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Hate commercials? Good news: You might see fewer of them.
Media companies, including Time Warner, 21st Century Fox and Viacom, have started cutting back on commercials after years of squeezing in as many ads as possible.
The new strategy is an attempt to appeal to younger viewers, who are more accustomed to watching shows ad-free on online streaming services such as Netflix, and to advertisers concerned their messages are being ignored amid all the commercial clutter.
Time Warner’s truTV will cut its ad load in half for prime-time original shows starting late next year, said CEO Jeff Bewkes earlier this month on an earnings call. Viacom has recently slashed commercial minutes at its networks, which include Comedy Central and MTV.
Fox has said it will offer viewers of its shows on Hulu the option to watch a 30-second interactive ad instead of a typical 2½-minute commercial break. Fox says the shorter ads, which require viewers to engage with them online, are more effective because they guarantee the audience’s full attention.
TV networks are under more pressure to scale back on commercials as viewers have more options than ever to watch shows ad-free. YouTube and Hulu recently introduced ad-free subscription services, joining Netflix and Amazon.com.
“We know one of the benefits of an ecosystem like Netflix is its lack of advertising,” said Howard Shimmel, chief research officer at Time Warner’s Turner Broadcasting. “Consumers are being trained there are places they can go to avoid ads.”
By airing fewer ads, the theory goes, the remaining ones become more memorable, and thus more valuable to advertisers, letting programmers charge higher rates. Yet, by shrinking the commercials, they run the risk of leaving money on the table at a time when the industry is under growing pressure from consumers ditching pay-TV services for cheaper online alternatives.
“The customer can avoid a whole number of other ads, so we’ll charge a higher price,” Fox CEO James Murdoch said in September.
For years, TV networks have stuffed more ads into commercial breaks to offset shrinking ad revenue caused by falling ratings. Some programmers even use compression technology to subtly speed up shows and movies to squeeze in more ad time.


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A listing for Castlevania: Lords of Shadow has been found within the Steam registry, suggesting Konami's 2010 console reboot is heading to PC.
A sequel, Lords of Shadow 2, is already confirmed for PC, meaning it would make sense to launch the first game on PC pretty soon, with a suggestion the game will be offered as a pre-order bonus via Steam.
However, this wouldn't be the first time a Steam listing hasn't led to a game release. Earlier this year Halo 3 was spotted, but denied by Microsoft.
Konami hasn't confirmed or denied reports.

domain: news


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The deal covers sectors from food to textiles and tech and largely replicates the existing EU-Japan arrangement.
Equities have swung back and forth over the past week as the stimulus discussions keeps traders on their toes.
The British Poultry Council (BPC) said the problem is due to a shortage of skilled workers that process the meat
The fees being charged have doubled in the last two years which could force retailers to pass on the extra costs to their consumers.
Wall Street's three main indexes ended lower and Asia followed.
Airlines are hopeful that better testing procedures at airports and "travel bubbles" between countries might encourage more people to fly.
Investors are also keeping tabs on post-Brexit trade talks, with Britain welcoming signals that the European Union was ready to intensify them.
Tokyo, Sydney and Taipei all rose more than one percent wile Seoul, Singapore, Manila and Jakarta were also well up.
The company has agreed to invest up to Can$1.5 billion (US$1.1 billion) in southern Ontario's Windsor plant.
Labor Department data showed new applications for US jobless benefits rose to a seven-week high of 898,000 last week, an increase of 53,000.
The sweet and spicy donut just hit participating restaurants across the US and will be available until December.
The IPO price was set at 135,000 won ($118) but within minutes of the Kospi exchange opening the stock was trading at 330,000 won.
The Swedish furniture giant will offer vouchers worth up to 50% of the item's original price which customers can spend at its stores
Executives from large US banks said additional support was needed for the coronavirus-ravaged economy.
Investors were sent on a roller-coaster ride last week when Trump first called off stimulus talks before doing a U-turn.
Data leaks, including the FinCEN files and the Panama Papers, show that the Caribbean archipelago was a major global hub for money laundering and tax evasion.
If Canadians buy the electric vehicles produced at the plant, Canada will move towards its goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050, Justin Trudeau said.
As indicated by analysts, the South Asian country has the potential to become the world's next manufacturing epicentre.
The South Korean tech giant said in an earnings estimate that it expected operating profit to reach 12.3 trillion won ($10.6 billion) for July to September.
YouTube is one of the most popular social media platforms. More than 1.5 billion hours of content is watched on YouTube in a year which is a lot. If you are looking to start a YouTube channel and are looking for ways to increase the number of subscribers then you have come to the right place.


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The capability to take control of a mobile device and install malware can be done by simply plugging it into a fake charging station.
Speaking at the Black Hat Europe conference, Andre Pereira said that while the trend for use of smartphones has increased, it also exposes our information. He highlighted the Android operating system and said that its customisation capability one was one of its benefits, and as vendors add their own software it adds another layer of software that can add to the breach capability and extend the attack surface.
This, he said, was down to the AT commands, which the modern smartphone has to communicate with the baseband and application processors. “Everything you do on it goes through the Radio Interface layer and application dials and RIL intercepts it and translates to AT commands and responds to the application,” he said.
He pointed at a vulnerability in the AT commands where an attacker can plug in phone into a computer or power source which returns a lot of information on the software, version, and mounts the external storage.
In a scenario, Pereira said that a fake charging station will flash a compromised boot rather than charge the device. For a test, they focused on the Windows 7 and Guest Xubuntu operating systems.
He said: “With an AT-FUS command, at pre-attack we have to collect normal boot partition, add malicious code by changing the boot partition. If we install an uninstallable surveillance application then the user cannot remove it, even with root access, and even upon boot it will reinstall and make surveillance as it is a launch application as will not appear among the applications.
“We tested this with anti-virus and found only AVG detected that a RAT was installed, and it shows that applications are very limited and have permissions that standard applications have.”
He concluded by saying that the USB connection should be seen as a threat and not overlooked, and the user should be held responsible when charging at unknown connections, and support for AT commands should be added.
He confirmed that all Samsung devices are vulnerable to this and the company had been made aware of the flaw.


