capital fund, has essentially come out of nowhere in the last month and attracted about $152 million, at last count, from investors around the world, making it the most successful crowdfunded venture ever, by a significant margin.
You can still buy yourself in, the campaign ends on May 28th at 09:00 GMT.
After plummeting to the lowest levels of funding since 2013, Q1’16 saw a 385% boom in funding and 21% growth in deal volume.
We’re pushing the limits of how much of our economy can exist just collecting and selling data to better target ads. Once people realise that’s a losing game, we’ll have to get back to a real economy.
The European Commission has just released a report on digital progress in the EU. The analysis shows that Member States are at very different stages in the development of the digital economy; some, for example, such as the Nordic countries, are among the most advanced in the world, whilst other still have a lot of catching up to do.
Inequality and the monopolies of unfettered techno markets by Izabella Kaminska at FT.com
Companies cut costs rather than improve process so as to grab market share.
But we’re better off believing in it anyway.
“Believing that free will is an illusion has been shown to make people less creative, more likely to conform, less willing to learn from their mistakes, and less grateful toward one another. In every regard, it seems, when we embrace determinism, we indulge our dark side.”
Founded in 2013 by Boyan Slat (1994), The Ocean Cleanup is developing world’s first feasible method to rid the oceans of plastic. The Ocean Cleanup’s goal is to extract, prevent, and intercept plastic pollution by initiating the largest cleanup in history.
About 8 million tons of plastic (!) enters the ocean every year. Part of this accumulates in 5 areas where currents converge: the gyres. At least 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic (!!!) are currently in the oceans, a third of which is concentrated in the infamous Great Pacific Garbage Patch. This plastic pollution will continue to inflict damage on the following in the decades to come:
Environment: at least one million seabirds and one hundred thousand marine mammals die each year due to plastic pollution
Economy: plastic pollution causes at least 13 billion U.S. dollars in damage every year to industries that include fishing, shipping and tourism.
Health: ocean plastic adsorbs toxic chemicals (including PCBs and DDTs), increasing their concentration by a million. These persistent organic pollutants enter and bio-accumulate in the food chain, resulting in an even higher concentration of pollutants in fish, including species consumed by humans. Health effects linked to these chemicals are: cancer, malformation and impaired reproduction
Billionaire Xavier Niel to open $100m Silicon Valley branch of his maverick computing university ‘42’
With no teachers, timetables, or exams, Ecole 42 is a strange kind of educational institution, open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Students shuffle into this tech-enabled school whenever they want and work as hard as they need.
The Klementinum library, a beautiful example of Baroque architecture, was first opened in 1722 as part of the Jesuit university, and houses over 20,000 books.
How EdTech Startups are democratising Education (infographic)
Must Read Books
The Sharing Economy by Arun Sundararajan
The End of Employment and the Rise of Crowd-Based Capitalism
Arun Sundararajan, an expert on the sharing economy, explains the transition to what he describes as “crowd-based capitalism”—a new way of organising economic activity that may supplant the traditional corporate-centred model. He describes the intriguing mix of “gift” and “market” in its transactions, demystifies emerging blockchain technologies, and clarifies the dizzying array of emerging on-demand platforms. He considers how this new paradigm changes economic growth and the future of work. Will we live in a world of empowered entrepreneurs who enjoy professional flexibility and independence? Or will we become disenfranchised digital labourers scurrying between platforms in search of the next wedge of piecework? Sundararajan highlights the important policy choices and suggests possible new directions for self-regulatory organisations, labor law, and funding our social safety net.
Blockchain is the ingeniously simple technology that powers Bitcoin. But it is much more than that, too. It is a public ledger to which everyone has access, but which no single person controls. It allows for companies and individuals to collaborate with an unprecedented degree of trust and transparency. It is cryptographically secure, but fundamentally open. And soon it will be everywhere. In Blockchain Revolution, Don and Alex Tapscott reveal how this game-changing technology will shape the future of the world economy, dramatically improving everything from healthcare records to online voting, and from insurance claims to artist royalty payments. Brilliantly researched and highly accessible, this is the essential text on the next major paradigm shift. Read it, or be left behind.
That’s it for this week.
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The “second-generation” 10-nanometre class, 8-gigabit DRAM chips has improved energy efficiency and data processing performance and is to be targeted at
premium data-crunching electronics such as cloud computing centres, mobile devices and high-speed graphic cards.
The global leader in computer chips, televisions and smartphones said it would shift most of its existing DRAM production capacity to 10-nano chips in 2018.
Samsung Electronics Memory Business president Gyoyoung Jin said that this “aggressive” production expansion would “accommodate strong market demand”.
Samsung’s 2nd-generation 10nm-class 8Gb DDR4 features an approximate 30 percent productivity gain over the company’s 1st–generation 10nm-class 8Gb DDR4. In addition, the new 8Gb DDR4’s performance levels and energy efficiency have been improved about 10 and 15 percent respectively, thanks to the use of an advanced, proprietary circuit design technology. The new 8Gb DDR4 can operate at 3,600 megabits per second (Mbps) per pin, compared to 3,200 Mbps of the company’s 1x-nm 8Gb DDR4.
To enable these achievements, Samsung has applied new technologies, without the use of an EUV process. The innovation here includes use of a high-sensitivity cell data sensing system and a progressive “air spacer” scheme.
In the cells of Samsung’s 2nd-generation 10nm-class DRAM, a newly devised data sensing system enables a more accurate determination of the data stored in each cell, which leads to a significant increase in the level of circuit integration and manufacturing productivity.
The new 10nm-class DRAM also makes use of a unique air spacer that has been placed around its bit lines to dramatically decrease parasitic capacitance**. Use of the air spacer enables not only a higher level of scaling, but also rapid cell operation.
With these advancements, Samsung is now accelerating its plans for much faster introductions of next-generation DRAM chips and systems, including DDR5, HBM3, LPDDR5 and GDDR6, for use in enterprise servers, mobile devices, supercomputers, HPC systems and high-speed graphics cards.
Samsung has finished validating its 2nd-generation 10nm-class DDR4 modules with CPU manufacturers, and next plans to work closely with its global IT customers in the development of more efficient next-generation computing systems.
In addition, the world’s leading DRAM producer expects to not only rapidly increase the production volume of the 2nd-generation 10nm-class DRAM lineups, but also to manufacture more of its mainstream 1st-generation 10nm-class DRAM, which together will meet the growing demands for DRAM in premium electronic systems worldwide.
Samsung said it was not looking to expand chip shipments immediately but was investing to maintain longer-term market position.


