text:
Tahir Johnson, a third-generation native of Ewing Township, N.J., received a blunt warning from his mother during his coming-of-age years in the late 1990s on the north side of Trenton.
“Be careful driving while Black,” his mom, Carolyn Watson Johnson, used to tell him and his brothers.
What some people take for granted—that they won’t be discriminated against based on the color of their skin or simply where they live—was very much absent from the everyday reality for Johnson and his peers.
“In Trenton, growing up, it was literally like anytime you were outside, or if there was a couple of us in the car doing anything, we’re going to get pulled over,” Johnson says. “Every time they’re going to search our car.”
When Johnson graduated high school in 2001, gangs were robust, the police presence was heavy, and, at times, it felt like a war zone, he says.
“I’ve been surrounded by cops at gunpoint,” he says. “I’ve had them threaten to tear up my car with dogs, all of those types of things. I guess the biggest thing is the impact. When you talk about these communities, you can’t avoid it. So, they would always try to tell us to ‘Watch where you go, be polite, do this, don’t carry anything on you.’”
But cannabis was something Johnson often carried on him. The now 39-year-old, who is on the verge of opening up Simply Pure Trenton, one of New Jersey’s first Black-owned adult-use dispensaries, readily admits that he fell in love with cannabis at a young age.
A three-sport high school athlete, Johnson broke his finger right before his sophomore basketball season. Sidelined by injury and unable to get on the court that winter, it was the first time in his teenage life that he wasn’t super busy, he says. That’s when he discovered cannabis and began smoking it with his friends. He’s loved it ever since.
“My hobbies changed a little bit,” Johnson says with a laugh.
But smoking cannabis while coming of driving age with black skin in New Jersey wasn’t necessarily the best mix to steer clear from trouble. From his adolescence and into adulthood, Johnson says he’s been pulled over more than 100 times.
Between 2010 and 2018 in Mercer County, which encompasses Trenton and Ewing Township, Black people were arrested 4.1 times more than white people per 100,000 population, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. Cannabis-related arrests largely contributed to that racial disparity.
Johnson is a living example of that statistic. He’s been arrested three times for cannabis.
“They say white kids and Black kids use cannabis at the same rates,” Johnson says. “We probably all had it in our cars. But if I’ve been pulled over 100 times in my life, the chances that you find something on me are going to be much greater. And the white kids were probably smoking weed and doing everything just as much. That’s the easiest way to explain the dynamic of it all.”
Little did Johnson know that drug war dynamic would one day lead to his social equity status in New Jersey’s adult-use cannabis licensing process.
In addition to arrest rates, New Jersey has the highest racial disparity rate in the U.S. for its prison population, with Black residents incarcerated at a rate 12.5 times that of white people, according to a 2021 report from The Sentencing Project that cites 2019 Bureau of Justice statistics.
Despite all that, Johnson was the first of his brothers to leave town and go to college. He attended Howard University, a historically black research university in Washington, D.C., where he majored in marketing.
After graduating and working more than three years at PNC Financial Services, including his roles as assistant vice president and branch manager, Johnson’s career as a financial adviser took off in 2013, when Morgan Stanley offered him employment in Maryland.
“I already had the cannabis charge then, and somebody took a chance on me,” Johnson says. “And that’s what helped me get here. My manager literally said, ‘You have this on your record; I’m still going to give you a shot. But just know nothing like this can ever happen again.’
“If I didn’t get that [job], so much stuff would never have happened. I don’t know if that speaks to the value of diversity in general across industries, but if he wasn’t willing to still see the potential in me and say, ‘I’m going to give you a chance,’ I wouldn’t be here.”
After 2 1/2 years with Morgan Stanley, Johnson worked as a financial adviser with SunTrust Investment Services Inc. That financial experience directly ties into his current business endeavors as one of the first 11 adult-use retail licensees approved in May 2022 by the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC).
While the state launched commercial adult-use sales the previous month via existing vertically integrated medical operators, the CRC’s focus on equity is still a work in progress with new market entrants—like Johnson—navigating capital raises, local ordinances and other red tape before setting their business plans in motion.
“Statistically, African Americans, women [and] minorities, in general, have less access to capital than other groups,” Johnson says. “So, for me having experience in finance, one, I can have that conversation fluently about finance. But then I also have the network. I think that’s the biggest thing—it builds trust—because people are like, ‘OK, this guy’s managed hundreds of millions of dollars.’”
Confidence is also a huge part of that financial barrier, especially with regard to those most impacted by the drug war and whose ownership footprint remains limited in the space.
For many individuals—with or without previous business experience—asking a potential investor for a million dollars, or more, with a straight face, doesn’t always come naturally. Also, aspiring entrepreneurs must be able to clearly present why that funding is needed, the substance of their business plan, and the vision that goes along with it, Johnson says.
And that’s where his career experience with Morgan Stanley comes into play with his current aspirations in the cannabis space.
“I was a young 20-something-year-old Black guy. I was like, if I can get these wealthy people to trust me with their money, well, I can do anything,” Johnson says. “But also, at the same time, I think part of it is just that elevator pitch, right? When you’re trying to get a client, I’ve done it a million times.”
“Good question,” Johnson says.
The young Black man from Ewing Township had made it. Despite his arrest record, Johnson left his hometown, earned a college degree, and had a financial career that provided a six-figure salary. Still, his history with cannabis came calling.
In 2018, Johnson earned a master’s certificate through Denver-based Cannabis Training University’s online program.
And in early 2019, Johnson started working part-time as a budtender for $15 an hour in Maryland. He loved being a part of the cannabis community so much that, a few months later, he quit his job at the bank and fully committed himself to the industry.
“Everybody was looking at me like I was crazy,” Johnson says about going from financial stability to somewhat of an unknown future. Later that year, he applied for medical cannabis licenses in Maryland and New Jersey but was unsuccessful—that’s when he started getting involved in advocacy.
Joining National Cannabis Industry Association’s team in mid-2019, Johnson took on a role as the trade group’s business development and diversity, equity and inclusion manager. The next year, he launched The Cannabis Diversity Report podcast on the NCIA platform, which propelled his reputation as a thought leader in the industry.
Johnson took on similar directorship roles for the social equity and inclusion programs at Marijuana Policy Project and the U.S. Cannabis Council in 2021.
And, most recently, Johnson was named to the Minority Cannabis Business Association’s 2023 board of directors.
“In cannabis, when I was first getting on the scene, [I was] able to really say my narrative of what I wanted to accomplish, and the what’s in it for me, what other people would get out of this interaction—whether they were investing in me or just interacting,” Johnson says.
A ‘Pure’ Partnership
From his podcast to advocacy work, Johnson’s cannabis network continued to grow throughout the country. One day, Wanda James reached out to him on social media, and he ended up calling her.
For those who might be new to this industry, James opened the first Black-owned dispensary in Colorado—the Apothecary—with her husband in 2009. That was before social equity was a thing. The next year, she opened the Simply Pure Denver dispensary. She’s been a familiar face in the cannabis industry ever since.
“I think we talked for like hours,” Johnson says of that first phone call. “At the time, there was never any plans of opening a cannabis business. It wasn’t like that. It was just friends, kind of like a mentor, because I was doing some advocacy. And of course, her, as the first Black dispensary owner, she was somebody who was on my radar. So, we built that relationship, hung out a couple of times, all this stuff.”
Fast-forward to November 2020, New Jersey voters passed Question 1 with 67.1% in favor of the adult-use cannabis legalization ballot measure—the highest percentage for passage among adult-use states. Furthermore, 71.3% of Mercer County voters gave the thumbs up.
While CRC regulators began laying the groundwork in 2021 for an expanded program in New Jersey, James was busy in Colorado developing a franchise model for Simply Pure. Although, the two were not directly connected.
Part of James’ plan was to partner with social equity licensees to establish firm footholds in the industry and help obtain generational wealth through turnkey business operations.
RELATED: Simply Pure Developing Franchise Model, Cause-Based Brand
Before Johnson even applied for a license in New Jersey, the Simply Pure franchise model was on his radar.
“When New Jersey came about, I thought about it as the perfect match,” he says. “I thought, why do I need to start my own brand when there were other great Black brands that could add experience and add value to me? And I wanted to carry on and continue that legacy.”
Winner, Winner, License Dinner
Johnson submitted his adult-use retail application in March 2022. He also helped lifelong friend John Dockery, a fellow social equity applicant, partner with James and Simply Pure in the application process.
Not only were Johnson and Dockery preschool classmates, but Dockery’s aunt was their teacher.
It was supposed to take 90 days for state regulators to review their submissions, but CRC board members approved the first 11 conditional retail licenses at their May meeting. Johnson and Dockery were both on the list, representing two of the first three diversely owned cannabis retail businesses licensed under the state’s expanded adult-use program.
Busy at work, Johnson wasn’t tuned in to the board meeting.
“My phone is blowing up. I’m like, ‘What is going on?’” he says. “Jessica Gonzalez, who’s a well-known cannabis attorney in New Jersey, she was the first person. I answered my phone, she’s like ‘Tahir, you won a license!’ And I’m like, ‘What?’ I didn’t even know.”
Johnson then got on the phone with Dockery.
“And then we looked at the list, and it was like, ‘We both won!’ It was like, ‘Holy shit.’ It was crazy, man,” Johnson says. “I didn’t think about it until after, but I literally set up my competition, because [Dockery’s dispensary is] like five minutes from me.”
While Dockery’s Simply Pure franchise will cater to the foot traffic and daily commuters in downtown Trenton, Johnson says his suburban dispensary is located at the highest-traffic point in Ewing Township, where some-21,000 cars drive by daily in a retail-heavy corridor.
Not only does Johnson have a location and a trusted brand working in his favor, but partnerships are often the difference between success and failure for new market entrants.
And, as a social equity applicant of a diversely owned business in an impact zone, Johnson’s pursuit to reversing certain harms caused by prohibition has a lot riding on it.
“A lot of what makes businesses fail is the mistakes and things you’ve never encountered or seen before,” Johnson says. “And Wanda, knowing her, that this is her brand, and she’s not going to let Simply Pure look bad, I can always pick up the phone, and I’ve got her as a real-life mentor. The value in that, I think I haven’t even seen it yet.”
Beyond the Simply Pure business model, Johnson has something that is key: community support.
As even multistate cannabis operations like Curaleaf and Ascend Wellness found out, municipalities have a lot of control over how quickly retail operations get off their feet in New Jersey.
In Ewing Township, the municipal process for Simply Pure has been “pretty smooth,” from navigating local ordinances to receiving a resolution of local support and zoning approvals, Johnson says.
“We’re definitely lucky and thankful and blessed to be here,” he says. “The fact that they are really proud and welcoming us, to be people from here, building a business that can be an example … and the fact that there’s so much excitement around it, you wouldn’t expect it. But they’re asking me to stand up in church, and everybody’s proud and clapping. It’s like, ‘Over weed?’”
For Johnson, one of final steps, before he’s able to open his Simple Pure doors, is to receive state approval for an annual license. After submitting his conversion paperwork in December 2022, he’s hopeful the CRC will provide the final nod at the commission’s March 2 meeting.
Following statutory guidelines, 87 of New Jersey’s 565 municipalities (15%) qualify as impact zones for the state’s cannabis program regarding reversing the harms of prohibition. These impact zones have an average unemployment rate 32% higher than the rest of New Jersey’s municipalities, and 77% more cannabis arrests, too, according to CRC.
In particular, Ewing isn’t only a community where Johnson’s parents raised him and his brothers, but it’s also where his grandmother, Sucecila Watson, worked 30-plus years for a General Motors plant. That plant employed more than 2,000 workers before it closed in the 1990s.
“General Motors was like the biggest job creator in our community,” Johnson says. “And they left.”
Now teeing up to operate his own business in one of New Jersey’s impact zones, Johnson says he feels a certain sense of responsibility to do good by his community.
“When I think of it, it’s like, man, coming home and getting to do this is like the best feeling in the world. I’m hiring people from my town,” he says. “I’m starting my budtenders at $18 an hour, like way higher than minimum wage.”
Getting his own start as a budtender, Johnson says part his vision is being able to grow and hire from within. And that vision of growth includes more licenses in multiple states, he says.
“Someday, we will be a Curaleaf, a Columbia Care, an Acreage or whatever,” Johnson says. “And those folks that are now building it from the ground up with us will be the folks that are the executives.”
In addition, Johnson and his Simply Pure team are partnering with the New Jersey Reentry Corp., a nonprofit agency with a social mission to remove all barriers to employment for citizens returning from incarceration.
With that partnership, Johnson has committed to donate a portion of his business proceeds to the nonprofit and agreed to hire a certain percentage of his workers from the organization’s outreach. Simply Pure also plans to host expungement clinics at its New Jersey franchises, Johnson says.
“Again, this idea of being able to take something that’s been a source of pain for my family and community and be something that now we can attempt to create generational wealth—that’s the highlight of it all,” Johnson says, adding that his advocacy work doesn’t stop here. “It’s not like I got mine, now it’s over, like, y’all are on your own. I want to continue being active and helping to contribute, and to get more people in the industry.”