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As president of L’Oréal's products division in the U.S., Carol Hamilton is charged with stewarding the beauty giant’s prestige products in American distribution.
Hamilton, who was named to her current position in the Luxury Products Division in July, spent 24 years in L’Oréal’s mass divisions, ascending to the role as president of L’Oréal Paris, where she was largely credited with building that business into a beauty powerhouse.
These days, Hamilton’s duties involve dealing with primarily American channels of distribution, such as department stores and home-shopping channels, and helping to plot global strategy for the company’s luxury portfolio — especially American-identified brands such as Ralph Lauren Fragrances and Kiehl’s Since 1851.
“Department stores have been partners in building our luxury business, and we’re working with them to work through trying times,” says Hamilton of the U.S. market. “Where we’re focusing most is on innovation. We’re finding that department stores, more than ever, are the best places to dramatize innovation through visual weeks, product demonstrations and beauty advisers. We’re able to launch best at department stores.”
Hamilton points to Lancôme’s Oscillation, which bowed last fall, as an example. “To become the number-one mascara in your first month is a testimony to the strength of what department stores can do when you work together as partners,” she says. “In every meeting, we talk about not only the best way to launch our new innovation, but also the right service model. The more we can talk to the consumer and train her in the way she wants to be trained rather than to hard sell her is the absolute key to keeping our department store business vibrant and growing.”
Hamilton also is open to growing the business via the Internet and home shopping channels. “As long as the channel presents our product and talks to the luxury customer in the way she wants to be talked to, then we consider it a viable part of our portfolio,” she says. “For example, when you look at Lancôme selling Oscillation in department stores, they [gave it to] every single beauty adviser and tested it on every single consumer. But they could only reach the customers that came to their counters. On HSN, it’s exactly the same service. We are demonstrating all the benefits of this luxury product to the luxury consumer with service — it just happens to be in the privacy of her home. So it’s a different model, but gives service to the customer in the way that she wants it. We see our multichannel strategy as very complementary to our traditional channel.
“Also, every time we go on HSN, our department store sales skyrocket, because we’re reaching a broader base of consumers,” says Hamilton. “She may see the product on HSN, and watch 18 minutes out of an hour show. That’s much longer than a typical department store consultation — so she really knows the benefits. The next time she’s in a department store and runs out of mascara, she then sees the Lancôme counter and remembers the HSN programming. The explosive growth of beauty on our retailers’ sites also shows the complementary value of multichannel retailing.”
Shu Uemura, another of the brands in Hamilton’s portfolio, sells on QVC.
“Shu is to me one of the most important assets in our portfolio. It’s a niche brand, but still, it is the quintessential makeup-artist brand — Shu was the original makeup artist. It’s an amazing brand when you put together the artistry aspect and science aspects of it. The combination of all of those assets coming together creates a brand with an incredible story. It’s also a younger brand — it appeals to younger consumers because of its transparency, love of color, playfulness. And the association with Madonna doesn’t hurt.” The brand is also particularly strong at Neiman Marcus, says Hamilton: “It’s a specialty store business, and we value that very much.” Both color and skin care are booming for the brand, she adds.
At the fragrance bar, Hamilton is particularly bullish on Ralph Lauren’s portfolio of men’s and women’s fragrances, perennial bestsellers for the company.
“Ralph Lauren is a huge fragrance business for us,” says Hamilton. “Ralph Lauren, being the quintessential American designer, transcends cultures because of his incredible fashion stance. He brings unique American values and is the ultimate lifestyle brand.”
Both of L’Oréal’s U.S.-centric brands — Ralph Lauren Fragrances and Kiehl’s Since 1851 — have a strong global business, although they are strongly associated in customers’ minds with the American market, says Hamilton. “When a brand has a well-defined story and a very strong DNA, it translates amazingly well. If you take Kiehl’s, for example, we are now in 33 countries. The press event for the launch in China was [at the end of April] [and] we launched in Japan in 2008. Our second-largest business is in Korea. We find that, as long as the story is strong — a full beauty experience, not just a star product, but a total brand experience — that translates extremely well, because, as the world becomes more global, what consumers are seeking are strong local stories.”
In the case of Kiehl’s, she notes, it’s a story about an apothecary in New York’s East Village. “You’re getting a piece of New York through the Kiehl’s story, and that resonates extremely well.” The brand encourages support of local charities in each of its markets, giving consumers a local anchor, so to speak.
Hamilton also is overseeing an organizational change in progress. “We are creating a new group, called the Specialty Beauty Group,” explains Hamilton. “It will be four brands: Kiehl’s, Shu Uemura, Armani Beauty and YSL Beauté, with one sales force selling these brands to existing distribution. On the fragrance side, we’re capitalizing on our in-depth expertise with our Designer Fragrance Group; Leslie Marino and her team will be responsible for the sales of Armani Fragrances — which they already are — and YSL fragrances. Within the Specialty Beauty Group, Marc Rey will handle YSL and Armani, with the strategic responsibility for both beauty and fragrance. Stephane de la Faverie retains his position as general manager on the entire Armani brand. This will be effective July 1.”
As for why it’s being done, Hamilton explains: “The true strategy is to build centers of expertise that correspond to the luxury retail world today. We want to be much more customer-centric than perhaps we’ve been able to be when sales forces have sold smaller brands. We’re going from a brand-centric organization to a brand-centric and consumer-centric organization. The ultimate strategy is to not only service the brand, but the customer in a much stronger way.”
@tradesy is turning the concept of a showroom upside down with its new space in Santa Monica. Here, the company plans to hold events, art exhibits and a showcase rare fashion pieces like this Louis Vuitton boxing set. Get all the details on Tradesy’s first showroom on WWD.com. #wwdnews
Spotted last night at the @erdem x @hm launch event: Kate Bosworth, Rashida Jones, Kirsten Dunst and Selma Blair. The party, which took place in LA, also marked the opening of their pop-up shop. “I was interested in creating a collection that wasn’t in any way disposable. It was about pieces you’d create and keep forever, things that have a permanence to it,” designer Erdem Moralioglu said. #wwdeye (📷: Katie Jones)
Renee Zellweger in yellow in 2001 and again in 2017. Chosen as one of the 12 @pantone Leading Spring Colors (and dubbed “Meadowlark”), it only makes sense that the bright hue stands the test of time and is making a resurgence this season, seen already on stars like @blakelively and @gigihadid. (📷: Donato Sardello & @rexfeatures) #wwdfashion #tbt
Dior’s 70th anniversary celebration continues with a new exhibition at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. “Christian Dior,” which is scheduled to run through March 18, takes a look at the founders tenure from 1947 to 1057 and feature 40 designs. Pictured here is an evening gown from the Ailée, fall 1948-49 haute couture collection. #wwdfashion (📷: Brian Boyle)
As one of the most recognizable models in the world, Christy Turlington Burns has an insider’s view of the fashion industry and the allegations of sexual harassment swirling around it. “I can say that harassment and mistreatment have always been widely known and tolerated in the industry. The industry is surrounded by predators who thrive on the constant rejection and loneliness so many of us have experiences at some point in our careers,” Turlington told WWD, along with her suggestions for how the modeling world should protect younger women and men. Read more on WWD.com. Link in bio. (📷: Tony Palmieri) #wwdnews
@asics America has tapped a new brand ambassador: famed DJ/record producer @steveaoki. This initiative is intended to set the tone for the new brand identity and philosophy and will include partnerships with influencers and in-store and off-line activations that will continue into next year. This is Asics’ most significant marketing effort in two decades, and is expected to attract younger consumers to the brand. #wwdfashion
24-year-old Jean Prounis is redefining the rules of jewelry. Formerly a studio assistant to Jemima Kirke and a design apprentice at Ghuran, she focuses on handcrafted subtleties and ancient goldsmithing techniques. “There was a really sterile feel in the environment and I wanted to have jewelry with character that shapes how you wear it everyday,” Prounis said. Each piece is hand made in New York, either by Prounis or three other jewelers in the district. #wwdfashion
“These collections continue to build on that vision, empowering differently abled adults to express themselves through fashion,” said @tommyhilfiger of his line of adaptive apparel, which launches today. The line consists of 37 men’s and 34 women’s styles based upon the pieces from the spring Tommy Hilfiger sportswear collection. #wwdnews


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Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green.
As we head towards the home stretch of the 2012 presidential campaign, we're closely watching both candidates to see what they're doing for the environment. The Obama administration scored a major win for fuel-efficient cars this week by finalizing new standards that will increase the fuel economy of cars to the equivalent of 54.5 mpg by 2025. But what about the cars that are currently on the road? This week we test drove a 2013 Ford Focus Electric through the streets of San Francisco (we admit, we did get a bit of range anxiety). And in one of the most interesting automotive stories from the past week, the world's first 3D-printed car -- the Areion EV-- reached a top speed of 141 kph.
Cars aren't the only form of green transportation we've been tracking this week, though. Toilet maker TOTO unveiled its "Toilet Bike Neo," an amazing poo-powered tricycle that runs on biogas that's produced from livestock waste. Not to be outdone, UK-based Stealth Electric Bikes recently released the Bomber, a burly electric bike that would fit in well with the Dark Knight's fleet of stealthy vehicles. For a vehicle that's the opposite of stealthy, we checked in on the world's largest bus, a 98-foot colossus that's probably visible from space. Lego builder Eric Steenstra built a fully functional go-kart made entirely out of Lego bricks, and in an inspiring story, artist and wheelchair user Sue Austin created a self-propelled underwater wheelchair that allows her to glide through the sea.
In one of the biggest clean energy stories from the past week, a coalition of utility companies are planning to team up to construct a wind farm 12 miles off the coast of Long Island. Off the coast of Oregon, Ocean Power Technologies has received approval to begin work on the first commercial wave farm in the US. The project is expected to produce enough clean energy to power more than 1,000 homes. But one of the biggest breakthroughs in clean energy was actually in solar power, as designers at Rawlemon created a spherical, sun-tracking glass globe that's able to concentrate sunlight (and moonlight) up to 10,000 times. In another exciting development, researchers at Georgia Tech have developed a self-charging power cell that's able to directly convert mechanical energy into chemical energy, making it possible to harvest up to five times more energy from footsteps.
We've also been keeping an eye on some impressive new inventions from around the world. In New York, a class of sixth graders invented a milk pitcher that detects spoilage. Meanwhile, a design collective from France developed a garment that uses augmented-reality technology and evolves with its wearer in real time. Glass company Corning Incorporated announced the launch of "Willow Glass," a super thin, flexible new type of glass that can actually be can be wrapped around devices or products. The Canadian Space Agency is on the verge of making the Star Trek Medical Tricorder a reality with the Microflow, a medical scanner that's currently in development.
In design news, French designer Patrick Jouin unveiled his Bloom Table Lamp, a 3D-printed lamp that opens and closes like petals of a flower. In a less elegant but no less impressive effort, NEXT Architects and designer Aura Luz Melis built a lamp that's filled with vegetable fat, which constantly changes its brightness through the process of melting and re-solidifying the fat. We also shined some light on Bruce Munro's Light Shower, an ethereal cascade of LED lights that looks like sparkling raindrops. This week we also rounded up the top six examples of architecture that were inspired by music. And finally, for all the designers out there, we just launched a contest to design an HP Ultrabook bag -- the winner gets $10,000!


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James Bond fans should head to London for a one-off chance to grab a slice of the super-spy's lifestyle.
There's plenty of choice, with 24 costume, prop and memorabilia items from the latest Bond movie up for auction by Christie's in London this week. But the big ticket item is the Aston Martin DB10 that Bond drove into the river Tiber in Rome early in "Spectre," which is expected to sell for between £1 million ($1.5 million) and £1.5 million ($2.2 million).
A British heritage brand, Aston Martin has been the car of choice for Bond for over 50 years and the DB10 was designed exclusively for "Spectre."
Christie's' live auction on Thursday will be the first time a DB10 goes on sale to the public. It is one of only 10 built — especially for Bond — eight of which were used in filming the movie.
The car comes with a 4.7-liter V8 petrol engine and has a top speed of around 190 miles per hour. However, potential buyers are warned that it is not certified for use on any public roads and is sold as a collector's car only.
Other items for sale on Thursday include the skeleton costume Bond wore at the "Day of the Dead" celebrations in Mexico City at the start of the movie. The coat, mask, gloves, hat and cane combo is seen selling for between £12,000 and £18,000.
Also for sale is an 18-carat rose gold wristwatch worn in the movie by Ralph Fiennes as "M," plus arch-villain Franz Oberhauser's "Spectre" gold ring.
These and six other items will be sold at the live auction with another 10 items available at an online-only Christie's auction that opens on Tuesday.
All proceeds from the auctions will go to charities, including Medecins Sans Frontieres, and the United Nations Mine Action Service.