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Back in the 70s and 80s scooters were the trend. There were waiting periods of as long as ten years for a Bajaj Chetak scooter due to its high level of popularity. In the year 2005, Bajaj, the Pune based manufacturer killed the brand as the scooter segment was believed to be dead.
Now, the scooter trend has made a powerful comeback. In fact, there is one scooter among every three two-wheelers sold in the country. The modern-day scooters are packed with features such as telescopic suspensions, alloy wheels, disc brakes, charging ports for smartphones, under-seat storage and other bells and whistles. Some of these features were a dream for the two-wheeler owners due to the lack of enough space. The latest generation two-wheelers look sporty, lithe and swish as the scooter design has witnessed a striking transformation.
Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India, the Japan based manufacturer became the first one in July to achieve a sales figure of 2.5 lakh units in a month. The company makes sure that its scooters possess a unisex appeal. The Activa launched in 2001 became the first scooter in the country to sell over one crore units. The firm is now in the process of setting up a facility in Gujarat to manufacture scooters.
Other two-wheeler manufacturers including Hero Motocorp, Yamaha and Suzuki are aggressively launching their offerings in the scooter segment. Piaggio based in Italy that wound its operations in India announced the Vespa lineup of scooters that have 60s and 70s designs.
The home grown two-wheeler manufacturer Hero Motocorp, which is the largest scooter exporter in the fiscal year 2014-15 is planning to unveil two new scooters. These are developed in-house and they will be launched later this month. The Duet and Maestro Edge are the models and these are unisex and take are aimed to take on Honda Activa.


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Lasco Manufacturing profit up 45% in second quarter
Lasco Manufacturing Limited posted a 45 per cent rise in net profit at $363 million for its second-quarter boosted by continued robust sales from its iCool beverage production line.
It resulted in earning per share hitting nine cents during the quarter compared with six cents a year earlier. Revenue rose to $2.2 billion for the September second-quarter or one-third higher than the $1.65 billion earned a year ago.
"Production at the liquid plant continues to grow steadily, and we will further increase our capacity to meet the overwhelming market demand for our iCool line of beverages, by ramping up production with the installation of additional equipment by the end of the financial year," said Managing Director Robert Parkins in a statement accompanying the financials.
"We continue to be optimistic and confident about the future for this product line with substantial profits to be realised," he said.
New products to be introduced
Over six months, the company made net profit of $587 million on revenues of $3.9 billion. This equated to earnings per share of 14 cents compared to 12 cents a year earlier.
Parkins also hinted that new products will be introduced by the end of the year in order to continue realising "significant sales and profits". The new dry plant at White Marl is now fully operational and, together with the existing Red Hills Road Dry Plant, recorded an increase of 24 per cent in profits over last year, added Parkins.
The company's balance sheet shows the value of fixed assets - property, plant and equipment - moving from $3.5 billion at the beginning of the financial year to $4.6 billion at the close of the second-quarter. This is due to approximately $1 billion of assets associated with both the liquid and dry plants being transferred during the period from work in progress as a result of continuing commissioning of these operations, Parkins said.
In early October, at the annual general meeting, Lasco Manufacturers announced plans for another round of investment totalling US$10 million ($1.3 billion) for the ensuing financial year as the company ramps up exports. The company will spend US$5 million on expanding its building adding an additional 62,000 square feet then another US$5 million on the equipment to in order to triple capacity, according to chairman Lascelles Chin in his address to shareholders at the meeting.
With the increased investment, the company expects to double profits in two to three years. Lasco Manufacturing earned $826 million in net profit on $6.5 billion in revenues for its year end March 2016, or 34 per cent higher net profit year on year. The upgrade will allow for new products lines and increased output of iCool.
Sister company Lasco Distributors Limited now exports iCool to six countries in the region, with plans to enter Trinidad & Tobago, and Panama. The company plans to utilise the Massy Group to distribute its drink in T&T, while offering other products to other distributors. Lasco will also re-enter Haiti - which performed well on sales but poorly on receivables - but will only sell dry products in that market as liquid products attract a prohibitive 40 per cent duty.
Lasco asserted to shareholders that it is the number one company in its class in the Jamaican market and number two in Barbados as well as Guyana.


