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Every Look from Last Night's VMA Red Carpet
Celebrities who attended last night's ceremony seemed really confused on dress code--was it prom (looking at you, Jersey Shore cast)? the Oscars? a fancy rave?--but whatever they wore, it was at least entertaining to look at. From the totally tame to the nearly-nude, here's every look from last night's VMA ceremony.
The Fashion Crowd Weighs in On the 'Made in America' Debate--Can Anyone Really Afford to Produce Domestically?
The controversy over Ralph Lauren's Chinese-produced Team USA uniforms has raised a bigger question in the fashion community: Is making affordable clothing in America a feasible option for any designer? That was the hot issue for some of the designers and fashion personalities who attended the Project Runway 10th Anniversary Party held in Chelsea last night--and while most agreed that the Team USA uni production ideally should've happened domestically, the empathetic laments about the cost (and feasibility) of producing locally proved to be a common thread. Alice + Olivia designer Stacey Bendet touched on Lauren (whom she called "pretty friggin' awesome") being unfairly singled out for this "misshap"


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San Francisco-based cross-chain NFT platform Magic Eden has announced the appointment of industry veteran Chris Akhavan as Chief Gaming Officer.
In his new role, Akhavan will help drive the growth of Magic Eden’s gaming partnership and support the development of advanced game creator and collector experiences. The company hopes to solidify its identity in the Web3 space, estimating that Web3 gaming will grow into a multi-billion dollar-per-year industry.
“As a lifelong gamer, I truly believe the game industry is going to be transformed by placing ownership in the hands of players,” said Akhavan. “There are already massive vibrant markets around in-game items in games like Counter-Strike, and Web3 technology is the perfect solution to enable game asset ownership in a scalable and connected way across an enormous universe of games and player communities. Magic Eden is one of the largest Web3 platforms in the world with over 10 million unique user sessions per month and $2.5 billion in NFT trading volume to date. The team here really believes in the mission to bring digital property rights to gamers while creating incredible new opportunities for game developers. I’m excited to see the impact we will have in accelerating Web3 gaming,”
Brave new world
Akhavan is an industry veteran who has held a variety of roles within the industry, including as Chief Revenue Officer at Glu Mobile, helping to lead its turnaround from a struggling company to a leading free-to-play studio which was acquired by EA for $2.4 billion, making it the tenth largest video game acquisition of all time.
Prior to Glu, Akhavan also served as an early employee at Tapjoy, which created a platform used by many free-to-play games and reached over a billion mobile devices. He gained Web3 experience while serving as CBO of Forte and as a part of Game7, which he will continue to advise.
“Chris is going to take us places. He’s got that special sauce that only a few people in the world have, coming from traditional gaming while also being intimately familiar with blockchain technology through his experiences at Tapjoy, Glu, Electronic Arts, Forte, and Game7,” said Magic Eden COO Zhuoxun Yin. “We have been preparing to unleash the reach of our platform to the game ecosystem, and our vision to drive distribution and revenue to Web3 games can now really come to life with Chris’ leadership and guidance. Our team and the broader Web3 game industry are lucky to have Chris here working on this.”
Last week, we spoke to Superfine CEO Chris Calderon about how Web3 will impact the future of mobile gaming.

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Spent grain from Alberta breweries turns into tasty treats
Spent grain from Alberta breweries turns into tasty treats
Repurposing leftover barley reduces waste, creates new food products
By Liane Faulder
Sophia Tang is obsessed with food waste. As an immigrant to Canada from Hong Kong as a child, she grew up understanding that food was not to be taken for granted.
“My family instilled in me that I had to finish every single grain of rice in my bowl,” says Tang, 38, founder and CEO of Calgary’s coRISE, an innovative food upcycling company.
She elaborates with a chuckle: “My grandparents used to tell me that every rice grain in my bowl equalled a pimple on the face of my future husband.”
Little wonder that Tang’s job today involves figuring out how to stop wasting food. Indeed, she has turned the lessons of her childhood into a company that focuses on how to take the protein-rich barley that’s left over from beer production and turn it into foods that are not only delicious, but good for you.
By drying and milling the leftover barley—known as spent grain—coRISE has created a line of cookies, granola and crackers, plus pancake and brownie mixes, that are rich in protein and dietary fibre. But spent grain, which also contains essential amino acids, minerals, polyphenols, vitamins and lipids, is more than a nutritious ingredient in Tang’s mind.
“My company is a social enterprise and for me, it’s always impact first instead of profit first,” she explains. “I want to make an impact by reducing food waste and giving back to the community.”
With the rapid rise of craft brewing, spent grain production is growing too. The combination of big and small brewing companies across Alberta creates thousands of tonnes daily of spent grain. Some of that food waste, which makes up about 85 per cent of brewing byproducts, can be used as compost or by farmers as feed for livestock. But much of it ends up in landfill.
CoRISE gets some of its spent grain from a few craft breweries in Calgary, including Cold Garden Beverage Company. But its biggest spent grain supplier is Edmonton’s Alley Kat Brewing Company. In the past year, coRISE has turned about 2,700 pounds of spent grain into its food products.
Brewery makes good use of its spent grain
At Cochrane’s Half Hitch Brewing—a family-owned and -operated brewery since 2016—co-founder and CEO Kyle Heier says a metric tonne of spent grain is produced every time they brew a batch of beer, which happens two or three times a week.
“Usually, we give (the spent grain) away to farmers because we didn’t want it to go to landfill and we knew it had significant nutritional value,” says Heier. “But as far as a business model goes, we didn’t have much of an application for it.”
But while brainstorming with his dad (also a brewery co-founder), Heier began to think about the compelling combination of beer and pizza. An on-site restaurant at Half Hitch Brewery was already operating, and staff had been experimenting with dishes made with spent grain. Heier decided to incorporate the ingredient into pizza dough.
Three years later, Half Hitch owns two pizza parlours called The Mash, one in Airdrie and another in Calgary’s Kensington neighbourhood. Both restaurants opened during the pandemic and have been busy ever since, with a third location planned for Calgary’s Mahogany district.
The spent grain for the pizza dough comes from Half Hitch’s Papa Bear brew, made from Prairie barley, wheat, rye and oats.
Heier says it adds a little texture to the dough and also a touch of sweetness. While the product does contain gluten, some customers with food intolerances tell Heier they can eat pizza from The Mash without dietary difficulties.
About one and a half cups of spent grain (which is high in protein) goes into every batch of pizza dough and makes about 24 10-inch pizzas. Heier has sent samples of his spent grain for testing at a food lab and hopes to soon have a better sense of the nutritional properties of the resulting dough.
“From a marketing standpoint, we knew (the spent grain) would have a neat alteration on the end product,” says Heier. “But the big story here is how you recycle the grain as opposed to throwing it out. Whether by giving it to livestock or food production, the serendipitous side is that it produces a really good product.”
Startup founder passionate about upcycling
Sophia Tang is also pleased with the products she creates in a Calgary commercial kitchen for coRISE. (The company name comes from its core belief—that through “community collaboration, we all rise together.”)
Her cookies, akin to a Scottish shortbread or tea biscuit, come in a variety of flavours, from vanilla stout to chocolately porter. The treats, which can be found at Blush Lane locations in Edmonton and Calgary, were recently named a 2020 runner-up in the prestigious Made in Alberta competition.
At this point, Tang is working alone in her fledgling business, which has been operating for little more than a year. But she sees endless potential for the use of spent grain and is a passionate believer in the benefits of upcycling, or creating new products from those that might otherwise have been discarded.
Tang is working with the Food Processing Development Centre in Leduc, to find more efficient ways to use spent grain and to develop different dehydration methods to make products more shelf-stable.
“Spent grain is the perfect ingredient for someone who wants a high-protein, high-fibre source that’s locally grown,” she says.
Tang’s passion can be seen in her commitment to this social enterprise. Yes, coRISE creates a key ingredient—dehydrated, milled spent grain—for a variety of plant-based products. But it’s bigger than that.
She sees spent grain as part of a larger effort to support health, sustainability and community. As the coRISE website notes, upcycling spent grain reduces landfill, methane, CO2 and food waste.
Tang also strongly believes that the healthful properties of spent grain can help create a positive connection between body and mind.
“What we eat affects our mood as well,” says Tang, who supports mental health programs such as pet companionship through coRISE (which also makes dog treats.)
As one of only two Canadian members of the international Upcycled Food Association, Tang’s goal is to help people become as familiar with the word “upcycled” as they are with the word “organic.”
“I want to educate people that upcycled tastes freakin’ delicious.”
Liane Faulder is an Edmonton freelance writer
Posted Dec. 7, 2020


