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Aldi launches £49.99 wine advent calendar
Hoping to get revelers into the Christmas spirit, discount retailer Aldi has launched a wine advent calendar filled with 24 mini bottles for just £49.99.
The wallet-friendly boozy calendar works out at just £2 a bottle for each of the 20cl liquid treats hidden behind the 24 doors.
db is awaiting details on the wines behind each door, which are a mixture of red, white, rosé and sparkling from France, Italy and Spain.
Among the wines are a Merlot and a Chablis from the likes of JP Chenet and Calvet.
Filled with the equivalent of six 75cl bottles of wine, calendars go on sale on 1 November and are expected to sell out pretty speedily.
News of its release led one Twitter user to hail it “the biggest game changer of 2017”.
Earlier this week db reported that Aldi has released a Jeroboam of Prosecco for £39.99 in time for Christmas filled with three litres of the Italian sparkling wine.
The Jero release came in response to an increased consumer desire to add a splash of theatre to parties and celebrations with larger format bottles.


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One of the great things about having a Google account and using Chrome on your various devices is that all of your information is stored within your account. This includes things like your browsing history, favorites, bookmarks, and of course, your passwords.
October is also known as Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and Google is kicking things off by introducing a few new features that will be arriving for Android and iOS users in the coming days. The first of which is going to be a life-saver for many, as Google is adding a shortcut to the Google Password Manager. This shortcut will be found in the Google app menu, but it has not appeared just yet.
Once it arrives, you will essentially have access to a dedicated Google Password Manager app in order to manage the passwords saved to your Google account much easier. In the same vein, Google has confirmed that you will be able to use Chrome to autofill your saved passwords in other apps, similar to how Apple devices make use of the iCloud Keychain.
Back in May, Google confirmed that it would be making two-factor authentication mandatory for all new Google accounts. In this blog post, Google announced plans to “auto-enroll an additional 150 million Google users in 2SV and require 2 million YouTube creators to turn it on.” Google also says that it’s working on different methods for providing a “convenient, secure authentication experience” for accounts that aren’t quite suited to use two-factor authentication.
Rounding out the blog post, Google has reminded everyone that it has launched a new sign-in method using your Google account for third-party apps. This is called “One Tap” and allows you to either sign up or sign in with just a single button using your Google account. The feature can already be found on apps like Reddit and Pinterest, but is rolling out to more applications.

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Google recently participated in an informational meeting for companies interested in bringing free WiFi access to New York City. Other companies interested in such a venture include IBM, Samsung and Cisco, however it’s well-documented that the search giant wants to make internet access less challenging for people who are struggling to get online.
Google currently offers free WiFi access around its headquarters in Mountain View, California and in New York’s Chelsea area near the company’s east coast offices. This new project would blanket NYC pay phones with WiFi access across all five of New York’s boroughs. The program stipulates that companies will be able to charge for phone services (except 911 and 311 calls), but internet access would be free. If accepted, this service will utilize over 7,300 of the city’s pay phones.
Keeping in mind that a bulk of Google’s revenue streams need customers to be online, the company definitely has a lot to gain by keeping a major market like New York City constantly connected to the web.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.


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Farmers came in their hundreds to blockade Robert Wiseman Dairy in Bridgwater this evening in a protest against its decision to make a further cut in the amount it pays farmers for a litre of milk. One by one they parked up in their tractors to convey their discontent at decisions being made in the dairy industry.
Farmers For Action say farmers are being 'robbed' as they lose money on every litre they produce.
In the last three months the price farmers are paid for a litre of milk has dropped by 4 pence. The second two pence of that comes into force on August 1st. Farmers are hoping the dairy will reverse its decison and fully reinstate them for the money they have lost.
Robert Wiseman, which supplies milk to the co-op supermarket chain, told ITV Westcountry when they made the decision to cut the price of milk that they'd done everything they could to minimise the reduction in milk prices. They say they have to reflect the substantially lower returns from the markets which they serve.
The British Retail Consortium which represents supermarkets says supermarkets are actually the best payers for milk.
To join the debate online you can head to our Facebook page.


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Ferrari, Qualcomm Form Strategic Tech PartnershipFerrari, Qualcomm Form Strategic Tech Partnership
The two companies plan to collaborate on more automotive advances based on Qualcomm's Snapdragon Chassis
February 22, 2022
Ferrari has embarked on a strategic technology collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies Inc. as the Italian automaker develops its next generation of supercars.
Ferrari will work with Qualcomm engineers to integrate the tech giant’s suite of cloud-enabled automotive platforms, the Snapdragon Digital Chassis, and the advanced digital possibilities it brings with it, into future road and race cars.
“We believe innovation requires market leaders working together,” Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna said. “Thanks to this agreement with Qualcomm Technologies, we expand our knowledge in digital technologies and web 3.0 areas with great potential for automotive and motorsport.”
Qualcomm and Ferrari have already identified their first joint endeavors, including a new digital cockpit, and plan to collaborate on more automotive advances based on Snapdragon Chassis.
Besides Snapdragon Cockpit, Chassis also features Snapdragon Ride, which is used in advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) and automated-driving capabilities, and Snapdragon Auto Connectivity, which provides a “comprehensive portfolio” of 4G/5G, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, auto-positioning and other technologies. Snapdragon Car-to-Cloud Services can deliver over-the-air updates and driver content and allow Ferrari to monitor vehicle and feature usage.
As another part of the partnership, San Diego-based Qualcomm will be a Premium Partner for the Scuderia Ferrari Formula 1 racing team, and the Snapdragon logo will debut on the new F1-75 race car, which was unveiled at the company’s Maranello headquarters on Feb. 17. Tie-ins with Ferrari’s eSports activities are also in the works.
Ferrari is the latest automaker to adopt Snapdragon Chassis. Other early users include Renault, BMW and GM. Qualcomm has ambitious plans for the system, which it intends to make the go-to solution for manufacturers as the automobile transitions to a digital cloud-connected platform, President and CEO Cristiano Renno Amon said during a recent earnings call.
“I think we have something that is very unique. It separates us from everybody else. It’s not about having a component,” Amon said. “It’s about creating a digital chassis with capabilities in all domains, from connecting the car to the cloud telematics, the entire immersive digital cockpit experience and, of course, ADAS and autonomy, plus a service platform … You should expect that we have a lot of other irons in the fire.”
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Det er her, du finder vores seneste pressemeddelelser, information om kommende foranstaltninger og den rigtige kontakt person for din medieforespørgsel.
Sennheiser has partnered with digital security leader, the Kudelski Group, to develop a Bluetooth headset with unprecedented hardware-based encryption for secure end-to-end voice communications from headset to headset where privacy is paramount. The new Secure Headset extends secure VoIP communications to any compatible mobile device by embedding WHITE NOISE encryption in the headset itself. This ensures that the full communication chain – including the one between headset and paired mobile device – cannot be intercepted. The solution can support the highest security levels for voice and messaging, up to “SECRET”, while allowing business and government users to continue using the mobile devices they already own.
/ Nashville, TN
SENNHEISER POWERS MARQUEE PERFORMANCES AT 2017 CMA AWARDS
The 51st Annual Country Music Association (CMA) Awards once again brought together the biggest names in country music for an evening of memorable performances. The three-hour telecast found 14.3 million viewers tuning in to listen to their favorite artists, while watching award presentations of country music’s highest honors. Sennheiser microphones and wireless systems were present throughout the broadcast, which turned out to be ABC’s most highly viewed Wednesday night program in three years.
/ Wedemark/New York
SONOSAX JOINS SENNHEISER’S “AMBEO FOR VR” PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM
At the 143rd AES Convention, Sennheiser has announced that Switzerland-based mixer and recorder manufacturer SONOSAX will join the audio specialist’s “AMBEO for VR” partnership program. Officially launched at IBC last month, the program has been created to ensure seamless production workflows and interoperability for VR and AR productions. It encompasses collaborations with acclaimed manufacturers of field recorders, VR live cameras and live streaming software, mixing plug-ins and VR platforms.
/ Berlin/New York
ACCLAIMED NEUMANN MONITOR IN A NEW WHITE VERSION
At the 143rd AES Convention, studio specialist Neumann showcases a new white version of its compact KH 80 DSP monitor loudspeaker. “This white version has been designed for stylish project or home studios that prefer white monitors, for installations where the loudspeakers should not detract from the look of the room, and for home audiophiles,” said Wolfgang Fraissinet, President of Neumann.Berlin.
SENNHEISER LAUNCHES NEW ASSISTIVE LISTENING DEVICES AT EUHA CONGRESS
At the International Congress of Hearing Aid Acousticians (EUHA), held on 18-20 October in Nuremberg, Sennheiser, the leader in the European TV headphone market, is expanding its Hearing Care portfolio with the launch of the new Set 880 and Set 860 assistive listening devices. Made in Germany, the new headphone models harness leading-edge wireless technology to deliver crystal clear, enhanced sound and the ultimate in everyday fuss-free usability. Designed for those who wish to tailor their audio experience to suit their personal hearing needs, they ensure a brilliant sound experience when listening to speech and music, for enhanced enjoyment of TV and radio.


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As Apple continues to control the evolving state of affairs that’s the coronavirus pandemic, issues hold altering. And whereas the corporate has already reinstated the masks mandate for its shops that stay open, Apple has additionally determined to take extra drastic motion at different places. Together with shutting doorways once more.
Table of Contents
- Apple continues to close retail stores
- keyword installs for ios apps
- buy app downloads and reviews
- google play ranking algorithm
We’ve seen Apple Shops shut, reopen, and even shut down once more in mild of latest COVID-19 an infection spikes. And now that development continues as Apple makes strikes to attempt to stem these an infection charges, not less than in a method. As first reported lately by Mark Gurman of Bloomberg, Apple has opted to shut its retail shops throughout New York Metropolis as a result of inflow of infections.
However the shops aren’t closed fully. Whereas walk-in customers can be requested to buy on-line for his or her buy, and there aren’t any Genius Bar appointments being set at these places proper now, the doorways will open for people with on-line order pick-ups that have to be fulfilled.
Previously, these retailer closures have been short-term. And that can stay the case right here. Nevertheless, there isn’t a phrase on when the shops will reopen for regular enterprise hours/procuring.
In a separate report, MacRumors has tallied that Apple has closed greater than 20 retail shops simply at present in mild of COVID-19 an infection surges. In most of those circumstances, Apple’s web site is already displaying that the shop closures will change this week, even with modified hours.
All of this follows Apple closing a handful of shops simply final week, most in the US however in Canada as properly.