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Fashion and lifestyle retail group FJ Benjamin has secured the rights for luxury skincare brand MZ Skin in three Southeast Asian markets, part of a push by the Singapore-based group to expand its reach into the cosmetics and beauty sector.
FJ Benjamin will have the exclusive rights to distribute and sell MZ Skin in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia for an initial period of two years.
The company will sell MZ Skin products online and via selected retail outlets. One of the first physical stores is a concession planned for Malaysia, within the Seibu department store in The Exchange TRX complex in Kuala Lumpur.
MZ Skin is known for its portable facial devices, such as its LED mask for home use, which the company says creates lights of different wavelengths to promote total skin rejuvenation. The brand – used by celebrities including Serena Williams, Sonam Kapoor, Gwyneth Paltrow and Princess Charlene of Monaco – also produces a range of clinically-proven skincare products, including moisturising creams, serums and hydrating masks.
FJ Benjamin set up its health and wellness division in 2020 with plans to expand its skincare portfolio.
“FJ Benjamin’s recent diversification into health and wellness has been progressing very smoothly and the plan is to continue to invest in this business particularly as Southeast Asian economies begin to recharge amid a return to normalcy from the Covid-19 pandemic,” said FJB COO Douglas Benjamin.
MZ Skin was founded in 2016 by London-based oculoplastic surgeon and aesthetic doctor Dr Maryam Zamani.
It is now sold in high-end department stores internationally, including Harrods and Harvey Nichols in London, Bergdorf Goodman and Saks Fifth Avenue in New York, Galeries Lafayette in Qatar and Lane Crawford in Greater China. It is also stocked by smaller retailers in markets including Australia, Thailand, Mauritius, UAE, Ukraine, and across the EU.


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Lineage Power Signs European Distribution Agreement with Farnell Element14
Lineage Power, a GE Energy company, announced that it has entered a distribution agreement with Farnell element14, a leading high service distributor of electronics components and solutions. The agreement gives Farnell element14’s customers across Europe access to Lineage Power’s end-to-end, Total Efficiency™ architecture ac-dc power supplies and dc power converters.
"The addition of Lineage Power’s embedded power solutions to our distribution portfolio demonstrates our commitment to meet the increasing demands of the design engineering community," said Mike Buffham, Director of Product and Supplier Management at Farnell element14. "We are proud to offer our OEM customers access to truly innovative solutions that reduce time to market."
The new contract will benefit Farnell element14 customers all across Europe with access to online technical support and collaboration via the online element14 community.
"With their market reach and industry expertise, Farnell element14 is an ideal distribution partner for us, as we share their commitment to supplying innovative, high quality power electronics to the OEM marketplace," said Jeff Frank, global vice president of sales for Lineage Power. "Working together, we can offer customers in Europe the required size, efficiency, and cost advantages while dramatically reducing risk and improving reliability."
Farnell element14 is one of Europe’s leading multi-channel high service distributors, supporting millions of engineers and purchasing professionals across the region. It is part of the global Premier Farnell Group that is listed on the London Stock Exchange, operating in 32 countries and trading in over 100, with approximately 4,100 employees worldwide.


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Kia Motors is speaking to potential companions a few plan to assemble an Apple-designed automotive, the Wall Avenue Journal reported on Friday. Individually, the Nikkei newspaper mentioned Apple was in discussions with at the very least six automakers. Conjecture round Apple’s secretive mission to design and promote its personal automotive re-emerged in December after a hiatus of a number of years, with Kia’s part-owner Hyundai Motor talked about as a possible companion.
The important thing query is how severe Apple is about taking up Tesla and different electric-vehicle makers, and whether or not it has decided it’s going to want a longtime producer to have the ability to roll out its personal product. The corporate is alleged to have a small workforce of engineers creating drive programs, in addition to designers, however with growth work at an early stage, any roll out in all probability will not occur for one more 5 years.
Tatsuo Yoshida, a senior analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, mentioned that Japanese automakers are normally too busy with their very own growth, manufacturing, gross sales and customer support to tackle a process like working with Apple. Nonetheless, Nissan Motor or Mitsubishi Motors “haven’t got a lot work, and are considerably idle, so they may join”, he mentioned.
When requested in the event that they had been approached, Honda Motor and Mazda Motor mentioned they could not remark, the Nikkei mentioned. Mitsubishi Motors mentioned it was not contacted and Nissan declined to remark, in response to the report. Subaru’s chief monetary officer mentioned on an earnings name that he hadn’t heard something about an Apple automotive.
Kia shares rose 1.5% in Seoul, including to positive factors from earlier this week on a neighborhood media report that Apple would make investments four trillion received ($3.6 billion) as a part of a collaboration with the automaker on making EVs. In December, Hyundai backed away from an announcement that mentioned it was in talks with Apple.
The Journal reported a deal between Apple and Kia will contain a multibillion-dollar funding, with meeting to happen within the state of Georgia. This week, CNBC reported that Apple is near finalising a cope with Hyundai-Kia to construct an autonomous EV at Kia’s US plant. No settlement has been reached, however they’re tentatively scheduled to enter manufacturing in 2024, the information channel mentioned.


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E-Commerce Times Talkback
See Full Story
It was probably only a matter of time. Google, the planet's most popular search engine, has now turned its attention to the most prevalent activity on the Internet (aside from viewing porn) -- shopping. As a Google fanatic, I was too excited to wait for the final release. Alas, after some unscientific research and lots of experimenting with the beta version, I have to report that Froogle definitely is not the best way to find bargains on the Net.
I visited Froogle, NexTag, Price Grabber, Deal Time, Amazon, Ebay, Cent and many other sites to purchase a Toshiba notebook, PDA, and Nikon digital camera. By far Amazon was the most trusted and reliable sources of merchandise on the internet. Froogle has a long way to go.... Also, the majority of stores listed on its website are not authorized factory dealers...
There seems to be a trend of e-shopping portals dominating online buying. Are consumers looking for reputable sites where they are comfortable entering personal and account information? Are e-portals the future of e-commerce, or will search engines still contribute to finding products online?