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ISM IN THE NEWS
ISM announces Partnership with Siemens Managed Services
The ISM is proud to announce a new partnership with Siemens which will see them provide the company’s Managed Services Team with ISM membership and access to the ISM Professional Sales Certification pathway.
Participation in a robust Sales development learning journey will not only benefit the team by ensuring that its existing skills are recognised, but it will also provide a structure that makes ongoing professional development possible. The outcome will be an even stronger ethical and professional approach to the way they work with customers.
Siemens Managed Services is centered around the energy management sector. It provides metering and data end-to-end services to UK small and large businesses, energy and water companies like First Utility & United Utilities, and their customers. It is also growing its portfolio of digitilised solutions for future energy, such as its heat platform supporting decentralised energy.
Headquartered in Nottingham (UK), Siemens Managed Services is part of the Siemens PLC family. The group is passionate about being the digital partner of choice in their industries, and about creating value in their technology and the data in their installed base for organisations looking to harness the power of the internet of things.
Siemens design and manufacture products and systems ranging from traffic lights, gas turbines and turbine spares to the superconducting magnets used in medical scanners and the drives that are behind many of the UK’s manufacturing plants. Siemens are a top employer of entry-level talent in the UK, with over 600 apprentices and a vibrant community of interns, apprentices and graduates.
As the Head of UK New Business, Jon Turner is responsible for multi-million-pound new sales within all Managed Service portfolios in support of both today’s and tomorrow’s growth. Prior to joining Siemens in 2011, Jon was Head of Field Sales with Centrica and Sales and Marketing Director with Bglobal.
Jon has a passion for developing his Sales team. He not only helps them to improve in the short term, but also has the future firmly in mind. In helping his team to realise the next step in their career progression within Siemens, he aligns development plans to career objectives.
Development is a joint effort. While Jon provides support and coaching, individuals need to invest their energies to make progress.
The Sales culture within the team and across Siemens is one of collaboration, as important as developing new techniques, is to adapt to customer needs through strategic selling.
Siemens Managed Services is excited about a collaboration with ISM that is motivated by adopting best practice, learning from experience and stories, and recognising exceptional and improving individuals. Most importantly, the link-up is an opportunity to build accredited development paths around an ethical framework that supports effective selling and business development.
On his relationship with the ISM so far Jon commented:
“I have been encouraged by ISM’s vision and development plans, and I think Siemens together with the ISM can create an environment to succeed in a changing market. Personally, I want to use my experiences and benefit from those of others in the ISM family to create an exemplar UK sales community.”
Dave Millichap, ISM Corporate Partnership Manager, added:
“We are delighted to be working with Siemens Managed services Sales team to support their ongoing commitment to their development as Sales Professionals. Engaging with ISM networks, learning resources and reflective learning journeys helps to build a culture of continuous development and highly ethical Sales people. This can only have a positive impact on the already high standards of service given to their customers.”
LCV dealership wins ‘BESMA Senior Leadership Team of the Year’ award – their second major national accolade of 2017
Leading commercial vehicle dealer David Spear has been awarded the Senior Leadership Team of the Year accolade at this year’s British Excellence in Sales Management Awards (BESMA). This is the second major national award that the renowned dealership has won this year.
Earlier this year the company won the prestigious Business Transformation of the Year accolade at the 10th annual Auto Trader Click Awards. The company was also recently shortlisted for the Commercial Motors Independent Dealer of Year and Technician Team of the Year.
“This is our second national award this year, following on from our Business Transformation success at the London based Auto Trader Click Awards in July. This latest success recognises the talent in our leadership team, who have worked tirelessly to deliver the business strategy and have steered the business to unprecedented growth this year,” said Director David Spear.
Despite registrations of light commercial vehicles declining nationwide, the Tredegar headquartered firm has recently reported impressive sales growth of 26% year-on-year. The company celebrated their best month to date this October with unit sales up by over 50% in comparison to the same period in 2016. Securing the Senior Leadership Team of the Year title is the latest development in the company’s long running success story.
BESMA Awards and Sales Summit 2017 rewards the best sales professionals serving a multitude of industry sectors throughout the UK. By recognising the achievements and products of these professionals across a series of awards, BESMA aims to promote the art of selling country-wide. The glittering ceremony, which took place on Thursday 9th November 2017 at Old Billingsgate London, was hosted by award winning comedian, writer and host Jimmy Carr.
“This is another big statement about our business success and our desire to embrace change, meet our customers’ needs and drive our business forward. We are proud and honoured to win the accolade, and gain recognition for our hard work,” concluded David.
(Photo Caption: L-R ISM / BESMA Representative, David Spear – Director, James Spear – Marketing Manager, Laurence Winmill – CEO, Sarah Spear Director, Geraint Yeo – General Manager, Jimmy Carr – Host & Comedian)
Growth Engineering Win Big at BESMA
Our cheeks are hurting today after all the smiling, laughing and cheering we did at the spectacular British Excellence in Sales Management Awards (BESMA) on 9th November.
We’ve only gone and won the award for Best Training Centre of the Year 2017!
Amidst the screams of pure delight, we were presented with our (super heavy!) gong by the awesome Jimmy Carr. Then it was superhero sodas all round, as we danced the night away in celebration with our fellow superheroes of the sales world!
Avison Young Bucharest appoints ISM Member Colin Lovering as Senior VP
Colin Lovering has been appointed as senior vice-president of enterprise solutions and advisory services at the Bucharest office of Avison Young, the real estate consultancy.
He will focus on expanding the company’s profile and its overall footprint in the Romanian market.
Natterbox builds their brand with an Institute of Sales Management partnership
Leading global provider of voice cloud solutions, Natterbox, have recently earned some much-deserved attention in the media. They just announced a partnership with the Institute of Sales Management (ISM), which should help them to improve their already impressive solutions for customer service management.
David Spear Commercial Vehicles have been nominated in 3 categories
Two busy days of presenting with James Spear at the Judging stage for this year’s BESMA Awards London. David Spear Commercial Vehicles have been nominated in 3 categories: Customer Service Team of the Year; Leadership Team of the year; Sales Team of the Year #sales #BESMA #ISM #Customerservice #Awards
Business was endorsed by the Institute of Sales Management
We have assembled a fantastic selection of some of the most experienced and forward thinking professionals in the business which, enable us to deliver first class modern content backed up with the knowledge and understanding that gives us supreme credibility.
Our business was endorsed by the Institute of Sales Management in 2015 and we are now a certified training provider. We continue to work with the ISM and I was asked to be a Judge for various categories in the British Excellence in Sales Management Awards in 2016 and 2017.
Finalist for BESMA Award for Sales Development Programme 2017
Mercuri International is delighted to announce we have been notified we are finalists for this years prestigious British Excellence in Sales Management Awards(BESMA), having been shortlisted with Virgin Holidays for Sales Development Programme of the year for the “Selling At My Best” programme.
BESMA recognise and reward the best sales professionals in the UK, showcasing their achievements and products, helping to promote the art of selling across the country and is organised by the Institute for Sales Management (ISM).
Astro’s Joe Wing selected as British Excellence in Sales Management Awards finalist
Astro are proud to announce Joe Wing – Astro Business Development Executive – has been nominated as a finalist in the prestigious 2017 The British Excellence in Sales Management Awards (BESMA) in the category of Rising Star of the Year. Winners will be announced at The BESMA Awards on Thursday 9 November 2017 at Old Billingsgate, London.
Steve Hodges, Managing Director commented: “I am more than delighted that Joe has been selected as a finalist for the BESMA Rising Star of the Year award, he has worked very hard and developed at a rapid pace since joining us as an apprentice in 2014. The Institute of Sales Management BESMA awards are very highly regarded as the ‘Oscars’ of the sales profession. Joe has done amazingly well to be recognised among the sales professional elite since starting his apprenticeship with us in 2014. I am extremely proud of him and know he has earned his place as a BESMA finalist.”
Exclusive Bookstore for Institute of Sales Management
Wiley is delighted to partner with the ISM to provide its members with a catalogue of books with a focus on sales skills and management, marketing, customer service and soft skills.
Garry Mansfield, Founder of Outside In, has been asked to judge at this year’s BESMA Awards
As a long standing ISM fellow he passionately believes in the professionalisation of sales. He recently published an article in the Winning Edge magazine and the ISM.
“I am really excited to see the innovative and creative solutions companies and individuals are working on. It’s a real honour to be considered worthy of helping such a prestigious event.” said Garry recently “I know that judging helps me to learn from the good practice of others, and I love giving something back to the sales profession and the ISM”


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Holidaymakers are already planning their escape from the Fylde coast this summer – as booking holidays with one budget airline reached its peak.
Jet2.com, which flies out of Blackpool Airport, has seen a spike in bookings for Turkey, Greece and Croatia as residents made arrangements for their summer break during the doom and gloom of January.
A survey of 2,000 holidaymakers looked at how habits have changed, how much holidays mean to people and what people plan to do while on holiday.
And the poll found 64 per cent of residents will not leave home without their favourite brand of tea, toilet roll or their slippers.
Others who took part in the survey - 15 per cent - said their holiday is more important than Christmas.
Steve Heapy, CEO of Jet2.com, said: “With our Blackpool consumers more determined than ever to enjoy their much-loved holiday next year, we’re predicting our biggest year yet in 2014 – especially to our Eastern Mediterranean destinations.
“These findings really illustrate just how important holidays are in our annual calendar and it’s very interesting to see just how and where the majority of us are hoping to escape.”


