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Joyce Bromberg (Convene via Twitter)
Convene’s top design executive is stepping down after more than 10 years with the firm, the company announced Thursday.
Joyce Bromberg, Convene’s chief design officer, is resigning, just as the flex-space company braces for a gradual reopening of its 30-plus locations.
The reason for her departure was not immediately clear, but according to a press release, she described her time at Convene as “the best part of my career and truly a privilege for me to help design great spaces, create strategies, and to allow work to be about love.”
According to Convene, Bromberg came out of retirement to join the firm in 2010, where she eventually led a team that designed Convene’s locations and created the company’s workplace strategy.
Brookfield-backed Convene lays off fifth of its workforce
The office startup’s new look: Fewer desks, shuttered conference rooms
Convene, along with other flex-office companies, has grappled with a dramatic drop in business due to the coronavirus pandemic. In March, the firm laid off a fifth of its workforce, or about 150 employees.
Workplace design will likely play a large role in how businesses navigate a return to their offices. Earlier this month, the firm revealed plans to reduce office capacity by 50 percent and to reconfigure its spaces to allow workers to maintain social distancing.
Convene — backed by investors including RXR Realty, the Durst Organization and Brookfield Asset Management — has locations in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
Write to Kathryn Brenzel at .
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The world has gotten a glimpse of hacker warfare this month, with the now-infamous breach of Sony’s security having sparked legitimate international tension. Many assume North Korea was behind the “Sony Hack,” due to the nation’s threats against the company’s action/comedy film The Interview. And, in recent weeks, North Korea has begun to experience its own problems with Internet connectivity. This, of course, appears to be some manner of retaliation, though no details or confirmation of this assumption have been made public. But while all of this has been going on, there was a second Sony hack that raises an issue closer to home for the general public: both Sony’s Playstation Network and Microsoft’s Xbox Live were attacked over the holidays, apparently by known hacker group Lizard Squad, who claimed responsibility.
The hacking of the two major video game online networks didn’t carry the same threat to Sony (or Microsoft) as the original hack, nor did it bring up any sort of implications regarding international “hacker warfare.” But for the average consumer who uses these networks—really, for the gaming community as a whole—it raised some interesting questions regarding security in social gaming environments. On the surface, the attack appears to have been little more than a show of power and play for publicity by Lizard Squad. Yet, Bloomberg reported that one analyst connected to the issue said, “It’s not yet clear whether it’s just an outage of the Playstation Network or if some personal data has been stolen too.” This implies that some Playstation Network users’ personal information could have been obtained in the hack, or at least could conceivably have been available to the hackers.
This isn’t a particularly comforting notion for modern gamers, who are increasingly exposed as video games across all genres and categories are demanding more connectivity. Most anyone who plays video games on a console or computer has an account set up with a name and email address at minimum. But in many cases, it also contains a billing address and card number, a home address, and other personal information. That being said, consider the ways in which other forms of gaming are requiring and/or encouraging more personal exposure.
On the Internet, gamers can remain fairly anonymous and detached in many formats, with many of the big MMO games even requiring minimal personal information to create an account. But the online casino industry, an ever-expanding corner of the Internet video game business as a whole, carries serious security concerns for players. Naturally, the most established sites have strict security measures in place. Leading casino gaming site Betfair features a section on security that details some of these measures, including Information Security Managements, guarantees of the protection of personal information, and even the physical protection placed around the site’s servers—you can view all the info here. Even with such measures in place, this corner of the gaming industry comes with obvious risks. Personal information is clearly connected to a payment method for real money gaming sites, meaning that less secure sites or sophisticated hacking breaches can have major consequences for users.
Similar risks exist in the mobile gaming market, which continues to expand rapidly and is increasingly filled with one-click payment options within games. One of the leading developers, Popcap is a strong example of what’s become known as freemium gaming. Basically, a mobile game following this model (such as Popcap’s hits Plants vs. Zombies 2 and Peggle 2) is free to download, but it provides the opportunity for players to purchase certain add-ons (new stages, upgrades, etc.). This means that even after you make a decision to download a game, it remains connected to your mobile identity and payment method. Also, given that mobile gaming is increasingly focusing on communities and multiplayer options, players are essentially gaming in huge online environments with personal information and payment details (somewhat) readily available.
Thus far, there are no noteworthy instances of major hacks or security breaches that have hurt players in these gaming markets on a broad level. The top sites and developers take security quite seriously, and with more personal security options on computers and mobile devices available these days, consumers can also take steps to protect their personal information. But the hacks of the Sony and Microsoft online gaming communities have, at the very least, raised concerns of security in video games.
– This YATS guest post was written by Jesse Kirkham.

domain: news


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Tourists are slowly returning to Santorini, normally the most-visited island in Greece, known for its whitewashed villas, its perilously steep donkey tracks and its Instagram-friendly sunsets.
In 2018, more than 2m visitors arrived on this tiny island of just 15,000 residents. Overcrowding had become such a problem that last year authorities capped the number of cruise-ship visitors arriving to 8,000 per day.
This year, barely any tourists have visited as the coronavirus pandemic forced the island into lockdown and made international travel all but impossible. Now restrictions are slowly lifting and, on July 1, the local airport reopened for international visitors.
“They are arriving little by little,” says Barbara Danezi, who owns Estia Real Estate, a local property company. But those who do come will find the experience very different from that of previous years. Masks must be worn in shops and waiting staff are wearing plastic visors over their faces. “It is a little weird,” says Danezi. “But these are the rules.”
The island’s rising popularity with tourists has made it a magnet for property investors, who rent out their homes to holidaymakers on sites such as Airbnb. Last July, there were 4,180 whole-home rentals on Santorini listed on either Airbnb or Vrbo, according to AirDNA, which tracks the holiday rental market — an increase of nearly 180 per cent compared with July 2016.
Danae Tsakiris, an associate director at Savills in Athens, says property deals on Santorini were effectively halted while the island was in lockdown. Now, trips and viewings are starting up again.
But anyone looking for an investment bargain has so far been disappointed. “We have had opportunistic buyers who are looking to see whether sellers will feel more pressure to reduce their prices,” says Tsakiris. “But I don’t think this will happen. This crisis has not yet translated into a huge financial crisis.”
Greece has extended its ban on UK flights until at least July 15, and it is unclear whether the country can join the UK’s “air bridge” scheme — which allows British tourists to travel to certain destinations without a 14-day quarantine period on their return.
When holidaymakers do come back to Santorini, it will come as a relief to short-term lettings investors, who are braced for a difficult year.
Sebastian, who did not want to give his last name, grew up on Santorini, and owns three rental properties. By the end of the year, he expects bookings to be down about 66 per cent on 2019. “A lot of people are struggling because no new bookings are coming in,” he says.
He says lockdown was fun at first. Locals who would usually be busy preparing for the holiday season had a chance to relax. “In Greece, you count how many swims you’ve taken,” he says. Normally three swims might be a good tally for a summer. “People were saying: ‘We have already done 20 swims!’”
But when lockdown eased at the start of June, the mood changed: “That’s when the cancellations would kick in and you could actually start to feel the impact.” Shops and artists’ workshops remained closed, says Sebastian, with no tourists to buy their wares.
Daniel, an Airbnb host from Toronto, has let two holiday villas on the island for the past five years. This summer he is opening another six. “So, interesting timing,” he says. He knows that Airbnb hosts like him face a tough year. They will have to cope with a shorter season and less demand, and many have had to reduce their prices — in some cases by half. But looking ahead, he is more optimistic. “Santorini is not a trendy destination,” says Daniel. “It will always be at the top of people’s bucket lists, and so I would feel much more concerned if I was in a trendy destination.”
All of Daniel’s villas are in Pyrgos, a medieval village about 8km south of Fira, the capital. Pyrgos is less hectic than Oia, a village on the edge of the caldera, which has become heavily crowded with tourists in recent years.
In normal times, most evenings during Santorini’s long May to October season, crowds wind their way through Oia’s streets to snap the sun setting behind blue church domes and the white, cavelike houses that seem to tumble towards the water.
Oia is still among the most expensive places on the island, but overtourism had started to affect its desirability, says Danezi. She estimates that a small, 50 sq m house suitable for a short-let investment could cost up to €600,000 — just 2km away, she says, a similar property might cost about €200,000. “And you don’t get the crowds,” she says.
Whether those crowds, and a buoyant property market, will return while coronavirus remains a threat is unclear.
Santorini’s airport is undergoing an expansion. A new terminal is expected to be ready by 2021
Holiday-home buyers can expect gross rental yields of between 6 and 8 per cent a year, according to Savills
Buying costs are about 10 per cent of the purchase price. This includes notary fees, land registry fees, VAT and agency fees, which are usually 2-4 per cent
What you can buy for ...
€350,000 A two-bedroom villa in Megalochori
€1.75m A five-bedroom villa with a pool and more than 2,000 sq ft of interior living space in Akrotiri, in the south of the island
More at propertylistings.ft.com
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The local sharemarket has taken an unexpected beating this morning driven by investor disappointment about the performance of the top stock - A2 Milk.
The benchmark NZX 50 Index fell more than 160 points, about 1.5 percent in the first hour of trading. It has since pegged back some lost ground but was just under 1 percent down at midday.
The fall was primarily caused by a near 15 percent fall for infant formula maker A2 Milk, the market's most valuable stock.
The company reported record revenue and profits for the past year, but the result fell short of expectations.
Brokers told RNZ Business A2 Milk's figures fell short of inflated expectations for earnings, while a surge in marketing costs also added to the downbeat view.
"It's a classic buy the rumour, sell the fact," a broker said.
A2 Milk's shareprice has risen more than 50 percent over the past year.
Its managing director Jayne Hrdlicka said investors had little reason to be disappointed with the result.
"I don't think you can argue with the quality of the result, either with what we delivered in fiscal year 19 or the investments we're making... we don't focus day to day what happens on sharemarkets," she said.


