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AUTO INDUSTRY GEARS UP FOR R-134a CONTAMINATION
Automobile a/c systems contaminated with R-40 are currently unrepairable
by Bob Chabot
Refrigerant contamination has been a long-standing concern, but recently the stakes have been raised. “Virgin” R-134a cylinders as well as R-134a air conditioning (a/c) systems have been found to be contaminated with dangerous levels of R-40 or R-40/R-22 blends. At first, the problem was isolated outside the automobile industry. But that’s changed.
Several months ago, the Refrigerant Analysis Division of Neutronics Inc. was engaged by the Maersk Line, the global shipping container division of the A.P. Moller - Maersk Group, to assist with a R-134a refrigerant contamination problem in shipping containers that resulted in several deaths and a significant interruption to ocean transport. In some cases, virgin R-134a cylinders were found with R-40 contamination levels as high as 30 to 40 percent. Since then, incidents have been reported in other industries, including automotive.
Contamination of R-134a by R-40 threatens technician, shop and equipment safety
“Both R-40 and R-40 blends have been discovered in 30-pound cylinders and a/c systems fraudulently labelled as R-134a,” explains Ward Atkinson, co-chair of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Interior Climate Control Standards Committee (ICCSC). “Although there is no indication that cylinders or a/c systems containing R-40 or R-40/R-22 blends are in the North American automotive marketplace yet, incidents elsewhere in the world indicate there is potential this could occur here.”
“These blends can damage mobile a/c systems and service equipment, let alone do physical harm,” cautions Atkinson. R-22 is incompatible with most automotive a/c system elastomers (such as flexible refrigerant lines, O-rings or gaskets), which could lead to a/c system leakage problems.
R-40 is even worse. This contaminant is extremely toxic, flammable and highly reactive when exposed to aluminum — commonly used in a/c systems — to form a third, highly volatile compound known as trimethyl aluminum that is explosive upon contact with air. R-40 is a harmful and dangerous material that is not suited for use in automotive R-134a a/c systems. When present, the consequences can be expensive, let alone devastating.
Since December 2011, automotive refrigerant cylinders labeled as R-134a and automotive a/c systems have been found to be contaminated with R-40 and R-40/R-22 blends. Klima Tec Webasto Servicecenter, a German automotive a/c firm, has documented cases of R-134a-labelled a/c systems in American and other military vehicles returning from service in Afghanistan contaminated with either R-40 or R-40/R-22 blends.
In addition, Klima Tec and several other European a/c firms have reported incidents involving passenger vehicles. Peter Coll, vice president of Neutronics Refrigerant Analysis, also affirms that R-40 contamination cases involving passenger cars, trucks and military vehicles have also been reported in India, Afghanistan and the Middle East.
Automotive a/c industry stakeholders are taking precautionary action
Both parties agree that taking immediate precautionary measures to protect the industry, participants and its customers is a warranted first step.
“Customs, port authorities, the Coast Guard and other federal agencies are aware of the problem and are looking more closely at the documentation and physical packaging of the materials coming into the country,” explains Coll. “They are being supported in their efforts by bona fide refrigerant manufacturers.”
DuPont, Honeywell, Mexichem Fluor and other refrigerant manufacturers have ramped up anti-counterfeiting efforts and instituted new security measures and technologies to detect counterfeit refrigerants more quickly. Refrigerant, equipment and tool manufacturers are increasing awareness among end-use customers about the risks of using counterfeit products and the merits of using manufacturer-authorized suppliers.
Their aim is to inform shops and technicians about what preventive measures can be employed to ensure that they do not receive and use counterfeit products contaminated with R-40 or R-40/R-22 blends. In addition, they are working to combat counterfeit activity, by removing internet store-front listings of counterfeit refrigerants, conducting investigations, training customs officials, assisting law enforcement in conducting raids and seizure of refrigerant goods in multiple regions, and establishing innovative product identification methods and technologies.
Consider these recent statements from refrigerant manufacturers:
- “We have invested substantial resources to develop and commercialize our innovative refrigerant technology,” says Paul Sanders, Honeywell’s managing director for Europe, Middle East, Africa and India. “We are taking the necessary actions to protect that investment and ensure that users get the high-quality product they need.”
- “We’ve seen evidence of counterfeiting in virtually every region and across multiple product lines,” states Greg Rubin, global business manager, DuPont Refrigerants. “The contamination problem is real and it is growing, and the impact can include significant injury and tragic loss of life. DuPont will continue efforts to educate the industry on the problems posed by counterfeit refrigerants in the marketplace and be vigilant in its investigations to uncover the source of counterfeit materials.”
- “Counterfeit refrigerants are extremely dangerous and alarmingly more widely available in the market,” says Rafael Dávalos, Mexichem Fluor CEO. “Be wary of R-134a being sold well below the current market price. This could be a tip-off that the product may be counterfeit and not what you need.”
Accurate refrigerant identification and analysis is crucial — before service
“We have no specific information yet as to what the European automakers are doing regarding R134a service,” shares Coll. “But we do know that the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) members — Audi, VW, Porsche, Opel, Ford, BMW, and Daimler — are requiring refrigerant analyzers that will be used on their new R-1234yf cars must detect 1.5 percent R40 and reject any higher concentration.”
Requiring that identifiers be able to detect R-40 suggests that automakers believe the contamination problem necessitates that precautionary steps be taken now. Expect future refrigerant identifiers that are planned to be integrated in new R-1234yf service machines to also be able to recognize the presence of R-40 and other refrigerants.
Coll says that existing refrigerant identification tools are not able to specifically identify and measure the presence of R-40 or R-40/R-22 blends in R-134a systems. The challenge faced by a/c equipment and tool manufacturers is that developing a special application to identify R-40 or R-40/R-22 blends would result in a substantially more expensive tool for which there may not be sufficient demand to justify its purchase by aftermarket a/c shops.
“We are not aware of any identifier from any manufacturer that is currently capable of detecting small amounts of R40 in R134a,” Coll explains. “We will have a new unit available in April 2012 that will reject any R134a that is not 98 percent pure. As an example, if a sample was 97 percent R134a, and the balance was R40, the display would read ‘97 percent R134a, 3 percent unknown.’”
Recommendations for automotive service shops and technicians
As important as precautionary, prevention and quality advice is, one crucial question remains: What does a shop or technician do if a R-40 contamination shows up in a vehicle being serviced? The realities of dealing with this contamination issue are stark and expensive from a prevention perspective. The consequences, should an a/c system being serviced at your facility be found to be contaminated with R-40, are worse.
“As far as R-134a contaminants are concerned, R-40 is about as bad as it can get,” Coll advises. “Currently, if R40 is found in a system, the system is considered unrepairable. There is no safe and approved solution for removal of the refrigerant and neutralization of the aluminum compound that may have been formed.”
Resolving the contamination requires the collaborative effort of industry stakeholders — automakers, equipment and tool manufacturers, suppliers and distributors, service facilities, technicians, educators, regulators and others. “Neutronics continues to work closely with SAE, the Mobile Air Conditioning Society (MACS), Air Conditioning Heating and Refrigeration Insitute (AHRI) and all other pertinent organizations to help mitigate this very troublesome development,” Coll adds. “For example, research is being conducted by SAE and other industries to determine safe removal and disposal methods.”
Atkinson concurs. “The SAE ICCSC is actively working on guidelines to determine if and what percentage of R-40 is present in an a/c system, safely removing R-40 from an a/c system being serviced, what technician training is needed, protecting vehicle occupants from toxic exposure should R-40 leak from aluminum evaporators in a vehicle a/c system and other initiatives.”
When asked what various types of automotive organizations could do — right now and over the longer term — to prevent, detect and measure R-40 contamination, Coll offered the following advice:
In the interim, while standardized safety, R-40 removal procedures and training regimens are developed and established, service professionals should recognize that existing and unauthorized emerging a/c industry service workarounds to R-40 contamination put people, equipment and vehicles at risk. Until then, stay informed about progress towards solutions that reputable industry bodies are making, commit to being quality conscious and verify refrigerant purity both at purchase and before servicing any vehicle a/c system. After all, no one needs to turn a risk into a liability.


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More than three-quarters of telemarketing companies admit to not being fully compliant with the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, according to the results of a survey conducted by a compliance monitoring service, and more than half of all companies make calls after 9pm.
Only 23% of the companies that participated in the survey said they were “fully” compliant with the TCPA, while 29% said they were “somewhat” compliant, and 48% said they were either not compliant or not aware of what the TCPA is.
While telemarketing is not directly related to collections, it is these kinds of numbers and statistics that get thrown out whenever a state or federal lawmaker or regulator wants to overhaul the TCPA to make it more restrictive. For companies — like creditors and collection agencies — these are the kinds of stereotypes that need to be dismantled in order to help improve the regulatory landscape of TCPA compliance.
“The results of this survey should be a wake up call to businesses that utilize the services of telemarketing agencies,” said Greg Sparrow, Senior Vice President and General Manager at CompliancePoint, which conducted the survey. “Businesses need to understand that handing-off telemarketing services to third-party vendors does not exempt them from regulatory fines if the telemarketing agency fails to comply with federal regulation.”