text:
The Collector's Edition was originally revealed last week when it appeared in a listing at game retailer GameStop's website. Packaged in a special Vault-Tech Lunch Box, the Collector's Edition includes a Vault Boy Bobblehead, a hardcover art book and a making-of DVD, along with the game itself.
Unlike the recently announced limited edition version of Kojima Productions' Metal Gear Solid 4 (PS3), the Fallout 3 Collector's Edition will not be sold exclusively at GameStop.
While Bethesda's announcement did not include pricing information, GameStop's listing pinned the collector's edition at $79.99 on consoles and $69.99 on PC. The regular edition of the game is expected to sell for $20 less, making it $59.99 for consoles and $49.99 on PC.
Fallout 3 is aimed for a fall release.

domain: news


text:
Google is hoping to put a stop to Samsung and Apple’s dominance of the smartphone market with the release of the Nexus 5X and 6P.
The 5X, which was made by LG and Google, is the smaller of the two products and is the long-awaited update to the 5. The 6P is an upgrade of last year’s 6, and was made by Huawei and Google.
Both phones have similar features, among them a camera that Google claims has bigger pixels than many other of its rivals’ cameras, including the iPhone.
Both devices also have an Android Sensor Hub, a chip which is active in a lower-power state and able to detect when the phone is picked up or moved.
The result of this is that when a user picks up the phone it opens notifications with little battery.
The USB Type C that both phones use allows for a superquick charge. Google say the 5.7-inch 6P charges twice as quickly as the iPhone 6 Plus, which is a similar size.


text:
How To Display Battery Percentage In Windows 10
January 26, 2020
Intel confirmed the existence of the problem and stated: Intel and Microsoft are working to.
we have seen is below 10 percent. Do know that we expect battery life on Windows 10 systems to.
Amazon’s Fire HD 10 hits Black Friday pricing after a huge $50 discount – The 32GB Fire HD 10.
display, 32GB of onboard storage, and a microSD slot that can expand your storage capacity by up to another 512GB. This latest version of the Fire HD 10 is 30 percent faster.
Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 review: Should this be your go-to Windows 10 notebook? – It’s a solid laptop that runs Windows 10 like a beaut’. And that’s really not.
Microsoft says you can refuel the Laptop 3.
If you want to lengthen battery life.
because the resulting image will look fuzzy. Windows 10, however, lets you scale the.
Microsoft has kicked off 2018 with two new ads promoting Windows 10 Edge’s battery efficiency.
These computers were all configured with display brightness at 50 percent and volume on mute.
Display Problem In Laptop Faulty cables can also be a problem. In short, it’s a good idea to buy cables and chargers from. Two worth noting are. I Escaped My Problems By Buying Clothes Until It Became My Biggest Problem of All – One
A DreamColor Assistant widget in the Windows taskbar lets you choose among DCI-P3, AdobeRGB, sRGB, DICOM, BT.709, or native.
Windows 10’s launch could be marred by a bug that can reportedly reduce the time some machines stay alive by just shy of 10%. First reported by PC World, Intel confirmed that it’s working hard.
If you’re connected to a second display.
are a small percentage of all the Windows devices sold. And that’s also why Tablet Mode is such a great addition for Windows 10.


text:
The nomination period for this year’s Sure Customer Service Awards opens on 1 June with a brand new online platform for people to nominate individuals, teams and businesses that have delivered great customer service.
The awards are now in their eighth year and celebrate exceptional customer service across a variety of sectors in the Channel Islands. For the first time both the Guernsey and Jersey nomination periods will run at the same time from 1 June to 31 August.
This means that tourists visiting the islands during the summer will be able to share their positive customer service experiences by nominating local businesses for the awards.
The 2018 awards are comprised of 10 categories covering multiple business sectors with an overall winner selected in each island from the category winners.
The new online platform will be mobile friendly so that excellent customer service interactions can be nominated for the awards almost as soon as they have happened. Anyone who nominates a business, team or individual online will be entered into a prize draw to win one of two iPads (one for Jersey and one for Guernsey) donated by sponsor Sure.
This year’s awards are organised by experienced customer experience director Jill Clark who was previously director of customer service at Specsavers.
Mrs Clark said: “We’re hopeful that by taking this year’s Sure Customer Service Awards online more people will nominate a wide range of members of the community who have gone above and beyond to assist customers.
“It’s important to highlight and reward those who regularly deliver a high level of customer service which ultimately contributes to the success of a business. We are very much looking forward to recognising the stars of customer service for their hard work during this year’s awards.”
Lead sponsor Sure has supported the Customer Service Awards in Guernsey and Jersey since 2010. The company places customer experience at the heart of its business, measuring and acting on feedback to further improve customer interactions and develop the range of products and services it offers.
Sure’s chief customer officer, Charlotte Dunsterville, said: “Sure is pleased to continue its support of the Customer Service Awards in the Channel Islands which highlight individuals and businesses who continually offer the highest level of customer service.
“The awards really demonstrate the community spirit in the islands and we hope with the new online nomination platform even more islanders will take the opportunity to nominate deserving individuals and local companies.”
The Sure Customer Service Awards are open for nominations online at http://thecustomerserviceawards.com/until Friday 31 August with the Guernsey awards taking place on Thursday 27 September and the Jersey awards on Thursday 4 October at the Radisson Hotel.
Paper forms will still be available should people prefer and are available to collect from Waitrose.


text:
Bedbugs have reappeared in many locations. Is this an opportunity for grocery stores?
By Seth Mendelson
Those nasty bedbugs are biting everyone and everywhere. In fact, if you believe the press reports on television, newspapers and the Internet, bedbugs are showing up not only in beds at hotels and homes, but in movie theaters, doctors’ offices and office buildings. Even such upscale, high-brow retailers as Victoria’s Secret and some department store chains have had to temporarily close because of bedbug sightings.
For those of you who are not aware, bedbugs have become real big news and, apparently, a real big problem, in some parts of the country, specifically the New York area. These night-crawling creatures, which were practically eliminated several decades ago, have made a dramatic comeback, infiltrating beds and buildings and causing real and perceived concerns among a more and more itchy population.
Forget the bad economy and all of the other problems in the world today, everybody is talking about bedbugs. To avoid transporting them, many people are now leaving their luggage in the garage for two or three days after staying at a hotel (NOTE: it doesn’t work; bedbugs can live without food for as much as a year). Others are leaving their suitcases on top of furniture in the hotel, hoping that the insects do not find their way into the bags (NOTE: that doesn’t work either; bedbugs apparently are great climbers).
Bedbug hysteria has gotten so big that entrepreneurs are flooding the marketplace with all kinds of remedies, many ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous. In fact, The New York Times is reporting that some people have employed bedbug-sniffing dogs to flush out these blood-sucking insects. Thus far, it appears that the dogs are not successful in finding these bedbugs, but I am certain that they will keep at it, especially at the money being charged for their services. I am also certain that as the problem grows, more products and services will pop up portending to solve the bedbug problem.
The best and most affordable solution may rest in the supermarket aisles. Some experts say that simple insecticides may be the best way to eliminate bedbugs, though they must be applied correctly and consistently.
The current bedbug pandemonium should translate into more grocery retailer profits, especially in segments such as household cleaners, household accessories and, in particular, the long-suffering and slow-growing insecticides category.
But, like just about anything else, retailers have to work at getting this business. The first thing, of course, is to stock the merchandise in the proper setting and with the proper assortment. That means in-store signage is vital to informing consumers that these products are available.
Then merchants must educate their shoppers about the need for these products, their application and what should be purchased. Brochures will help, but the product’s packaging will probably be enough to educate shoppers on the use of these products.
Most importantly, retailers have to show their shoppers that they understand their needs and, in this case, their fears. Other retailers, including the do-it-yourself retailers, are already gearing up for the increase in demand for these items. It makes sense for grocery stores to get involved in this area.
Having a section devoted to bedbug detection, control and elimination may not sound too nice, but it can go a long way to helping build sales and profits in categories that have long struggled in food stores.
Seth Mendelson can be reached at 646-274-3507, or at firstname.lastname@example.org.