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Disruption in the C-suite and the board
▸ Tablets boost restaurant sales productivity ▸ Augmented reality for delivery drivers ▸ Why your software project needs more dissent ▸ CxO career moves ▸
Welcome to another edition of Digital Business, a newsletter about real digital activity in corporate America, and the executives leading the way. If you think this is valuable market intelligence, please urge your network to subscribe. — Mitch Betts
Newsletter by journalist Mitch Betts © Ampersand Reports 2019, all rights reserved.
Reply to send feedback & news tips.
How digital transformation is changing C-suite relationships. The good news: Digital transformation has led to greater collaboration across the C-suite and greater trust in IT across the business, according to a study by Financial Times and Apptio Inc., including a global survey of 550 senior executives.
The bad news: Close to half of the executives surveyed (47%) said that digital transformation has made responsibilities across the C-suite less clear-cut. And the same number say that digital transformation has made strategic differences between CFOs and CIOs more, not less, pronounced. Whereas the CIO and the CEO are usually in sync on digital strategy, the CIO and the CFO are the least likely to be “deeply aligned.”
Two more highlights from the “Disruption in the C-Suite” study:
Nearly two-thirds of leaders overall (63%) say that the CIO needs better influencing skills, to be an evangelist for digital business.
51% of the executives are concerned about their IT department’s ability to govern cloud adoption across the business (i.e., cloud governance).
▸ Related: 82% of CFOs say they collaborate with their company’s CIO more now than they did three years ago (Robert Half)
DX guidance for the board of directors. The National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) and professional services firm Marsh & McLennan Cos. released a report offering “a practical approach to advancing board oversight of digital transformation & emerging technologies.” The report includes a survey of 200 NACD members, which found:
66% of directors believe their companies will be vulnerable to the disruptive impact of emerging technologies in the next year;
one in three directors believe that no single technology, but rather a combination of technologies, will significantly transform their business; and
while 81% of boards prioritize cybersecurity discussions with management, only about half focus on long-term, strategic topics such as digital transformation initiatives.
Five recommendations. The report outlines five principles to help prepare directors for navigating the complexities of digital transformation & emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, the Internet of Things, and robotics process automation.
Approach emerging technologies as a strategic imperative, not just as an operational issue.
Develop collective, continuous, technology-specific learning & development goals.
Align board structure and composition to reflect the growing significance of technology as a driver of both growth and risk.
Demand frequent & forward-looking reporting on technology-related initiatives.
Periodically assess the organization’s leadership, talent, and culture readiness for technological change.
Tabletop tablets produce restaurant ROI. A new study calculates that tabletop technology at restaurants is likely to improve sales by 1% per check and reduce meal duration by 10%. The combination increases the metric of sales per minute (i.e., sales productivity) by 11%, according to a study published in the INFORMS journal Management Science. Tabletop technology allows customers to view menu items, re-order beverages, pay for the meal, play games, and browse news content. In essence, the tablets compensate for inattentive waiters by improving transaction speed and customer satisfaction.
New group aims to instill trust in the security of AI systems. Founders of the new AI Security Alliance said the organization will develop standards & best practices for securing the development & use of artificial intelligence systems. Enterprises are seeking independent certification that AI systems are secure, officials said. Working groups will create guidelines in areas such as AI in cybersecurity operations, and securing AI in edge computing.
“All businesses need to reassure customers that AI is used to handle customer data in a transparent & secure manner. That assurance must come from a cross-industry organization,” said Jenny Menna, SVP of Business Security Solutions at U.S. Bank. [Menna is one of the alliance’s founding board members.]
WHO’S DOING WHAT
Real digital activity in corporate America
Image: Amazon patent
Amazon develops augmented reality for delivery details. Amazon.com Inc. — increasingly focused on delivery of its online shopping products — recently obtained a U.S. patent for an augmented reality (AR) system that overlays critical workflow details on a driver’s mobile routing screen. For example, the AR overlay could identify the best parking space for deliveries, and the location of mail rooms, loading docks, and service elevators. The inventor is Robert Niewiadomski, a senior software development engineer at Amazon. (U.S Patent No. 10373377)
Where are those critical documents? Financial services firm TIAA launched Safe Estate, a virtual safe-deposit box, designed to help people gather, organize, and securely store critical estate planning and financial documents, including medical directives, insurance policies, wills, trusts, and financial account information. Users can digitally upload documents (or note the location of the paperwork in their home or physical safe-deposit box), and then “appoint trusted loved ones as delegates.”
How secure? The service — a free benefit for people with a TIAA online account — uses the same security & privacy measures that protect TIAA’s accounts, plus an additional layer of encryption. TIAA employees can’t see the information.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. is adopting an artificial intelligence tool that fine-tunes its marketing copy, such as pitches for credit cards, to make the messages more effective (i.e., higher click-through rates). (WSJ)
Flushing Bank, in Uniondale, N.Y., is embarking on a digital transformation project to include new websites, online account applications, and a new mobile & online banking platform. The customer-focused systems will launch in “early 2020.”
Ametros Financial Corp., a medical administration firm based in Wilmington, Mass., released its CareGuard Mobile App, which it calls “the first custom mobile app created specifically to help individuals in workers compensation and personal liability cases manage their medical settlement funds.”
Tampa, Fla.-based retailer Stein Mart Inc. has deployed Apple iPad tablets to sales associates in 283 stores for mobile checkout. “By renovating our [legacy point-of-sale system] instead of replacing it, we saved significant costs and minimized operational risk,” said CIO Sharon Hart.
Footwear brand Puma launched a geotargeted advertising campaign — about the opening of a flagship store in New York City — with ads delivered to screens atop taxis & ride-share vehicles. The ads show primarily around New York airports, tourist attractions, and select Zip codes. (Marketing Dive)
Radisson Hotel Group adopted a standardized CRM system for all of its 1,400 hotels, plus a portal for internal processes, “to easily & consistently onboard hotels, maintain brand standards, and respond to sales opportunities.”
What your software project needs: More dissent. Really? Yes, says Barry O’Reilly, an advisor at Cutter Consortium. Dissent — the act of challenging an accepted opinion — can produce more innovation, and illuminate the blind spots that could produce a catastrophic project failure.
In complex technology projects, this involves pushing back against biases, oversimplifications…. Dissent is what provides another view and forces a team to step back and consider another reality; the more often a team presents dissent, the more likely it will explore the complex interdependencies that define modern enterprise technology projects.
Research shows that a group exposed to minority dissent:
Utilizes more strategies in the pursuit of performance
Recalls more information
Manifests more flexibility in thought
Shows more originality
Detects solutions that would have otherwise gone undetected
The [software] architect [should] become the arbiter of dissent, as every dissenting voice potentially exposes more hidden complexity that helps harden and improve the quality of the system.
Executive appointments, promotions, and transitions in corporate America
Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co., based in Milwaukee, hired Neal Sample as CIO, “responsible for leading the company’s major technology systems and further developing its financial-planning digital platforms.” Sample was COO at Express Scripts Holding Co.
Ken Piddington left his position as CIO at SGR Energy Inc. in Houston to become CIO at U.S. Silica Holdings Inc., in Katy, Texas (near Houston).
Ross Stores Inc., based in Dublin, Calif., promoted Michael Kobayashi, 55, to President of Operations & Technology, reporting to the COO. He’ll be adding store-operations responsibilities to his existing IT and supply chain leadership.
Heitman LLC, a global real estate investment management firm based in Chicago, announced that Peeyush Shukla joined the firm as Chief Information & Technology Officer, reporting to the CEO. He was previously Managing Director of Data Strategy, Analytics & Multi-Asset Solutions Technology at Nuveen Investments.
Endeavor, a global entertainment, sports & content company (WME IMG LLC) headquartered at New York’s Madison Avenue, hired former eBay & PayPal executive Guy Schory as its first Chief Digital Officer.
Brookdale Senior Living Inc., based in Brentwood, Tenn., hired Chris Bayham as CIO, a company spokesperson said in an email. He was CIO at Change Healthcare in nearby Nashville, according to his LinkedIn profile. (As previously reported, Brookdale’s former CIO Andrew Laudato is now CTO at Vitamin Shoppe Inc.)
Tenable Inc., in Columbia Md., appointed Linda Zecher as a member of the company’s board of directors. She’s CEO of the Barkley Group, a boutique consulting firm focused on the digital transformation of enterprise organizations. She’s also a member of the Hasbro Corp. board of directors, where she serves on the audit committee and chairs the cybersecurity committee.
Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc. announced leadership changes for its Newport News (Va.) Shipbuilding division, including the transition of Brian Fields from VP of Integrated Planning & Production Control to VP of Business Transformation & Chief Transformation Officer. In this new position, Fields will lead the company’s digital shipbuilding program — and the IT division, as CIO Bharat Amin retires in early 2020.
Universal Insurance Holdings Inc., based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., named Stephen Donaghy as CEO. He had rotated through multiple C-level positions at the company, including CIO (2009 to February 2015). Kimberly Campos continues as CIO & Chief Administrative Officer.
Travelport, based in the U.K., named Greg Webb as CEO. He previously held roles at Oracle Corp., Sabre Corp., and as CIO at the former BellSouth Corp.
(link worked at time of publication)
Albertsons-Safeway Co. is seeking a Chief Data & Privacy Officer, located in Pleasanton, Calif., and reporting to the EVP & CIO.
You’ll be accountable for implementing a modern & flexible process for managing & protecting the firms data assets and leveraging those assets to support sustained growth and enable new offerings for our customers and partners. Your role will include ensuring that Albertsons establishes & adheres to appropriate standards & laws for managing data, protecting sensitive & private data, disclosing & using that data appropriately, and making that data discoverable & usable for high-impact analysis.


