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In what is believed to be the first experiment of its kind at a U.S. school, students and staff members at Pennsylvania’s Slippery Rock University soon will be able to use their cell phones to make payments at locations on campus, as well as with participating merchants in the surrounding community, by attaching a small radio-frequency identification (RFID) token to their phones.
The RFID tokens can be attached, for example, to the inside of a cell-phone’s battery cover. When a token is held up to an RFID receiver, the receiver captures the student’s or staff member’s ID number from the device. The ID number then links to the user’s school bank account via the internet.
“Since its inception in 1889, Slippery Rock University has been on the leading edge of educational innovations,” said Robert Smith, president of the university. “We are excited to … implement this new technology and know it will deliver a level of speed and convenience our students demand.”
Students must enter a personal identification number in addition to scanning their phones in front of an RFID receiver. The receiver then connects to the school’s bank to authorize the transaction.
RFID-equipped phones must be held very close to payment receivers to capture ID numbers and process payment transactions, a fact that advocates of the technology say offers greater security.
The system’s mobile-phone tokens incorporate the same standards-based “contactless” technology used worldwide by MasterCard, Visa, and card issuers in the payment and identity sectors.
The RFID system to be employed at Slippery Rock was supplied by Heartland Payment Systems. The system uses near-field communication, a short-range wireless technology intended for use in devices such as cell phones and digital cameras.
The system will be put in use beginning this fall.
“Students are great innovators, yet for the past two decades, payments on campus have remained fundamentally unchanged,” said Robert O. Carr, chairman and chief executive officer of Heartland Payment Systems. “We are excited to partner with Slippery Rock to help launch the next generation of campus card programs.”
Slippery Rock students currently use photo ID cards with a magnetic strip to make purchases. When students enroll at the university, they open a Rock Dollar bank account, into which they can deposit money. When students use their current ID cards, money is deducted automatically from their Rock Dollar accounts. Students can track their spending online and can allow their parents to access their accounts.
University officials say the cards and RFID tokens are available to all students at no cost.
During the summer, campus vending machines, laundry facilities, photocopiers, and printers will be outfitted with dual-technology readers to enable contactless payments via mobile phones in addition to the traditional ID card payments.
Campus officials say they’re implementing the RFID system so students will have a way to pay for items, even if they don’t have their wallets or student ID cards with them. Officials also believe that the system will be even faster than the current swipe-card method of payment.
“We anticipate that our work with Slippery Rock University this summer will generate major interest from other campus administrators and local merchants, as they see the benefits and opportunities for improved student service, and administrative and payment cost savings,” Carr said.
Heartland Payment Systems, based in Princeton, N.J., is a provider of credit-, debit-, and prepaid-card processing services. The company has served as Slippery Rock’s payment processor for 10 years.
Slippery Rock University http://www.sru.edu
Heartland Payment Systems http://www.heartlandpaymentsystems.com


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Further rumours have emerged suggesting that Apple is planning to get in on the “Internet of Things”, and look set to announce something at next month’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC).
(Pic from here.
According to the FT Apple will be showing off a platform for connected home devices – that will let you control household devices with just your iPhone or iPad.
Though details are scant at the moment, there is no sign that they will be announcing, say, an iDishwasher or iToaster – but merely that they will be providing the software that sits between your appliances and your phone. Poor Blackberry, this is exactly what it was planning to do. Instead, we can expect the forthcoming wave of smart thermostats/fridges/whatever to come with a symbol on the box denoting official Apple support, like many accessories do now.
If the rumours turn out to be true, the implications for Apple will be interesting: For example, will they really expect everyone in the home to be brand loyal to Apple, and to replace all of their appliances with Apple compatible stuff? Surely it would make sense to have Apple’s potential remote control app available on Android too? And what of existing “Internet of Things” devices – will it be back compatible, so my existing wifi thermostat can integrate effectively with Apple’s offering?
We’ll report more when we know more – needless to say the internet of things is already hotting up to be the big battle of 2014.

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The 9 Biggest Bitcoin’s Myths That Need To Be Debunked
Created by Satoshi Nakamoto on January 3, 2009, Bitcoin has just celebrated its 11 years of existence. Whether you are a Bitcoiner or an opponent of Bitcoin, you will at least agree that Bitcoin is a phenomenal success. Starting from scratch in 2009, Bitcoin has achieved the feat of reaching over $130 billion in market capitalization in just a decade.
This success of Bitcoin, and even more so its disruptive side, has earned it many attacks and criticisms in the 2010s. Many of these attacks were unfounded in my opinion and have become myths that have surrounded Bitcoin ever since.
Unfortunately, these great myths, that have no reason to exist, tarnish the image of Bitcoin with the general public. In this story, I will demystify 9 great myths surrounding Bitcoin by showing you that they are not based on any tangible facts.
Myth #1: Bitcoin Is A Ponzi Scheme
Since its inception, Bitcoin has very often been accused of being a Ponzi Scheme by its critics. On the last day of the year 2019, Tendayi Kapfidze, the chief economist at America’s largest online lending marketplace LendingTree, wanted to make a name for himself by declaring:
“I am convinced that Bitcoin is nothing more than a pyramid scheme. You only make money based on people who enter after you.”
This attack is nothing new, as it frequently occurs when economists or politicians wish to criticize Bitcoin and find no real argument against it.
In order to put an end to this myth now, I suggest you refer to the detailed report on Ponzi Schemes published in 2014 by the World Bank.
This report was written by the highly respected Kaushik Basu, former Chief Economist of the World Bank but also Professor of Economics at Cornell University.
In his report, Kaushik Basu says in particular:
“Contrary to a widely-held opinion, Bitcoin is not a deliberate Ponzi. And there is little to learn by treating it as such. The main value of Bitcoin may, in retrospect, turn out to be the lessons it offers to central banks on the prospects of electronic currency, and on how to enhance efficiency and cut transactions cost.” — Kaushik Basu
I think there’s nothing more to add. Just read what Kaushik Basu says in his report, and even more so what he demonstrates.
The people who continue to think that Bitcoin is a Ponzi Scheme in 2020 are clearly misinformed people with whom you should not waste your time.
Myth #2: Bitcoin Is A Speculative Bubble
In the early days of Bitcoin, very few people were interested. Little by little, Bitcoin convinced more and more people by showing that it was not just a technological gadget reserved for a few geeks.
The revolution that Bitcoin is building is much deeper and will have a huge impact on the world in the years to come.
As soon as Bitcoin saw its price rise above $1,000, more and more people who felt threatened by what Bitcoin represents began attacking it by claiming that Bitcoin was just a speculative bubble.
Bitcoin was then compared to tulipomania, which wreaked havoc in the Netherlands between 1636 and 1637, or to the Dot-com bubble of the early 2000s.
It is true that some people only see Bitcoin as a new speculative tool to make big profits.
This profound misunderstanding of Bitcoin’s real potential does not mean that Bitcoin is a bubble.
Indeed, we live in a world where more and more people, starting with financial traders, are driven by greed.
This has nothing to do with Bitcoin, which is not a bubble in itself.
The speculative bubble that had formed because of these greedy people at the end of 2017 burst in 2018 leaving out those who have no business being in the Bitcoin market.
The bursting of this bubble allowed Bitcoin to be purged of non-believers. Since then, Bitcoin has resumed its forward march and has emerged, once again, stronger than ever.
Myth #3: Bitcoin Is Not Secure And Has Been Hacked Several Times
Critics of Bitcoin, starting with economists, central bankers and politicians, keep saying that its Blockchain is not really secure. To justify this accusation, they point to the fact that Bitcoin has been hacked several times in its history.
This is completely untrue because Bitcoin has never been hacked in its history.
Bitcoin is a particularly secure open source software that is constantly being improved by the developer community.
Critics of Bitcoin equate the security of Bitcoin with the security of cryptocurrency trading platforms. They are two different things.
But it is these platforms that have already been hacked many times in the course of 2010s. Among the most famous hackings is the one of Mt. Gox, which became a scandal beyond the small world of Bitcoin in 2014.
Bitcoin has never been hacked. However, it is true that Bitcoin has known some software bugs in its history. The most famous of them is the “Value overflow incident” that took place on August 15th 2010.
This incident highlighted the strength of the Bitcoin developer community as it took only a few hours for a fixed version of the Blockchain to be deployed.
In the end, Bitcoin was only unavailable for 8 hours and 27 minutes during this incident. The correct version of the Bitcoin Blockchain took over from block 74,691.
Another myth that has no place since Bitcoin Blockchain is particularly secure.
Myth #4: Bitcoin Is Complicated To Use
Bitcoin is “A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System” implementing the Blockchain concept. In order to function without a leader, while being permissionless and trustless, Bitcoin is based on a public/private cryptographic key system that is rather complex for the uninitiated.
This complexity of the technology at the heart of Bitcoin is used by its critics to argue that Bitcoin is too complicated for the general public.
However, in order to use Bitcoin on a daily basis, you absolutely do not need to master all of these concepts.
There are many tools that make it easy to use, starting with intuitive wallets, web and mobile applications.
In 2020, making transactions with Bitcoin is as easy as sending an email. The complexity of Bitcoin for the general public is a myth since they don’t have to directly manipulate the concepts at the heart of its technology.
Myth #5: Bitcoin Is Opaque And Anonymous
The rulers of countries do not like Bitcoin because it would be opaque and anonymous. According to them, what you do on the Bitcoin Blockchain would not be visible to everyone.
Nothing could be further from the truth than to say that. In fact, Bitcoin is a public Blockchain and as such, all transactions made since the creation of Bitcoin in 2009 can be read by everyone.
No other currency has shown such a high level of transparency in history as Bitcoin.
If Bitcoin is opaque, it’s only for people who are as ignorant of how it works as its fiercest detractors.
On the other hand, users can make transactions that remain anonymous as long as they do not disclose the addresses they use for transactions.
Finally, it should be noted that the Bitcoin source code is freely available to everyone, which ensures transparency of everything the Bitcoin Blockchain does when it is running.
Myth #6: Bitcoin Promotes Money Laundering
As the price of Bitcoin skyrocketed in late 2017, many banks became increasingly critical of Bitcoin.
According to the world’s major banks, Bitcoin promotes the laundering of dirty money.
Logically, politicians quickly followed suit. Once again, this is a myth that deserves to be debunked.
Bitcoin is not specifically used to launder dirty money. Various studies conducted during the year 2018 have ensured that the risk of money laundering with Bitcoin is more than minimal.
I would also like to point out that, for several years now, money laundering scandals have tended to involve banks.
You must all remember the Danish Danske Bank, which was accused recently of having laundered more than $300 billion in the 2000s.
When you hear people accusing Bitcoin of facilitating dirty money laundering, I invite you to ask yourself why they would make such criticisms.
In most cases, you will understand that these people are primarily trying to point the finger at a competitor in order to divert attention from their activities, which are not always very clear.
Myth #7: Bitcoin Is Nothing More Than A Store Of Value
In the camp of those who criticize Bitcoin, some more moderate people recognize its value but consider Bitcoin to be nothing more than a store of value.
Bitcoin has already proven itself as a store of value for several years.
It is no coincidence that Bitcoin is called digital gold.
This myth will fade as Bitcoin becomes more and more supported as a means of payment by merchants around the world.
In my opinion, 2020 will see an acceleration in the adoption of Bitcoin as a means of payment by merchants.
The proof is that in France, which remains one of the largest economic powers in the world, Bitcoin should be supported by 40 major retailers in more than 25,000 point of sales by the end of the year.
Little by little, the adoption of Bitcoin will grow and its use as a means of payment will also increase.
In addition, the rise of the Lightning Network protocol in the coming years will facilitate its use as a means of exchange as it will speed up transactions with ultra-low transaction fees.
The first step for Bitcoin was to prove itself as a store of value.
This has been done and now the next step is to move to mass adoption as a means of exchange and as a means of payment.
Myth #8: Bitcoin Is An Enemy Of Ecology
Never short of ideas to attack Bitcoin, its opponents have also pointed to its high energy consumption. Indeed, securing the Bitcoin Blockchain requires an enormous amount of electrical energy.
The Proof-of-Work at the heart of Bitcoin mining is a very computationally intensive algorithm.
For some, Bitcoin’s power consumption would therefore be its Achilles heel.
Bitcoin’s Power Consumption Is Not Its Achilles Heel
Bitcoin is even compatible with the fight against global warming.
First of all, I must tell you that the power consumption required to produce new Bitcoins is what makes Bitcoins so valuable.
Secondly, a recent study by Susanne Köhler and Massimo Pizzol at the University of Aalborg in Denmark showed that previous calculations of Bitcoin’s environmental impacts were based on false assumptions.
The more accurate calculations they made as part of their study showed that Bitcoin’s CO2 emissions were much lower than previously thought.
In fact, Bitcoin would not be as catastrophic for the ecology as its opponents claim.
Better yet, the majority of the electrical energy consumed by the Bitcoin Blockchain would in fact come from renewable energy sources.
Bitcoin could eventually even be considered compatible with the fight against global warming.
Myth #9: Bitcoin’s Price Has Not Increased Since 2017
The latter myth is more recent, being only a little over two years old. Many investors entered the world of Bitcoin in late 2017 when the price of Bitcoin reached an all-time high of $20,000.
The majority of these last-minute investors capitulated in the year 2018 when the price of Bitcoin fell below $4,000.
These same investors are now extremely critical of Bitcoin and keep repeating that the price of Bitcoin is stagnating. Bitcoin would have even become boring to listen to them.
This myth is totally false and to debunk it, I invite you to take a look at the evolution of the lowest annual price of Bitcoin:
From $0.01 in 2010, Bitcoin’s lowest annual price rose to $3,350 in 2019.
At the beginning of this year, Bitcoin saw its price drop to $6,850. An annual low price above $6,000 is still quite possible for Bitcoin.
The price of Bitcoin is therefore rising steadily from year to year. Nevertheless, this progression is done at Bitcoin’s own pace since it is not correlated to any other asset.
Bitcoin has been announced as dead nearly 380 times since its inception in 2009. In addition to these repeated obituaries, people who benefit from the current monetary and financial system have been constantly falsely criticizing it, creating many myths surrounding Bitcoin.
Like all myths, they are false, but they give a bad image of Bitcoin to the general public. In this story, I have given you the elements to debunk these myths. You can use them to help democratize Bitcoin around you.
This is essential because the adoption of Bitcoin by the general public requires a greater understanding of its technology and its disruptive nature.