text:
The November newsletter has been distributed:
Within it are details for the November 30 "Speed Networking" holiday social event, and a summary of the Student Night event that just passed.
Hopefully see you at the holiday social. If not, happy holidays!
Post a Comment


text:
Google Assistant is already available in eight languages and when Google at MWC announced that support for 30 languages is coming to its Virtual Assistant – Google Assistant over the coming months, Hindi included although it was already available through Jio (Indian mobile carrier) but was limited and Now finally Google Assistant officially supports the Hindi language (Full-fledged)
Google Assistant in Hindi will be available for Android devices running on Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) or above and also coming Soon for devices running on Android 5.0 (Lollipop) also for iPhone and the devices running on the lighter version of Android – Android GO.
Google Assistant is already available in the Hindi Language on Google’s Instant messaging platform – Google Allo.
Users will be able to use Google Assistant in Hindi same as Google Assistant in English like – Finding nearby restaurants, or nearby interest points, getting scores update, setting an alarm making it full-fledged unlike before where it was limited, the most important thing to note is that Users will be able to ask queries in Hindi and will get answered back in Hindi as well.
To use Google Assistant in Hindi Users simply need to set their device language to Hindi and update their Google Search App to the latest Version.
In order to make it more useful to Indians over time, developers and business can now build actions for the Hindi Google Assistant through the developer platform Action said, Purvi Shah, Technical Programme Manager Assistant.
Once the action is built you can just say “Ok Google, talk to” and access the service or content straight through your Google Assistant.
Google has also rolled a dedicated site that gives an overview of all the things you can ask Google Assitant in Hindi.
This gives Google Assistant an edge over the other two Virtual Assistant Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa, which don’t have support for the Hindi language yet and it would be interesting to see how they catch up.


text:
Minneapolis — Target Corporation has named Gemma Kubat as senior vice president, supply chain engineering and activation. She will report to Target’s executive vice president and chief supply chain officer, Arthur Valdez Jr.
In her new role, Kubat will lead the design, activation and ongoing management of assets that support Target’s global supply chain and logistics network.
Kubat’s previous retail leadership experience includes human resources, finance, innovation, strategy and logistics. Most recently, she served as vice president, global business services for Walmart. Prior to that, she worked for the British supermarket chain, Asda.
“We’re bringing together stores, digital channels, technology and supply chain to make shopping at Target even easier and more convenient,” says Valdez. “Gemma’s talent for applying advanced solutions across large organizations is exactly the right fit for Target as we continue transforming our supply chain to meet the needs of our guests.”
Target’s strategy to leverage its network of more than 1,800 stores includes completely transforming its supply chain and logistics capabilities. The work has been integral to offering guests free two-day shipping nationwide, same-day delivery shipped by Shipt in 150 markets and the rollout of Drive Up services.
Kubat will join Target on August 6, 2018.
Minneapolis-based Target Corporation has 1,835 stores. For more information, visit http://www.target.com.
SOURCE: Target Corporation


text:
It’s time for March Madness — and Buffalo Wild Wings is trying to present itself as the “voice of authority” over all the basketball action.
With #WingWisdom, the chicken chain is now calling itself “B-Dubs,” inviting fans to its outlets to watch the games — and more. B-Dubs promises (threatens?) to touch on sports, food, fandom and “everything in between” across television, social and digital, as well as in-restaurant activations and on-site Final Four experiences.
“We view ourselves as the sports fans’ biggest fan and want to be known as a voice of authority among them,” Bob Ruhland, Buffalo Wild Wings’ vp of marketing, told Digiday. “To be genuine and authentic as such a voice and weave yourself into the fabric, you cannot just ambush events.”
The heart of the campaign is the Tournament Tracker microsite developed by digital agency space150, a one-stop shop for all March Madness action. It will provide fans with a real-time feed of game scores and schedules, customer reaction GIFs to major moments, bespoke B-Dubs commentary on games and aggregated social media content from diners around the country.
The first TV spot debuted on Friday, highlighting the different experiences that fans encounter while they enjoying the NCAA tournament at a Buffalo Wild Wings as opposed to watching it from home. Another eight spots will run online and on TV throughout March with explainers on the proper way to fill out a tournament bracket and what the Sweet 16 is, for instance.
Buffalo Wild Wings is also extending the #WingWisdom conversation across its social channels. For example, an interactive video will provide tips and advice to show how fans can “call in (not) sick” so they can watch.
#WingWisdom is the first campaign from creative agency TBWA/Chiat/Day for Buffalo Wild Wings and is the latest in a series of initiatives that the company has recently undertaken to position itself as the “ultimate sports experience” destination. The brand is leveraging new technology in restaurants, rolling out innovative social campaigns, and partnering with key sports partners in pursuit of this goal. CBS Sports and TBS Sports will, for example, air “Basketball Wisdom” studio segments featuring the campaign hashtag #WingWisdom, in which fans can listen to expert analysis.
“Buffalo Wild Wings isn’t a traditional sports brand like an energy drink or a shoe company,” Rick Utzinger, creative director at TBWA/Chiat/Day, told Digiday. “So while it is a challenge to make them an authority in the space, it isn’t impossible because the brand has always had sports in its DNA.”
In the platforms’ arms race for creators, YouTube Shorts splashes the cash
The platform has lowered the eligibility threshold to earn from its Partner Program, meaning more creators can take advantage of its Shorts rev share deal
Brands extend inclusive marketing efforts beyond Black History Month
As more inclusive marketing becomes the norm, brands like IPSY, SiriusXM and Jack Daniels ramp up for Black History Month and beyond.
Snapchat’s pitch to advertisers is starting to feel as ephemeral as its content — and its Q4 results prove it
While it may be too soon to count out Snapchat's ads business entirely, rewiring it into something more appealing to advertisers won't be easy — especially when so many marketers aren't advertising much there in the first place.
SponsoredHow Jounce Media and Teads are framing SPO’s role in driving business outcomes for brands
As supply chain concerns abound, marketers are increasingly focusing on the main motivators that drive efficiency in their operations, including financial considerations, supply chain transparency and, most recently, environmental concerns. Sustainability has not always been at the forefront of the digital video buying process for the ad industry, but brands like Teads are taking steps […]
Marketers seek agency-of-record relationships with influencer agencies as influencer marketing matures
Marketers are moving away from a project-based approach to a long-term vision with influencer marketing agencies participating in strategy meetings along with other agencies rather than being an afterthought.
Why acquisitions could be the inevitable future for embattled in-game ad companies
As game developers and big tech companies alike realize the revenue-generating power of mobile gaming, they have engaged in a flurry of merger and acquisition activity.


text:
- Subscribe NowLimited Time Offer
Brightcove hires former RealNetworks CEO Tom Nielsen as SVP of products
Send this story to a friend
- Maureen McCarthy, Special to Mass High Tech
With stellar first quarter revenues up 24 percent and an equally successful second quarter expected, Boston-based Brightcove Inc. (NASDAQ: BCOV), a cloud content service provider, ramped up its talent pool to include newly appointed senior vice president of products, Thomas Nielsen.
“I have long followed and admired Brightcove and its leadership position in the fast-growing and ever-changing online video platform market,” said Nielsen in a statement. “To join Brightcove now, at this energizing stage of technology development and innovation, is very exciting. I look forward to helping the company scale as it continues to expand its leadership in online video delivery and management.”
In his new role at Brightcove, Nielsen, who will share his time between three offices: Boston, Seattle and San Francisco, will oversee the company’s product strategy and delivery and lead Brightcove’s product development, management and engineering teams.
Nielsen, a 20-year technology leadership veteran, previously served as president and CEO at Seattle, Washington-based RealNetworks, Inc. (Nasdaq: RNWK.) His breadth of experience also trails back to vice president of the Digital Imaging Group position at Adobe Systems where he managed the company’s Photoshop, Lightroom and Elements business units and Adobe’s mobile, Web and tablet solutions.
“I am extremely excited to welcome Thomas Nielsen to Brightcove,” said Brightcove CEO David Mendels in a statement. “There is nothing more core to our business than building and delivering best-in-class, innovative products and services that address our customers’ needs. I am confident that Thomas is the right person to drive our product execution and roadmap both now and in the future as we continue to scale our organization and enable our customers to reach their audiences on every screen through online video solutions.”
If you are commenting using a Facebook account, your profile information may be displayed with your comment depending on your privacy settings. By leaving the 'Post to Facebook' box selected, your comment will be published to your Facebook profile in addition to the space below.
- Most viewed
- Most Emailed
- ALS biotech says ice bucket challenge will pay for a clinical trial
- Guide to Boston's startup scene to launch in September
- Almost half of Google's mergers and acquisitions team is in Cambridge
- J&J may be seeking buyer for Cordis, one of Boston Scientific's
- Watch MIT's David Rose talk tech on 'The Daily Show' (video)
- Paul English invests in fashion startup Nineteenth Amendment
Mass High Tech Twitter
Mass High Tech Life Sciences Directory
Email Newsletter Signup
Choose newsletter(s) you would like to receive.
- Hillary Clinton lauds tech innovation, calls for more gender and class inclusion
- 'Parenthood' actress Monica Potter's new role as founder of Mrs. Potter.com was scripted a long time ago
- Apple woos major credit cards for mobile wallet
- Up To Speed: Apple woos major credit cards for mobile wallet
- What's Amazon getting with its purchase of Twitch?
- This serial entrepreneur wants you to buy American


text:
MANILA - Senator Nancy Binay said Wednesday "influencers" or those who promote products and services on their social media accounts should be taxed.
"Apparently it's already an underground economy. I don't know if it's a billion (peso) industry already," Binay said during a Senate hearing on fake news.
"Government is trying to raise funds, but apparently there is an industry that is not captured by the BIR," she said.
A resource person at the hearing, lawyer and blogger Trixie Cruz-Angeles, agreed with the senator, saying it was an "excellent suggestion."
Influencers "operate in the same way" as public relations people, Angeles said.
"It would be nice to see people registering their companies that way it's easier to spot which trends are manufactured, which trends are assisted," she said.