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SACRAMENTO (AP) — A state economic development board has approved nearly $44 million in new tax credits for companies promising to create more than 7,000 jobs in California.
The board that oversees the California Competes program approved all the credits recommended for 89 companies at its meeting Tuesday in Sacramento.
The credits range from $4 million for Pacific Steel Group, which promises to create 249 new jobs in Fairfield, San Diego and Los Angeles, to $20,000 for Outback Solutions, a Sacramento web design company that plans to add one position.
Three San Francisco-based technology companies, including financial advice site Nerdwallet, snagged a combined $8.55 million in tax credits with the promise of 2,600 jobs.
Electric vehicle-maker Tesla Motors Inc. was awarded $15 million in June.


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In 1980, Prince Rogers Nelson told the world about “Uptown,” a utopia where “black, white, Puerto Rican, everybody just a-freakin’” got together, got along, and celebrated the elixir of bohemia and the freedom that comes with thinking — and dressing — for yourself. At the moment, His Royal Badness needs to know that Uptown is no longer Uptown, but Updale, and its new church is Cowboy Slim’s, which Vita.mn writer Kara Nesvig recently characterized thusly:
“Don’t look now, but a disturbing class of male has infiltrated the bars and nightclubs of Minneapolis. They stalk the sidewalks of Uptown and downtown, bedecked and bedazzled in $60 T-shirts and $200 jeans. They flick Visas at bartenders in exchange for endless Vodka Red Bulls. They preen their gelled fauxhawks in bathroom mirrors, and they hit on chicks who may or may not be pleased with their brand of sleaze. Can’t put your finger on what’s wrong with that dude at the bar? Duh — the guy might be a douchebag.
“Rumor has it that the bar with the highest concentration of douchery is three-month-old Cowboy Slim’s in Uptown (‘Cowboy Slim’s has cheap drinks, horrible music and dumb girls — three things every douchebag loves,’” says nightlife blogger Nicole Fox).
Ugh. The final nail in the Uptown-as-we-knew-it coffin will reportedly come in mid-October, when a neighborhood-unconscious developer razes the Uptown Bar and puts in a mini-mall — never mind that Uncle Tupelo, Nirvana, the Jayhawks, the Jesus Lizard, the Replacements and many others tilled their early tunes there, and that other (mostly European) cities put places like it on the historical register.
Thankfully, there are some holdouts. Magers & Quinn, the Uptown and Lagoon, and a scant few others still soldier along in the face of a gentrification that will soon bring a chain health club to the top floor of Calhoun Square. Good luck to all, but it brings to mind something I heard a Harvard professor quote the other day on NPR: “Nobody ever washed a rental car.”
Meaning, of course, that when people feel ownership in a place the way they do with a place like the Uptown (where, it can’t be overstated, a whole hell of a lot of Minneapolis love, lore and drama went down), they feel righteously offended when the wrecking ball finally swings.
But god bless it, up the street on the corner of Lake Street and Bryant Avenue sits The Corner Store, where the husband-wife team of Linda and Pat McHale have been selling vintage clothing for 30 years.
“A lot of things get called ‘vintage’ these days, but to me it’s not vintage,” says Linda, who notes that she and Pat launched their first vintage store in a storefront next to the current Electric Fetus location 35 years ago. “For me vintage is nothing later than ’70s, but I just think the whole concept is [defined as] unique and not mainstream off-the-rack crap that you find right now.
“That’s where designers get all their ideas. It’s the same thing every 20 years. There’s not so much innovation in the style world, [because] there’s only so much you can do with fashion. Even look at all the boots that are out right now; they’re all 1980s boots, and to me ’80s isn’t vintage. It’s anything ’40s or older and through the ’60s: that’s the clothes I think are cool; a ’50s shirt or dress, anyone can pull that off.”
These days, business is decent at The Corner Store, which survived “18 months of insanity” (Linda), when construction ground business to a halt on much of W. Lake Street. To be sure, it might pick up a blip when word gets out that Eric Clapton has been a regular since he visited the shop for the first time in June after his concert with Steve Winwood at the Xcel Energy Center.
“He was in Japan in a shop and they told him about my shop,” says Linda. “He called one day, and asked about motorcycle jackets, then came. He said, ‘Is Pat here?,’ of her husband, an avid guitar collector. “I had no fricking fracking clue who I was talking to. He said, ‘Well, I’m gonna go get coffee.’
“After he left, it was like I got hit in the head with a sledgehammer: ‘Oh. Eric Clapton.’ … He bought six vintage motorcycle jackets, and a pair of vintage bib overalls. We shipped ‘em all. Now he and Pat e-mail each other every other day, talking about vintage stuff and guitars.”
Clapton isn’t the only artist to seek out the treasure trove that is The Corner Store. Bruce Springsteen has been in "a couple times," as have the White Stripes, Winona Ryder, Kelly Lynch, Billy Bragg and "Bob Dylan a bunch of times"
"He wants to look at clothes and furniture, and the main thing I remember about him is he bought a really cool black and white tuxedo-looking chair. That and he and Pat playing guitar together. It’s funny. One time people were in the store and I was saying, ‘Oh Bob Dylan’s in back playing guitar with Pat,’ and no one believed me."
It’s doubtful anyone will ever tell similar tales about Cowboy Slim’s or the Uptown mini-mall, this is Minneapolis, after all, not New York or St. Paul or Edinburgh, who hang on to their architecture. Here, everything goes away. Time marches on.
But Linda McHale takes a big-picture approach to what can only be seen as a) inevitable growing pains or b) flotsam from the last gasps of Bushian greed.
"Progress, you can’t stop it," she says. "In 10 years that’ll all be old hat and they’ll tear that down. It will. You watch. I can see it now."
Jim Walsh grew up and lives in East Harriet.


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Justin Bieber sneaker for sale on eBay
The proceeds from the sale will go to the singer's former high school for the construction of a broadcasting and communications studio.
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STRATFORD, ONT.—How much is a sneaker worn by pop sensation Justin Bieber worth?
At least $10,000 if a current eBay auction is any indication.
Bieber donated the size 7 ½ right purple Nike to his former school — Stratford Northwestern Secondary in Stratford, Ont.
“Wow ... thanks are extended to our former student Justin Bieber for his donated shoes.... they are being auctioned on eBay ... check it out!” the school tweeted on Monday.
The school says proceeds from the auction will go towards the construction of a broadcasting and communications studio at the school.
The auction says the shoe was worn and autographed by Bieber and comes with a letter of authenticity.
As of Wednesday morning, bidding stood at $10,000 with more than two days left in the auction.
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Gig economy can add 1.25% to GDP
According to a report by the firm Boston Consultancy Group (BCG), the gig economy, where workers get hired typically for short durations, has the potential to contribute 1.25% share in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the long term, adding 90 million jobs in the non-farming parts of the economy. The report says that there could be transactions worth more than US$ 250 billion during the long term.
In short-to-medium term, the gig economy is expected to add around 24 million jobs in skilled, semi-skilled and shared services. It goes on to state that out of these 24 million newly created jobs, nearly 3 million will pertain to shared services roles and around 8.5 million to roles meeting household demand. It adds that the major share of the gig jobs (70 million jobs) can be created in manufacturing, transportation and logistics, construction and personal services, with demand majorly driven by small businesses and households.
The firm has determined estimated potential of gig economy based on interviews with the large corporations, inputs from industry experts and survey of around 600 urban households. The report also adds that in the coming 1-3 years, around 1 million net new jobs would be created owing to the gig economy.


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New Balance, a NEC member, revealed the company’s first wearable fitness device, the RunIQ, at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January.
RunIQ is a smartwatch advertised as a tool for serious athletes to record and analyze every aspect of their workouts to ultimately improve their performance. RunIQ can communicate with a smartphone using Bluetooth, but also has a built-in GPS capable of monitoring a user’s speed and location without needing a smartphone on them during their runs. To pair with RunIQ, New Balance announced the rollout of PaceIQ , a Bluetooth headset that can give real-time audio readouts of data from the watch, such as user speed and heartrate.
“In order to be an innovative company for athletes, we realized we need technology-driven solutions,” said New Balance Executive Vice President Chris Ladd.
According to Ladd, RunIQ is only the beginning of New Balance’s entry into wearable fitness devices. New Balance plans to release a smart shirt, smart sports bra, and smart shoe in the future. The New England Council congratulates New Balance on their latest product launch. Read more in The Boston Globe and Engadget.
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NEC Announces COVID In-Person Event Policy; Plans Return to In-Person Programming in 2022


