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Daum Games Europe has finalized details on the western version of Black Desert and made them public.
It is due to launch in early 2016 as a premium service. This means there will be no free version or subscriptions available. You’ll pay upfront for the game once and can then purchase vanity and convenience items inside the game after that.
Previously, Daum Games had said that the western version of Black Desert would be available later this year. Obviously that’s been pushed back now. The publisher also asked fans if they wanted both a free-to-play and pay-to-play server. Now it’s only offering the latter option.
With these new announcements, Daum Games is prepping for Black Desert’s launch in North America and Europe, hence it has released a new trailer and opened up a new teaser site. You can watch the trailer above.


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It’s rare to find someone who particularly enjoys going to the grocery store — from the prices to the crowds, they’re not where you typically want to spend your Saturday afternoon.
Even more obnoxious is the tendency for stores to over-package their items — especially the ones that didn’t need to be packaged in the first place.
The photos showed rows of packages, each with two small peppers inside. Each of the packages could have fit three to four times the number of peppers they had in them.
“[A] waste of plastic,” the irritated Redditor wrote in the caption.
This is becoming an increasingly common trend seemingly everywhere you turn — from grocery stores to online shopping. To be fair, some establishments are making an active effort to reduce waste, but they sometimes miss the mark — like the cafe that implemented paper straws but wrapped them in plastic.
This doesn’t mean we’re doomed to a world of plastic, though — there are plenty of ways to avoid excess packaging. The big hurdle is convincing large corporations to get on board, and it’ll be worth it when we do.
Excess packaging is not only an extra hassle for you to deal with, but it doesn’t always do much, if anything, to protect the goods inside. For example, if online orders are sent in the correct size box, they won’t need extra padding to keep them from moving around in the box.
Produce doesn’t typically need any packaging — there are plenty of ways to ensure that it’s sanitized before you eat it, like DIY produce wash.
Plus, there’s already enough plastic waste in our landfills. There were 267 million tons of plastic waste created in 2016 alone, and plastic can take hundreds of years to break down — so there’s no need to add to that by packaging produce that doesn’t need it.
Some Reddit users were shocked at the sight — “Holy crap,” one wrote.
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WASHINGTON – U.S. manufacturing grew in November at the fastest pace in 2 1/2 years as factories ramped up production, stepped up hiring and received orders at a healthy clip.
The Institute for Supply Management said Monday that its index of manufacturing activity rose to 57.3. That was up from 56.4 in October and was the highest since April 2011. A reading above 50 signals growth.
One component of the index, a measure of hiring, rose to its highest level in nearly 18 months. And a gauge of export orders reached its highest level in nearly two years. Overseas demand is benefiting from modest recoveries in Europe, Japan and China.
The ISM is a trade group of purchasing managers.
Missouri session aimed at Boeing
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Missouri lawmakers have convened a special session aimed at persuading the Boeing Co. to produce the 777X plane in the state.
The session started Monday with the introduction of a bill in the House and in the Senate. Gov. Jay Nixon called it to approve an incentives package of up to $150 million annually using four existing Missouri programs that help finance job training, infrastructure improvements and reward companies for expanding their payrolls.
Any incentives approved by Missouri likely will face competition from other states.
Apple buys Topsy for undisclosed price
SAN FRANCISCO – Apple has bought Topsy Labs in a deal that will provide the iPhone maker with more insights about the chatter on Twitter. The acquisition price wasn’t disclosed.
Topsy pores through the stream of conversations occurring on Twitter to identify trends and people influencing public opinion.
Getting a better grasp on the hottest topics on Twitter could help Apple sell more advertising on iPhones and iPads.
Hilton claims IPO would raise billions
NEW YORK – Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. said Monday that it could raise as much as $2.37 billion, making it one of the year’s biggest IPOs.
The hotel operator said in a regulatory filing that the offering of 112.8 million shares is expected to price between $18 and $21 each. Hilton is offering about 64.1 million shares, and selling shareholders are offering 48.7 million shares.
Saab releases first car since bankruptcy
STOCKHOLM – Two and a half years after Saab shut down production due to financial trouble, the Swedish car rolled a new sedan off its assembly lines in Trollhattan, in south-west Sweden, on Monday.
National Electric Vehicle Sweden, the Hong Kong-based company that bought the brand out of bankruptcy in September last year, presented its new 9-3 Aero Sedan as the first in a series of new cars it will produce.
The company, also called NEVS, said the first 200 cars will be delivered in the spring and will cost $42,500 each. Next year, it will also launch a 9-3 wagon, followed by convertible and electric models.


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Yili Group-owned Westland Milk has announced the acquisition of fellow dairy business, Canary Foods.
Based in New Zealand, Canary Foods is a butter and cheese supplier, catering to hospitality, foodservice and retail customers. The dairy business supplies to the New Zealand, Asian and Australian markets.
Under the deal, Canary Foods will become a subsidiary of Westland Milk Products, retaining its own brands and third-party manufacturing agreements.
Westland CEO, Richard Wyeth, said: “Canary is a fantastic fit for our business because it is so obviously based on a strong understanding of what our customers want and need. Their commitment to innovation, sustainability and quality in pursuit of consumer demands are values we very much admire and uphold.”
Wyeth added that the deal “extends our long-term commitment to add value to Westland’s butter portfolio by playing a greater role in the expanding global consumer butter and spread market”.
Canary Foods executive director and shareholder, James Gray, said the acquisition would give the Waikato-based dairy manufacturer more opportunities for expansion and to access global markets.
“Canary grew off the back of taking outstanding New Zealand dairy products to the world by catering for the airline and hospitality industries,’’ Gray said.
He added: “We used the Covid pandemic as an opportunity to reassess our strategy, and now, after record sales last year and with international travel and the hospitality sector set to take off, we are already in a strong position as these markets continue to bounce back’’.
The Westland Milk cooperative has not revealed the price of the acquisition.
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Winnipeg burger fans: get your appetites ready.
Le Burger Week is back for its 11th year Sept. 1 — and for the first time, the popular patty party is going plant-based.
Around 200 restaurants are whipping up specialty dishes for the annual celebration of all things burger, and the event’s ambassador, Daniel Gurevich, says meat lovers don’t need to worry — plant-based burgers are this year’s theme, not a requirement.
“It’s just a theme, it’s a recommendation — we’ve had themes in the past…. It’s always different ways to engage customers, engage consumers and also give the restaurants a chance to challenge themselves at the same time,” Gurevich told 680 CJOB.
“We just want to try to move our festival up with the times and make sure that we’re constantly evolving and doing something different as we move forward.
“Some people love it, some people push back … but it’s always been Burger Week, there’s been a million types of protein used — it’s shrimp burgers, it’s chicken burgers, it’s plant-based burgers, it’s everything.”
Burger Week kicks off Sept. 1 and runs until Sept. 14 — a two-week period to ensure participants have a chance to check out all of the local eateries on their checklists.
“We were getting a lot of people saying there was not enough time to try as many restaurants as they wanted to,” Gurevich said.
“We just wanted to give restaurants and customers a chance to try as many as possible, and hopefully restaurants get to see some new faces in the door and have a good time along the way.”
New food at the Winnipeg Jets game
© 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.


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Data released on Friday showed retail sales were unchanged in April. The outturn was short of the consensus expectation, which was anticipating a modest gain; although the upward revision to the March figures softens the blow considerably, explained analysts at Wells Fargo.
“Retail sales were unchanged in April after upward revisions lifted March numbers to the 2nd highest monthly gain on record. Increased spending on autos and restaurants offset weakness in other areas.”
“The on-again, off-again dynamic with spending and big cash windfalls has injected new volatility into retail sales figures. Consider for example, in the 10-year period ending December 2019, the average monthly change in retail sales was just 0.3% with a high of +2.2% and a low of -2.0%. Between last year’s lockdowns and a reopening surge in goods spending, this year’s stimulus checks and late winter storms, it’s no wonder why retailers are struggling to manage inventory and anticipate demand.”
“Unlike last summer when most people were stuck at home, just about everybody is ready to get out and go some place this summer. There are signs everywhere you look and getting your hands on a vehicle is proving to be a tall order.”
“Our consumer spending outlook is not influenced one way or another by today’s report. In fact, a headline change in the other direction would not have rattled us either because nothing consumers might have done in April is all that material to the real driver of our forecast, which is the coming surge in consumer spending tied to the reopening of the service sector.”


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The African Union (AU) head reported that around 44 African countries have got together to sign an agreement that establishes a free trade zone, which was important for the development of their economies.
The formation of a free trade sector is being touted as one of the world’s biggest because of the number of the participating countries.It took almost a couple of years of discussions and is AU’s flagship project, which aims at bringing better African integration.
There was another agreement between 27 countries that allowed their people to move freely across borders, hence making it easier for the citizens from other signatory countries to come and live in their nations for up to a maximum of 90 days.
The deal is currently pending and has to be reviewed at a national level, and in most likelihood, it would be enforced in 180 days.However, having said that, Nigeria and South Africa, which are Africa’s largest economies, are not a party to this agreement.
Muhammadu Buhari, the President of Nigeria said that he was taking advice back at home as there were some questions and objections raised from its unions and business leaders.
On the other hand, South Africa’s President, Cyril Ramaphosawelcomed the agreement and said that it would boost the African countries and firms to a much higher altitude of growth and make company formation in Africa more attractive. But he would only decide to sign the agreement when it is reviewed by his own country’s parliament.
Albert Muchanga, the AU Commissioner for Trade and Industry told that some countries weren’t sure of this decision and did not finalize their consultations. However, another upcoming summit, which is lined up in Mauritania in the month of July, where the countries that had some reservations are also expected to sign the agreement. But there are still some financial and economic powerhouses like Morocco, Egypt, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Algeria, who signed the deal.
If all the 55 AU nations finally decide to sign up the agreement, it will eventually create a community having a cumulative GDP of $2.5 trillion (which is equivalent to 2 trillion euros), covering a market of approximately1.2 billion people.
As of now, the African countries are doing a meager amount or 16 percent of their trade with each other, which is a very small percentage of intra-regional business when compared to continents such as Asia, Latin America, Europe and North America.
Most of the businesses pay the much higher price(the average being 6.1 percent), while exporting goods within Africa as compared to exporting out of the continent. So if customs and duties are removed by 2022, the business within intra-African sector will surely dart up by a significant 60 percent, said Muchangato AFP before the summit.
Those who are advocating and supporting this deal say that AU economies aren’t that strong on their own to sustain economic diversification and further development of their industries and they will surely gain if they have one single platform to collaborate and work out the business deals with more developed nations.
Faki mentioned in a speech just before the signing ceremony that the CFTA is planning to work on Africa so that it becomes one of the biggest economies in the world. They also plan to increase its knack to network on equal terms and conditions with the other economic giants and blocs.
Faki also said that Africans have experienced many such announcements remain ineffectual and not having any practical value when it came to execution; so now they have qualms towards the intensity of this commitment. Therefore, he requested for a deal that must surprise all who are outside Africa and are of the thinking that this decision will not materialise.