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The pandemic has, like nothing before in living memory for most people, highlighted the importance of preventing both hunger and food waste.
The tens of thousands of tonnes of food wasted as hospitality shut down in the first lockdown was not just a tragedy for companies facing financial ruin – but for the millions of people at risk of going without food, many of whom continue to live on a knife-edge as we enter the new version of lockdown this week.
That’s why it’s been so heartening to see the magnificent response by the industry to feeding the hungry. This has ranged from FareShare’s help for food banks and local charities on the frontline (driven by vital donations from retailers and suppliers) to the latest Marcus Rashford-inspired food industry taskforce on hunger.
However, today’s report from Wrap and the IGD highlights there is still much to do to prevent a disastrous level of food waste.
In many ways, the outlook from their Roadmap progress report is a positive one.
It shows there has been a big increase in the number of companies signed up to the initiative, which aims to get businesses to reduce food waste by 50% by 2030. Sixty new food businesses have joined the pact since September 2019.
However, of more than 200 food companies now signed up, only 60 this year publicly reported food surplus and food waste in 2020, compared with 45 in 2019. The vast majority of these were part of a separate initiative by Champions 12.3 chair and Tesco CEO Dave Lewis.
Wrap says the number of businesses publicly reporting has grown from just 30 in 2018, and only a handful prior to the launch of the roadmap, while a further 138 had shared data “in confidence” with the organisation.
It also revealed seven companies that provided evidence of their food waste efforts last year had not done so in 2020, blaming the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak.
More worryingly, at least 400 big companies have not signed up at all.
Tesco, whose outgoing boss Lewis has been such a lynchpin in the war on food waste, is now among those urging the government to breathe new life into shelved proposals to make reporting of food waste mandatory.
The UK food industry, thanks to companies like Tesco, is still a world leader on tackling food waste and today’s findings come with another report by the World Resources Institute hailing us as a “world exemplar” in the moves to “target, measure and act” against food waste.
But this is not a time for the industry to be patting itself on the back. Instead it’s a time to release the impact that true transparency can have – which is why The Grocer has been calling for it ever since it launched its Waste Not Want Not Campaign in 2016.


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Master Financial Technology with an MSc Fintech Degree
Source: https://mim-guide.com/articles/master-financial-technology-with-an-msc-fintech-degree | Author: Seb Murray
Business schools are racing to offer masters degree programs in financial technology (fintech), as employer demand skyrockets for professionals who can use tools like artificial intelligence to boost financial institutions’ efficiency, generate new products or services for them, and help the big firms avoid being disrupted by nimbler startups.
And despite knowing that it is risky to offer a course on volatile and controversial markets such as cryptocurrencies (for example), as they could disappear as quickly as they emerged, schools are enhancing their brands with the fintech offerings, as students and employers demand them.
“I think a course in fintech was a must,” says Emilio Barucci, director of the International Master in Fintech, Finance and Digital Innovation at MIP Politecnico di Milano in Italy, in order to maintain MIP’s status as a leading technology university.
An increased demand for fintech skills
Business schools say the catalyst for the introduction of fintech courses has been high and growing demand among finance employers for trained professionals, who can use digital technologies, such as data science techniques.
Across the world, financial services firms are struggling to attract talent with a mixture of business smarts and technical acumen. In a recent employer survey by Hays Financial Markets, a recruitment firm, 61 percent said they faced moderate to extreme skills shortages, with technology among the most sought-after skills.
The demand is global. According to a 2018 report by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), 7,800 jobs were added to the fintech and financial services sectors in 2016-2017 in the city-state, with fintech alone contributing close to 2,000 net jobs, far exceeding a target set by the MAS.
However, financial institutions’ automation of some activities, has raised concerns that jobs could disappear as a result. A Citigroup report forecasted that fintech could cost almost 2m bank employees their jobs over the next decade.
So far, displacement has mostly affected staff in banks’ brick-and-mortar retail branches, as banks do more online and cut branches, and staff in “back office” functions, such as those working in settlements, who make sure that payments are processed.
Technology could free up “front office” workers, such as investment bankers, to do more interesting jobs. For example, several investment banks use AI to help determine the best way to execute big trades by reading market conditions. The AI comes up with the trading optimization strategy, but it’s validated by humans. In one case, the method achieved annualized returns that outperformed a benchmark index.
How MSc Fintech courses are keeping pace with the industry’s rapid change
But what exactly should be taught in fintech masters programs and who should teach it? With the field evolving so quickly, how are academics keeping pace with market developments?
MIP uses case studies in its fintech masters program that were developed by companies such as Aviva, Deloitte and IBM. “The companies help us in updating the course according to the evolution of the industry,” says Barucci.
Read more - /mim-guide.com/articles/master-financial-technology-with-an-msc-fintech-degree


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Ford Motor Company’s global chief executive Alan Mullally met some of the carmaker’s top UK dealers during his recent UK visit.
Mullally was introduced by Nigel Sharp, Ford of Britain managing director, to key retail partners including Hendy Group, Pendragon, Vertu Motors and its top retail dealer Cliff Dickinson & Son. He presented a plaque to Hendy Group, which this year marks 100 years with the Ford franchise.
Mullally explained the One Ford strategy of sharing platforms across different products and heard how UK Ford dealers were performing. Last year the network achieved its best return on sales for 21 years, helped by scrappage, low interest rates, high used car values and action Ford took to liquidate stock.
This year the average return is around 1%, on a par with arch-rival Vauxhall. Ford has cut dealers’ trading margin and reduced fleet discounts to make its cars more attractive by list price. Exchange rate pressures meant four price increases last year, which made its products appear expensive.
Sharp said dealers’ focus now must be on selling the car, not the discount.
“Offering £5,000 to £6,000 off is daft,” Sharp said. “The discounting route has worked well for 30 years, but it has run out of road. Over time it damages the brand and in the company car world it is bad news for the P11D.
“We are now studying how to change this. Rather than bring the price down, we are talking to customers about how much they are getting for their money.
“What we produce are world quality cars. We match anyone for driving dynamics and quality, but I don’t think we have that same recognition or reputation.”
Ford plans to work with a number of its dealers to examine what processes can be implemented to improve customer service.