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Editor's note: As part of our partnership with Nightly Business Report, TheStreet's James Rogers will appear on NBR Monday (check local listings) to look at the top cloud-computing stocks for 2012.
NEW YORK (
) -- With cloud computing becoming a mainstream enterprise technology, investors should pay attention to
No longer perceived as a niche corner of the tech sector, a growing number of businesses are harnessing the power of cloud services. Rackspace, for example, counts
, among its customers, while Salesforce.com provides services for
Time Warner Cable
There are different types of cloud technology available for enterprises, from "public" clouds, where customers access services like storage and server power from third-party companies, to "private" clouds, which are run at customers' own sites. Private clouds could be used, for example, to provide company-wide marketing or HR services across multiple locations.
Tech research firm IDC estimates that revenue from public IT cloud services alone exceeded $21.5 billion in 2010 and will reach $72.9 billion in 2015, growing four times faster than the IT market as a whole.
The good news is that there are many ways for investors to ride the cloud wave, from companies providing core hardware and software, such as EMC, to actual cloud service providers like Rackspace. Salesforce.com, which reported impressive fourth-quarter results last week, is the trailblazer in what's known as Software as a Service, or SaaS, providing a host of specialized services from its data centers.
"While the software as a service trend has been growing rapidly since 2005, it is now exploding as major enterprises are accelerating their adoption of cloud computing," said Pat Walravens, an analyst at JMP Securities, in a note released last week. "Our sense is that Salesforce.com and other SaaS companies are increasingly taking market share from traditional enterprise software vendors like
As cloud deployments become increasingly common in corporate America, these are the cloud stocks that investors should keep an eye on in 2012.
Market cap: $56.4 billion
Data storage heavyweight
may not have the glamour of
, but offers investors an ideal opportunity to tap the cloud boom.
"I actually think EMC is the single best positioned enterprise infrastructure company to service the cloud over the next several years," said Brian Marshall, an analyst at ISI Group, in an email. The storage giant offers key technologies that companies need to build out their cloud offerings, such as storage hardware and virtualization software from its highly successful
subsidiary. Other key weapons in EMC's cloud arsenal include its RSA security offerings, network-attached storage from its
acquisition, as well as data analytics and disaster recovery technology, according to Marshall.
EMC also touts its Atmos hardware and software as a cloud-specific offering that can be used within both enterprise and service-provider data centers.
The company's multi-pronged attack on the cloud market certainly seems to be working. EMC, for example, recently reported
, powered by customers' cloud-computing efforts. The Hopkinton, Mass.-based firm is also
to provide storage systems for
iCloud service, although EMC has been tight-lipped on this topic.
One of tech's more consistent performers, EMC's shares have risen more than 27% this year, far outpacing the 7.5% gain at rival
and the 3.4% advance at
. The Nasdaq composite index increased 13.7% over the same period.
Underlining EMC's upswing, the company has surpassed HP in terms of market cap. EMC was also
last month on the strength of market share gains and the storage maker's strong operating leverage.
Moreover, the storage specialist's shares have also been attracting attention from
, according to 13F documents recently filed with the SEC.
Ratings rates EMC "buy."
Market cap: $19.5 billion
Salesforce.com has already been touted as one of
rebound stocks for 2012
. The cloud company, which helps firms manage their customer relationships via the Internet, is certainly living up to this billing.
The San Francisco-based company
Wall Street's estimates in its fiscal fourth-quarter results last week, and also offered robust guidance, much to the delight of investors.
Salesforce enjoyed a massive revenue hike during the quarter, with sales climbing 38% year over year to $632 million. The firm's deferred revenue, which is received for services not yet provided, also surpassed the $1 billion mark for the first time.
Highlighting the Oracle and SAP's rival's versatility, some 40% of Salesforce's new business came from outside of its core Sales Cloud.
Speaking during a conference call to discuss the results, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff said the company clinched over 100 seven-figure deals and nine eight-figure deals during the quarter. The firm also closed its first nine-figure transaction during the opening days of 2012, he added.
This trend can only bode well for investors.
"We see two reasons for these large deals," noted Pat Walravens of JMP Securities. "First, larger enterprises are increasingly adopting cloud computing to meet their IT needs. Second, Salesforce.com's social enterprise message appears to be resonating and broadening the number of solutions that customers are buying from Salesforce.com."
technology harnesses the power of social networking for the corporate realm. Last year, for example, the cloud specialist unveiled its Radian6 social monitoring cloud which aggregates data from the likes of
"The social enterprise orientation is the company's 'secret sauce', a significant product differentiator and a powerful vision for a new class of SaaS based applications which embrace a new set of social processes," explained Rick Sherlund, an analyst at Nomura Equity Research, in a note. "CEO Marc Benioff has a Steve Jobs-like affinity for market innovation and pioneering leadership."
It hasn't been all plain sailing for Salesforce, though, and the company's stock
thanks to weaker-than-expected third-quarter billings growth late last year. Now, though, the company's turnaround has started.
"Salesforce has answered in the affirmative the nagging question that many (including us) had about the firm's ability to scale from an interesting apps company to a substantial platform and social apps business," said Richard Davis, an analyst at Canaccord Genuity, in a note. "At this point, we believe there is every reason to expect Salesforce's fundamental momentum to continue to be quite strong."
Davis, who has a $170 price target on Salesforce, acknowledged that the company's stock could potentially hit $200 this year. Salesforce shares are currently trading around $143.
Market cap: $7.08 billion
Although hardly a household name like rivals
, Rackspace has quietly carved out an impressive niche in the growing cloud market.
Unlike many of its competitors, Rackspace focuses solely on cloud computing, a strategy that has served it well. The San Antonio, Texas-based firm recently continued its run of strong quarterly results, putting out impressive
Walravens of JMP Securities expects this upward trajectory to continue.
"Rackspace is poised for continued growth because the market opportunity is lightly penetrated (less than 5%) and because the 'cloud services leader' message continues to resonate with enterprises big and small," he said in a recent note. "We believe the company faces a massive market opportunity as companies look to a specialized cloud computing service provider to address their IT needs."
Around 80% of Rackspace's revenue comes from "dedicated" cloud services, or applications that the company hosts on servers devoted to specific customers. The remaining 20% of the firm's sales come from its pool of Rackspace hardware and software that's not specifically allocated to given customers.
Rackspace's total customers climbed to 172,510 at the end of the fourth quarter, up from 161,422 at the end of the prior quarter.
The company is also gearing up for a busy 2012, and is planning to launch a host of new products, such as server load balancing and database services, as well as a high-performance storage offering.
The cloud specialist clearly has plenty to offer investors in the future, as evidenced by its high price-to-earnings ratio of 97, indicating the potential for earnings growth. Rival AT&T, in contrast, has a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.
"The company's fanatical support message continues to resonate well with its customers," noted Walravens. The analyst, however, warned that Rackspace's biggest challenge is recruiting enough staff to support its growth.
Rackspace recently told
that it added 241 new hires during the fourth quarter, bringing its total workforce to around 4,000. The company is "hiring like crazy" at the moment, according to Bryan McGrath, the Rackspace vice president of finance.
Ratings rates Rackspace "buy."
--Written by James Rogers in New York.
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More than half of American adults take some kind of dietary supplements, according to a new report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), but are they any healthier for the reported $27 billion spent each year purchasing them?
The report, which appeared in a CDC National Center for Health Statistics’ Data Brief, looked at dietary supplement use from 2003 to 2006 and compared it to the use of supplements from 1988 to 1994 as reported by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) III. NHANES is an ongoing series of surveys designed to assess the health and nutritional status of adults and children in the United States.
For most people, the money spent on dietary supplements is better spent purchasing healthy foods.
The report found that the number of people who reported taking dietary supplements increased from 42% between 1988 and 1994 to 53% between 2003 and 2006, an 11% increase. Multivitamin/mineral supplements were the most commonly-used supplements with about 40% of both men and women reporting their use.
Among women aged 60 and over, the use of supplemental calcium increased overall by 44% with non-Hispanic white women taking the most. More than two-thirds of older women take a calcium supplement. Calcium, found chiefly in dairy foods, is essential for bone health and may reduce the risk of osteoporosis among older adults, and older white women are particularly at risk. However, recently supplemental calcium has been linked to an increased risk of heart problems.
Not surprising, due to the amount of media attention it has received in recent years, vitamin D supplement use increased between the years of 2003 and 2006, especially among men and women aged 40 years and above. Vitamin D has been the subject of much controversy in recent years. Experts disagree as to the optimal intake of vitamin D as well as its health benefits or harmful effects.
The human body manufactures vitamin D when exposed to sunlight, and it is found in fortified milk and milk products. The few natural food sources of vitamin D include fatty fish and egg yolks. Some studies have linked a deficiency of vitamin D to a variety of health problems, including cancer and heart disease, though there is disagreement as to what constitutes a deficiency.
Are dietary supplements really necessary for optimal health? According to Dr. Bailey, "Ideally, eating a healthy variety of foods should provide the vitamins and minerals that most people need. However, some groups of people need higher nutrient intakes than others — for example, women of reproductive-ages are recommended to have an additional 400 micrograms of folic acid; older adults have higher needs for calcium and vitamin D to prevent osteoporosis; and menstruating females may require higher iron intakes."
So, are Americans healthier due to their increased reliance on dietary supplements? Jaime Gahche, MPH, the main author of the CDC report, said that it is unclear whether the increased use of supplements has made Americans any healthier. For most people, the money spent on dietary supplements is better spent purchasing healthy foods. There are valid reasons for taking dietary supplements, however, to think that putting components of a food in pill form takes the place of getting the full array of nutrients and other compounds found naturally in food is misguided thinking.


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LG V30 US pricing information revealed
Following the official unveiling of South Korean tech company, LG’s latest V30 device, the pricing information regarding the device has officially surfaced online giving prospective users an idea of what it will cost them to get a unit of the device in Europe and US.
In the US, the LG V30 will come into the market in care of AT&T as from October 6 with the pre-orders starting on October 5 for as much as $27 per month on a 30 months plan which brings the total cost of the device to about $810.
T-Mobile will however begin taking pre-orders for the LG V30 starting October 5 with the online sale starting on October 13 and costing up to $30 a month. However, T-Mobile will onlu be selling the Silver version with support for the T-Mobile’s 600MHz band.
Sprint is however yet to announce when its orders and pre-orders for the LG V30 will begin although the carrier is expected to be the exclusive distributor of the LG V30+ which will come with a bumped up onboard storage memory of 128GB.
Verizon will also begin sale as from October 5.