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- Ben Sasse scores Sen. Ted Cruz’s endorsement for Nebraska Senate primary
- Beer-flavored lollipops make debut: ‘An All-American slam-dunk’
- Gabby Giffords’ gun control push gets high-profile speaker: Bill Clinton
- Tony Blair to warn West: Take sides against radical Islam
- Pfc. Bradley Manning’s name change to Chelsea heads to court
- NYPD’s attempt at positive Twitter outreach campaign proves to be an epic fail
- Michigan man among first in U.S. to get ‘bionic eye’
- JetBlue pilots vote to unionize; 2 previous attempts failed
- Pentagon plans to replace flight crews with ‘full-time’ robots
- Navy’s military dolphins may meet Putin’s porpoises in Black Sea
Industry analyst: GM Volt ‘very safe’
Battery-fire cases called an anomaly
They’re not ready to pull the plug on their electric-gas wonder car, but officials at General Motors have clearly shifted to damage-control mode for the sassy but safety-challenged Volt.
Sleeker than Toyota’s stubby but popular Prius hybrid, which has sold a million units since it hit the highways in 2000, the Volt can ride for 40 miles on an electric battery, plug into a regular home electrical outlet to recharge and then switch over to gasoline — the gas starts a generator, which in turn recharges the battery — if it needs to keep on running for a distance.
The environmentally conscious car has thus far earned rave reviews from consumer surveys, which laud its advanced technology, performance and the lack of constraint on a battery life, which had previously stymied the fledgling electric-car market. Now, however, GM is weathering a small storm after three Volt batteries sparked fires in federal crash tests.
Peter DeLorenzo, a Detroit-based auto analyst who has driven the vehicle, says the fire concerns are more media hype than problem for GM.
“Let’s be realistic. These battery fires happened after severe crashes; it’s not fender benders,” Mr. DeLorenzo said. “It has nothing to do with Volts spontaneously combusting somewhere. Unfortunately, in this 24/7 instant-media-connection era we live in, all people will take away is Volts catching fire. They don’t read beyond that. I think the Volt is very safe, and the technology is very safe.”
GM, in a nod to customer service and mounting a quick public relations offensive amid some criticism, said Thursday that it would buy back Volts from any owners who are afraid of the possibility of fires. The Detroit automaker promised consumers that once inspectors determine the cause, a recall would be made for the close to 6,000 vehicles currently on the road. The company also offered loaner vehicles to Volt owners while the fire investigations continue.
In tests by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, three fires broke out in the cars’ lithium-ion batteries after simulated side-impact crashes. Although no conclusions have been reached about why, GM said its vehicles are safe, noting that no fires resulted from Volt owners involved in actual roadway accidents. The same type of battery is used by Nissan in its Leaf model and by Tesla Motors.
“The fire broke out seven days later — not seven minutes. Not seven seconds,” GM Chief Executive Officer Dan Akerson told the Associated Press of its tests.
NHTSA, which is reviewing battery data from other companies, also tried to assuage initial concerns in a statement, issued on Nov. 25. “Chevy Volt owners whose vehicles have not been in a serious crash do not have reason for concern,” it said.
“I think in the interest of General Motors, the industry, the electrification of the car, it’s best to get it right now than when you have — instead of 6,000 — 60,000 or 600,000 cars on the road,” he said.
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College-licensed apparel has found its way onto runways and into tastemakers’ closets, just in time for back-to-school season
Over the last few years, nostalgia has fueled much of the dominant forces in fashion and retail. Along with all things wistful, college-licensed apparel — the crux of which is rooted in sentimentality — has found its way both onto runways and into contemporary tastemakers’ closets.
But the “nostalgia trend” is certainly nothing new. Fashion media has spent the last few seasons attempting to discern to what the long-lasting craze is attributable, as well as why designers are so keen on disseminating it. (Fashionista, for one, first explored nostalgia-fueled consumerism in September 2016, accrediting the onslaught of 90s-era looks to a psychological need for comfort from a romanticized past.)
As is often the case, celebrities have their way of bringing fashion trends to the masses.
Hailey Baldwin and Kendall Jenner have swapped out their concert merch for college gear, despite neither of them attending university. Drake, a known college basketball fan, recently wore a $260 “Tennessee” crewneck (which isn’t officially licensed apparel from the University of Tennessee, and sells at nearly five times a premium for a comparable Tennessee crewneck) artfully distressed to spell out “finesse.”
In April, Beyoncé launched her own collegiate partnership with Balmain — inspired by the gear of Historically Black Colleges and Universities — after a historic Coachella performance, and later donated $100,000 to four HBCUs.
Omnipresent logomania has extended to include collegiate logos on runways, too.
For Resort 2019, Raf Simons (who has spent much of his time since coming to New York as Calvin Klein‘s chief creative officer reexamining American classics and youth culture) offered University of California, Berkeley-stamped bags and Yale University T-shirts alongside classic collegiate insignias.
At Comme des Garçons Shirt, logos belonging to North Carolina’s Appalachian State University and the Cincinnati Bearcats repeatedly covered colorful button-downs.
And just this week, insider-favorite menswear brand Noah released its Fall 2018 lookbook to much fanfare on Instagram, featuring preppy, collegiate-inspired items with university-style lettering and branding.
Even before this season, Opening Ceremony’s classic Varsity Jacket reemerged for Spring 2018. (Virgil Abloh also offered up varsity jackets for Off-White.)
Meanwhile, for Fall 2017, Rihanna’s Fenty Puma label showed college-inspired varsity letters stamped on skateboards and stitched into baseball T-shirts.
The perfect confluence of the nostalgia craze and a renewed penchant for dressing up has made fashion’s obsession with the mundane — DHL T-shirts and repurposed Ikea bags — outdated, Sidney Morgan-Petro, senior retail editor for WGSN.
It’s here where a shift toward Ivy League logos and subverted school uniforms has emerged.
But what is it about the university experience, specifically, that makes people so wistful?
Perhaps it’s a preoccupation with youth culture, wherein we value the shiny, idyllic whimsy of our younger selves. (Look no further than the countless movies and television shows about the college experience for evidence.)
Or perhaps it’s a certain desperation to relive a four-year period where life was yet unencumbered by the responsibilities that come beyond graduation. (See also: fashion escapism.)
Given its appeal to professional trend-spotters, like Morgan-Petro, and non-fashion followers alike, college-inspired wears and licensed apparel also make good business sense.


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Also in the news...
This new guide is essential reading for anyone interested in using offshore tax planning techniques to legally reduce UK taxes.
How To Register Tax-Free Companies in High-Tax Countries
How to set up a company in a wide range of jurisdictions
From 1 January 2015 significant changes will be introduced in the EU VAT legislation for the provision of services in the areas of telecommunications, broadcasting and electronic services.
So you’ve made the marketing research, business plans are looking good, and so you’ve have decided that France will be your next big market
Oregon Start-ups Defy Recession
Venture capitalists invested nearly $190 million over the course of 2008, which, although down 11% from 2007, is still 20% higher than its average over the past half-decade.
Oregon, the Beaver State, home to the most resilient small business owners in America. As the United States hurtles toward a full-blown, belt-tightening recession, start-ups in this anomalous State are defying the trend. It is estimated that venture capitalists invested nearly $190 million over the course of 2008, which, although down 11% from 2007, is still 20% higher than its average over the past half-decade.
As the rest of the United States is seeing investment suffer from recessional rigor-mortis, Oregon is, according to new data from Dow Jones Venture Source, still benefiting from risk-taking start-ups and investors. In the past, Oregon has often succumbed to slow venture investment as other States do, but this time they are setting the precedent.
Two venture capital companies set up in Oregon last year, Voyager Capital and Madrona Venture Group, and both are expecting to welcome more investment opportunities in the coming months. Oregon is quickly earning the reputation of a "sophisticated start-up" State, and although a few businesses have been closing, the figures aren?t idiosyncratically recessional.
So, if you still see the United States as a viable location to do business, why not join the Oregon success story.


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It looks like new digs for Jack Benchakul, the scientifically-minded coffee maestro behind the Cognoscenti Coffee cart parked inside of Highland Park’s Good Girl Dinette. When Eater last spoke to him at the end of September, he and the sleek wood cart were pouring Vietnamese lattes for the weekend brunch crowd, and discussing the possibility of going permanent there, though things now appear to have changed.
Now, according to his own Instagram account, Benchakul has officially moved on from Diep Tran’s long-running diner, and is headed for Scoops in Chinatown. Good timing, considering the current renaissance underway in the area, and the forthcoming arrival of a pair of Andy Ricker Thai food concepts.
When reached by email, Benchakul is quick to note that the move has nothing to do with Tran or the fine folks at Good Girl Dinette. Rather he believes "a bit of coffee renaissance is required in the area," adding that "culinary boundaries are being pushed in that part of town, and it’s getting pretty exciting over there!"
Exciting, indeed. For now, catch Benchakul and the Cognoscenti Coffee modbar cart just steps from Chego inside of Scoops at the Far East Plaza in Chinatown.