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- Public sector fails to tackle £20.6bn a year fraud using big data
- Cybercriminals have access to 100 zero-day flaws on any day, NSS Labs calculates
- Natwest website targeted in DDOS cyber attack
- DARPA makes finding software vulnerabilities fun
- Flashlight app vendor settles with FTC over privacy violations
The Internet Society of Australia (ISOC-AU) has called on local businesses ISPs to participate in World IPv6 Day, with Internode the first major Aussie telco to sign up to the initiative.
It has been argued in a number of forums that the Internet is special, and that the laws applicable to Internet behaviour need to be different to those of the 'offline world' as a result. Correspondingly, the negative argument is also put: That the Internet is not special, and that existing legislation is effective.
The Internet Society of Australia (ISOC-AU) vice president, Narelle Clark, has been elected to the global ISOC Board of Trustees.
The National Broadband Network (NBN) must have Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) enabled at a network level, according to the Internet Society of Australia.NBN needs to implement IPv6, says Internet society
The Internet Society of Australia (ISOC-AU) has voiced its criticism of the Federal Government’s mandatory ISP-level content filter, arguing ISPs should have no role in determining what content their customers can access.
ISPs have welcomed the Federal Court's decision in favour of iiNet in is civil case with the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT) but cautioned the full implications will take some time to become apparent.
IT virtualisation, the engine behind cloud computing, can have significant consequences on the data centre physical infrastructure. The particular effects of virtualisation are discussed and possible solutions or methods for dealing with them are offered. Download to learn more.
HandBrake is an opensource tool that allows you to backup your DVDs so that you can store and watch them on your computer. Features include: ...
Think back to the last time all your employees were in the office, at their desks, on the same day. It’s no surprise that you might struggle, between travel and off-site meetings, remote staff, flexible schedules and sick days. In today's competitive business climate, organisations need to maintain productivity and connectedness with their staff, despite not always being onsite. In this whitepaper, we look at five ways you can improve productivity, no matter where employees are.
- Distracted consumers spend less time on social than email marketing: Report
- New report busts myths about millennials and their digital and social behaviour
- Twitter gobbles up more cookies with retargeted ads, says users have privacy choices
- How to start the journey towards customer-centricity
- Gaining efficiency around search-based marketing: REA Group's keyword quest


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Dr. Amina Alrustamani, Group CEO of Tecom Investments, has called upon private companies to allocate small budgets for innovation and make innovation part of their corporate strategy, adding that incentives will be given to companies to realize Dubai’s vision for innovation.
She added that innovation has played an important role in growth and development, leading to productivity and improving the lives of the citizens.
“Tecom was established to develop the knowledge economy. It has been a very natural progression from that to innovation. We have several companies especially in the creative sector where innovation is a core element in their activities. That’s why it’s important for us to serve these companies and be aligned with entrepreneurs and small medium companies to cater to their needs,” commented Ms Rustamani, while speaking to The Arabian Marketer.
She also called for private participation during her address. “Innovation is vital for survival in the modern society. So we started thinking differently and realized that more need to be done. It is important not only for the government but also for companies in the technological sphere to innovate,” she said.
“We have decided to set a corpus fund of Dh150 million for innovation for the next 10 years. This fund will be allocated to the private sector for research and studies in innovation. Tecom investments was established to develop the knowledge economy,” she added.
Also Tecom will be setting up incubators to help private companies to research and explore new ideas which will be shared among other participants. They should be conducting research and studies together.
“Creativity is important and innovation plays an important role in development of the knowledge economy. The UAE ranks first in terms of government innovation and productivity, and it’s not by chance,” she said and listed achievements in innovation by way of setting up the free zones, Dubai Internet City, Dubai International Financial Centre and other institutions.
Dubai was among the first to realize the importance of innovation and attracted multinational companies.
On innovation in media, she said research and development play an important role in development of the media sector. The concept of covering news has changed with mobile devices. Advance technology will have an impact on the media sector.
“In 2015 we will make sure that we are planning innovative activities for different centres. It will be the execution year”, concluded Ms Rustamani.


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Reports: Foxconn Says Prepared To Move IPhone Production Out Of China, If Needed
(RTTNews) - Apple Inc's (AAPL) biggest iPhone assembly partner, Hon Hai Precision Co. or more commonly known as Foxconn, reportedly says that the company is prepared to move entire production of iPhones for the US out of China if the current US-China war continues.
The contract manufacturer currently makes most of the iPhones in China mainland.
President Donald Trump has threatened Beijing with new tariffs on about $300 billion worth of Chinese goods, which could lead to taxing Apple's most profitable product, iPhones.
Apple would be required to think about its manufacturing strategy after tariffs up to 25 percent come into effect at the end of June. The new tariff is expected to apply to the wholesale cost of devices like phones, laptops, and tablets imported from China to the USA, including iPhones.
"Twenty-five percent of our production capacity is outside of China and we can help Apple respond to its needs in the U.S. market," said Foxconn Semiconductor Chief Young Liu, Bloomberg reports. "We have enough capacity to meet Apple's demand."
Liu said Foxconn will fully support Apple if it needs to adjust its production as the U.S.-Chinese trade war gets more ugly.


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Joyce’s Craftshop Recess is proud to announce that they will be hosting an exhibition of furniture made by the final year students of ATU Connemara. This is an undergraduate showcase of furniture designed and made by year four BSc (Hons) Furniture Design & Manufacture.
Joyce’s Craftshop will also be awarding €1000 to the best student.
The exhibit will run from Tuesday, the 9th of May, until Saturday, the 13th of May. This will be the only opportunity to see this work exhibited in Connemara.
The opening of the exhibition and presentation of the award will be on the evening of Wednesday the 10th of May at 6 o’clock.
All are welcome


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Cash prize of $20,000and a coveted contract with Team Honda Racing up for grabs!
The search for The Ultimate Rider fires up at 6.00pm on ONE, 27 October. Seven rookies from across the country are set to battle it out on two wheels in the ultimate search to find Australia’s next Casey Stoner.
Over eight action-packed weeks, the hottest young motorcycle talent in the country will be pushed to the limit, with one destined to be crowned, ‘InsureMyRide The Ultimate Rider’.
From the makers of Shannons Supercar Showdown, this brand new television series takes the best road and dirt riders in the country and puts them through a series of gruelling challenges.
Under the watchful eye of 500cc champion Daryl Beattie and race team principal Paul Free, the young hopefuls are battling for a cash prize of $20,000 plus a coveted contract with Team Honda Racing.
In the same vein as major motorcycle championships, our riders are battling to accumulate points throughout the series. In the grand finale, the top three riders will go head to head, until only one is left standing on top of the winner’s podium.
In motorsport, the opportunity to race at the highest level only comes to a lucky few, or to those who have significant financial backing.
Daryl Beattie, the country Queensland boy made good, said this is truly the chance of a lifetime for one lucky rider, made possible by InsureMyRide and Honda.
“These young guys really are the cream of the crop in this country,” Beattie said. “But just because they have the talent, doesn’t mean they will crack the big time. The “InsureMyRide The Ultimate Rider” series will elevate one of them even closer to fulfilling their dream.”
Mark Behr, InsureMyRide marketing manager, said the program was a perfect fit for the brand.
“InsureMyRide is not just about great value insurance, it’s also about investing in the bike community,” he said. “This series will give these riders a massive opportunity to compete in the big time.
“Apart from the winner receiving $20,000 and a Team Honda Racing contract, there’s also a chance for a lucky viewer to win the actual Honda Fireblade used in the series.”
Following on from the Australian Moto GP, this is one event motorcycle riders across Australia will not want to miss. InsureMyRide The Ultimate Rider commences 27 October at 6:00pm on ONE.
Click here for further information on the program and its contestants.


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Friday, January 18, 2019
Since the automobile was invented, the dream of full electrification has existed. Now, as technology continues to evolve, that dream is becoming a reality.
In recent memory, fully electric vehicles, those that relied solely on a battery and electric motor to produce torque, fit into a very specific category: high-end luxury sedans and coupes like the Fisker Karma or the Tesla Roadster (based on the chassis of the agile Lotus Elise). They boasted impressive abilities as a result. Due to the lack of a traditional transmission, direct power from pedal to engine was available, which lended itself to faster accelerations and higher top-end speeds.
Meanwhile, other vehicles were being developed to satiate a growing desire for more ecologically-friendly transportation, though these options were not fully electric. Toyota leaped out of the gate with the ubiquitous Prius, which continues to be the most popular hybrid-electric vehicle in the world.
Chevrolet entered the ring in 2011 with the Volt. This was a new take on an electrified motortrain, with a single electric motor and a gas generator to charge batteries after a 40 mile charge was exhausted. While Chevy is discontinuing the Volt as we know it due to market changes, the legacy lives on with the compact Bolt - a fully-electric vehicle for the masses.
The future's looking good for EVs, both hybrid-electric and fully electric. While challenges with engineering still exist, progress has been steady, and the auto industry is moving to capitalize on it. According to Kevin Kerrigan, VP of Automotive at the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, more than 300 models of electric vehicles will be available in the next few years. In fact, Ford is aiming to electrify the popular F-Series of trucks. As long as innovation remains a focus for the industry and infrastructure keeps pace, we could see wider adoption of these vehicles before long.
Kevin says, “I think it’s going to be a standard thing, that we see electric vehicles coming out.”
To contact PlanetM, click here or call 1.888.522.0103.


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This week’s Nintendo eShop releases in North America are Metroid for the NES, and a demo for Sega’s Crush 3D.
Crush 3D was originally supposed to release late last year, but was delayed and is now scheduled for a March 6th release. The full game will have over 50 levels.
Meanwhile, Europe gets Punch-Out!! for the NES, Super Mario Bros. for the NES, and a demo for Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games.