text:
September 24, 2015 - By Aaron Hockel
Two weeks ago, Instagram announced that its advertising platform would be open to all businesses on September 30, 2015. This is a major win for advertisers as the platform boasts 300,000,000 users who spend an average of 21 minutes per day on the app. More importantly, 41% of 16-24 year old's and 35% of 24-35 year old's in the U.S. are users. Instagram will offer advertisers a powerful portal to reach these highly coveted market segments.
Ads will be available in image and video formats and offer a range of call to action buttons such as "shop now", "learn more" and "install now". Initial data shows that targeted Instagram ad campaigns have a significant impact on ad recall, product awareness, and app installs. (checkout these case studies on campaigns run by Levi's and Ben & Jerry's).[caption id="attachment_1173" align="alignleft" width="451"] Instagram ads will offer calls to action such as "SHOP NOW" and "INSTALL NOW".[
While the opening of the Instagram ad platform is definitely a win for advertisers (and likely to be a major revenue bump for Facebook) it should raise concerns about an increase in targeted ads negatively impacting overall user experience. Users are going to begin seeing more ads in their Instagram feeds and history tells us they will not be happy about it. Early Instagram ad campaigns from Michael Kors and Lexus were both met with harsh criticism from users.
As Facebook opens the Instagram ad platform to the masses it raises a number of questions: Will the coveted 16-35 year old demographic be turned off by seeing significantly more ads? Will results from Instagram ad campaigns continue to average 2.8 times Nielsen's standards for ad recall? Will an increase in ads cause users to stray from Instagram? Does the 21 minutes of daily average use plummet?
Facebook is no stranger to criticism and backlash over ads and has always managed to weather the storm. I believe this situation will be no different. Facebook will receive an initial outburst of criticism that will end quickly. Instagram users will remain highly engaged with the app as a younger audience is more accepting of social media ads. Lastly, the overall effectiveness of Instagram ads will decline in comparison to early case studies as result of users being exposed to more ads.


text:
A collection of new celebrity chefs are taking the licensing world by storm with their dynamic personalities and unique product extensions.
The Little Gym International is introducing SpongeBob SquarePants-themed Awesome Birthday Bash parties in partnership with Nickelodeon.
Two former Mattel and Spin Master execs have joined the team of the newly launched sports and entertainment brand–Day 6 Sports Group.
England's Rugby Football Union has teamed up with Wattbike for a range of branded exercise bikes and floor mats.
My Gym Children’s Fitness Center has teamed with The Hain Celestial Group for a marketing campaign in the U.K. featuring Hain’s Ella’s Kitchen.
Universal Partnerships & Licensing and Garmin International have teamed up to release The Biggest Loser-branded fitness devices.
Fitness company Zumba and GoNoodle, a provider of online physical activity breaks, have teamed up for National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month.
Celebrity fitness trainer Jillian Michaels and Kmart will launch Impact by Jillian Michaels, a performance activewear collection for women, in stores this fall.
Following the news last Wednesday that Manchester United called it quits with current equipment partner Nike, the football team announced a 10-year deal with adidas.
Fam Brands is teaming up with Montreal-based hosiery company Cameo to develop socks for the Bally Total Fitness Brand.
Sports and fitness brand Everlast Worldwide has teamed with lifestyle company Cellutions to expand its product offering to a include sports performance drink.
American Gladiators has launched a new fitness licensing program that will let trainers across the U.S. operate their own certified American Gladiators Fitclub.
Brick Lane Bikes has appointed London-based consultancy firm Foundry Brand Consultants to gear up its licensing program.
Majesco has put the development of new Zumba Fitness video game titles on hold.
Tommy Bahama and the California-based stand-up paddleboard (SUP) company Suplove have collaborated on a line of co-branded paddleboards.
Mercis is planning a series of events featuring its character Miffy to promote exercise among kids in the Netherlands.
©2014 ADVANSTAR COMMUNICATIONS INC. All rights reserved.


text:
Senegal Port to remove stored ammonium nitrate
The port of Senegal's capital, Dakar, announced that it had demanded the withdrawal of some 2,700 tons of highly explosive ammonium nitrate stored.
The port of Senegal's capital, Dakar, reported on Thursday that it had demanded the withdrawal of some 2,700 tons of highly explosive ammonium nitrate stored in its complex — the same quantity of chemical that triggered Beirut 's devastating blast this month.
According to the general directorate of the port, which is located next to Dakar's densely populated downtown, the unidentified owner of the stock has found a warehouse for the storage of industrial chemicals outside the area.
The port strictly needs to abide by international standards for the handling and storage of hazardous materials, it added.
The port of Beirut had stored 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate for six years without safety precautions until they detonated on August 4, killing more than 150 people, wounding thousands and leaving around a quarter of a million homeless.
The Beirut explosion is a wake-up call for countries to tackle the risks of ammonium nitrate, experts say. Commonly used in fertilizers and as an industrial explosive, it is considered relatively safe to handle properly, but has caused some of the deadliest industrial accidents in the world.
Maritime Business World


text:
PASADENA, TX (KTRK) --A small alligator has been released back into the wild after giving workers at a local warehouse a big surprise.
The 4-foot gator wandered into a business on Bay Area Boulevard sometime Monday morning. Authorities say it likely came from a bayou near the warehouse in search of food.
The Game Warden responded to the scene just before 9am, safely relocating the animal to another nearby bayou.
No injure were reported.


text:
SEOUL - Samsung Electronics Co Ltd aims to sell at least 2 million liquid crystal display (LCD) televisions that use light-emitting diodes (LED) in 2009 and at least 10 million units in 2010, an executive said.
The LED sales forecast comes on top of an initial sales target of 22 million for all LCD sets. The initial target was below DisplaySearch's forecast of a 15 percent growth in the global LCD TV market, and Samsung had said it would strive to post higher growth.
TVs featuring LED backlights are about a third thinner than those lit by traditional cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFLs) and have a longer lifespan. They offer more vivid images, with greater contrast and color range, proponents say.
Yoon Boo-keun, president of Samsung's visual display division said Samsung plans to outperform the rest of the industry in the LCD TV segment, while "vastly" outperforming the LED TV market next year.
However, unlike in 2009, when Samsung was virtually alone in the LED category in the first half of the year, Yoon said he expects "heated" competition in 2010.
Yoon was speaking at a press conference ahead of the IFA trade show in Germany. His remarks were embargoed until Friday.
Television panel makers plan to ship 4.3 million LCD units with LED backlights in 2009, research firm DisplaySearch said in a report released in June.
DisplaySearch said Samsung was expected to have a 59.8 percent global market share in the LED television market in 2009, with Japanese rival Sharp following at 27.9 percent.
As LED televisions consume less power than traditional LCDs, they are both economical and environmentally correct, Yoon said, adding that Samsung expects its LED TV segment to grow to the same size as its traditional LCD category by 2012.
On the market for televisions using active-matrix organic light-emitting diodes (AM-OLEDs), touted for their extreme thinness, superior picture quality and energy efficiency, Yoon said much more time was needed for commercialized models to become profitable.
"Right now, LEDs are the leading force," he said.
Samsung will still develop the OLED segment as part of its future TV strategy, Yoon said. Samsung is the main proponent of AM-OLED screens in small displays used in mobile phones and media players.
Japan's Sony Corp launched the world's first AM-OLED TV in late 2007, but has not followed with new models.
LG Electronics, Samsung's home rival in televisions, unveiled a 15-inch television set using AM-OLED technology, the largest commercial model so far, and even promised a 40-inch model "in the not too distant future."
© Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. Users may download and print extracts of content from this website for their own personal and non-commercial use only. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.


text:
"Apparently, there's a law that every hotel in evacuation has to allow pets, and they are not allowing pets." Betty Medernach says.
A Facebook post has been going around saying under the Federal Pets Act, all hotels in an emergency situation have to allow pets, and it has caught the attention of many evacuees who say finding a hotel to accommodate their pets has been nearly impossible.
So does the federal Pets Act require hotels to let your pets stay during a emergency?
Nicole Butler reached out to a FEMA spokesperson to Verify the facts. Here's a look at what she learned.
After hours of driving, many evacuees have pulled over to rest.
One of them is Betty Medernach from Port Charlotte, Florida.
She says it's not just people dealing with Irma's effects, their pets are, too.
"But I'm telling you, every car that goes by has a pet in it. Where do these people go at night? We've at a lot of people sleep in the hotel parking lot with pets," Medernach says.
Medernach says she's seen a Facebook post going around saying under the Federal Pets Act, all hotels in an emergency situation have to allow pets.
"We're homeless right now, all of us on the road are homeless. We've got our pets. They're our kids, you know, you got to take us in," she says.
With Misty, a 75-pound Bernese Mountain Dog, along for the ride, Dina Yacomb says it's been impossible to find a hotel, and leaving Misty in a shelter wasn't an option.
"I wouldn't leave her somewhere where I don't know if she's going to be safe or not. I would rather sleep in the car with my baby and my husband than leaving her somewhere. No, I can't do this to her," Yacomb says.
I spoke with a spokesperson at FEMA about the PETS act that would supposedly keep this family together.
This what they had to say, "In 2006, Congress passed the Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act which ensures that emergency rescues and care shelters meet the essential needs of household pets and service animals. Therefore, this does not include hotels."
So they verified that the posts you see floating around Facebook are false.
Click here for a link to help you find pet-friendly hotels in the area you are evacuating, too.