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Tiffany gave a strong outlook for 2008 international sales Friday, sending its shares soaring more than 9 percent, despite the jeweler's cautious stand on its U.S. business for the first half.
Tiffany forecast international sales increasing in the mid-teens percentage range based on its expectations of mid-single-digit growth in same-store sales on a constant exchange rate basis.
The outlook, "combined with planned margin and expense levels, can generate low-double-digit net earnings per share growth for the year," Chief Executive Michael Kowalski said in a statement.
For fiscal 2008, which began on Feb. 1, Tiffany forecast net profit of $2.50 a share to $2.55 a share on overall sales growth of 10 percent.
Its 2008 plans come less than a month after Tiffany said same-store sales fell 2 percent at its U.S. stores in the key November and December holiday period, signaling an unwillingness among its domestic customers to spend freely.
At that time, it cut the top end of its profit forecast for fiscal 2007, and forecast earnings of $2.25 to $2.28 per share, excluding some one-time items.
The retailer said sales at its established U.S. stores rose only modestly in January from December as domestic shoppers remained reluctant to part with their discretionary dollars -- a sign that economic worries like rising food and fuel costs and a crumbling housing market are catching up with more consumers.
Tiffany has planned for a high-single-digit percentage rise in U.S. retail sales in fiscal 2008, reflecting a low-single-digit increase in same-store sales.
Tiffany shares were recently up 9.2 percent at $41.69, but below its year-high of $57.34 which was set on Oct. 11 2007.


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Former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Maurice Iwu has said that the traditional medicine is the key into the future of Nigerian health system.
Prof. Iwu stated this at the weekend at a press briefing heralding the Herbal, Health Food and Natural Expo (HERBFEST) 2015, which will take place at the Raw Materials Research Development Council (RMRDC), Abuja on Tuesday, 6th October to Thursday, 8th with the theme ‘Food as medicine: Utilization and sustainable exploitation of African medicinal plants and natural products.’
The Professor of Pharmacognosy said, “herbal medicine is an area where many countries are looking at, yet we have not looked into this area to any significant level. We know what happens in China, a lot of people in this country buy products from them and also India where people buy a lot of food supplements”
Adding, he said, “We are hoping that one day, herbal medicine practitioners will be able to look at the global trend and key into scientific traditional trend. We are convinced that traditional medicine is the key into the future of Nigerian health system.”
On the commercial gains in herbal medicine, the don said, the United States recently reported that the growth in herbal dietary supplement, herbal medicine and functional food is 200 million dollars with growth rate of 8 per cent.
“We have a lot of these functional foods like cashew nuts, even cocoa is an antioxidant proven to fight cardiovascular diseases, we also have dogonyaro. What we lack mainly in Nigeria is awareness of the abundance of these herbs; even today, many don’t know the efficacy of bitter leaf which is good for fighting diabetes, while some know.
Also speaking, the Director General of the Federal Institute of Industrial Research (FIIRO), Dr. Gloria Elemo, said commercialisation of herbal products had been simplified by the institute through researches it embarked upon.
“FIIRO prides itself as home of indigenous technologies in that we have successfully worked on most of the agro-commodities available in Nigeria. Our role as an institution has been to use our expertise in research and development to add value to these practices and to transfer technology to impact on the economy,” she said.
On his part, the Director-General, Nigeria Natural Medicine Development Agency (NNMDA), Etatuvie Oghene, said, “Nigeria is now advancing in herbal medicine research; presently the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, now has traditional medicine in its curriculum. What we need is awareness,” Mr. Oghene siad.
The sixth edition of the expo will be hosted by the Bioresources Development and Conservation Programme (BDCP), NNMDA and FIIRO.
The expo is set to attract varying investors and trade buyers from across the African region as well as from the wider market of Middle East, Europe and US and will sowcase three days of vibrant herbs, health foods and natural products and a packed programme of training workshops, meetings, seminars and abstracts.
Copyright 2014 Riverine News.
Permission to use portions of this article is granted provided appropriate credits are given to http://riverinenews.com/ and other relevant sources.


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A Mebane CEO has been tapped as the “Entrepreneur of the Year” by Ernst &Young.
Specifically, it’s Mort O’Sullivan, founder and CEO of cash automation firm ARCA, a company that started as a one-man operation in a New York apartment.
The official award title is Technology Entrepreneur of the Year for South East Region.
O’Sullivan rallied post-recession, redesigning his entire sales process. Today, his technology is used in bank branches, retail stores and self-service kiosks in more than 50 countries. Between 2012 and 2013, the company’s sales nearly doubled, “driven by a commitment to staying lean and a dedicated sales team,” says a statement by Ernst & Young.
One other category snagged a North Carolina name. Steven Tanger, president and CEO of Tanger Factory Outlet Centers in Greensboro, snagged the top award for hospitality and retail.


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(Adds sales estimates; updates shares)
Oct 4 (Reuters) - Shares in Mylan jumped more than 16 percent in premarket trading on Wednesday after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the drugmaker's generic version of Teva blockbuster multiple sclerosis drug Copaxone.
The surprise approval came a day after the health regulator said it would introduce a slew of measures to speed to market generic versions of complex drugs in an effort to address the rising cost of pharmaceuticals.
U.S. listed shares of Israel-based Teva sank 13.7 percent in response while Mylan was the top gainer on the S&P 500 before the opening bell.
The FDA approved both doses - 20 mg and 40 mg - of Mylan's version of Copaxone, which generated global sales of $1.02 billion for Teva in the second quarter of this year.
"Approval represents a meaningful positive for Mylan," JPMorgan analysts said in a note, adding it should push 2017 and 2018 earnings per share higher.
Analysts from Wells Fargo said the new drug would add 13 cents per share to Mylan earnings per quarter, assuming the FDA grants the company a 180-day exclusivity period post-approval.
Mylan, which had missed out on approval for the drug twice this year, had lowered its earnings forecast in August citing a delay in launching key new drugs and eroding prices of generics.
Novartis' unit Sandoz and Momenta Pharmaceuticals already sell a generic version of 20 mg Copaxone, and are developing a version of the 40 mg dosage.
But Momenta's difficulties in getting the higher-dose version approved had dampened expectations for Mylan before Tuesday.
JPMorgan analysts said the decision added up to full generic competition for Teva 9 to 12 months ahead of previous Wall Street expectations.
"The news adds to an already challenging near-term setup for the story, with the company's U.S. generic business under pressure, high levels of leverage, and limited clarity on drivers of a broader recovery in results," the brokerage said.
Estimates of market share for Mylan reached as high as 40 percent of the 40 mg market, with Wells Fargo forecasting sales at about $172 million per quarter and a resulting drop in Teva's full-year earnings guidance to well below $3 per share in 2018.
Last month, Teva said it was looking to team up with other drugmakers to fund some of its development pipeline as it struggles with debts and expiring patents. The drugmaker's speciality business has been losing ground since Copaxone ran out of patents.
Mylan said it expected to start shipping the generic drug very soon and that the FDA approval letter said the company might be eligible for 180 days exclusivity on the drug.
Mylan spokeswoman Julie Knell declined to comment beyond the release at this time. (Reporting by Divya Grover in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza and Patrick Graham)


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Naperville, Ill – November 12, 2019 — KeHE Distributors (KeHE), a national leader in the distribution of natural & organic, specialty and fresh products, has been recognized for the sixth time by the Trade Show News Network (TSNN), as the fastest-growing show.
KeHE’s 2019 Summer Show is at the top of the recently released list, that honors the Top 25 Fastest Growing trade shows in net square footage, comparing the size of a show in 2016 to the size of a show in 2018. KeHE will be honored, alongside 24 winners, when the TSNN hosts its annual awards November 15 – 17 in Dallas, TX. KeHE’s Executive Director of Marketing, Ari Goldsmith, will also act as a speaker at the conference preceding the award ceremony about transforming trade shows.
KeHE’s trade shows allow for its retailer and exhibitor partners alike to connect and sample new products in all categories. The KeHE Summer Show, held annually in February in different locations around the US, highlights products for the upcoming summer season and allows retailers to purchase right on the show floor.
“Each year our shows continue to gain momentum, and our expanding show floor demonstrates KeHE’s commitment to foster a community of good food with our retailer and supplier partners at our shows. This award recognizes our dedication to cultivating the best products and brands for our retailers to choose from,” said Brandon Barnholt, President and CEO, KeHE.
KeHE’s 2019 Summer Show in Nashville, TN welcomed over 4,000 industry professionals and nearly 750 exhibitors from all product categories. KeHE is planning for continued growth and innovation at the next KeHE Summer Show, which will be held February 4 – 5, 2020 in New Orleans, LA. The show is an invite-only event.
With its nationwide distribution network, KeHE provides natural & organic, specialty & fresh products to chain and independent grocery and natural food stores and other specialty product retailers throughout North America. KeHE is an employee-owned, B Corporation certified, company with over 5,000 employees in the U.S. and Canada. Where KeHE Goes, Goodness Follows.® For more about KeHE, visit KeHE.com or check out our social media channels: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, & LinkedIn.


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All indications point to smaller crowds of Black Friday holiday shoppers because of COVID-19.
Not in modern times has there been a holiday shopping season during a pandemic.
There were no lines, no fanfare outside Target in Pleasant Hill Friday evening -- a stark contrast to the frenzy last year when shoppers packed into a queue before the store opened.
This year is markedly different.
Shoppers weren’t just searching for gifts, they were also looking out for each other.
“Besides just looking at what you’re looking for, you gotta make sure you’re not too close to someone else,” said Khoa Tian.
“It’s so much different. I mean you have to stand in lines and do all this funky stuff,” said Ethan Coover.
The funky stuff he’s referring to: wearing a mask, social distancing, and waiting outside a store if it gets too crowded.
There were no large crowds at Bay Street in Emeryville, indicative of many shopping spots in the East Bay.
“I thought it would be more busy than this,” said Tian.
Despite small crowds, a holiday shopping analysis by emarketer.com expects US retail sales to rise .9% above 2019, with a 4.7% decrease in brick and mortar sales, but a 35.8% jump in online shopping.
A worker at Sun Valley Mall in Concord described foot traffic as steady, but added one thing that is very different this year is that Santa will not be greeting children at the mall. The pandemic will be keeping him at the North Pole until it’s time to deliver gifts Christmas eve.
Some shoppers opted for the open-air experience at Broadway Plaza in Walnut Creek, including two young cousins.
“Yeah, it’s outdoors and we felt safe coming here shopping for Black Friday,” said Analisa of San Ramon. Her cousin Ellie said she didn’t think the pandemic was ruining the shopping experience. “I think it’s just as fun. You just have to wear a mask and socially distance yourself.”
For everyone, it’s a new way to participate in a time-honored tradition.
But it certainly made for smaller crowds and it was much harder to see the joy in people’s faces because of all the masks.
“It just kind of reminds me we’re in a pandemic and how we just have to be careful,” said Coover.