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By Ihechi Enyinnaya
Erisco Foods chairman, Dr. Eric Umeifia has been branded ‘arrogant, primitive and local’ by Netizens, after he appeared on Arise TV to defend the arrest of a consumer who said there was much sugar in Erisco Tomato paste.
Daily Review Online monitored his interview and the reactions if Nigerians.
Umeofia claimed Nigerians have continued to “attack him” on the issue the same way they attacked the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Boards (JAMB) in June 2023, when Mmesoma claimed she had scored 362 in the UTME exams.
“This is another Mmesoma and JAMB case,” Umeofia said on Arise News TV.
“People were castigating JAMB, but nobody got the guts to say, “JAMB, sorry for what I said”. People must come back and tell me sorry.”
Umeofia further said he would be suing Egodi Jnr. for N5 billlion if she failed to publish an apology on her social media accounts within seven days.
“If you don’t like it (Nagiko Tomato Mix), buy another one. But because she is determined [sic] people tell her don’t destroy this product… [said] she said it’s a lie… he will abuse you [sic]… people should go and read what she (Egodi Jnr.) posted, to show you that she is determined to kill us. So, why must I leave her?” Umeofia said during the interview.
Nnamdi Abana took to his Facebook page and wrote: Erisco Chairman is on Arise Tv. He is flexing his muscles and justifying the action he took by arresting Chioma and transferring her case to Abuja.
“The local man came in dressed in a green jacket branded Erisco foods with a purple shirt. By his dressing I knew what to expect and he proved me right.
“He lacked communication skills and tact, he is a one man square riot who doesn’t see the need of having a communications professional to do a clean job for his company.
“Interestingly, he couldn’t send his lawyer to speak on behalf of his company.
“The common denominator in all his submissions were “I told the Insoectir General”, “I told the lady”, “Innoson begged me” and many other “Is”.
“You can run a sole proprietorship business based on “me, myself and I” but not a company; more so a company in a crisis situation.
“Banks and other well-established corporate organisations hire reputable PR organisations to do the damage control (crisis management) which includes reputation management to salvage the already bad situation. The crisis managers will stay on it sometimes for several months before the dented perception is erased.
“Unfortunately, Erisco’s outing on Arise was an opportunity to salvage what has been lost in the bad situation but the owner of the company went there to finish the damage he had already started. Sadly, he referrer to the regulatory body (FCCPC) vested with the responsibility of consumer production as liars. So, he escalated the fight by joining a regulatory body in his issue.
“He said the lady had written a letter of apology which he read on air. According to him he said that the lady said, he said that the lady said she didn’t know what came over her before she posted on Facebook. Interestingly, the man kept threatening that should the lady fail to post the letter ofnapolohlgy on Facebook he’ll take legal action against her and press for 5 billion Naira damages. He also claimed that he lost some mega transactions as a result of the negative review by the lady.
“We know that a lot can go on at the police station, which includes compelling victims to tailor their statements oI even an apology letter. Whether the apology is by her volition or compulsion we are yet to know.
“Chioma needs a sound lawyer to grapple with the CEO of Erisco Foods. Saying that the rich shouldn’t be oppressed by the poor is not just subjective but an ineffective way of reasoning.
That said, we are all watching as this issue metamorphoses….”
Steve Uzoechi wrote: “This one is primitive and arrogant! The so-called tomato puree abi potopoto, fell from heaven abi? For which you can manipulate the police to arrest a citizen for voicing her dislike for the product. I blame the Consumer Protection Agency that should have put the amateur company in their place! Erisco my foot! Mtcheew!”
“I am suing her for ₦5b if she doesn’t post her apology on Social Media”
Nma Bekee Fred wrote: “Somebody should tell this man to engage a Crisis Communication Consultant immediately. He has done more damage to his brand by this TV interview.
In the coming months, his KPI will show him that.
“Na his employees I dey pity because they will be the ones to suffer more if sales go down.
“If you are running a business, especially consumer goods, there are things you don’t do, whether you are right or wrong.
“As a business owner, people will always say things about your products (good or bad), but how you handle them will decide what happens to your brand.
“Now that he has said on national TV that he will be suing the woman if she does not post an apology on social media, everyone will know that whatever apology she put out was done under duress.
“What that woman wrote has little or no effect to the brand compared to the actions the company has taken so far.”
Kelechu Deca wrote: “Somebody who is not an entertainer wearing such multicolored jacket should tell you something. That the size of his ego is humongous.
“Does he actually care about brand?”
Unegbu Bishop Amah said: “I don’t think it makes any sense suing that lady for whatever damages because if she engages a sound lawyer that company won’t find it funny because a consumer has the right to complain especially, if he/she has used or consumed the product and discover that what was advertised wasn’t the truth about the product. It’s only here in Nigeria that manufacturers intimidate consumers with court actions because of poverty. I’m not in any way in support of that lady using some of the words she used but most of our manufacturers in Nigeria do tell so many lies and hide many facts about their products in their ads.”
Peter Edeh said: “I wonder whether Erisco Foods does not have a Legal Adviser. Haven’t they considered that a simple defence of “fair comment” is available to the girl? She said that she tasted the tomato and it was very sugary. That’s a very subjective test, the result of which you can hardly argue against successfully. Her taste bud and another person’s own definitely have different thresholds of sensitivity to sugar. If she says that Erisco’s tomato was very sugary to her taste buds, who can argue with her? What is sugary to her might be not-so sugary to someone else, and it is fair for her to describe exactly her own personal assessment of the product. She did not lay any claims to expert laboratory tests. She simply said that she “tasted” the tomato, and not that she “tested” it. I don’t see the company succeeding in litigation, so I agree with those who are of the opinion that Erisco Foods should have handled the issue better.”


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According to the latest reports, Tesla Inc chief and billionaire Elon Musk has become the world’s richest man by surpassing Amazon.com Inc’s top boss Jeff Bezos.
As per the Tesla shares’ gains on Thursday, now Musk has a net worth of $188.5 billion, which is $1.5 billion more than Bezos.
Earlier, Elon Musk added more than $100 billion to his net worth in 2020 had passed Bill Gates as the world’s second-richest person.
According to the details, Elon Musk’s year of dizzying ascents and jagged peaks hit a new apex as he overtook Bill Gates to grab the world’s second-richest ranking.
49y-old’s net worth soared $7.2bn on Mon to $127.9bn, driven by another surge in Tesla’s shares. Musk has added $100bn to his worth.
His rise on the index from the 35th-richest person in January is attributed to his technology company Tesla, which is nearing $500 billion in market value.


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LG ROLLS OUT APPLE AIRPLAY 2 ON 2019 THINQ AI TVS,
FIRST GLOBAL TV MANUFACTURER TO SUPPORT HOMEKIT
With AirPlay 2, 2019 LG ThinQ AI owners can effortlessly stream content -- including Dolby Vision titles – from iPhone, iPad and Mac straight to their TV sets. Users can stream their favorite movies and television shows from the Apple TV app and other video apps as well as view photos directly on their LG ThinQ AI TVs. Users can also play Apple Podcasts, Apple Music and music from their library or other streaming services through their LG AI TV and other AirPlay 2-compatible speakers in their home at the same time – all in sync.
HomeKit enables users to conveniently control their smart home with the Home app or via Siri on their Apple devices. LG ThinQ AI TVs can be easily added to the Home app, from which users can access basic TV functions such as power and source.
“LG remains at the forefront of TV technological innovation because of our never-ending quest to deliver the best home viewing experience,” said Mr. Andy Kim, Director of Home Entertainment Product Management Team. “With Apple AirPlay 2 and HomeKit support, we are demonstrating our commitment to offering consumer benefits that go beyond just best-in-class picture quality.”
Apple AirPlay 2 and HomeKit will begin rolling out to owners of 2019 LG ThinQ AI UHD 4K TVs in Hong Kong starting this week.


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Aimé Leon Dore Opens New London Flagship
The London flagship opening marks the latest extension from the brand, which earlier this year saw LVMH Luxury Ventures taking a minority stake.
Aimé Leon Dore is expanding its reach.
This week, the New York City-based brand unveiled its new London flagship located at 32 Broadwick St. In a press release, the new shop is touted as “the newest extension of the brand.” A video, seen above, provides viewers with an inside glimpse at the latest space for ALD, which recently rolled out a New Balance 991 collab.
At the top of the year, it was announced that LVMH Luxury Ventures was taking a minority stake in Aimé Leon Dore. In a statement at the time, ALD founder Teddy Santis touted the deal as providing the necessary “fuel” for a new era of expansion for the brand.
“LVMH’s vast network of global leaders across the industry and its rich history in growing exceptional storied brands offers a truly unique partnership opportunity to fuel the next chapter of growth for Aimé Leon Dore,” Santis said.
Confirmed in the January announcement was that ALD would continue to operate independently, albeit with new “support and guidance” from the larger LVMH Luxury Ventures team. More recently, ALD linked with Wool Rich for a collaborative Spring/Summer 2022 collection. See looks from the collection here.