text:
Honda recall: 870,000 minvans and SUVs for ignition defect
Honda recall of more than 800,000 Odyssey minivans and Pilot SUVs is the latest in what has been a recall-filled year for the automaker. The latest Honda recall involves ignitions that can release the key even when the car is not in park, allowing the vehicles to roll away.
Honda will recall approximately 807,000 vehicles in the United States and approximately 63,000 in other countries due to a problem with the key ignition.
The problem is a potential malfunction with the ignition interlock feature, which keep keys locked into the ignition when a car is not in park. Without it, a key can be removed when the vehicle is in drive, neutral, or reverse, and the car could move when it shouldn’t.
“The ignition interlock mechanism can be damaged or worn during use,” Honda America’s statement on the recall reads. “If this happens, it may become possible to remove the ignition key when the automatic transmission shift lever is not in Park. If the transmission is not in Park and the parking brake is not set, the vehicle could roll away, and a crash could occur.”
Honda has received several customer complaints about the problem, and says in its statement that it knows of two incidents that may have resulted in minor injuries.
Honda will notify vehicle owners by mail this coming February. At that time, customers affected by the recall can take their vehicles to Honda dealerships for a repair at no charge.
Also in early February, Honda owners will be able to determine if their vehicles need a repair by visiting the Honda and Acura recall websites, www.recalls.honda.com and www.recalls.acura.com, or by calling (800) 999-1009 for Honda owners or (800) 382-2238 for Acura owners, and selecting option 4.
This isn’t the first recall for Honda involving the ignition interlock issue. Some 384,000 Honda Accords from the 2003 model year were recalled for the same problem in August 2010. In 2003, Honda recalled 583,000 Hondas and Acuras for the ignition defect, and another 483,000 in 2005. In an investigation of the problem, the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration received 42 complaints from drivers whose vehicles had rolled away. Sixteen vehicles came to a stop only after hitting something.
Aside from the ignition interlock issue, Honda has wrestled with other recalls this year. The company has had to issue major recalls on things ranging from faulty overhead electrical wiring to leaky power steering to power window switches that pose a fire risk, as the Monitor reported in October.
According to Honda, the current recall is unrelated to the previous ones.


text:
Stocks of Long Island Iced Tea Corp. have gained more than 500% after the company was renamed as Long Blockchain Corp. Of course, they didn’t have any connection to the blockchain. After world cryptocommunity had disclosed this incredible PR move shares price fell down tremendously. However, it remained higher than it was before the rebranding.
Mercedes Fashion Conference decided to rename itself as Blockchain Fashion Conference, but lightning never strikes twice. The attendees had no chance to learn more about possibilities of blockchain implementation in the fashion industry. Instead, they were listening to some speeches regarding fashion and blockchain but without any connection between these fields. It looked like a salad bowl with meat and ice cream at the same time. Low attendance and poor understanding of the crypto industry both failed the event, turning it into an absolute disaster.
What do you guys think about using blockchain in the fashion industry? I, for instance, imagine a service that allows verifying the exclusivity of top-brand clothes. At this conference, a fashion coin was advertised that would supposedly give an opportunity for young designers to compete with sharks of this market and make their own name. Unfortunately, it was never mentioned during the event.
The first block of the conference was timed to a round-table discussion about regulations of cryptocurrency. Truly, it may have been the best moment of this conference. Even though the speakers still didn’t try to find a connection with fashion, this part brought together the representatives of the Ukrainian government, lawyers and miners to talk about the future of the blockchain sphere. It revealed that heads of Ukrainian economical departments are acquainted neither with the basics of blockchain nor with cryptocurrency and KYC principles.
Thereafter, the conference lost its structure at all. Speakers were divided into two groups. The first one presented their blockchain-based projects such as Verge, NKOR and Taler, the other one was speaking about trends in fashion. The event didn’t manage to initiate a cooperation between these two spheres. It was obvious that the audience was totally separated. Stylish women were bored, when someone was talking about mining software. Crypto enthusiasts didn’t feel interested in buying new skirts from fashion shows. It looked weird and didn’t bring any positive results neither to speakers nor to visitors.
I call events like this a crypto-circus. People that are not really experts are trying to make money from the hype by tricking newcomers. Regrettably, a person who decided to visit a blockchain conference for the first time can get disappointed in blockchain after such an experience. Don’t be cheated! Keep your eyes open with Byzantium.


text:
BALTIMORE, Md.; Sept. 25, 2020 — M&T Bank is featuring more than a dozen of its Baltimore-area small-business clients on an online retail shop designed to lure new and existing customers to the businesses’ websites during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The bank’s virtual Spotlight Shop is a pandemic-inspired adaptation of the physical retail space M&T sponsored in downtown Baltimore last year. The modular shop was located on Pratt Street in the city’s Inner Harbor between June and November 2019 and featured 12 local retailers rotating through the shop every two weeks.
This year, the virtual Spotlight Shop will be available to customers throughout the fall and showcase many of M&T’s small-business clients – several of them minority- or women-owned businesses. Nine retailers that participated in the Spotlight Shop last year – including Boordy Vineyard, Charm City Run, the Charmery, and Dollhouse Boutique – have returned to the virtual shop this year.
“Local, small businesses are what make our communities feel like home,” said Eleni Monios, group vice president and business banking marketing manager for M&T Bank in Greater Baltimore. “Our goal with the virtual Spotlight Shop is to connect these businesses with audiences and customers they might not have been exposed to otherwise, so they can continue to grow during these challenging times.”
The virtual Spotlight Shop will feature a new business each week and host live-streamed concerts and events to encourage users to browse businesses’ websites. Other local businesses participating virtually in the Spotlight Shop include:
● Becket Hitch
● Cake by Jason
● Dangerously Delicious Pies
● Diasporo Salon
● Fashion Spa House
● Maryland SPCA
● Mouth Party Caramel
● Third Eye Comics
● White Paw Run Mitts
The shop’s retailers will continuously update throughout the fall, and visitors can support the businesses by making online purchases.
M&T’s virtual Spotlight Shop is another way the region’s top bank for small-business lending is supporting entrepreneurs and small-business owners. Earlier this year, the bank approved more than 6,600 Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans in the Baltimore area for $1.2 billion. The majority of those loans, which supported over 135,000 jobs, went to businesses with 50 or fewer employees.
Learn more about the virtual Spotlight Shop by visiting mtb.com/spotlightshop or following @mandt_spotlight on Instagram.
About M&T Bank
M&T Bank Corporation is a financial holding company headquartered in Buffalo, New York. M&T’s principal banking subsidiary, M&T Bank, operates banking offices in New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Connecticut, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia. Trust-related services are provided by M&T’s Wilmington Trust-affiliated companies and by M&T Bank.
© 2020 M&T Bank. Member FDIC.


text:
BEIJING — McDonald’s is pairing with a Chinese partner in an alliance to build drive-through restaurants. They’re hoping to profit from soaring Chinese car ownership.
Under the agreement, McDonald’s and partner Sinopec will turn an unspecified number of about 30,000 gasoline stations into drive-throughs.
The companies declined to estimate the value of the deal. McDonald’s chief executive for China said there’s no numerical target for outlets to be built.
The alliance is aimed at capitalizing on the popularity of Western fast-food and a new car culture in China.
McDonald’s already has 760 restaurants in China.


text:
KUALA LUMPUR (Nikkei Markets) - Malaysia's exports in December rose 4.8% on year, helping lift the full year trade surplus to the highest since 2012, provisional data Wednesday showed.
Shipments in December totalled 83.27 billion ringgit ($20.29 billion) compared with 79.48 billion ringgit over the same month in 2017, according to a statement from Ministry of Trade and Industry. For the full year, exports gained 6.7% to 998.01 billion ringgit, exceeding the government's forecast of 4.4% growth.
Despite global challenges, exports may increase 5% this year, International Trade Minister Darrell Leiking told reporters. That compares to the earlier projection of a 3.9% when the government released its annual economic report in November.
Still, Leiking cautioned that external trade in 2019 will be affected by slowing economic growth, potential disruption from U.S.-China tariff tussle and softer commodity prices due to anticipated increase in production and weaker demand.
Malaysia's faster-than-expected growth in exports was in contrast to recent disappointments from China, South Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines and Indonesia. A surprise fall in Singapore's non-oil December exports underscored that Asia's trade engine may be sputtering after two years of heady growth.
Economists said latest global data, including the decline in indicators of manufacturing activities, suggest gloomy prospects ahead for Malaysia's shipments largely driven by re-exports activities.
Malaysia's exports are expected to grow 3.6% this year amid more signs of easing key global indicators, said MIDF Amanah Investment Bank. "The pace is consistent with global commodity prices, expectation of a slight slowdown in overall business performance on top of the uncertainty over Sino-US trade conflict."
Shipments of electrical and electronics goods, which account for more than one-third of Malaysia's total exports, increased 14.2% in December and 11% in 2018. Exports to Malaysia's largest trading partner China rose 10.3% year-on-year in 2018.
Imports gained 1% to 72.84 billion ringgit in December from a year earlier led by higher demand for intermediate and consumption goods. For the full year, imports climbed 4.9% to 877.74 billion ringgit.
Trade surplus in December stood at 10.43 billion ringgit. In 2018 trade surplus widened to 120.27 billion ringgit, up 22% on year.
Malaysia is relying on its resilient domestic demand to power growth at a time when U.S. and China, both major trading partners of the Southeast Asian nation. Trade tensions are beginning to have a material impact on global trade and investments, the central bank flagged last week.
Economic growth rate has decelerated for four straight quarters and expanded 4.4% in July-to-September. Malaysia is expected to release the gross domestic product data for the final quarter of 2018 on Feb. 14.
--Sarah Nadlin Rohim and Jason Ng


text:
Galaxy S8 development delayed by two weeks as Samsung engineers try to find cause of Galaxy Note 7 fires
When the first few reports of the Galaxy Note 7 catching fire started coming in, Samsung looked into the matter and determined that there was a battery cell issue in the batteries it was sourcing from Samsung SDI. It decided to recall some 2.5 million units and send out fresh units with batteries from another supplier. That should have worked, but it didn’t. Even replacement units started catching fire and it quickly became evident that something else was wrong. Samsung has since killed the Galaxy Note 7 but it’s still working to find out what caused those fires in the first place.
Samsung’s mobile chief D.J. Koh has already said that the company is going to find the cause at any cost but recent reports have suggested that the company remains clueless about it. The Wall Street Journal has published a new report today which basically rounds up everything that happened over at Samsung ever since the Galaxy Note 7 was announced in August and provides some context through information received from its sources. The report also mentioned an unnamed member of the Galaxy S8 development team who apparently told the scribe that Samsung executives have delayed the development of the Galaxy S8 by two weeks as even those engineers have been tasked with finding out what caused the Galaxy Note 7 to overheat and catch fire.
Whether or not this delay is going to force Samsung to push back the Galaxy S8 announcement early next year remains to be seen, the report doesn’t raise any such possibility. The company hasn’t given any such indication right now. New Galaxy S handsets are traditionally announced at the Mobile World Congress conference and a recent rumor suggests that the Galaxy S8 will indeed to unveiled at MWC 2017.