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Obese people spend two and a half times more money on their health compared to people of normal weight, according to a recent report published by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
The report titled, “The Heavy Burden of Obesity – The Economics of Prevention,” analyzed obesity patients in 52 countries.
Accordingly, more than 50% of the population is currently overweight in 34 out of 36 OECD countries, and almost one in four people are obese.
OECD countries already spend 8.4% of their total health budget on treating obesity-related diseases: a total of $311 billion, or $209 per capita, per year.
The report pointed out that 12% of the health costs in Turkey are going to obesity-related illnesses, which correspond to $99 per capita annually. It also claimed that Turkey will be among the countries where people spend more money on health due to obesity related illness by 2050.


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By John Bozzella
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is out with its proposed light-duty vehicle greenhouse gas (GHG) and multi-pollutant rules for model year 2027 through 2032.
Immediate reaction: Two things can be true at the same time (and in this case they are).
Yes, America’s transition to an electric and low-carbon transportation future is well underway. EV and battery manufacturing is ramping up across the country because automakers have self-financed billions to expand vehicle electrification.
It’s also true that EPA’s proposed emissions plan is aggressive by any measure. By that I mean it sets automotive electrification goals in the next few years that are… very high.
In fact, the proposal exceeds the administration’s own 50 percent electrification target (see executive order 14037) announced in August 2021 – with auto industry support – by requiring more than one EV for every new gas vehicle sold by 2030 and potentially two EVs for every gas vehicle just two years later.
And it goes beyond the National Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization – a government-wide plan rolled out recently by four cabinet agencies that doubled down on the 50 percent target from 2021.
To be clear, 50 percent was always a stretch goal and predicated on several conditions. Those included supportive policies like the manufacturing incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act (that have only just begun to be implemented) and tax credits to support EV purchases and affordability.
How will EPA justify exceeding the carefully considered and data-driven goal announced by the administration in the executive order and the more recent national blueprint? That’s a key question as the rulemaking unfolds and something to look for in the expansive proposal.
You might be thinking: “Of course the auto industry would resist going faster.”
A couple of points to consider when evaluating this rule and its ultimate feasibility:
Automakers are fully committed to an electric and low-carbon transportation future.
There are now 91 EV models on the market – across all segments and price points. Electric vehicles were 10 percent of new vehicles sales in December, and automakers have invested billions in U.S.-based EV and battery manufacturing. I could go on about sales and product excitement. (We do, here.)
But EV sales momentum is only the beginning of the story.
Remember this: a lot has to go right for this massive – and unprecedented – change in our automotive market and industrial base to succeed, especially as 284 million light-duty vehicles across the country (that average 12 years in age) remain on the roads. As of last year, EVs accounted for just over one percent of all light-duty vehicles.
EPA and the petroleum industry should act quickly to concurrently lower the carbon intensity of liquid fuels. This will produce higher and faster returns by reducing emissions from not only new gas vehicles (including plug-in hybrid EVs), but from the millions of light-duty gas vehicles currently on the road.
Monumental amounts of capital are being invested in zero carbon personal mobility.
One challenge: every dollar invested in internal combustion technology is a dollar not spent on zero carbon technology. And vice versa.
Why does that matter? Automakers and battery partners have already committed $110 billion in the U.S. to electrify products. Requiring self-financed investments from automakers for incremental gains from gas-powered engines comes at the expense of where our collective focus ought to be: electrification. That’s the future.
So, are EPA’s new standards feasible? Will they accelerate the EV transformation?
It depends. First, factors outside the vehicle, like charging infrastructure, supply chains, grid resiliency, the availability of low carbon fuels and critical minerals will determine whether EPA standards at these levels are achievable. Did EPA consider factors outside the vehicle when it crafted its proposal?
To some extent, the baseline policy framework for the transition has come into focus. But it remains to be seen whether the refueling infrastructure incentives and supply-side provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act, the bipartisan infrastructure law, and the CHIPS and Science Act are sufficient to support electrification at the levels envisioned by the proposed standards over the coming years.
One thing we know for sure today: IRS’s new rules for the 30D EV consumer tax credit – with stricter sourcing rules for critical mineral and battery components starting April 18 – means far fewer EV models will qualify for the $7,500 purchase incentive.
Another challenge: There are 100,000 publicly available, non-proprietary charging outlets in the U.S. for three million EVs on the road. That’s a ratio of 29 EVs per charger… and not enough.
Whatever happened to a national plan?
Finally, as various government agencies – federal and state – release competing or overlapping requirements for both EV and gas-powered vehicles, we’ve got to remember to get the balance right.
About six years ago we had one national standard to reduce carbon in personal mobility, providing nationwide consumer and environmental benefits through a single, streamlined regulatory path for automakers.
EPA’s new proposal on the other hand was developed separately from the Department of Transportation’s coming Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards expected later this spring and not in concert with EPA.
We’re committed to constructive engagement between the regulators (EPA, DOT, DOE, California Air Resources Board) and the regulated. We also believe a successful EV transformation requires several sustained commitments: sound, realistic and consistent policy; smart regulation; and concurrent action from the non-automotive sectors of the economy – namely utilities, critical mineral mining and processing operators, infrastructure providers, and energy producers.
The question isn’t can this be done, it’s how fast can it be done, and how fast will depend almost exclusively on having the right policies and market conditions in place to achieve the shared goal of a net zero carbon automotive future.
More to say during the comment period in the weeks and months ahead...
John Bozzella is president and CEO of Alliance for Automotive Innovation.
Alliance for Automotive Innovation MEMO on EPA emissions rules (April 6, 2023).


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The Sag Harbor Farmers’ Market is returning for the summer in less than two weeks. To kick off the season and show their appreciation of the Village of Sag Harbor and the Sag Harbor Chamber of Commerce, the organizers have scheduled a vine cutting ceremony for opening day on Saturday, May 18. The popular local market will continue to operate from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. every Saturday through October.
Early produce season has already begun on the East End, so look out for a variety of nutrient rich, locally harvested vegetables such as asparagus, mushrooms, oregano, kale, beets, carrots, arugula, chard, garlic scapes, scallions and more. Customers can also expect other delectable homemade and locally grown foods such as empanadas, breads, baked goods, preserves, wine, coffee, raw honey, grass-fed beef, artisanal cheese, yogurt, butter, cow’s milk (vat pasteurized), local fish and farm fresh eggs.
This year, customers will find new vendors and old favorites, including Donna McCue‘s Fat Ass Fudge (as seen on ABC‘s Shark Tank), Mary Woltz‘s Bees’ Needs honey (once per month), locally grown mushrooms by Dave Fulkowski‘s Open Minded Organics, True Blue Jamaican fair trade coffee from Dennis Doherty, Amagansett Sea Salt, Blue Duck Bakery and, one of the new additions, Sweet ‘tauk lemonade.
Other new offerings this season include a line of body care products by Clean Apothecaire, dog treats by Life is Gruff, flowers from Pierpont Blossom Farm, nuts by Lorna’s Nuts & Goodies and vegetables from Amagansett‘s Bhumi Farm.
The market will also feature weekly activities, such as presentations about nutrition and health, cooking demos and more.
Some of the market’s vendors are WIC (a federally-funded health and nutrition program for women, infants, and children) certified, and customers can now pay using virtual food stamps and Electronic Transfer Benefits (EBT), a system supported by the USDA that utilizes a processing machine to swipe credit cards.
By supporting the East End community farmers and artisans, the Sag Harbor Farmers’ Market helps the local economy and provides a vast array of delicious and nutritious foods. The market, located on Bay Street (at Burke St. in front of the Breakwater Yacht Club) in Sag Harbor, opens Saturday, May 18 and will continue to operate every Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., through October.


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CINCINNATI – The Kroger Co. here has expanded its partnership with Murray’s Cheese, a New York-based cheese importer and retailer, contracting to open 50 additional branded Murray’s store-within-a-store locations in its supermarkets over the next three years.
The decision to expand the partnership with Murray’s was spurred by the success of the first three locations, which were opened as part of a pilot test almost a year and a half ago in the Cincinnati market.
“Sales increases were significant,” Robert Kaufelt, president, Murray’s Cheese told SN. “When the specialty cheese departments in those stores were replaced with Murray’s, sales rose 50% to 100%.”
Even before the expansion agreement was signed, Kroger had opened a fourth Murray’s inside a new Dayton, Ohio, Fresh Fare format store. A number of Murray’s shops will be opened inside additional Kroger units by the end of next year, Kaufelt said.
“Expanding our relationship with Murray’s Cheese will allow Kroger’s family of stores to build on their [Murray’s] expertise as we expand our cheese offerings for our customers,” said Jeff Burt, vice president of deli-bakery merchandising for Kroger.
Read More of Today's Headlines


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Keyword: Charter Communications
Altice USA is giving premium pay to its customer-interfacing employees during the coronavirus crisis, but not all cable technicians will qualify.
AT&T and Spectrum SportsNet LA, TV home for the Los Angeles Dodgers, have reached a new distribution agreement, ending a lengthy carriage dispute.
Despite the widespread disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the U.S. cable industry should remain “relatively stable,” according to Moody’s.
Both AT&T and Charter are extending free previews of Showtime and other premium channels to subscribers who are stuck at home due to COVID-19.
For Comcast, Charter and other cable operators, coronavirus could have significant business impacts.
Discovery, Inc. is in the early planning phases of launching a streaming video service that aggregates IP from all its brands.
Altice USA has struck a deal with Apple that will allow its video subscribers to buy an Apple TV 4K device from the provider and access Altice One.
The fourth-quarter earnings season has wrapped up for the top publicly traded pay TV operators in the U.S., and it's time to break down the numbers.
The video industry has had a long relationship with video piracy.
Charter’s video subscriber base continued to erode but the company’s video revenues increased during the fourth quarter.