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New sales techniques, online influencers and structural trends such as growing consumption in emerging markets all bode well for the beauty industry, says Stephen Connolly.
Investors often wonder where the next “unicorn” – a privately held start-up valued at more than a billion US dollars – could come from. They might expect it to emerge in sectors such as finance, space travel, or cybersecurity, or anywhere companies are radically changing how we do things. They certainly wouldn’t expect it to emerge from a tiny operation in California with just a handful of staff flogging lipstick online at $29 a pop.
But according to US business magazine Forbes, Kylie Cosmetics has been so successful that its valuation has soared from zero to nearly $1bn in the three years since its inception. Founder, 100%-owner and now make-up mogul Kylie Jenner, a scion of the Kardashian-Jenner family featured in the long-running US reality cable TV show Keeping Up With The Kardashians, has become the world’s youngest billionaire at 21, elbowing aside Facebook’s founder Mark Zuckerberg. He didn’t reach the $1bn mark until he was 23.
Making a mint out of make-up
Forbes’s announcement quickly drew criticism from those who put Jenner’s success down to her family’s celebrity status. There’s no doubt this has been key to reaching her market: she now has 129 million followers on the photo-sharing site Instagram, more than musicians Beyoncé, Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber and far more than top-20 global brands such as Nike, Disney and BMW. Powerful though this personal online celebrity following is, however, it alone doesn’t explain why the cosmetics industry has been on such a tear over recent years. She’s not the only one making a mint out of make-up.
Take Pat McGrath. She has less than 2% of the number of Jenner’s Instagram followers yet her start-up, which she launched around the same time as Kylie Cosmetics, hit the $1bn mark even faster. A former receptionist from Northampton, this British success story worked her way up, with no formal training, to become a major name in the international, top-league fashion scene. She has been associated with major labels, including Giorgio Armani, Prada and Dolce & Gabbana, and deemed “the most influential make-up artist in the world” by Vogue’s legendary editor-in-chief Anna Wintour.
Other big names in this field include Anastasia Soare, known as the “eyebrow queen”; her brand is valued at around $3bn, according to the Financial Times. Then there is Jamie Kern Lima, a former Big Brother contestant who sold her It Cosmetics label for $1.2bn to cosmetics powerhouse L’Oréal. Charlotte Tilbury is another British name well on the way to being worth $1bn.
Subscribers can read it in the digital edition or app


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Elon Musk’s X has announced plans to sue leftist nonprofit Media Matters, and has blasted major corporations as “oppressors of your right to free speech” as his social media company battles a new wave of advertiser boycotts.
“This week Media Matters for America posted a story that completely misrepresented the real user experience on X, in another attempt to undermine freedom of speech and mislead advertisers,” said X/Twitter in a statement refuting Media Matters’ research.
In a tweet in the early hours of Saturday morning, Musk said, “The split second court opens on Monday, X Corp will be filing a thermonuclear lawsuit against Media Matters and ALL those who colluded in this fraudulent attack on our company.”
The company accuses Media Matters of manipulating the public and advertisers by curating its timeline to “misinform advertisers about the placement of their posts.”
X alleges that of the 5.5 billion ad impressions served on the platform on the day Media Matters released its report accusing the platform of displaying ads next to “pro-Nazi” content, just 50 total ad impressions were displayed next to the content cherrypicked by the nonprofit.
A number of corporations have joined the latest boycott against X, including Apple, Disney, Sony Pictures, Comcast/NBCUniversal, Paramount, Warner Bros, and Lionsgate.
Musk took the boycott as an opportunity to promote X’s new premium $16 subscription service. The $16 tier includes a blue checkmark, ad revenue sharing, access to the Grok AI chatbot, and an ads-free experience.
“Premium+ also has no ads in your timeline,” said Musk. “Many of the largest advertisers are the greatest oppressors of your right to free speech.”
The Media Matters report capitalized on a firestorm of outrage sparked by Musk agreeing with a user’s post that Jewish organizations had supported a “dialectical hatred against whites” that is now being turned on them in the context of the Israel-Gaza conflict. Musk later clarified that the target of his criticism was liberal organizations claiming to represent all Jews, in particular the Anti-Defamation League.
That post Musk concurred with had been made in a response to an ad against antisemitism that featured a white working class father lecturing his son about antisemitic posts online. Many X users took issue with the ad, given that surveys consistently show that minorities are more likely to hold anti-Semitic viewpoints than white people.


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FBI expert offers tips to protect you from cyberattacks
The FBI says they're seeing cybercrimes "exponentially grow" in Iowa.
The FBI Cybercrimes taskforce says that's because technology is making it easier for cybercriminals to get your data. It means your company is more vulnerable to an attack.
The FBI says the threat of internet crime keeps getting higher each year. Last year, Iowa companies reported $21.3 million in losses. So far this year, that number is at $24.7 million in losses. That's just what's reported.
Victims may not know they're compromised until the data is already stolen. To protect yourself now, when you receive an email with a link, do not click it.
If it's someone you know, the FBI recommends picking up the phone and calling them to confirm its authenticity.
Working from home can complicate things because you likely use a VPN to gain remote access to your company.
"It adds more vulnerability to your company because it's another way in. So, they can infect that computer at home, then watch how you log in to the company and get in. So, absolutely we've seen a shift of some resources to that personal VPN," Ken Schmutz, with the FBI Cybercrimes taskforce, said.
The FBI says one of the most important things victims of cybercrime can do is report it. Schmutz said rapid reporting can even lead to recovery.
Multi-factor authentication is a good step to protect yourself online and companies of any size should create cyber incident response plans for their employees.


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14 Feb 2018 By Contributor
PRESS RELEASE: MyTravelresearch.com
The 2018 International Toilet Tourism Awards are now open to accept submissions from tourism destinations and businesses that want to wipe the floor with the competition.
After many years analysing tourism trends, the awards’ we at MyTravelresearch.com, aim to show tourism destinations that clean, creative, quirky public toilets go a long way to boosting a destination’s image and generating tourism dollars. People stop to spend a penny and end up spending more.
The 2018 awards will go to public toilets in the following categories (7):
Best Economic Contributor – for when people stop at a toilet in a destination and stay on to spend more than a penny.
Best Location – where the toilets have views and may be considered an attraction in themselves.
Best Design – architectural brilliance in toilets, visual design and creativity.
Quirkiest Toilet Experience – relating to local heritage, fun, or otherwise noteworthy.
Best Accessible Toilet – supporting the idea of Tourism for all.
Sanitation Progress – aimed at developing economy destinations that have made big steps in public toilet provision.
Overall Commitment to Toilet Tourism.
14 February 2018 – Entries Open
01 May – Entries Close
04 June – Winners Announced
The overall winner will receive a AU$2000 donation contributed to the World Toilet Organization for allocation to a sanitation project in a developing economy. The donation will be made in the name of the overall winner, who will also receive a copy of every MyTravelResearch.com research publication in 2018 (worth AU$8000), and access to tourism research events. Other category winners will receive the same, minus the donation to the World Toilet Organization.
No Entry Cost for Toilet Tourism Awards
The 2018 International Toilet Tourism Awards are free to enter. Destinations or toilet owners simply fill out an online firm here and submit it before the closing date of 1 May 2018. Winners will be announced 4 June 2018.
A judging panel drawn from the tourism and toilet provision sectors will be announced shortly.
Click here for more information and to enter.
21 May 2018 NZ Museum Awards: And the winners are…
14 Feb 2018 Entries open for heritage tourism award
4 Dec 2017 Operators scoop sustainable business awards
20 Oct 2017 GeoZone, Air NZ win innovation awards
18 Oct 2017 Hospo’s rising stars celebrated at awards
24 May 2018 Watch: Queenstown’s $37m Amway bonanza


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Port Klang Authority is forecasting itself to be ranked 11th in the World Container League for 2016 based on developments since its performance in 2015 when it went up one spot from 12th.
It has registered positive growth of 10.8% in 2016 with a total of 13,169,577 TEUs in container handling compared to 2015. The Port Klang Authority's Northport facility handled 3,223,544 TEUs while its Westports facility handled 9,946,033 TEUs.
This growth has been attributed to efficient and productive terminal operators, strong support of its shipping and logistics community and the port’s supply driven facilities, in addition to “advanced, state-of-the-art cargo handling equipment”.
Port Klang Authority also announced that strong cooperation and coordination between it and the terminal operators in resolving operational issues has raised the confidence level of port users.
Container throughput 2016:
- Growth of 3.6 % compared to 2015, handling 2,063,736 TEU
- Northport – 802,993 TEU
- Westports – 1,260,743 TEU
Export throughput 2016:
- Growth of 3.9 % compared to 2015, handling 2,038,527 TEU
- Northport – 760,148 TEU
- Westports – 1,278,379 TEU
Transshipment throughput 2016:
- Growth of 14.3% compared to 2015, handling 9,067,314 TEU
- Northport – 1,660,403 TEU
- Westports – 7,406,911 TEU
Total Performance in TEU Jan to Dec 2015/2016 growth:
- Container Throughput – 10.8%
- Transshipment – 14.3%
Northport and Westports have announced that they will adopt green technology in port operations “embracing the government’s commitment towards enhancing environmental preservation and sustainable development of the port industry”.
Port Klang Authority was presented the Green Ports Award Scheme (GPAS) by APEC Port Services Network (APSN) in November 2016 as its emission reduction and energy efficient technology is widely used in port vehicles and cargo equipment. Other initiatives include ship and domestic waste management system and the use of energy efficient lighting in the port areas.
The Port Klang Authority revealed this month (January 2017) that they plan to develop and build a new terminal on the nearby island of Pulau Carey.