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Aston Martin is preparing to raise funds to expand its range of models into new areas including crossover SUVs, two sources with knowledge of the matter said, as the loss-making sports car maker steps up its turnaround efforts under a new boss.
The British high-end marque is working on plans to issue new shares or bonds and extend its current recovery strategy by three years to 2020, the sources said, adding that luxury sedans and hybrid models also featured in its plans.
“It’s an expansion from the current model range, ” one said, speaking anonymously because the matter isn’t public.
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Aston Martin, James Bond’s carmaker of choice, is the underdog in a British luxury auto industry dominated by Tata-owned Jaguar Land Rover, its next-door neighbour in the otherwise quiet Warwickshire village of Gaydon.
Held back by its ageing models and weak investment, the company has missed out on a luxury car boom that saw the global market almost double in five years. Last year it delivered 4, 200 cars, far short of a pre-financial crisis peak of 7, 300 in 2007.
Aston Martin is examining debt- or equity-raising options to finance a bigger plan, the sources said. Further cash will be freed up by more efficient management of working capital such as vehicle and parts inventory.
The fundraising would generate 100-150 million pounds ($156-$234 million), with any new shares offered to current investors, said one of the sources, close to the strategy discussions.
Aston Martin and its main private-equity backers, Kuwait’s Investment Dar and Italy’s Investindustrial, declined to comment. Bondholder Waddell & Reed did not return calls.
Milan-based Investindustrial and the Kuwaitis together control 93 percent of Aston Martin, acquired in successive capital raisings since Ford sold the company in 2007.
A further 5 percent is held by Daimler , underpinning a partnership struck last year for the German firm to supply Mercedes engines and technology to Aston Martin.
Aston has already begun updating existing models under a 500 million pound investment strategy drawn up in 2012, when Investindustrial paid 150 million pounds for a 37.5 percent stake. That plan sees a replacement for the 120, 000 pound DB9 in late 2016 and a return to profitability the following year.
At a lavish party in London last week, new Chief Executive Andy Palmer unveiled a DB10 concept car that will feature in the next Bond film, “Spectre”, and may offer design clues about future production models.
“It will come as no surprise when I say that the year ahead is going to be busy across the board, ” Palmer told guests.
Aston may be happy to see the back of 2014, which began with the recall of 17, 590 cars to address defective accelerator pedals. More recently, it won an exemption from safety rules that threatened U.S. sales of the coupe and convertible versions of its DB9 and Vantage models.
However, Palmer’s room for manoeuvre remains limited by 410 million pounds of existing debt, maturing in July 2018. Weak credit ratings inflated financing costs to 26.9 million pounds last year, when Aston recorded a 16.7 million net loss.
The company is paying out 10.25 percent annually on the latest $165 million bond issue in March, whose CCC+ rating from Standard & Poor’s was closer to default than investment grade.
The upgraded strategy will be announced at the Geneva auto show in March, the sources said.
Sales of the new models will add to Aston’s recovery goal of 7, 500 deliveries for the core sports cars, bringing the overall target closer to 10, 000, one source said.
The push faces toughening competition, with Maserati and Bentley <VOWG_p.DE> already moving into SUVs. Besides the Maserati expansion, Fiat Chrysler has said Ferrari’s annual production cap of 7, 000 vehicles should increase.
“The super-premium market is about to get pretty crowded, and the cost of competing there is high, ” said London-based Exane analyst Stuart Pearson.
Success or failure may hang on “how much Aston can draw on the partnership with Daimler and leverage its research and development, ” he said.
Palmer, who filled a CEO vacancy that had been open since Ulrich Bez’s retirement last year, has already hinted at grander plans for the four-door Taraf sedan launched in the Middle East in limited volumes this year under the revived Lagonda brand.
Daimler has also said it could share SUV architecture with Aston, a message broadly reiterated by CEO Dieter Zetsche after Palmer’s September appointment.
The two men became well acquainted as Daimler increased development and manufacturing cooperation with Nissan , where Palmer, 51, served as CEO Carlos Ghosn’s second-ranked lieutenant until his defection.
Within his first six weeks in Gaydon, Palmer hired former Nissan marketing chief Simon Sproule and, in a clear sign of intent, created positions for three vehicle programme chiefs within a new planning department.


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Several parts of North America, Africa, Australia, Europe, and South America have decriminalized cannabis and made it legal for medical use. However, it is still illegal in the Middle East and Asia. Every person who uses cannabis should be aware of these laws, especially if they are traveling or relocating to another country.
This article is a compilation of mail order marijuana laws from around the world, as well as a quick reference guide. As a result, whenever you visit a new region, you should take a quick look to see if you are allowed to use cannabis freely there.
In some European countries, cannabis use is currently legal or decriminalized in various stages. Czech Republic, Portugal, Russia, Croatia, Spain, Ukraine, and Switzerland are among these countries. It is, however, still illegal in the rest of Europe.
By vaping discreetly, you can avoid the possibility of being randomly caught in a cannabis search. However, the smell of cannabis continues to divide people, and if you are caught in an area with strict anti-cannabis laws, you may face legal consequences.
The European cannabis debate stops just short of Turkey. Although Turkey is beginning to relax its prohibition on cannabis, it is still advised that you do not bring it with you when visiting the country.
If it is in small quantities and clearly stated that it is for personal use, European police may also turn a blind eye to weed. If you have a large amount of cannabis on you, it may appear that you are trying to sell it, and this is something you should avoid. If you buy cannabis in Europe to share with a group of people, you should divide it into smaller amounts as soon as possible before the police search.
Caribbean and the Americas
Cannabis use is either legal or illegal in the United States and Canada. Even in states where it is completely legal, it is highly recommended that anyone visiting such countries remain discreet, just as it is in Europe.
Despite the fact that cannabis is legal in the United States, some people in the Americas and Caribbean may object to the smell of it when it is smoked or vaped around them. When you get to the south of the United States, things get a lot more complicated, so be cautious.
South American countries are more accepting of marijuana, as many have decriminalized possession of the drug, despite the fact that sales and cultivation remain illegal.
Jamaica is the only country in the world where cannabis use is accepted as part of the culture. Other nations are either legal, semi-legal, or unrecognized (so long people are discreet with it). Costa Rica, Mexico, Peru, Belize, Columbia, Peru, Argentina, Ecuador, and Uruguay are among the countries where it is currently legal, semi-legal, or illegal.
When traveling outside of Jamaica, carry small amounts of cannabis, just as we did in Europe. In addition, emphasize that it is for personal, non-commercial use only.
Asia and the Middle East
When visiting these areas, the best thing to do with cannabis is to stay away from it. Except in South Korea, where it can only be used for medical purposes, cannabis is currently illegal in these countries. There is also a rumor that it is legal in North Korea, but due to the country’s lack of access to information, this is still up for debate.
In the Middle East and Asia, most people still regard cannabis possession as a serious crime, while others completely disregard it. It is illegal to touch cannabis in some countries, including Singapore, Turkey, Korea, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Malaysia, and Japan.
In countries like India, Laos, and Cambodia, it may be legal to use cannabis. Also, keep in mind that foreigners should not expect to be treated any differently than locals. If you visit these areas, be sure to research the peculiar cannabis status of the countries you visit and follow the rules.
When traveling to Asia or the Middle East, it’s best to leave your stash at home because both forms of the plant are still illegal in these areas (medical and recreational).
Africa, Australia, and New Zealand
In Australia, New Zealand, and Africa, recreational cannabis is prohibited. Australia, which first legalized medical marijuana in 2016, is still at the forefront of global cannabis reform. Within the cultures of the local Australian people, cannabis was decriminalized and tolerated.
The enforcement of marijuana-related laws in Africa is ineffective. If you’re caught with it, especially in Nigeria and Ethiopia, you could face serious consequences. In comparison to other African countries, South Africa is the only country where cannabis is legal, yet consumption is still not encouraged.
Lesotho and Zimbabwe have authorized cannabis production for medical purposes, and other countries are considering doing likewise. Morocco, Ghana, Egypt, Malawi, and Kenya are among these countries. These countries will have a better chance of decriminalizing cannabis in the future.
“How about those who live in Antarctica?” you might question. People can do whatever they want because it is a kind of lawless place. However, please be cautious regarding cannabis possession when there, as there may be certain cannabis-related restrictions that you are unaware of.
Unlike in the past, many of these areas that may appear to be unfriendly to cannabis are now beginning to explore the plant’s medical benefits. Yes, many of these countries are still conservative, but the youth are reading about marijuana’s benefits and researching it.
They may be cautious for the time being, but experts think that cannabis has a bright future in these areas. North American countries provide an excellent example, where cannabis may still be outlawed at the federal level but is legal in individual states. People are gradually becoming aware of the value cannabis provides, allowing countries and regions to accept and legalize cannabis.


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President Donald Trump’s trade war with China and his pronouncements about tariffs have been rocking the stock market and investors.
Now, with a 15% tariff on $109 billion in Chinese imports taking effect September 1, and an additional $155 billion in goods scheduled to be subject to the same 15% levy on December 15, the hit to consumers is becoming all too apparent. (Those new rounds are in addition to a 25% tariff–that Trump has said will rise to 30% on October 1—on another $250 billion in Chinese imports.)
In a letter to clients last week, JP Morgan estimated that as the prices on common goods imported from China rise, the tariff war will cost households an average of $1,000 annually. Though the first round of tariffs on things like clothes, food and condiments go into effect in September, there’s still time to purchase other goods before their prices’ climb. Indeed, Trump said he chose to delay those tariffs until mid-December “for Christmas season, just in case some of the tariffs would have an impact on U.S. customers.”
Here are 7 things to buy before the December 15th round of tariffs go into effect: (for a full list of items affected by the December tariffs, click here):
The shoes on your feet — they were probably made in China. An estimated 99% of shoes in the United States are from China. The tariffs specifically target waterproof footwear, golf shoes, sports footwear, slip-ons, removable insoles and more. There are 56 shoe-type products in total that will face new tariffs.
The list of clothing articles facing new tariffs includes everything from bathrobes to shirts to suits to socks. The tariffs cover clothes for both children and adults. Even winter clothing, such as gloves, are on the tariff hit list. Hockey fans aren’t even safe, as tariffs will be applied to “ice hockey and field hockey gloves, knitted or crocheted, impregnated, coated or covered with plastics or rubber.”
3. Cell Phones, Laptops and Other Tech Gear
Lots of tech gear is also on the December tariff list. Those items include cell phones and laptops, keyboards, computer monitors, headphones and speakers. All could see prices rise as the tariffs go into effect.
This also means Apple fans should consider making their big purchases now to avoid hikes on these already-expensive products. President Trump has openly challenged Apple, taking to Twitter to assert that the company will not be getting a tariff waiver. “Make them in the USA, no Tariffs!’’ he tweeted. Some sources estimate the price of iPhones will jump as much as 10% as a direct result of the tariffs.
4. Baby Essentials
If you’re an expecting parent or already have small children, loading up on diapers before Dec. 15th could be a good idea. According to the tariff list, baby diapers of knitted or crocheted cotton, synthetic fibers or textile silk materials will be affected. New or expecting parents will also want to secure high chairs and booster seats before tariffs go into effect. Other related products that will be hit by the tariffs include bouncers, swings and walkers — all staples for the first years of a child’s life.
5. Holiday Items
Some items on the tariff list are everyday items you might not even think of as imported from China, such as greeting cards. If you’re old-school and still enjoy sending snail-mail for birthdays or holidays, it could get more expensive to do so. According to the official list, “Printed cards (except postcards) bearing personal greetings, messages or announcements, with or without envelopes or trimmings,’’ wll face new tariffs. Those who celebrate Christmas will see their tinsel, ornaments and nativity-scene decorations become more expensive after mid-December.
6. Personal Care Products
Your daily hygiene routine isn’t safe from the tariffs, either, particularly if you have long hair you want to straighten or dry. Electrothermic hair dryers and electric flatirons (including both travel and regular editions) are both on the list. Consumers can also expect items such as hairbrushes, nail brushes, makeup brushes, combs and hair accessories to become more costly.
7. Household Essentials
Everyday household items, including microwaves, clocks, curtains, scales, electric blankets, ceiling fans, household laundry machines, bedspreads and more will be subject to the December round of tariffs.
If You’re Rushing To Buy, Remember The Rewards…
Whether you’re loading up on items before the December tariffs go into effect–or just doing your regular Christmas shopping– remember that cash back and rewards credit cards can help you earn money or a reward for each dollar you spend. Keep in mind, however, that utilizing the right card for purchases is important. Not all credit cards are created equal, and maximizing credit card rewards can take some planning. If, for example, you intend to buy a new iPhone or Mac, you can get 3% back using the new Apple credit card. (Don’t feel like you need to spend all those rewards. Read how saving and investing your rewards dollars can add up through the years, big time.)
And Think About The Future
Of course, it’s still uncertain if President Trump will follow through with all the tariffs, raise them even higher, or strike a tariff-reducing trade deal with China. At the G7 summit this week, the President expressed regret over the tariffs; his aides, however, later said that what he regretted was not raising them faster. So who knows?
Plus, you may want to consider your spending in the context of the prospects for the broader economy. Chris Shaker, partner and consumer products senior analyst at RSM, a global network of independent audit, tax and consulting firms, says even if more items aren’t subject to tariffs, the trade war will also hurt consumers in terms of wages and employment. He cites factors such as slowed total income growth and the supply chain’s need to reduce labor costs as the culprits.
“Even if there are some products that don’t see a direct increase in cost, the consumers still may feel the pain in the form of lower wages,” Shaker says.