text:
For those Antarctic enthusiasts, Google has been exploring Antarctica with its special Street View backpack carrying a special Trekker camera. It persuaded researchers at the Polar Geospatial Center to carry the trekker, a 42 pound backpack with 15 lenses. Starting with easy to obtain images using , Google has now added a range of hard to reach places.
Posts Tagged ‘Google’
George Demming, founding member of TerraGo Technology and CTO of TerraGo, talked in their recent webinar about the release of their Terrago v.6.0.4 geospatial collaboration software, including TerraGo Publisher, TerraGo Composer and TerraGo Toolbar.
Blue Marble Geographics released Global Energy Mapper version 15.1, a so called minor release that features the “Create Flattened Site Pad Plan” dialog box option and improved processing of IHS Well (297/298) files.
According to the press release, “Global Energy Mapper is not just a viewer capable of displaying the most popular raster, elevation, and vector datasets. It converts, edits, prints, tracks GPS, and allows users to utilize GIS functionality on a wide variety of datasets. With Global Energy Mapper users have access to the Blue Marble GeoCalc coordinate transformation, SpatialOnDemand subscription and custom industry tools like the pad site placement tool, seismic survey tools and built-in point types and symbols for the oil & gas industry.”
Additional features of the new release include added support for MS SQL Spatial databases, enabling Global Energy Mapper to support all available spatial database types and 3D support for displaying a path profile across separate terrain surfaces that allows users to easily compare the surface of multiple loaded terrain layers along a single path.
This morning Autodesk announced a pay-as-you-go model for all the company’s desktop software including the latest Design and Creation Suites, Autodesk 3ds Max, Autodesk Maya and Autodesk Maya LT. A “hangout” was held this morning on Google this morning where Andrew Anagnost, SVP, Industry Strategy & Marketing for Autodesk and other industry specialists, discussed this new offering.
Businesses are increasingly adopting this type of model for consuming services and products as opposed to owning software. Options generally include renting, sharing or purchasing subscriptions such as this “pay-as-you-go” model. This way designers, engineers and architects no longer will have to be concerned about purchasing the next version of the software. New comers will also be able to get up and running on the software with few up-front costs, and get projects started with this software.
It looks as though Microsoft Corp. is moving into a paradigm shift with its move toward a $7 billion acquisition from Nokia to thrust it into the mobile market. Nokia will still remain a company after Microsoft buys the company’s handset business. While Microsoft is acquiring what Nokia is best known for, the Finnish company is holding on to two if its major businesses: networking and mapping. Microsoft has been hoping to take a slice of the mobile market from smartphone moguls Apple and Google, and meanwhile has been partnering with Nokia for three years.
According to a report by ABI Research entitled, “Indoor Location Smartphone Applications,” the ecosystem necessary to drive mass adoption of indoor location applications will be in place by 2016.
The Google Maps Engine API,<http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/#uds-search-results> was released this week, allowing developers to bring the power of Maps Engine into their own applications for the first time.
Maps Engine lets organizations use Google’s reliable cloud infrastructure to layer their data on top of a Google Map and share their custom-made Google Maps with employees, customers or the public-at-large. The API provides direct access to Maps Engine for reading and editing spatial data hosted in the cloud and now organizations can use the API to develop on any platform and build applications like store locators, crowdsourced maps or crisis-response maps.
Two articles in The New York Times point to the importance of maps and mobile services this week.
“With low-cost developer’s tools becoming available, geofencing is finally coming out of the shadows, moving beyond traditional location-based applications, to form the backbone of a host of new applications and services.
As the back-end complexities of supporting location-based services continues to escalate, developers are increasingly turning to platform providers such as carriers, Google, Qualcomm, Esri, Urban Airship, and others to provide an easy, scalable geofencing service. In its report, “Geofencing: Technologies, Applications, and Revenue Strategies”, ABI Research investigates the full range of carrier and smartphone applications that will utilize geofencing in the coming years, including retail, enterprise, push notification, local search, social networking, ambient intelligence, etc”
As the markets closed this Monday, Google (GOOG) shares are at $249.1 billion, much higher than Microsoft’s ($247.2 billion). Despite Microsoft’s healthy performance over the past year, in which shares are up nearly 20 percent, it is reporting it’s first ever quarterly loss since going public.
Industry experts say that although Windows 8 is debuting this month, the Windows platform is waning in popularity. Microsoft has been slow to pick up mobile, and now has come forth claiming that the new oeprating system will translate well from PCs to mobile devices.


text:
MUMBAI, India It’s official — Tata Motors has entered into a definitive agreement with Ford Motor Co. for the purchase of Jaguar Land Rover, comprising brands, plants and Intellectual Property Rights.
Tata Motors will pay for approximately $2.3 billion Jaguar Land Rover. At closing, Ford will then contribute up to approximately $600 million to the Jaguar Land Rover pension plans.
The transfer of ownership to Tata Motors is expected to close by the end of the next quarter, subject to applicable regulatory approvals.
Commenting on the agreement, Chairman of Tata Sons and Tata Motors, Ratan Tata, said, "We are very pleased at the prospect of Jaguar and Land Rover being a significant part of our automotive business. We have enormous respect for the two brands and will endeavor to preserve and build on their heritage and competitiveness, keeping their identities intact. We aim to support their growth, while holding true to our principles of allowing the management and employees to bring their experience and expertise to bear on the growth of the business."
Ford President and CEO of the Ford Motor Co., Alan Mulally, said, "Jaguar and Land Rover are terrific brands. We are confident that they are leaving our fold with the products, plan and team to continue to thrive under Tata’s stewardship. Now, it is time for Ford to concentrate on integrating the Ford brand globally, as we implement our plan to create a strong Ford Motor Co. that delivers profitable growth for all."
As part of the transaction, Ford will continue to supply Jaguar Land Rover for differing periods with powertrains, stampings and other vehicle components, in addition to a variety of technologies, such as environmental and platform technologies. Ford also has committed to provide engineering support, including research and development, plus information technology, accounting and other services.


text:
It’s been a tumultuous week, what with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles first extending, then withdrawing, a merger offer to Renault that would have made it one of the world’s largest automakers. Things move fast in car-land.
And speaking of moving fast, there’s been plenty of news in the performance car realm. The hot Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 has landed on our shores and Wheels man Andy Enright has dutifully given the supercharged V8 coupe a thorough going-through, while over in Germany Mercedes-AMG has whipped the sheet off its next-gen turbo four-cylinder, declaring it the world’s most powerful production engine of its type. How much oomph does it have? Head here to find out.
Alex Rae travelled to Europe to sample the Porsche Cayenne Coupe, the first ‘fastback SUV’ to be produced by the German performance car specialist and one that shows BMW and Mercedes precisely how the genre should be executed – but wait until you see what its most peculiar option is.
That wasn’t all for the Porsche Cayenne, though, which got the WhichCar treatment again this week courtesy of Dan Gardner’s explainer on precisely how the Porsche Cayenne E-hybrid and its clever plug-in powertrain works.
Still on the subject of SUVs, Tony O’Kane was sent to the top of Tasmania to discover that the new Volkswagen Touareg has gone to the top end of town, with the quasi-luxe Launch Edition catapulting VW’s big wagon to near-luxury status. Fancy, but will a hefty pricetag hurt it?
Another mainstream brand with premium aspirations these days is without doubt Mazda, and its Mazda 3 sedan joins the recently-launched hatchback to flesh out the Japanese brand’s small car range. We’ve driven it, and we declare it to be just as good as the hatchback – and in some ways, even better.
Other all-new arrivals to Australia this week also include the Range Rover Evoque, the trail-conquering Jeep Wrangler Rubicon and the jacked-up crossover from the Blue Oval brand, the Ford Focus Active.
As always, WhichCar isn’t just about driving new product – we take a look at the automotive landscape in general. In the wake of the election, is the Liberal party’s lack of electric vehicle policy putting a dampener on manufacturer’s plans to embrace electrification? Volkswagen says it’s certainly not wavering in its EV resolve.
After-sales care meanwhile continues to be another field where carmakers are keen to refine and innovate, and now BMW says it’s aiming to streamline servicing to a mere 90 minutes, while also wheeling out clubhouse-style waiting rooms likely to make customers wish their maintenance visits went for a smidge longer.
The first trailer for the upcoming Ford v Ferrari movie starring Matt Damon the great Carroll Shelby as dropped this week, which is shaping up to be a superb dramatization of one of the most legendary rivalries in automotive history. Not enough auto entertainment for you?
Tune in for the final episode of WhichCar TV on Sunday 3.30PM, where we wrap up all of the best moments from WCTV’s inaugural season! Can’t wait? Head here for a sneak peek at what’s on the last show of season one!


text:
Achievements appear on Ebay.
Yes, you read that correctly. Some people have started selling achievements on Ebay.
This news, shared with us by our pals at Kotaku, may not come as a surprise to many, considering what this particular achievement is. Unlike many, which can be obtained at any point in the console’s lifetime, this one is unique to the day one versions of the console, and only those that pre-ordered the console will be able to obtain the achievement.
Or at least, that’s the initial plan. Because the achievement comes in the form of a code, however, people have started selling it for around $30 to $50 on Ebay.
What do you think of this new achievement selling?