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Showing a 180-degree reversal from this time last year (see “Cloud and colo optical spending takes a 1H17 dive: Cignal AI”), members of the cloud and colocation market enthusiastically purchased optical network systems in the second quarter of 2018, according to Cignal AI. The market research firm states in its most recent “Optical Customer Markets Report” that such companies spent at record levels during the quarter. While such companies still represent only a small slice of the global optical hardware market, firms such as Google, Microsoft, and Amazon accounted for nearly 25% of North American optical systems sales during 2Q18.
“While cloud and colo spending is still not near traditional telco demand for optical transport equipment, the balance is shifting. This is particularly true in North America, where cloud and colo operators now provide both technical and financial leadership to the supply chain,” said Andrew Schmitt, directing analyst at Cignal AI.
Ciena benefited most from this trend, taking the top spot in this niche due to the popularity of the company’s WaveServer platform. Infinera moved into second place, thanks in part to its recently closed acquisition of Coriant. Not surprisingly, Cignal AI reports that Huawei is doing well in this space in China with sales to Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent.
Nevertheless, as Schmitt points out, incumbents continue to compose the largest customer demographic – with incumbent spending in China equal to that of all other regions combined. Cignal AI reports that the Europe/Middle East/Africa (EMEA), a laggard for several years, saw spending pick up in the quarter. North American cable MSOs also picked up their outlays, both quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year.
The quarterly “Optical Customer Markets Report” covers optical equipment sales in five customer markets – incumbent, wholesale, cable MSO, cloud and colo, and enterprise and government. The latest report includes results through 2Q18 and details equipment vendor market share for sales to cloud operators. The report also offers updated regional forecasts, based on expected spending trends by customer market.
For related articles, visit the Business Topic Center.
For more information on high-speed transmission systems and suppliers, visit the Lightwave Buyer’s Guide.


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Sep 20, 2022
Outboards With a Microplastic Collection Device
Suzuki has begun production of the world’s first outboard motor that collects microplastic pieces in the ocean as it runs. The initiative to develop such a design for their motors is a part of Suzuki’s Clean Ocean Project. Five mid-size outboard motors with this attachment are being made at the moment. Worldwide shipments of the engines will be made, notably to important markets in North America and Europe. “Since 2010, Suzuki Motor Corporation has been voluntarily conducting the ‘Clean-up the World Campaign’ essentially a collection of organised clean-up activities in seas, rivers, lakes, and ponds where the outboard motors are used” (www.suzukimarine.com/clean-ocean-project).
How Does It Work?
Select Suzuki outboard models with 40 hp and more are said to have the device installed under the cowling, and installation is said to be simple. The device filters water after it has pass through the engines cooling system before it is returned to the ocean. According to Suzuki, the system’s design ensures that it has no negative effects on the engine’s cooling capacity or performance while driving.
Is It Effective?
The device successfully collected microplastics in the oceans after extensive testing in Japan. Further improvements will be made based on more findings after continued use. The filtering system has already shown that it can capture many different types of microparticle pollution, including urethane, nylon, and wood chips, among other things.
(Source: Hakai Magazine)
The Dangers of Microplastics
The risks that these tiny pieces of debris, commonly known as microplastics, pose to fish, marine animals, and other aquatic life are well known to marine biologists and the scientific community. This is a problem that extends beyond national borders and is negatively affecting our oceans. It will need a collaborative effort from the business sector, the scientific community, and outdoor enthusiasts from all over the world to solve this issue. The Suzuki outboards that collect microplastics are a huge step in the positive direction to helping conserve oceans.
(Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Overview of SUZUKI CLEAN OCEAN PROJECT
1. Clean-Up the World Campaign
A volunteer waterside clean-up campaign by Suzuki Group employees and partners, conducted from 2011. Until March 2022, 53 distributors and more than 10,000 people worldwide have participated in total. From this year we will expand and further continue the campaign.
2. Reduce plastic packaging
Suzuki aims to reduce the plastic packaging for outboard motors and genuine parts, under the keywords “1) Can we stop using it? 2) Can we reduce the amount? 3) Can we replace it with materials of less environmental impact?”. Since its start in October 2020, we have avoided using over 11t in plastic packaging. We aim to further reduce plastics in 2022 by increasing the number of applicable products and genuine parts.
3. Collect marine-plastic waste (equipment of the Micro-Plastic Collecting Device)
Suzuki aims for the further improvement of marine environment and the realization of a sustainable society, by promoting the SUZUKI CLEAN OCEAN PROJECT, along with our customers all over the world.www.suzukimarine.com/news


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When Ivan Munoz moved to Franklin County from Miami nearly 14 years ago, he immediately saw a need for a taxi service.
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — A Rogersville man was sentenced Friday to five years in federal prison for running a boat building scheme that defrauded customers out of more than $4 million.
The Union Board of Aldermen recently approved some recommendations from the city’s planning and zoning commission, including a planned project by developer Ed Schmelz.
Farmers & Merchants Bank and First State Community Bank are both welcoming appointees to their boards of directors, according to news releases from the companies.
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Chicago-based aerospace giant Boeing Co. will invest $200 million to begin manufacturing the U.S. Navy's latest unmanned aircraft at MidAmerica St. Louis Airport in a project that could add at least 150 jobs on the company's southwest Illinois campus, officials said Friday.
Washington was not chosen as the winner of T-Mobile’s “Hometown Techover” contest, a nationwide contest sponsored by T-Mobile that initially garnered “thousands of entries.”
After 33 years at the helm of Russell Colonial Funeral Home in St. Clair, Nancy Russell has sold the business.
With the recent passage of a gradual 12.5 cents-per-gallon state gasoline tax increase and the possibility of getting billions more for Missouri highways and bridges from a $1 trillion federal infrastructure package, the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) is in as good a place for…
As of Thursday morning, more than 900,000 people in Louisiana still did not have power four stiflingly muggy days after Hurricane Ida made landfall. It’s why Ameren is sending more than 300 workers from across Illinois and Missouri to Baton Rouge to assist in repairing damage and restoring p…
A tomato’s sharp acidity dancing across the tongue is one of the purest experiences of late summertime in Missouri, as is butter dripping down your chin after taking a big bite from a cob of sweet corn. Maybe the healthy crunch of a cucumber is more your speed, or the coolness of a perfectly…
NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart said Tuesday it will start farming out its delivery service, using contract workers, autonomous vehicles and other means to transport rival retailers' products directly to their customers' homes as fast as just a few hours.
Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes rose in July for the second month in a row, though they only increased modestly from a year ago, suggesting the red-hot housing market may be cooling off a little.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — General Motors said Friday it is recalling all Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicles sold worldwide to fix a battery problem that could cause fires.
Going to the car dealership can be a huge hassle, and according to Pacific resident Kelly Stumpe, that difficulty is often compounded for moms. Sometimes moms have to load up the kids, talk to a salesman for a half-hour, meet the manager, show their license and have them call — all to find …
TOKYO (AP) — Toyota is scaling back production in North America and Japan as the surging coronavirus pandemic in Southeast Asia and elsewhere crimps supplies.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of people seeking unemployment benefits fell last week for a fourth straight time to a pandemic low, the latest sign that America's job market is rebounding from the pandemic recession as employers boost hiring to meet a surge in consumer demand.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Billionaire Warren Buffett’s company has again increased the size of its bet on grocery giant Kroger while scaling back several of its health care industry investments.
Home Depot's sales continue to surge, though same-store sales appeared to come back to earth after a year in which the home improvement chain outperformed expectations repeatedly.
After a brief hiatus from the rankings, Washington Metal Fabricators has again been named one of the 40 most successful metal fabricating operations in the U.S. by The Fabricator, a leading industry magazine.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Declaring the U.S. must “move fast” to win the world's carmaking future, President Joe Biden on Thursday announced a commitment from the auto industry to produce electric vehicles for as much as half of U.S. sales by the end of the decade.
Not only are temperatures soaring during these dog days of summer, but demand and prices for HVAC services also are up. The only things going down for the industry? Labor and supply.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Richard Trumka, the powerful president of the AFL-CIO who rose from the coal mines of Pennsylvania to preside over one of the largest labor organizations in the world, died Thursday. He was 72.
Union planning and zoning commissioners have recommended approval of a new Riechers Tire and Auto location on the northeast corner of Denmark Road and Progress Parkway, just off Highway 50, on the east side of Union.
Truckers parking to sleep for the night, littering and even throwing bottles of urine out their windows have created a problem on the Interstate 44 ramp in Pacific, and the city is looking for solutions.
These days it seems like you can put any word in front of “shortages,” and it will ring true: toilet paper, labor, lumber. Recently, restaurants have had to add ingredients to that list.
Frick’s Quality Meats announced Wednesday that two-thirds of its production employees will be seeing up to a $3-an-hour wage increase beginning Monday, July 19.
Hermann-based Stone Hill Winery won the award for best wine at the Missouri Wine Competition, one of more than 40 honors it took home from the competition, July 13-15.
Customers will walk by four 12-foot skeletons adorned in pirate costumes to enter Treasure Aisles Outlet, set to open in St. Clair in early August.
Union is considering using federal stimulus money for a system it hopes will draw more commercial businesses to the city.
Out-of-towners interested in staying in Washington on the nights of Aug. 4 through Aug. 8 might be out of luck; fairgoers have area hotels nearly booked up.
A pair of short-term rental properties in Washington will soon hit the market after the Washington City Council voted Monday to issue special permits allowing the Locust Street homes to operate as short-term rentals.