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LeEco has been busy this year building out their business and positioning themselves for success in markets outside of China, notably the U.S. market. Earlier this year they cut the ribbon on a new headquarters facility in San Jose for their U.S. operations. That was followed by their purchase of Vizio for $2 billion over the summer. Putting these pieces together means LeEco is now ready to make a big splash in the U.S. market, just in time for the 2016 holiday shopping season.
Earlier today invites went out from LeEco for their official U.S. launch. The event will be held in San Francisco on October 19th starting at 10:00 am Pacific Time. LeEco says their launch is about more than just screens, whether they be televisions or smartphones. Instead, the company is trying to build an entire “ecosystem model” that combines platform, content, devices and applications.
You can get a better feel for what LeEco has in mind in terms of their ecosystem via the video they released earlier this year. If you want to get on LeEco’s mailing list for updates on the big reveal event, head over to their web site at www.leeco.com.


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On September 5th, Xpeng Motors held a press conference of “Born Intelligent” at the Chengdu Motor Show, this is the first time its smart SUV 2020 Xpeng G3 and smart electric coupe Xpeng P7 unveiled in Chengdu Auto Show.
At this conference, Xpeng Motors announced the delivery of 2020 Xpeng G3, and Xpeng P7 will be officially launched in the second quarter of next year and will be delivered simultaneously.
As a Chinese EV startup, Xpeng G3 is the first EV from this company. Compared with the outgoing 2018 Xpeng G3, the biggest difference of 2020 Xpeng G3 is reflected in the cruising range. Under the NEDC comprehensive working condition, the 2020 Xpeng G3 400 has a range of 249miles(401 km), the long range version, 2020 Xpeng G3 520 has a NEDC comprehensive cruising range of up to 323miles(520 km) (the range outgoing models are 351km – 365km).
2020 Xpeng G3 features XPILOT 2.5 automatic driving assistance system, TJA( traffic congestion assist) and ICA (intelligent cruise assist), ALC (automatic lane change assist) and many other automatic driving assistance functions. Xpeng Motors said that the above functions can realize the L2.5 level automatic Driving function. In addition, the new car has different degrees of optimization and improvement in terms of chassis, handling stability, ride comfort and braking performance.
As a high-end coupe model that Xpeng Motors intends to refresh its definition of “smart car” concept, Xpeng Motors said that the theoretical NEDC cruising range of the Xpeng P7 is expected to exceed 600km, 0-100km / h acceleration time or can be 4 seconds, the high trim model will be also equipped with dual-motor four-wheel drive. The length of Xpeng P7 will reach 4.9 meters and wheelbase of 3 meters, the official says P7 is based on the German luxury sports car in terms of chassis and suspension specifications and tuning, the goal is to overtake the mainstream mid-size car, and compare it with the large-size car. In addition, relying on its intelligent hardware foundation, P7 is expected to achieve L3 autonomous driving functions.
Xpeng Motors starts to deliver its EV at the beginning of this year, it has already delivered more than 10,000 vehicles.
About Xiaopeng Motor


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Just for Fun
A spirited controversy continues about how to protect the copyright of
digital media, including music compact discs.
There are many sides to the issue, and numerous rights and interests to
protect. Below is a collection of information that suggests a resolution
may not be in sight.
The viewpoints expressed are those of the
authors, and are intended for informational purposes only.
We encourage you to subscribe to and support the
publications and websites that are working to keep consumers informed.
Recordings made in the United States are
protected by a 95-year copyright. But copyright laws in other countries
vary...in the E.U., it is only fifty years, even for recordings that
originated in the United States. This means that a lot of vintage
recordings are becoming "free use" in Europe and could find
their way into the U.S. as imports. Elvis, anyone? The U.S. record
companies are quite unhappy, naturally. Read about it all here.
Fighting for consumers' digital rights
Group proposes law to protect personal use of music, other content
Benny Evangelista, Chronicle Staff Writer
Friday, March 15, 2002
(c)2002 San Francisco Chronicle
With the debate between Hollywood and Silicon
Valley heating up over digital content, a group of entrepreneurs yesterday
proposed a law to protect consumers' rights to copy CDs, use an MP3 player
and watch a DVD on a Linux- based computer.
The newly formed DigitalConsumer.org,
spearheaded by Excite Inc. founders Joe Kraus and Graham Spencer and based
in Palo Alto, believes the rights of consumers are being trampled as the
major entertainment companies fight digital piracy.
"Under the guise of preventing illegal
copying, I believe Hollywood is using the legislative process to create
new lines of business at consumer expense," Kraus said during
testimony before a U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on digital
goal is to create a legal system that denies consumers their personal-use
rights and then charge those consumers additional fees to recoup
them," Kraus said.
The group launched a Web site to serve as a
voice for consumers. In the first few hours, 2,000 faxes to Congress were
sent through the site, Kraus said in an interview.
With the spread of
Napster-style file-sharing programs and the popularity of recordable CD
drives in computers, entertainment companies are pressing for new
technology and laws to stop illegal piracy of movies, music, books and
other copyright-protected digital content.
Record labels, for example, have introduced a
small number of CDs that can't be copied into the MP3 format. Sen. Ernest
Hollings, D-S.C., is drafting legislation that would require consumer
devices to include technology that protects copyrighted material.
Hilary Rosen, president of the Recording Industry
Association of America, said in testimony submitted to the Judiciary
Committee that Congress needed to act because the technology industry
isn't doing enough.
"The recording industry is suffering -- and
other content industries may soon be imperiled -- by rampant infringing
distribution of our works through peer-to-peer systems, other pirate sites
and ubiquitous CD ripping and burning technology," she said.
But Kraus said consumers could lose their
legal rights to that same content.
are not potential criminals," Kraus said. "We need to defend
consumer rights, make those sacrosanct and let the market work on
technology to balance the rights of intellectual property holders."
The group proposed a Consumer Technology Bill of
Rights that affirms the rights of consumers to:
content -- such as recording a TV show or song to watch or hear later.
-- Space-shift content -- such as copying
songs on a CD to a computer hard drive or portable player.
-- Make backup copies of content.
-- Translate content into different formats.
Someone who is blind, for example, could modify an electronic book into
-- Use technology "in order to achieve
the rights previously mentioned," which the group says affirms that
"no technological barrier can deprive you of your other fair use
E-mail Benny Evangelista at email@example.com.


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Over the past month we have had a growing interest in cPanels up coming control panel for Windows and many of our customers are interested in using it when it is released. We have had our eyes on this software since cPanel first released the news that they have started developing the software and we have agreed that we will be signing up to cPanels Enkompass for Windows 2008 Servers when a stable version has been released.
Currently we are unsure when a release will be released stable enough for companies to start using but we will keep all our customers informed.
cPanel, the leading Web hosting control panel software provider, has released the beta of its first Microsoft Windows Server® 2008-based product. Traditionally a Linux- and FreeBSD-based supplier of hosting automation tools, cPanel is collaborating with Microsoft to provide its customers with a greater choice of platform selection with Microsoft IIS7.
“Microsoft has shown a strong commitment to the hosting industry over the past several years,” said J. Nick Koston, CEO of cPanel. “cPanel’s Windows development team feels that Microsoft IIS7 offers a robust, high-performance Web server with increased security that the industry will quickly adopt. Microsoft Windows Server 2008 and IIS7 with its modern architecture and support for legacy products was the natural starting point for our expanded product offering.”
We have been hosting websites since 2002 and are always moving forward. All articles written under the Host Media author are created by the team who support our customers.