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SOASTA has raised $30 million in Series E funding for its cloud platform that helps developers test web and mobile apps. New investors, Macquarie Capital and ROTH Capital, joined Canaan Partners, Formative Ventures and Pelion Venture Partners in the round. SOASTA has now raised $63 million. The company last raised $11 million in December, 2011.
SOASTA has three primary platforms that it markets:
- CloudTest: A platform for testing web and mobile apps. The service can be installed in the cloud or on-premise. The primary value comes from testing the performance and function of apps when deployed at scale.
- Touchtest: Designed for mobile apps, the service tests the user interface and the internal behavior of the app. It is designed to test across a gamut of possible users. According to the SOASTA web site, TouchTest captures the start and end points of each gesture, but also the journey between and the speed with which the gesture is performed.
- mPulse: This service gives administrators a visual view into how apps are performing on users smartphones across an organization.
SOASTA represents the next generation of testing services, following companies like Mercury Interactive that had its success with testing client/server apps.
The company competes with the larger enterprise providers such as HP and IBM. But this is also a market with dozens and dozens of competitors. Companies like uTest do in-the-wild testing of apps. Apps are also getting increasingly complex, requiring new testing methods. Then there are the users, who are becoming ever more fickle. They will turn away if an app is slow. Add it all up and it’s apparent this market is just opening up, requiring more sophisticated testing and new methods for keeping mobile apps at the standard that users demand.
For deeper insights into the performance testing market, Suraj Sundarrajan has an excellent blog. Well worth the read for understanding the dynamics of application testing.


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The government is saving Rs 1,200 crore annually by producing currency notes locally. The Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Limited (SPMCIL) spends around Rs 1,200 crore in foreign exchange annually in procuring this paper. Since 2015, the country has started transitioning towards using locally produced notes.
India used to import 15,000 metric tonnes (MT) of currency paper every year at an average cost of Rs 8 lakh per metric tonne. About 95% of this paper is imported from the NATO countries. Now the import cost is slowly coming down as the companies from the country are benefitting from the purchase.
Demonetization provided a fillip to the new government to introduce new notes and also reduce the use of old currency notes. There were many other benefits of demonetization which traditional economists fail to understand.
3.7 crore Jan Dhan accounts have been opened between December 2016 to June 2018- the less than two year period after demonetization. In the same period 17.9 crore debit cards were issued while the number of ATMs opened is only 2000. The data shows the scale on which demonetization and Jan Dhan changed the fundamentals of the economy, the majority of Indians in rural areas did not have debit cards and digital transactions were close to negligible.
The drive was aimed at opening a bank account for every Indian at zero balance and giving credit and debit cards to them, so as to encourage them to make UPI transactions.
The scale of transparency after demonetization could be decided from the dip in the currency in circulation. There has been a dip of 3.47 trillion rupees in the currency in circulation if we calculate 20-year average growth rate. The naysayers are saying that the country is back to currency circulation levels of the pre-demonetization era based on the data of ‘flat comparison’ rather than taking long-term average growth into account.
Every economist has her/his own assessment of demonetization but the one sided analysis without taking holistic view and long-term impact will definitely lead to partial results. The primary objectives of demonetization like crackdown on black money, increase in tax to GDP ratio, digitization of economy, reduction in cash circulation had been achieved on a good scale.
Moreover, there has been a substantial rise in tax to GDP ratio, which was one of the major aims to pull the money out of the economy. In 1971, the Wanchoo Committee was set up to deal with the colossal amount of undisclosed income and the issue of increasing tax base in India. The committee was the first one to suggest Demonetization of high denomination notes.
Although nothing much was done on that report in those days, Demonetization in 2016 did act as a trigger to increase the tax base in India. There has been a substantial increase not only in tax returns but also the number of people paying taxes. It is thus an established fact that the increase in tax base has been one of the greatest successes of the current government.
If we take the multitude of data coming from various fronts, be it savings though locally produced currency notes, financial inclusion, or digital transactions, it seems the step has changed India’s political economy for good. The critics of demonetization must go for a review of the criticism as the new data on its positive impact is coming out gradually.


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Apple fans celebrated in droves earlier this week as a new iOS jailbreak was finally released for the most recent versions of Apple’s mobile platform, including the brand new iOS 9.3.3. It’s not a perfect solution and it isn’t a true untethered jailbreak, but it works very well and it’s very easy to apply. In fact, as we explained in a recent post, you don’t even have to connect your iPhone or iPad to a computer to jailbreak iOS 9.3.3 and other recent versions. Instead, you can do the whole thing on your device quickly and easily using a special web-based tool accessible in mobile Safari.
Jailbreaking is easy indeed, but is it worthwhile? Wait, don’t answer that question just yet. Check out the 25 hot iOS tweaks covered below first, and then decide. More →


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McDonald's will close hundreds of restaurants in the US
Thirty-year partnership with Walmart in crisis
McDonald's is closing hundreds of restaurants in the United States located within Walmart supermarkets, due to the boom in online shopping and fast food restaurants' growing reliance on drive-through aisles for sales, which Walmart venues don't offer. According to the Wall Street Journal, after the spate of closures over the next few months, there will be only 150 McDonald's left in Walmart locations, compared to 1,000 opened during a 30-year partnership. The closures also pose a challenge for Walmart, which has long benefited from increased revenues from restaurants renting space within its stores, while also providing a reason for shoppers to stay longer in stores. Walmart said it is working to find new models for its foodservice stores, focusing more on takeaway meals, delivery and joining small regional chains that appeal to local shoppers.
EFA News - European Food Agency