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Hyzon Motors (NASDAQ: HYZN) fell 9.10% during trading today, despite beating delivery expectations for 2021.
Bad news had a heavier impact on sentiment, as the company shared that the Securities and Exchange Comission has subpoenaed documents in relation to allegations from Blue Orca Capital.
The latter has been a vocal short-seller of Hyzon and has previously called the hydrogen fuel-cell producer a “zero-revenue” hydrogen SPAC, after claiming that it doesn’t have major customers and has misled investors that it did.
Hyzon confirmed it is cooperating with the request and seems to have decided not to add to a previous strong-worded response to Blue Orca’s accusations back in October.
The company did however express confidence that its ability to deliver 87 fuel cell powered vehicles last year (vs 85 expected), will allow them to grow even more in 2022.
Given that supply chain issues have plagued the entire automotive industry, co-founder and CEO Craig Knight was understandably upbeat: “Thank you to all of our customers, employees, suppliers, shareholders and supporters who helped us battle the global supply chain headwinds and better the expectations for 2021 deliveries.
As Hyzon completes compliance and homologation requirements for vehicles in North America and Australasia, government support for hydrogen steadily grows, and commercial understanding of fuel cell electric vehicles’ unique suitability for heavy transport increases.”
Orders from clients in Europe and China were some of the highlights of last year, but Hyzon Motors also worked on several other directions in 2021.
Hydrogen production in Oklahoma, more effective H2 storage and a partnership with TC Energy seem to be paving the way for other revenue streams, apart from those of heavy vehicle deliveries which seem to be grabbing the headlines.
The broader market still seems unconvinced by the company’s prospects, as the stock has dropped 41% in the past 12 months.


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Three in every 100 pound coins are fake as number of counterfeits hits 44 million
There are around 44 million counterfeit pound coins in circulation, three million more than only nine months ago, it emerged yesterday.
The number of counterfeit £1 coins has more than doubled in the past decade, with three out of every 100 coins in circulation a fake, an official study by the Royal Mint found.
The lower levels of counterfeits found in previous surveys have already led to fears the Royal Mint could be forced to scrap the entire denomination and reissue it – at vast expense to the taxpayer.
Pound con: An official study by the Royal Mint found that there are now around 44million fake £1 coins in circulation
Anyone using a fake pound coin is officially breaking the law.
Shoppers often only realise they have a fake coin when it is rejected by a parking meter or vending machine, as these machines contain devices to monitor whether the metal composition of the coins is correct.
But at least half of fakes are now so good they pass these tests. The Royal Mint carries out surveys every six months to track levels of counterfeiting.
It is thought that the proportion of fakes has tripled in the last decade – which could lead to a dramatic lack of confidence in the currency.
Robert Matthews, the former Queen’s Assay Master at the Royal Mint, the most senior coin tester in the country, has previously commented: ‘If the number of fakes keeps increasing at this rate, there will have to come a point when the Treasury makes the decision whether to remint or not.’
A spokesman for the Royal Mint said that any decision to remint coins in the UK due to counterfeit activity would be a matter for the Treasury.
The Royal Mint says on its website it takes counterfeiting and fraud ‘extremely seriously’ and has published a guide and poster on how to spot fakes. It advises people to check whether the design on the reverse of the coin matches its year, as the images change every year.
Pricey: The alloys used to make coins in the Royal Mint. The reminting process is hugely expensive, and would cost taxpayers millions
The milled edges of counterfeit coins are often poorly defined and the lettering is uneven in depth, spacing, or is poorly formed.
The orientation of the obverse and reverse designs tends to be out of line on fake coins.
And the fakes can be different colours to genuine coins, or the colour will be too shiny and golden for how old the coin is supposed to be.
Other countries have been forced to reissue coins when fakes became too prevalent.
South Africa reissued its five rand coin in 2004 after taxi drivers and shopkeepers began to refuse to accept them.
Fakes made up only 2 per cent of coins – a percentage point below the current level of the pound coin.
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Oh boy. Another group has jumped on the “Let’s Sue Colorado” bandwagon that seems to be part of an emerging trend. First, Nebraska and Oklahoma decided to sue the state for legalizing cannabis, claiming that the inevitable influx of legally procured, illegally transported cannabis over Colorado state borders is causing a constraint on local law enforcement.
Now, a D.C.-based group, Safe Streets Alliance, has taken it upon themselves to sue Colorado as well. Their reason? According to their press release regarding the lawsuit, it's on behalf of those “who have been injured by the commercial marijuana industry in Colorado.”
Who exactly has been “injured” in Colorado? The thousands of employees with a promising career in an up-and-coming industry? The taxpayers who will be receiving a tax refund from the flourishing industry? The Colorado youth that they claim to represent, whose cannabis use has been on the decline since legalization?
Safe Streets Alliance is led by James Wootton, a veteran of the Reagan Administration Justice Department, and the crusade’s stance is eerily reminiscent of Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No!” campaign from 1982-1989. (Just Say KNOW, Nancy. Just Say KNOW.)
James Wootton also penned the Y2K Act of 1999, an entire bill devoted to damages relating to the failure of any device or system to process the transition from the year 1999 to 2000….so clearly, Mr. Wootton is no stranger to overreacting.
The worst part of waking up to see a new lawsuit over legalization?
When Safe Streets Alliance released the original press release, they misspelled “marijuana” – spelling it “marajuana.”
P.S. What’s with the lack of lawsuits towards Washington? We legalized, too, you know!


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Nike tests a new technology to dye fabrics without water
Kenyan marathoner Abel Kirui ran for Olympic games in London last summer wearing a Nike uniform that was dyed in his nation’s colors without the use of water. The runner garments mark the first results from Nike’s new investment in DyeCoo Textile Systems Inc few times ago.
Usually, it needs a lots of water to dye fabrics. As an average, between 100 and 150 liters of water is needed just to process a single kilogram of textile material, and the synthetic textile dyeing industry uses 2.4 trillion gallons of water per year. “That’s enough to fill 3.7 million competition swimming pools”, Nike said.
A new process that uses fluid carbon dioxide to dye fabric
DyeCoo designs and manufactures machines using a process that involves carbon dioxide (CO2) and non-toxic gases that come from the waste streams of other industries to dye textile-materials. “The result is a dyeing process that is not only waterless, but also produces as much as 60 percent fewer carbon emissions than conventional methods” Nike says in a news release. The waterfree dyeing process has also considerable lower operational costs compared to the conventional dyeing processes.
- Elimination of water consumption
- Elimination of wastewater discharges
- Wastewater treatment process eliminated
- Elimination of drying and dryer effluent
- Reduction in energy consumption
- Reduction in air emissions
- Reduction in dyeing time
- Surfactants and auxiliary chemicals in dyes eliminated
- Dye utilization is very high with very little residue dye. Unused dye can be recaptured
- Approximately 95% of used CO2 will be recycled
- Fewer redyes are required
- Color correction is easier compared to aqueous dyeing
The DyeCoo investment was the first made by Nike’s Sustainable Business & Innovation Lab, which have for mission to focus on making investments in sustainable production technologies.


text: A national survey by the Mortgage Bankers Association earlier this year found that more than half of Americans planning to buy a house want more information about the process. The survey also said that 95 percent of respondents thought it was important to have access to information that was easy to understand. In late June, the association launched www.homeloanlearningcenter.com to help consumers sort out the details. The site covers such topics as renting versus owning, finding the right mortgage, and the importance of credit reports. Consumers can also research housing costs for their market, learn about Habitat for Humanity, file a complaint about a lender, and sign up for government assistance.


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Sotheby’s and RM Auctions have announced the formation of a new strategic partnership, RM Sotheby’s, in which Sotheby’s will acquire a 25 percent ownership interest in the car-auction company, with the opportunity to increase its stake. (The market for collector cars, it’s perhaps worth noting here, is $2 billion.)
Sotheby’s has collaborated with RM on sales in the past, in both Europe and the United States, such as the November 2013 Art of the Automobile auction in New York, which drew nearly $63 million in two hours and set a new auction record for a Ferrari 250 LM at $14.3 million. The two companies say they also have a significant overlap in top collectors.
The first RM Sotheby’s sale will take place in Amelia Island, Florida, on March 14, with additional auctions in Fort Worth, Texas; Lake Como, Italy; Monterey, California; London; and New York, among others, scheduled for later this year.


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Homegrown cachaça brand Maracatu Cachaça appoints Distilled LLP as its exclusive distributor in Singapore.
Singapore-based Maracatu Cachaça has announced the appointment of independent spirits distributor Distilled LLP as its local distributor, the latter tasked with distribution and brand expansion in Singapore. Founded in 2014 by Andreas Schneider and Catarina Longman, was recently named the world’s 7th trending cachaça brand and the 8th best-selling cachaça globally, according to the Annual Brands Report 2018, published by Drinks International.
“We must keep the positive momentum going and solidify our presence in the Singaporean and Asian markets,” says Andreas Schneider, Maracatu’s co-founder and Managing Director. “We believe that Distilled is the right partner to represent our brand in Singapore,” he adds.
Started by Chris Marshall and Stefanie Goh, Distilled is an independent, Singapore-based brand development agency representing boutique beverage brands both locally and regionally. “We are excited to have Maracatu Cachaça as part of our select portfolio,” says Chris Marshall. “Cachaça is an interesting and complex spirit and we look forward to fulfilling its potential in Singapore.” Other brands in the Distilled portfolio include Black Cow Vodka, Codigo 1530 Tequila, Don Papa Rum, and the Lost Distillery range of whiskies.
Maracatu Cachaça can currently be found in premium bars and restaurants in Singapore such as Manhattan, Origin, Bitters & Love, Bar Stories and 28 Hongkong Street, as well as online here.