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New York - Wall Street stocks edged up in opening trade on Tuesday following a report showing modestly higher US retail sales in August.
Five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 16 413.78, up 42.82 points.
The broad-based S&P 500 rose 0.22% to 1 957.42, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.12% to 4 811.74.
US retail sales rose 0.2% in August, boosted by robust auto sales, but slightly below analysts' consensus estimate.
The retail sales report was one of the few remaining US data points ahead of the Federal Reserve's two-day monetary policy meeting that begins on Wednesday. Speculation is divided over whether the Fed will deem the economy strong enough to withstand the first rate hike since 2006.
"Trading volume will likely be on the light side again today as participants adopt a guarded approach ahead of Thursday's rate hike decision," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare.


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A COUPLE YEARS AGO, SATURDAY Night Live spoofed
how senior citizens use automated home assistant products such as Amazon’s Echo by imagining a fictional product
called Amazon Echo Silver—a device designed to help forgetful, hard of hearing seniors manage activities like turning up
the thermostat. Now Comcast, the parent company of the network that broadcasts SNL, has entered the market for assistive
devices intended to help the elderly age in place.
Comcast’s device, which doesn’t have a name yet but which
reportedly has a “personality” like Amazon’s Alexa, will enter the pilot stage
later this year through partnerships with major hospitals.
“The device will monitor people’s basic health metrics using ambient sensors,
with a focus on whether someone is making frequent trips to the bathroom or
spending more time than usual in bed. Comcast is also building tools for detecting falls,” sources told CNBC. 1
Additionally, Comcast is looking to provide the device to at-risk populations,
including the elderly and individuals with disabilities, with no plans to only
offer it to Comcast subscribers. The device will also not function like other
devices that control light or television switches or perform internet searches. It
will, however, be able to make emergency phone calls.
Comcast is the latest tech company to get into the home monitoring and
healthcare device market, and like other home assistance, raises issues about
data privacy for vulnerable populations. One market where Comcast could find
traction with its device is providers that are financially penalized when Medicare patients return to the hospital within 30 days of discharge. There are several monitoring services for the aging-in-place market, and Comcast’s broadband capabilities could help set it apart. ¢
1. Farr, Christina. “Comcast is working on an in-home device to track people’s health.” CNBC. May 21, 2019. www.cnbc.com/2019/05/21/comcast-


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JustDial data breach: Personal data of over 100 million users exposed online
Report suggests that 70 per cent of the data leaked online as a part of the breach belonged to the users who has called JustDial’s customer care number “88888 88888”.
- JustDial has suffered a major data breach.
- Personal data of over 100 million users has been exposed online.
- This includes names, email Ids and mobile numbers of JustDial users.
By Shweta Ganjoo: Data breaches have become fairly common these day. In the latest such incident, personal data of over 100 million Just Dial users was exposed online. This information includes details such as names, email IDs, mobile numbers, gender, date of birth and addresses of the users of the local search service.
The data breach was first discovered by independent security researcher Rajshekhar Rajaharia, who shared the details of JustDial's data breach in a Facebook post. "Dear Justdial Your 100 Million users data including name, email, mobile number, gender, dob, address, photo, company, occupation & other details are publicly accessible. Fix it ASAP," he wrote in the post.
According to Rajaharia, 70 per cent of the data leaked online as a part of the breach belonged to the users who has called JustDial's customer care number "88888 88888". As per his findings, the breach affected the users who dialed the company's customer care number even if they didn't access its mobile app or website.
The report was picked by The Hacker News after it was shared by Rajaharia, who told the publication that the breach happened via an older version of JustDial's website that remained unattended since mid-2015.
Apparently, the breach happened because some of its application program interface (APIs) endpoints had remained unprotected over the years. These allowed anyone online to view the profile information of over 100 million users including their mobile numbers and addresses. The report also noted that these API were able to fetch the personal information of newly registered users in real time.
JustDial revamped its website a few months ago and hence the newer version of the site remained protected from the breach.
At this point it remains uncertain if anyone had prior knowledge of the breach or if anyone was able to misuse the available information.
JustDial, on its part, has denied that the user data of over 100 million users has been exposed online. In a statement to The Economic Times, the company said that the above mentioned vulnerability affected the company's older platform and that it has been fixed now. The company has also undertaken a tech audit to ascertain any future vulnerabilities.


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News A highly refreshing update for the popular VR headset.
Cheap thrills The Quest 2 is faster, better quality, lighter, and cheaper than the original Quest. You just need a Facebook account to enjoy it.
news Existing owners who don't want to use a Facebook account have until 2023 before losing "full functionality."
News A change in how Valve counts VR headsets in Steam makes last month's numbers more accurate than ever.


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HONDA has done it again. Instead of whingeing about the strong pound making its Swindon-made cars more expensive in euroland, and threatening to move production elsewhere unless the Government joins the euro, Honda is doing something about it.
Yesterday it announced that its Swindon factory won't now make its new small cars for Europe after all. That's to be handled by its Suzuka factory in Japan. Instead Swindon will churn out even more off-road vehicles for the Americans, who love to drive them to the shopping mall.
It seems that Honda's smart management has noticed that the pound has been having a ghastly time against the dollar, down 10pc since the beginning of the year, so it makes sense to build more 4x4s here to be shipped over there.
Of course, Honda makes it sound so simple - and it's all done without a penny of Government subsidy. Honda prides itself on never accepting state aid. What a contrast to Nissan's president Carlos Ghosn, still trying to get his £40m aid package for his Sunderland plant.
Honda's nimbleness is partly down to its "New Manufacturing System" which allows it to switch production from one model to another in only eight weeks. It's impressive. Some companies take that long to order new pencils.


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Fresh from the tap, sealed and delivered to your door – and you can drink some, reseal it and finish later. Welcome to the latest innovation in craft beer consumption.
Burger King’s ad for its Vietnamese-inspired burger shows customers trying to eat with a pair of giant novelty chopsticks, to which Asian-New Zealanders ask 'why'?
On Friday March 29, the Spinoff published a ranking of every chip flavour in New Zealand. Everyone promptly lost the plot. Chip ranker Madeleine Chapman wonders where she went wrong.
The Beer and Cider Awards are serious business in the industry - so why not send along a beer novice to see what it's all about? Sam Brooks writes.
Taking the time to make pasta by hand is a soothing, restorative experience, as is making sourdough bread. Combining the two, then, is a recipe for a very zen afternoon – not to mention a delicious dinner.
With the erstwhile corporate king of Easter now a persona non grata, where's a marshmallow egg fan to turn? To this list, that's where.
In the second part of a series in which The Spinoff gets to know who, what, where and how our food gets to our plate, Alex Casey learns about how olive oil is made.
Despite being in its infancy, Thorvald could barely keep up with demand for its sheep's milk cheese and yoghurt. But Tasman's devastating drought has effectively put the company out of business.
Proceeds from the sales of a new cookbook that shares recipes and stories from people from refugee and migrant backgrounds will go towards funding a new scholarship.
In the first part of a series in which The Spinoff gets to know who, what, where and how our food gets to our plate, Jihee Junn learns about cherries.
New Zealand has lagged behind the rest of the world in its attitude to hemp, but now innovative businesses are tapping into the nutritional benefits of this ancient crop.
Restaurateur Ganesh Raj details the future-of-food epiphany that led him to the conclusion that once the meat-mad dinosaurs are gone, the world will be a better place.
Samuel Flynn Scott is a coffee tragic who loves a lightly roasted single-origin bean as much as the next Wellingtonian. But he also has a thing for instant. Now, his two worlds have combined.
Dietary Requirements is The Spinoff’s monthly podcast in which we eat, drink and talk about it too, with special thanks to Freedom Farms.


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Fourth National Handloom Day
GUWAHATI, Aug 7: “Our handloom products have the capacity to capture the world market and we need best marketing strategies for that. Traditionally Assam’s women weavers have always been able to earn respect and appreciation from around the world. Our weavers must take up the challenge of supplying enough gamosa in the festive season to make the imported ones unwanted,” said Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal. Sonowal said this on Tuesday while speaking as the chief guest at the state-level function of 4th National Handloom Day organized by Handloom and Textiles Department, Government of Assam at Srimanta Sankardev Kalakshetra, a government communiqué said.
Saying that there is a conducive business atmosphere in the state in the aftermath of ‘Advantage Assam: Global Investors’ Summit’ which resulted in the signing of over 700 MoUs for investment of Rs 79,000 crore, Sonowal urged the weavers of the state to take full advantage of Act East Policy to gain access to the South East Asian market with their handloom products.
Appreciating the Handloom and Textiles department for opening 27 ‘thread banks’ for the weavers of the state where they can purchase threads at subsidized rates, the chief minister urged the department to take action plans to realize Prime Minister Modi’s ‘5F’ Formula - Farm to fibre; fibre to factory; factory to fashion; fashion to foreign. He also praised the department for earning accolades for the state’s handlooms in Textiles India 2017 exhibition which was held in Ahmadabad last year.
Speaking on the occasion, Minister for Handloom and Textiles Department Ranjit Dutta informed that ‘Sipinee Samaroh’ (Weavers’ Conclave) will be organised at different parts of the state by his department for which a total budget of Rs 3 crore has been earmarked. He also said that department is giving more emphasis on research and development of handloom products at its Handloom Research and Designing Centre in the city.
The department is also mulling a step to provide Rs 25,000 as assistance to those opting for self employment among the 97 trainees who pass out every year from the four Handloom Training Institute in the state, he informed. He also said that threads are being provided to the weavers at 20 percent subsidised rate and mobile vans are also being used for distributing threads in interior places of the state. A handloom policy would soon be implemented in the state and 100 SHGs engaged in handloom in the state would be given financial assistance upto Rs 5 lakh, he said.