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Cattlemen’s College Opens Cattle Industry Annual Convention
NASHVILLE, TENN. (February 1, 2017) – Education is the focus for the first days of the 2017 Cattle Industry Convention and NCBA Trade Show, with more than 1,250 cattlemen and women on-hand for the 24th edition of Cattlemen’s College, sponsored by Zoetis Animal Health. The event has become the gold standard for educational seminars with more than 15 educational sessions focused on providing opportunities for participants to improve the profitability, productivity and ultimately the sustainability of their farms and ranches.
“The focus of Cattlemen’s College is to provide real-world solutions and ideas that participants can take home and apply to their operations. The information that panelists are providing at this year’s event will provide ideas that can be applied right away,” said Josh White, NCBA executive director of producer education. “We have an impressive array of speakers representing every segment of the beef community. With five different educational tracks, participants can focus on their specific areas of interest. From changing consumer attitudes to topics focused on succession planning and specific animal management information, each session was developed to help move our industry ahead.”
The Cattlemen’s College event began Tuesday afternoon with two sessions, “Turning Loss into Gain: Managing Risk to Improve Fertility,” featuring Alison Van Eenennaam, Ph.D., and Megan Rolf, Ph.D., who presented new research on cowherd fertility and its impact on profitability. A concurrent session featured Kent Andersen, Ph.D., who examined the use of genetic tools for building more productive cowherds and adding value to feeder and fed cattle.
This morning, Cameron Bruett, head of corporate affairs for JBS USA, spoke to a packed room about the changing consumer expectations for beef. He emphasized the need for every segment of the beef supply chain to better understand their customers to meet the needs of a changing industry. He also emphasized the significant challenges posed by competing proteins, an uncertain political environment and its impact on labor in the United States.
“Today, it’s very difficult to find someone to work in a packing plant,” said Bruett. “Much of our labor force is comprised of first-generation immigrants and they’re great people, but we still face significant turnover and unplanned absenteeism among our work force, and that makes it difficult to run a business. Ultimately, it makes it difficult to get our product out the door. That impacts the cattlemen and women who depend on the packers to supply beef to the consumers. The bottleneck in our industry isn’t in the number of animals any more. The bottleneck is a labor shortage in the plant, and it’s a major problem.”
Bruett, who has played key roles in the beef sustainability movement, also spent time defining beef sustainability and illustrating the importance and benefits of the industry’s path of continuous improvement.
“There are a lot of labels out there, but those labels aren’t about sustainability,” said Bruett. “Those labels are about a production practice, but sustainability is much more than any single production practice. In order to evaluate the sustainability of the product, the profitability, social and environmental aspects must be considered equally. Something may be good for the environment, but if it’s not also profitable, then it’s not sustainable.
“There’s a great deal of concern that there’s going to be a mandate about practices, but that’s not what sustainability is about; it’s about the end product. If that product is profitable, contributes to the social landscape and has positive environmental benefits, then it becomes sustainable,” Bruett said.
That message resonated with the 200-plus collegiate Cattlemen’s College participants in attendance at this year’s event.
“It’s encouraging to see so many college students in attendance,” said White. “These students represent the future of the beef industry and I’m proud that we’ve been able to put together an event that is providing them with information that they will be able to take forward and apply to their future careers. Ultimately, Cattlemen’s College is designed to benefit and improve our industry and I’m confident that these collegiate participants will help to create a bright future for our industry.”
Presentations from the 2017 Cattlemen’s College will be available online after Feb. 17. Cattlemen and women who were unable to attend the event in Nashville can take advantage of this online option at: http://www.beefusa.org.
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) has represented America’s cattle producers since 1898, preserving the heritage and strength of the industry through education and public policy. As the largest association of cattle producers, NCBA works to create new markets and increase demand for beef. Efforts are made possible through membership contributions. To join, contact NCBA at 1-866-BEEF-USA or email@example.com.


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Dallas TV News Story Features Sam Trevino
A terrific article and live interview segment on Dallas TV help spread awareness of home HD using NxStage!
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Panic has swept the tea industry in Assam as it is slipping into deep recession while big houses like Mcleod Russel and Tata are in deep red and series of acquisitions have turned the industry and its culture upside down.
Almost one-fifth of Assam’s population’s fate hangs in balance as the big gardens are desperate to find a way out of the crisis of low price which has spilled over to the huge small tea grower base.
The McLeod Russel India Ltd, which saw its losses widening on a standalone basis to Rs 318 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2019, as against Rs 142 crore same period last year, is in talks with lenders for refinancing its loans. As on September 30, 2018, its debt stood at Rs 1,500 crore, said the industry sources.
McLeod, part of the BM Khaitan controlled-Williamson Magor Group, has been facing liquidity issues and has been selling its tea estates to repay its financial obligations. The company has already sold 16 tea estates and has entered into MoU for selling another four estates. It is also open to looking at the further sale of assets of certain tea estates, the source said.
The Amalgamated Plantation, A Tata Tea Enterprise have also reported Rs 68.50 crore loss in 2018-2019, sending tea industry of Assam into a free fall.
The Amalgamated Plantation Private Limited (APPL), a Tata Tea enterprise in its 12th Annual general meeting announced that loss was 140 per cent more than the previous year.
In upper Assam and North bank, many tea estates have not been able to pay its staff and executives their monthly salaries and stopped allowances and somehow stretching the labour payment to stem any social unrest. The situation pretty bad for the McLeod Russel estates, especially in North Bank, where even coal needed for running the machines are not there.
The crisis in the tea industry is largely due to the demand-supply mismatch as the domestic demand has not increased although the production has grown and the arrival of the small tea growers in a big way have altered the situation forever.
Moreover the cartelling of the three big players, TGBL, HUL and Wag Bakri have also been blamed for maintaining a hold over the price for past three years turning the tea business into a loss making venture.
According to the latest Tea Board data, the Small Tea Growers(STG) produce more than 51% of the entire Indian tea, which is also the second largest employers of India.
With World is completely moving towards the Orthodox and quality tea, India tea is traditionally for volume and CTC. Moreover, about 40% of tea bushes are old yielding low quality of tea while the STGs are always blamed for supplying poor leaves.
That is the reason even as the export market remains stagnant and has not been able to attract better price while domestic consumption growth is very slow in comparison to coffee.
India’s per capita tea consumption is 0.78 kg per year against 3.2 kg in Turkey, 2.4 kg in Libya and 1.68 in the UK. These two factors have not pushed up the industry.
This has a very serious bearing on the STGs of Assam as big buyers like Magors have refused to buy and not being able to pay even last year’s due. This has put pressure on the bought leaf factories pushing about 1,20,000 small tea growers of Assam into a corridor of uncertainty.
“We have a serious problem in hand and there is no straight forward solution too. One hand you have the statutory responsibilities from the Plantation Labour Act and the other side the market position,. I do not think the industry can handle both at the same time” said Deepanjal Deka, Secretary Tea Asociation of India.
An effort have been mooted from the Tea Board of India to separate the bought leaf factories as well as company gardens having own factories. At this moment both are in same platform, pulling down the price of the company gardens too.
But the social implication of that in Assam is even incomprehensible as one-fifth of Assam’s population is involved in the only industry of Assam.


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Ulsan, the Energy Hub in Northeast Asia hosted its 2019 Ulsan Investment Briefing in partnership with ECCK(The European Chamber of Commerce) for a total of about 50 promising investors from home & abroad at a downtown Hotel Seoul on May 29th morning.
First off regarding its Foreign Direct Investment in Ulsan, Ulsan City promoted that 8.9 billion dollars were invested by 166 foreign companies. As regarding “Why Ulsan?”, its Future Industry Director General Mrs. Kim Mi-kyung names its optimal location, optimal logistics, affluent industrial utilities, ideal environment such as excellent HR, state-of-the-art R&D, and last but not least its future-orented leading city for futuristic green cars, 3D printing industry hub and Genome-based BioHealth, to name just a few.
In terms of hydrogen economy in Ulsan, Ulsan’s 10 projects include supply chain & recharing stations, hydrogen specialist, hydrogen promotion agency, safety for hydrogen products, global hydrogen industries, manufacturers to build hydro-electric cars, Ulsal Valley for convergence & integration, companies specialized in hydorgen economy and material parts, more supply for hydro-electric vehicle, and manufacturing & storage capacity.
For reference, Ulsan’s vision by 2030 to become the world’s top hydrogen-powered city encompasses annual hydrogen production: 800,000 tons, world’s 1st mass production of hydroelectric vehicles, and build & operate the world’s largest hydrogen-powered town etc.
Prospective locations for FDI in Ulsan include hinterland of Ulsan Port, JangHyun Urban Advanced Industrial Complex, High Tech Valley Industrial Complex, and Energy Industrial Complex etc.


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Viewpoint – March 2020
After a period of remission verging on complacency, markets were dramatically infected by coronavirus in the final week of February, with the sharpest weekly fall in equities since the financial crisis. The trigger was the realisation that the spread of the virus beyond China, and in particular into Europe, was not only inevitable but immediate, with Italy’s economic heartland suffering an extremely serious outbreak which is still in its early stages. Taking a line from the damage caused to China’s economy, investors began to discount a very sharp contraction in economic activity in Europe, and globally, as the virus continues its inevitable spread, now in 86 countries and rising. The impact on economies is immediate, with factories closed, supply chains interrupted, travel and leisure activities curtailed, services withdrawn and large parts of the worst affected countries, China, Italy, South Korea and Iran (and the expectation of many more to follow), in effective lockdown.