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Nigeria’s internet users surge 14% in year to May 2020
…as increase in phone penetration fuels growth
The number of internet users in Nigeria increased by 14 percent year-on-year in May 2020, according to the data released Tuesday by the Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC).
The increase put the total active internet subscribers in the country at over 141 million in May as against the 123 million that was recorded in the comparable period of 2019.
While 18 million new active users were recorded in the year ended May 2020, 10 million of the total subscribers were added in the first five months of this year.
“Nigerians are beginning to develop internet awareness, the social media culture is accelerating while smartphone penetration has been improving. All these have been responsible for the growth in internet users,” Ayorinde Akinloye, a research analyst at CSL stockbrokers said.
Of the total number of active internet users in Africa’s most populous nation, 99.82 percent were on mobile (GSM) as Fixed (Wireless/Wired) and VoIP accounted for 0.06 percent and 0.12 percent respectively.
Analysis of the data by the regulator of the telecommunications industry, NCC, shows there was addition of more internet users in December 2019 and February and March of 2020 as the months saw an increase in active subscribers by 4 million each.
While the total active telephone users in the country jumped by 10.69 percent in the review year from 173.4 million in May 2019 to 191.93million in the same month of this year, data on the number of active subscribers for telephony services on each of the licensed service providers utilizing different technologies including GSM, CDMA, Fixed Wireless and Fixed Wired (i.e. Landline) showed that MTN topped the chart with 76.012 million subscribers as against the 64.81 million reported in the corresponding month of last year.
MTN Nigeria was followed by Globacom with 52.06 million active subscribers while Airtel, 9mobile and Vodafone recorded 51.49 million, 12.22 million and 137,086 respectively.
“Cheaper smartphones from Asia have been a boon to internet penetration in Africa in general and created a new and fast-growing income line for telecommunications companies who are now recording double-digit growth in data revenue,” Omotola Abimbola, a Lagos-based research analyst said.
According to a 2019 report by FBNQuest, a subsidiary of the FBN group, the increase in Nigeria’s internet users could have been because “subscribers usually patronise dual-SIM mobile phones and stay connected via separate data packages on multiple networks, to “achieve uninterrupted internet access.”
Data compiled from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows that telecommunication industry contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rose by a marginal 0.77 percentage points to 10.88 percent in Q1 2020, from 10.11 percent in the comparable quarter of 2019.


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Purplebricks has been around in the United Kingdom for over four years. In that time, they spread across the country with their promise of removing commissions and fixing their rates.
The model has proven so successful that Purplebricks expanded into Australia just two years after its UK launch in 2014. Last year, the online real estate firm made its first foray into the US when it set up shop Los Angeles. The company has since expanded to San Diego, Sacramento and Fresno in California, and recently announced that it’s now available in select counties across New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
Aside from its flat-fee approach, Purplebricks differentiates itself from more “traditional” brokerages by offering much of its services online. While all sellers have access to a “dedicated local real estate expert” via Purplebricks, they’re able to arrange showings, make offers and negotiate sales on their own using the company’s website or app. Homeowners who opt to sell their house with Purplebricks also receive things like professional photography, 3D virtual tours, and listings on popular real estate sites like Zillow and Trulia.
Read more here
Join us in Miami from the 20th to the 22nd of June for the Global Online Marketplaces Summit. Our summit theme is From Classifieds to Marketplaces – Capturing Value from the Transaction and we’ll hear from Global Leaders who are creating the Online Marketplaces of Tomorrow.


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Canalys has released a new report regarding global smartphone shipments. Based on it, global smartphone shipments declined by 9% in Q3 2022. This is in comparison with the Q3 last year, so year-over-year.
Global smartphone shipments declined in Q3 2022
These are preliminary values, and they’re calculated for the July-September period. Canalys says that the shipments declined due to decreased consumer spending and economic uncertainty. This is actually the worst quarterly result since Q3 2014.
Both Samsung and Apple gained market share, though Apple more than Samsung. The other three companies in the top 5 range either lost market share, or stayed at the same percentage.
To be more accurate, Samsung is now holding a 22% share, compared to 21% in Q3 2021. Apple grew from 15% to 18%, while Xiaomi stayed at 14%. OPPO lost 1%, as it dropped from 11% to 10%. Vivo lost a 2% market share, as it slid from 11% to 9%.
All the other smartphone brands account for 27% market share in Q3 2022. Those also represent a slight decrease from 28%, so it’s a 1% difference.
Canalys said that Samsung managed to grow a bit thanks to big promotions on stock phones. That helped the company reduce built-in inventory, and thus sell more phones overall.
We will see some improvement moving forward
What comes next? Will we see some improvement in the coming quarters? Well, Canalys is optimistic. The company believes that we will see increased demand for smartphones in Q4 2022 and H1 2023. Do note that the company says we’re in for a slow recovery.
The fourth quarter of the year will probably be helped by the festive season, and all the discounts that will follow. Many consumers who have been holding off on buying new phones will probably pull the trigger in Q4. Those are just projections, though, of course. Canalys cannot be sure at this point.


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|A woman harvesting coffee in central Quang Tri Province's Huong Hoa District. Coffee is among the key export products of Viet Nam. — VNA/VNS Photo Ho Cau
by Xuan Huong
HCM CITY (VNS)— Despite the continuing difficulties in the domestic and overseas markets, Viet Nam's exports were robust in the first quarter, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
In the period export revenues topped US$29.69 billion, a year-on-year increase of 19.7 per cent.
Speaking at a meeting in HCM City last Friday to review the export performance, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh said most key export items saw growth.
Ten items, including seafood; coffee; footwear; and computers, mobile phones, and their parts, achieved exports of more than $1 billion, he said.
Export of fuel and minerals was down while that of processed industrial goods was up.
The former was worth $2.6 billion, accounting for 8.8 per cent of exports and down 1.7 per cent year-on-year.
Exports of industrial goods were worth $20.4 billion, accounting for 75.8 per cent of the total and up 30 per cent.
Exports of farm and forestry produce and seafood topped $4.7 billion, or 15.9 per cent of total exports, with many agricultural goods like rice, cashew, and seafood seeing an increase in volume but a drop in value due to a fall in prices.
Domestic firms saw their exports double but foreign companies remained key players, accounting for 58.5 per cent of export revenues.
Asia, the EU, and the US were the key markets for Vietnamese goods.
The deputy minister and other participants agreed that exporters would continue to face difficulties for some time yet.
Most key export markets had their own problems – like the EU's debt crisis and slow economic growth in many other countries.
"Importing countries increasingly apply trade barriers, causing even more difficulties for Vietnamese firms that were already suffering due to fierce competition from foreign rivals," he said.
He cited the examples of some Southeast Asian countries that try to keep out Vietnamese steel products, South American nations that act against leather shoes, and the US, which slaps punitive tariffs on shrimp.
At home, the companies face challenges like sluggish demand and smuggled and fake goods, he said.
Many delegates pointed out that bank credit remains expensive compared to other countries despite the recent reduction in interest rates, affecting the competitiveness of Vietnamese businesses.
To meet the year's targeted export growth of 10 per cent, Anh said his ministry would work to resolve the hardships faced by enterprises so that export growth could be maintained.
"The ministry will accelerate negotiation for free trade agreements with major economic partners around the world to bring more export advantages to industries like garment and textiles, footwear, processing, and manufacturing."
It would improve the flow of market information to help businesses make plans to penetrate key export markets.
Le Phuoc Vu, representative of the Viet Nam Steel Association, urged the ministry to quickly come out with industrial standards and technical barriers to prevent sub-standard goods from entering the Vietnamese market.
The director of the city Department of Industry and Trade, Huynh Khanh Hiep, called on the ministry to help firms in the city's export processing zones and industrial parks take part in the country's trade promotion programmes.
Many business associations called on the Government to reschedule their loans to help them tide over the current difficulty.
They also urged relevant agencies to strengthen oversight of transfer pricing by foreign firms to avoid tax losses and ensure a fair business environment — VNS


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New Sweet Flavoured Crisps!
Last updated: 2.43pm, Wednesday 17th May 2017
We’re bringing something slightly unusual to the Chinese market in the form of sweet flavoured crisps…
Our two newest products are Strawberry and Salted Caramel flavoured potato crisps.
They are launching at the SIAL China Trade Show this week, which is the 4th biggest food show in the world and will see around 80,000 visitors over the 3 days.
The flavours came about as a request from our Chinese agent who noticed a gap in the market and a demand from the Chinese consumer for a sweet flavoured potato crisp.
Although we currently export to around 23 countries worldwide, China is our largest export market with an average of 4 containers of Our Crisps being shipped to Shanghai every month.
These brand-new flavours come on the back of lots of exciting export development for us, for which they have received lots of recognition – we were shortlisted for Small Exporter of the Year at the HSBC Scottish Export Awards this year, and have got our fingers crossed for the Scotland Food & Drink Excellence Awards later this week where we are up for Export Business of the Year!
They are going to be sold exclusively in China, with no current plans to be sold in the UK just yet.