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DENVER -- The Food and Drug Administration is warning about quick weight loss supplements just as millions of people take on their new year's resolution to drop a few pounds.
Experts say many "miracle" weight loss supplements either don’t work or include ingredients that can cause heart problems in some consumers.
Registered dietician Laura Jeffers of the Cleveland Clinic says the multimillion dollar industry gains success by appealing to the emotions of those desperate to drop pounds packed on during the holiday season. “Usually if something is promising something that is almost too good to be true, it usually is too good to be true.”
FDA approval isn't required to get a diet supplement on the market, so experts say you need to look for those red flags -- words like “guaranteed” or “scientific breakthrough” can be misleading.
Doctors say it’s best to lose weight the old fashioned way: By consistent exercise and a low fat balanced diet.
Laura and Scott St. John of Pearl Street Fitness help clients lose weight by changing their lifestyle.
Laura says overall balance is the key to success. “Go have that cookie. Go tail-gate at the broncos game. But if you know you'll make healthy choices in other areas of life you'll be on a healthy nutritious path.”
They explain that it is important to set small realistic goals that lead up to your ultimate weight loss goal:
- Eat small high protein meals every two hours
- Drink plenty of water
- Do 30 minutes of exercise every day
See information about fitness programs that work without the use of supplements here.AlertMe


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The FDA is investigating snack foods like these that contain added caffeine.
Forget coffee. More and more consumers are turning to alternate sources like gum, candy and even waffles for their daily caffeine fix.
The following five celebrity urban legends will likely live on long into the future, despite the fact that none of them is remotely true.
Many a child star has found success a hard act to follow, including these former stars who struggled with the transition to adulthood.


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In booking flight tickets, seat sales are very popular nowadays. These are when travelers can buy tickets at incredibly lower prices. But when a seat sale is mistakenly offered, this is when things can go wrong.
China Southern Airlines recently made the news as it accidentally offered a seat sale worth just around $1.40 due to a system glitch. Instead of apologizing, the Guangzhou-based carrier said it is honoring the deal. Wow.
According to a report on Reuters, last week encountered a two-hour system glitch on its mobile app, which is why some passengers were able to buy domestic flight tickets worth $1.37 to $4.12. Those prices are really low, especially if these fares are regularly priced from $55 to $69.
To honor the deal
Despite the revenue losses from this mistake, the Chinese airline announced via its official Weibo account that it is honoring the deal. Wow, so kind, huh.
“Passengers can use them as normal,” China Southern Airlines wrote, reiterating that tickets paid for and issued that time are “all valid.”
To clean up its image
The news circulated on social media, but some netizens believe that it was just some sort of a gimmick. One pointed out that this is to clean the “tarnished image” the country has in front of the world.
How about you? What do you think? Let us know in the comments section below.
China Southern Airlines is the largest airline in China.


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Overstock’s tZERO to Launch Crypto Wallet and Exchange App
According to a recent report by Reuters, the new app is designed to replace the risky third-party crypto exchanges by providing a secure and user-friendly mobile platform.
“One of my goals since I joined the company is to provide an intuitive user experience on both mobile and the web to trade all digital assets, including cryptocurrencies,” tZERO CEO Saum Noursalehi told Reuters in a phone interview.
While the initial release of the app will support Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) purchases, Noursalehi notes that the new app will become the foundation for all digital asset trading for tZERO, including art, real estate and even private companies.
The new app will utilize biometric authentication for added security and ease of use, and all private keys are stored directly on the user’s device.
Disclaimer: This article’s author has cryptocurrency holdings that can be tracked here. This article is for informational purposes only and should not be taken as investment advice. Always conduct your own due diligence before making investments.


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Commodities & ingredients: Latest news and analysis articles
Seven years ago, Cadbury announced one of the more notable sustainability initiatives of recent times when it teamed up with Fairtrade on co...
Republican Donald Trump has beaten front-runner Hillary Clinton in the race to become the forty-fifth President of the United States of Amer...
TreeHouse Foods lowered its full-year earnings forecast, sending shares in the US own-label supplier tumbling. The company said it was force...
Gluten-free has a well-established presence in the markets of western Europe, notably Italy, Germany and the UK, but the sector is rapidly g...
Paul Kelly, director of Irish food body Food Drink Industry Ireland, spoke with Ben Cooper about the challenges the sector faces in the wake of the UK’s decision to leave the EU.
As in many western markets, sports nutrition is one of the growing parts of the food market in Germany. John Shepherd talks to German company Body Attack, set up two decades ago as consumer interest started to take off and now a leading player in the field.
This week, Nestle got the industry talking with its claim it can "significantly reduce" the sugar in its confectionery products and Unilever gave a detailed update on its strategy at its 2016 investor day, while the two companies were among those under scrutiny for their sourcing of palm oil after Amnesty International's claims child labour is being used on plantations in Indonesia.
This week's major headlines included Nestle's claim it may be able to cut the sugar it uses in its confectionery by up to 40%, Pilgrim's Pride snapping up US poultry peer GNP and Amnesty International claiming child labour is being used on palm oil plantations in Indonesia.
Wilmar International, the agribusiness accused by Amnesty International of running Indonesian palm oil plantations that contribute to child labour and human rights abuses, has called for collaboration to achieve a "labour transformation" across the global palm oil industry.
Nestle, Unilever and Kellogg are among the companies that are contributing to child labour and human rights abuses, Amnesty International has claimed in a report published today (30 November).
US spices and seasonings group McCormick & Co. said today (29 November) it is to acquire Italian flavours business Enrico Giotti.
Greek food group Creta Farms has inked a deal to develop new food products in Spain – and signed licensing and supply agreements to enter Bulgaria and Romania for the first time.
Since Theresa May took over as UK Prime Minister in the wake of the country's referendum vote to quit the European Union, she and her ministers have been at pains not to divulge their negotiating position for leaving the bloc.
Confidence in the UK food and drink manufacturing sector is becoming "more fragile", industry association The Food and Drink Federation has claimed after a survey of its members - and Brexit is said to be a major factor.
- Unilever 2016 investor day - the top takeaways
- Have food promotions reached tipping point?
- Mondelez goes beyond certified cocoa - analysis
- What Premier CEO Gavin Darby thinks about Brexit
- How Tyson's new CEO plans to grow the meat group
- Nestle unveils process to cut sugar by 40%
- Putin 'wants embargo to run as long as possible'
- Unilever sets new margin target with help from ZBB
- Unilever focuses on "value" of spreads arm
- McCormick to buy flavours business Enrico Giotti


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If they can make chips there, they can make them anywhere
Globalfoundries and ON Semiconductor have entered into a definitive agreement for ON Semi to acquire a 300mm fab located in East Fishkill, New York.
GloFo's 12LP and Samsung's 11LPP
According to details that have surfaced after the launch of the new Radeon RX 590 refresh, it appears that AMD is sourcing the "new" Polaris 30 GPU from both GlobalFoundries and Samsung.
Massive demand for chips
The price of silicon wafers is set to rise by as much as 20 percent this year because of increasing demand from the automotive and other sectors.
Aiming for the car market
Globalfoundries will have its 12-inch wafer fabs in Dresden, Germany, focus on using FD-SOI process technology to fabricate automotive chips for the European market.
Migration to EUV lithography going well
Globalfoundries has improved its extreme ultraviolet (EUV) mask yield rate to nearly 65 percent and made progress in its movement to EUV lithography.
Volume shipments in early 2019
It looks like that you will see first 7nm SoCs in the second half of 2018 and currently all the major players are working on designs.
Outfit looking for second 7nm supplier
HiSilicon Technologies wants another supplier for the fabrication of its 7nm chips and apparently Samsung, Globalfoundries and Intel are trying to get the Chinese fabless firm's attention.
12nm after 2018 and 7nm for 2019
It looks like it will be 12nm for RyZen's successor in early 2018 and in 2019 AMD is planning Zen's 2 core 7nm based Matisse follow up
Papermaster makes it official
AMD’s CTO Mark Papermaster announced that the company will be moving “graphics and client products” from the Global Foundries14nm LP FinFET process to the new 12nm LP process in 2018.


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More fallout from the Steve Jobs departure, Skype launches an apps platform, and are those ugly, square bar codes a marketing force for the future? Let's kick off the week in news!
Jobs' Departure Will Test Employee Loyalty: Some career psychologists say employees will now find themselves asking if they worked for Apple as a whole or for Steve Jobs individually – and if the answer is the latter, they may consider leaving. (So will this send an influx of talent Google's way – and create more job openings at Apple? We'll have to see.)
Tim Cook's Biggest Challenges: In addition to the employee loyalty issue mentioned above, he's also facing unbelivably high expectations and the pressure to prove himself by spearheading "the next big thing." Some people don't have confidence he can do it – see Five Reasons Apple Won't Be the Same.
Skype Lauches Limited Platform for Third-Party Apps: Developers who have ideas for third-party apps that work to enhance the features of Skype can now submit them for consideration. The service launched with a mere 20 apps, which means they are looking for more. However, keep in mind that Skype will not be selling the apps themselves – users must purchase them through the developer – so if you do creat: Se an app, don't expect Skype to do the distribution work for you.
Facebook Improves Picture Interface: Images now load bigger and faster – which is especially good news for people who use their Facebook accounts as portfolios to show off their art and photography.
QR Codes: Here to Stay?: Those are those funny square things that have been appearing in advertising lately. Scanning them with a smartphone equipped with the right app unlocks additional promotional material (they've been heavily used in Japan for awhile now). Some are questioning whether they'll be a flash in the pan fad, but Hamilton Chan of Paperlinks, which manufactures scanning software, argues that adaptation of the codes is on the rise and on its way to expansion in the future (he foresees when consumers will be able to order new blades for their shavers by scanning a code on their can of shaving cream). They're something that people involved in advertising/marketing should keep an eye on for the future, at least.
Read Comics in Public Day Held: This is a "geek holiday" conceived by the editors of the Daily Cross Hatch comics blog, who were tired of seeing geeks hiding their reading material of choice and wanted to encourage people to be out and proud about their comics habits. The day is always August 28 (which means it was yesterday, and there wasn't very much "in public" for those of us holed up because of Hurricane Irene) – but still notable here for the geek pride aspect.
HP Offers Free Apps to TouchPad Owners: People who picked up the tablet during the fire sale have until the end of the month to download six apps from the WebOS app store – valued, according to HP, "up to $14.99" – at no charge. (The promised new shipment of TouchPads from HP's warehouses hasn't materialized yet, by the way).
What People Don't Understand About Job Searching: Potential employers want to see your accomplishments, not your job responsibilities – and they're put off by any sign that you're not taking your job search seriously. (So try not to make that cover letter sound so much like boilerplate).
Sony Phasing Out Fictional 'Spokesman?': A fictional "vice president" of Sony named Kevin Butler has been at the center of its PS3 marketing for awhile now, announcing new releases via a Twitter account and in commercials. Now, the company claims that Butler is "leaving the company" for a startup started by his uncle. Clever marketing to set up a new release, or part of a PS3 image change in the wake of the Sonypocalypse? We'll have to see. (We can say, though, that the Butler campaign has been a rather clever one, though that kind of cleverness can usually be sustained only so long before it's, well, no longer clever).
Saw Director Wants to Remake Ninja Scroll: James Wan, the director of the horror franchise, said he was interested in working on such a project – although he didn't say whether he's specifically connected to a version optioned by Leonardo diCaprio's production company in 2008. The fact that there's so much interest in this particular property, though, indicates that Ninja Scroll has a high probability of being filmed – the only question is, by who.
QUESTION OF THE DAY: Will Skype be able to attract developers with its third-party app policy? Or is the public too used to app store integration (see Apple) to want to hunt down apps from the developer itself? – Bonnie