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Today the Philadelphia Inquirer has an article about PREIT, the owner of the Plymouth Meeting Mall and other area malls such as the recently opened Fashion District in Philadelphia. In the article, the CEO of PREIT, Joe Coradino, mentions that he expects the Plymouth Meeting Mall to add apartments in the future.
From the article:
At Plymouth Meeting Mall, Coradino said the number of visitors has risen 20 percent since new purveyors of goods and services into a former Macy’s. Burlington, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Miller’s Ale House, Roll by Goodyear and Edge Fitness have opened. Scheduled to arrive at the mall in Spring 2020 are Michaels, Restored Cryotherapy and Solar Salon.
“We expect this will be the next property to add an apartment community further strengthening this award-winning project,” Coradino said of the Plymouth Meeting property.
Back in 2014, PREIT was proposing to have an extended stay type hotel called AVE built in the lot where IKEA use to have its’ corporate headquarters (if you are driving back to the movies with Whole Foods Market on your left, the long-empty IKEA building is to your right). One neat thing about the plan was that it had a bridge to Whole Foods Market.
Members of Plymouth’s Council expressed concerns back in 2014 that AVE could end up being apartments. Our article linked to above also references that PREIT previously had proposed an apartment community at the mall a couple of years before proposing AVE. Neither project went anywhere.
Where on the mall’s property any new proposal to build an apartment community is not yet public.


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Steven Meisel did not shoot Vogue’s latest fashion spread. There were no backlights, no beauty dish. Instead the austere fashion publication took to Instagram for a special Fashion Week photo shoot.
“I thought this time around during Fashion Week in New York we could try doing a shoot that shows clothes you can buy in stores right now,” explained Sally Singer, creative digital director at Vogue. “And everyone in fashion is pretty aware that Instagram is sort of the morning coffee of Fashion Week — it’s the thing they wake up to and the thing they go to bed to.”
Yesterday Vogue posted the shoot, which it’s calling #VogueInstaFashion, on its website. The spread features top model Hillary Rhoda in scenes all over New York City–Times Square, Central Park–all shot with just an iPhone by photographer Michael O’Neal. According to Singer, Andrew Gold from Vogue’s photography department had been following O’Neal’s work on Instagram and thought he would be great for this project.
“What’s so amazing is how receptive the younger stylists have been to this–getting up at 5am to do a shoot with Instagram even when they have Fashion Week shows to go to all day and parties all night,” said Singer.
“We just came up with this last week and everyone, stylists, model and photographer, were on board and excited about it. Usually during Fashion Week you can’t get anyone to do anything last minute, everyone is booked up. That shows how powerful Vogue is, sure, but its also shows how powerful Instagram is.”
Singer said she loves the speed with which Vogue can post fashion images with Instagram, whereas with an editorial shoot, “you sit on the images for months.” She hopes Vogue will do more of these Instagram-only shoots in the future.
“The fashion world has changed so much and opened up because of the visual Web–people think like fashion people now, that’s really exciting and empowering,” said Singer.
Images via Instagram/moneal
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HOTELS and guest houses across Gloucestershire have been asked to make sure they have the correct TV licence.
Budget hotels, boutique B&Bs, luxury spa resorts or serviced apartments must all be covered by a valid TV Licence if guests or staff are watching TV as it's broadcast.
For many smaller hotels and guesthouses, the cost of a TV licence is £145.50 a year, the same as a private house.
Hotels with more than 15 rooms are covered by one licence for the first 15 units, but will need an additional licence for every five thereafter.
Warren Carr, spokesman for TV Licensing, said: "The Valentine's weekend is always the first big weekend in the hospitality calendar.
"So while front-of-house staff are ordering extra candles and dozens of red roses it's a great time for hotel managers to get organised for the year and make sure they are correctly licensed."
Hoteliers can pay using BACS or electronic transfer.
For more information about TV licences for hotels, call 0300 790 6124 or visit www.tvlicensing.co.uk/ hotels.