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After the great success achieved by Resident Evil Village, the eighth installment of the series, it seems that Capcom has already actively started working on Resident Evil 9, to the point that even a launch window would have been already leaked. Check out the complete details below.
Resident Evil 9 to Launch Window Leaked
The sequel to Resident Evil Village, or Resident Evil 9, would in fact be arriving as early as 2025, according to what was reported by the insider DuskGolem, who is always particularly precise and reliable for leaks from the world of horror video games from Capcom (via Reddit).
In fact, we recall that DuskGolem had always anticipated that the development of the ninth chapter would have started as early as 2018, which would make Resident Evil 9 one of the episodes with the longest production times in the series.
However, for the actual announcement it could still take some time, as according to the insider, Capcom could choose to reveal its existence with a reveal trailer only by the end of 2024.
Evidently, the publisher will want to make sure that it can best present one of the most anticipated titles by fans, which will have the hard task of picking up on the legacy of “Village” and the recent Resident Evil 4 Remake.
In the meantime, it also seems that Capcom has in mind another “big game” that will be launched in 2024 and which should be announced by the end of this year, but it is not clear whether it is a project related to Resident Evil or a totally different IP.
Although DuskGolem has proved to be a very reliable insider over the years, we remind you that as always, these are unconfirmed rumors to be taken with due precautions. We will keep you updated as soon as we know more about it.


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Foreign exchange provider OFX Group is still to struggling to recover from depressed transaction volumes post-Bexit, and the company issuing a warning on Wednesday that fee and commission income for the 2017 full year would be lower than expected.
The trading update came as the business announced the appointment of a new chief executive, John Alexander Malcolm. He will replace Richard Kimber, who has resigned from the role.
The company warned that its financial year 2017 fee and commission income would be $3 million lower than expected, causing investors to push OFX (formerly called OzForex) shares down more than 15 per cent in opening trade to $1.42. By 1:30pm the stock had fallen even further, down 22.3 per cent to $1.29.
OFX chairman Steven Sargent said the trading update was disappointing.
"While softer market conditions in the UK as a result of Brexit have resulted in lower average transaction values, the revenue uplift from our marketing program in Australia during the third quarter and into January has not been as significant as we had hoped," he said.
"The board firmly believes that the growth opportunities for OFX, both domestically and abroad, are substantial and that the long-term outlook for the business is very strong."
OFX's earnings before tax, depreciation and amortisation for the 2016-17 year are "now expected to be between $27.5 million and $28.5 million with statutory net profit of at least $19 million", the company said in a statement to the ASX.
Decline in revenue
The foreign exchange group said the aftermath of the June Brexit vote had continued to result in fewer large value discretionary transactions for the three months to December 31, resulting in a 35 per cent decline in revenue per transaction.
The leadership change follows a period of disappointing results for OFX and comes just halfway through Mr Kimber's turnaround strategy, in which he had pledged to double the company's revenue to $200 million via a US expansion, aggressive marketing investment and building up a new customer segment in global online retailers. Mr Kimber also oversaw the rebranding of the company to OFX.
In November, the company released its first-half results for the first six months to September 30 which revealed it had banked $53.6 million in net operating income, flat when compared with the previous corresponding period. This resulted in a net profit after tax of $9.7 million, down 21 per cent.
Mr Sargent told an investor call it was at this time that the board realised it needed to start looking for a new chief executive, in case the company kept failing to deliver.
"Delivery against the strategy has not consistently met the board or shareholders' expectations," he said.
"Having conducted a search process in the background, we believe that Skander [Mr Malcolm's nickname] has the global experience ... to execute on our growth ambitions and take advantage of the tremendous opportunities for OFX domestically and abroad."
Mr Sargent also said during the call that the company, while still hoping to crack $200 million in revenue, would not do so in the original three-year timeline that had been set out.
Before joining OFX, Mr Malcolm had worked with HSBC for 10 years in the UK, before returning to Australia to join Westpac's card products group and then heading up GE Capital in Australia and New Zealand, and eventually becoming chief executive of GE Healthcare across Eastern Europe, the Middle East and African markets.
He is now charged with executing OFX's US expansion and its marketing initiatives, which the company says will lead to strong customer growth.
Mr Sargent said he was confident the company was on the right path.
"We feel good directionally about where we're going, execution against the plan has been the issue," he said.
"We've had conversations [with Mr Malcolm] and he's broadly in line with the strategy we have."
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Digg founder and CEO Kevin Rose will
be leaving his popular Diggnation show, we’ve
heard from a source. This has not been confirmed by Kevin, but we
believe it’s accurate.
Continue reading at TechCrunch >
Read the original article on TechCrunch. Copyright 2010.
Revision3's top show reportedly just lost its famous host.
Here's what cities could look like in 10 years
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Brothers share what it was like quitting their corporate jobs to sell ties on the beach and cofound Vineyard Vines, a company worth nearly $1 billion
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New 11,500 square-foot Wawa opens this week in Philadelphia.
Wawa is opening its biggest convenience store this Friday, Dec. 14 in Philadelphia and it’s kicking off the grand opening celebration with a parade.
According to a report by Eater Philly, the new 11,500 square-foot Wawa is located at 150 S. Independence Mall West in the Public Ledger building, across from Independence Hall and between 6th and Chestnut streets in Old City. It’s more than 2,000 square feet bigger than the second-largest Wawa, located in Washington, D.C.
The grand opening begins at 8 a.m. on Dec. 14. and includes a “Philly Firsts” parade on Chestnut Street at 8:45 a.m. The parade is said to include “history makers and mascots,” according to Eater Philly. The grand opening will also include giveaways and hoagie-building competitions.
According to Eater Philly, the new Wawa will include seating, plants, two indoor murals with the theme “Philly Firsts,” created by Mural Arts and artists Keir Johnston and Willis Humphrey. Coffee cups are also expected to feature mural art. It will also feature a Once Upon a Nation storytelling bench.


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UK: Smart sports cars to be reborn in Wales
Project Kimber, a consortium of international auto executives, has chosen Wales to site a new assembly plant that will build re-branded and re-engineered versions of the Smart roadster and coupe sports cars that recently ended production at DaimlerChrysler.
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Takeaway dishes high in illegal colourings, says study
Published: 3rd Sep 2011 01:18:50
Two of the nation's favourite Indian and Chinese takeaway dishes can contain illegally high levels of certain colourings, a snapshot study suggests.
High levels of salt and saturated fat were also detected in chicken tikka masala and sweet and sour chicken meals at 223 takeaways in England and Wales.
And the Local Government Group study says that when nut-free chicken tikkas were ordered, 20% still contained nuts.
The Department of Health said labelling was key.
The analysis of 90 Indian takeaways was based on a portion of chicken tikka masala and pilau rice.
The Food Standards Agency has called for a voluntary ban on artificial colourings including sunset yellow (E110), allura red (E129), tartrazine (E102) and ponceau 4R (E124) because of their reported link to hyperactivity in some children.
When the sauces from 25 of the meals were tested for the colourings, five of the dishes were found to contain levels above the permitted maximum of 500mg/kg allowed under current food regulations.
The study also found that the Indian meals contained 116% of an individual's daily recommended saturated fat intake and 92% of their salt intake.
A similar analysis of sweet and sour chicken and fried rice from 133 Chinese takeaways discovered that the dish contained 119% of the recommended daily salt intake and 16 teaspoons of sugar, 75% of the recommended daily limit.
Eating too much salt is linked to high blood pressure, which can also increase the risk of developing heart disease.
Recommended dietary salt levels vary with age. Adults are recommended to have no more than 6g of salt per day in their diet, while toddlers should have no more than 2g.
Analysis of 11 sauces of the sweet and sour chicken meals found one contained illegally high levels of the colourings.
When buying some of the chicken tikka masala meals, it was stressed that the customer had a nut allergy.
Despite this, one in five of these takeaways contained peanuts or almonds without any warnings being provided. Just a small amount of nuts can be fatal for someone with a severe allergy.
There are many ways to make takeaways more healthy such as using lower fat oils, natural colourings and reducing salt. ”
The Local Government Association said local authorities should work with "ethnic kitchens" to make sure false information was not provided when customers requested a meal which does not contain nuts.
On two occasions the meat found in sweet and sour chicken meals was actually turkey.
Pre-packaged meals sold in shops are required to carry details of artificial colourings.
A spokesman from the Department of Health said there are plans to give takeaway outlets guidelines on how to label their products.
"The government's Responsibility Deal includes actions that can be taken by restaurants and takeaways, for example by providing calorie information for food and drink.
"Whilst this work has to date focused on larger, chain restaurants, guidance for smaller businesses will be produced in due course. This will help maximise the opportunities for people to see, and use, calorie labelling."
Councillor Paul Bettison, chairman of the Local Government Regulation Board which carried out the study of takeaway meals, said that the high levels of fat, salt and sugar in them were "truly shocking and unnecessary".
"There's no excuse for illegal amounts of colouring and as for secretly using a cheaper type of meat, that's just shamefully ripping off customers. And including nuts when you've been told a person suffers from a nut allergy is unforgivable, it could potentially kill them.
"There are many ways to make takeaways more healthy such as using lower fat oils, natural colourings and reducing salt. These needn't compromise taste and promoting such a healthy approach often attracts customers who're keen to watch their waistline or their blood pressure."
At 07:00:12 in WalesCampaigners calling for a Cardiff reservoir to re-open will visit the prime minister to press their case to restore fishing and sailing there.
At 06:59:50 in EnglandA man and woman found dead in a Nottinghamshire house were stabbed, it has been confirmed.
At 06:56:53 in BusinessGeneral Motors has asked a US court to bar some lawsuits relating to its recall over faulty ignition switches.
At 06:55:04 in EnglandOne person has been arrested after three children were found dead at an address in south London.
At 06:38:57 in Northern IrelandThe Orange Order and a republican ex-prisoners' organisation have lent their support to a new course at Queen's University (QUB) that examines the use of public space to express identity.
At 06:36:03 in Northern IrelandTwo tributes to the late poet Seamus Heaney are to be held in Dublin later.
At 06:32:35 in EnglandA man has been charged following a fire at a house in Teesside.
At 06:16:09 in Northern IrelandAn ex-IRA man has made new allegations about Gerry Adams, in which he raises questions about the Sinn Féin leader's claim to have never been in the IRA.
At 06:11:26 in EnglandThe number of rats being reported by the public across Cornwall has increased by almost 50% in the past 12 months, council figures have revealed.
At 06:05:27 in EnglandSix historical buildings have been added to a register of "at risk" properties in Gloucester.
Harvard CitationBBC News, 2011. Takeaway dishes high in illegal colourings, says study [Online] (Updated 3rd Sep 2011)
Available at: http://www.ukwirednews.com/news/182844/Takeaway-dishes-high-in-illegal-colourings-says-study [Accessed 23rd Apr 2014]
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Maconochie's stew was a household name during World War One. The tinned "meat and vegetable rations" were welcomed by some troops but others described them as a "man-killer". They also had an unfortunate side-effect.