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This Under-The-Radar At-Home Nail Care Device Has Taken Off Amid The Pandemic
ALICE MROCZKOWSKI for BEAUTY INDEPENDENT
APRIL 20, 2020
When Bellasonic launched right before the holidays, founder Reuben Driggers could hardly contain his excitement. The brand’s only product, a unique electric nail file, was the perfect stocking stuffer for beauty lovers everywhere—or so he thought.
But Santa Claus didn’t stick Bellasonic in stockings as he carried out his Yuletide duties. The brand only generated a handful of sales in its first few weeks. Driggers says, “You can create the best product out there, but, if you can’t get it in front of the right audience, it goes nowhere.” He tried to build an audience with influencer collaborations, but they fell flat.
Driggers, a beauty industry veteran who’s worked at Revlon and American International Industries, was frustrated. Despite his frustration, he remained convinced Bellasonic’s electric nail file would be a game changer for beauty consumers, if they’d just give it a shot. The coronavirus has provided them impetus to do so. With people largely sticking inside, it’s changed beauty routines by forcing those used to frequenting nail and hair salons to tend to their hair and nails at home.
Bellasonic’s electric nail file, which promises to deliver professional-level buffing, has promptly been integrated into self-taught manicurists’ nail maintenance. “The acrylic and gel crowd really embraced it,” says Driggers, adding, “I went from begging everyone and their mom to try it to suddenly having people like Sophie Uliano contact me saying she loved it and doing unsolicited Stories on her IG.”
Driggers spent more than a decade developing the file and searching for a partner to fund his project. Its unique technology encompasses an oscillating head with a flat disc that Driggers says sets it apart from traditional spinning files. The product also comes with four interchangeable discs each with functions such as shaping, smoothing, buffing and shining, a USB charger and storage cradle. It’s priced at $79.95 on Amazon.
Driggers explains, “Bellasonic is designed for precise grooming of nails, cuticles and surrounding skin while eliminating the burning sensation often caused by other options on the market.” He points out the electric file is helpful for people with arthritis or mobility issues. He’s received good customer feedback from individuals unable to bend over and reach their feet.
“With everyone on lockdown at home, people are trying our file, and our revenue has gone up exponentially.”
Between Driggers and his two business partners, Joseph Millin and Scott Weiss of Jocott Brands, $100,000 was invested to bring the product to life. Formed in 2009, Jocott Brands is a holding company with a number of niche beauty brands in its portfolio, including Argan Magic, Clean Beauty, Oliology, Valjean Labs, 40 Carrot and Coop+Daisy.
“I’ve always been obsessed with nail grooming and felt there was a white space in the tool category,” says Driggers. “There has been virtually no innovation when it comes to electric files. I lost track of how many prototypes I designed, but I convinced Joe [Millin] this would be revolutionary.”
Over the last several years, Driggers has been in talks with home shopping networks for distribution. His original strategy was to debut Bellasonic on one of the networks because he’s confident it will do well once demonstrated on air. Unfortunately, the talks have yet to produce results. Continuously facing setbacks, he considered throwing in the towel, but he’d poured so much time, money and emotional energy into the electric file that he couldn’t allow himself to give up.
“There were so many times I came close to a partnership, but then something would happen to derail it,” says Driggers. “Entrepreneurship is extremely unpredictable, and anything can happen.”
That anything turned out to be a pandemic. People he’d given the product to back in November and December have finally picked it up in the last month. As other brands are experiencing dips in sales during the COVID-19 crisis, Bellasonic is experiencing the opposite. “With everyone on lockdown at home, people are trying our file, and our revenue has gone up exponentially,” says Driggers. He specifies Bellasonic’s sales tripled in the last two weeks of March and tripled again in the first two weeks of April, and anticipates the brand’s sales will surpass $1 million this year. Next year, Bellasonic’s goal is to reach $10 million in sales. Driggers is still in talks with shopping channels.
Quick to emphasize he would rather Bellasonic’s sales spike as a result of positive global events, he’s glad it has gotten consideration nonetheless. “I never thought the virus would be the traction that would give our brand its boost, but that’s what happened,” says Driggers. “Helping people with self-care feels good, but helping people with functions they’d otherwise need another person to do and now can’t because of social distancing, that makes it more than a beauty product. It makes the last 10 years of work worth it.”


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Note: This item is more than five years old. Please take the publication date into consideration for any date references.
High Tech App for Stone Age State Park
Dinosaur Valley State Park to Offer Free Phone App; Local CVB to Give Away iPad to Help Launch
GLEN ROSE, TX—Beginning this Saturday, Oct. 1, people can enhance their experience at one of Texas’ oldest landmarks, featuring some of the newest technology: a mobile application for Dinosaur Valley State Park.
Long considered a popular tourist attraction for its well-preserved dinosaur footprints in the Paluxy riverbed inside the 1,500-acre park, Dinosaur Valley State Park will launch a free mobile app for smartphones running on iOS (a.k.a. iPhone) and Android platforms, so that park visitors can have enhanced interpretive tours on site via their cell phones and internet enabled mobile devices, such as iPads.
“One of the current problems we face at our park is that our interpretive displays are somewhat outdated, and our staff is just too limited to offer enough tours to meet all of the public demand,” said Shannon Blalock, superintendent at Dinosaur Valley State Park. “Now, this app allows us to provide accurate information that can be continuously updated. And visitors will be able to experience real-time tours whenever they want, at points of interest throughout the park. They’ll be able to access video and audio clips, photos and written information right from their phones. We think it will make people’s park experience that much better.”
In addition, on Saturday, Oct. 15, the park will host a brief “app launch party” in conjunction with National Fossil Day, a part of Earth Science Week and a tradition set by the National Park Service to promote stewardship and awareness of fossils. The park will host a Dino Dig and other activities that day as well.
Throughout the month of October, folks will also be able to register to win a free iPad2 tablet that will be given away by the Glen Rose Convention and Visitor Bureau, a regional tourism council that helps attract visitors to the Glen Rose area, to help kick off the new Dinosaur Valley State Park phone app. Through Oct. 31, registration entries can be dropped off on site at the Friends of Dinosaur Valley State Park Store inside the park, or go to the Glen Rose CVB Web site at http://www.glenrosetexas.net .
Once the free app is downloaded to a mobile device, visitors at the park are alerted to various points of interest as they approach by a phone vibration triggered by the hardware’s GPS. Users can then click through for all sorts of detailed information, clips and other options highlighting a specific park feature.
The phone app will also include a “categories” section that will list businesses, restaurants, lodging and other attractions nearby, as well as a “maps” section that can provide turn-by-turn directions on how to get to area attractions en route from Dinosaur Valley State Park.
Dinosaur Valley State Park is the first state park in Texas to utilize such technology, but likely won’t be the last, as this program essentially cost the state park nothing to develop. The park’s friends group, L.D.L. Friends of Dinosaur Valley, made the initial investment to buy the mobile app, but the community liked the idea so much—combined with the ability to add local businesses as advertisers onto the phone app—they reimbursed the friends group for the purchase price, and invested some of their own dollars. All revenue generated from advertising sales also directly benefits the park’s friends group, which helps fund numerous projects within Dinosaur Valley State Park.
Undoubtedly, Dinosaur Valley’s phone app will serve as a model for future partnerships.
“Tourism is a huge industry in Glen Rose for such a small town, and the state park is a big part of that,” said Billy Huckaby, executive director of the Glen Rose CVB. “This is not only a good way to promote the state park but also all of the other wonderful attractions that we have here in Glen Rose. Tourism is a $23 million industry per year in Glen Rose. This new technology is where everything is headed; it’s just exciting to see Dinosaur Valley at the forefront… It kind of brings us from the dinosaurs all the way to the technology age, so to speak. “
To locate the free app, simply search your smartphone’s app store and type in “Dinosaur Valley State Park,” or “Glen Rose,” and download to your device. If you don’t have a smartphone, content is still available online, and can be used to help plan people’s trip in advance to the state park. To view the phone app Web site, visit https://market.android.com/details?id=com.barz.tourguide.dvsp&feature=search_result
Dinosaur Valley State Park is located just northwest of the town of Glen Rose along the Paluxy River, about an hour’s drive southwest of the Fort Worth metro area, and features some 45 water and electric campsites in addition to numerous primitive tent campsites. The park is also a popular destination for mountain bikers. Recent surveys done on site at the park revealed that more than 40 percent of park visitors had smartphone devices.
For more information, contact the park at (254) 897-4588, or visit the state park Web site at http://www.texasstateparks.org/.
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Long ago, Susan Decker (Ex-President of Yahoo) was considered as a shoo-in nominee and a star executive for the title of Yahoo CEO. A number of decisions, especially her key role in rejecting the buyout deal offered by Microsoft, reportedly derailed her star reputation. In 2009, the company brought in Carol Bartz to play the role of Yahoo CEO, which eventually led Decker to move out of the company.
Her exit never came on her way to success as she is currently one of the most respected business executives around the world. Sue Decker, in fact, serves as a board director for some of the largest corporations, including Berkshire Hathaway, Costco, and Intel.
On Friday, Ex-President of Yahoo broke her silence over Yahoo’s downfall after Vox welcomed her as one of its board directors. According to Susan Decker, the strings of Yahoo leaders have failed to address the core issue of the company, which has led to a massive downfall. They have failed to define the actual notion of Yahoo to users.
She went on saying that while Facebook and Google have branched out their business segments, customers still define these two as social media and search destinations. But it’s not the same case with Yahoo because customers aren’t aware what the company is actually up to.
Ex-President of Yahoo is no more involved with the company, but she still offered some advice to the beleaguered multinational giant during her CNBC interview. She said the company has become mediocre in its various segments because of the breadth. It is getting bigger without addressing a particular interest, which is raising the level of mediocrity.
This comment came out in reference to the company’s lack of focus, which is an oft-criticized segment of Yahoo. It is involved in everything, for instance, social, news, and email, without mastering one particular segment.
To fix this issue of downfall, Decker feels a change in leadership in inevitable. According to her, the company should opt for a new CEO.
“It was a tough hand that current Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer was dealt, and I think she’s done her best to play it. But at this point, it really probably needs to have a new owner situation,” she continued.
Decker also believes that going private or becoming part of a larger corporation will work in the favor of Yahoo, especially as it will help in avoiding the heavy media scrutiny that constantly surrounds the company. According to latest reports, Verizon appears as the front runner followed by firms like TPG swirling around to acquire the core internet business of Yahoo Inc.
Regardless, the Ex-President of Yahoo says the only way to save the company from any further downfall is by bringing the core issue in focus and fixing it.
“I hope the next owner can do something to revitalize the spirit of the core things that made Yahoo very, very unique and create a distinction in consumers’ minds about why they love yahoo still,” she said.
Read Technowize for more articles on Technology, Latest Gadgets, and Reviews.