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MILWAUKEE – Scale Up Milwaukee is launching its fourth SPARC cohort with applications being accepted from business owners throughout Wisconsin and the surrounding region through the end of August for the business accelerator program focused on Black-, Latinx-, and woman-owned businesses.
Programming will be held in a virtual setting and is open to minority- and woman-owned companies with annual revenue of between $100K and $1 million. Applications for the program can be found at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/20SPARC.
There will be 10 weekly classes from September through November, providing one-on-one access with program instructors and experts, with more than 30 hours of instruction. Businesses outside of the greater Milwaukee area are welcome to apply.
“There’s no doubt that thriving businesses can have an extraordinary impact on a community, however, it’s only when Black and Latinx businesses are succeeding that we can expect our communities to reach their fullest potential,” said Elmer Moore, executive director of Scale Up Milwaukee.
Curriculum will focus on how businesses can pivot operations to a digital presence, remote work, crisis recovery and planning, cash flow, and use of government funding from programs like the Paycheck Protection Program.
The SPARC program has 66 alumni businesses that averaged a 57 percent increase in revenue last year. JP Morgan Chase provided funding support to launch the SPARC program in 2017.
“SPARC has enabled me to consider my business from more diverse angles, which helped me to adapt quickly during the COVID 19 pandemic,” said Melanie Manuel, owner of Celesta Restaurant and graduate of the SPARC 3 cohort. “SPARC also empowered me to feel more confident about my finances, to manage my staff and provide leadership during this challenging time, and to communicate with my customers via my marketing strategy so they knew they would be in good hands doing business with us.”


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Bavdhan, 13th September 2021: A godown of online grocery store BigBasket was gutted in a fire around Sunday midnight in Bavdhan. Nobody was injured in the incident but the facility suffered extensive damage.
According to the Pune fire brigade, they had received a call about the fire around 11.30 pm on Sunday. As the fire had intensified, besides Pune, fire tenders were called from MIDC, PMRDA and PCMC also.
The fire was brought under control at around 2.30 am on Monday. The cooling operation, including spraying of water to avoid any secondary fire, continued till about 5.30 am.
According to fire officer Shivaji Memane, the godown made of tin is spread over 25,000 square feet. It had racks of grocery and food items. A cash box was also damaged. The cause of the fire is being ascertained.


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Another talk proposes that Apple will declare the third-age AirPods and the as of late supposed HiFi, or high-devotion Apple Music level, on Tuesday, May 18, by means of a public statement on its site.
The new gossip comes from Apple YouTuber Luke Miani who imparted the supposed restrictive news to the AppleTrack site. As indicated by the YouTuber, Apple intends to deliver the cutting edge AirPods through a Newsroom update and site invigorate.
In 2019, Apple delivered the all-new AirPods Pro through an official statement on its site, so while it appears to be conceivable, the data ought to be thought about while taking other factors into consideration. The new AirPods are required to highlight a refreshed plan that is more in-accordance with the plan of the AirPods Pro yet ailing in “Expert” highlights like Active Noise Cancellation.
The new AirPods will be the primary significant update to the standard AirPods following a slight invigorate in 2019 which highlighted remote charging, Hey Siri support, and improved battery life. Dependable Apple expert Ming-Chi Kuo has said that the new AirPods would whole large scale manufacturing in the second from last quarter of this current year.
Close by the new third-age AirPods, Apple intends to declare a fresh out of the box new HiFi or high-constancy Apple Music level, as indicated by the new talk. A report recently showed that Apple intends to start offering Apple Music supporters greater gushing with another membership level in the “coming weeks.”
As per that report, the level will cost the equivalent $9.99 as the current individual Apple Music bundle. In any case, points of interest around how Apple intends to incorporate HiFi music spilling into its current levels stay obscure. Code inside the principal beta of the impending iOS 14.6 update found by MacRumors recommends that HiFi Apple Music streaming could be restricted to just viable equipment.
While the hotspot for the HiFi Apple Music report stuck a dispatch of the new level and AirPods as being half a month away, it might have been alluding to a dispatch at WWDC. Macintosh will hold its yearly Worldwide Developers Conference starting on June 7 where it is required to declare shiny new updates to iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS. In spite of WWDC being programming centered, equipment declarations at the occasion are absolutely conceivable.


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Gucci’s Resilience in China Gives Kering Unexpected Boost
(Bloomberg) -- The Gucci fashion house reported sales that slowed but still beat estimates, cushioning owner Kering’s landing after several years of soaring growth. Its shares rose the most in a year.
The Italian brand’s expansion was led by the Asia-Pacific region, making it the latest luxury label to show that Chinese consumers are still splashing out amid a deepening trade war with the U.S. and protests in the Hong Kong shopping hub.
Kering shares rose as much as 9.1% early Friday.
The company joins other luxury giants in reporting resilience in China, even as mass-market consumer-goods companies are feeling pressure in the key market. Rival Hermes previously reported 15% quarterly growth excluding currency shifts, while LVMH’s fashion and leather business posted a 19% gain for the latest period.
Late Thursday, Moncler SpA reported double-digit sales gains for the third quarter. LVMH’s Bulgari brand plans to add stores in China, saying jewelry sales there could potentially double over the next five years as it dodges a broader slowdown in the world’s second largest economy.
Gucci’s missed sales in Hong Kong were “in large part made up for” by other markets, Kering Chief Financial Officer Jean-Marc Duplaix said on a call. The company reported its results after the close of trading Thursday.
The brand’s sales rose 11% on a comparable basis in the third quarter. While that’s about 2 percentage points above analysts’ estimate, it’s down sharply from the 30% or more at which the label had been expanding over the past two years.
Despite the strength in China, Kering also faces questions over its U.S. business, which unexpectedly shrank during the second quarter. There was no improvement there in the latest three months, Duplaix said, and a turnaround will take time to bear fruit.
“Tourism is down,” he said, and “consumer sentiment is deteriorating.”
The Paris-based company is still looking for another brand to take up the slack as Gucci slows from its breakneck pace. Saint Laurent’s growth fell short of expectations in the latest quarter.
The smaller Bottega Veneta label, which had stagnated, is improving faster than expected after Kering ramped up investments in it. The company plastered trams and subway stations with ads to promote the brand’s revamped look from a young designer, Daniel Lee, hired last year from the ranks of LVMH’s Celine.
©2019 Bloomberg L.P.


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A couple of updates – and firsts – have taken place in the NB-IoT (NarrowBand IoT) and VoLTE (voice over LTE) spaces.
Deutsche Telekom has introduced two entry packages as pilot NB-IoT solutions in Germany, in a move to widen the scope of its network offerings in the arena and accelerate its 2020 5G communications standard.
The packages are NB-IoT Access, a streamlined NB-IoT device connectivity package, and NB-IoT Access & Cloud of Things, which is a more comprehensive product offering.
Both packages allow for easy prototyping and piloting of NB-IoT solutions in the markets, the German giant claims. The NB-IoT Access entry package comes with a six-month activation of up to 25 SIM cards each having 500 KB per SIM that uses the NB-IoT network. It includes useful add-ons such as a private APN with IPsec-key encryption. The NB-IoT Access & Cloud of Things entry package provides direct access to Deutsche Telekom’s Cloud of Things platform for device and data management.
Vodafone NZ has announced that it will deploy its NB-IoT in early 2018 across New Zealand. The business customer trial will comprise of software deployments across several cell sites and will also make use of Vodafone’s networking testing facilities. The trial is supported by more than 40 mobile operators, and aims to connect the tens of millions of IoT devices in the next few years.
Elsewhere, Verizon and China Unicom have announced the completion of Cat M1 VoLTE calls, with an eye on supporting Internet of Things (IoT) applications and use cases.
Verizon sent a release to the wire on June 30 confirming it had for the first time carried a live over the air LTE Cat M1 VoLTE call, while another release on July 3 confirmed China Unicom had demonstrated two Cat M1 VoLTE use cases, a fire alarm trigger panel and a GPS emergency tracking device, at the recent Mobile World Congress Shanghai event.
In both cases the assisting companies were Ericsson and Qualcomm. Ericsson said in the Verizon case that “the IoT space offers new revenue-generating services for operators and adding voice capabilities to IoT devices takes use cases such as alarm panels and medical alert systems to the next level of functionality,” while Qualcomm said for Unicom that its LTE IoT modem solution was “designed to support the low power, cost-efficient and global deployment required by many of these IoT applications.”