text:
According to traders, potato farmers across the major producing states collectively reduced acreage last year by 5-7 per cent after two consecutive years of over-supply in the market.
This has led to a 10-20 per cent drop in potato output. Crop quality, too, has gone down as farmers have used last year’s leftover seed. “Production in Uttar Pradesh this year has been less by 20 per cent, which has resulted in improvement in prices at the farm-gate level,” UP-based Rajesh Goyal, secretary of Federation of Cold Storage Associations of India, told ET. “Last year, farmers were getting Rs 4-5 per kg for their produce this time of the year. Now they are getting Rs 13 -15 per kg.” Uttar Pradesh, the largest producer of potatoes in the country, had a record output of 16 million tonnes last year.
The bumper crop sent farmgate prices down to below the cost of production, which in turn prompted the Yogi Adityanath government to announce a minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 487/quintal. The state government also purchased 1 lakh metric tonnes of potatoes to help the 2.5 million potato growers of the state.
“The situation is much better this year in Uttar Pradesh. Even Gujarat has lesser production. Initial estimates coming in from Gujarat show a production of 3.4 crore bags (each bag of 50 kg) as compared with 5.4 crore bags in 2017,” Goyal said. However, consumers are having to pay Rs 18-20 per kg almost double of last year's rate.
Download The Economic Times News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News.
- Onion and potato prices hit the roof in festive season
- Potato prices go through the roof, relief likely by next month
- Potato prices up 92% in one year, onions by 44%
- Potato prices soar amid drop in production, increase in demand
- Potato price gains in India due to rains
- Potato prices at retail up by 20%-30% amidst lockdown


text:
After beginning the year with the rather average G7 series of phones, Motorola has introduced the first offering in 2019 to the Motorola One series. It's called the One Vision and it only comes in a single variant. The One Vision is aimed at those who want a premium camera experience with a unique display meant for content consumption at an affordable price. The One Vision will go on sale from June 27 on Flipkart and will be available in two colour variants.
Motorola One Vision has made its India debut. Over a month after the Motorola smartphone was originally unveiled by the company, the Motorola One Vision has been launched in India. At an event in New Delhi on Thursday, Motorola India showcased the new smartphone, which features a hole-punch design and is based on Android One platform. The CinemaVision display with 21:9 aspect ratio is another highlight of the phone. Additionally, the company touts the phone's camera capabilities and it has included a dual rear camera setup with a 48-megapixel primary shooter on the phone. Read on for more details about Motorola One Vision price in India, specifications, features, and more.
Motorola One Vision sports a glass sandwich design with a hole-punch selfie camera and rounded edges. The phone also features a gradient finish on the back. Motorola claims that the CinemaVision display will maximise the viewing experience as most films are recorded in 21:9 aspect ratio. More and more streaming services are also opting for the same aspect ratio for their original Web series. To recall, the smartphone was first unveiled in Brazil last month, and the company had at the time touted the hole-punch display as its biggest highlight. The Motorola One Vision has since gone on sale in several regions.
The Motorola One Vision price in India has been set at Rs. 19,999 for the lone 4GB + 128GB variant. The phone will be offered in Bronze Gradient and Sapphire Gradient colours. It will go on sale from June 27. Launch offers in the first week (June 27 to July 4) include no-cost EMIs for 6 months on all credit and debit cards. Vodafone Idea subscribers get up to Rs.3,750 cashback and additional data up to 250GB. It will be exclusively sold via Flipkart in the country.
On the imaging front, the phone packs a dual rear camera setup, which houses a 48-megapixel primary sensor with f/1.7 lens with optical image stabilisation support. There is a 5-megapixel secondary sensor as well. For selfies, the company has included a 25-megapixel shooter on the front with an f/2.0 lens on the Motorola One Vision.
The One Vision is priced at Rs 19,999 in India. At this price, the One Vision directly competes with the Samsung Galaxy A50 and Galaxy M40. Consumers also get the option to opt for the Poco F1 that offers 2018 flagship grade specifications. Compared to the others, Motorola brings a new 21:9 wide display that's meant to support the cinema format. Also, the phone boasts of a 48-megapixel camera at the rear and a 25-megapixel front camera.
Display: The One Vision introduces a new 21:9 CinemaVision display. It measures 6.3-inches and a hole-punch camera cutout on the top-left corner. Motorola has gone for an IPS LCD panel.
Rear Camera: The Motorola One Vision is meant to be camera-centric smartphone. Hence, it uses a combination of a Samsung-made 48-megapixel primary camera with F1.7 lens and a secondary 5-megapixel camera for depth data. Motorola says the cameras rely on AI algorithms to get good shots in low-light situations.
Front Camera: The front camera relies on a 25-megapixel sensor that uses Pixel Binning to capture more light data. By default, it tackles photos in 6-megapixel resolution to capture more details and light.
Chipset: The Motorola One Vision is the first Motorola smartphone to use a Samsung-made Exynos 9610 chipset. This SoC is closely based on the Exynos 9610 used in the Samsung Galaxy A50.
RAM and Storage: The One Vision comes as standard with 4GB RAM and 128GB storage.
Battery: The One Vision is kept alive by a 3500mAh battery. It also comes with a 15W TurboPower charger out-of-the-box.
Software: The Motorola One Vision is part of the Android One program and comes with Android 9 Pie. Motorola says the phone will get the Android Q and Android R updates as and when they are released by Google.
-The Motorola One series phones won't be generation upgrades like the Moto G series phones. Motorola says the One lineup will come up with phones catering to the latest technology trends in the market. The One Vision is the latest example offering a 48-megapixel camera and a modern 21:9 display with a hole-punch front camera cutout.
-Motorola is using a Samsung chipset for the first time instead of a Qualcomm chipset. The One Vision uses an Exynos 9609 chipset, which is a slightly underclocked version of the Exynos 9610 chipset used in the Samsung Galaxy A50. This chipset uses a Mali-G72 MP3 GPU that lest players play games like PUBG MOBILE in high graphics.
copyrights � 2019 Ramanisoft.com All rights reserved.


text:
Inflation hurting traders, poor getting poorer, say city traders
By Pune Mirror Bureau
PHOTOS: KALPESH NUKTE
Traders from the city have expressed their concern over the rising inflation and came down heavily on the fixed policy regarding application of Goods and Service Tax (GST).
The businesspersons asked whether they should focus on doing their business or keep doing the accounting (for GST)? “The central government brought in the GST to implement a one-tax system across the country. However, with lack of clarity over it, several times, several notifications were issued regarding it,” they said.
The traders were speaking during their visit to the Pune Times Mirror and Civic Mirror office here on Tuesday. Pune Traders Association head Fatechand Ranka, vicepresident Suryakant Pathak, Ratan Kirad, treasury Manoj Sarda, associate secretary Jayant Shete were among those who discussed the issue.
The association members demanded that the state government allow them to pay the tax returns once in six months. Similarly, Pune city should be declared as a business hub and the infrastructural development should be carried out accordingly, they said.
“Inflation is rising every day. Petrol, diesel, CNG prices are skyrocketing. Transport has become expensive. The entire world is under the shadow of economic slowdown. Politicians claim that India will remain strong in this slowdown, but it is not true. The unemployment rate in the country is also going up, and employable youths are going into depression,” they said.
“Nearly 23,000 families have already left the country to settle down in another country. This year alone eight thousand families went to foreign shores. The complex tax structure is the main reason for these families to migrate to foreign lands”, said the traders, adding that the issue needs to be taken seriously.
“Tax has been imposed on stationery along with grocery items. The government, while bringing coherence in the tax regime, should make provision for filing the tax returns for traders once in six months. Likewise, while making Pune a business hub, there should be coordination between the municipal corporation, state government and central government”, they said.
Ranka said the tax regime in Maharashtra and other states is different. “The market is volatile and thus purposeful efforts should be made to bring down the rate of inflation. Electricity theft must be stopped. We have been given electricity on a commercial basis, the rates are very high. The city lacks basic infrastructure. There is huge encroachment on footpaths, no place for parking and still PMC wants to go ahead with ‘walking plaza’,” he said.
Pathak said, “The service class people are unable to save money due to inflation. This has also limited their purchasing capacity. This is further widening the gap between the rich and poor. The rich are becoming richer and the poor poorer. The middle-class too is feeling the heat of inflation. There is no law in our country which can fix the MRP of a product. The economy is dwindling. Small traders are unable to sustain against big companies. Some steps should be taken to save the small traders. Make in India and Made in India is not fruitful. Very few people favour indigenous products. Interestingly, many do not know about indigenous products. Helmets are made compulsory in the city, but no one gives a thought to people avoiding the headgear. It is wrong to make helmets compulsory”.
Sarda said, “No one is ready to hold discussions on GST. The traders who do their business honestly suffer the most. Due to inflation, the tax too has gone up. Not all traders are computer literate and thus they have to hire experts. Small traders cannot afford this extra burden. They have to pay returns every month. This is one way of doing corruption. There is a different class of online consumers. They have ample money but no time. But things are cheaper in the offline market. While shopping people do not use common sense. They just look at the offers that are given in the malls, but fail to understand why these offers have been given. Efforts should be made to fight inflation,” he said.


text:
Only 3% of websites have security measures against hacking
There are about a billion official web pages on the Internet. Most of them are exposed to cyber attacks, since only 3% of these sites have encryption or encryption. This is what facilitates the cyber attack, due to the lack of security on the web, “according to Roxane Divol, Vice President and Director of Website Security, Symantec.
The Internet Security Threat Report (Symantec Internet Security Threat Report), confirms that five out of six large companies suffered cyber attacks in 2014, representing an increase of 40% over the previous year.
Google and other browsers have announced that websites that do not have encryption will appear in a lower position in the ranking of search results.
Symantec Corporation announced the worldwide availability of Encryption Everywhere, a security package for websites that is offered by hosting providers. Encryption Everywhere allows to integrate the encryption in the websites from the moment of its creation. Hosting companies can offer a variety of flexible options, including basic encryption for websites that are incorporated and a variety of higher security packages with increasingly robust levels of validation, protection and trustworthiness stamps for websites.
Symantec expects 100% of legitimate websites to have protection by 2018. With Encryption Everywhere this goal is expected to be achieved.
“Symantec is about to change the rules of the game of cybersecurity with Encryption Everywhere. It is time to provide security for all legitimate websites and restore Internet security for all consumers and businesses. That’s why Symantec makes it easier to protect each website from the time of registration or renewal, offering from basic encryption to complete security solutions for websites, “explained Divol.
Having security and encryption services will soon be essential for companies. Websites that wish to remain viable will need to use at least one basic encryption. Encryption Everywhere encrypts 100% of customer data that is shared on business websites, which gives companies valuable brand trust and gives customers the assurance that the information they share is assured and will arrive to the desired recipient.
Symantec will launch Encryption Everywhere along with several global web hosting partners, including InterNetX, one of the largest providers of domains, web space and hosting products for resellers.