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The government has framed guidelines, allowing the export-oriented readymade garment and leather and footwear sectors workers, who were terminated due to the coronavirus outbreak in the country, to receive Tk 3,000 a month for three months.
The labour ministry on Wednesday through a gazette notification issued the guidelines named social safety net implementation guidelines 2020 for the jobless workers of export-oriented RMG and leather products and footwear sector.
The government is going to implement the social safety net programme for the jobless workers with the funding from the European Union and the German government.
The guidelines have set an implementation committee headed by director general of the Department of Labour and said that the programme would be implemented under the DoL with the active support from the factory owners.
The committee includes representatives from Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association, Leather Goods and Footwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association of Bangladesh and Bangladesh Finished Leather, Leathergoods and Footwear Exporters Association.
Labour rights groups, however, have opposed the committee and demanded an inclusion of workers’ representatives to the committee.
According to the guidelines, the workers who were employed in any RMG or leather goods and footwear factory up to February 2020 and now remained jobless due to accident or physical illness, termination or factory lay-off and permanent closure of factory, would be beneficiaries of the social safety net programme.
The guidelines said that many workers of RMG and leather goods and footwear sector in the country were passing their days in a severe hardship as exports declined in the EU and North America and factory owners were forced to lay off their units due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The government with the support of the EU and the Federal German government has taken the initiative to provide necessary support to the workers of the export sectors, it said.
The guidelines said the respective factories would prepare the primary list of jobless workers and the trade bodies would scrutinise the list and would sent to the DoL.
The DoL would place it before the meeting of the implementation committee for the final approval.
The beneficiaries would receive the amount through bank accounts or mobile accounts without any charge.
‘It is a grave concern that these policies have been formulated without any consultation with the IBC who is the genuine representatives of the workers especially the RMG sector workers. We have serious concerns on the way it was decided to make the list of the workers and we have fears that the real jobless workers would be deprived of getting benefit from it,’ IndustriALL Bangladesh Council said in a letter to state minister for labour Monnujan Sufian on October 4.
Before the guidelines were published, the IBC requested the state minister to organise a consultation meeting with the labour leaders in this regard.
The IBC also claimed that the fund initiatives were the outcome of its global campaign led by IndustriALL Global Union, which had negotiated the ‘Call to Action: COVID-19: Action in the Global Garment Industry’ with the International Organisation of Employers along with the International Trade Union Confederation and a number of apparel brands endorsed it who sourced their products from Bangladesh.
The EU in mid-April announced the mobilisation of a fund worth over 334 million euros for the fight against COVID-19 outbreak and its impact on Bangladesh.
Of the 334 million euros, 113 million euros (93 million euros in EU grant and 20 million euros in German grant) will help the Bangladesh government to provide cash assistance to workers in the export-oriented industries adversely affected by the economic fallout of the pandemic, the EU had said in a statement.
Although the EU announced the support for the jobless workers in April, the finalisation of the utilisation modalities of the fund has taken five months, sector people said.
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- The entry-level Vivo Y02 has finally launched in India.
- The device features a MediaTek Helio P22 processor, a 5,000mAh battery, and an 8MP main camera.
- Vivo Y02 is priced under Rs 10,000 in the country.
Vivo has launched a new entry-level smartphone, dubbed the Vivo Y02 in the Indian market. Vivo Y02 is priced under Rs 10,000 and comes with features like an 8MP camera, a 5,000mAh battery, and an HD+ waterdrop notch display. Let’s take a look at the price, full specifications, and features of the newly launched Vivo Y02 and find out what the device has in store for us.
Vivo Y02 price in India, availability
The Vivo Y02 is priced at Rs 8,999 in the country. The device can be bought via Vivo’s online store in India and is available in Orchid Blue and Cosmic Grey colour options.
Vivo Y02 specifications
Starting with the display of the device, the Vivo Y02 has a 6.51-inch HD+ IPS LCD panel with a 720×1,600 pixel resolution, a 20:9 aspect ratio, 60Hz refresh rate, and an eye-protection mode. Under the hood, the Vivo Y02 comes powered by a MediaTek Helio P22 processor, which is paired with 3GB RAM and 32GB internal storage.
Coming to the cameras of the device, the Vivo Y02 has an 8MP main camera and a 5MP selfie snapper. The device comes with photography features like face beauty and timelapse. Speaking of the battery, the device houses a 5,000mAh battery with support for 10W charging over a USB 2.0 charging port.
In terms of dimensions, the Vivo Y02 measures 163.99×75.64×8.49mm and weighs around 186 grams. Moving on to the OS, the Vivo Y02 boots Android 12 Go Edition out of the box, which is layered with FunTouchOS 12 skin atop. Lastly, the Vivo Y02 has support for dual 4G VoLTE, Bluetooth 5.0, Wi-Fi 5, GPS, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.


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Nintendo Circle Pad Pro coming for 3DS later this year
Following the 3DS XL unveiling last week, a number of commentators were quick to criticize the console for omitting a second analog stick. A report emanating from Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu has confirmed that Nintendo will release a Circle Pad Pro for the larger console as it did for the original 3DS. Although only a handful of gaming titles support the second analog stick, its inclusion opens up the potential for more complex gaming.
3DS XL gains larger screen and bigger battery
Nintendo has revealed the 3DS XL, a larger version of its existing portable console with the glasses-free 3D display. Confirming rumors from earlier this month, the handheld copies the pattern set by the DSi and DSi XL by having a larger main screen to match the similar naming convention.
Rumored Nintendo 3DS XL may get a 4.3-inch 3D screen, E3 unveiling
Nintendo may upsize its current 3DS portable gaming console, according to reports from Japan that were picked up by SlashGear. If true, the device will likely be called the 3DS XL, following Nintendo's naming convention with the DSi and DSi XL. The 3DS XL is said to get a 4.3-inch display up top rather than the current model's 3.53-inch screen.


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29 November 2016 | News | By BioSpectrum Bureau
Sanofi to launch 20 new drugs in Japan by 2020
Singapore: If reports are to be believed French drug giant Sanofi is all set to launch 20 new drugs in Japan by 2020. In a recently held press meet the company's CEO Mr Jacques Nathan said that among these new drugs, which include existing drugs for new indications, "a significant amount will be biologics."
With drop in sales last year, Sanofi is looking for newer measures to beef up its business in Japan. Sanofi's sales dropped by 11 percent year-on-year to 261.1 billion yen ($2.3 billion) in 2015. In Japan, Sanofi is eager to introduce new drugs as generics continue to eat its profits. Sanofi's widely prescribed antiplatelet drug Plavix (clopidogrel), for example, is challenged by the generic version from Tanabe and Sawai.
Six drugs, including three monoclonal antibodies, are expected to be the driving force for the company's future sales in Japan. They are cholesterol-lowerer Praluent (alirocumab) launched in September; the type2 diabetes treatment insulin Lantus XR (insulin glargine [rDNA origin] injection, known as Toujeo in the USA and European Union, launched in September 2015 ; the rheumatoid arthritis treatment sarilumab, approval of which has been delayed in the USA by the Food and Drug Administration, and is waiting for its new drug application approval from Japan's pharmaceutical and medical devices agency (PMDA); Mozobil (plerixafor), the autologous transplant, received a NDA approval on November 11; Japan Penta, a 5-in-1 vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio and hib disease, which is in Phase III trials; and dupilumab for atopic dermatitis, also in Phase III studies.


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Govt has lowered the GST collection target for current fiscal to Rs 11.47 lakh crore.
New Delhi: GST collections in February dropped to Rs 97,247 crore in February from Rs 1.02 lakh crore in the previous month, the Finance Ministry said on Friday.
The number of sales return or GSTR-3B filed for the month of January up to February 28, 2019 is 73.48 lakh.
"The total gross GST revenue collected in February 2019 is Rs 97,247 crore of which Central GST is Rs 17,626 crore, State GST (SGST) is Rs 24,192 crore, Integrated GST (IGST) is Rs 46,953 crore and Cess is Rs 8,476 crore," the ministry said in a statement. Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections in the current fiscal till February totalled Rs 10.70 lakh crore.
The government has lowered the GST collection target for current fiscal to Rs 11.47 lakh crore in the Revised Estimates, from Rs 13.71 lakh crore budgeted initially. For the next fiscal 2019-20, the GST collection target has been budgeted at Rs 13.71 lakh crore.