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SINGAPORE: Southeast Asian ride-hailing firm Grab said on Wednesday it has secured $1.5 billion in fresh financing from a fund run by Japan's SoftBank and will use a significant portion of it to expand in Indonesia.
Grab has seen its business grow rapidly since it bought US-based rival Uber's regional ride-hailing and food business in March last year. Uber received a 27.5 per cent stake in Grab in return.
Singapore competition watchdog fines Grab, Uber $9.5 million over merger
The fresh investment from the Vision Fund of Softbank Group brings the total financing secured by Singapore-headquartered Grab over the past year to more than $4.5 billion.
The company said it is expanding its financial services and food and parcel delivery businesses, as well as adding new offerings such as on-demand video, digital healthcare, insurance and hotel bookings.
Grab said a "significant portion" of the new investment will be used to grow its business in Indonesia, the home base of regional rival Go-Jek, which has recently launched in Singapore.
"Grab's Indonesian business is expanding rapidly, with revenue more than doubling in 2018," the company said in a statement.
Uber driver found streaming show before self-driving car crash
Toyota Motor, Hyundai Motor, Oppenheimer Funds and Microsoft are among the major investors in Grab over the past year. Softbank is owned by Japan's richest man Masayoshi Son.
Go-Jek has won financial backing from investors including Google, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund Temasek and Chinese internet giant Tencent.
Southeast Asia's ride-hailing market is expected to be worth $20 billion by 2025, according to research by Google and Temasek.
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Bank charges waiver extended (yet again)
The City watchdog has extended the waiver allowing banks to ignore bank charge claims for another six months, as the legal battle over the fairness of charges continues to rage.
The Financial Services Authority has granted an extension to the stay, which lets banks suspend all bank charge complaints, for the third time since the original 12-month waiver was put in place in July 2007.
The waiver has been extended twice since then for two six-month periods and is likely to be continue to be extended until the result of the Office of Fair Trading's legal challenge with eight High Street banks is known.
Campaigners believe the case, currently in the House of Lords, would extend until the end of 2010.
Bank customers who have claims lodged with their bank must wait until the waiver is lifted before their cases can be dealt with.
However, customers may eventually benefit from the extention of the waiver: all claims can extend back six years from the introduction of the stay in July 2007. An extention means bank customers will be able to put in claims extending back to 2001 until January 2010.
Those suffering from 'undue hardship' as a result of charges can also apply to have their case heard by their bank regardless of the waiver.
Dan Waters, director of retail policy and conduct risk at the FSA, said: 'Although the test case is progressing well, we still do not have certainty on this complex issue.
'The FSA has reviewed the prevailing circumstances and decided to offer firms a new waiver for up to six months. Our objective continues to be facilitating a fair and consistent resolution of consumer complaints about unauthorised overdraft charges.'
The watchdog said it would continue to monitor whether banks are giving a fair hearing to those in financial hardship as a result of charges levied on them. However, if you are unhappy with the way your bank has dealt with your case, you can apply to the free Financial Ombudsman Service to have it reviewed.
This applies if customers were suffering from financial hardship when they originally made their claim or have fallen into hardship since then.
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Businesses bemoan ‘unacceptable’ freight delays
Business groups on both sides of the border have expressed their “great dissatisfaction” with the “unacceptable” level of delays to commercial goods being cleared into Gibraltar over the past 12 months.
In a joint statement, the Gibraltar Chamber of Commerce and Apymell - the Association of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in La Linea – said they had received multiple complaints from businesses on both sides of the border which have experienced frequent and repeated delays caused by Spanish customs officials.
According to both organisations the delays in the clearing of goods are caused by disproportionate checks on goods coming from other parts of the European Union.
“The growth in cargo volumes to Gibraltar has not been met by any proportionate investment in infrastructure or additional resources on the Spanish side of the border,” the joint statement read.
This adds to the delay in the processing and clearing of goods before crossing the border into Gibraltar, they stated adding that the delays add considerable cost to local businesses in Spain and in Gibraltar.
The groups said that the reason for these additional controls has not been explained by the Spanish authorities, although Spain and Gibraltar are both within the European Union.
“We urge the European Commission to examine the issue to ensure that no disproportionate inspection protocols are being imposed,” they said.
“The efficient functioning of the border is fundamental for the economic well-being of the area.”
“Economic relations must predominate and must be preserved over any other circumstance and are fundamental to maintaining the wealth and employment of the area.”
The Chamber and APYMELL said they expect ‘common sense to prevail’ and request that customs controls be conducted in an appropriate manner and at a level which does not damage the commercial interests of businesses on both sides of the border.


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(Wine Press 4/4/15)
Wine Enthusiast's Wine Star Awards gala on Monday was an evening to remember in so many ways. The elegant, historic New York public library was a great venue
The 30-Year Overnight Success!
Shared by Dana Alexander 04/06/2015View More Articles >>
Economic Impact of Grapes, Grape Juice and Wine: $4.8 Billion
Shared by Jim Trezise 02/18/2014
The full economic impact of New York grapes, grape juice, and wine in 2012 was $4.8 billion for New York State, according to a new study conducted by Stonebridge Research Group of Napa Valley for the Read MoreView More Articles >>


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LG Nexus 5 2015 AnTuTu Scores Leaked; 85,000+ Points Obtained
While it was reported that Huawei and Google were forming a coalition to launch the successor of Nexus 6 this year, South Korean phone maker LG might have secretly formed a partnership with the tech giant order to release a Nexus smartphone of its own. Previously, both LG and Google came together and rolled out Nexus 5, which was a brilliant handset in terms of both price and performance. Now thanks to the latest AnTuTu benchmarking score leak, LG might be on track to release a Nexus 5 2015 variant this year.
LG Nexus 5 2015 Obtains Scores Above 85,000 In AnTuTu
According to the latest leak, LG Nexus 5 2015 was able to obtain a score of 85,530 points in the latest AnTuTu benchmarking results. For comparison purposes, Galaxy S6, which is the best performing handset of 2015 in terms of benchmarking scores has been able to obtain a score of 68,157 points in regular mode and 52,665 points in power saving mode.
While we were contemplating that LG Nexus 5 2015 might be fitted with a Snapdragon 810 SoC, the flagship chipset from Qualcomm is unable to zip past Samsung’s Exynos 7420 in this particular benchmarking test. After looking at these scores we have to wonder, which mobile chipset could be running in this handset.
At present there are only two that could overpower the processing capabilities of Exynos 7420. One of them is Helio X20, while the other is Snapdragon 820. However, MediaTek had earlier stated that its 10-core chipset will be able to obtain a score of 70,000+ in AnTuTu, whereas, the score in front of us goes up to 15,000 additional points.
Moving on, a Snapdragon 820 could also be present inside LG Nexus 5 2015, but so far, we have only received scores of what the SoC is capable of in a Geekbench leak. Our instinct is telling us to dismiss the score as being completely fake, since there have been past scenarios where smartphone manufacturers deliberately manipulated scores to appear higher than they were in order to sell smartphones faster than hot cakes.
Looks like we are going to have to wait for more leaks to pop up in the future if we are going to give credibility to the aforementioned score.


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AUSTIN—Paul Walker, former head of digital for GCI Group and later Cohn & Wolfe, is joined PulsePoint—the firm created by his former colleagues Bob Feldman and Jeff Hunt—as partner. Walker has provided digital media counsel to companies including Dell, Johnson & Johnson, Nike, ExxonMobil, Novartis and MasterCard.
Walker was appointed to lead GCI’s digital media practice in 2006 and was responsible for helping clients address the challenges and opportunities associated with new media channels. He later held the same position following the firm’s merger with WPP sister agency Cohn & Wolfe.
Prior to joining GCI, Walker was the CEO of an Austin-based company that helped companies and individuals sell excess inventories using online channels, such as eBay. Craigslist and Google. Earlier, he was vice president of a Silicon Valley seed fund created by Accenture and Mobius Venture Capital, where he both invested in companies and worked with them on strategy, sales and marketing. He also spent 10 years at Accenture in brand management, market development and business development roles and was and special assistant to the president of the University of Texas.
Before that, he worked with Hunt and Fledman at Y&R and Burson-Marsteller, where he started the high-tech practice and went on to become the managing director of the Singapore office.
PulsePoint was founded a year ago and specializes in digital and social media, issues and crisis management and organizational design and change.


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Nassau County will be holding a vehicle auction today beginning at 10 a.m.
The live auction, conducted through the District Attorney Kathleen Rice’s office, will include 81 vehicles that were seized by county law enforcement from narcotics offenders, DWI offenders and several other offenses.[dmc-related-post-wp numitems="3" title="Also read"]
The auction is being run by Auctions International and is being held at the Nassau County Police Impound Yard, located at the former Grumman Property on Oyster Bay Road in Bethpage.
Proceeds from the auction will go to both the state and county, and be used for restitution to victims, anti-drug efforts and crime-reduction programs.
Some of the vehicles include a 2007 Bentley Continental GT, a 1972 Chevrolet Monte Carlo and numerous SUVs, hybrids and luxury vehicles, such as Mercedes-Benzes and BMWs.
Auctions International has a full list of the available vehicles on its website.
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Starting next month, people will be able to scan in their bottles and cans at machines that look like fancy ATMs -- to work toward rewards like half off a hotel stay.
The companies wouldn't say how many containers it will take to earn such a prize.
PepsiCo's Jeremy Cage leads the Dream Machine Recycling Initiative. Cage says the program gives consumers convenience and short-term gratification.
PepsiCo promises to donate to the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities as part of the program.


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The media industry started feverishly spending on digital video content several years ago, based on the premise it was what users wanted—and could generate much-needed revenue for news organizations. Soon after, however, the “pivot to video” became a “bloodbath,” as headlines put it. Hundreds of staffers were laid off after video’s promised return on investment—especially on social platforms—did not live up to reality.
A 2016 lawsuit filed by a group of advertisers alleged that Facebook, one of the motors of the pivot, inflated a metric that measured how long users viewed video ads, pushing advertisers to buy more and more of them. The lawsuit was amended yesterday (Oct. 16) to charge that Facebook also knew about the errors it made in its calculations long before it disclosed it to advertisers—and that viewership metrics were inflated far beyond what was previously reported. The amended complaint was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
In the lawsuit, the advertisers say “Facebook’s action rises to the level of fraud and may warrant punitive damages.” Instead of discovering the mistake a month before the company made it public, as Facebook and its executives said in statements at the time, Facebook engineers had known about it for more than a year (since January 2015), the lawsuit says, citing internal Facebook documents obtained in court proceedings. Advertisers had been reporting suspicious results such as the “average % of video viewed” reaching 100%. “Yet Facebook did nothing to stop its dissemination of false metrics,” the suit says.
In 2016, the Wall Street Journal reported that the average times users spent watching video ads were inflated by 60% to 80%. Facebook itself disclosed the error several weeks prior in a post in a help center for advertisers.
For two years, Facebook had been only counting video views that were longer than three seconds, ignoring anything shorter, which resulted in the inflated figures. The amended complaint alleged that metrics were actually inflated much more—by 150% to 900%—again citing Facebook records. Here’s what the complaint describes as the result:
Facebook’s misrepresentations induced video advertising purchasers, including Plaintiffs, to continue purchasing video advertisements, and to purchase additional video advertisements, because purchasers believed that users were watching their videos, on average, for longer than users were actually watching their videos.
Advertisers, the lawsuit says, were induced to “pay more for Facebook video advertising than they otherwise would have been willing to pay.”
Facebook was not immediately available for comment. The advertising industry has called for independent verification of Facebook’s metrics, following the initial 2016 reports of the inflated figures.
Meanwhile, media Twitter lamented the victims of the “pivot to video”