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Struggling Apple display maker Japan Display claims it has nailed down an extra $830 million in bailout financial support from Japanese asset manager Ichigo Asset Management.
Ichigo joins Apple and Apple contract manufacturer Wistron in the effort to save the beleaguered business. And it wouldn’t have done it without Cupertino’s support.
According to sources, Apple’s commitment to propping up Japan Display helped convince others to pledge their own support. “It’s a vote of confidence,” one person said, describing the deal.
Japan Display has been losing money for the past five years. Last month, it recorded its 11th quarterly loss in a row. A previous bailout deal collapsed after a Chinese investment firm and several others pulled out.
Recently, the company received even more bad news. After a former executive was found to be embezzling funds, Japan Display said it would review its past earnings.
Japan Display bailout
At one point, Japan Display shined as of Apple’s biggest display manufacturers. But its failure to adopt OLED display technology over LCD caused it to fall behind. Japan Display is now taking its first steps into OLED manufacturing.
It will create its first OLED screens for the Apple Watch. This will help Apple to diversify its supply chain, which currently depends heavily on LG Display.
Japan Display still owes Apple almost $900 million for a smartphone display plant built four years ago. To help the display-maker through this rough patch, Apple agreed to slow the pace of expected repayments. Apple is additionally paying money it owes Japan Display in shorter increments to boost cash flow.
At the very least, I hope Tim Cook gets sent a very nice Christmas card in thanks.
Source: The New York Times


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The new generation Toyota Camry hybrid will come with a range of updates inside out, pricing around Rs 40 lakh
Toyota Camry hybrid has been the pioneer in India in bringing hybrid technology. Now, the new generation Toyota Camry hybrid is ready to hit showrooms in India. Ahead of its imminent launch, the hybrid sedan has been listed on the official website. The 2019 Toyota Camry hybrid will come with a host of updates and advanced technology onboard. It will compete with rivals like Honda Accord hybrid, Skoda Superb, Lexus ES 300h and Volkswagen Passat.
The new Toyota Camry hybrid is based on the automaker’s TNGA (Toyota New Global Architecture) platform. It boasts a completely restyled appearance. It gets massive front grille, sleek LED projector headlamps with integrated LED daytime running lights. Also, there are clean side profile, large alloy wheels, suave and sloping roofline, sleek LED taillights, lip spoiler.
The new generation Camry hybrid is longer and wider than its predecessor. The extra wheelbase adds more room for occupants. The interior gets a new dashboard with 7-inch MID, 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system, 10-inch head-up display, triple-zone automatic climate control. It gets 9 airbags ensuring a superior level of safety for the occupants.
The eighth generation Toyota Camry hybrid comes powered by a 2.5-litre engine coupled with an 88 kW motor. Combined, the powertrain churns out 208 bhp of peak power. It gets an 8-speed E-CVT for transmission. The new-gen Toyota Camry hybrid could be priced at Rs 40 lakh (ex-showroom). It will be slightly premium over the current model. The hybrid sedan will be locally assembled in Bidadi plant.
The Indian government has been promoting the idea of green mobility in India. The hybrid technology bridges the gap between the fossil fuel and zero emission pure electric powertrain technology. The new Camry hybrid will certainly play a key role in the brand’s growth in the greener powertrain technology.


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OAKLAND, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) partnered with the America’s Cup to create a unique and commemorative limited-edition Clipper card in honor of the America’s Cup Summer of Racing in San Francisco. The new America’s Cup card joins other commemorative Clipper cards such as the new Bay Bridge East Span and the Golden Gate Bridge 75th Anniversary Clipper card as well as other collectible Clipper cards produced in partnership with the Golden State Warriors and San Jose Sharks.
“We’re excited to offer an exciting new commemorative Clipper card. We believe this is a great way to celebrate San Francisco hosting the competition for the oldest trophy in international sport taking place this summer. It will promote the use of public transportation to and from the events”
“We’re excited to offer an exciting new commemorative Clipper card. We believe this is a great way to celebrate San Francisco hosting the competition for the oldest trophy in international sport taking place this summer. It will promote the use of public transportation to and from the events,” said Carol Kuester, director of Electronic Fare Payments for MTC.
“Even though the America’s Cup is 162 years old, it has a tradition of innovation. One of the most important of these for 2013 is having racing off the city front for the first time, and this special Clipper card will help bring fans to our venues via the Bay’s extensive public transit system,” said Stephen Barclay, chief executive of the America’s Cup.
The limited edition, commemorative Clipper cards are available for purchase in person only at:
San Francisco Ferry Building
One Ferry Building, Shop #22
Monday-Saturday, 6:45 a.m.-7 p.m.
Sunday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
Clipper Customer Service Center
Embarcadero BART/Muni Station
Monday-Friday, 5:45 a.m.-7 p.m.
Saturday-Sunday, 9 a.m.-2 p.m.
The 34th America’s Cup Park Store
Monday – Sunday 10 a.m. – 7 p.m.
The America’s Cup Clipper card showcases a beautiful rendering of an AC72 wing-sailed catamaran featuring the America’s Cup trophy on the sail, with the Bay Bridge in the background.
The card costs $3, and customers can load passes or cash value onto it. The card functions only as an adult Clipper card and does not provide discounts for seniors or youths. A limited number of cards were printed, and they are expected to sell out quickly.
Like its sister cards, the America’s Cup Clipper card can be used on any of eight public transit systems: AC Transit, BART, Caltrain, Golden Gate Bus and Ferry, SamTrans, San Francisco Bay Ferry, San Francisco Muni and Valley Transportation Authority — as well as the Dumbarton Express.
For questions about the America’s Cup Clipper card and travel to the America’s Cup venues, visit 511.org or clippercard.com, or call Clipper Customer Service at 877.878.8883.
Introduced in June 2010, Clipper is that all-in-one transit card that keeps track of any passes, discount tickets, ride books and cash value loaded onto it. Clipper accounted for 621,700 average weekday transactions during July 2013, which amounts to nearly half of all transit rides in the Bay Area. More than 1.3 million active Clipper cards were in circulation as of July 31, 2013.
Clipper is a project of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the transportation planning, financing and coordinating agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area.


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Technological developments are fueling the new and exciting ways users can perceive and experience new realms of reality. From virtual exhibitions to Sci-Fi settings and extraordinary digital event spaces, many companies are unleashing their creative ambitions in a race to create the most outstanding and intriguing lure for their customers.
DecentWorld, a Swiss-owned metaverse platform, has decided to take an unorthodox approach by creating a 1-to-1 copy of the real world, enabling users to mint scarce NFTs in the form of Streets, and inviting users to experience the 3D virtual world of Downtown Dubai in a gamified and interactive way.
An Artistic Interpretation of Dubai
DecentWorld is on a quest to challenge how people view architecture and explore their surroundings while concentrating on the two most important sensations: familiarity and recognition.
“Our 3D rendering of Downtown Dubai was inspired by hundreds of images which were posted online. Each photograph, obtained via satellite as well as a number of other sources, was diligently researched and evaluated to represent the real world, but in an artful way. We want to create a platform which excites and plays with the users’ senses,” the design team reveals.
Overall, the 3D world consists of more than 50 buildings and other objects, which were artistically interpreted by the design team and made available for the users to explore. The team has already plans to adorn their 3D metaverse with other cities, such as Paris, New York, São Paulo, and many more.
Additionally, in order to provide users with a completely unique experience, the team is also giving an inspiring glimpse of how Dubai will look in the near future. When creating the virtual world, the design team also included buildings, which are still under construction in real life.
“Some of the structures in the metaverse won’t be completed in the real world until the end of 2023. In actuality, we are offering our consumers a chance to imagine how the city might look in the future. They will be able to claim to have seen it before it was even constructed,” the team says.
Inclusivity Is Key
When working with ambitious and young projects, such as the metaverse, companies must be very well aware of the users’ expectations and needs. DecentWorld has decided to take a bottom-up approach, focusing on the user’s experience and feedback instead of merely focusing on business goals. The team is planning to enrich and adjust each feature so that it brings unique and exciting value to each user.
“Our ultimate goal is to create a platform which would become a key tool for people to meet, interact, shop, and engage in various other activities. This is why we are serious about taking each user’s opinion into account,” the team explains.
The DecentWorld team purposefully chose to launch the platform on a desktop, allowing users to access the metaverse through their PCs. Nevertheless, the project owners also have plans to soon enable users to view the 3D environment through VR headsets.
“We wanted to be inclusive by allowing everyone to join our metaverse, even if they do not have a VR set at their disposal. We are aware that the metaverse is still a relatively novel idea, which means that the hardware still needs to catch up, but when it does, I am confident that it will become a real breakthrough in the technology sector,” Audrius, one of the project’s design team members, shares.
DecentWorld is a Swiss metaverse digital real estate platform built on blockchain technology to introduce a next-generation web3 experience. The platform allows members to mint and trade digital Street NFTs, which can then be combined into Collections. Completed and staked Collections have additional value as they generate yield that is paid out to the owner. Using state-of-the-art security features, DecentWorld also stands for trust and transparency in the blockchain industry.
To fully explore our metaverse, please visit www.decentworld.com.
For further inquiries & talent outreach, please message firstname.lastname@example.org.