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VOLKSWAGEN has announced it is going to axe production of its iconic Beetle next year.
The German car manufacturer has said it will end manufacturing the Bug in 2019 after releasing final edition models of the classic car - the Final Edition SE and Final Edition SEL.
Hinrich Woebcken, chief executive of Volkswagen Group, said the move comes as the brand puts more focus on electric cars and family friendly vehicles.
He said: “The loss of the Beetle after three generations, over nearly seven decades, will evoke a host of emotions from the Beetle’s many devoted fans.”
He added that although there are “no immediate plans” to replace the Beetle “never say never”
The brand’s Research and development boss Frank Welsch said “two or three generations is enough now” for the Beetle.
MOST READ IN MOTORS
He added that the car was “made with history in mind but you can’t do it five times and have a new new new Beetle”.
The Beetle was first designed in 1931 in Germany, but wasn’t mass produced until the 1940s.
Adolf Hitler wanted a “people’s car” that was affordable for everyone, could seat two adults and two children with room for their luggage.
The Government allowed people to pay for it weekly with a ‘Sparkarte’ – savings card.
The VW Beetle has been loved by fans over a period of almost seven decades
most read in motors
The model became widely known as the Käfer (German for Beetle) and was later marketed under that name in Germany.
In France the model was also known as the Coccinelle, which is French for Ladybug.


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Forward P/E 209.5
Much of the potential growth for Tesla comes from the company transitioning electric / autonomous driving vehicles from the niche luxury space into mass production. This transition is happening slower than hoped and leaves the company open to competition from the likes of Apple, Google and the traditional automakers.
The announcement of a slower than expected number of deliveries of its new SUV, the Model X in the fourth quarter implies full year 2015 deliveries at the low-end of Tesla’s full year guidance of 50,000-52,000 units. As a higher margin model, slower Model X production could also weigh on earnings.
The chart below shows the share price has broken a long term support zone between $180 and $195.
If the company can surprise with higher deliveries, especially of the Model X, it could support a rise back towards $240. Worse than expected deliveries could see the break of $180 confirmed with a sharp decline, potentially as far as $120 near the November 2013 low.


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When two sisters took over their family’s business, they became the fifth generation to run it — and the second generation to make maple syrup during a pandemic.
CHARLEVOIX, MICHIGAN — What do you call a family business with over 100 years of history? Fighters, in a climate like this.
Sisters Amber Munday and Katie Untalan are the fifth generation taking their family’s business to the next level as the economy re-engages. This pandemic won’t stop their drive to keep their century-old traditions alive.
Plus, business savvy never hurt an entrepreneur.
Where It All Began
Harwood Gold began in 1898 when the sisters’ great-great-grandfather Parsons started making maple syrup on his farm.
“He just started doing it as a hobby,” Munday told The ‘Gander. “My grandfather dabbled in wholesaling, and my parents took it to the next level with wholesalers’ online and farmers’ markets.”
When she saw the success her parents were having, Munday realized there was an opportunity to continue scaling the family business. She and her sister officially took over in 2014.
Munday handles production and operations while Untalan is the artistic mastermind behind the company’s product labels, promotional materials and website.
“I just get out of her way. She’s outstanding,” Munday said of her sister’s talents.
Not Their First Rodeo With A Pandemic
Today, Harwood Gold maple syrup is still produced on that same Charlevoix family farm. The company has added other maple-infused products like barbecue sauce, ketchup and sriracha. In 2016 they opened a storefront in downtown Charlevoix that doubles as a cafe.
The storefront and production facility closed when the coronavirus pandemic hit Michigan. But the business – and the family – have survived a pandemic before.
Just 20 years after the first Parsons man found a hobby in making maple syrup, an influenza pandemic hit the country. The CDC estimates that one-third of the world population was infected, with about 675,000 lives lost in America alone.
But the family survived. The first generation of maple syrup in the Parsons family would give way to another before Dave Parsons took over the art and business from his own father. He and his wife, Terri, are Munday and Untalan’s parents. And they taught their daughters as much as they know about the business.
“We sell these really cool Harwood Gold hand pies,” Munday said. “They’re really popular and the feedback that we were getting is that because the store was closed, people couldn’t get these delicious hand pies and the sauce to go with them.”
The sisters’ 2020 business plan already heavily relied on bolstering their online sales. Instead of panicking in the face of the pandemic, Munday and Untalan leaned into their original plans and sold as much product online as possible.
“We already had those stepping stones in place so it was a fairly easy transition for us,” Munday said, noting that there were “a ton of hiccups along the way.”
The company saw demand for product rise and shipping times delayed, but a loyal customer base and some smart business pivoting is keeping the 120+ year enterprise alive. New partnerships also helped the Northern Michigan product extend its reach.
“We’ve paired up with Fustini’s and started selling in their stores and their online market,” Munday said. Fustini’s is an Ann Arbor company known for its specialty olive oils and vinegars.
Finding Strength Together
Harwood Gold has partnered with The Purple Beet, a smoothie subscription box service headquartered in Boyne City, to expand the market for their vegetarian hand pies. Maple syrup and other sauces are available in the Family Fare, Westborn Market, Plum Market and Olsen’s grocery stores.
While production is halted, the family kitchen is resuming its role as birthplace of the Harwood Gold goodness, with special help from the previous owners.
“I think they’re always kind of happy to pitch in where need be,” Munday said, speaking to her parents’ help during the pandemic. “They’re not the retirement kind to just sit around.”
The times could be reminiscent of Harwood Gold’s beginning. Maple syrup is a springtime endeavor that kept the family together.
“Every March and April we’d be out in the sugar shack eating dinner out there, playing games out there,” Munday said. “Just watching my grandpa and my dad make maple syrup. That was always a very normal thing for our childhood.”
If the past is any indication of future trajectory, Harwood Gold will continue to be a Pure Michigan staple. Gov. Whitmer’s latest phase of the MI Safe Start plan will see the Charlevoix storefront reopening soon.
While many of the area’s annual summer festivals are cancelled this year, the storefront and online store are ready to handle all of customers’ needs.
“I remain positive as I try to always be. We grew up making maple syrup. It’s just a part of our life,” Munday said.
And it could be part of the Michigan story for another five generations to come.