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Since the 2008 financial crisis, US car sales have been making a comeback, topping 17 million light vehicles since 2015, for the first time since 2001. Car sales started dipping toward 17 million in 2017, though, and forecasts predict further slowing of the automotive market, perhaps 16.8 million for 2018. September 2018 marks the end of 3rd quarter sales, and the results were encouraging, topping 1.4 million units. It even helped bump the seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) back up over 17.3 million vehicles, but not everyone is celebrating.
September 2018 Car Sales Winners and Losers
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) posted the biggest gains in September, driven by higher Dodge, RAM, and Jeep sales. Dodge led the way with 40.6-percent increased sales, Alfa Romeo 29.3 percent higher, Jeep 14.1 percent higher, and RAM 9.2 percent higher.
In fact, FCA posted its highest sales in nearly two decades, a full 25 percent of those sales increases going to fleet expansions and replacements. Much of FCA’s success can be attributed to its new focus on SUVs and CUVs, which is proving to be more popular than sedans and hatchbacks. Not all FCA sales were golden, though, such as Chrysler, down 6.8 percent, Jeep Renegade, down 9.9 percent, and Fiat, down a staggering 46.3 percent.
On the other hand, where there are winners, there are losers. Ford and Japan’s big-three all posted declining US car sales in September 2018. Though the Ford F-150 series is still the Nation’s best-selling vehicle, and Ford accounted for 13.1 percent of overall sales, the rest of the lineup didn’t do so well, a 17 percent drop overall. Lexus was down 6.1 percent, Toyota down 10.9 percent, Nissan down 13.3 percent, and Mazda down 17.4 percent.
What’s Going On?
Analysts suggests the drop is a result of consumer’s preferences tending towards SUVs and CUVs, which favors automakers specializing in these. Sedan and hatchback sales are dropping, while truck sales remain steady. Overall car sales in September 2018, though, are dropping most likely do to higher interest rates and higher vehicle pricing.
Compared to last year, average new car financing interest rates have jumped a whole point, from 4.8 percent last year to 5.8 percent this year. In September 2018, just 5.6 percent of buyers can take advantage of 0-percent loans, down from 10.1 percent last year. Finally, the average new car is getting more expensive. Average new car prices in September 2018 were $35,742, two percent higher than last year.
Forecasters suggest the US car sales slump is only temporary, though. If the economy stays strong and the Federal Reserve Bank isn’t too aggressive setting interest rates, we could see annual car sales topping 17 million in 2019 and 2020. Only time will tell if current trends will continue, and whether Ford and Japan can crawl their way back to the top.


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Hyundai plans to set up engine factory in IndiaHyundai Motor, Korea’s largest carmaker, plans to set up a new engine factory and other manufacturing facilities in India to meet a growing market for diesel vehicles.
The facilities, including a new press shop, will be at the company’s existing manufacturing complex in Sriperumbudur near Chennai in southern India, Hyundai said in a statement.
The new plants will provide 500 jobs, he said.
India’s fuel pricing policy makes diesel about 30 percent cheaper than gasoline, spurring demand for vehicles running on the less expensive fuel. Maruti Suzuki India, Toyota Motor and Ford Motor have all announced measures to raise production of diesel vehicles to cater to this market.
Maruti, based in New Delhi, has bookings for 125,000 vehicles, with diesel cars accounting for as much as 90 percent of them. Sales of diesel vehicles rose to 72,462 units in the second quarter from 50,920 a year earlier, he said.


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Nuance Communications, Inc. today announced a significant update to Nina Mobile, the virtual assistant for mobile customer service, with support for 38 languages, enhanced mobile experience for tablets, and unprecedented interest from leading enterprise organizations around the world in adding Nina to their customer service experience.
Nina Mobile allows companies to quickly add speech-based virtual assistant capabilities to existing Apple iOS and Google Android mobile apps, greatly enhancing the self-service experience for their customers. Nina combines Nuance speech recognition, Text-to-Speech (TTS), voice biometrics, and Natural Language Understanding (NLU) technology hosted in the cloud to deliver an interactive user experience that not only understands what is said, but also who is saying it.
With the new release, Nina now understands and speaks 38 languages, expanding Nuance's market opportunity across North and South America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia and making it the first to support such a broad global language capability for speech recognition, TTS and voice biometrics. The new release also expands Nina's existing support for smartphones, to include enhanced support for tablets, including Apple iPad and iPad Mini, and Android tablets running Android 4.1.
"Nina was first to bring the power of the virtual assistant directly into mobile customer service apps, and the response from enterprise organizations and their customers has been amazing," said Robert Weideman, executive vice president and general manager for the Nuance Enterprise Division. "By 'going international' we are able to address the rapidly growing worldwide demand for Nina Mobile with those organizations that want to deliver the same rich, innovative customer self-service experience around the globe."
In a very short time, Nina has gained widespread support from leading enterprise organizations, with Nuance gaining agreements with a growing number of leading financial, insurance, telecommunications, healthcare and consumer products and services organizations in the world. USAA, the leading insurance and financial services provider to U.S. military members and their families, has publicly announced their selection of Nina, which will be included in an update to their popular mobile app in early 2013.
To see a demonstration of Nina, click here.
"Personal virtual assistants are a global phenomenon. Providing broad language coverage, with context-aware, interactive dialog and natural language understanding is something that few organizations are capable of accomplishing," explained Dan Miller, senior analyst at Opus Research. "Nuance is clearly taking a first-mover approach to growing global demand for mobile customer service options that embed a personal virtual assistant directly into a mobile app."
Nina is the first virtual assistant customer service app to incorporate both speech recognition and voice biometrics into a single integrated solution. It is also the first solution that provides an open software development kit (SDK) to support the rapid integration of virtual assistant capabilities into existing mobile applications. In addition, Nina is the first to allow organizations to brand their own virtual assistant persona, including the visual appearance and implementation of optional custom TTS voices.


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Final Fantasy 7 Remake has been the most anticipated and desired game of all time. There is no other game that fans have wanted more than a current generation remake of this beloved PlayStation RPG. Square Enix got a lot of hate at PlayStation Experience 2014 when the company announced the PC version of the game would be coming to the PlayStation 4. However, they made up for it when Final Fantasy 7 Remake was announced at E3 2015.
While most assumed that the battle system would change, Square made that information official shortly after the E3 announcement. At the 2015 PlayStation Experience fans got their first taste of the gameplay in the latest trailer for the upcoming title. Reactions were decidedly mixed as the trailer seemed to indicate the game would be almost entirely action-based. Given the direction of Square’s recent RPG efforts, this wasn’t all that surprising.
In interviews following the announcement Square stated that while the game would not be a traditional turn-based RPG, it wouldn’t be an action game along the lines of Dissidia or even Kingdom Hearts. We’ve already detailed what you should be expecting from the battle system of Final Fantasy 7 Remake, and without one of the most iconic turn-based RPGs returning in turn-based form, this effectively brings an end to a classic gaming genre.
Now let’s be clear about one thing. We will continue to see turn-based RPGs on the Nintendo 3DS and mobile platforms. There will even be the occasional console title here and there, but with the house that Cloud built opting to go with a more action-oriented combat system for Final Fantasy 7 Remake, it’s clear that turn-based RPGs will soon be a thing of the past for AAA (big budget) releases.
With turn-based RPGs becoming a thing of the past, RPG fans should expect more action-based titles with the growing trend of making games easier. As gaming gets bigger and bigger, and budgets for games increase exponentially, publishers need to sell more games to more people in order to stay in business. Over the last few years we’ve seen a number of high profile developers and publishers go under due to the high budgetary demands of modern game development.
There are occasional gems such as the Dark Souls series of titles that has made a name for itself by being more difficult than the average title. However, if you go back to the Super Nintendo era you would see games with the difficult of Dark Souls on a regular basis. These days games need to appeal to a very wide audience, so you end up with developers such as Capcom removing sexual gestures from Street Fighter 5, and games that hold your hand and tell you exactly where to go and who to fight. It’s all in an effort to make more people want to play more games.
The Super Nintendo only sold 49 million units in its lifetime. That was back when gaming was more of a niche market. With the release of the original PlayStation gaming started to become mainstream. Budgets began to rise and games not only had to be bigger and better, but also sell a lot more copies. The original PlayStation sold 102 million units, more than double that of the SNES. The PlayStation 2 is the highest-selling game console in history with just over 155 million units sold. A lot has changed since the Super Nintendo days and to bring more people into the gaming world, the big titles have to be accessible to the widest possible audience.
To circle back around to our original point, turn-based RPGs offer relatively slow pacing and can be difficult if you don’t level up properly or have the right tools or abilities to beat the next boss. The first time some of our colleagues played Final Fantasy 7 they rushed through the game. They were new to RPGs as many PS1 owners were, and they didn’t understand the need to grind and level up. When they reached Sephiroth at the end and saved right before entering the final battle, it was essentially game over. They were severely under-leveled and got obliterated by the final boss. That won’t happen with Final Fantasy 7 Remake because everything will be easier as a more action-oriented title.
There will still be the occasional challenging game, or slow-paced RPG, but they’ll be few and far between, especially with AAA budget concerns. Gaming has gone mainstream, and while that’s great for the industry, the classic gamers who grew up loving the challenge of Super Nintendo and old school arcade titles will have to adapt to the new, easier way of gaming. It’s not a bad thing, but we’re sad to see this passing of the torch.
For more information on Final Fantasy 7 Remake, take a look at what to expect from Episode One!