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SoulCalibur 6 is the latest game in major series to see physical sales of its recent releases drop in comparison to its predecessors. The fighting game released earlier this week to plenty of critical acclaim, but that hasn’t stopped sales dropping 55% compared to SoulCalibur V.
There is, of course, likely to be a reason for this. Physical sales have been declining for a while, most likely as a result of it becoming easier than ever to download a game without ever having to leave your couch. That’s not fantastic news for retailers, but it’s likely to mean that developers aren’t too worried.
The sales figures referenced above come from the UK’s physical charts. At time of writing, the only information I can find for the game’s digital performance comes from SteamCharts, which reckons it’s got a peak player count of around 14,000. That’s not bad, but I’ve not really got anything to compare it to – no previous SoulCalibur games have released on Valve’s platform, so SteamCharts is all we have to go on for now.
The drop might not be the whole story, but it could still be worrying for SoulCalibur fans. Ahead of the game’s release, its producer said that poor sales could be the final nail in the series’ coffin, as it “was actually facing a crisis of maybe disappearing.”
Both Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 and Assassin’s Creed Odyssey have recently seen their physical sales drop, with their predecessors outselling them in the UK’s physical charts. SoulCal’s drop is particularly big, however – both COD and Assassin’s Creed saw yearly drops of about 25%. Some of SoulCal’s lack of physical sales, however, can be put down to the fact that its predecessor came out in 2012, when digital downloads were far less common than they are now.


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The good news for customers is that even though the supermarket is scrapping multipacks of its own label drinks, individual cans will continue to be sold at the same price per unit as a part of a multi-buy promotion.
And instead of having to buy multiples of the same product, shoppers will be able to mix and match purchases including lemonade, cola, ginger beer, soda and tonic water.
The supermarket has stepped up its campaign against unnecessary plastic by removing the multipack wrap from many of its own brand food and drinks.
Initially 12 million pieces of plastic a year will be saved from use on all own-brand canned fizzy drinks.
The multipacks of 4s used to cost £1 – now the price is 50p a can or four for £1.
In addition, a further 33 million pieces of plastic will be removed in the autumn as plastic multipacks are removed from kids’ lunchbox drinks, energy drinks, water and fruit juices.
Tesco Head of Packaging Development Johnny Neville said:
“Customers are focused on getting great value right now, but they still want to use less plastic.
Not only is this move great news for the environment but it will also offer customers more choice and flexibility when it comes to fizzy drinks – at no extra cost. It could even work out much cheaper for customers who want a variety of drinks.”
“Basically it’s more choice, same value but less plastic!”
This is the latest in a series of actions against multipack plastic -
- In January 2020, Tesco saved 67 million pieces of plastic a year by removing multipack wraps from all of its tins, including branded and own-brand beans, soup and tuna.
- In May 2021, Tesco stopped selling beers and ciders in soft plastic multipack wraps, as part of a move which saved 50 million pieces of plastic a year.
- Tesco’s 4Rs packaging strategy aims to remove plastic where it can, reduce where it can't, reuse more and recycle what's left.
Since the launch of the 4Rs strategy in August 2019, Tesco has removed 1.7bn pieces and further reduced packaging by more than 3000 tonnes from its annual footprint. Fruit juices, crisps and cheese are all among the products now being produced using less plastic.


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For most entrepreneurs, their retirement nest egg is their business. They count on it to fund their golden years. Most founders dream of finding buyers who will ensure their legacy lives on and prospers. For some a good option is selling to employees.
Gene Broderick, 70, and his partner Duane Taylor, 72, learned this firsthand. When they decided to retire from their water-treatment business in Santa Rosa, California, by the first quarter of 2016, they needed to find buyers who could afford to purchase it. That was not going to be easy, given that Northcoast Waterworks brings in $2 million in annual revenue and their asking price was more than $1 million.
So they looked at selling the 10-person firm to a key employee.
Many companies look to sell to their workers either as individuals or in an employee stock ownership plan, which provides a company's workforce with ownership shares in the firm. Currently, there are 15 million participants in ESOPs and ESOP-like plans in the United States, according to the National Center for Employee Ownership, a nonprofit that studies the industry. Some well-known companies, such as Publix supermarkets and Quicktrip convenience stores, have created ESOPs.
But for smaller companies like Northcoast Waterworks, ESOPs aren't always practical. Employees may not want to own shares of a tiny firm because the investment is not as liquid as stock in a well-known company. Selling to them outside of an ESOP is usually very difficult because few can afford to buy out their employer. Unfortunately, employees are often the only potential buyers with the know-how to run a specialized business successfully.
As a result, many owners never find a buyer. They delay their retirement plans for years as they try to sell their business, then quietly close up shop without enjoying any financial rewards from the years of hard work they put in. Consider this: BizBuySell, a major marketplace for small businesses, currently lists more than 45,000 businesses for sale. Last year, when the number of listings was about the same, sellers on the site closed only 7,222 transactions.
What many owners don't know is that it is possible to sell to their employees — even those who have little savings — using financing backed by the U.S. Small Business Administration . As long as the employees have good credit and are not convicted felons, the SBA will let them purchase the business with little or no money down.
In fact, the SBA's 7(a) program, founded in 1953, incentivizes the agency to make loans for the acquisition of a small business by guaranteeing 75 percent of the loan that a bank makes to a borrower. The borrower has to put up 25 percent of the sale price, but it does not have to be the buyer's own money. It can be a loan from the owner or a gift from a family member. A loan from an owner has to be on standby for two years, in which the borrower cannot make any payments. After that, the term is usually another five to seven years.
This is what allowed Broderick and Taylor to sell Northcoast Waterworks last summer for $1.6 million. The buyers did not have to come up with the whole $1.6 million by themselves, because they had an SBA loan and financing from the sellers.
The buyers were Jarrad Fraser— Broderick's nephew and a technician who had worked for Northcoast Waterworks for 16 years — and Nick Bracesco, who owns a local well-inspection business that does pump work.
"We really wanted to find someone that was qualified," said Broderick. "The knowledgeable and skilled people we could have sold to were within the company."
In the transaction my firm arranged, the two new buyers put down 15 percent of the purchase price ($240,000), and the owners loaned them the remaining 10 percent ($160,000) to meet the 25 percent minimum required to get an SBA-backed 10-year term loan. Wells Fargo loaned them the remaining 75 percent ($1,200,000) in the SBA loan. If a bank wanted more evidence of the owners' confidence that they will be paid back, the buyers would put down 10 percent and the owner would lend them the remaining 15 percent.
What if the owners were not willing to lend them the money — and the employees had more cash to invest in the purchase? If they put down at least 25 percent ($400,000), the SBA would allow a bank to lend them the remaining 75 percent ($1.2 million).
That is still more manageable than getting a standard bank loan that is not backed by the SBA. With a traditional bank loan, the buyers would typically need to put 40 percent of the purchase price down, borrow 40 percent and get the owners to lend them the remaining 20 percent. Going that traditional route in this case would have meant the buyers had to put down $640,000, borrow $640,000 and get the owners to lend them $320,000. That would have been a lot harder for them to pull off.
The deal was a relief to the sellers, who wanted to continue the legacy they had built at the business. "We have several thousand customers that need their equipment serviced," said Broderick. "We didn't want to leave them in a situation where they wouldn't be able to get any kind of good service."
Why are banks interested in making loans like the one they offered to Fraser and Bracesco? According to Bonnie Jessen, a business development officer at Wells Fargo who closed the transaction, it's good business.
"We had very qualified buyers," said Jessen. "We had a business that had a long track record and good cash flow."
Fraser's experience in the business was a plus, too, she added. "Generally speaking, previous business ownership or a management background, preferably in a similar industry, is required," said Jessen. "When they have worked in a business and have the exact management background, that makes it all the easier."
So far, Fraser said running the business has not altered his day-to-day work very much, though his hours are longer. But it has changed his capacity to build wealth dramatically.
"In the back of my mind, I'm now not just getting a basic hourly wage," said Fraser. "I'm now reaping all of the rewards, all of the profits." That is an opportunity he would not have if he had not tapped the SBA loan program.
— By David Ryan, founder and managing member of Upton Financial Group, an advisory firm specializing in business value strategies and solutions
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Crypto prices are falling again on Oct. 13 after Bitcoin (BTC) price dipped to a three-week low at $18,200, but what is behind the fresh wave of selling?
The most likely culprit on the day is a hotter-than-expected consumer price index (CPI) report that showed consumer prices rising by 0.4% in September. Compared to a year ago, consumer prices are now 8.2% higher, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The CPI report showed similar upticks in other categories, with the core CPI rising by 0.6% month-to-month since September and by 6.6% over the past 12 months, when food and energy prices are removed.
Meanwhile, nonfarm payrolls added 263,000 in September, and the unemployment rate dropped to 3.5%.
In brief, rising inflation is the absolute last thing the Federal Reserve wants to see. The Fed’s rate hikes are meant to cool off the economy and put a damper on high inflation, so the Oct. 13 higher-than-expected report is likely to translate into another round of 0.75-basis-point hikes in the upcoming months.
In response to the report, Bitcoin price shed nearly 5% and Ether (ETH) dropped by 6% before both regained a majority of their losses in intraday trading. The fact that BTC and Ether are trading above their daily lows suggests that traders had anticipated an unfavorable CPI report and that the negative newsflow was already priced in.
Similar to BTC, the Dow and S&P 500 also nursed losses following the CPI report, but both indexes are set to close the day in the black with a 3% and 2.72% gain, respectively.
While the short-term reaction to the inflation report might inspire confidence from day traders, the general economic outlook remains bleak, and the high correlation between crypto and equities markets could translate for further downside for Bitcoin price if talk of higher interest rate hikes begins to dominate news headlines.
There are also a number of economic events occurring in mid-October that could continue to pressure crypto prices. The following dates highlight important economic events that have a history of impacting investor sentiment in the crypto market:
Oct. 17: Q3 earnings season beginsOct. 28: Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index
In addition to these upcoming events, the strength of the United States dollar and what appears to be a serious escalation in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia continue to weigh on all markets.
Let’s take a deeper look into three reasons why crypto prices keep falling in 2022.
Federal Reserve interest rate hikes
Raising interest rates increases the cost of borrowing money for consumers and businesses. This has the knock-on effect of raising business operational costs, the costs of goods and services, production costs, wages, and eventually, the cost of nearly everything.
High, unsupressable inflation is the primary reason the United States Federal Reserve is raising interest rates. And since rate hikes began in March 2022, Bitcoin and the broader crypto market have been in a correction.
When monetary policy or metrics that measure the strength of the economy shift, risk assets tend to signal, or move, earlier than equities. In 2021, the Fed started signaling its plans to raise interest rates eventually, and data shows Bitcoin price sharply correcting by December 2021. In a way, Bitcoin and Ethereum were the canaries in the coal mine that signaled what lay ahead for equities markets.
If inflation begins to taper, the health of the economy improves, or the Fed begins to signal a pivot in its current monetary policy, risk assets like Bitcoin and altcoins could again be the “canaries in the coal mine” by reflecting the return of risk-on sentiment from investors.
The persistent threat of regulation
The cryptocurrency industry and regulators have a long history of not getting along either due to various misconceptions or mistrust over the actual use case of digital assets. Without a working framework for crypto sector regulation, different countries and states have a plethora of conflicting policies on how cryptocurrencies are classified as assets and precisely what constitutes a legal payment system.
The lack of clarity on this matter weighs on growth and innovation within the sector, and many analysts believe that the mainstreaming of cryptocurrencies cannot happen until a more universally agreed upon and understood set of laws is enacted.
Risk assets are heavily impacted by investor sentiment, and this trend extends to Bitcoin and altcoins. To date, the threat of unfriendly cryptocurrency regulations or, in the worst case, an outright ban continues to impact crypto prices on a nearly monthly basis.
Scams and Ponzis triggered liquidations and repeat blows to investor confidence
Scams, Ponzi schemes and sharp market volatility have also played a significant role in crypto prices crashing throughout 2022. Bad news and events that compromise market liquidity tend to cause catastrophic outcomes due to the lack of regulation, the youth of the cryptocurrency industry and the market being relatively small compared with equities markets.
The implosion of Terra’s LUNA and Celsius Network as well as misuse of leverage and client funds by Three Arrows Capital (3AC) were each responsible for successive blows to asset prices within the crypto market. Bitcoin is currently the largest asset by market capitalization in the sector, and historically, altcoin prices tend to follow whichever direction BTC price goes.
As the Terra and LUNA ecosystem collapsed on itself, Bitcoin price corrected sharply due to multiple liquidations occurring within Terra — and investor sentiment tanked.
The same happened with even greater magnitude when Voyager, 3AC and Celsius collapsed, erasing tens of billions in investor and protocol funds.
Related: Bitcoin analysts and traders say BTC’s low volatility is ‘a calm before the storm’
What to expect for the rest of 2022 through 2023
The factors impacting falling prices within the crypto market are driven by Federal Reserve policy, meaning the Fed’s power to raise, pause or lower rates will continue to have a direct impact on Bitcoin price, ETH price and altcoin prices.
In the meantime, investors’ appetite for risk is likely to remain muted, and potential crypto traders might consider waiting for signs that U.S. inflation has peaked and for the Federal Reserve to begin using language that is indicative of a policy pivot.
The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.