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Safe contents taken in Cape Girardeau home burglary
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
The Cape Girardeau Police Department is investigating a reported burglary last Wednesday at 906 Ranney Ave. involving the theft of the contents of a safe and other items.
Jewelry, personal information and documents, clothing, collectible items and electronics of an undetermined value were stolen from the home, said Darin Hickey, public information officer for the Cape Girardeau Police Department. A family member of the homeowner contacted police Wednesday after stopping by to check on the home while the owners were out of town and discovering someone had entered the home, he said.
No suspects had been arrested Monday and investigators have not linked the incident to other crimes, though detectives will take that possibility into account, Hickey said.
Anyone with information on the incident or the stolen items is encouraged to contact the Cape Girardeau Police Department at 335-6621.
906 Ranney Ave., Cape Girardeau, MO


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McDonalds Corp. is hoping customers would like fries and a McDVD with their Chicken McNuggets after last month's announcement that the company will post its first-ever quarterly loss.
Last summer the company ventured into renting DVDs and selling convenience store items via machines located outside restaurants in several cities,but questions of the machines success remain unanswered.
McDonalds set up the one and only Tik Tok Easy Shop,a convenience store mounted in the wall,last summer in the Adams Morgan district of Washington,D.C.,to the dismay of many residents.
Fourteen of the Tik Tok DVD shops have cropped up in the Maryland-Virginia area,including the one in the Adams Morgan,plus four in the San Francisco Bay area and four more coming soon,according to the Tik Tok Web site.
The one Easy Shop and the DVD machines were only built in select cities to predetermine if they will be a success and so far,the feedback has been positive,said company spokeswoman Lisa Howard.
“People seem to be really pleased with it,” Howard said,adding that the company can't yet give out much information on the shops.
The DVD machines,manufactured by Automated Distribution Technologies,a Pennsylvania company now owned by McDonalds,charge a customer's credit card a low nightly fee – about $1.50 – and the DVD must be returned to the location where it was rented.
If the DVD is not returned,the customer is charged for the cost of the DVD.
After the first-ever projected loss from McDonalds,the corporation is hoping the shops bring new profits. Late in 2002,McDonalds cut jobs and closed some restaurants.
The DVD machine can hold about 1,000 DVDs,with new release movies added weekly,no late fees,no membership cards,but residents may deem the machine an “eyesore,” as many did when the Easy Shop arrived.
The Easy Shop can hold around 200 products,from tampons to milk,and it's always – and they do mean always – open.
“It offers another convenience for our customers,” Howard said.
But is the convenience worth the eyesore?
No,said Alan J. Roth,a government relations consultant and 20-year D.C. resident who lives just around the corner from the Adams Morgan Easy Shop and DVD counterpart.
Roth said comments from area residents fall into two categories.
“Those who live in the vicinity of the machine,who look out the window and see it,hate it,” he said. “They feel it is an ugly blight on the neighborhood.”
But other residents who live farther away feel it's a “fantastic convenience,” he said.
Adams Morgan has a bustling nightlife over the weekends and many times residents who live near the machine are awakened by the sound of “drunken revelers” watching the machine dispense its product,Roth said.
Occasionally people will purchase from the machine or rent a DVD,but it's “more of a curiosity,” Roth said.
“People stare at it,and push a button to see if it works,” he said,relating an occasion when the machine malfunctioned and dispensed a dozen candy bars at the request of one.
The machine has been vandalized “a couple of times,” Roth said adding that “you gotta sell a lot of breakfast cereal or razor blades or orange juice” to finance the rent and maintenance of the machines.
But has he purchased anything from it or rented a DVD?
“No,I was tempted once,but decided against it,” he said. “I'd rather patronize the human businesses.”
After the Easy Shop or “Shop 2000” arrived,Adams Morgan resident Michael Rodgers started a “Stop the Box” Web site,encouraging local residents to “boycott McDonalds” and the plaza where the box is located.
“Yes,the famed burger purveyor is now ready to turn its real estate and marketing geniuses loose again,this time hoping we didn't notice that they don't need people to help collect profits,” Rodgers wrote in a letter to the New York Times.
The 160-square-foot store is the only operating automated convenience store in the United States and Howard could not say whether the DVD or Easy Shop machines would show up in other cities yet.
“Right now it's a very limited test,” Howard said. “So we can't really predict the future on what will happen.”
But McDVDs will not be without competition.
A New York based company called DVDXpress also has rental kiosks located inside area businesses. The company has three locales in New York City with a program similar to McDonalds.
DVDs can be rented for $1.99 a night,for 10 days,but if the movie is not returned within 10 days,the customer's credit card is billed $30 – double the Tik Tok charge of $15.
DVDXpress machines,however,are only open as late as the outlet in which they are located.
DVDXpress announced Jan. 6 that it had received $5 million in financing commitments which the company plans to put toward opening 4,000 new locations in 22 states,said Jason Tanzer,managing director for DVDXpress.


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Hunt: Showdown players have been noticing some odd hiccups in the PvPvE multiplayer game recently. Over the past few weeks, Hunt players have complained of performance issues and other strange bugs, such as full compounds not loading in – but the developers say they’re hard at work on tracking these down, and an initial patch will be out next week.
The next update for Hunt: Showdown, version 1.7.2, should release on PC next week, Crytek says, as long as everything goes according to plan. The developers say it’s a “tentative fix” for some of the most commonly encountered issues players have seen: FPS drops, stuttering, and an overall loss of performance in-game. Some of this seems to be connected to the Steam overlay, as players have theorised, but Crytek says it’s still looking into the issue.
The stranger bug is the issue with compounds not loading into the map. If you’re not a Hunt player, compounds are the built-up areas that serve as the game’s important landmarks – they’re where most of the action goes down, since that’s where clues and bosses tend to spawn.
Obviously, having one not show up where it’s supposed to be is a bit of an issue, but Crytek says it’s been a difficult bug to reproduce. However, the team says it’s found a potential solution and will deploy it as part of next week’s update.
We would like to update you regarding some of the most pressing performance issues you have been experiencing lately on PC and on Console.
— Hunt: Showdown (@HuntShowdown) January 20, 2022
A more detailed blog post will be along in February to discuss what we can look forward to in Hunt: Showdown in the near future.


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Jun 12, 2013, 11:15 AM EDT
The IZOD IndyCar Series will be featured in “Forza Motorsport 5,” for play on the new Xbox One console this fall. The partnership was announced Tuesday night in Los Angeles as part of “E3 2013,” where the game was unveiled.
Four teams are included, with defending series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay’s No. 1 DHL Andretti Autosport Chevrolet featured along with cars from Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (Graham Rahal), Target Chip Ganassi Racing (Scott Dixon) and Team Penske (Will Power). The Indianapolis Motor Speedway will also be part of the game.
“INDYCAR fans have been asking to see IZOD IndyCar Series cars in a console game for some time, and partnering with industry leaders such as Microsoft and Turn 10 Studios certainly satisfies that wish,” INDYCAR executive vice president of Corporate Business Development Greg Gruning said. “We couldn’t have better partners to showcase our sport to a young, technology-driven demographic than with the platform provided by the Xbox One and ‘Forza Motorsports 5.’”
Dixon, Indianapolis 500 champion Tony Kanaan and emerging series sophomore Josef Newgarden were on hand in LA for the unveil.
The modern chariots aren’t the only open-wheel cars coming to Forza. With the 1976 Formula One season receiving renewed attention this year as the anticipation builds for Ron Howard’s “Rush,” the two cars driven by Niki Lauda and James Hunt will also make their way into the game. The legendary McLaren M23 and Ferrari 312-2 from that 1976 campaign are included as well.
- IndyCar’s “nearly” man, Justin Wilson, set to overachieve once more 0
- The ingredients are set for Graham Rahal’s big, breakout year 0
- Talladega Nights-inspired restaurant sued by Sony Pictures 2
- It’s happy hour at Team Penske after Vegas sweep (VIDEO) 2
- Australian GP wide open, both from past stats and preseason tests 0
- Kurt Busch gives IndyCar chance to show they’ve learned lesson on promotion (10)
- F1 on NBC Sports TV, streaming schedule for 2014 Australian Grand Prix (7)
- Chrysler orders nearly 100 pristine Dodge Vipers destroyed (7)
- NNS: Elliott’s car found too low, shock taken from Keselowski’s car (6)
- Busch news kicks off what may be a busy Tuesday for IndyCar (5)


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News by Topic
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BIA/Kelsey: Purchase Intercepts to push to nearly $5b
A new forecast from BIA/Kelsey Group advises the purchase incercept market could push to nearly $5 billion by 2016. The purchase intercept market is set up to determine which incoming calls are important for a business and which are not strong leads. Those important calls are then re-routed to the right area.
Earlier this month the firm reported mobile would push in-call and call based advertising higher over the next few years as calls to businesses from search engine queries would push to nearly 14 each month. According to the new report in-call analytics and call quality assurances are needed to help businesses deal with the rapid increase in the number of calls as well as to help the consumer get to the right place via phone to receive the information needed.
"We universally hear from call-based businesses that while call volume is growing, getting enough high-quality calls to businesses is the single largest challenge," said Matt Booth, chief strategy officer and program director, Interactive Local Media, BIA/Kelsey. "The massive influx of calls combined with a high percentage of unwanted calls, opens up a new and critical business segment around call analytics and call quality."
"Like BIA/Kelsey we expect mobile call volumes to increase significantly, but the key will be optimizing programs for quality calls," said Bill Dinan, president of call measurement company Telmetrics. "Businesses are already using mobile call-based ads to capitalize on consumers' expanding mobile usage. From Q1 2011 to Q1 2012, we saw an increase of more than 30 times the number of mobile pay-per-call ads on our network."
Once calls are intercepted they are then targeted by category and re-routed to businesses who want to speak with those potential customers.
The forecast predicts that nearly 4 billion calls will be 'intercepted' and retargeted by 2016, a 52% CAGR increase from the 144 million calls intercepted in 2010.
- Twitter ups ad relevancy with Tailored Audiences
- Research reveals poor uptake and awareness of NFC payments
- Facebook far and away most frequently used mobile app
- The best practices for mobile brands in 2014
- Forecast: Big data to push SMBs into 2014
- Report: TV ads pushing engagement, intent
- Report: Online wide open for CPG brands
- Webrooming, Showrooming pushing shopper engagement
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Hyundai Motor America has made FedEx Corp. the exclusive carrier for its entire express document, small-package ground, and palletized express-freight shipments delivered to dealers within the U.S. Hyundai will use both FedEx Express and FedEx Ground services under the new agreement. Initially, Hyundai expects to ship approximately 200,000 packages per year under the new agreement.
"Hyundai has been searching for greater efficiencies in its U.S. operations, and this agreement allows us to consolidate express document, small-package-ground and air-freight shipments with one company," said Hyundai director of supply chain and logistics George S. Kurth.
Hyundai said virtually everything it distributes for dealer service requirements can be shipped under terms of the agreement. Hyundai's integration with FedEx information systems will also provide increased efficiency to the Hyundai parts supply chain.