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A lot of people just don’t want to face the facts of the digital age. There are more than enough industry trade groups that have gone to great lengths to let us know how threat of copying increasing is harming the economy. The fact is that copying is increasing and most of the industries that claim it’s harming them are actually growing. The concern over protecting content has been hyped by the music and movie industries for a long time and now its moved to the publishing industry now that eBooks are becoming more popular and eBook Security digital security of PDFs is now important.
While there is a need for eBook Security digital security of PDFs to prevent copying in some instances, it’s not really a quick fix to end file sharing. The root of all the rampant file sharing in the world today is based on the greed of industries that are built around copyright protections. Every artist deserves to be compensated for their work and they shouldn’t have to worry about someone making a profit off their efforts, but at the same time content distributors need to realize that technology has changed the marketplace and that it’s time to begin looking at new business models.
The biggest problem is that there is no clear line between file sharing and “piracy”. We are taught from a very early age that sharing is good, but when it comes to sharing things that we have purchased, it is suddenly piracy. The issue being that technology has advanced to such a degree that the old laws no longer fit and it’s time for a change in the laws and the business models or several industries will find themselves in the same position as the buggy whip makers when the automobile appeared.
One thing is certain, and that is that the eBook is no longer a fad. The Kindle and the iPad have definitely raised a lot of interest in ebooks over the past year and sales are growing steadily. With that growth there are a number of companies that specialize in eBook Security digital security of PDFs that are just a rapidly gaining more and more clients who are worried about the threat of copying increasing.


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tech2 News StaffSep 22, 2019 11:35:03 IST
If you are an ardent fan of PUBG Mobile and also an iPhone user, you should not update to iOS 13, which has been officially rolled out to iOS devices globally just a few days back. The problem lies with a new feature regarding multiple touch inputs (three fingers or more) on iOS 13 which results in opening a search bar and disrupting the game.
PUBG Mobile and Fortnite rely on multiple touch screen controls to play the game. While many users just use two fingers to play, many professional players use a technique called Claw which makes use of three or more fingers to play.
In the case of PUBG Mobile, iOS users have been posting screenshots on Twitter showing how the game is being interrupted after updating to iOS 13. As per a report by The Verge the new three-finger gesture to bring up the enhanced text editing tool should only be triggered when a user taps into a text box. Since it is being triggered while users are playing the game, it is quite possibly a bug.
@Apple @AppleSupport how to disable 3 finger formatting bar ? Its very annoying when i play pubg mobile game. Always appear when i walk,shoot and scope in wilful.
So guide me how to disable or remove that annoying feature in ios 13. Thank You. pic.twitter.com/XqYR9oDxyZ
— Aldio Putra (@aldiohp) September 20, 2019
Fortnite creator Epic Games also commented on the matter on Reddit, with a community coordinator telling players, “We’ve heard this should be fixed with the release of iOS 13.1.”
It is recommended that PUBG Mobile fans do not update to iOS 13 but if you have already there is no need to worry as Apple has said that it will be bringing a fix for this problem with iOS 13.1. As a matter of fact, iOS 13.1 is most likely due to release by this month end itself.
Find latest and upcoming tech gadgets online on Tech2 Gadgets. Get technology news, gadgets reviews & ratings. Popular gadgets including laptop, tablet and mobile specifications, features, prices, comparison.


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Business Insider asked analytics company Ranker to churn through 20 million data correlations to identify the biggest differences of opinion between Apple and Microsoft fans. Apple fans were found to be more likely to like BMW, Mercedes, Gap and Starbucks; to dislike Samsung (no surprise there); to prefer Breaking Bad to Married With Children; and The Godfather to Pulp Fiction.
The rest of the infographic below.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.


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Azione Reaches 70 Dealers
Azione Unlimited, with the addition of Reef Radio and Bethesda Systems, is now up to 70 dealer members, founder Richard Glikes announced this week.
”We continue to add high caliber dealers to our team," Glikes said in a statement. “Brick by brick we are building a powerhouse organization. Our dealers are bonding, our vendors are happy, life is good!”


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By Steve Kim/Getty ImagesA new generation of home automation systems is now on the market, with the first two of them, the SmartThings Hub and the HomeKit Hub, both from the home automation firm, SmartThings.
The Hub is a new platform, which is a fully connected home automation platform, with an integrated design that allows it to be controlled from any device, including phones, tablets and other connected devices.
Its built-in sensors, cameras, and home automation software can be controlled remotely via the app.
It’s currently being tested on a few of its models and is currently in its beta phase.
This is the platform that SmartThings has been working on for the past several years, but now with a new name.
The SmartThings HomeKit platform will enable devices to connect to their own home automation system, such as the SmartWall system from Nest, and also to SmartThings hub.
The new HomeKit hub will allow devices to create a home automation schedule based on a variety of sensors, which will be shared with other connected home systems and will enable the devices to remotely control any connected devices, including their smart home appliances.
The HomeKit home automation app is now available for download on the Google Play store.
The app has been released to all platforms, including the Apple iOS and Android platforms.
For the first time, users will be able to control their smart devices from anywhere in the world with the new Home and Hub platforms, which can be connected to one another.
The new SmartThings SmartWall Home Automator allows users to create schedules that can be shared to all connected devices through the app and can be programmed with various triggers.
In addition, the Home and HomeKit apps will allow users to remotely start and stop the Home Automators system remotely through the Home automation app, and the app will also provide the ability to automate any of the connected devices from any smartphone, tablet, or other connected device, without the need to have any connection to the device.


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White Organic Agro is currently trading at Rs. 24.60, up by 0.40 points or 1.65% from its previous closing of Rs. 24.20 on the BSE.
The scrip opened at Rs. 24.65 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 24.85 and Rs. 24.00 respectively. So far 37468 shares were traded on the counter.
The BSE group ‘X’ stock of face value Rs. 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 59.05 on 22-Mar-2018 and a 52 week low of Rs. 23.00 on 27-Feb-2019.
Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 27.20 and Rs. 24.00 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 86.10 crore.
The promoters holding in the company stood at 25.40%, while Non-Institutions held 74.60%.
White Organic Agro has received export order of upto 1,280 MT of Indian White Steam Rice to Rebat AI Houda Trading Est, Dammam, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The company has again successfully bagged a direct exports contract in the international market and this would help widen the horizon into the vast scalable business of Organic Rice internationally.
White Organic Agro is engaged in farming and cultivation, distribution and retail and exports.


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The Land Cruiser 5 seater Business Model now available to order. Reintroduced at a competitive €56,907 ex VAT.
The world’s best-selling saloon has returned to Ireland after 14 years, as a Hybrid.
9 Irish finalists go forward to compete in the global competition. Here are the wonderful winners from Ireland of our Toyota Dream Car Art Contest 2019. See the imaginative entries and get inspired for the future!
The world premiere of the new Toyota GR Supra at the 2019 North American International Auto Show
Toyota pledges to make available its new innovative Guardian safety technology to all manufacturers
The new 2019 Toyota Prius makes its public debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show
Customers and new car browsers can get an exclusive first look at the exciting new range of Toyota’s self-charging hybrids.
Young Irish artists aged 15 and under can enter their submissions by February 15th 2019, to be in with a chance to win a trip to Japan.
The new Yaris GR SPORT is set to bring more sports driving pleasure to Toyota’s supermini range


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Ouch, we just tested and confirmed that one of the smallest (and thus likeliest to fit) USB EV-DO modems around, the Sprint / Novatel U727, won't even come close to fitting in the cramped, foldaway...
2014: Top five unusual news stories of the year
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Microsoft's low end smartphone strategy needs a reboot
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Computer manufacturers have been press-ganged into the hunt for customers in the broadband internet market, with industry heavyweights Telstra and Optus planning to offer services bundled with PCs in time for Christmas. Both...
If you reside in the San Francisco or Los Angeles area, you could get, as STANDARD, a new 3megabit "MegaModem" which will be available to RCN's Gold and Platinum ResiLink bundled packages, as noted...
Motorola has announced that its SURFboard SB4100 and SB4101 USB driver (v2.0) marks the first cable modems to earn the Microsoft Designed for Windows logo for Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows Me, and the newly...
Olitec, the french modem manufacturer has recently released a bunch of drivers updates so their modems now support the new Microsoft Windows XP. The latest Windows XP beta driver to be released is the one...


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Google has updated its search statistics service, Google Trends, to allow people to sign up to be notified by email periodically about the popularity of specified search terms. Introduced in 2006, Google Trends has long been a popular way to assess what people are looking for online. But the service has been hampered by lack of an API, promised back in 2007, but never delivered. A Google Trends API would allow programmatic monitoring of search trends by software, a more convenient option than requiring people to visit the Google Trends website for manual keyword entry.
In 2008, Google introduced a variation on Google Trends called Google Insights for Search that is tailored to helping advertisers understand search behavior. It doesn't have an API, either. Since then, numerous unofficial Google Trends APIs have been developed.
[Will you spring for Google Glass? Read Google Glass: 5 Reasons I Won't Buy.]
Asked whether Google still plans to provide a Trends API, a Google spokesperson said, "We don't have any new news to report right now about that."
In a blog post, Google engineer Gavri Smith acknowledges the burden of having to seek information manually on Google Trends. "[W]ithout doing your own exploration on the Trends website, it can be tough to find the interesting -- and sometimes surprising -- topics the world is searching for," said Smith. "Starting today, it's easier to get just the right insights at just the right time with email notifications."
Consider email notifications a consolation prize of sorts. An API would be a sign that Google wants Trends to become a serious data-mining service. Email notifications indicate that Google sees Trends as a way to enhance consumer engagement.
Trends allows users to subscribe to search topics, country-specific Hot Searches, or any US monthly Top Chart. It's similar to Google Alerts, except that Alerts provides links to newly indexed content associated with specified search terms. Trends provides graphs describing the frequency of specified search terms, or what's popular in broad categorical topics over time.
As such, Trends has limited utility beyond satisfying personal curiosity. You could use it, for example, to receive a weekly email update on the popularity of a term such as "Bitcoin." But the inability to drill down into the details of the data, to segment and process them, makes the service more of a social yardstick than a tool for serious data science.
One option that would help make Trends more useful is a way to trigger notifications based on search surges. Currently, Trends will send out notifications on a weekly or monthly basis, subject to an unspecified degree of variation. Greater real-time awareness and responsiveness would make the service more useful for urgent matters. For example, a human rights organization might find it valuable to be notified immediately if searches for the name of an at-risk individual suddenly increase. But it remains to be seen whether Google wants to turn Trends into something more than a casual research tool.
Can the trendy tech strategy of DevOps really bring peace between developers and IT operations -- and deliver faster, more reliable app creation and delivery? Also in the DevOps Challenge issue of InformationWeek: Execs charting digital business strategies can't afford to take Internet connectivity for granted.