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ePHOTOzine brings you a daily round up of all the latest photography news including camera news, exhibitions, events, special offers, industry news, digital photography news, announcements and launches.
A modified FinePix S9100 that captures infrared and the visible spectrum has been released for the law enforcement, medical and scientific markets.
- 4 Jan 2007
Slim 5-megapixel 28mm wide-angle zoom digital camera has the world's fastest* shutter response time.
- 11 May 2004
Digital Camera with handy Vari-Angle LCD Monitor and Anti-Shake Function with CCD-Shifting
- 15 Sep 2004
- Konica Minolta Photo Imaging (UK) Limited
We'll be updating this news story around the clock with links to all the latest Photokina news.
- 24 Sep 2002
Have you won a prize in ePHOTOzine's Biggest Ever Prize Draw?
- 10 Feb 2011
Bonhams is to sell one of the rarest cameras in the world, a Leica Luxus 1, dating from 1930.
- 10 Oct 2013


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- The FCA has banned amateur investors from buying and selling Cryptocurrency futures and options
- The ban comes into effect on January 6th, 2021
FCA cracks down on crypto trading
The UK’s cryptocurrency market has been shaken to its core following an announcement by the FCA. To protect amateur investors, the Authority has decided to ban the sale of Bitcoin futures and derivatives to retail-consumers. This decision comes hot on the heels of a study by Cambridge University. The study found that most UK-based Crypto investors are operating without a license. The FCA says the purpose of the ban – which will become law on January 6th, 2021 – is to protect amateur investors from “sudden and unexpected losses.”
The FCA hopes that the ban will protect amateur investors as their inexperience leaves them vulnerable to market uncertainty. This makes them more susceptible to financial crime or loss of profits due to crypto markets’ inherent volatility. It is telling that the ban comes just weeks after the DOJ’s decision to prosecute the owners of BitMEX for money-laundering. This indicates a broader shift by governments around the world to regulate cryptocurrency platforms to combat fraud.
The impact of the ban
The ban does not apply to professional entities free to continue trade in futures and derivates. The FCA ban does impact a disproportionate number of UK-based crypto investors, however. Of the 4% of the UK population with crypto-currency assets, roughly 75% are retail consumers. This means that the cryptocurrency market in the UK is likely to suffer for quite some time. It is also likely that the ban could have the reverse of the intended effect. Retail-consumers are now more likely to invest in crypto markets outside of the UK to circumvent the ban.
Such a movement will hinder the growth of the UK cryptocurrency market and place amateur investors at risk. The FCA has no power over crypto-exchanges based abroad and will be unable to protect retail-consumers as a result.


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Bioalpha partners with HK-listed Ritamix to manufacture dietary supplement
02 Dec 2020
Health supplement group Bioalpha Holdings Bhd has been appointed by Hong Kong-listed Ritamix Global Ltd as a contract manufacturer to make and supply a longevity dietary supplement.
“We are expecting multi-millions of orders from Ritamix for the Malaysia and China markets,” Bioalpha managing director William Hon said in a virtual press conference today.
The supplement product contains the nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) compound that can help restore energy and reduce typical signs of ageing such as gradual weight gain.
“The NMN market is forecast to grow to approximately 100 billion renminbi (RM62 billion) in the future,” Hon quoted Chinese research house CITIC Securities as saying.
He added that he expects NMN products to deliver a gross profit margin of 50% based on the selling price to Ritamix.
Apart from its longevity benefits, there are also research studies currently being conducted on NMN’s effect of improving immunity system as a control measure against Covid-19 infection and illness, said Hon.
“We are thrilled with the prospects and potential of NMN compound. As such, together with Ritamix, we are appointing Universiti Teknologi Malaysia to conduct research to substantiate and validate the efficacy of NMN along with its longevity benefits and immunity-boosting properties,” he added.
The collaboration agreement between Bioalpha’s wholly-owned subsidiary Bioalpha International Sdn Bhd and Ritamix was held earlier today at Biolapha’s headquarters in Bangi.
Under the five-year deal, Ritamix, which owns and formulates the NMN product, will distribute it in Malaysia and other Southeast Asian countries as well as mainland China and Hong Kong.
Hon said the partnership with Ritamix represents an important development for Bioalpha as the group maintains the growth momentum in expanding its customer and product base.
“We are grateful to have the trust from Ritamix to manufacture this NMN longevity supplement, backed by our solid track record of 15 years in the health supplement industry. We expect to receive the first batch of orders from Ritamix by the first quarter of 2021, which will be produced at our Good Manufacturing Practice-certified plant in Bangi,” Hon added.
Ritamix chairman and CEO Datuk Seri Howard Lee Haw Yih expects the sales projection for the NMN product in Malaysia alone to be HK$30 million to HK$35 million dollars (RM16 million to RM18 million) in 2021.
In Malaysia, the sales channel for the product will include pharmacy stores and fast-moving consumer goods stores.
In Hong Kong and the rest of China, Ritamix has already appointed agents to undertake the distribution and promotional activities. Meanwhile, it will also utilize cross-border e-commerce platforms to sell the products online in China.
Lee noted that this is Ritamix’s second collaboration with Bioalpha.
“The first product Bioalpha produced for us is an immune system booster to strengthen the body against viral infections such as Covid-19. The health supplement received great demand with pre-orders hitting HK$5 million, exceeding our initial target. We foresee the product to garner more interest post-launching with sales expected to reach HK$20 million in 2021.
“As for the NMN supplement, we believe that the reception will be even stronger due to its popularity,” Lee added.
Meanwhile, commenting on Bioalpha’s business outlook, Hon said they are expected to improve in the coming quarters backed by the RM2.1 billion contract previously signed with China-based Guizhou Yuhexin Trading Ltd and Hainan Shifengfu Co Ltd.
For the cumulative nine-month period ended Sept 30, 2020, the group posted a net loss of RM23.91 million against a net profit of RM6 million a year ago, as revenue fell 54.8% to RM19.79 million from RM43.79 million.
Bioalpha was the day’s most active counter on Bursa Malaysia, with volume of 487 million shares. It closed 4.5 sen or 12.68% lower at 31 sen, bringing it a market capitalisation of RM344.23 million.
Source: The Edge Markets