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Activists are targeting Coca Cola and McDonald's, two of the biggest sponsors of the Olympic Games starting this week in Sochi, amid growing concern about Russia's gay rights record. Russia has been heavily criticized for a federal law against "homosexual propaganda" that's widely seen as anti-gay.
Last week, Janet Napolitano, Head of the US Olympic Delegation, spoke out against protests saying, “My view is that we’re going there for the athletes and for their performances and I think that’s where the focus ought to be. And I’m not sure this is an appropriate place or time for political protests of that sort.”
At least two colleges have banned Coke products from their campuses in protest. Activists took over a McDonald's social media campaign by hijacking their #CheersToSochi hashtag to rant against the corporation's support for the Games.
Coke was forced to shut down an Olympic-related feature that allowed people to put names and messages on virtual soda cans after the company banned the word "gay". The famous "buy the world a Coke" commercial from 1971 was taken over and re-edited by a group called Queer Nation NY to add scenes of gay rights protesters in Russia being attacked.
The companies are defending their support of Sochi Olympics where they're paying big money to have their brands associated with the world's best athletes.
Why are the protesters targeting the corporate sponsors? Do social protests against large corporations have any lasting effect? Should Coke and McDonald's be concerned at all about an gay rights backlash?
Michelangelo Signorile, editor-at-large of Huffington Post Gay Voices and author of Queer in America
Suzanne Shu, assistant professor of marketing at UCLA's Anderson School of Management


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Posole deal at El Dorado
In recognition of January as National Soup Month, El Dorado Cantina at 3025 Sammy Davis Jr. Drive and in Tivoli Village is offering its pozole, regularly priced at $14, for $9 through the end of the month. The smoky red pozole is roasted pork with hominy, onions, cabbage, radish, avocado, oregano and lime, while the new green pozole is seasoned pulled chicken with hominy and the rest. Both are served with tortilla chips and roasted arbol salsa. eldoradocantina.com
El Luchador to open next week
Hooper Hospitality Concepts, the team behind Locale at 7995 Blue Diamond Road, will open El Luchador Mexican Cantina & Kitchen next week at 7825 Blue Diamond Road, in the same complex. Aaron Bryan, who will lead the culinary team, has worked at Caesars Palace, the Four Seasons and The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. luchadorlv.com
Boston’s Fish House on the way
Hiring began Tuesday for the new Boston’s Fish House and Bar in Tivoli Village, which is expected to start serving about Jan. 21. Chef Francesco De Furia, whose local experience includes time at the former SLS Las Vegas, Wynn Las Vegas and Station Casinos, will lead the kitchen. The restaurant will occupy a space that was intended to house another seafood spot, SeaBream, which never opened because of the pandemic. Boston’s owner Nicholas Sord, who also runs Boca Park breakfast spot Sunny Side Up, said the decision to focus on seafood was to give the neighborhood something it was missing.
Giant turkey legs are back
Disneyland may remain closed, but lovers of giant turkey legs still can get their fix at the Golden Circle Sports Book at Treasure Island. Returning to the menu after being offered as a special, the 26-ounce roasted legs are $10.95 each, and will be available on weekends, while supplies last.
Brando’s Sports Bar closes
Brando’s Sports Bar, 3725 Blue Diamond Road, has been sold and is expected to close this week. While gaming already had been removed, owner Anthony Brandonisio is keeping the doors open while he sells the rest of his food and beverage inventory and some memorabilia on the walls. A spokeswoman said the decision was not pandemic-related, and that Brandonisio is hoping to find a new location.
Bella Vita branches out
Bella Vita, the Italian spot at The District at Green Valley Ranch in Henderson, is planning a second location that will bring its house-made pastas to the Southwest valley. While specifics are still under wraps, we’re told Bella Vita Blue Diamond will debut sometime in the spring.
Doors closing, opening
A representative of MGM Resorts International has confirmed that Nine Fine Irishmen and Broadway Burger Bar & Grill at New York New York are temporarily closed. And Morimoto at MGM Grand, which had been closed, is scheduled to reopen Friday and will be open from 5 t0 10 pm. Fridays and Saturdays for the time being.
The Henderson location of Golden Corral has closed permanently.


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By M&C Report team2005-07-21T10:47:00+01:00
Luke Johnson has warned the UK could face a “Great Depression” and would have to decide if the containment measures were worth the “collateral damage” of falling living standards and damage to mental health.
Rising food prices were one of the main contributors to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rate of inflation reaching a five year high of 3% in September 2017.
UK consumer confidence has staged a slight recovery from its lowest level since just after the Brexit vote
The hospitality sector is facing a devastating rent tipping-point that will trigger a new year bloodbath of business failures and the potential for hundreds of thousands more job losses, UK Hospitality has warned.
BrewDog’s Equity for Punks Tomorrow fundraise has broken the £10m mark, with 54 days remaining to reach its target of £15m.
Barburrito has undergone restructure, with the closure of three sites, and a new injection of investment led by chairman Graham Turner.
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Robb Talbott came of age helping his family make a fortune in the luxury necktie business. Then he turned to grapes, and with his father made another fortune with Talbott Vineyards, an upstart Carmel Valley winery that became one of the premier central California labels.
Along the way, between the ties and the vines, he rode motorcycles — street bikes, desert bikes, trail bikes and more.
Now the entrepreneur is enshrining his love for the bike by turning his personal collection into the West Coast’s biggest motorcycle museum … More
Despite a weak economy that is impacting sales in its powersports business, Polaris Industries (NYSE: PII) is still smoking the tires in motorcycles, giving it the horsepower to take on the industry behemoth, Harley-Davidson (NYSE: HOG).
In its just-completed first-quarter earnings report, Polaris said motorcycle sales were going full throttle at 18% year-over-year growth while the overall large-bike industry — the 900 cubic-centimeters-and-up market — was relatively flat. Moreover, since Harley-Davidson continues to report falling motorcycle sales, it means Polaris is stealing more market share from its rival. Harley may still own half the U.S. market, but Polaris is quickly gaining, and it soon may be a … More
Indian Motorcycle is growing at a faster rate than its motorcycle rivals, a welcome sign for Polaris (NYSE:PII) as it seeks growth in the U.S. and beyond.
Polaris is competing for a bigger piece of a market long dominated by Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG), which controlled about 51% of U.S. motorcycle sales in the first quarter. Globally, Harley-Davidson’s quarterly motorcycle revenue increased 5% to $1.3 billion, far exceeding Polaris’ sales total of $188 million including parts and accessories.
Still, Polaris says … More
Shares of Harley-Davidson went into a skid after an analyst said he expected the bike maker to report a steep drop in sales.
Harley-Davidson’s stock tumbled 13% last week after Wall Street said it could no longer buy into the bike maker’s rosy outlook and that its main rival was stealing market share from it.
Harley-Davidson’s fourth-quarter earnings report gave the company a boost as it seemed to suggest that the company had managed to just make its numbers while providing investors with an outlook that perhaps the … More


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BMW to introduce auto EV mode for 2020 plug-in hybrids
The new technology will rely on geo-fencing.
BMW has announced a new feature for its plug-in hybrids that will automatically switch the vehicle to electric mode when entering certain urban centers. BMW is also rolling out a new incentive program intended to encourage owners of its plug-in hybrid vehicles to use EV mode more often.
Several European cities are making the move to emission-free urban areas and BMW is responding with a new technology known as eDrive Zones. The system uses geo-fencing technology to detect when a vehicle is entering an emission-free zone. Once a plug-in crosses that line, eDrive Zones will automatically switch the vehicle to electric drive.
BMW says the new eDrive Zones technology will be standard on all of its 2020 plug-in hybrid models.
Additionally, BMW is rolling out a new incentive program that it hopes will increase electric driving outside of mandated urban areas. The concept is called BMW Points and it rewards plug-in drivers with points based on the number of kilometers covered using electric power. Drivers can also earn points for using high-voltage battery chargers.
Those points can then be redeemed for free charging on the Charge Now network, as well as on products from Share Now, Park Now and the Connected Drive Store, beginning in 2020.


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Crown Princess Victoria led the way as she wore their yellow top and skirt ensemble at the recent Polar Prize Ceremony.
Altewai Saome. Difficult to pronounce, but you’d better get used to it. The new brand is fashion Sweden’s new darlings. It was Crown Princess Victoria who led the way. The women behind the brand, Randa Saome and Natalia Altewai, are based in Malmö and hit the scene last year when they were anointed “Newcomer of the Year” at the Elle gala.
Later on they won Max Factor’s fashion competition, and then struck gold when Princess Victoria wore their yellow top and skirt ensemble at the recent Polar Prize Ceremony. Says Aftonbladet’s fashion expert Nina Johansson: “Victoria is not known to stick out trend wise, and this is a brand most Swedes don’t know about.” Altewai Saome’s clothes now sell in Italy, Hong Kong, Australia, the U.S. and Kuwait. The online customers are spread all over the world, and are of all ages—their most faithful fan is said to be a woman born in the 1970s who buys everything in their collections. In fact Altewai Saome is described as “the most exciting thing to happen to Swedish fashion in a long time."
Milan, where it all began
It all began in Milan eight years ago, where Randa and Natalia (both 19 years old at the time) had moved from their hometowns of Tumba and Malmö. They met at the Instituto Marangoni, and after each of them practiced (Randa working with embroideries for brands like Valentino and Gucci, and Natalia a designer of bags for Etro), they settled in Malmö and opened their own business in 2009. “We lived off our parents and ate noodles,” Natalia Altewai said in an interview with Sydsvenskan. The young women’s families have roots in Poland, Yemen and Lebanon, and perhaps that’s why their collections have been described as “un-Swedish” and “international” but with great care for material, cuts and details. They say themselves that they’ve taken the best from two worlds: The minimalist and functional Swedish, and the Italian feel for color and details. “They can compete with any international designer brand,” says fashionista and artist Emilia de Poret. Right now the young women from Malmö are in New York meeting with suppliers. There seems no doubt that it's only a matter of time for when they get their international breakthrough.
The fashion duo's website is under construction but should be up again soon, at http://altewaisaome.com
- visit their Malmö flagship store if you happen to be there.