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Vista Outdoor enters agreement to sell off eyewear brands
By Christen Smith
Vista Outdoor announced an aggressive divestiture strategy to rightsize the company late last year. (Photo: Vista Outdoor/Facebook)
Vista Outdoor announced a definitive agreement for the sale its eyewear brands, the company announced this week.
A private equity firm based in Europe will acquire Bollé, Serengeti and Cébé, generating approximately $158 million for Vista. The news comes nearly eight months after Chief Executive Officer Chris Metz unveiled an aggressive divestiture strategy designed to stabilize the company after years of unchecked growth.
“The business will have the opportunity to reach its full potential under new ownership,” Metz said of the deal. “This divestiture is the first step in our transformation plan and will be the first of several potential asset sales that will significantly reduce Vista Outdoor’s leverage and provide additional resources to for us to reinvest in our core businesses.”
Vista owns 55 companies in firearms, ammunition and shooting accessories, including Savage Arms, Stevens, Federal Premium, Speer and American Eagle. It also holds brands in the outdoor lifestyle market. In the weeks after taking over Vista last year, Metz warned quick, “decisive” action laid ahead in order to turn around double digit earnings losses.
He told investors earlier this year “the company grew too fast and beyond


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Everybody’s looking forward to see the new iPhone 6 next week. What do you think is the most wanted feature? Better camera? Bigger screen? Mobile payments? You might be surprised. Customer surveys show that people definitely want improved battery life. But sapphire glass is the new feature consumers are hoping for most.
FinancesOnline took a look at the new features people want most, and the existing features people most want to see improved.
Sources: FinancesOnline, uSell.com


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Daft Punk, the electronic music duo from France, won five Grammy awards including album of the year, while Macklemore & Ryan Lewis took home four trophies and led an industry show of support for gay marriage.
Ritsuhiko Tajima has about 100 CDs by his favorite artist, Japanese girl-group AKB48, many of them copies of the same disk. The attraction? The CDs often include tickets to events where he can briefly meet his idols.
The CD’s reign as the music industry’s biggest U.S. revenue source will end this year, eclipsed by downloads and newer streaming services such as Spotify Ltd. and Pandora Media Inc., according to a researcher.
Amazon.com Inc. , the world’s largest online retailer, grew at a faster pace than leader Apple Inc. in song downloads in the U.S. last quarter and tied Wal-Mart Stores Inc. for second place in overall music sales.


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The winner of a Super Bowl Sunday promotion will receive the first installment of his lifetime supply of Dietz & Watson deli meats and cheeses.
Kevin Williams of Philadelphia was set to get his first delivery from Philadelphia-based Dietz & Watson — a “treasure chest” full of meat and cheese delicacies — on Feb. 28.
Williams won a contest that ran on the company’s social media sites on Super Bowl Sunday Feb. 11. The “Ye Royal Deli” promotion, as it was called, featured the tagline “Deli, Deli,” a takeoff on Bud Light’s series of Medieval-themed ads with the “Dilly, Dilly” tag.
During the event, Dietz & Watson took orders for free Dietz & Watson meats and cheeses via social media. Deliveries within Philadelphia were made by people dressed in medieval garb. Outside of Philadelphia, participants received orders via Amazon Prime Now.
In all, Dietz & Watson is distributing 18,500 gift packs ordered through the promotion.
“We weren’t sure how many people would participate in this promotion, and to be honest it was a lot more than we were estimating,” says Lauren Eni, the company’s vice president of brand strategy. “But what a great problem to have! The opportunity for us to reach out and communicate on-on-one with these potential customers and thank them for participating in the promotion and giving them a chance to try our premium deli meats and cheeses.”


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Systemax staff are shellshocked in the wake of the revelation that jobs in Europe - the region leading growth across the company - are to be cut. The reseller is consolidating back-office functions into a shared services centre in Eastern Europe as well as shuttering two retail brands and closing down PC production lines …
Typical of a US company
When things get tough, sacrifice anything overseas to stop the home boat sinking, even if they throw out the lifeboat division.
Re: Typical of a US company
Certainly this is so.
What is it about US people that makes them so blinkered?
As a former employee I'm glad to see that Pim is just as (un)committed as previous management to keeping employees informed about the company they work for...
- Apple muscles in on biz world AGAIN – this time with Cisco pact
- VMworld 2015 Ed Snowden crocked cloud, says VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger
- Mass redundancy marathon nearly over at HP
- Hidden password-stealing malware lurking in your GPU card? Intel Security thinks not
- VMworld 2015 VMware unleashes vCAOS on the world


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Well this is a turn up for the books, Capcom has just announced a reversed delay for Dead Rising 2â€¦ wondering what a reversed delay is?
Well for once it’s a good thing, instead of delaying Dead Rising 2 they are actually going to be releasing it earlier than anticipated and it will now hit store shelves on the 24th of September.
A good 4 days before it lands in the USâ€¦ yeah it’s not the biggest groundbreaking news but we also complain when a game is delayed so let’s have a quite cheer about a game arriving earlier than anticipated.
I never played the first Dead Rising and I have to admit I am not overly excited about this one. Zombies are starting to become a little bit boring I feel.
Last Updated: August 12, 2010


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Facebook has filed a countersuit claiming Canadian telecommunications company Mitel Networks is infringing on patents it now owns, The Next Web reports.
The social network alleges that Mitel infringes on its patents for a “telephone status notification system” and “user definable on-line co-user lists.” These are both patents that Facebook bought from Microsoft a month after Mitel’s initial patent suit was filed. The patents were originally owned by AOL, but the company sold them to Microsoft in April.
In March, Mitel filed suit against Facebook over patents for “pro-active features for telephony” and an “automatic web page generator.” The challenge came a week after Yahoo filed suit over 10 patents it claims the social network violated. Facebook ended up countersuing Yahoo as well, but the companies came to a settlement last month that includes cross-licensing their patent portfolios and a new advertising partnership.
It is unclear whether Facebook will pursue a similar patent-sharing deal with Mitel. The social network has also filed a motion to dismiss Mitel’s initial lawsuit.


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Bitfinex Intends to Launch USDT on LN
On May 31, Bitfinex, a cryptocurrency exchange giant, plans to launch the Lightning Network (LN) to USDT stablecoin which is managed by its sister company, Tether.
Aside from that, according to Paolo Ardoino, chief technology officer of Bitfinex, the company will launch USDT on LN this year. Moreover, the firm entered the RGB open source development project to proceed with its objective.
In addition to that, the RGB project is entirely free, open-source, non-profit, and community-oriented effort. Also, BHB Network promoted it and focused on the progress of the standards, and best practices to issue, transmit and store bitcoin-based non-bitcoin assets. Then, Ardoino also commented on the development. He said that it is one of the coolest things the company participated so far.
Furthermore, Bitfinex wants to be a part of LN’s development. And a post of Tether in April 2017 proved that the firm already made plans for stablecoin during that time.
During the week, Tether declared its partnership with EOS parent company Block.one. And it aims to introduce its stablecoin on the EOS blockchain.
Recently, the social media giant Facebook had talks with United States-based crypto exchanges about the issuance of its rumored stablecoin called Globalcoin.
EOS’ Annual Inflation
Meanwhile, EOS holders voted to lessen the annual inflation rate from 5% to 1% on June 1. The voting platform organized by EOS Block Producer (BP) EOS Authority showed the data.
Aside from that, 4% of the current 5% of annual EOS inflation goes to the saving account. And the other 1% proceeds among BPs in exchange for network maintenance.
In addition to that, this on-chain account receives around 3.6 million EOS every month. Also, the figure continues to increase due to compound inflation mechanisms.
However, the original purpose of collecting funds on the account is to have the community vote on ways to spend it.
On the other hand, EOS parent company Block.one reported a blockchain-based social media platform dubbed as Voice.


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Ahmedabad : Gujarat’s tourism department has sought Sri Lanka’s help in developing resorts along its coastline given the island nation’s vast experience in running several resorts and spas along its beaches, an official said Friday.
A tourism department official here said the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority has been invited to develop resorts comprising world class facilities along Gujarat’s 1,600-km coastline that is dotted with beaches, whose tourism potential remains untapped.
“The Gujarat government had already signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority to seek cooperation from its tourism industry leaders for developing resorts in Gujarat,” the official said.
A proposal has been mooted by Sri Lanka’s tourism industry leaders to tour Gujarat’s long coastline to study the feasibility of setting up resorts or even help Indian entrepreneurs set up hotels there, he added.
Apart from expressing keenness to help develop tourist hotspots in Gujarat, Sri Lanka’s tourism authority carried out an elaborate campaign to promote its leisure destinations during the Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors Summit that concluded earlier this month here.
Sri Lankan tourism officials are also keen on developing Buddhist sites across Gujarat, the official added.


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Programmers are profiting at the expense of distributors, and in the middle of it all, consumers are the ones paying the price.
Mobile broadband is poised to push mobile services to $976 billion, according to a recent report.
House Democrats are pressuring federal regulators for the second time in a month about Verizon Wireless' marketing deals with those cable operators from which it has proposed buying AWS spectrum.
The MSO has now extended the new cloud-based business services product to 19 states in its footprint.
C Spire Wireless is taking on AT&T's dominance in the home phone market with a new fixed wireless device designed to serve as a replacement for subscribers' landline phones.
The major wireless providers fell flat in the first quarter on slowing smartphone adoption, according to a report from Fitch Ratings.
Cable operators’ rollout of DOCSIS 3.0-based data services and digitization efforts in developing economies were cited as key drivers.
The semiconductor company has introduced a pair of new subscriber line interface circuits for DOCSIS applications.
Houston-based Alpheus Communications will invest more than $10 million to expand its workforce and fiber network to support its new market of selling high-bandwidth services directly to Texas businesses.
After naming Samsung as its LTE vendor, C Spire Wireless said that Alcatel-Lucent is building and deploying the network ahead of its debut.
Infonetics Research recently analyzed trends in the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) market and found that LTE was the top driver for IMS deployments.
The software-based system uses the TR-069 protocol to manage customer equipment, regardless of the type of network.
Motorola Mobility President Dan Moloney is leaving the company, and former Charter CTO Marwan Fawaz is now on board as EVP of the company’s Home division.
Bright House Networks has landed a multi-year services contract with Orange County Public Schools in Florida.