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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Technology stocks started the week on a mostly negative note Monday, as much of the sector closed in the red, with declines coming from the likes of Nvidia Corp., Garmin Ltd. and Isilon Systems Inc.
Nvidia NVDA, +0.34% shares slipped 27 cents, or 2%, to close at $11.99, while personal-navigation device maker Garmin GRMN, -0.90% gave up 92 cents a share, or almost 3%, to end the day at $30.68 and data-storage technology company Isilon ISLN, -0.59% fell $2.36 a share, or 9.7%, to close at $22.10.
The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.16% gave up 11.4 points to fall to 2,369, while the Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index MSH, -4.52% and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index SOX, +0.00% also closed in the red.
BlackBerry smart-phone maker Research In Motion Ltd. RIMM shed 51 cents a share to close at $48.36 as the company held its developers conference in San Francisco.
Meanwhile, Hewlett-Packard Co. HPQ, +1.48% shares rose 28 cents a share to $41.26 as the technology giant geared up for its analyst day on Tuesday.
The company on Monday got a couple of upbeat reviews for its bid to beef up its corporate tech division.
“It is our view that H-P has been the most aggressive at expanding its enterprise infrastructure portfolio and offers the most room for improvement at an attractive valuation,” Gleacher & Co. analyst Brian Marshall said in a note.
Marshall initiated his coverage on H-P with a buy rating and $50-a-share price target, but didn’t have such an upbeat view on one of H-P’s top rivals, Dell Inc.
Marshall started covering Dell DELL, -0.19% with a neutral rating and price target of $12 a share, saying that the company should focus more on the small- and medium-sized business market. In a research note, Marshall said Dell should leave what he calls the “three-legged stool” of enterprise-storage technology, networking and telecom gear, and software and IT services “to the big boys” of the computing industry.
Dell shares shed a penny to end the day at $12.64.


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January has barely begun and we already have our first heavyweight smartphone battle of 2021. Samsung has released its lineup of Galaxy S21 phones a little earlier than usual this year, and it’s clear they have Apple’s newest phone in its sights. Samsung hasn’t reinvented the S21 as much as it’s retooled it to take on the iPhone 12, with a lower price point, sharper design, and some new camera tricks. Here’s how the two $800 phones stack up.
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Fresh off its success in the recently concluded Mobile World Congress, LG announced that in just four days, the LG G6 has already received 40,000 pre-orders in South Korea alone. Of course that doesn’t automatically translate to sales, but the OEM is surely harping on its early success to get a head start this year, even as Samsung prepares to unleash their new flagship devices in just a few weeks. In terms of global pre-orders, they have not made any announcements yet.
Since the LG G6 was officially announced at the MWC, where they also received several awards, there has been much interest in the new flagship, especially in their native South Korea. Since February 27, they have actually been conducing some tryout zones in around 3,000 stores in South Korea. And so when they opened pre-orders for it, then there was a flood of potential customers who wanted to make sure that they have one by the time it officially reaches the market. They received 40,000 pre-orders in just four days.
Part of this massive number and huge interest may be the fact that they’re also offering freebies like a genuine LG G6 case, display protection including one free repair in case the screen gets broken, plus huge discounts on accessories, wireless headphones, and even a Nescafe coffee machine. Now the challenge for LG would be to convert these to actual sales and also to continue their momentum over the next few weeks, before the Samsung marketing juggernaut starts taking over.
It’s worth noting that LG has done away with the modular design after the relative failure of the predecessor, the LG G5. It also boasts of its 5.7-inch 18:9 screen ratio called Full Vision, an improved camera with secondary sensor and wide-angled lens, and its beautiful design. They haven’t announced the global price yet but based on its local price (899,800 won), it may be around $780.


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CP24 - Toronto News | Breaking News Headlines | Weather, Traffic, Sports
Condo sales climb to near-record heights: report
Web Staff, cp24.com
Published Thursday, February 3, 2011 1:25PM EST
Condo sales in the GTA have hit a near high sales record in the fourth quarter of 2010, the Toronto Star reports.
According to market research firm Urbanation Inc., about 37,041 units were sold during that period, three per cent short of the all-time high of 38,306 units in 2007.
Urbanation credits new condominium sales with boosting the numbers as new projects increased supply.
Year-over-year sales were up 20 per cent from 2009.
However, the Star report contains a note of caution by comparing the number of new condo starts in 2010 to the number of starts in 1989, when prices were slashed in half at some projects.


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'Operation Fly Formula' to import first batch of baby formula amid shortage
The Department of Defense will be using its contracts with commercial air cargo to transport Nestlé S.A. formula from Switzerland to Indiana and to help speed up the import of infant formula amid a nationwide shortage, the White House said Thursday.
Driving the news: The effort, dubbed Operation Fly Formula, is the latest in a series of steps taken by the Biden administration to address a shortage that is causing panic among millions of parents and caregivers in the U.S.
The details: The Operation Fly Formula shipments will transport the equivalent of up to 1.5 million 8-ounce bottles of three formulas — Alfamino Infant, Alfamino Junior and Gerber Good Start Extensive HA — the White House said.
- These three products are hypoallergenic formulas for children with cow’s milk protein allergy and have been prioritized because they are in short supply in the United States because of the Abbott Sturgis plant closure.
- These shipments will include approximately 246 pallets.
- The DOD is actively working on the request to identify commercial aircraft for the shipments, the White House said.
President Biden on Wednesday invoked the Defense Production Act to address the baby formula shortage, requiring suppliers of formula manufacturers to fulfill orders from those companies before other customers, in an effort to eliminate production bottlenecks.


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The Internet is both Heaven and Hell.
It holds great knowledge but it also carries your cyber footprint -- including that one alcohol-fueled night in Vegas. So how can you erase that, and yourself, from the web? Relatively easily, according to Gizmodo.com, by deleting your profile on the major social networking sites: Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn.
Next, it's people versus technology! Bank of America’s tellers are fighting for their employment. This year the bank began offering ATMs that can video conference with real bank tellers. The tellers know it’s only a matter of time before robots replace humans, and they're fighting mad. The machines must be stopped, they say.
Finally, Google has called foul on the NSA's alleged spying ways. The Google CEO told the Wall Street Journal "it's really outrageous that the National Security Agency (NSA) was looking between the Google data centers ... it's not OK." Will these guys eventually get the message? Is all this spying even necessary? We'll have to wait and see. But in the meantime, keep your Google searches rated PG.
Big Brother really is watching.
- Awesome tech you can’t buy yet
- Google’s tentacles grow a helping hand with new service selling expert advice on live video
- Western Digital unveils 6TB, helium-filled hard drive
- Apple patent shows how your iPhone could track you at home
- Lockheed Martin’s Skunkworks to build successor to SR-71 Blackbird
- How to squeeze the most juice out of your phone battery


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Ben Palmer's reads
How the new coronavirus epidemic "broke America." Nicholas Johnston writes for Axios that "ongoing cultural wars over everything" in the United States—including the proliferation of misinformation, distrust of institutions like CDC, intense partisanship, the country's worsening income inequality, and more—have "weakened" the country's "ability to respond" to the new coronavirus epidemic. Johnston writes, "An existential threat—like war or natural disaster—usually brings people together to set a course of action in response. Somehow, we've let this one drive us apart."
Americans are snacking more. As a result of so many people staying home nationwide due to America's coronavirus epidemic, snack-food brands have started seeing a rise in sales, Thomas Heath reports for the Washington Post. While Americans previously had trended toward buying more fresh and private-label foods, "iconic" snack brands like Doritos, Goldfish, and Oreos say they've seen a surge in sales in recent weeks, Heath writes.
Danielle Poindexter's reads
Why wearing a mask can be complicated for black clinicians. Gabriel Felix, a psychiatry resident at Cambridge Health Alliance, is required to wear a face mask at work. But he was "pu[t] in a difficult position" when his city enacted an order that requires residents wear the masks in public, as he became worried that being a "masked black man" would make him appear "suspicious," he explains in a STAT News "First Opinion" piece.
Not practicing social distancing? Online shamers are watching. Law enforcement officers aren't the only ones cracking down on Americans who don't comply with states' social distancing policies. Writing for the New York Times, Amanda Hess explains how pictures of crowded parks and city dwellers who aren't wearing face masks have turned the internet into a "breeding ground for public shaming" during the country's new coronavirus epidemic.


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87% of British ports have said the COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on business and customer activity, according to the results of a UK-wide survey conducted by the British Ports Association (BPA).
The BPA said two-thirds of ports said they felt ‘somewhat confident’ about the business outlook for 2021 and a third felt ‘not so confident’.
When asked to summarise their outlook for 2021 in one word or sentence, the word most used by respondents was ‘challenge’, followed by ‘uncertain’, with other responses featuring the word ‘difficult’. Some said 2021 would bring more challenges than 2020.
Ports’ biggest concerns for 2021 were customer activity, the overall status of the economy, operational challenges posed by the pandemic, Brexit, and decreased revenue.
Commenting, Phoebe Warneford-Thomson, Policy Manager and Economic Analyst, at the British Ports Association said: “In most senses, the results from this survey were as expected, following the unimaginable and unprecedented challenges posed by 2020.
“The majority of ports stated that there had been negative impacts on their customer activity, which came at great cost to port businesses. Although not impacting all ports, Brexit changes are another great unknown.
“However, it is welcome to see some hope for what 2021 will bring. While there were some mixed views over whether the woes of 2020 will continue; two-thirds of respondents said they felt ‘somewhat confident’ about the business outlook for their port in 2021 and overall ports reflected a mood of tentative positivity.
“When asked to summarise their expectations for 2021 in just a few words, optimism did shine through. The most common word was challenge, but also popular was hope, opportunity and positivity.
“Indeed, this year will not be without its challenges, with continued disruption to the fishing industry and trade between the rest of the UK and Northern Ireland, and the staggered implementation of border controls continuing until June.
“However, 2021 should be a year of real opportunity too; as we hope to see the initial recovery to the economy post-COVID and have the chance to shape several key Government policies, including Freeports.