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By John Irish
The satellite broadcaster announces plans to establish its headquarters in Dubai with a view to improving customer service.
In a bid to establish its headquarters in the region, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) pay-TV network Showtime confirmed on February 19 that it is to become the first satellite broadcaster to base itself in Dubai Media City (DMC). Showtime is aiming to complete the relocation by summer 2004 at the latest. The first phase will see its play-out and up-linking operations in Cairo and its sales and marketing activities currently operating in Dubai, move to a 50,000 square feet purpose-built headquarters at a location in the DMC.“The move brings us into the heartland of the creative community that is growing rapidly within DMC. We look forward to contributing a major element to the creative edge that DMC is giving Dubai and the region,” said Peter Einstein, president and chief executive of Showtime.By moving to the DMC, Showtime will be able to consolidate all its elements under one roof, rather than having various offices stationed throughout the region and in London. “Showtime is the first satellite bouquet operator to choose DMC as its base. Its decision is strategically important because it confirms DMC has successfully established itself as an international hub,” said Ahmad bin Byat, director general of the Dubai Technology and Media Free Zone Authority.The satellite network’s facilities will feature a multi-million dollar broadcast and transmission centre together with an advanced call centre and online customer service functions. The opening of new call centres comes just days after the launch of Showtime’s online customer service website aimed at simplifying the way customers check, upgrade and change their personal details and subscription options.“The service provides customers with the convenience of performing transactions at any given time during the day or night in a self-service manner without needing to telephone Showtime’s call centres,” said Khosrow Afrasiabi, Showtime’s IT director. The importance placed on new customer service initiatives will inevitably please Showtime’s 250,000 subscribers, particularly as there have been suggestions in recent months that the broadcaster’s customer service record was in question.“We’re not perfect, but we’re striving to improve our customer service. Most customers seem happy with our service but we’ll never stop trying, not just on a regional basis but also on a global basis,” Einstein told Arabian Business.


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Toyota Investor to CEO: "Try Not to Weep"
"Mr. Toyoda, you've been all over the media this year and you've gone teary-eyed on several occasions," the unidentified investor said. "For a man of your position, this is unacceptable. Please keep your chin up and try not to weep."
To this, the executive made clear that his most recent crying spell was a result of happiness with the automaker's upswing in global sales and dealer support, and not due to stress or remorse. They were, as Toyoda put it, "tears of joy."
The grandson of company founder Sakichi Toyoda has been under tremendous pressure as of late. During his short tenure, the company has seen sales slide -- and now, bounce back -- during the worldwide recession. He has also overseen the recall of millions of vehicles for safety concerns and most recently, has experienced the loss of a dear friend, mentor, and company man, Hiromu Naruse.
"I will try not to go teary-eyed again," he added.
Regarding the more than 10 million vehicles recalled worldwide, Toyoda said:
"I would like to apologize once again for all the worries we have caused our shareholders but we've managed to post a profit after a year of losses and I feel like we are finally at the starting line this year."


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Famously known as the platform for women novelists to get the latest fashion trends and household recipes reference, Femina readers are mostly aspiring modern females aged 25 to 35 that belong to the middle and upper class in Indonesia.
The magazine organizes a ‘Female Entrepreneur Program’ yearly where talented female businesswomen in the country can be identified and selected for expansion opportunities to enhance their businesses further.
Other than that, the annual program offers seminars and workshops under similar topics. Launched four years ago, the program will ultimately invite 25 to 40 years old women entrepreneurs in Small Medium Enterprises (SME) fields to compete for promotional entitlement, trainings, mentorships and venture financing.
Creative products, prospective business and potentiality of growth are key parameters of the program. There will be prizes categorized in the form of eco friendly, social and local indigenous-based entrepreneurship.
As for Multiply, they expect to have more businesses utilizing their platform with this parnership. This is in hopes of buliding and strengthening their online presence, which by now has hit 85,000 sellers (dominated by women) with 2.3 million registered users and seven million unique monthly visitors. Today, the platform itself has support numerous methods of payment ranging from ATM, e-banking, mobile payment and recently announced credit cards.
Dubbed as the largest online market in the nation, Multiply has been actively educating people about the e-commerce market and supporting the sellers’ community. Back in May, e27 wrote about idEA, reporting that Daniel Tumiwa was appointed as Chairman of the Executive Board.
Furthermore this year’s top 25 finalists have been officially announced. Those participants came from various industries, such as food, fashion, education, financial services, consultancy, design, and event management. Special mentions were awarded to two finalists, QM Financial’s Ligwina Hananto and Lazuli Sarae’s Maretta Astri Nirmanda.


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We've speculated a lot about the release of the Galaxy S2 across all the different carriers and even shared our frustrations over all the conflicting information there is out there about when, exactly, the Galaxy S2 will be released. Throughout it all, we had assumed that the Galaxy S2 would make it over to Verizon. But it appears our assumptions were wrong.
According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, the Galaxy S2 will not be released on Big Red. Apparantly only Sprint, T-Mobile and AT&T will be present at the August 29th Samsung event in New York City. Verizon might be getting a different Samsung Android device that's similar to the Galaxy S2 but no one is quite sure just what it'll look like. It may have a 4.5 inch screen, or be a Tegra 2 variant of the same phone (which we'd be happy with) but, again, we just don't know.
At this point, it seems like the Nexus Prime will be launching on Verizon as well, which could certainly satiate our hunger for fast Android's on "America's Largest 3G Network." Still, this news has got to sting, especially those who've been salivating over the Galaxy S2 and waiting ages for it to arrive in the U.S.
Are you disappointed by this news? Or do you think Verizon has something just as good (if not better) up their sleeves?


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09:56 | 13/06/2018 Information Technology
(VEN) - The fourth industrial revolution enables Vietnam’s agricultural businesses and farmers apply the Internet of Things (IoT) to control and monitor production.
The Central Highlands province of Lam Dong is leading the country in high-tech agriculture. According to the Lam Dong Crop Production and Plan Protection Sub Department, the province grows crops on nearly 51,800ha using high-tech farming methods, including nearly 19,000ha for vegetables, over 3,623ha for flowers, about 6,335ha for tea, and nearly 19,885ha for coffee.
The Lam Dong Agricultural Promotion Center has provided support for farmers to apply IoT in agricultural production. Thanks to IoT application, farmers are more comfortable on time and more accurate in the process. IoT devices connect to sensors to measure temperature, humidity and pH levels in order to operate the irrigation, cooling, light and diaphragm systems. The systems can also relay alert messages to users in case problems arise.
IoT helps users fully understand their production status. The use of IoT in agricultural production allows the tracing of produce origin in order to both increase performance and meet market demands.
Dang Xuan Truong, CEO and Founder of the Hachi Group, has realized the potential of applying information technology in the agricultural sector. He and his group have developed the Smart Hydroponic System app to boost harvests. The system consists of three parts: an app for mobile phones with Android or IOS operating systems; IoT hardware; and a normal hydroponic system. The mobile app can control environmental parameters in terms of humidity, temperature, and light, while the IoT hardware connects the hydroponic system with the mobile app and controls the pumps and sends data on the environment to the server.
In addition to the initial hydroponic projects for households in Hanoi, the Hachi Group has signed contracts with large farms in provinces such as Bac Ninh, Hue and Lam Dong.
The Quang Trung Software City has developed the Smart Agri management system, which allows farmers to collect information about temperature, humidity, light and pH levels, and regulate devices to ensure a standard environment for the plants.
Applying IoT devices in agriculture plays an important role. With smart management solutions, users can control and
monitor their entire production process using smartphones and tablets.