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Want to apperceive how abounding calories are in that one — or bristles — Krispy Kreme doughnuts you enjoyed this weekend? You’ll anon acquisition out.
Some alternation restaurants, grocery and accessibility aliment are affective advanced with affairs to column calorie counts on airheaded and aliment labels this week, admitting an eleventh-hour abatement from the U.S. Aliment and Drug Administration.
A aphorism mandating the announcement of calorie counts, originally proposed as allotment of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, had been set to go into aftereffect Friday. The FDA said Monday that the new borderline for all businesses that advertise able aliment and accept 20 or added locations to column calories is May 7, 2018, acceptance it added time to acquisition agency to accomplish acquiescence cheaper and added flexible. The rule’s accomplishing already had been delayed several times, but this latest cessation came aloof four canicule afore businesses were declared to comply. That agency that, in abounding cases, all of the money appropriate to get in band with the aphorism — from testing recipes to training agents and press those new airheaded — has already been spent.
Chicago-area Krispy Kreme franchisee abettor Carlos Larcada said that the alternation is affective advanced with announcement calorie counts in its aliment alike admitting it has addition year to comply.
“The adjournment came too late, and we are affective advanced with acknowledging with the aboriginal able date of this Friday as the research, training and press was already completed,” he said.
Ken Cruikshank, a sales and affairs administrator at Jewel-Osco, said the grocer additionally is afraid with affairs to apparatus calorie counts and column card boards beyond the deli, bloom bar, seafood, aftermath and bakery departments this anniversary admitting the year adjournment and the achievability that the regulations could change afresh afore they’re final.
“It was a appealing quick decision. We absitively it was the appropriate affair to do,” he said, abacus that the alternation ultimately absitively to go advanced because it wants to be cellophane and for the account for customers.
“It absolutely makes barter added knowledgeable,” he said. “It allows them to accomplish bigger decisions.”
Jewel had been advancing for the regulations — training agents on new procedures and designing new labels and card boards — for “probably about a year or more,” he said. Employees accept gone through “extensive training” that included acquirements how to certificate comestible advice and actuality accomplished on the accent of befitting confined sizes, and accordingly calories, constant for able foods.
Many of the country’s better restaurant chains already put calories on their menus, a move advocates say tends to advance consumers to baddest lighter options. But pizza chains objected to spending bags of dollars to column card boards in stores, area alone a atom of their mostly commitment chump abject places orders. And accessibility and grocery chains argued that the aphorism was too restaurant-focused, abrogation little adaptability for all the agency in which they advertise food. Card boards are additionally expensive, alignment anywhere from $500 to $2,000 depending on admeasurement and style, and that amount is assorted by hundreds or bags of locations for some of the better chains.
Opponents of the adjustment had petitioned the Trump administering to adjournment the rules, and additionally pushed their own bill in Congress. The Accepted Faculty Diet Disclosure Act, would adulterate and aish some of the regulations, like acceptance for a distinct card lath on bloom confined instead of labels a anniversary bowl and acceptance businesses that do a majority of their business online, like pizza restaurants, to column calories alone on their websites.
The Domino’s-backed lobbying accumulation American Pizza Community said in a account Tuesday that it “welcomes the important footfall by the Aliment and Drug Administering against applying accepted faculty to federal card labeling regulations.”
“The antecedent access threatened to appoint boundless burdens on bags of baby businesses after accomplishing allusive improvements in educating consumers,” the accumulation said. “We abutment card labeling and attending advanced to alive with policymakers to apparatus a abiding band-aid that provides consumers with advice and enables baby business owners to accede with adaptability while continuing to advance and actualize jobs.”
But Margo Wootan, administrator of Diet Policy at the Center for Science in the Accessible Interest, accused the Trump administering of “myopically putting Big Food’s interests over the interests of American consumers.”
“Special interests are prevailing on the Trump administering to adjournment or disengage abounding of the important diet advances of the aftermost decade,” she said.
Starting Thursday, the FDA is acceptance the accessible to animadversion on the agency the aphorism can be bigger and adapted in time for its accomplishing aing year.
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Reuters’s Report It is reported that this Tiktok video was posted earlier this month. In this, Tony talked about having expensive cars, playing golf and debauchery. Tony was questioned by a Tiktok content creator Daniel Mac at a car show, in response to which he openly told his riches and debauchery. Tony and Mac were both in a Mercedes sports car and were laughing at Tony’s slang. It is said that Tony was speaking lines similar to the main character of the film ‘Arthur’, which came out almost four decades ago.
Apple has not commented on Tony’s departure. Reuters’ attempts to contact Tony about this were unsuccessful. However, Bloomberg quoted a statement as saying that Tony had apologized for doing so. He said it was a mistake made in jest. As a Vice President at Apple, Tony had a key role in the company’s supply chain division.
iPhone maker Apple has been jolted by lower-than-expected demand for its new iPhone 14 series handsets. The company has asked suppliers to reduce the assembly of the iPhone 14 by 6 million units in the second half of this year. According to a Bloomberg report, the company is targeting to manufacture around 90 million handsets in the second half, which is the same as last year. The demand for the higher priced models of the iPhone 14 is higher than its lower priced handsets. The company’s new iPhone 14 will be made in India. Apple is expected to grow its business rapidly from this world’s largest smartphone market after China. Earlier this month, Apple launched its new series of iPhone 14 models. It has better camera, powerful sensors, satellite messaging features for SOS text in emergency.
(This news has not been edited by NDTV team. It is published directly from syndicate feed.)
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This article is more than 1 year old
Microsoft buys Xbox name off true owner
Not for very much, we reckon
Microsoft has bought the Xbox trademark off its original owner for undisclosed sum. The current incumbent, Xbox Technologies, will change its name.
Well, when Xbox Technologies' attempts to get money out of Microsoft emerged earlier this year, it was only a matter of time before the Beast of Redmond got its way. As a spokesman said at the time, "we will prevail".
It was never going to be much of a battle. Xbox Technologies is a Florida-based holding company for products acquired off little-known hi-tech companies (not that it has many) and has a market cap lower than Bill Gates' sock budget. Xbox Technologies has a single subsidiary, Knowledge Mechanics, run by its former CEO, John van Leeuwen. The parent is currently being run by an interim CEO and an interim CFO.
Interested investors can by stock at around 18 cents a pop. In the six months to 28 February, it lost $3.9 million on revenues of $946,000.
Yahoo! Finance notes the company has a Management Effectiveness rating of -381.36 per cent based on return on assets.
The loss-making company was most recently known as Nicollet Process Engineering, Inc, and "designs, manufactures, markets, and supports monitoring and control systems, host level client/server software, and machine diagnostic tools for the die casting and plastic injection molding industries". Now it's going to have to change its name again...
Xbox Technologies registered 'Xbox' as a trademark back in March 1999. Microsoft didn't try to do so until October 1999, but has still managed to add a little 'TM' sign to ever mention of the word it has ever made. Now it has the right to do so. ®


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Star Citizen is starting to really take shape. Sure, some people might argue that there is already Arena Commander to play, but the fact of the matter is, there really hasn’t been anything available that one couldn’t find in another game like Elite: Dangerous, until now.
In a relatively short video, Robert Space Industries, the developer of Star Citizen, has showcased their updated damage model. You get to see them completely trash three starships, but more importantly you get to see how the damage is permanent and completely contextual in terms of what shot it. You also get to see bits getting ripped off as well as the force of projectiles hitting the ship making it twist and turn.
It certainly looks really pretty, the destructive kind of way! The new damage model is slated to release with patch 1.1.0 and you can read all about the knitty-gritty details right here if you’re interested in knowing how they achieved all of it.
Star Citizen is currently being released piecemeal in the form of different playable modules that will eventually culminate in the full game. The current modules available for play are the hangar and Arena Commander. The expected full release of the game is slated for some time in 2016.
What are your thoughts on Star Citizen’s new damage model? Let us know in the comments below!
- This article was updated on:March 8th, 2018