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Brent Rystrom has resigned from his position as CEO of RiceBran Technologies after poor second quarter results. The company also announced that it had hired BMO Capital Markets to review strategic alternatives.
RiceBran is a manufacturer and marketer of products derived from rice bran. These are sold to food and animal nutrition manufacturers and retailers. The company moved its head office from Sacramento to The Woodlands in June 2018 so that it could be nearer the supply of rice in Arkansas and Louisiana. The company has revenues and a market capitalization of around $25 million.
Mr Rystrom became the CEO in October 2018. He joined the company as CFO in March 2017. He will receive a severance package of 90 days of base salary. Mr Rystrom will provide consulting services through the end of the year.
Peter Bradley, who joined the Board of Directors in July 2019, has been appointed Chairman and Chief Executive.
In the second quarter, the business had a negative gross profit margin of 20% as it got squeezed at both ends in the pandemic. Surging consumer demand for rice resulted in both large price increases and shortages for rough rice (a raw material input). As a result, the company had trouble maintaining output at its Arkansas mill. Customer development also slowed.


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Ogilvy's Reay-Smith joins 3MZ
Phil Reay-Smith (pictured above) has left Ogilvy PR UK, where he was head of media, to become a director within the corporate division of 3 Monkeys Zeno. A former ITV news correspondent and consumer editor of the channel's morning show Daybreak, Reay-Smith moved into PR with Ogilvy five years ago. In the past six months, 3 Monkeys Zeno has won corporate work with Avon, AB InBev, and Godiva.
Milk & Honey flags 'Uber alternative'
Kirsty Leighton's start-up Milk & Honey PR has been appointed by Piing, a UK company positioning itself as an ethical alternative to Uber. Piing pays drivers 85 percent of their fare, which it says means it takes half the commission Uber does. All its driver are screened face-to-face by the company.
Iain Anderson takes fintech role
Innovate Finance, a membership association for the global fintech sector, has appointed Iain Anderson as a non-executive director. Anderson is the co-founder and executive chair of comms agency Cicero Group. Also joining the Innovate Finance board is Danny Lopez, chief operating officer of tech firm Blippar.
DfT man joins Social
Department for Transport chief press officer Ray Sadri has joined Social Communications as an account director based in its London office, which opened last year. The new hire means the firm's staffcount has doubled in the last 12 months, to 25.
Start-up Bland wins food business
Bland PR, which was set up at the start of the year by twins Alice and Heidi Bland, has been appointed to run consumer PR for natural food brand Pollen + Grace, a brief previously held by Hope&Glory.
Double hire at Makara
Healthcare comms and med ed agency Makara Health has appointed Helena Wright as associate director, client relations, and Gina Dootson as senior medical writer. Wright previously worked for Havas Life Medicom. Dootson was most recently a freelancer, and before that worked for the agency Transart.
Specialist nightwear brand hits Refresh
Manchester-based consultancy Esteem – No Pause, a specialist clothing company making nightwear for women who suffer with night sweats, has appointed Refresh PR to lead a three-month launch campaign to raise awareness of the brand and introduce its product range to the media.


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Heinz launched its “Irresistible Posts” Instagram campaign in Sao Paolo to capitalize on the cravings many feel as they scroll through feeds packed with mouth-watering images of food.
People in the area who looked through Stories on Instagram found videos of a burger being made by a professional chef. If they swiped up, they could order the burger, which would then be hand-delivered in a personalized box. They could even watch as their own burgers were being made. Of course, the delivery was accompanied by a variety of Heinz products to enjoy with the burger.
The campaign is a great example of capitalizing on a “universal truth” of social media use. We all see a lot of pictures of food, and it drives us crazy when we can’t eat it.


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PS4 Demo For Yakuza 6 Pulled Because The Full Game Is Playable
The Yakuza 6 demo has been removed, at least temporarily.
Update 2: Sega has now confirmed that it did indeed pull the demo because players were able to access more than intended. "We apologize, but have had to remove the Yakuza 6: The Song of Life demo from the PlayStation Store," it said on Twitter. "We are as upset as you are, and had hoped to have this demo available for everyone today. We discovered that some were able to use the demo to unlock the full game. We're looking into the nature of the issue. Thank you for your patience."
Update: The Yakuza 6 demo has now been pulled from the PlayStation Store, at least in the US. The unusually large size of the demo is apparently due to the fact that the entire game is included, though only the prologue should be accessible. However, players have reportedly found a way to access more--possibly the entire game. We have not been able to verify this as of yet, but the demo is indeed gone from PSN for the time being. We've reached out to Sega and will report back with anything more we learn. The original story follows.
Sega had some disappointing news to share earlier this year when it delayed Yakuza 6: The Song of Life, but it did make up for that by announcing that it would release a demo of the upcoming PS4 game. It's already begun to launch in some markets around the world where it's already February 27. If you're eager to start playing, you might want to call your ISP and upgrade your internet speed now.
While still dwarfed by the size of full games, for a demo, Yakuza 6's trial is enormous--it weighs in at 36.53 GB. It's available now on Australia's PlayStation Store and should be available as the calendar turns to Tuesday elsewhere around the world. The PSN listing describes the demo as consisting of the game's prologue. As a result, you can probably expect a fair number of cutscenes, which may explain the demo's large size. [Update: The demo is also now available in the west, including on the US PlayStation Store.]
Sega previously announced that your save data from the demo version can be carried over into the full game, which is now due out on April 17 in North America and Europe. That's almost a full month later than the previously scheduled March 20 release date. An explanation for the delay was not shared, with Sega simply stating, "This was a tough business decision we didn't make lightly."
Yakuza 6 has been available in Japan since December 2016. Western localizations of Yakuza games have typically taken a long time, as players of Yakuza 5--which released internationally three years after its Japanese launch--can attest. We recently got a good look at Yakuza 6 and its improved visuals, as you can see in the video above. For even more, check out our deep dive into the history of Yakuza.


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Flipkart has invested Rs 338 crore in online fashion store Myntra to boost its leadership in the fashion segment.
Myntra has received the fresh round of funding when its rival Jabong is struggling. In September, the founders of Jabong – Praveen Sinha and Arun Chandra Mohan – made an exit and former Benetton executive Sanjeev Mohanty was roped in as its chief executive officer.
In May 2014, Myntra was acquired by Flipkart and it was regarded as the biggest domestic consumer Internet deal at the time. In the next fiscal year, Myntra is targeting gross sales of $1 billion.
By March 2017, the online fashion store is also targeting to achieve operating profitability and plans to increase sales of higher-priced products and charging customers for deliveries of certain items to reduce losses.


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Digital TV News: Lance Neuhauser
4C launches solution to help marketers reach cord-cutters and cord-nevers
Jun 27, 2019 – 4C has announced its Elusive Audiences offering. Through the Scope by 4C platform, marketers can use real-time viewership data in combination with first-party data to target viewers who don’t watch linear television, effectively extending reach to untapped audiences.
News categories: 4C Insights, Lance Neuhauser, Advertising, Big Data, USA
4C expands partnership with Placed for TV and OTT audiences & measurement
Jun 5, 2019 – 4C has announced the growth of its partnership with Placed. Advertisers can now leverage Placed data in the Scope by 4C platform to define audiences for TV and OTT, as well as measure the lift in store visits due to ad exposure.
News categories: 4C Insights, Placed, Lance Neuhauser, David Shim, Advertising, Big Data, Digital TV, USA
4C and iQ Media combine to create unified TV intelligence network
Apr 10, 2019 – 4C and iQ Media have created Kinetiq, an entity that combines iQ Media and 4C's Teletrax. Kinetiq will serve as the world's largest unified TV intelligence network, offering paid and earned media measurement, monitoring and signaling across local, national and global markets.
News categories: iQ Media, 4C Insights, Kinetiq, Kevin Kohn, Dr. Alok Choudhary, Lance Neuhauser, Advertising, Big Data, Digital TV, MnA, USA, Worldwide
4C adds video inventory from FreeWheel, SpotX and Telaria
Oct 2, 2018 – 4C has announced new video integrations with FreeWheel, SpotX, and Telaria. The integrations will make video advertising inventory from streaming services and content providers available within the Scope by 4C platform.
News categories: 4C Insights, FreeWheel, SpotX, Telaria, Lance Neuhauser, Neil Smith, Mike Shehan, Mark Zagorski, Advertising, Digital TV, OTT, USA
Target programs ads on NBCUniversal through 4C
Sep 26, 2017 – NBCUniversal has announced that the company will make national television inventory available for self-serve programmatic buying for launch partner Target. This effort is powered by data science and media technology company 4C.
News categories: 4C Insights, NBCUniversal, Target, Lance Neuhauser, Mike Rosen, Kristi Argyilan, Advertising, Big Data, Digital TV, USA
4C launches TV suite to help brands win battle for consumer attention
Mar 27, 2017 – 4C Insights has announced the launch of 4C TV. 4C TV delivers a picture of how people interact with media, technology, and each other by mapping millions of TV households and thousands of brands to billions of social media users.
News categories: 4C Insights, Dr Alok. Choudhary, Advertising, Content Distribution, USA
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- Synamedia partners with USSI Global for the U.S. market
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