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NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- Shares of Green Mountain Coffee gmcr were off 11 percent to $21.21 in late action. The company has just issued a response to a downgrade from Janney Montgomery Scott, which lowered its rating on the stock to 'hold' after stating it had "strong reason" to believe the company was in danger of losing ExxonMobil XOM, -2.84% as a customer. The company said the note contains "a number of factual inaccuracies," including overstating its business with ExxonMobil, which Green Mountain said accounted for less than 10 percent of its total revenue in the fiscal year ended Sept. 27. In addition, the company was positive about its status with ExxonMobil. "Green Mountain Coffee Roasters has had an excellent relationship with ExxonMobil and its predecessor for over ten yearsm" it stated. "We believe we continue to have excellent customer relationships with ExxonMobil and all our key customers."
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Like other CFOs surprised at the strength of the U.S. economy and bullish prospects ahead, Mike Smith is eyeing a host of capital spending opportunities this year and next, among them M&A transactions, data and analytics tools, and initiatives to attract top talent.
“Coming into the back end of 2021 and into 2022, we’ve got strong financial results and some pretty sizable dry powder to invest in continuing growth,” said Smith, CFO at public company Voya Financial, a New York-based financial, retirement, investment and insurance company with $7.6 billion in 2020 revenues. “Many economists seem to agree the good times have some staying power and we want to take advantage while we can.”
With “good times,” Smith is referencing the extraordinarily robust U.S. economy, one year after it experienced the sharpest contraction since the end of World War II. Putting aside (for the moment) deepening worries over the Delta variant, sluggish vaccination rates, a protracted supply chain debacle and rising prices—the Consumer Price Index shot up 5.4 percent between July 2020 and July 2021—Smith is spot on when he says many economists project economic growth. StrategicCFO360 interviewed five economists, each one expressing upbeat conditions through 2022.
The economists have a surplus of evidence to back up their rosy projections. Between April and June, the U.S. economy grew 6.5 percent, an economic output surpassing pre-pandemic GDP. Nearly a million (943,000) jobs were added to the economy in July, much more than analysts expected, marking a stunning reversal of where employment stood the previous July. Unemployment consequently fell to 5.4 percent, while the number of job openings (this is really big news) catapulted to a new record—9.2 million.
Add it all up and the U.S. economy right now can’t be beat. “2021 is looking incredibly strong and next year looks the same way,” said Beth Ann Bovino, Chief U.S. Economist at Standard & Poor’s Rating Services. “We have GDP for this year at 6.7, which would be a 37-year high. After something like that, you’d think a pullback would be likely next year, but we don’t expect it. There’s huge demand for talent with job openings at record highs.”
With many public companies enjoying record stock prices, dry powder piling up at private equity firms and irresistibly low interest rates compelling a debt-fueled borrowing boom, capital is copious for strategic CFOs to spend widely and wisely. CFO Mark Partin at BlackLine, for instance, is eyeing product adjacencies enhancing the accounting automation company’s platform solutions. April Downing, CFO at customer engagement company Khoros, is looking to increase talent rolls by 20 percent. And CFO Johnathan Taylor’s growth trajectory at HR outsourcing services provider LandrumHR will be fueled, in part, by acquisitions. “I’m in the middle of conversations with three candidates right now,” Taylor said.
The positive economic news and forecasts are catalyzing CFOs to reinvent their businesses while they can, putting aside last year’s economic miseries to seize opportunities in an historic turnaround, one that could last several years. “In a market like the one we’re in now, you either take advantage of the opportunities or you don’t,” said Ken Stillwell, CFO at public company Pega. “You win or you lose. We see now as a time to differentiate and be a winner.”
A Rising Tide
To be fair, each of the five economists we interviewed did not sweep the key economic risks consuming media and business attention under the rug. The Delta variant (and other emerging coronavirus variants), the surprising hordes of unvaccinated Americans and on-again, off-again, inflation fears—are potential party poopers.
Following a surge of optimism in early July, a survey of CEOs by Chief Executive in early August suggests their outlook about the economy has retreated to pre-vaccine levels, with the same proportion of respondents (34 percent) stating the economy will either improve or remain the same. Fewer Chief Executives forecasted increases in profits and revenues through the end of the year, but still, those numbers are higher than they were in January.
The big reason for the sudden malaise is the continuing spread of the Delta variant. The economists we interviewed downplayed the economic risks—to a certain extent. “We’re in what I’d call the ‘indefinite zone’ of the variant, but we’re already seeing cities and states require masks indoors to reduce the risk of spreading,” said Ernie Goss, professor of economics and director of the Institute for Economic Inquiry at Creighton University.
“While there will continue to be anti-vaxxers, the momentum is toward them having to wear masks along with those of us who are vaccinated,” Goss said. “This suggests that governments have no intention of shutting down businesses again. From an economic standpoint, the Delta variant is manageable and temporary.”
If it turns out otherwise, David A. Levy, chairman of the Jerome Levy Forecasting Center, said, “The economy could get into trouble. In July, the number of Delta cases in the U.S. quintupled and if it does that again this month, that puts a lot of people out of work. We’d need more stimulus money to keep the economy growing. And if more infectious and deadly variants transpire, obviously that’s really worrisome.”
The best way to boost your organization’s competitiveness tomorrow is by upskilling your employees today. And the process doesn’t have to be daunting. Here’s how PwC did it—and you can too.
Inflation, on the other hand, although elevated, is expected to moderate. The Consumer Price Index increased 0.5 percent in July from June, a slower rate than the 0.9 percent increase in June from May, although still above the 0.2 percent rate average from 2000 to 2019. “We’re in the camp that inflation is just a transitory thing that will filter out of the system,” said Bovino, pointing to a combination of temporary factors that lifted prices. “Demand surged because it was V-day (for vaccinations); people wanted to celebrate and spend money but supply chains couldn’t keep up,” she said. “Manufacturing slowed and prices ticked up. It’s not like they’ll stabilize next month—that will take some time—but this is not a 1970s or 1980s story of runaway inflation.”
Others echoed the same refrain. “Fears of runaway inflation have been exaggerated,” said PhD economist Robert Hartwig, a professor of finance and director of the Risk and Uncertainty Management Center at the University of South Carolina. “Any ‘uptick,’ to borrow the words of Federal Reserve Chair (Jerome) Powell, are `transitory’ and will `wane.’ Although prices have risen, they will revert to the mean of consistent annual 2 percent increases.”
Cristian deRitis, Deputy Chief Economist at Moody Analytics, also sees inflation as a momentary blip. “As supply chain problems iron out, the current price increase pressures will moderate,” he explained. “It’s harder, of course, to rein in recent wage and salary increases compensating for higher prices. Once they go up, the harder (it is) to pull them back. But look at it this way—companies are paying people more but they’re also investing in automation to increase productivity, which balances out and should put a curb on inflation.”
Higher and Higher
Like S&P, Moody Analytics projects 6.7 percent GDP growth this year, slipping a notch to 5 percent in 2022. “That’s still more than double the historical average of 2.3 percent GDP growth in our baseline,” deRitis said. “All that pent up demand among consumers and businesses buying from other businesses is letting loose. Frankly, were it not for ongoing supply chain issues, our GDP growth forecast would be 7 percent (for 2021).”
Such stratospheric heights would have been unimaginable last summer. Yet, Hartwig said the economy is enjoying a “rare Goldilocks moment,” the term used to describe an ideal state of near-full employment, economic stability and steady growth—“neither too hot nor too cold but just right,” to borrow a line from the popular children’s story. “Virtually all the conditions are lining up for many U.S. businesses to enjoy growing sales and profits and for many people to realize growing income, with relatively modest inflation,” he said.
Levy expects the U.S. economy to outperform the rest of the world over the next several years, “in some cases way more,” he said, “because we’ve had a much bigger federal stimulus and a big lead in vaccinations.” He added that strong forces are coalescing to bring manufacturing back to U.S. shores. “Companies left to leverage cheap labor abroad, but with widescale automation, the labor arbitrage is less. We’ve also learned from the pandemic that the cost of carrying goods in inventory is a much better option that the risk of losing sales because of global supply chain disruptions.”
It’s reasonable to conclude that the economic climate is vibrant and even a bit tranquil. “Are there risks? Sure,” said Hartwig, “but demand is exploding in the aftermath of the pandemic on a global basis. Using inexpensive debt and equity capital and combinations thereof, CFOs can be expected to sharply increase their capital expenditures, making multi-decade investments in productivity enhancements, M&A activity, cutting edge technologies and talent through the remainder of the decade.”
Money, Money, Money
CFOs are doing just that. At BlackLine, a developer of cloud-based software and services designed to automate and control the entire financial close process, CFO Partin is investing in the development of product adjacencies organically and through M&A. In 2020, the public company acquired Rimilia, a provider of accounts receivable AI tools, a competency BlackLine lacked at the time.
“The management of a company’s capital structure is in sharp focus right now,” Partin said. “Accounts receivable impacts key financial statements—the balance sheet, income statement and the statement of cash flows. Controllers want to become more forward-thinking about the company’s future revenue streams and investment returns. AR automation is very high on the agenda for controllers to drive value, making AI tools that shorten the time to this value a valuable product adjacency for us to have.”
Through this year and into next year, Partin is eyeing other product opportunities to advance BlackLine’s platform functionality for its more than 3,600 customers worldwide. “We’re committed to investing capital in bringing end-to-end optimization and automation to other areas that touch the controller,” he said.
Taylor, CFO at privately held LandrumHR, which tallies corporate clients in 16 states and revenues of $700 million annually, plans to invest capital in acquisitions to enhance the HR outsourcing firm’s capabilities and talent. “We did some deals in 2019 and were ready to pull the plug on another one when Covid hit,” Taylor said. “Because of the unknowns at the time, we backed out. Now with more certainty in the economy, we’re plotting acquisitions in our growth plan, with three targets under review.”
M&A also is on tap at Khoros, a customer engagement software company with more than 2,000 global customers, including one-third of the Fortune 100. “The market we’re in is growing like crazy and we are very well positioned to invest,” said CFO Downing, who joined Khoros in early 2021.
This year, Khoros made two acquisitions predicated on the interests and needs of its customer base—Topbox, an omnichannel customer experience analytics platform, and Flow.ai, a conversational AI and machine learning platform. The deals also bring with them solid talent prospects. Nevertheless, Downing also is investing capital in new hires. “Even though we’re considered a top place to work, talent is just extremely hard to come by right now,” she said.
The company’s “remote-first” approach to work should make this task easier, she said, elaborating that Khoros has been more flexible than other tech companies when it comes to where and when people work. This attractive work culture also allows for reductions in office space, “our second biggest operating expense,” said Downing. “We’ve got 11 offices globally, including North American facilities, and have no plans to open additional offices. We can shift this capital to accelerating product innovations and employee opportunities for advancement, upward mobility and education.”
Strategic growth objectives also involve people at Pega, a provider of business process management and other technology tools. “Our biggest opportunity to accelerate our growth is talent acquisition,” said Stillwell. “We’re continuing to build the kind of company people want to work at, investing in their career development and in a more inclusive culture. We want people to be energized by the opportunity to work here.”
At Voya Financial, CFO Smith is doing all the above, investing in M&A opportunities, technology enhancements, and talent-focused initiatives. As the retirement planning space consolidates, Smith is eyeing acquisitions of companies with different pieces and parts that augment Voya’s offerings, he said. “We’re a top five player, but there are strategic opportunities for us to buy competitors that may have a technology or people with unique technological capabilities that we lack,” he said. “The (deal) multiples are significant, but so are the opportunities.”
He offered a similar opinion about talent. Whereas 20 percent of Voya’s employees worked remotely from their homes on a fulltime basis pre-pandemic, 35 percent now do the same. For the remainder of the firm’s more than 5,500 employees, the current plan is “to be fairly flexible” when people choose to come into the office, he said. “Workforce planning will be driven by each team’s needs. This `hybrid-first’ work environment will help us capture top talent.”
The CFO said he plans to increase investments in technology, chiefly data and analytics tools and digital and mobile enhancements to Voya’s platform, with the aim of assisting client decisions on different employee benefits like retirement solutions and healthcare plans. “I see digital transformation as ongoing,” Smith said. “Technological capabilities are a battle well fought but never won, requiring ongoing investment.”
Fortunately, there’s ample capital on hand to make them. When Voya went public in 2013, its market cap was $7 billion; today, it’s around $8.5 billion. One other way the CFO is spending capital? “We repurchased around $800 million of our stock this year and continue to see this as a tool helping our shareholders get value for their shares,” he said. “When you’ve got extra capital, that’s a pretty good use of it.”