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Want to keep texting someone even though you do not have your phone with you? You can now send and receive Android text messages on your computer ̵
Google announced Monday that news for the Internet as a brand new feature for Android news, as discovered by 9to5Google. The feature will start on Monday and will continue next week.
To use the feature, you need the latest version of the Android Messages app, which you can download here. Then do the following:
- Switch to messages.android.com on your computer
- Then open the Android Messages app on your phone
- Tap on Messages More Options Menu (the one with three dots) and select News for the Web
- Use your phone to Scan the QR Code on your computer
The ability to send and receive text on your Android phone and computer is long overdue. Apple's iMessages has been supporting this feature for several years, but since you need an iPhone ($ 800 on Cricket Wireless) and Mac, not everyone could use this feature. Now that Android's messaging platform supports this, many more people can send text messages without their phones.
Google also announced four more new features in news:
- Built-in GIF support so you can search and send GIFs in the news app
- Intelligent response that suggests text or emoji responses to incoming texts
- Preview links in conversations
- Simple copying and pasting for passwords and verification codes sent by texts


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Restitution for Data Throttling
The Federal Trade Commission filed a federal court complaint against AT&T Mobility, LLC, charging the company for misleading millions of its smartphone customers by charging them for “unlimited” data plans and then reducing their data speeds, in some cases by nearly 90%. The Federal Trade Commission is is seeking millions of dollars in reimbursements for customers who were promised unlimited data plans by AT&T, then have their mobile network speeds slowed in a practice known as data throttling.
The federal complaint filed in San Francisco, in October of 2011, AT&T began reducing speeds for customers who went above amount of monthly data usage, determined by AT&T. Customers could see their network speeds decrease for the rest of the billing cycle, even though there was actually not any congestion on the network at the time.
In its complaint, the FTC alleges that AT&T began slowing speeds for its unlimited data plan in 2011, and that the company received a excessive amount of customer complaints accusing AT&T of “failing to live up to its end of their bargain because its throttling program imposes a limitation on their unlimited data plan."
AT&T is still using the practice today.
“The FTC’s allegations are baseless and have nothing to do with the substance of our network management program. It’s baffling as to why the FTC would choose to take this action against a company that, like all major wireless providers, manages its network resources to provide the best possible service to all customers, and does it in a way that is fully transparent and consistent with the law and our contracts," the company said.
Public Knowledge, a consumer group, sent letters to four major providers, including AT&T, in August saying that the companies aren't clear about when throttling will kick in. Verizon Wireless, Sprint and AT&T should also publish information about congestion on their networks because that's why carriers say they throttle customers with unlimited data, according to Public Knowledge.
Lang Premier Properties are Birmingham Realtors specializing in Oakland County Real Estate. Stephanie is an agent with Lang Premier Properties. See what past clients have to say about Stephanie Lang. Lang Premier Properties looks out for your best interests when you purchase a new custom luxury home. We always recommend working with an experienced luxury real estate agent when buying a new luxury estate.


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Hindustan Motors, manufacturer of the iconic Indian car, the Ambassador, is now heading towards a new business plan. The company is now planning to become an automobile component manufacturer.
The company’s Chairman, C.K. Birla said, “The key to our revival will be our components business comprising forgings, castings, and stampings produced at our Uttarpara factory near Kolkata.” He also added that he feels tremendous growth opportunities in the auto component business.
At present HM’s component business accounts for about 10% and now with the revised plan, the company desires to jump to about 30-40% of the total share in the next two quarters.
According to the company’s official, Hindustan Motors will need about six months to settle itself completely into this business. It expects a high growth in the next financial year.
The company was making good profits till the Ambassador was a hot choice among Indian consumers. Gradually, when the car was crossed over with a number of new, advanced and exciting car models, the worth of Ambassador was lost.
Even today, the company is continuously making improvements in its age old Ambassador. However, it has no plans to move away from its iconic car but it only desires to add more profits to its business. Therefore, a shift to auto component business is a significant move.


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One of the best new Android features Google imagined was launched last year, on paper. The company unveiled Instant Apps at Google I/O 2016, a bold dream of running specific apps on phones and tablets without the user having to actually install them. Show More Summary
Google officially launched Android Instant Apps earlier in 2017, which lets smartphone owners use apps without actually downloading them.
Posted by Jonathan Karmel Since our public launch at Google I/O this year, we've been hard at work expanding the number of supported devices and the availability of instant apps, so that users can run your apps instantly, without installation. Show More Summary
Posted by Maru Ahues Bouza, Developer Relations Partner, Google Play Android Instant Apps provides rich, native experiences at the tap of a web link. People can experience your app without upfront installation, enabling a higher level...Show More Summary
Sling TV allows you to instantly stream over 100 live channels on all of your devices through its Sling TV app. Sling TV app is already available for Windows 10 PCs and Xbox One console. Today, Sling TV announced that they are making their content available for all Windows PC owners through Google Chrome browser. Show More Summary
How do you search Google and Bing? A few simple keywords plus blind hope that the search engines will return the results you wanted? Search engines are powerful, but they can’t read your mind. That’s why the best way to search still requires the use of boolean search operators. Show More Summary
Google has fired an employee who wrote an internal memo attacking the company's diversity policies — a move that has instantly turned the author into a hero of the right and threatens to ignite a Silicon Valley culture war. On Friday,...Show More Summary
Cacao — a concentrated chocolate brew that is said to provide mind-altering experiences — is taking over the San Francisco Bay Area. The effects are said to be so dramatic, some users compare it to " instant therapy." Sena Shellenberger, 29, a former Google employee, quit her job in 2016 after trying cacao for the first time. Show More Summary
Google's new neural network can learn to edit like a human.
iPhone heist, Google instant goes, muralists stick to principles. [ more › ]
Google Instant was a search feature, in which, Google showed the results of keywords, as it was typed into the search bar. Users were not required to press ‘enter’ after typing the whole search phrase. The post Google Kills Instant Search; Here’s Why Google Pulled The Plug On This Feature… first appeared on Trak.in. Trak.in Mobile Apps: Android | iOS.
Google is killing Instant Search, the smart feature that gives users search results while they are still typing, according to a statement given to Search Engine Land. Instant Search launched in 2010, when Marissa Mayer was leading the Search team at Google. Show More Summary
When Google launched Google Instant Search back in 2010, the company called it a fundamental shift in search that would save searchers time when running searches on Google. Instant Search displayed search results page to the user during the process of typing the actual search phrase the user was interested in. Show More Summary
Google is eliminating its instant search feature, which generated search results in real time as people typed their search queries. The feature was introduced in order to save time, but as the majority of searches are now performed on mobile devices the tool doesn't make as much sense. Show More Summary
Photo. Getty In 2010, Google's then-VP of Search Products Marissa Mayer called Instant Search a "fundamental shift in search," and the media marveled at this new time-saving feat of engineering. Now that shit is dead, because technology has a fundamentally shifted once again. More »
Google wants search to be consistent across all devices, and that means killing off Instant Search after seven years. First launched just way back in 2010, Google Instant Search was supposed to be the future of search, saving countless...Show More Summary
Instant Search is dead at last because it just doesn’t work on mobile devices, and mobile devices are where most Google searches happen these days.
Google is killing Instant Search, which rendered search results in realtime as you typed. The problem, according to Google, is we all now do most of our searching on smartphones, and Instant Search makes no sense on smartphones. So killing the feature is the only sensible option. Show More Summary
Google introduced the by-now familiar Instant Search back in 2010. The idea was to make searching faster by updating the results of your search in real time while you typed. Now the company is dropping the feature, according to SearchEngineLand, to bring it more in line with mobile search. The change is effective today. Source: SearchEngineLand


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Just-drinks LIWSF 2007 – Diary – 4 May
Coming up at this year's London International Wine & Spirits Fair…
Champagne Jacquart (stand F60) is hosting a Champagne Bar at this year's LIWSF to showcase its range of cuvées for the on- and off-trade. The bar will also be trumpeting the launch of Jacquart's first Extra Brut.
Visitors to the bar will also be able to taste the latest 2002 vintage of the Mosaïque range, as well as Jacquart's award-winning prestige cuvees, Brut de Nominée NV, Allegra 1999 and Katarina NV.
Among the new offerings available to try at the event will be Jacob's Creek Three Vines, the Jacob's Creek Reserves range and The Black Cluster (Hunter Valley Shiraz), Wyndham Estate. The company is also offering sneak previews of Montana Brut Cuvee Rosé NV and the new Montana Waipara Reserve Riesling 2006.
Jeff Clarke (chief winemaker) and Tony Hoksburgen will present their Marlborough Terroir research at the New Zealand Winegrowers seminar and Pernod Ricard UK will also be present at the generic New Zealand Winegrowers stand (H20).
Wine Australia will be unveiling its 'Direction to 2025' strategy on the opening day of the LIWSF.
Presented by Kevin McLintock, chairman of the 'Directions' 15-member taskforce, and Paul Henry, Australian Wine & Brandy Corporation's GM of marketing development, the strategy will be discussed in the Waterfront Rooms 7 and 8 at 1015 for one hour on the Tuesday morning.
The strategy is a joint initiative between the Corporation and the Winemakers' Federation of Australia.
To appear in the just-drinks LIWSF 2007 diary, email details to firstname.lastname@example.org.
Pernod Ricard has seen a 6.9% rise in sales in its first-quarter, helped by a lift in high end sales in markets such as China and India....
Champagne G.H. Mumm has launched a rigid-aluminium travel canister gift box for the brand....
Diageo has responded to recent reports that it is in talks with UK supermarkets to stop promotions that mark down prices to a competitive level during the holiday season....
Baarsma Wine Group Holding has acquired Pernod Ricard Italia's Canei wine brand....
Pernod Ricard, Beam Global Spirts & Wine and Diageo are in talks with supermarkets to stop seasonal 'buy one get one free' promotions in the UK, according to reports....
Pernod Ricard is adding a vintage variant to its Jameson's Irish whiskey brand across the US, UK and travel retail markets next month....
Independent spirits company William Grant & Sons has appointed Simon Hunt as managing director of William Grant & Sons North America and Mexico and president of WGS USA, with effect from 15 October....
Pernod Ricard has announced that it is to expand the production capacity of its Wild Turkey distillery in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, as the Bourbon brand's annual volumes top the 1m-case mark for the fir...
- Interview - Bacardi global marketing boss, whisky
- Comment - Hybrid Spirits: Innovation or Laziness?
- Has Coca-Cola Jumped From Frying Pan to Fire?
- Constellation grapples with glass as reality bites
- Brewers Feel Prolonged Russian Winter
- Mast-Jägermeister targets UK off-trade boost
- Diageo doubles intake for spirits start-ups scheme
- Second senior exec to depart Bacardi
- Portman finds against Diageo "mix it up" tagline
- Diageo appoints head for Asia marketing unit