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New Year, New You? So, you’ve got your usual list of New Year’s resolutions; be healthier, save money and do more for the environment. All three of which are worth pursuing – whilst we may not be able to help with the first; we might just be able to help with the next two.
Perhaps this is the year you decide to jump into the future and make that switch, that people often think about, but aren’t quite sure about committing to. No, we’re not talking about trading the cakes for shakes (who doesn’t love cake?). We’re talking about making the change to the electric side of driving.
STRENGTHENING its global leadership in zero-emission electric vehicles, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. plans to start full production of the new Nissan LEAF at Nissan’s Vehicle Assembly Plant in Smyrna, Tennessee, and at Nissan Motor Manufacturing (UK) Ltd. in Sunderland by the end of 2017.
The two production sites join Nissan’s Oppama Plant in Japan, which is producing the new generation of the world’s best-selling electric vehicle.
“We’re proud to continue manufacturing the Nissan LEAF at three plants globally,” said Fumiaki Matsumoto, executive vice president of Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., Manufacturing, Supply Chain Management. “The Nissan LEAF is the icon of Nissan Intelligent Mobility with its many advanced technologies. Nissan employees in Oppama, Smyrna and Sunderland are excited to continue producing the most popular electric vehicle in the world.”
Nissan yesterday unveiled the new Nissan LEAF, featuring greater range, advanced technologies and a dynamic new design. The new Nissan LEAF will go on sale on October 2nd in Japan and in the coming months in the USA, Canada and Europe.
Production of the previous generation of the Nissan LEAF began at Oppama in 2010, and at Smyrna and Sunderland in 2013. Nissan LEAF batteries will continue to be produced in Smyrna, Sunderland and Zama, Japan.


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The sports betting industry is in the midst of a great transformation thanks to the many developments and advancements with blockchain technology and its cryptocurrencies. It seems that new and improved crypto get released every day adding even more crypto options to the list of those available. This, in turn, has made Bitcoin betting even more enthralling and rewarding for betting enthusiasts out there.
Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC) and Dogecoin (DOGE) have quietly made their way into the world of sports betting, and it is now widely accepted as a payment method in thousands of crypto sports betting sites. Cryptocurrencies have had a huge impact on the industry and have altered the entire landscape of online gambling and sports betting. This has made things much easier for gamblers and bettors to place wagers and receive payouts in the fastest and cheapest possible way.
BTC sports betting sites don’t require any third parties to manage or hold any funds, which means that the transactions are more secure, affordable and swifter than more traditional payment methods. On top of this, crypto sports betting sites provide total anonymity and privacy to its users, which can be an essential factor for anyone who wants to keep their betting activities hidden.
Crypto’s Future In Sports Betting
Sports betting’s future is shining brighter than ever thanks in a very large part to the introduction of newer crypto and the improvement of blockchain technology. Formula 1 and the motorsport events are a great example of such behavior. They are getting more and more major crypto platforms as major sponsors.
Various top BTC sportsbooks let their punters bet on their favourite sporting events using a wide range of tokens to fund themselves. The process of creating an account, depositing some funds and withdrawing any winnings with Bitcoin is far more secure, efficient and rapid than any other payment method in the world.
One of the best benefits of BTC sports betting is that it is extremely convenient and allows players to make wagers anytime, anywhere in the world. This makes it a superb option for anyone living in countries where gambling is illegal but still want to bet on their favourite teams.
One other reason why the future of crypto sports betting is bright lies in the blockchain which eradicates all risks of identity theft and fraud. Overall, crypto sports betting comes with some excellent advantages over the more traditional payment methods as well as being remarkably convenient, totally secure, extremely fast and inexpensive to use for betting.
The Sports Betting Coin That Started It All
The initial cryptocurrency that interrupted the whole online sports betting industry was Bitcoin which allowed for a more secure, decentralised and completely transparent way of undertaking transactions. This new way of funding online gaming provided bettors with a way to make payments without the need for mediators like payment processes or banks.
BTC also offered faster, cheaper and simpler transactions than other fiat based payment methods. Bitcoin also improved the privacy and anonymity of online betting seeing as the transactions are decentralised and pseudonymous, which allows players to place bets anonymously.
Built around the popularity of Bitcoin, a lot of new cryptocurrencies joined in and entered the online betting industry given rise to thousands of new crypto sports betting sites, each providing their own distinctive features and addressing some of the limitations of BTC.
A good example of this is Ethereum, which initiated the notion of blockchain technology using smart contracts. These self-executing smart contracts function on the ETH blockchain and are used to allow transactions on crypto sportsbooks without using any intermediate necessities.
Cryptocurrency betting on sports has generated a lot of new opportunities for sports bettors, including decentralised betting markets in which players can partake without the need for any centralised operator.
BTC and ETH are by far the most popular digital currencies both within and outside the sports betting industry. However, there are other choices that exist and are accessible to betting enthusiasts, such as Ripple (XRP). Ripple is a relatively new cryptocurrency that concentrates on supplying low-cost, swift cross-border transactions at crypto sportsbooks.
Ripple’s unique consensus algorithm, along with its supply network, makes it one of the best choices for BTC sports betting sites who want to streamline their payment process while simultaneously reducing transaction costs.
The technology that is provided by Ripple also has excellent potential to streamline, secure and speed up international transactions within the field of crypto sports betting and therefore benefiting both the sports betting sites and their players.
Litecoin is another major crypto, often referred to as the silver to Bitcoin’s gold. LTC provides even faster transactions than BTC and is now being utilised by crypto sports betting sites at an exponential rate. Other recently introduced crypto, such as EOS, DASH and Zcash, are also being used in the online betting space, offering distinctive special features such as enhanced privacy, increased scalability and faster transactions.
So, if you are interested in sports betting using crypto like BTC, be sure to check out the crypto sportsbooks that are available in your country. This is an excellent way to take advantage of all of the benefits of cryptocurrencies such as security, anonymity and faster transactions, while also betting on your favorite sports teams and players at the same time.