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Piers Morgan has been slammed for attacking vegans in a brash interview about Iceland’s banned Christmas advert.
Morgan made bizarre comments about soy products and vegans during an interview with Iceland’s managing director Richard Walker about the supermarket’s anti-palm oil Christmas advert.
The Good Morning Britain presenter grilled Walker about Iceland’s decision to campaign against palm oil.
“Palm oil production currently counts for one tenth of global deforestation caused by livestock and beef production, and less than half of that by veggie and vegan staple soybeans,” he barked.
“So vegans, right, who will all be cooing and crying over these lovely smiley orangutans, are actually scoffing soy beans, which is actually twice as problematic for the devastation of global deforestation than palm oil.
“Why aren’t you campaigning against soybeans?”
Viewers were quick to put Morgan in his place, explaining the vast majority of soy beans are produced for livestock feed.
During the interview, Iceland’s managing director explained that the supermarket has pledged to remove palm oil from 450 of its own products, but still stocks brands containing palm oil.
Morgan fired questions such as: “How many orangutans are you personally killing?
“You’re the boss of Iceland, you are not legally required, by law, to stock anything are you? Are you?
“So you don’t have to stock these 200 products that have palm oil, do you? So why do you?”
Walker calmly explained the decision: “We walk the tightrope, we are in business to make money… if I just delisted hundreds of products that would be commercial suicide.
“We are not anti palm oil, we are anti deforestation…We want to give customers a choice. We need to give customers a range of everyday items.
“If customers come into stores and they see Iceland on the label, they can be assured it doesn’t contain palm oil.
“We would love to be able to control some of the biggest brands in the world but we have proved it is possible. When we first started out on this journey two years ago, we were told it’s not even possible.”
What do you think of Iceland’s banned Christmas advert? Tell us in the comments section below!
Vegan culture, food, beauty & more
The Lord of the Rings franchise under fire after horse dies on set for the second time
- 27th March 2023
PETA renews calls for Hollywood to replace animals with CGI Amazon’s television series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has come under fire after a horse died during rehearsals for a season 2 scene in the UK. The horse was one of about 30 on set that day and died of cardiac …
Continue reading “The Lord of the Rings franchise under fire after horse dies on set for the second time”
Puma ditches kangaroo leather for ‘better’ vegan fabric
- Mohsina Dodhiya
- 3rd March 2023
Puma’s King soccer boots are made with vegan K-Better, a new animal-free upper material. Puma SE is officially phasing kangaroo leather out of its soccer boots this year. Instead, it will begin using a vegan fabric following rising consumer opposition to animal-made products. The German sporting goods company has redesigned its legendary KING football boot …
Continue reading “Puma ditches kangaroo leather for ‘better’ vegan fabric”
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All the quizzes you love to binge!
QUIZ: If you score 11/12 on this quiz, you’re a verified vegan food expert
- Marlon Farrugia
- 10th January 2020
How much vegan knowledge do you have stored away? Do you have to Google your way through a shopping trip, or do you have all the bad E-numbers memorised? Find out now with this quiz. Marlon Farrugia Marlon Farrugia is a freelance writer from Brighton. He has been a dedicated vegan for many years, and …
Continue reading “QUIZ: If you score 11/12 on this quiz, you’re a verified vegan food expert”
QUIZ: What is your perfect Vegan Halloween Costume?
- Marlon Farrugia
- 13th October 2019
Spook Season approaches. There will be ghosts, goblins, ghouls, and glucose. You need a costume, and you want to it to show off your personality, which means VEGAN. But what to choose? Take our quiz to find out your perfect outfit. Marlon Farrugia Marlon Farrugia is a freelance writer from Brighton. He has been a …
Continue reading “QUIZ: What is your perfect Vegan Halloween Costume?”
QUIZ: What kind of vegetable are you?
- Marlon Farrugia
- 26th September 2019
“If you were a vegetable, what kind would you be?” A question that has tormented humanity throughout the ages – until now. Read: QUIZ: If you score 19/20 on THIS quiz, you’re a Vegan God Marlon Farrugia Marlon Farrugia is a freelance writer from Brighton. He has been a dedicated vegan for many years, and …


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Scientific Games has further deepened its footprint as a leading tech provider in sports betting. Indeed, SG Digital, its online branch, has won two titles at the SBC Awards 2018. First, the supplier took home the award for the Best Live Betting Product. After that, it also won the Best Standalone Sportsbook Provider award.
The Best Platform
The panel of judges consisted of industry veterans from major brands. And they all agreed to award the best sportsbook solution in the market to SG. In essence, it was SG’s OpenBet Sportsbook, that impressed the jury. This full-service technology powers many operators’ sportsbooks on a global scale. What’s more, the premium online sports betting solution further grew last year.
On one hand, the company created a Sportsbook Operation team in Gibraltar. This step added more resources to its new integrated services. On the other hand, SG acquired Don Best Sports. This move allowed the provider to include even more new services into its platform. Among others, it provides for solutions such as managed trading and marketing services. In addition, the acquisition also brings brand new real-time event data services to SG’s partners, too.
The Next Level
In brief, the SBC Awards reward all parts of the value chain in the industry. It recognises operators, suppliers or affiliates alike for their achievements in the last year. London’s Artillery Garden held the show this year. And their results underlined SG’s position as the provider of the widest portfolio of content, systems, and services.
Kevin O’Loughlin from SG Digital confirmed the great importance of the two awards. “The win reflects the hard work that the entire team at SG Digital has put in over the previous twelve months. Not only does it highlight our efforts in taking sports betting to the next level through innovation. It also shows our commitment to helping our customers achieve their ambitions. We do it through reliable and proven technology,” he added.


text: 10/3/11 – Cantaloupes linked to an outbreak of listeria infection were sold in Wisconsin Aldi stores. The cantaloupes sold under the brand name Rocky Ford were shipped to this state’s Aldi stores between August 16th and September 13th. Those stores immediately removed the produce from their shelves when they were notified by Jensen Farms of Holly, Colorado. A nationwide recall was issued September 13th. The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection reports it is still trying to discover if other retail stores in the state received the tainted cantaloupes. Two Wisconsin cases of listeriosis have been linked to the outbreak, but they haven’t been conclusively tied to cantaloupes bought at Aldi stores.


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Google Play Protect has removed 1,700 unique applications from the Bread malware family in the Play Store before users downloaded them
Google Play Protect has removed 1,700 unique applications from the Joker family of malware in the Play Store, before users downloaded them, a threat that the company has been following since 2017 and is dedicated to defrauding users through sending of SMS messages and payments by WAP.
Joker is a family of ‘malware’, also known as Bread, which addresses the user’s mobile bill. Google first identified it at the beginning of 2017 and since then it has battled infected applications, which always seemed to find a gap in its policies to go unnoticed in the company’s ‘market’, Google Play Store.
However, the digital store’s defence systems have removed 1,700 unique apps with the Bread malicious program before they were downloaded by users. In September, the Larry Page company also removed 24 infected applications, which together had reached more than 500,000 downloads in the Play Store.
Applications infected with this family of ‘malware’ carried out fraud through SMS at its source, but later began to attack payments by WAP (wireless application protocol), as reported by members of the security and privacy team on Android Alec Guertin and Vadim Kotov in a post on their official security blog.
In any case, these are two techniques that take advantage of the integration of telephone operators with vendors, to facilitate the payment of services with the mobile bill. Both request verification of the device, but not of the user. “The operator can determine that the request originates from the user’s device, but does not require any user interaction that cannot be automated,” they say from Google. Thus, the creators of this ‘malware’ “use injected clicks, custom HTML parsers and SMS receivers to automate the payment process without requiring any user interaction.”
“As Play Store has introduced new policies and Google Play Protect has expanded the defences, Bread applications have been forced to go looking for new gaps. At some point, they have come to use all the concealment techniques that exist to not be detected. Many of the samples found seem to be specifically designed to try to enter the Play Store without being detected,” the experts explained, before adding that the company has defended itself from an attacker whom it considers “persistent and well organized.”


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Regardless of whether you’re a serious competitive precision shooter or simply love seeing how far away you can hit a target, you need a rifle that can get the job done. Here's a look at 9 great long-range rifles under $2,000.
Eric Conn takes a look at SIG's new Cross Rifle chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor, which serves as a crossover between lightweight hunting and precision rifle.
Plenty of new rifles were launched in 2020; here are just some of the new offerings released this year.
Bolt-action rifles continue to be supremely popular among those that love long-range pursuits, and several companies even offered their first take on a bolt-action offering in 2020.
SIG Sauer expanded into yet another market niche with the launch of its all-new CROSS bolt-action rifle.


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The Delhi government is aiming to improve electric vehicle charging infrastructure in order to transition to Battery Electric Vehicles.
The government had launched Delhi Electric Vehicle Policy so that it can contribute to 25 per cent of the total new vehicle registrations by 2024.
- The government plans to install 500 Electric Vehicle (EV) charging points at 100 locations.
- New constructions should have EV chargers in 20 per cent of its parking spaces, and those with more than 100 parking spaces should keep 5 per cent for such chargers.
- Most of the charging stations will come up in land owned by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC). It will support charging for 5 vehicles at a time and will be at a distance of 3 Km from each other.
- Private companies will set up the charging stations and recover the cost of it by charging service fees. The company charging the lowest service fee charge will be considered for the award.
- The government will ensure that electric power is supplied to the stations with the required load. The station will also provide batter swapping facility.
Cost of charging
The government has fixed the unit and tariff charges for EVs at Rs 4.5/kwh and Rs 4, respectively.