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Tencent has erected a banner advertisement for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe in Harbin, China.
Need to get your attention span up to snuff again? You can now test it out with the help of Mario and friends!
Want to test your Mario Kart 8 Deluxe supremacy against other players and potentially win some sweet prizes along the way? You can look forward to bumping karts this May!
Tencent has announced the release date for the official physical releases for Super Mario Odyssey and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe in China.
Last year, there were many signs indicating that China’s Mario Kart 8 Deluxe online play is region locked.
Tencent has announced the official release date for Super Mario Odyssey and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe for Nintendo Switch in China.
GAME, the video game association in Germany, has published the list of bestselling games in Germany for February 2020.
Last year, Tencent announced Super Mario Odyssey and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe will be officially released in China in early 2020.


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The Australian team are psyched up and ready to go to support dealers in this season’s Field Day program. The company has been developing new products over the last two years, many of them originating from ideas presented by farmers at the 2015 or 2016 Field Day seasons.
“Field Days are a fabulous opportunity for our team to get orientated towards what farmers want. Our program also works hard to support the ‘Drought Proof Australia’ program. We are backing Barnaby Joyce all the way with a plan to provide water security for farmers across this fabulous country”, said Aussie Pumps’ Brad Farrugia.
New offerings for this year include a full range of Honda powered self-priming pumps, from high pressure firefighting gear to trash pumps for piggeries, all backed by Aussie’s unique five year warranty and Honda’s four year engine warranty.
“To get those special warranty deals, farmers will need to move fast! This unique joint offering of Honda and Aussie ends, so far as Honda’s extra year of free warranty is concerned, on the 1st September, 2017. It’s a good reason for making buying decisions promptly”, said Farrugia.
The Australian Pump ‘Drought Proof Australia’ story and their free documentation on water security in support of the program are freely available from Australian Pump Industries or from Aussie’s Field Days displays across the country.


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The Federal Reserve will not be able to raise interest rates this year. Why? Sustainable economic growth has not and is not occurring. While most economists are predicting a sustainably growing U.S. economy that will lead the rest of the world out of stagnation, outside of more rapid employment growth. there is no evidence that is happening.
And here's why the job growth is not as bullish as most believe: Over the past 13 months, there have been 3.4 million jobs created versus 2.6 million over the comparable prior 13 months. The main reason for the extra 800,000 jobs was the end of 2013 cessation of super extended unemployment benefits. Those folk dropped off the dole had to take minimum wage 30 hour-type jobs. That is why wage growth is non-existent. The newly employed making minimum wage are not taking home very much more than what they made via unemployment benefits plus food stamps.
Indeed, almost all economists — and Fed governors are also economists — have been incorrectly predicting over the past several years that interest rates will have to rise because of an improving economy. And like Godot, the improving economy has never arrived. That is why I continue to predict ever higher bond prices and lower yields — and why the consensus of economists will continue to be wrong in predicting a bond bear market.
Read MoreBond strategist: 'Get out of bonds'
In fact, as opposed to takeoff velocity, the U.S. economy is slowing and could be entering into a shallow recession. The TrimTabs Macroeconomic Index, a correlation weighted composite index of leading economic variables, fell 0.6 percent in the past ten weeks and is 0.8 percent below its October 2014 peak.
The rest of the world, I argue, is already in a global recession that will deepen before it ends. Why? When the world's central banks dropped interest rates to zero, the immediate impact was a cut in prices for anything expensive enough to require debt to purchase. The price cut spurred sales of cars, houses, appliances, shipping, etc. Zero interest rates then inspired producers of cars and other commodities — particularly oil — to boost production dramatically. Unfortunately, without a real increase in final demand, what happens is what we have now — a vast amount of excess capacity in oil, most commodities and global automobile capacity.
In other words, we are in a global commodity bear market.
Home sales spiked for several years when interest rates plunged, but by now, everyone who could afford a new home at record low mortgage rates has bought one. All of the recent home-sale numbers have disappointed to the down side. Throughout history, what has always followed slower sales is lower prices. The nonsensical myth that lower sales are due to lack of supply is ridiculous. In a supply-and-demand world, a lack of supply creates higher prices. That prices have stopped rising outside of New York, California and South Florida, says that the problem is lack of demand not supply.
The same is true for oil production and new shipping capacity.
Why demand is not growing here in the U.S. and elsewhere is the result of no-growth governmental policies. The most important data point not currently understood is that, since 2008, there have been fewer new businesses being created than those that are closing. That's unprecedented. And ever since the start of the Bush-Obama presidencies, new jobs created are the lowest as a percentage of population growth ever! Unless that changes, the U.S. economy cannot sustainably grow.
The prevailing myth among investors is that we have to be entering into a sustainable economy recovery because global stock prices are at record highs. Almost all investors still believe that there is a direct relationship between the economy and stock prices.
I continue to predict that stock prices will continue to rise over the near term, even though the U.S. economy is slowing.
At TrimTabs, we believe that all there is in the stock market are shares of stock; money flows in an out of the checking accounts of stock-market intermediaries, such as pension, hedge, mutual, exchange traded funds, etc. Indeed, 80 percent of the Russsell 1000 is held by institutions. Since the total number of shares in the U.S. stock market has been declining since the end of 2011, more money chasing fewer shares has created an ever rising stock market.
And for as long as companies keep reducing the overall share count, the U.S. stock market will keep rising, having nothing to do with the U.S. or global economies.
The real question to me is: How long can the stock market keep rising while the rest of the economy languishes?
I do not have an answer to that, except that markets can remain irrational longer then logic dictates.
Commentary by Charles Biderman, the founder of TrimTabs Investment Research, an institutional research firm that tracks supply and demand of stocks and money as well as macro economic data in real time. In 2011, Biderman launched TrimTabs Float Shrink ETF, TTFS, a five-star Morningstar-rated ETF. Follow him on Twitter @CharlesBiderman.