text:
Bertucci’s Corp. has forked over its Vinny T’s of Boston chain to a New York restaurant company.
The Northboro company announced the deal yesterday with to C&T Restaurant Management. The sale price was not disclosed.
“It was a strategic decision, and we are going to focus on our flagship brand,” said Maria Feicht, spokeswoman for Bertucci’s.
Restaurants of all types are dealing with a slowdown in consumer spending because of the recession. Bertucci’s and the North End-inspired Vinny T’s compete with national chains such as the Olive Garden as well as local mom-and-pop Italian eateries.
Bertucci’s, founded in 1981 and specializing in brick-oven pizza, has 94 locations in 10 states. Two more will open soon, Feicht said. One will be in New Jersey, while the other location has yet to be announced.
In 2006, Bertucci’s spent $7 million to acquire the 11-restaurant Vinny T’s chain from BUCA Inc.
Vinny T’s, founded in 1993 and orginally called Vinny Testa’s, is down to seven locations – six in Greater Boston and one outside Philadelphia.
Vinny T’s new owners run Pomodorino, a chain of moderately priced Italian eateries on Long Island, N.Y.


text:
February issue 2012
Fashion Hub: Brands Just Pret Hosts ‘Fashionville 1â€³
Karachi’s newest and most upmarket multi-brand store, Brands Just Pret (BJP) held its very first exhibition titled ‘Fashionville 1.’ The star-studded event also provided free nail art and eye makeup services by aestheticians from Color Studio to visitors which certainly made for an enjoyable addition to the affair. The store, located at Dolmen City Mall, is a one-stop shop for clothes, diamond jewellery, shoes and bags. The event featured the Collier collection by Tanaaz, Vintage by Nazish Lutfullah and Aisha Alam and Limited Editions Bags and Clutches. Aisha Alam’s collection consisted of a range of uncomplicated chic outfits.
Speaking at the launch, Aisha Alam said, “The response to my clothes has truly been spectacular. I think there is a huge dearth in the market for simply designed, stylish clothes.” Somaya Adnan, the managing director of BJP, has big plans for BJP: “This is just the start. We plan to have exhibitions all over Pakistan and we are planning on organising international events as well.” The store also displays collections by Sara Shahid of Sublime, Naaj by Najia, plus Usman Dittu and Ayesha Khurram. The store also displays Anis’s diamond jewellery collection and sandals by Flitz X.
This article was originally published in the February 2012 issue of Newsline under the headline “Fashion Hub.”


text:
The company said it earned $87.9 million, or $2.82 a share, up from $81.7 million, or $2.56 a share, a year earlier. Non-recurring axes shaved three cents off earnings per share in the quarter.
Revenue climbed 18% to $816.8 million.
Analysts had expected the company to earn$2.81 a share on revenue of $802.8 million.
Same-store sales jumped 5.5%. The company also increased its full-year same-store sales outlook, forecasting low to mid-single digit growth, compared to its prior view for flat-to-low-single digit growth.
Food costs increased 22% and also weighed on restaurant-level operating margins. The company said it did not plan to raise menu prices for the rest of the year.
Shares are down 7% in the past year.


text:
"The demand for meat-free products has shown to be sustainable. In the aftermath of the 2001 BSE crisis, the market has grown again by 3 per cent," said Gerard Klein Essink, senior researcher at Prosoy Research & Strategy. "Meat-free consumption is here to stay."
Factors driving this trend include a growing interest in healthy foods, an ageing and more health focused population and food safety issues related to meat and increased animal welfare concerns.
"New European and national health claims regulations on soya, which are now being drawn up are likely to have an impact in the years ahead as well. Particularly because medical research on soya has already shown positive effects on blood cholesterol levels and heart diseases, bone strength and menopausal problems," said Essink.
There has also been a great deal of innovation in the meat-free ready meal market. Sales of chilled products have grown more rapidly than frozen meat-free sales. For example Mintel's Global New Products Database (GNPD) indicates 65 new meat-free launches in 2003 in the eight European countries covered in the report.
The report, entitled The European market for Meat-free 2004, is part of the research report Soyfoods: The European market 2004, which covers Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the UK.
This year is the first time that the report covers Sweden, which Prosoy claims gives the report a broader European view. The developments in other food categories such bars, bread and bakery are reported for the first time as well.


text:
Over the last 10 years, food trucks have popped up all over Arcata, providing quick, on-the-go meals for busy downtowners and allowing entrepreneurs a relatively cheap way to try their hands at the restaurant gamble.
The Arcata City Council is now considering easing the requirements for a mobile food truck to obtain a permit following recommendations from the planning commission.
The requirements, which apply to "sandwich wagons, recreational vehicle cafes, hot dog wagons, ice cream wagons and similar uses," according to current municipal code, include off-street parking, seating, and a portable restroom, among others. A proposed amendment removes those requirements.
Councilwoman Alex Stillman said she hopes it will encourage camaraderie between vendors and add to the "mobility" of food.
Stillman said she was inspired when she came across a "mobile food jamboree" while visiting Marin.
She envisions food trucks setting up after events like Oysterfest, giving people options when festival booths run out of munchies or pack up for the day.
La Chiquita owner Esteban Gonzalez Matias has grown his business to include two Mexican food trucks and a brick and mortar restaurant on I Street that opened in April. He said dealing with the requirements of the city and the limitations of a truck make for a tricky balance.
Gonzalez Matias said he works 16 hours a day, 7 days a week prepping, serving, cleaning and driving the trucks from their overnight dwellings to their daytime locations.
He said he used to rent a kitchen area from the city, but now his I Street restaurant -- with a newly remodeled kitchen prescribed by the city -- is home base.
The yellow-hued Indian food truck Naan of the Above, co-owned by Barbara Sobo, is about to celebrate two years in operation on Seventh Street.
"It feels like street food is becoming more established," Sobo said, adding that her customers and regulars range across all age groups.
Although the restaurant is a trailer and has temporary awnings, they don't move it overnight.
Sobo has never operated a brick and mortar restaurant but said the expense of opening a food truck is typically lower.
"I think that the trailers and the restaurants that have brick and mortar buildings have different challenges," Sobo said.
Stillman said she hasn't heard complaints from restaurants about a relaxation of the municipal code or about mobile food vendors cutting into their business.
Meanwhile, vacant lots around downtown and the employee-rich business districts are finding tenants.
"It's where you find a sympathetic landlord," Stillman said.
There are more than 20 mobile food vendors in Arcata, according to Kevin Metcalfe, who is a supervisor for Humboldt County's Consumer Protection Program. The county is in charge of inspecting restaurants and making sure they abide by state health standards.
Metcalfe said that at the rate of one or two new food trucks per year, his staff has been able to absorb mobile inspections into their duties. The process of inspecting food trucks and the kitchens out of which they operate is no different than standard restaurants, Metcalfe said.
Though relaxation of mobile food permits may lead to even more food trucks -- which Gonzalez Matias said have cut into his business slightly -- it could help his restaurants as well.
"I think it's going to be a good idea," he said.
The Arcata City Council is expected to discuss changes to the municipal code regarding mobile food vendors at its Aug. 15 meeting.
Grant Scott-Goforth can be reached at 441-0514 or email@example.com.


text:
Another week, another new malware deleted. And this time, it brings with it another level of “sophistication” according to Check Point Mobile Threat Prevention, which reported the mobile malware to Google earlier this month.
When it rains, it truly pours. The Android operating system has seen attack after attack on its security and privacy these past couple of months. Get ready for one more. Researchers from the ESET security software company have
Viruses, malware, unwanted ads aren’t just for desktops and laptops anymore. Our smartphones and tablets are as much as a victim, especially now that we use them even more than the computers to browse when we’re on the go.
We all know that a new kind of ransomware is spreading these days. It’s posing as a video player app and uses Global XMPP chat to contact server. It can be difficult to know if an app is legitimate or not so we need to be
Malware like Ransomware is a serious problem but instead of victimizing desktops and laptops, mobile devices are now the latest victims. It’s not really surprising because millions of people already rely on their
Qualcomm has announced that its upcoming next gen Snapdragon 820 chipset will include another layer of malware protection for devices in the Snapdragon Smart Protect technology. The new tech is an on-chip “learning” feature,
While Google still hasn’t officially released the crucial security patch (aside from the one for Nexus devices) that would protect Android devices from the so-called Stagefright malware, there have been several posts and advice
In light of the Android Stagefright security vulnerability that has frightened users everywhere, as well as Google’s slow response in issuing a security patch to resolve the issue, Samsung has decided that a new security update
Android users had a rude awakening earlier this week when news of the Stagefright vulnerability spread like wildfire across online news outlets. And unlike previous hoaxes or paranoid false alarms, this one is actually legit and
You really have to be careful nowadays with apps that are promising various rewards and bonuses (and if they don’t come from reliable developers). Chances are, they are either a fraudulent company or they will be unleashing


text:
OKLAHOMA CITY– It’s a unwelcome fact that Oklahoma has the highest rate of incarceration among women in the country and…
- Woman's car payments hid her death for 6 years, body found mummified in backseat of car
- Oklahoma part of major beef recall, see if your neighborhood grocery store made the list
- Oklahoma father finds mother, 3-year-old daughter dead in garage, saves 5-year-old son
- UPDATE: Did one of Oklahoma's famous couples find another home in a different state?