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Apple has long been rumored to be working on a new Mac Mini, and that machine is now out with the latest Studio Display software update.
Apple’s latest monitor needs software updates because it runs an Apple A13 chip inside, something that handles native audio-supporting speakers and those sad webcams.
Now, developer Steve Trafton-Smith has reported finding a new, unannounced Mac Mini in the latest version of Studio Display software, the MacMini 10.1 dub.
Apple was expected to announce a new MacBook Air using the same chip this time around, as well as a new M2-powered Mac Mini. Is it possible that the Mac Mini we see here?
Rumors match a bit vague as to what new Macs are coming up with; For its price, there is a specific clue: Shipping Studio Display Firmware refers to the mystery machine for an unaccounted for – a new model generation of the Mac Mini (“MacMini 10,1”). My guess: M2, not M1 Pro
It was also suggested that Apple could place an M1 Pro chip in the existing Mac Mini lineup to replace the current Intel i7 model. The developer does not believe that this is the case with this machine, although it is not clear why.
Apple may announce new hardware at the upcoming WWDC22 event starting June 6 – we’ll keep our eyes and ears peeled!
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● The partnership brings real-world PGA TOUR courses and iconic events to Golf Clash, which has grown to over 111 million lifetime downloads worldwide.
● The multiyear agreement also brings real-world golf courses to an EA SPORTS mobile game, in addition to the EA SPORTS PGA TOUR console and PC offerings.
● Celebrate the conclusion of the FedExCup Playoffs with the TOUR Championship 9-Hole Cup tournament at the iconic East Lake Golf Club.
For the first time in Golf Clash, players will be able to compete in the TOUR Championship at East Lake Golf Club. This event not only marks the culmination of the FedExCup Playoffs but also the first year of a multiyear EA SPORTS and PGA TOUR agreement, which brings a series of real-world courses and iconic events into Golf Clash over the coming years.
To celebrate the event, nine of the TOUR Championship holes at East Lake Golf Club will be available to play in Golf Clash fromAugust 24th to August 27th, with practice rounds starting on August 21st. Dubbed the TOUR Championship 9-Hole Cup, the in-game tournament is free to enter and will include nine iconic holes of the historic East Lake Golf Club, featuring a compelling combination of both competitive and enjoyable options for players.
“Our player communities keep growing, seven years into the game, and we’re thrilled to see that we have a competitive golf game that continues to attract new mobile players,” said Andrew Pedersen, Vice President of Mobile Sports at Electronic Arts. “Our focus remains on providing them with the best gameplay experience and we’re excited to give them the opportunity to play the TOUR Championship and East Lake Golf Club in Golf Clash.”
“Golf is not only a competitive sport, but it also has a storied history,” said Len Brown, Chief Legal Officer and Executive Vice President, Licensing at PGA TOUR. “Through the TOUR Championship in Golf Clash, the community will get a chance to play historic East Lake Golf Club – including the challenging Hole 15, which is a great draw for new fans to participate in the sport, while allowing existing fans to commemorate its heritage.”
Starting August 21st, Golf Clash players can attempt to land a hole-in-one at the iconic 15th in The TOUR Championship Golden Shot event, potentially earning rewards and a unique, officially licensed East Lake Ball in-game. An additional officially licensed The TOUR Championship Ball will be available for purchase between August 23rd to August 25th for all Golf Clash players at the in-game store.
Golf Clash, created and developed by Playdemic – An Electronic Arts Studio, is one of the leading mobile games in the United States and the United Kingdom, with 111 million worldwide lifetime downloads. In 2022 alone, there were 1.3 billion gameplay minutes and 5.7 million hole-in-ones in Golf Clash. The game has been honored with multiple industry awards including the BAFTA Games Mobile Game of the Year (2018), Mobile Games Awards Game of the Year (2018), PocketGamer.biz Game of the Year (2017) and The Independent Game Developers’ Association (TIGA) Awards Game of the Year (2017).
Source : PGA Tour


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The UK has long been a top travel and tourism destination for international holidaymakers across the globe. But the decision to leave the EU in June 2016 cast serious doubt on the survival of the UK economy and its professional sectors, with travel and tourism an industry in danger of major ramifications.
Would people still want to visit the UK considering the uncertainty around visas, passport control, airport procedures, and currency value? Supplier of arcade, gaming and travel insurance, Lycetts, researched the issue to found out how Brexit has affected tourism for UK residents and international visitors.
Have attitudes to holidaying abroad changed in the UK?
Many thought that the threat of an economic downturn due to Brexit would reduce the possibility of people booking holidays in the UK, which was bad news for travel companies.However, research shows that this doesn’t seem to have happened. In fact, early bookings for holidays abroad throughout the summer season of 2017 went up by 11% compared to last year, according to the 2017 Travel Trends report conducted by the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA). What’s more, 29% of people surveyed said they will look for a holiday to a new resort or city, while 26% said that they are very likely to visit a new country entirely. So, Brexit doesn’t seem to have done much to dampen the holiday spirit.
But, where are UK residents holidaying now? And has Brexit caused a shift in the destinations we choose for our breaks? It seems so. ABTA’s Travel Trends report goes on to find that there were 71% more holidays taken in the UK in 2016 – up from 64% in 2015. But could this in fact be a negative and due to a wave of panic-saving as a result of the economic doom spread by pro-EU spokespeople? There’s little to say that the rise of the ‘staycation’ (a term to describe people staying in their home country for a holiday) is because ofmoney worries. Barclays’ Destination UK report showed that more than a third of adults across Britain are choosing to holiday closer to home this year because of personal preference than cost.
Here are results from a survey that asked why adults are staying here for holidays:
- “I like to spend more time in the UK.” (34%)
- “Holidays in the UK are more affordable today.”’ (32%)
- “I enjoyed a recent UK holiday and am keen to have another.” (23%)
- “There are more holiday activities in the UK than there were in the past.” (15%)
- “I don’t have the time to take a holiday abroad.” (14%)
Staycations keep cash in the UK, which is great for the economy. Barclay’s Destination UK report shows that people who holiday in the UK spend on average:
- £309 on accommodation.
- £152 on dining out.
- £121 on shopping.
- £72 on holiday parks (if part of the holiday).
But are Brits holidaying all over the UK, or is the money going to a single region? When asked as part of a survey, 30% of respondents said they were planning on visiting south-west England, 22% were heading to Scotland, 20% had chosen Wales, 20% opted for Yorkshire and Humberside, and 18% were packing for a London trip. This shows that, thankfully, holidaying at home is benefiting multiple areas across the country.
Global attitudes to holidays in the UK
The greatest fear for people in the UK’s travel and tourism industry was that the country’s attraction as a holiday destination would diminish because of Brexit. However, this fear appears to be unfounded. Out of more than 7,000 worldwide travellers, over 60% claimed to be even more interested in visiting places around the UK now than they were 12 months ago, according to the previously-mentioned Destination UK report. On top of this, a massive 97% also said they wanted to see the UK in the next few months or very soon, with the most popular regions for international visitors to the UK in descending order being London, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Yorkshire and Humberside.
It’s fantastic for the UK to see such positive attitudes to visiting the nation, even after the tumult caused by Brexit. This Barclays report also found that the average spend on accommodation by international holidaymakers was £667 — more than double what UK holidaymakers typically pay. Factor in £453 on shopping and £339 on food and drink, and you have a healthy contribution to the economy that hasn’t been weakened by Brexit. Official figures collected by VisitBritain have discovered that foreign visitors have already spent a record £2.7 billion in January and February 2017 alone! This is a rise of 11% compared to 2016’s figures, year on year.
Patricia Yates, director of VisitBritain, said: “2017 is off to a cracking start for inbound tourism. Britain is offering great value for overseas visitors and we can see the success of our promotions in international markets. We must continue to build on our message of welcome and value in our high-spending markets such as China, Europe and the US.”
What are the UK’s biggest attractions and how have these coped with Brexit?
The UK is home to countless landmarks and attractions that have helped to boost tourism for decades. But have these been harmed by Brexit?Looking at figures from a report by the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA), visitor numbers to UK attractions have actually risen by 7%.66,938,947 people visited London attractions last year — more than the entire UK population — and many others brought in high numbers, too.
|Attraction||Part of the UK||Total visits in 2016|
|Natural History Museum (South Kensington)||London||4,624,113|
|Victoria and Albert Museum (South Kensington)||London||3,022,086|
|Tower of London||London||2,741,126|
|Royal Museums Greenwich||London||2,451,023|
|National Portrait Gallery||London||1,949,330|
|National Museum of Scotland||Edinburgh||1,810,948|
|Royal Albert Hall||London||1,660,123|
|Scottish National Gallery||Edinburgh||1,544,069|
|St Paul’s Cathedral||London||1,519,018|
|Old Royal Naval College||London||1,477,117|
|Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum||Glasgow||1,259,318|
|Roman Baths & Pump Room||Somerset||1,216,938|
|ZSL London Zoo||London||1,211,279|
|RHS: Garden Wisley||Woking||1,110,050|
|The Royal Shakespeare Theatre & Swan Theatre||Stratford-upon-Avon||1,069,129|
|Imperial War Museum||London||1,011,172|
The future of a post-EU UK
Evidently, the UK’s tourism industry is coping well following Brexit. But what about after we officially leave the EU? ABTA advises that the government needs to focus on five key points in the country’s Brexit negotiations:
- Maintaining our ability to travel freely within Europe and beyond— including ensuring that UK airlines can still fly and protecting rail, road and sea routes.
- Grabbing opportunities for growth — this might include reducing Air Passenger Duty, cutting visa costs and working towards world-class connectivity.
- Protecting consumer rights — such as mobile roaming fees in Europe being abolished and ensuring UK travellers have continued access to either free or minimal-cost medical treatment.
- Giving UK businesses operational stability — such as keeping access to employment markets and continuing to look into tax and border issues.
- Keeping visa-free travel between the UK and the EU — for fast and efficient processes through ports.