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One-day event brings together industry leaders, visionaries, influencers and investors from the sports and entertainment world who are shaping the landscape of the game
Englewood Cliffs, N.J. & New York, N.Y., April 2, 2024 – CNBC, First in Business Worldwide, and Boardroom, Kevin Durant and Rich Kleiman’s premier media brand covering the intersection of sports, entertainment and business, today announced the companies are teaming up again for the second annual Game Plan Summit. The one-day event, which is the centerpiece of a new multi-year partnership between CNBC and Boardroom, will bring together industry leaders, visionaries and game changers from the sports and entertainment world and take place on September 10 in Los Angeles, CA.
“We head into Game Plan 2024 with significant momentum,” said Nick Dunn, Senior Vice President & Managing Director of CNBC Events. “The buzz from last year was not only about the unparalleled programming, but also the amazing attendees; an influential mix of owners, executives, investors and innovators all connecting and networking at the event. Any real player in this space will want to be in the room this year.”
Boardroom’s Rich Kleiman joined CNBC’s Squawk Box this morning to discuss the announcement.
“Last year’s Game Plan event brought together a mix of incredible athletes and innovators for a day of conversation unlike anything I’ve experienced in my professional career,” said Rich Kleiman, CEO of Boardroom. “The whole Boardroom team is really excited to run it back with CNBC as part of a multi-year partnership and grow the foundation we’ve built together with the sports and business community.”
The 2024 Game Plan Summit will build on the incredible success of last year’s inaugural event, examining all aspects of investment and innovation in the business of sports. From the power of fandom, to evolving ownership groups, to the growing role that athletes and entertainers play in media, CNBC x Boardroom’s Game Plan goes up close with the most influential leaders, investors, and executives at the top of a rapidly evolving business landscape.
Speakers at the 2023 event included: 2x NBA champion Kevin Durant, ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro, National Women’s Soccer League Commissioner Jessica Berman, NJ Devils and Philadelphia 76ers Co-owner David Blitzer, professional tennis star Nick Kyrgios, Colorado Rockies Co-Owner Linda Alvarado, NBA Rookie of the Year Paolo Banchero, WNBA Player Lexie Brown, Kroenke Sports & Entertainment CEO and Los Angeles Rams Owner E. Stanley Kroenke, and many more.
Panelists and speakers for the September 2024 Game Plan Summit will be announced in the coming weeks.
Ticket information can be found at cnbcevents.com/game-plan-2024/.
CNBC is the recognized world leader in business news, providing real-time financial market coverage and business content consumed by more than half a billion people per month across all platforms. The network’s 15 live hours a day of news programming in North America (weekdays from 5:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. ET) is produced at CNBC’s global headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., and includes reports from CNBC News bureaus worldwide. CNBC at night features a mix of reality programming, CNBC’s highly successful series produced exclusively for CNBC and a number of distinctive in-house documentaries.
CNBC also offers content through its vast portfolio of digital products such as: CNBC.com, which provides financial market news and information to CNBC’s investor audience; CNBC Make It, a digital destination focused on making you smarter about how you earn, save and spend your money; CNBC PRO, a premium service that provides in-depth access to Wall Street; a suite of CNBC mobile apps for iOS and Android devices; Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and Apple Siri voice interfaces; and streaming services including Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV and Samsung Smart TVs. To learn more, visit https://www.cnbc.com/digital-products/.
Members of the media can receive more information about CNBC and its programming on the NBCUniversal Media Village Web site at http://www.nbcumv.com/programming/cnbc. For more information about NBCUniversal, please visit http://www.NBCUniversal.com.
Boardroom is a media brand co-founded by Kevin Durant and Rich Kleiman that focuses on the intersection of sports, entertainment, and business. Boardroom’s media arm produces daily and weekly newsletters along with premium content showcasing how athletes, executives, musicians, and creators are moving the business world forward. Recent film and TV projects include the Academy Award-winning Two Distant Strangers (Netflix), the critically acclaimed scripted series Swagger (Apple TV+) and Emmy-nominated documentary NYC Point Gods (Showtime).
Boardroom’s ecosystem also consists of curating and producing high profile events and experiences, including NBA and WNBA All-Star events as well as Game Plan in partnership with CNBC. Other partners have included Visa, Meta and FanDuel. Boardroom’s advisory arm consults and connects athletes, brands, and executives with its broader network and initiatives while Boardroom Sports Holdings invests in emerging sports teams and leagues, including the Major League Pickleball team, the Brooklyn Aces, NWSL champions Gotham FC, and MLS’ Philadelphia Union.


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MPL, one of the biggest mobile and skill gaming platforms worldwide, has banned more than a million user accounts that broke the rules and cheated their way to alter outcomes on the platform in their favour.
The corporation has taken this action in order to maintain its ability to offer customers a safe and fair gaming environment. According to the platform, it has security mechanisms in place that allow them to quickly identify and ban fake accounts when they are established.
A few of the main reasons why MPL restricted user accounts are the use of multiple accounts by the same user to access the platform, the uploading of fabricated or doctored KYC documents, the use of unauthorised payment methods, such as stolen cards, and cheating through the use of any hacks or collusion strategies .
Ruchir Patwa, VP of Security and Compliance, MPL, in a statement said “This move is aligned to our player-first approach and also highlights MPL’s zero tolerance towards users who resort to illegal practices in order to alter gameplay results and gain an unfair advantage. With initiatives like this, MPL is poised to continue being a safe and user-friendly platform that is trusted by the users,”
The gaming platform has also made a number of announcements to support the player-first philosophy and give users a risk-free and safe gaming environment.
It has employed best-in-class technological strategies that enable granular fraud account detection, including identification of the devices used to establish the accounts. Once a user has been blocked, they frequently start new accounts with alternative email addresses. MPL, however, recognises these illicit login attempts performed using the same device with the use of cutting-edge technology and permanently revokes their access. This makes sure that banned players are suspended and kicked off the platform, giving real players the confidence to sign up for tournaments.


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Good news for shoppers and workers as Christmas time nears.
The Toys R Us Express Store at Heritage Place in Owen Sound is now open.
Vice President of Store Design and Marketing Liz McDonald says they have hired almost 10 staff to start.
McDonald notes as the volume picks up during the holiday season -- they may need to hire more staff.
If you're looking to apply -- McDonald recommends visiting the store itself or the Toys R Us website.
McDonald says the new Express Store will provide local residents with easy access to the hottest toys of the season -- without travelling to the nearest full-size stores, located in Barrie and Guelph.
She add's they've been researching and scouting the Owen Sound location for about two years now.
It's one of 30 Toys R Us Express locations to open in the past three years.


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CAMBRIDGE — Buffeted by a pandemic and subsequent economic downturn, the state’s local businesses hope this weekend’s sales tax holiday will entice coronavirus-weary consumers back through their doors to spend money there rather than online.
“It’s the beginning of a process of trying to bring the consumer back,” said Jon Hurst, president of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts after the “twin crises” that have wracked the nation for the past six months.
Massachusetts retailers have been slowly reopening over the summer, while implementing measures meant to slow the spread of COVID-19, under a phased restart of the state’s economy.
The state’s annual sales tax holiday allows customers to buy products, such as televisions, grills, and kitchen appliances, that cost under $2,500 without paying the state’s 6.25 percent sales tax. Some items, including meals, alcoholic beverages, and marijuana products, are still subject to taxes, according to the state.
Local brick-and-mortar businesses are trying to emphasize what can’t be duplicated by online shopping, Hurst said.
“That shopping experience, that impulse-buying type of browsing experience that you don’t really duplicate well online or on your smartphone, is what keeps a lot of hope alive for these small businesses, and for our main streets,” Hurst said.
An experience like that attracted Rebecca Thompson, who visited the CambridgeSide Saturday to pick up a new phone she had purchased a day earlier.
The 27-year-old from Mattapan hadn’t planned on doing any shopping — but then, a pair of pink shoes caught her eye. Maybe she could check out one store after all.
“Just because I saw them,” she said.
On Tuesday, Governor Charlie Baker promoted the weekend’s sales tax holiday and importance of shopping at local businesses during a press conference at Wheelworks bicycle shop in Belmont.
Small businesses employ about half of the state’s workforce, and many of their employees live in the communities they work in, Baker said.
Hurst said retailers association would survey members to review how much business they had this weekend. The sales tax holiday comes as retailers prepare for back-to-school shopping and fall fashions. On the heels of that will be the holiday shopping season and November’s small business Saturday, Hurst said.
Hurst said consumers are still very wary of going into businesses because of the coronavirus and over the past several months, many have increasingly turned to doing business with online retailers.
As businesses reopened, much of their messaging and advertising has focused on promoting options like curbside service and visiting stores by appointment only, he said. That outreach has included an emphasis on safety, like requirements for wearing masks and maintaining social distancing.
Expectations on sales are lower this year compared to previous sales tax holidays, Hurst said. But he anticipates this will be the best weekend for retailers since February, he said.
Consumers’ shopping at local businesses has a significant impact on the state’s economy and workers’ livelihoods, he said.
“They need to shop like jobs depend on it, because they do,” Hurst said.
At CambridgeSide Saturday, crowds were light as shoppers made their way into the mall. Among them was a 77-year-old Everett man who said he hadn’t been to the mall since February.
But the opportunity to buy an iPad during the state’s sales tax holiday was too enticing for him to pass up.
“There’s too much to be saved,” said John, who declined to give his last name, as he used a magnifying glass to read a smartphone.
Melissa LaVita, a CambridgeSide spokeswoman, said social distancing rules imposed during the pandemic capped the mall at 40 percent of its capacity — about 6,000 people, she said.
Mask wearing at the mall was universal, save for a few people who sneaked sips from a drink here and there. Crowds were thin enough to make social distancing mostly easy.
Even with the reduced numbers, some managers had taken precautions and were prepared in case of large crowds.
Sarah Hesbacker, general manager of the Best Buy store at CambridgeSide, said she had scheduled all of her employees to come in that day, with managers working at least 10 hours.
“This is our Black Friday dry run,” she said.
The store has three entrances, and Hesbacker said she had been planning how to manage potential crowds all week. One change was to not allow mallgoers to cut through the store, tying up capacity that would leave would-be shoppers waiting in a line, and to let in customers a few at a time, she said.
That threw off John Tuttle, 58, of Stoneham, who usually visits the Best Buy first on his trips to the mall.
When he arrived at the mall Saturday he feared would not be allowed in if he did not plan to buy anything, according to his sister Jane Tuttle, 59, who looks out for her brother, who has autism.
CambridgeSide is where Tuttle goes “to have time for himself, Jane Tuttle said.
Michael Yeates, 66, of Cambridge said he had the tax holiday marked on his calendar for a couple weeks, after he read about it.
Recently retired and an avid TV watcher, it seemed like a good time to replace a 15-year-old television, he said, something he has been planning for a couple years.
“When I realized it was a tax holiday, I said ‘what can I get?’” Yeates said, after picking up a new television at Best Buy.
“At least I’ll get some discount,” he said, and a distraction from his home improvement projects.