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|Photo: Courtesy Adam Eidinger
|Lyster Dewey, a botanist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the early 1900s, is seen measuring a 4-meter-tall hemp plant at Arlington Farm.
Never-before seen journals found recently at a garage sale outside Buffalo, N.Y., chronicle the life of Lyster Dewey, who tended a United States government hemp farm in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Dewey, a botanist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, wrote in detail about growing strains of hemp called Keijo, Chinamington and others on a tract of government land known as Arlington Farm, reports Manuel Roig-Franzia of the The Washington Post.
If the “Arlington” part of that name sounds familiar — as in Arlington National Cemetery — that’s because the acreage used to grow the hemp was handed over to the War Department in the 1940s for construction of the world’s largest office building: the Pentagon.
So in addition to the already-known intertwining of the noble hemp plant and U.S. history, now it is revealed that the very location of the Pentagon itself was once covered with verdant fields of cannabis.
The Hemp Industries Association, a small trade group, bought Dewey’s diaries. Leaders of the group are betting that displaying them for the first time on Monday will help increase public knowledge that hemp was used for ropes on Navy ships and World War II parachute webbing.
|Photo: Courtesy Adam Eidinger
|Dewey sits at his office desk at the Department of Agriculture with hemp on his desk, circa 1920.
The ultimate goal is to encourage the U.S. government to lift its decades-old ban on commercial hemp production.
Fascinating photos were discovered along with the Dewey’s diaries. In one photo, the botanist stands proudly next to a field of 13-foot-tall hemp plants, with the caption: “Measuring a hemp plant 4 m. high. Arlington Farm, Aug. 28, 1929.”
The genesis of the diaries’ discovery was last summer at a yard sale in Amherst, N.Y., 15 minutes outside Buffalo, where a history buff named David Sitarski was looking for artifacts.
Sitarski paid $130 for the diaries and one of two photo albums, thinking they pertained to the history of Buffalo. He said he would have bought the second album, but another man got it before he did.
Six months later, according to Sitarski, his wife spotted their yard-sale rival while running errands. Sitarski jumped out of the car and talked the man into selling the photo album to him complete his set. The seller casually mentioned that there were hemp pictures included.
Starting to realize the historical value of his find, but still not realizing the Pentagon connection, Sitarski listed the material on eBay, asking $10,000.
Enter Michael Krawitz, a 47-year-old disabled veteran from Ferrum, Va., who has for a decade been planning a hemp museum .
Krawitz noticed Sitarski’s listing but couldn’t afford it — but the Hemp Industries Association could, with the help of benefactor David Bronner, president of Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps. The company has grown from a $5 million outfit to a $31 million company in the past decade since adding hemp oil to its products to produce a smoother lather.
Bronner, who was arrested in October after planting hemp seeds on the lawn at DEA headquarters, eventually negotiated a buying price of $4,000 for the historical treasure trove.
“It’s kind of ironic that we dug up DEA’s lawn to plant hemp seeds and highlight the absurdity of the Drug War, but you take it back 50 years and that’s what the government itself was doing,” Bronner said from the Southern California headquarters of Dr. Bronner’s.


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Buy Local campaigns have been around for years but have become more talked about as the economic downturn has affected thousands of small businesses. It’s not hard to see why: small businesses — important to our economy, employment base and neighborhoods — are hurting financially, and don’t have deep enough pockets to ride out the storm. Many are disappearing from the landscape, and with them, the unique character they bring to the people they serve.
There are dozens of nonprofit organizations across America that exist to help independent merchants survive and thrive against their three biggest threats: Large chain stores, the Internet and an unknowing public. Chain stores are held up as examples of what’s bad in America — big boxes with low-wage workers selling cheap products made who knows where. It’s the low prices and wide selection that draw shoppers. When profits are made, it’s said that these stores send the money back to headquarters or shareholders.
Over the past decade, sales online have exploded, making most retail items available to anyone with a credit card and an Internet connection. Next-day delivery, no sales tax and incredible selection make online shopping especially attractive. To make themselves ultra competitive, online companies have warehouses in low-rent areas worldwide to help them turn a profit.
And then there’s the consumer, who’s never before had such selection and low prices.
Some will even go to a local retailer to touch and feel a product, then jump online to make their purchase and save a few dollars.
What the Buy Local campaigns aim to do, in large part, is educate consumers about how their purchasing dollars can make a difference. Buy a cheap product, and expect it to have a short lifespan. Buy from out of state, and our local schools and infrastructure suffer from lack of tax revenue. Buy from a big box, and watch your neighbor close up shop. These are all good reasons to think before we spend.
The city of Ventura may be the first in the county to address this in a formal way. Having already held several meetings with locals, and now requesting proposals for someone to oversee a city-sponsored Live Local campaign, Ventura is moving forward with this because city officials realize it will be difficult to attract large employers anytime soon, though they want to see economic growth.
And with this discussion come differing opinions (see accompanying letters). What is a small business? What, exactly, defines a “local” business? These and other questions are part of the ongoing debate, and it’s important to continue the conversation so that more people understand what’s at stake. We’ll be keeping an eye on this as it develops.
The city of Ventura has been holding meetings to help revitalize retail sales. The idea was to create some sort of effort to capture the spirit of the city and to develop a buy local campaign.
The city is scrambling to shore up its local businesses that up to now have been largely ignored and taken for granted.
The question in my mind, other than the obvious, is why now and why so late in the game?
Having attended some of these meetings, the attendees from the city seem unsure why they’re even there or what, if anything, they’re supposed to accomplish, other than [creating] a slogan.
I don’t know what it is about the city’s operational culture, but taking action this late in the game says a lot to me about a city’s priorities. Similar to the city of Bell, it seems more intent on balancing the city’s woes on the backs of its citizens and paying for and preserving their own jobs.
All across the country, there are buy local programs that cities and businesses have embraced that have been wildly successful. Shopping local, and buying from independents that are locally owned and operated, has shown that cities can assist their retailers and preserve their own uniqueness in the process. Dollars that are generated locally stay local and reverberate throughout the community. Profits that are generated by chains go only one way: out.
Chains are a necessary part of the equation, but instead of cities prostituting themselves and subsidizing them with giveaways, the alternative is having a healthy retail base that makes a city successful. Besides, in my mind chains are much like invasive species that contaminate the environment because of their predatory pricing and cannibalistic nature. But, again, I am not naive, as I say they are a necessary evil; and in these times, money is hard to come by.
I think that Ventura lacks a competitive spirit, and it’s not the citizens that are to blame. It is the city of Ventura’s structure. One remedy would be to get rid of the off-year election cycle so that, with more people going to the polls, there would be more interest and more turnout.
The other change I would like to see is having the mayor voted in by the public instead of the way it’s done now. The city manager basically has a rubber stamp and can call the shots, stacking the council any way necessary to be able to run the city for his/her benefit.
I am presently working with a group of people to do this; meetings are the third Tuesday of the month, at 5:15 p.m., Foster Library, in the Topping room. Interested parties are welcome.
Jim Salzer, Ventura
Ventura, like many similar communities, has grown and prospered in large part because of our small, locally-owned independent businesses. During this economic downturn, the city has begun focusing even more of our limited resources on business development. For many years, our Economic Development Division has offered programs designed specifically to meet the needs of local businesses such as low-interest loans and an ombudsmen program, among others.
Nationally, the shop local movement continues to grow, and Ventura is onboard. With our partners: the Ventura Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Ventura Organization and the Ventura Visitors and Convention Bureau, the city is developing a comprehensive “Live Local” campaign designed to educate consumers, showcase our local businesses and create dialogue around the vital issue of sustainability. We have aggressively sought out all the various grass roots local parties working on business development to form a steering committee that meets every other week.
We have learned from other cities that the best shop local campaigns are organic and community-driven. Our goal from the beginning has been to collaborate and convene rather than dictate the terms of Ventura’s campaign. We are currently reviewing proposals to build a comprehensive program that will focus not just on supporting local business but building a sustainable, green local economy. We are indeed making changes to improve Ventura as Jim notes and invite the public to be active participants in the process.
City of Ventura, Community Development Department


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The National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA), together with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA FAS), will open the American Food Fair at the National Restaurant Association Show at McCormick Place in Chicago this Saturday. The American Food Fair, featuring more than 110 small to large American food and beverage companies, will be open May 19 through 22 from 9:30 AM to 5:00 PM. NASDA has been organizing the pavilion in cooperation with USDA FAS for 17 years.
“Diversified market opportunities are critical to the sustainability of U.S. food and beverage companies and the local economies they serve,” said NASDA CEO Dr. Barbara P. Glenn. “As American agriculture continues to face great uncertainty in the international marketplace, the trading partnerships established on this show floor are increasingly more important for economic sustainability.”
Part of the larger National Restaurant Association Show, the floor is expected to be visited by more than 45,000 foodservice leaders from 50 states and more than 120 countries. A record number of state departments of agriculture, including Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Tennessee, and Wisconsin, will be promoting their state’s unique value-added food products to restaurants, institutions, hotels, and retail locations. The show is produced using funds from the USDA Market Access Program (MAP).
“For every dollar Congress invests in MAP activities such as our American Food Fair, $28 is returned in export revenue to our farmers, ranchers, and value-added food producers. As Congress debates the next Farm Bill, ensuring continued support for MAP is a top NASDA priority.”
In 2017, American Food Fair exhibitors reported over $40 million in sales, with $8 million to international markets, over the course of four days. Ten companies reported first export sales to a new market. Companies looking to exhibit in NASDA’s 2019 American Food Fair Pavilion at the National Restaurant Association Show, May 18-21, should contact Janet Williams, NASDA Trade Show Management, at (703) 259-6120 or firstname.lastname@example.org.
NASDA is a nonpartisan, nonprofit association which represents the elected and appointed commissioners, secretaries, and directors of the departments of agriculture in all fifty states and four U.S. territories. To learn more about NASDA, please visit www.nasda.org.