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- Hounslow customers prepare to be amazed by Metro Bank’s 10th Store
- Metro Bank won’t charge any customers to use debit cards overseas at ATM’s OR point of sale
- Open seven days a week – banking when the customer wants to bank
This week Metro Bank will hit double figures with its 10th store in Hounslow bringing seven day banking to thousands of new customers in West London. Everyone opening a new account will enjoy being able to use their debit and credit cards overseas without any charge from Metro Bank, whether they are withdrawing cash from an ATM or at point of sale*.
Hounslow will have 2 days of opening celebrations where everyone can enjoy stilt walkers and popcorn, balloons and performing dogs as well as a new, convenient and customer focused store to do their banking.
The Hounslow store is a fantastic place to celebrate the continued expansion of Metro Bank across London, and further demonstrates the bank’s ambition to be the local bank on every high street. In store customers can use the free coin counting Magic Money Machines, there are instant issue debit cards** and cheque books** as well as safety deposit boxes. These benefits can all be enjoyed at a time that is convenient to them as Metro Bank is open 8am – 8pm Monday – Friday, 8am – 6pm Saturday and 11am – 5pm Sunday and bank holidays, 361 days a year!
Metro Bank has already seen over 40,000 individuals and businesses open accounts since the launch of the bank in July 2010. Hounslow is the next step towards the Metro Bank expansion plan to open over 200+ stores over the next 10 years, with High
Wycombe, Watford, Ealing, Chiswick, Reading, Staines, Epsom and Hemel Hempstead set to open in 2012.
Craig Donaldson, Chief Executive Officer at Metro Bank, said: “We are delighted to be hitting double figures with our store in Hounslow and want individuals and businesses to come and help us celebrate. We will bring them a completely new, convenient and customer focused way of banking and we can’t wait to welcome them into our new store.“


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The PlayStation Now service may have ended on the PlayStation 3 and PS Vita but Sony intends to update the service by bringing PlayStation 4 games to the lineup.
Revealed on PlayStation Blog Sony plans to add PS4 games to the streaming service, with a beta planned in the upcoming weeks. PlayStation Now subscribers can partake in the beta and should keep their eyes out for an invitation via email.
Sony hasn't given a date but plans to release the update in 2017, most likely before the holiday season.
“We’re excited to announce that PS Now’s catalog is set to grow even further, as we’ll be expanding to include a new platform: PlayStation 4 games,” said Brian Dunn, Senior Marketing Manager at PlayStation Now. “All of the games in the service, including PS4 games, will be included with a single PS Now subscription. We’ll share more information as we get closer to launch, so stay tuned.”
At the moment the PlayStation Now services has over 400 games available to stream and it's likely Sony will add acclaimed PS4 games to encourage new subscribers, perhaps Uncharted 4 and Ratchet and Clank PS4.
Sony does have to contend with Microsoft's latest Xbox Game Pass which will provide over 100 Xbox One and Xbox 360 games for $9.99. Let's see if Sony can keep their lead over Microsoft.
Source: PlayStation Blog


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Google Tests Project Stream, Users Can Play Assassin’s Creed Odyssey in Chrome
Google is trying to take a piece of the yet inexistent streaming market with Project Stream, by providing users with a way to play Assassin’s Creed Odyssey in the Chrome browser.
The idea that we can stream games, just like we do with movies, is an older one. Some companies tried it and some that still are. One of the most famous was OnLive, which made some waves during an E3 conference a while back.
Cloud virtualization sounds like something that can be done, but it turns out that it’s not that easy. Subsequently, OnLive struggled to survive and to find investors, only to be bought by Sony all the way back in 2015.
Google is getting into games
Google is a company that probably knows about virtualization technology more than anyone, and it has much deeper pockets. Now, the company revealed that it’s working on Project Stream, which sounds a lot like OnLive, on paper.


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Before Xiaomi’s recent announcement, many believe that the company will be unveiling the Redmi Note 4 at its launch event on 27 July. Now, however, Xiaomi has confirmed that the Redmi Pro will be introduced on that day instead. On top of that, the device will also be unveiled alongside a “mysterious small partner.”
Based on its name alone, the Redmi Pro could very well mark a new direction for Xiaomi’s Redmi series of smartphones. If early benchmarks of the device are to be believed, the Redmi Pro will come in two variants: one will be powered by a MediaTek Helio X20 processor with 3GB of RAM, while a higher-end variant will be packing a Helio X25 chipset with 4GB of RAM.
Xiaomi’s recent announcement concerning its 27 July launch event is a very, very interesting one. For one, the device pictured above with a dual-camera setup was believed to be the Redmi Note 4, but as an earlier leak suggests, the device does not have a dual-camera system. Chances are, the leaked device above – and below – is in fact the Redmi Pro.
While Xiaomi’s confirmation is interesting, the fact that the Xiaomi Redmi Pro will be launched alongside a “mysterious small partner” is arguably even more noteworthy. After all, it may just be Xiaomi’s first-ever laptop.
(Source: MIUI Forums)


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Print Edition - 2015-05-20 | MONEY
Traders accused of selling tarpaulins at inflated prices
-, , , Sarlahi/Biratnagar/Banke
May 19, 2015-
Traders have been accused of selling tarpaulins at inflated prices amid the earthquake disaster even as there has been a massive rise in imports after the government waived customs duty on the waterproof sheets used as shelters.
During normal times, tarps were imported by declaring the price as Rs400 apiece on the customs declaration form. The government has presently freed importers from declaring their price. A 15 ft x 12 ft tarpaulin costs around Rs800 in India. However, people have been complaining that they have had to pay up to Rs1,600 for a tarp in the local market.
Upendra Mahato, member of the Nepal Sadbhawana Party, blamed traders for increasing the market price exorbitantly. “The state should intervene and put an end to the black market in tarpaulins during this critical time,” he said. Ganesh Basnet of Ramechhap also said that he had to pay double the normal price for a tarp which he bought in Hariaun, Sarlahi.
Customs Chief Tirtha Raj Paswan said weak government inspection had created a black market for tarps. “At a time when there is high demand for the product, many sellers have been taking undue benefits by charging high prices instead of helping in the relief campaign,” he said. Meanwhile, the Biratnagar Customs Office reported that the import of tarpaulins for commercial purposes had increased three-fold compared to those being brought in for relief purpose. Following the earthquake of April 25, the government has announced that no customs duty and VAT will be charged on tarps until June 3.
As per the customs office, social organizations have imported more than 26,000 tarpaulins while over 74,000 pieces have been imported for trading purposes in the three weeks since the earthquake. Traders have to pay only Rs565 as customs service charge while during normal times they would have to pay 30 percent customs duty and 13 percent VAT.
As of Sunday, Balaji Traders had imported 27,268 units, Parnema Enterprises 12,383 units, Binod Enterprises 10,685 units, Kantipur Plastic Suppliers 4,150 units and Krishna Hardware 4,185 units of tarpaulins, according to the records of the Biratnagar Customs.
The importers are suspected to be hoarding the tarpaulins for sale in the future. Biratnagar Customs Chief Krishna Basnet said the surge in the import of tarpaulins had raised suspicions over the traders’ true intentions. As per government rules, tarpaulins imported for relief cannot be sold to the public, said Basnet.
The Inland Revenue Office and the Inland Revenue Department are supposed to monitor the distribution of the tax-free tarpaulins.
Likewise, the Nepalgunj Customs Office has reported swelling tarpaulin imports. As of Monday, importers had brought in over 66,000 tarpaulins while social organisations had imported 42,500 units.
Customs Officer Thakur Acharya said enterprises had been importing the product in larger quantities after the government waived customs duty. Bishnu Lamichhane,
general secretary of the Nepalgunj Chamber of Commerce, said traders had started selling tents and tarpaulins due to soaring demand for the products.
Published: 20-05-2015 08:00


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A study of parking in downtown Baton Rouge found that drivers are over-utilizing free and metered spaces on the streets and are less likely to use garages and paid parking lots.
“The on-street parking is saturated. There’s no excess supply,” Robert Schmidt, associate vice president and director of operations transportation for AECOM, told the Downtown Development District Board of Commissioners Tuesday morning. The meeting was held in the Holiday Inn Express, the 88-room hotel that opened two weeks ago.
Overall, there’s enough parking downtown to accommodate the activity downtown and future development, Schmidt said. It’s just that the existing supply of parking spaces isn’t as efficiently allocated as it should be.
Because on-street parking is so heavily used, there’s a perception of overall scarcity, he said. “If you’re used to going downtown and looking for on-street parking and you can’t find a space, you think ‘Wow, we have a parking problem.’,” Schmidt said.
The study found a number of policy changes could be implemented to help the parking situation downtown, such as:
- Stepping up the monitoring of parking meters to create more turnover
- Financing strategically located public parking structures in busy areas
- Expanding trolley service so people can park in areas during slow times and take a bus to a busy destination. One example would be parking at the River Center during a weekday and riding a trolley to the State Capitol
- Developing shared parking concepts, so spaces can be used by downtown workers during the day and by people visiting downtown attractions and restaurants on nights and weekends.
Davis Rhorer, executive director of the DDD, said some of these measures are already underway. Parking meters will be installed on Third Street next week to prevent motorists from just taking over spots in the middle of the arts and entertainment district. There’s also talk that the new parking meters that will be installed downtown will include apps to let drivers know when spaces are available.
“We need to do a better, efficient use of parking down here,” Rhorer said. “We need to be very smart about using those garages. As things develop, we need to be able to use these things at night.”
In other items that came before the DDD:
ONYX RESIDENCES: three tenants were announced for the mixed-use apartment building under construction at Third and Convention streets. IberiaBank, Kean’s Fine Dry Cleaning and Regal Nails will all have locations in the Onyx Residences, which is set to open in the first half of 2016.
This will be the first branch downtown for IberiaBank, said Tamara Palmer, who will serve as branch manager. Palmer said the downtown branch will have a look and feel like an Apple store instead of a traditional bank, with tables instead of teller lines. IberiaBank plans to open an ATM downtown before the end of the year.
The retailers will take up about 3,000 square feet in the Onyx Residences, said Tina Rance, who handles leasing and marketing for Commercial Properties Realty Trust, which is developing the 28-unit building. About 1,800 square feet remain and Rance said Commercial Properties is negotiating with a tenant to take up the space.
COMMERCE BUILDING: Michael Lang, development manager, provided an update on the $20 million redevelopment. Lang said he’s negotiating with a local user who wants to put a “European-style cafe and bistro with outdoor seating” at the Commerce Building’s residential entrance. “We think that will be a real nice use for that corner at Third and Laurel streets,” he said. Lang said he’s also looking for a restaurant to occupy a space on the building’s rooftop.
Plans are to have 93 apartments on the building. Lang said pre-leasing will begin in October or November, and tenants will start moving in January.
COURTYARD BY MARRIOTT: The DDD voted in favor of a special tax increment financing district for the 137-room hotel, which will be built at the corner of Third and Florida streets. The Courtyard, which is set to open in fall 2016, is seeking a rebate of the 2 percent sales tax on rooms from East Baton Rouge Parish government. The creation of the taxing district allows the property to levy an additional 2-cent sales tax on rooms and goods sold that will help offset their costs. The Metro Council is set to vote on the hotel TIF at its July 22 meeting.
Follow Timothy Boone on Twitter @TCB_TheAdvocate