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Here’s how Sam’s Club became top in private brands
Sam’s Club is finding success with its private brand push.
“We are seeing the power that comes from having just one brand, and we’re holding ourselves to a very high standard for any item we put the Member’s Mark name onto,” said Sam’s Club CEO John Furner.
In early 2017, the company launched 300 new items under the Member’s Mark private brand. Some of the items rose to favorites by members, while others were revamped to better give customers what they want. Some of them went to the product graveyard, according to Pamela Gaik, vice president of private brands at Sam’s Club.
Related: Facing up to the task
Nationwide, 81 percent of consumers buy private brands and 53 percent shop a retailer specifically for its private brands. Gaik said Sam’s is still working to get to a Trader Joe’s or Costco Wholesale level, but the progress made in the past couple of years has been amazing. One out of every three items sold at Sam’s Club is a Member’s Mark item, according to Talk Business.
“We want Member’s Mark to be a destination-driven brand like the Scandinavian Swimmers are for Trader Joe’s and Kirkland Signature is for Costco,” Gaik said.
Gaik was clear to say Sam’s Club will continue to look for ways to grow Member’s Mark in the future. She said there are no plans to extend the brand into toys or consumer electronics, which happen to be hot sellers during the holidays. She said Member’s Mark items in the food and decor categories typically do very well in the holiday season, according to Talk Business.
Sam’s Clubs locations typically carry between 6,000 and 7,000 items. A certain amount of turnover is important for clubs who also have to keep new items coming in to satisfy the treasure-hunting members.
To read Talk Business’ full article, click here


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2014 Detroit Auto Show: 2015 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 and C7.R Walkaround
Chevrolet had the darling of the Detroit Auto Show this year with the 2015 Corvette Z06. The new model is said to be the most track capable model ever built thanks to a number of improvements such as a new supercharged V8 engine, aluminum chassis, and bits of carbon fiber throughout the vehicle. You could even say that the new Z06 is a road-going version of the Corvette C7.R, which also debuted at the show. Harlan Charles, Product Manager for the Corvette, gave us a walkaround of both models.


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Michael Newberg is a field producer for CNBC's Los Angeles bureau. Previously, Mike worked as a segment producer of CNBC's 5 p.m. ET show, "Fast Money." Before joining CNBC, Mike worked at MSNBC's "The Ed Show," and on NBC News' 2012 election coverage team. Mike is a graduate of NBC's Page Program, where he worked on "Saturday Night Live" and at CNBC. He graduated from Colgate University and is a native of Buffalo, N.Y. You can follow him on Twitter: @MikeNewberg.
From waffle tacos to doughnut-bacon-and-egg sandwiches, restaurants pull out all the stops to capture your taste buds.
Several designers kicked off the inaugural lingerie fashion week, showcasing the latest in the big business of skimpy.
Behind the scenes and on the Lincoln Center runway at New York's Mercedes-Benz Fashion Show for the Fall 2013 season.
Christina Cheddar Berk is assistant managing editor of Enterprise coverage at CNBC Digital.
Courtney Reagan is CNBC's Retail Reporter.
Tom is a Senior Editor and Assignment Desk Manager for CNBC TV. He also writes about the business of beer for CNBC.com.
Stephanie Landsman is one of the producers of "Fast Money."


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Intellectual property licensor MIPS Technologies said an Indian firm is now shipping in India a media tablet featuring a MIPS-based processor and running the latest version of the Android operating system for about $125. View the full article HERE .
Quoted from Indian firm launches $125 MIPS-based Android 4.1 tablet on android tablet – Yahoo! News Search Results
The XOO Belt, designed by a company in Manchester, is made from leather with a plain metal buckle that incorporates a charger that is held in place by magnets. Join the Nasdaq Community today and get free, instant access to portfolios, stock ratings, real-time alerts, and more! Read the latest stories about Tech on Fortune InformationWeek, serving the information needs InformationWeek.com: News analysis, commentary, and research for business technology professionals. Tags: informationweek, serving, information, needs, Test your knowledge with amazing and interesting facts, trivia, quizzes, and brain teaser games on MentalFloss.com. Cindy Crawford, 51, made the mom jean popular back in the '90s. Today the supermodel announced her partnership with luxury denim label Re/Done. The Find the latest Wall Street Journal stories on tech companies, start-ups and personal technology, plus the latest reviews.


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Like other countries, Rwanda as a nation through its leadership has got a strategic initiative designed to transform it. The tourism sector in Rwanda continues recording increase in visitor numbers into the country, thus need to digitize its products, experiences and services. The move applies to tourism and hospitality sectors and it is aimed at doubling the country’s profits and tourism revenues.
As of 2017, over 1.3 million visitors traveled to Rwanda contributing about USD 438 million in the country’s tourism revenues. This came with an increase in over 90,000 new jobs. Rwanda attracts most travelers seeking for gorilla safaris, unrivalled journeys into the Virunga mountains in search of the endangered mountain gorillas. However, the land of a thousand hills has more than just the gorillas!
According to Charles Shima, the Rwandan-Canadian, deploying technology to create immersive cultural experiences for tourists in Africa- and this has been his longtime dream. The idea is aimed at building a unicorn in the travel industry.
Charles Shima is one of the survivors of the Rwandan genocide and during the terrific civil war, the young boy then was gun pointed but fortunately he survived and managed to exit the country. He was able to harness greener pastures during his time in Canada and after over 25 years, he couldn’t believe he would return to his home country.
When he returned, he noticed a great change had taken place in the country and there were plenty of opportunities to take advantage too. One of his areas of interest was tourism and travel. As a result, ZaNiheza was launched, a travel marketplace for immersive experiences linking travelers worldwide with verified local curators in Africa and beyond.
Shima added that his passion has always been about the cultures of the world. This is a reason why he built ZaNiheza a tour company now operating in Rwanda. He aims at rebuilding Rwanda with the goal to provide opportunities for the youth too.
ZaNiheza began operation in 2019 with the vision to change how the world experienced Africa. He was ready to begin laying the foundation to build the next African unicorn although it was affected by the outbreak of coronavirus that hit the travel sector worldwide.
He believes Africa should be marketed beyond wildlife. The focus should be the grassroots and make the best use of technology to create an impact. Over USD 50,000 has been invested in the business and part of it has been channeled in building the technology and creating the supply. ZaNiheza as a company now works with local travel curators across African states. The idea already exists in other parts of the worlds, especially Europe but it wasn’t in Africa which makes it a big deal for the travel sector in Rwanda.


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Talk About Big-Box Retailing: Amazon Pushes to Sell Furniture
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Amazon.com is making a major push into furniture and appliances, including building at least four massive warehouses focused on fulfilling and delivering bulky items. Furniture is one of the fastest-growing segments of U.S. online retail.
Judge Asks Prosecutors to Investigate Uber's Driverless Car Program
The judge called for an investigation of Uber and one of its engineers for the potential theft of trade secrets from Google, heightening the stakes of a legal battle between Uber and Google parent Alphabet over driverless-car technology.
Lilly's New Migraine Drug Shows Positive Results
Eli Lilly & Co. said it will seek regulatory approval of a migraine drug this year after seeing positive results from late-stage studies, raising hopes for a new class of treatments for the debilitating headaches.
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Brazil's Itaú to Acquire 49.9% of Brokerage XP for $1.9 Billion
Brazilian bank Itaú Unibanco agreed to pay more than $1.9 billion to buy a 49.9% stake in local brokerage firm XP Investimentos, along with options to acquire full control in the future.
Noble Shares Plunge to 15-Year Low on Quarterly Loss and Hedging Woes
Noble Group shares lost nearly half their value in two days after a quarterly loss and fears over financing added to concerns that the commodities trader may struggle to effectively hedge its price risk in its coal business.
San Francisco Sues Uber for Driver Information
San Francisco is seeking to force the ride-hailing service to disclose personal information about its drivers so officials can ensure the drivers are paying business fees to the city.
Fiat Chrysler Recalls 1.2 Million Ram Pickup Trucks
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV on Friday issued a recall for an estimated 1.2 million Ram pickup trucks in North America to fix a glitch in safety system sensors, linking the problem to one death and two injuries.
SoftBank to Pump $5 Billion Into China's Didi
Japan's SoftBank is pledging to invest $5 billion in China's lead ride-hailing firm Didi Chuxing, seeking to position itself in a key technology growth area.
Delaware Judge Frees Cigna to Exit Anthem Merger
A judge on Thursday freed health insurer Cigna Corp. to abandon its proposed $48 billion merger with Anthem Inc., declining to give Anthem more time to try to salvage the deal, which federal courts have blocked on antitrust grounds.
Amid Retail Funk, Macy's Says 'We're Not Dead'
Macy's troubles showed no sign of abating as the department store reported another quarter of falling sales, ahead of a flurry of results from other retailers battling similar problems with store traffic and online competition.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 12, 2017 09:15 ET (13:15 GMT)