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China has been paying serious attention to how Japan's new minister in charge of economic security will act after the Oct. 31 general election, as the position is expected to challenge threats posed by the Communist-led government.
The post was set up by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who took office on Oct. 4, with Sino-Japanese ties souring over issues surrounding democratic Taiwan, which China regards as a renegade province to be reunified with the mainland by force if necessary.
If the economic security minister, Takayuki Kobayashi, tries to get closer to Taiwan than China to safeguard Japan's economic security interests, the leadership of President Xi Jinping would take retaliatory steps against the Kishida administration, jeopardizing regional stability.
Some pundits, meanwhile, said Japan might pursue a well-balanced diplomatic strategy toward China, as the country's economy is unlikely to grow without the neighboring nation's market with a population of 1.4 billion.
China and Japan, the world's second- and third-biggest economies, have been at odds over technology transfer, intellectual property protection, market openness and transparency as well as other trade and economic matters.
Japan's economic security minister will be engaged in a "gargantuan task but also an urgent one given heightened regional rivalry with China," said Jeff Kingston, director of Asian Studies at Temple University Japan in Tokyo.
The primary role of the new minister is to "develop strategies and a legal framework to enable Japan to boost economic security encompassing supply chains, resources, innovative technologies and relevant infrastructure," he said.
Since a tit-for-tat tariff trade war intensified between China and the United States in 2018, Japanese policymakers have become more concerned about economic security of the country, many of whose companies have expanded their businesses in the two nations.
Dozens of lawmakers of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party proposed in 2019 that the government establish an entity modeled after the U.S. National Economic Council, which coordinates economic policy advice for the president.
In December 2020, an LDP group -- created by Kishida as then chair of its Policy Research Council and Akira Amari, its current secretary general -- hammered out a report on economic security.
Apparently targeting China, the report said, "Some countries have started to use economic measures to impose their own desires on other countries, and even to try to reshape the existing international order into something in favor of themselves."
Moreover, a supply chain crisis stemming from the coronavirus virus outbreak in China, dubbed the "world's factory," took a heavy toll on Japanese enterprises and consumers early last year.
In its annual trade white paper released in June, the government said nations including Japan had been spurred to strengthen economic security following the pandemic that exposed the fragility of supply chains, citing the interruption of medical supplies as an example.
Immediately after the virus spread in Japan in February 2020, protective face masks and alcohol-based hand sanitizers were sold out at pharmacies and convenience stores, making a number of people vulnerable to infection.
Against a backdrop of Japan's dependence on foreign manufacturers, the government has been also compelled to implement a strategy to enhance domestic development and production of cutting-edge semiconductors amid a global chip crunch.
Kishida pledged in his policy speech on Oct. 8 to advance efforts to build a "resilient supply chain and draw up legislative bills that promote Japan's economic security."
A diplomat in Beijing said, "Ensuring economic security is very important for the future of Japan, as wars, in which many countries use economic weapons instead of military ones, have taken place."
Before taking up his new post, Kobayashi, a former Finance Ministry bureaucrat, served as secretary general of the LDP group that mapped out the report on economic security.
Within just days of his appointment, the Kishida administration decided to provide financial support for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to build a chip-making factory in Japan in a bid to bolster supply chains for critical components such as semiconductors.
Taiwan, whose tensions with mainland China have been escalating, welcomes Japan's move to construct the factory in its southwestern prefecture of Kumamoto, said Tai Wan-chin, a professor emeritus at Tamkang University in New Taipei City.
"Hopefully, the TSMC plant in Kumamoto will be mutually beneficial for Taiwan and Japan. It is a new area of Taiwan-Japan cooperation," Tai said.
As China has become "more assertive," Japanese citizens will "generally be less inclined to support a political party which advocates weak-kneed diplomacy" against the mainland, he added.
A scholar at a university in Beijing, however, said China has been "extremely irritated" by Kishida, as the nation argues that Taiwan is its "core interest" while it does not want Japan to interfere in its "internal affairs."
China and Taiwan have been governed separately since they split in 1949 as a result of a civil war.
"Should Japan's economic security minister take a hard-line approach toward China and attempt to beef up cooperation with Taiwan, Beijing would carry out measures that may choke the Japanese economy," the scholar said.
In 2010, China restricted exports of rare earths to Japan, when the two countries were at loggerheads due to competing territorial claims in the East China Sea.
China has remained the largest trading partner of Japan. Japan's degree of reliance on it for intermediate commodities has exceeded 20 percent in imports, almost double the figure for its dependence on the United States, the nation's security ally.
Temple University Japan's Kingston said, "Seeking progress through diplomacy is sensible and closing that door is counterproductive."
The Chinese and Japanese economies are "highly intertwined and there are many overlapping interests despite the tense security situation and frosty relations," he said.
Diplomatic sources said Kishida has already shown intention of emphasizing ties with the mainland, as he tapped as economic security minister Kobayashi, who belongs to an LDP faction led by Toshihiro Nikai, known as a pro-China veteran politician.