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The beta release of the Opera 11 browser introduces tab stacking, a new way to organise your open tabs, as well as extensions, mouse gestures and a new developer mode
Category: Web & Interactive News
Project ROME is long awaited AIR app from Adobe that seems able to combine key features of Photoshop, Flash, Fireworks and InDesign. We take a quick look at this mysterious product, now on limited release
Adobe has announced the winners of the 2010 MAX Awards at a ceremony in Los Angeles hosted by actor William Shatner.
Adobe has announced the winners of the 10th annual Adobe Design Achievement Awards (ADAA), a global competition celebrating student creative arts.
The Adobe Museum Of Digital Media, a one-of-a-kind digital venue, opens its doors on October 6.
Adobe has released the HTML5 Pack for Adobe Illustrator CS5, which provides initial support for HTML5 and CSS3 and extends the scalable vector graphics (SVG) capability in Illustrator.
Adobe used IBC 2010 to announce the availability of Adobe Flash Media Server 4, as well as other video related announcements and a deal with the BBC
Apple’s Web browser Safari receives an upgrade, turning on Safari Extensions and introducing the Safari Extensions Gallery.
Adobe has announced the release of Flash Player 10.1 to its mobile platform partner, the first release that brings the full Web across desktops and devices.
Adobe has announced a new HTML5 solution for Web designers and developers using Dreamweaver CS5
Autodesk has announced the latest versions of its digital entertainment creation software in time for the annual Games Developers Conference (GDC)
Chorion has appointed specialist licensing agency AT New Media to introduce the Mr. Men and Little Miss brand to the interactive gaming industry
The Mill and AMV/BBDO have celebrated a multiple win at the Creative Circle Awards 2010, for the Metropolitan Police’s ‘Knife Crime’ interactive viral video.
Edinburgh Interactive, part of the Edinburgh Festival, and the Media Guardian Edinburgh International Television Festival have announced a combined event that will bring the games industry together with the TV industry.
Gorillabox has provided the Met Office with an iPhone weather App


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A startup-like initiative to enrich customer engagement with limited-release collectibles during the pandemic now fuels Mattel’s direct-to-consumer online business, opening new IP-based revenue sources for the company.
Informatica's new Intelligent Data Management Cloud for Health and Life Sciences, and the Intelligent Data Management Cloud for Financial Services, look to solve the challenges of unstructured and siloed data by combining machine learning capabilities with specific integrations.
A complete overhaul of its ecommerce stack finds the outdoor recreational retailer poised to offer improved customer experiences and personalization just as it starts a push to open more physical stores.
Outsourcing has evolved — and so too have misconceptions about what makes a successful sourcing partnership in a world remade by pandemic, digital transformation, talent shortages, and geopolitical turmoil.
Boards want to know how you are improving, how you are performing, and what’s the return on investment, says Dine Brands CIO Justin Skelton. So, it’s extremely important to be able articulate your performance.
Google is extending its Contact Center AI (CCAI) service to allow enterprises to integrate their contact center data with their CRM (customer relationship management) applications in order to optimize and enhance customer service.
Snowflake has launched a cloud-based, data-sharing platform for the healthcare industry that brings together the company’s core SaaS data warehousing, analytics and business intelligence offerings with a data marketplace and consulting services on demand.
Target’s technology strategy is based on the notion that as the world moves to digital commerce, the retailers with the best technology would win. Here’s how CIO Mike McNamara is setting Target up for success.
Chief innovation and digital officer Vipin Gupta and his team turned transformation logic upside down to create a mobility-finance-as-a-service platform that TFS now offers as a white label service to other mobility companies.
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Apple is sitting on billions of cash so many analysts are speculating that Apple will be on the acquisition market. It turns out that Apple has been spending some of their cash on buying eye-tracking technology recently.
Apparently, Apple has been buying eye-tracking technology components from Tobii Technology. Tobii is a small start-up based in Stockholm that recently closed about $21.5 million in Series B funding.
Tobii’s Technology’s eye-tracking technology can be added to devices and can be used to determine “the efficacy of advertisements, applications and websites [PEHub].”
Tobii’s products cost roughly between $7,000-$35,000, depending on how advanced the client wants it to work.
According to Amadeus Capital investor Jeppe Zink, Tobii has sold technology to Internet portal companies too.
As users read a screen, there is automatic text scrolling. Tobii’s technology is not expected to appear in mobile devices yet, but there is a chance that it could be added to high-end desktops and laptops in the near future.


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The Regional Coordinator for the Commonwealth Alliance of Young Entrepreneurs in charge of Ghana, Gambia, Nigeria Cameron, and Sierra Leone (CAYE)-West Africa, Bernard Oduro Takyi (BOT) has bemoaned the impoverished nature of cocoa farmers in the country.
He stated that the government has been shortchanging farmers in the cocoa growing sector because the proceeds of the exportation of the commodity does not impact the farmers directly.
He argues that over 60% of the working force of the country still depend on Agriculture as the source of employment and livelihood but because the government has not brought up innovative policies to boost agriculture, farmers still remain poor.
To him, that was the reason some farmers are selling their cocoa farms to individuals to engage in illegal mining.
B.O.T’s concerns come at a time the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has expressed worry over the alarming rate at which cocoa farms are being destroyed by illegal mining, also called galamsey, across the country.
According to a Daily Graphic report recently, the Chief Executive Officer of COCOBOD, Mr. Joseph Boahen Aidoo, said that more than 19,000 hectares (Ha) of cocoa farms had either been destroyed or affected by galamsey activities, leading to loss of income to farmers and investments by the board and the country at large.
In the presentation, made to the members of the boards of directors of COCOBOD and the Minerals Commission at a joint board meeting to find lasting solutions to the canker, Mr. Aidoo said the destruction of cocoa farms through galamsey was pronounced in the Eastern, Western and Ashanti regions, from where more than 90 per cent of the country’s total cocoa production comes.
But reacting to the development on Dwaboase on TV XYZ, Oduro Takyi, a farmer and entrepreneur indicated that the farmers were willingly selling their farmlands to the miners because they could get more than the cash crop gives them in monetary terms.
“If you [the government] put in policies that make the farmers rich, especially giving them insurance and pension schemes, they will not sell their farm lands to illegal miners,“ he said as he lambasted the government over “sloganeering“.
“The people who are in rural areas have not seen the impact of cocoa in the areas where there are plantations. There must be economic dividend for farmers, someone has been farming for about 30 years but has not seen any significant progress as a result of farming the cash crop. This is because then government has been shortchanging cocoa farmers; the farmers are cheated when it comes to sharing proceeds of cocoa exports,“ he contended.
Touching on the story of China and Cocoa farming, he said the Asian country was likely to overtake Ivory Coast and Ghana in cocoa production because of the better policies of the government.
“In China, a lot of people are going into cocoa farming because they know their government will prioritise their sweat and give them what they deserve unlike Ghana,“ he added.
He therefore charged the government to be honest with the fight against galamsey and adopt innovative ways of boosting cocoa production in the country.


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New book release is a compilation of international analysis and…
The narrative for African investment has been distorted for some time. Far too often the entrepreneurial spirit and character of Africa has been ignored in the West.
Now, in the face of global economic uncertainty, the opportunity for growth in Africa is unmatched. In order for this potential to be realised, the Kwanji team have outlined four main issues that must be addressed:
1. Investment Not Aid
The current model of foreign aid has outstayed its welcome. To be frank, it doesn’t work. Instead of promoting economic growth, arguably the opposite occurred. Instead, a continued commitment to investment is what’s needed. It’s what laid the foundation for Kenya’s diverse and innovative tech scene that has grown up this decade.
2. Pan-African Trade
In the face of the Chinese Yuan devaluation; threats to Eurozone stability; concerns in the US and an ever-weakening LATAM, the time is ripe for greater expansion of integrated African markets. We’ve already seen the success of the East African Community (EAC) – Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda have all benefitted greatly. Africa must now push ahead with a continental free trade area.
3. Dynamic Middle Class
Africa’s middle class is already subject to debate and conjecture; the nature of Africa’s middle class is open to debate. Measured as the fastest growing in the world, more still needs to be done. Greater public investment is needed by local governments to foster a more inclusive, dynamic middle class. Not only will it facilitate internal growth, but it will allow African businesses to take their services, products and skill sets to the world.
4. Technological Innovation
Technological innovation has already taken root in Africa. For many, mobile has become king. It has helped disrupt traditional, inefficient payments processes and infrastructure. However, disparity in terms of adoption and infrastructure across Africa still exist. The priority must now focus on making the Internet and relevant online services available to all and reducing the bottlenecks slowing down change. Africa needs to find its own technological voice in order to stand up for itself in the global digital arena.
At Kwanji, we’re committed to helping overcome these issues. Focusing on trade and payment, our aspiration is to help Africa enter the global marketplace on a level playing field without being overcharged for the privilege.
Save up to 95 per cent, and send funds to over 200 countries globally from 24 African countries – click here to find out how
Next Post: Watch Olusegun Obasanjo on CNBC Africa
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Richard Hutchinson, Progressive’s general manager of usage-based insurance
“Nearly half a million drivers have participated countrywide to get personalized car insurance rates by sharing a picture of how they drive. Now, West Virginia customers are just 30 days away from saving with the Snapshot program.”
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The Progressive Group of Insurance Companies makes it easy to understand, buy, and use
. Progressive offers
so consumers can reach us whenever, wherever, and however it’s most convenient for them—online at progressive.com, by phone at 1-800-PROGRESSIVE, or in-person with a local agent.
Progressive offers insurance for personal and commercial autos and trucks, motorcycles, boats, recreational vehicles, and homes. It’s the fourth largest auto insurer in the country, the largest seller of
, and a leader in
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car insurance online
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Founded in 1937, Progressive continues its long history of offering shopping tools and services that save customers time and money, like Name Your Price
, the Snapshot Discount
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The Common Shares of The Progressive Corporation, the Mayfield Village, Ohio-based holding company, trade publicly at (NYSE:PGR).
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