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IAB UK’s Parliamentary event spotlights value of digital for SMEs
Posted on Friday 01 December 2023 | IAB UK
The Parliamentary launch event for our new research report ‘The Digital Dividend’ saw Baroness Stowell spotlight the economic contribution of the UK’s digital ad industry
“This is the first time the economic value of the UK’s digital advertising industry has been measured” explained Baroness Stowell, Chair of the Lords Digital and Communications Committee, introducing IAB UK’s latest research The Digital Dividend at an IAB UK hosted Parliamentary event this week. Speaking to an audience of Parliamentarians, the Baroness went on to explain why digital advertising is “hugely important to the UK economy, businesses and people in general” - drawing particular attention to how integral ad-funded online services are to the everyday lives of the vast majority of the population.
Scott Corfe, Director of Data & Modelling at Public First, who co-authored the research, took the audience through the main findings. In total, the digital ad industry is worth £129bn to the UK economy and supports 2 million jobs around the country. As Scott put it, “digital advertising is saving consumers an awful lot of money at the moment, which is particularly important during the cost-of-living crisis.” The IAB’s research found that access to ad-funded online services saves the UK public a combined total of £18 billion a year, working out at over £600 per household on average. He also drew attention to the fact that digital channels help SMEs to expand their customer bases - potentially internationally - helping to boost the UK’s export market.
Jon Mew, IAB UK’s CEO, helped to put the numbers into context: “The direct economic contribution of our industry to the UK’s economy is twice as large as the impact of the country’s agricultural sector. In addition, the employment footprint of our sector is 50% bigger than that of the automotive industry. In short, digital advertising is crucial to the economic health of our nation.”
Discussing SMEs specifically, Mew referenced the Chancellor’s plan - outlined in the Autumn Statement - to increase digital adoption and explore how best to support SMEs to adopt digital technology to improve productivity. Citing new IAB UK research, he said: “We know that one-fifth of SMEs feel that they lack the skills to use digital advertising and that a similar proportion do not understand how to measure the value they get out of it – limiting the potential value they could get from a channel that could help them to grow and succeed,” he explained. “We know that there are tools and other support that could help address these challenges and will be looking to engage with policymakers to help to unlock the potential of digital advertising for UK SMEs.”
You can find more pictures from the event here.
Rediscover the joy of digital advertising
Champion connections instead of clicks. Capture audiences' imaginations, not just their attention. Boldly move to your own beat instead of letting tech set the pace. It’s time to rediscover the joy of digital.


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Patent will support first-of-its-kind AI software designed to eliminate workplace distractions
TRUCE Software, the global leader in mobile device management technology, announced today the United States Patent and Trademark Office has awarded the company a new patent that supports its ground-breaking methods for contextual mobile device management (CMDM) in the form of U.S. Patent No. 10,268,530 for “Managing Functions on an iOS-Based Mobile Device Using ANCS Notifications.” The expansion of its patent portfolio demonstrates TRUCE’s ongoing commitment to eliminate mobile device distraction in the workplace.
“It’s important for TRUCE to continue the growth of its patent portfolio to protect our innovative IP, which is the foundation for a new category of contextual technology,” said Joe Breaux, chief technology officer, TRUCE Software. “Expanding the reach of our solutions to address mobile device distraction in all workplaces is a priority, and through our proprietary technology we’ve developed a product to achieve this.”
TRUCE has now been granted seven patents with another six pending that enable the functionality of its CMDM platform. With the technology covered by these patents, the company is able to address on-site workplace management and industrial workforce safety, as well as distracted driving in commercial fleets.
“As a company we are focused on continually innovating to ensure our customers can implement mobile device management policies that not only keep their employees safe, but also increase productivity,” added Breaux. “This latest patent ensures that we remain ahead of the curve in this regard.”


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When two black men walked into a downtown Philadelphia Starbucks for a business meeting on April 12, they had no idea that they’d be walking out in handcuffs. The men, Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson, were waiting for a friend to arrive when a manager called 911. As Nelson and Robinson sat at the table, mere minutes after arriving, police suddenly showed up to arrest them for trespassing.
The arrests, caught on video, sparked national outrage, with calls for boycotts and protests. Some have argued that the manager was justified in calling the police because the pair explicitly declined to purchase anything; that sentiment has echoed throughout comments sections and in various forums across the internet. But that line of thought erroneously suggests that sitting in a Starbucks is dependent on a financial transaction; for years, Starbucks has aggressively branded itself not simply as a spot to purchase coffee, but as a “third place” for people to freely commune.
Sociologist Ray Oldenburg coined the term “third place” in the late 1980s to describe places outside of work and the home, where people could exchange ideas and build communities — places like parks, bookstores, bars, and cafes. Such spaces invite people from otherwise disparate walks of life into a common location, where the act of lingering becomes crucial to successful community building.
Starbucks has long used the idea to promote its coffeehouses. On its website, the company recounts how its executive chairman, Howard Schultz, was inspired “to bring the Italian coffeehouse tradition back to the United States, building a place for conversation and a sense of community — his vision of third place between work and home.” He hoped to make Starbucks more than a cafe to buy coffee and leave, in other words — a place to hang out and make connections, just like Nelson and Robinson tried to do in Philadelphia.
But Schultz’s and Starbucks’s ideal clashes with the reality that people of color in this country must constantly justify their existence, especially in predominantly white spaces; they must constantly answer the questions, “Do you have the right to be here?” and “Why are you really here?” — questions rarely asked of white people in the same spaces.
In the weeks since Nelson and Robinson’s arrest, multiple similar incidents have also made headlines: Last week, three LA Fitness employees in New Jersey were fired after asking two black men using the gym to pay or leave, even though both men had signed in before working out. The men were told that their membership had been terminated and were asked to leave, before staff called police on them. A few days later, a golfing club called the police on a group of black women who wouldn’t leave after a group of white members complained that the women were playing too slowly. And a Berkeley cafe suddenly closed last week after comedian W. Kamau Bell — prompted by the Starbucks incident — recounted a 2015 incident in which an employee shooed him away from the store window.
Vague corporate policy often acts as the mechanic that conveniently allows these things to happen — empowering corporate America to question whether people of color have a right to exist in a given space. At Starbucks, for instance, the chain’s third place concept isn’t clearly dictated in any company directives, and the Wall Street Journal reports that the official policy regarding the removal of non-paying customers is unclear at best. As a result, managers around the country have enacted contradictory case-by-case policies.
While Schultz has stated in interviews that no one should be kicked out of Starbucks unless they are disruptive, on Reddit, where there is an active community of Starbucks employees and fans, one user claimed in a post written seven months ago that their district manager directed staff to walk around the location every few hours and kick out people who had stayed for too long. Another user claimed their store covered electrical outlets to prevent people from using their laptops, an act reportedly approved by leadership for other locations in New York City in 2011. Eater reached out to a Starbucks representative for clarity on its non-paying customers policy, but the company did not comment before publication.
Based on Starbucks’ lack of a clear policy, Philadelphia police commissioner Richard Ross initially said his officers did “absolutely nothing wrong.” But when the 54-year-old commissioner learned that the men his officers arrested were simply doing what Starbucks has invited people to do for more than 30 years, he publicly apologized, claiming neither he nor the officers involved realized this before. “While it is no excuse, my lack of awareness of the Starbucks business model played a role in my message,” Ross said. “While this is apparently a well-known fact with Starbucks customers, not everyone is aware that people spend long hours in Starbucks and aren’t necessarily expected to make a purchase.”
It’s hard to buy that one. After the incident, Melissa DePino, the white patron who filmed the video, noted that she has stayed at Starbucks for hours on numerous occasions and has never been asked to leave; in fact, one would be hard-pressed to find an avid Starbucks consumer who hasn’t at some point taken the company up on its offer and used the free Wi-Fi, electrical outlets, or cozy booths for hours on end without a regular re-up on their Frappuccino. People “loiter” in bars, bookstores, and cafes around the world, sometimes without paying, because it is generally expected that it is okay to do so, within reason. This shows that what happened in Philadelphia is more than a misunderstanding of policy, it’s a result of believing that some people have less of a right to exist in certain places.
The irony in this incident is that Starbucks has frequently professed to be an agent of social change. Led by Schultz, an outspoken Democrat who has donated frequently to liberal causes, Starbucks has weighed in on social issues pertaining to race and class again and again. In the midst of discourse surrounding the police shootings of unarmed black men such as Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, the company attempted to debunk assertions that it did not care about minority or lower-income neighborhoods by announcing plans to open stores in 15 underrepresented communities around the United States, including one in Ferguson. (A 2015 Eater analysis showed that despite the 15 new locations, more than 80 percent of American Starbucks stores were located in predominantly white neighborhoods, mostly with median income levels of $50,000 or higher.) Before that, the company put together the highly criticized Race Together initiative, in which baristas were encouraged to talk about race with customers.
Despite the failed attempts to appear inclusive, Starbucks presses on with pushing its “woke” image, at great expense. Since the day Nelson and Robinson were arrested, Starbucks executives have been on a costly apology tour, trying to reiterate its commitment to the third place and social justice. A reactionary plan to close stores to discuss implicit and racial bias with employees could cost the chain millions. About 8,000 stores will close for the afternoon on May 29 for the training.
But for many, the damage is done, and the incident serves as yet another example of a harsh reality: That despite loudly touted ideals, patrons of color face discrimination every day in the most mundane of spaces, from cafes to gyms. While some businesses are assumed to be an open place for all, this recent incident has confirmed for many that at the end of the day, for many businesses, front-facing inclusivity and welcomeness are still works in progress, if not flat-out shams.
Vince Dixon is Eater’s data visualization reporter.