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Theresa May has refused to go into details about her plans for a trade deal with the EU in response to a series of questions put to her on the Andrew Marr Show.
When asked about her Brexit plans by Andrew Marr, the Prime Minister said: "I have every expectation that we will be able to achieve a very good trade deal with the European Union. I think that not just because it's going to be good for the UK but also it's going to be good for the European Union too.
"So I want a trade deal with the EU which ensures that our companies have the best possible access to and opportunity to operate within the European Single market in goods and services.
"But I'm very clear that on behalf of the British people I don't want to sign up to a bad deal for the UK. So it is right that we say we look at the alternatives."
Asked about what those alternatives might be, Ms May said: "Well the alternative, whatever the circumstances, whatever the deal we sign up to, I want to maintain the competitiveness of the British economy, which is why I want to maintain those options.
“We will be looking at the competitiveness of the British economy, if we have to walk away, I don't suspect we will, I have every confidence because of the interests of the European Union as well that we will be able to get that good deal.
Mr Marr suggested the Prime Minister was "elegantly moving away" from the alternatives he was trying to ask her about.
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Gamers have been complaining about it for ages, the gaming press have been nudging Nintendo as to the problem they face, and finally Nintendo has realized that Wii owners do need more storage for their console!
In an interview with MTVMultiplayer, Nintendo’s Reggie Fils-Aime acknowledged the problem saying:
We have said publicly that we’re looking hard at the storage situation, that we’re working on a range of solutions. We have nothing to announce now. But certainly it’s an issue we are aware of and we’re working to find a solution and we will … We have a consumer base who loves virtual console. We have a userbase who really is enjoying WiiWare content … So in our view this is becoming much more of a mainstream problem, which is why we have a sense of urgency to solve it.
Nintendo urgently trying to solve the Wii storage issue? That’s music to a lot of Wii-owners ears. Now we can start speculating as to what form that extra storage is going to take. Online storage, physical hard drive or a USB stick?
I don’t think we care as long as we get the extra storage and soon.


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Guys use social, shopping, and deals sites more than women to research products.
Men use social, shopping, and deals sites more than women to research and compare products, according to a study of active social network users. Fifty-seven percent of men research products on deal sites compared to 40 percent of women surveyed for the study from performance marketing firm Performics.
Not all gaps between men's and women's shopping behavior were quite so wide; however, the study reveals some distinct differences between the sexes. In researching products, 63 percent of men used shopping sites compared to 52 percent of women. And 54 percent of men used social networks to research products compared to 43 percent of women.
Also, according to the Performics Social Shopping study, 62 percent of men compare products on shopping sites and 50 percent of women do so. Fifty-six percent of men compare products on deal sites while 41 percent of women do.
Men are more apt to compare prices while at retail locations, too; 62 percent said they use their mobile phone occasionally or frequently to conduct competitive price searches while in a retail location, and 45 percent of women do so.
During the purchase process, 71 percent of men visit the related company, brand, or product pages on social sites, compared to 64 percent of women. However, a larger portion of women studied like brands on Facebook after making a purchase. Seventy-eight percent of women do so compared to 72 percent of men.
For the recently-released study, Performics surveyed 1,000 active social network users between September 27 and October 4 who have used social networks "at least occasionally in the purchase process."
The study revealed that deals and social sites are a less important part of the purchase process for all respondents than shopping sites. Compared to 72 percent who said shopping sites are important, 58 percent said the same of deals sites and 41 percent said so of social sites.
Also, 87 percent of respondents said they use shopping sites when searching for a product while 83 percent do so just before committing to a purchase.
On the heels of a fantastic event in New York City, ClickZ Live is taking the fun and learning to Toronto, June 23-25. With over 15 years' experience delivering industry-leading events, ClickZ Live offers an action-packed, educationally-focused agenda covering all aspects of digital marketing. Register today!
Want to learn more? Join us at ClickZ Live San Francisco, Aug 10-12!
Educating marketers for over 15 years, ClickZ Live brings together industry thought leaders from the largest brands and agencies to deliver the most advanced, educational digital marketing agenda. Register today and save $500!
Kate Kaye was Managing Editor at ClickZ News until October 2012. As a daily reporter and editor for the original news source, she covered beats including digital political campaigns and government regulation of the online ad industry. Kate is the author of Campaign '08: A Turning Point for Digital Media, the only book focused on the paid digital media efforts of the 2008 presidential campaigns. Kate created ClickZ's Politics & Advocacy section, and is the primary contributor to the one-of-a-kind section. She began reporting on the interactive ad industry in 1999 and has spoken at several events and in interviews for television, radio, print, and digital media outlets. You can follow Kate on Twitter at @LowbrowKate.
Gartner Magic Quadrant for Digital Commerce
This Magic Quadrant examines leading digital commerce platforms that enable organizations to build digital commerce sites. These commerce platforms facilitate purchasing transactions over the Web, and support the creation and continuing development of an online relationship with a consumer.
Paid Search in the Mobile Era
Google reports that paid search ads are currently driving 40+ million calls per month. Cost per click is increasing, paid search budgets are growing, and mobile continues to dominate. It's time to revamp old search strategies, reimagine stale best practices, and add new layers data to your analytics.
June 10, 2015
12:00pm ET/9:00am PT


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A fan-made New Super Mario Bros. Wii sequel has blown away expectations.
Few Nintendo titles are more famous than Super Mario Bros.. It helped sell the Nintendo Entertainment System and bring the video game industry back from an early extinction caused by the E. T. Atari game. It helped make the Nintendo 64 a must-own console in spite of a severe lack of quality titles.
Super Mario Bros. even spawned one of the worst video game based movies ever made, and no other Nintendo franchise has even been turned into a theatrical feature motion picture.
The mushroom-gobbling Italian plumber has even been joked about having more ethnical background than almost any human being on the planet. He’s an Italian plumber, made in Japan, who looks like a Mexican, speaks English … and you know the rest.
An unofficial sequel to the latest Super Mario title has been made for the Wii. It’s entirely fan-made and contains over 130 new levels, putting most of Nintendo’s own titles to shame. This is more than just a simple mod, according to Cubed3.com, as it was built from the ground up, incorporating a new map system, eight major worlds and 18 themed areas plus over 150 new tile-sets.
But wait, there’s more!
A total of 35 new tracks have been made for the unofficial Super Mario sequel for the Wii, including a few remixes. There are more than 15 new enemies, including new bosses for each world. That takes dedication. One does not simply make a sequel to a Super Mario game and add so much new content.
Video games are nothing to sneeze at these days. There is a lot of programming, voice acting, music composition, public relations, and several other aspects to the process. Those gorgeous graphics we take these for granted these days likely took at least a month to get right for just one stage, even with an engine driving it all. And even then you have to make sure it’s fun to play, doesn’t have too many glitches, and gamers are actually going to want it.
What do you think about the unofficial fan-made sequel to New Super Mario Bros. Wii?


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The campaign builds on last year's initiative on the future of health.
Global push includes Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
KUALA LUMPUR - This year's Chinese New Year ad from Petronas Malaysia, 'Rubber boy', eschews the trappings of festivity in favour of a sharp message against ingratitude.
ASIA-PACIFIC - Well, perhaps not everything, admits Konrad Spilva, CEO of Isobar Group ANZ. But winning Digital Network of the Year in 2014 has made enough of an impact to inspire this year's ad for Campaign's Agency of the Year programme.
We caught up with Bonin Bough, SVP of global media and ecommerce at Mondelez International, when he was in town for Media360 to film an exclusive collection of short interviews for the Campaign Innovate series.
INDONESIA - If you don't stay hydrated in Ramadan, you'll pass out and cause pandemonium claims Danone Aqua and Y&R Group Indonesia in tongue-in-cheek public-service announcement.
ASIA-PACIFIC - Last Wednesday night five Asian cities took part in the 13th Portfolio Night, a global event aimed at creative mentorship. Campaign Asia-Pacific was the media partner for the events in Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai (hosted by Ogilvy & Mather) and Singapore (hosted by Bates CHI & Partners).
SYDNEY - To get Australian men checking for testicular cancer, M&C Saatchi hid a public health message (and demonstration) in a porn flick entitled "Game of Balls", on behalf of The Blue Ball Foundation.
MELBOURNE - A new campaign promoting a partnership between BP Australia and Velocity's frequent flyer rewards programme is also the first to use BP's new global brand platform 'Go your way'.
KUALA LUMPUR - With the cooperation of the mother and sister of the late Yasmin Ahmad, Maybank has released a two and a half minute online video made from one of the last scripts she penned.
HONG KONG - The creators of an Earth Day campaign launching today in Hong Kong analysed DNA from real-life litter to create visual representations of the litterbugs and make citizens think twice about tossing their trash—lest they find their face adorning a future poster.
SINGAPORE - Tiger Beer has launched a quirky campaign with a vintage-feel complete with mockumentaries chronicling the nation's 'unofficial history'.
CHINA - Taiwanese singer Hebe Tien leads Adidas' latest installment in its two-year #mygirls campaign series.
CAMBODIA - It's sad when good intentions go awry, but it seems donations to orphanages in Cambodia, instead of organisations that help family welfare, is prompting poor families to give up their children because that's where the money is going.
GLOBAL - Each year, Getty curates the year's defining images and videos. Here is 2014's collection.
GLOBAL - FedEx opts to showcase its SME clients, and what it can do for them, in its latest global campaign.
HONG KONG - Ogilvy & Mather Hong Kong is behind a global campaign launching China-made Honor 6 smartphone in new markets.
KUALA LUMPUR - Based on the insight that mothers, particularly ones with clingy babies, lead very demanding lives, P&G and Grey KL hope to highlight the sacrifices mothers make and maybe get those around them to give them a helping hand.
SEOUL - Tasked with communicating the high-performance features of Samsung's semiconductors to the curious masses, Cheil Worldwide decided the only thing to do was build a virtual ride that would 'shrink' its audiences to atom size and take them on a detailed tour.
SINGAPORE - Insurance firm NTUC Income and BBH Asia-Pacific use poignant humour and pretty decent acting to remind young Singaporeans of the need to invest in their future selves, before it's too late.